What do we as
members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints have to offer to the world?
What makes our church unique?
Good people are found in all religions. Many people feel they
have the truth. We read the same bible as our Christian
friends. We tell the same stories of Jesus that they do.
We both talk of Christ being crucified and resurrected. So
what makes us different?
Is it our
church sports program? YM/YW programs? Primary?
Sunday School instruction? Maybe it is our dances and
activities? Or our potlucks complete with beloved funeral
potatoes and green jello with shreded carrots and red colored punch?
Could it our ministering efforts? Our missionary program?
Our Temples? Maybe it is our history with sacrifices of the
pioneers and their great journey west? All of these... and
none of these?
Elder Oaks taught
the following in 1995 April Conference: "The Church of
Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints has many beliefs in common with
other Christian churches. But we have differences, and those
differences explain why we send missionaries to other Christians,
why we build temples in addition to churches, and why our beliefs
bring us such happiness and strength to deal with the challenges of
life and death." End Quote
So now that the Gospel has been
restored, what is it that we claim to have that the world lacks?
What sets us apart from all other Christian denominations?
The answer: We have a Living Prophet who
receives Revelation directly from God. We have the priesthood,
the power to effectuate saving ordinances of baptism, the Gift of
the Holy Ghost and the ordinances of the endowment and eternal
marriage in his holy temples. The Lord shares that revelation
through his Prophets and Apostles with us continually, and in
conferences every 6 months.
Question: What if a friend
asked you to share what your prophet has taught you recently?
Would you have an answer?
Teachings of Russell M.
Nelson:
* Speaking of his daughter's passing, he taught
that we can be together with our families in the next life only if
we receive sacred ordinances in the temple and keep the covenants we
make there.
* He encouraged all to take up the Savior’s
invitation to “come, follow me” and to do the “spiritual work” to
develop deeper faith in God and the restored Church of Jesus Christ.
* He invited us to make our homes into sanctuaries that
welcome the Spirit of the Lord. “Despite contention all around us,
one’s home can become a heavenly place, where study, prayer, and
faith can be merged with love,” he said. “We can truly become
disciples of the Lord, standing up and speaking up for Him wherever
we are.”
* President Nelson encouraged priesthood
holders to focus on daily repentance. He taught that while we are
not expected to be perfect in this life, we should strive to do
better and be better each day.
“Whether you are diligently moving
along the covenant path, have slipped or stepped from the covenant
path, or can’t even see the covenant path from where you are now, I
plead with you to repent,” he said. “Prayerfully seek to understand
what stands in the way of your repentance. Identify what stops you
from repenting. And then, change! Repent! All of us can do better
and be better than ever before.”
* In October 2018
Conference, President Nelson said "I urge you to study these
messages, commencing this week. They express the mind and the will
of the Lord for His people, today."
* He continued "I
promise that as you diligently work to remodel your home into a
center of gospel learning, over time your Sabbath days will truly be
a delight. Your children will be excited to learn and to live the
Savior’s teachings, and the influence of the adversary in your life
and in your home will decrease. Changes in your family will be
dramatic and sustaining."
* On the subject of the name
of the Lord's church, he said "I promise you that our rigorous
attention to use the correct name of the Savior’s Church and its
members will lead to increased faith and access to greater spiritual
power for members of His Church."
* On Temple Service,
he stated "My dear brothers and sisters, the assaults of the
adversary are increasing exponentially, in intensity and in variety.
Our need to be in the temple on a regular basis has never been
greater. I plead with you to take a prayerful look at how you spend
your time. Invest time in your future and in that of your family. If
you have reasonable access to a temple, I urge you to find a way to
make an appointment regularly with the Lord—to be in His holy
house—then keep that appointment with exactness and joy. I promise
you that the Lord will bring the miracles He knows you need as you
make sacrifices to serve and worship in His temples."
*
He ended his October address by saying "I leave my love and blessing
upon you, that you may feast upon the word of the Lord and apply His
teachings in your personal lives. I assure you that revelation
continues in the Church and will continue until “the purposes of God
shall be accomplished, and the Great Jehovah shall say the work is
done.”
I have
heard some say that they would become members of the church if we
would just drop that Joseph Smith and Book of Mormon thing. For
others it is our very unusual prohibition of coffee, tea & tabacco
and moral code. And yet there are some that think we are part
of the Protestant Reformation and are just another "flavor" of
Christian denomination. If that were the case and we were just
another product of the great reformation, I am sure there are some
churches that don't have all the restrictions of the word of wisdom
and the law of chastity. The restoration of the Gospel through
the boy prophet Joseph Smith is one of the most unlikely events in
history. Many might think that if God the Father and Jesus Christ
were to visit someone, that person would most likely be a learned
scholar, or well known leader of an already prominent, established
religion. One would think that such an important event would
be accompanied by the appropriate fanfare and to crowds of cheering
people. Some may think if it happened today, it might be
televised or live streamed. Such an important event should immediately
be made known to all people and be univerally accepted by
all religious and political leaders. But to a 14 year old boy
with not more than a few years of formal education? Surely God
would have picked someone much more important for such a visitation.
But we know that is not the pattern of the Lord. He does not
value the philosophies of men, but honors those that are pure of
heart. He works through small and simple things. He uses
ordinary people who he then equips with power from on high.
Think of the boy prophet Samuel. Consider Nephi who was the
younger brother. Moses was so unsure of his own speaking skills that
he was assigned a spokesman in Aaron. Jesus himself chose his
original deciples from common fishermen. But the restoration
of the gospel did not begin on that spring morning in Palmyra New
York. Indeed a great preparation had been made for hundreds of
years leading up to that great event.
So again, why are we different from all the other Christian
denominations that formed because of that same reformation? Why are
we different?
We have a living prophet who has the
keys of the kingdom. Beginning with Joseph Smith, Prophetic
revelation began to flow and fill the earth. The priesthood keys
were restored and saving ordinances began to be performed again.
Major Doctrines Revealed through Joseph
Smith
* The Book of Mormon - Another Testament of
Jesus Christ
- New clarifying teachings of the nature of
man, God and heaven.
* The Personal Nature of God and the
Godhead
- Joseph saw two Personages, whose brightness and glory
defy all description, standing above [him] in the air.
* The
nature of God the Father:
-God himself was once as we are now...
he was once a man like us. God himself dwelt on an earth, the same
as Jesus Christ himself did
* The Plan of Salvation or Plan
of Happiness
- Our Premortal, Mortal, and Postmortal existence
was revealed. Our true potential to become like God himself and
share everything that he has through eternal progression and the
concept of agency.
* The Holy Ghost
-The Bible gives
little detail about the personage of the Holy Ghost. The Prophet,
however, gave us a number of insights about that spirit being and
his office.
* Saving Temple Ordinances
-Baptism for the
Dead, the endowment and eternal marriage.
* The True Nature
of the Family Unit
- Families can be together forever. Marriage
is eternal in nature.
* Revelation. The Book of Mormon
demonstrates and teaches the importance of personal revelation for
all.7 From beginning to end it is the classic example that the
heavens are still open and that God does indeed speak to men on
earth. The Book of Mormon also reveals the role and ministry of
angels in detail not found in the Bible.
* Satans true
identity. Lehi learned from the brass plates, however, that Satan
was originally an angel of God who fell from heaven by seeking “that
which was evil before God” (2 Nephi 2:17). From the Book of Mormon
we learn various ways he seeks to gain power over individuals, such
as teaching men not to pray, stirring “them up to anger against that
which is good,” lulling “them away into carnal security,” and
revealing his secret plans to lead them down to destruction (see 2
Nephi 32:8; 28:20–21; Helaman 6:26).10 Fortunately, the Book of
Mormon also reveals that when people are righteous, Satan has no
power
My Testimony of Joseph Smith and
the Restoration.
The Wentworth Letter - To John Wentworth,
Editor of the
Chicago Democrat - March 1, 1842
Persecution has not
stopped the progress of truth, but has only added fuel to the flame.
It has spread with increasing rapidity... the elders of this Church
[have] gone forth and planted the gospel in almost every
state in the Union. It has penetrated our cities; it has spread over
our villages and has caused thousands of our intelligent, noble, and
patriotic citizens to obey its divine mandates and be governed by
its sacred truths....
Our missionaries are going forth to
different nations... the Standard of Truth has been erected; no
unhallowed hand can stop the work from progressing; persecutions may
rage, mobs may combine, armies may assemble, calumny may defame, but
the truth of God will go forth boldly, nobly, and independent, till
it has penetrated every continent, visited every clime, swept every
country, and sounded in every ear; till the purposes of God shall be
accomplished, and the Great Jehovah shall say the work is done
May this be our goal and our
future reality is my prayer in the name of Jesus Christ, Amen.
Conclusion
May we ever be grateful for a living Prophet and modern revelation.
May we be worthy of the blessings being poured out on those that
honor the Lord's annointed.v May we learn from the teachings of the past and move forward
with faith. The Gospel of Jesus Christ has been restored.
We receive revelation from a living prophet today who has all the
keys necessary for our salvation. The Lord has restored the
priesthood power to
perform the saving ordinances necessary for our salvation and
exhaltation. That is the great message we have to offer the
world. Do not be ashamed of the gospel. Do not be
ashamed of the Lord. Do not be ashamed of his holy prophets
and their teachings. The Lord is not ashamed of you, but has chosen
you before this world began. You have the knowledge that a
fallen world so desperately needs. Do not deprive your
neighbors and friends of this most important gift. May we
never be weary in sharing the good news of the restoration, and of
living prophets today. May we find great joy in sharing the
message of the gospel with others is my prayer in the name of Jesus Christ, Amen.