What Do You Teach

When you teach do you:

a. Teach a lesson?

b. Cover material? or

c. Do you teach people?

If you teach people do you:

a. Have class members read excerpts from the lesson material?

b. Teach what others have taught on the subject?

c. Give your own ideas and opinions?

d. Ask for the ideas and opinions of class members? or

e. Do you teach the word of God?

If you teach the word of God, do you:

a. Teach from the scriptures?

b. Teach what someone else says about the scriptures?

c. Teach what you believe the scriptures say? or

d. Do you teach what the Lord has, after receiving His word, revealed to you?

As you contemplate these questions think about these quotes from Alma:

"For because of the word which he has imparted unto me, behold, many have been born of God, and have tasted as I have tasted, and have seen eye to eye as I have seen; therefore they do know of these things of which I have spoken, as I do know, and the knowledge which I have is of God" (Alma 36:26 emphasis added).

"Do ye not suppose that I know these things myself? Behold I testify unto you that I do know these things whereof I have spoken are true. And how do ye suppose that I know of their surety? Behold, I say unto you they are made known unto me by the Holy Spirit of God. Behold, I have fasted and prayed many days that I might know of these things of myself. And now I do know of myself that they are true; for the Lord God hath made them manifest unto me by his Holy Spirit, and this is the spirit of revelation which is in me" (Alma 5:45-46 emphasis added).

What did Alma teach? What had been revealed to him, and even though what he received had been revealed to many before him, what he knew and taught was given him of God. 

When God's words become our words because they have been revealed to us, then, and only then, will we become witnesses with first-hand knowledge and can testify that we know. 

Otherwise whatever we teach is just information, is hearsay, and we are just echoes. 

Also consider what Joseph said:

"Search the scriptures--search the revelations which we publish, and ask your Heavenly Father, in the name of His Son Jesus Christ, to manifest the truth unto you, and if you do it with an eye single to His glory nothing doubting, He will answer you by the power of His Holy Spirit. 

You will then know for yourselves and not for another. You will not then be dependent on man for the knowledge of God; nor will there be any room for speculation. No, for when men receive instruction from Him who made them, they will know how he will save them. 

Then again we say: Search the Scriptures, search the Prophets and learn what portion belongs to you" (Joseph Smith, Teachings of the Prophet Joseph Smith, selected and arranged by Joseph Fielding Smith, page 11 emphasis added).

Too often we limit ourselves by reading, by trying to understand, by studying, memorizing, by pondering, by feasting, or even by searching. And while we may know what others have said and can quote them, we stop short of receiving the revelation directly from our Father in Heaven, and therefore do not have the Spirit of Revelation and Spirit of Prophecy, and we just teach information. Otherwise we would teach with power and authority (Alma 5:45--47; Alma 17:24; Isaiah 28:9).

If we screened and auditioned teachers like we do with applicants for the Tabernacle Choir, perhaps we would find teachers who had actually obtained the word of God, who taught with the Spirit of Revelation and the Spirit of Prophecy. 

But that would require that those doing the screening would recognize the Spirit of Revelation and the Spirit of Prophecy, and who knew the difference between ecclesiastical authority and those who have His Spirit and His word, yea, who teach with the power of God unto the convincing of men.

Correct answers: c, e and d.

Teaching in the Savior's Way

What Would it Take

What would it take to convince you that there is a God and that He has revealed himself and His truth through His words? Is there absolute proof?  

I have thought a lot about what it would take to convince me, and I have concluded that it would depend on me. What I mean by this is that unless I was someone who was seeking for something, either knowledge, truth or some type of validation about my life, no matter what was available it would be meaningless without some desire on my part to want to know it. Without this desire no matter what truth and knowledge was out there, I would probably not seek it. 

First what would not help me:

Stories about believers, famous or otherwise, 

History of believers, good or bad,

Believers' testimonies, and by this I mean people's beliefs. To me belief or non-belief is irrelevant. The question for me is not belief but whether there is truth. It must be an either or proposition.

It has nothing to do with people who have turned their lives around, found happiness, a new life, new success—Oh joy, oh rapture unforeseen, the cloudless skies are all serene! The things people talk about in their conferences and journals are the common fare of all churches, but I must go beyond that. So what would it take?

The question for me then would be, what would it take to arouse in me a desire to seek for truth? I would first need to know that there was some truth to seek. Not some man-made creed or institutional beliefs, but real truth. So if someone gave me a definition of truth (not what they thought was truth), but real truth, that would be meaningful to me, and perhaps arouse in me a desire to find that truth. 

If I even thought that there could be truth, I would want to find it. For example if someone said to me that the word of God is truth, that would cause me to want to know if there really is a God and if that God has revealed His words to others, and if records of these words have been kept. I believe I would want to test this definition of truth, but would be reluctant to rely on someone's interpretation of these words or someone else's testimony. 

If I could know of myself if these words were truth, then I would be interested enough to find them and search them. It would require for me, however, some instruction on how to come to know if the words were in fact truth. These instructions, however, would have to come from God and not from some person. That person, however, could direct me to these instructions and I could test them to see if I could come to know of some of the truth or the truth of some of His words. I would want to know that the recorded words were His and not commentaries or incorrect translations.

For example if someone told me that there is an experiment I could try to test His words, I would want to try it. This experiment would have to be a valid experiment and have a scientific basis with all the necessary elements and controls to measure the results, and that through this experiment I could also come to know that the experiment itself was revealed by God. The key for me would be if I could know the truth for myself and not rely on others.

Perhaps, then, through these words I could come to know if there is a God and that His words are truth, and then I could know all things I needed to know and do through His words. His words would then be for me the standard by which everything would be judged.

From My Treasures

Treasure up in your mind continually the words of life. I love the treasures that are His words and those who use them to add to my treasure chest. These are some of my many treasures. They were written by George MacDonald, who understood that in God and Christ are hidden all treasures. MacDonald's writings greatly influenced C.S. Lewis, and have been a blessing in my life. 

The men of Nazareth could have believed in Jesus as their savior from the Romans; as their savior from their sins they could not believe in him, for they loved their sins.

They did not hear the prophet while they read the prophet!

His mighty works were not meant for such as they--to convince them of what they were incapable of understanding....

We want to be a free people, manage our own affairs, live in plenty, and do as we please.  Liberty alone can never cure the woes of which you speak.  We do not need to be better; we are well enough.  Give us riches and honor, and keep us content with ourselves, that we may be satisfied with our own likeness.

The design of God is other and better than the expectation of men.

He who delights in contemplating whereto he has attained is not merely sliding back; he is already in the dirt of self-satisfaction.  The gate of the kingdom is closed, and he outside.

Two men are walking abroad together; to the one, the world yields thought after thought of delight; he sees heaven and earth embrace one another; he feels an indescribable presence over and in them; his joy will afterward, in the solitude of his chamber, break forth in song;--to the other, oppressed with the thought of his poverty, or ruminating how to make much into more, the glory of the Lord is but a warm summer day; it enters in at no window of his soul; it offers him no gift; for, in the very temple of God, he looks for no God in it.

None but the pure in heart see God; only the growing-pure hope to see him.

God made man, and woke in him the hunger for righteousness; the Lord came to enlarge and rouse this hunger.  The first and lasting effect of his words must be to make the hungering and thirsting long yet more.

As soon as even service is done for the honor and not for the service-sake, the doer is at that moment outside the kingdom.

He is against sin; in so far as, and while, they and sin are one, he is against them--against their desires, their sins, their fears, and their hopes; and thus he is altogether and always for them.

It is the law of God that all that is destructible shall be destroyed.

I doubt that if a man can ask anything from God that it is bad.

The Lord knows what we need; we know only what we want.

Such questions spring from the passion for the fruit of the tree of knowledge, not the fruit of the tree of life.

Men would understand:  they do not care to obey--understand where it is impossible to understand except by obeying.

Our whole life, to be life at all, must be a growth in understanding.  What I cry out upon is the misunderstanding that comes from man's endeavor to understand while not obeying.

It is not obedience alone that our Lord will have, but obedience to the truth.

Multitudes will not even approach the appalling task, the labor and pain of being.

We are so ready to get upon some path that seems to run parallel with the narrow way, and then take no thought of its divergence!  What is there for us when we discover that we are out of the way, but to bethink ourselves and turn?

God knows good and evil, and, blessed be his name, chooses good.

The words of the Lord are the seed sown by the sower.  Into our hearts they must fall that they may grow.

The design of God is other and better than the expectation of men.

He will carry us in his arms till we are able to walk; he will carry us in his arms when we are weary with walking; he will not carry us if we will not walk.

The man who is proud of anything he thinks he has reached, has not reached it.  He is but proud of himself, and imagining a cause for his pride.

He would not choose to be less than his neighbor; he would choose his neighbor to be greater than he.  He can imagine no bliss, no good in being greater than some one else.  The thought of standing higher in the favor of God than his brother, would make him miserable.

So good a medicine is sorrow, so powerful to slay the moths that infest and devour the human heart, that the Lord is glad to see a man weep.

To  mourn is not to fight with evil; it is only to miss that which is good.

Is it not of the very essence of the (Gospel) hope, that we should be changed from bad to all good

The thought of righteousness will vanish in the fact of righteousness.

To be made greater than one's fellows is the offered reward of hell, and involves no greatness; to be made greater than one's self, is the divine reward, and involves a real greatness.  The reward is righteousness.

Every disciple of the Lord must be a preacher of righteousness.

To let our light shine, we must take care that we have no respect for riches.  To treat the poor man with less attention or cordiality than the rich, is to show ourselves the servants of Mammon.  In like manner we must lay no value on the praise of men, or in any way seek it. We must honor no man because of intellect, fame or success.

The man to whom business is one thing and religion another, is not a disciple.  The most futile of all human endeavors is, to serve God and Mammon.  But let us waste no strength in despising such men; let us rather turn the light upon ourselves:  are we not in some way denying him?  Is our light bearing witness?

Whatever makes her heart glad, she will have her neighbor share. (Annie)

But if our heart shine out, and none of our darkness, shall we not be in utmost danger of hypocrisy?  

If any one, hearing the injunction to let his light shine, makes himself shine instead, it is because the light is not in him!

You who have light, show yourselves the sons and daughters of Light, of God, of Hope--the heirs of a great completeness.  Freely let your light shine.  Only take heed that ye do not your righteousness before men, to be seen of men.  Let your light out freely that men may see it, but not that men may see you.

If I do anything, not because it has to be done, not because God would have it so, not that I may do right, not because it is honest, not that I love the thing, not that I may be true to my Lord, not that the truth may be recognized as truth and as his, but that I may be seen as the doer, that I may be praised of men, that I may gain repute or fame; be the thing itself ever so good, that I look to men for my reward, for there is none for me with the Father.

If I do it that I may be seen shining, that the light may be noted as emanating from me and not from Him, then am I of those that seek glory of men, and worship Satan; the light that through me may possibly illuminate others, will, in me and for me, be darkness.

In the Beatitudes, Jesus reminds His disciples that they cannot seek happiness the way the world does.  True joy is not found in self ambition, excuses, or self justification.  An enviable state of blessedness comes to those who mourn over their own sin.  "These are the ones I look on with favor:  those who are humble and contrite in spirit, and who tremble at my word" (Isaiah 66:22). The kind of mourning that leads to repentance is truly blessed (2 Cor 7:10 "Godly Sorrow").

For hell is God's and not the devil's.  Hell is on the side of God and man, to free the child of God from the corruption of death.  Not one soul will ever be redeemed from hell  but by being saved from his sins, from the evil in him.  If hell be needful to save him, hell will blaze., and the worm writhe and bite, until he takes refuge in the will of the Father.

There is another misapprehension of the words of the messengers of the good tidings--that they threaten us with punishment because of the sins we have committed, whereas their message is of forgiveness and not of vengeance; of deliverance, not of evil to come.  

The sin he dwells in, the sin he will not come out, is the sole ruin of a man.  His present, his live sins--those pervading his thoughts and ruling his conduct; the sins he keeps doing, and will not give up; the sins he is called to abandon, and clings to; the same sins which are the cause of his misery, though he may not know it--these are they for which he is even now condemned.

The highest in man is neither his intellect nor his imagination nor his reason; all are inferior to his will.

The Lord cannot save a man from his sins while he holds to his sins.  

They will not accept, that is, act upon, their highest privilege, that of obeying the Son of God.  It is on them that do his will, that the day dawns; to them the day star arises in their hearts.  Obedience is the soul of knowledge.  By obedience, I intend no kind of obedience to man, or submission to authority claimed by man or community of men.  I mean obedience to the will of the Father.

The Greek word then, of which the word repentance....is made up of two words, the conjoint meaning of which is, a change of mind or thought.  There is in it no intent of, or hint at sorrow or shame, or any other of the mental conditions that, not infrequently accompanying repentance, have been taken for essential parts of it, sometimes for it very essence.

The word (Greek: eis) rather unto than for; that the word (Greek:  aphesis), translated remission, means, fundamentally, a sending away, a dismissal; and that the writer seems to use the added phrase to make certain what he means by repentance; a repentance, namely, that reaches to the sending away, or abjurement of sins.  I do not think a change of mind unto the remission or pardon of sin would be nearly so logical a phrase as a change of mind unto the dismission of sinning.  The message of John (the Baptist) to his countrymen, was then, and is yet, the one message to the world:  "Send away your sins, for the kingdom of heaven is near."

We need fresh repentance every day--how many times a day, God only knows.  We are so ready to get upon some path that seems to run parallel with the narrow way, and then take no note of its divergence!  What is there for us when we discover that we are out of the way, but to bethink ourselves and turn?

God knows good and evil, and, blessed be his name, chooses good.

To love righteousness is to make it grow.

Give us riches and honour, and keep us content with ourselves, that we may be satisfied with our own 

As to his being the Messiah, that was mere absurdity: did they not all know his father, the carpenter?  His mighty works were not meant for such as they--to convince them of what they were incapable of understanding.  His mighty works were to rouse the love, and strengthen the faith of the meek and lowly in heart, of such as were ready to come to the light. 

Thou are but the well-known carpenter's son, and dost thou teach?

It is a small thing to a man whether or not his neighbor be merciful to him; it is life or death to him whether or not he be merciful to his neighbor.

Because They Knew Not God

“Because that, when they knew God, they glorified him not as God, neither were thankful; but became vain in their imaginations, and their foolish heart was darkened. Professing themselves to be wise, they became fools. And changed the glory of God into an image made like to corruptible man…. Who changed the truth of God into a lie, and worshipped the creature more than the Creator…” (Romans 1:21-23; 25).

When we in the church talk of Christ and "try" to be like Him, we, it seems to me, concentrate on the mortal Jesus and believe that we can become like Him by following His example. Little thought, except for those who actually search the scriptures and feast upon His words, is given to who Christ really is.

Who is this Jesus Christ?  Records tell us that He first came as Jehovah, then the mortal Jesus, and then the resurrected Christ. He will come again in all His glory.  He is the Son of God having received of His fulness (D&C 93).  He is the light of the sun, moon, and stars (D&C 88).

What does that mean?

All in all, Hubble reveals an estimated 100 billion galaxies in the universe or so, but this number is likely to increase to 200 billion and more as telescope technology in space improves.

So far, astronomers have found more than 3500 solar systems and are discovering new ones every year.  Given how many they have found in our own neighborhood of the Milky Way galaxy, scientists estimate that there may be tens of billions of solar systems in our galaxy alone, perhaps even as many as 100 billion.

In terms of the number of solar systems present in the universe, there are something like 300 billion stars in the Milky Way, so if 10 percent of them have planets, there are over 100 billion galaxies in the observable universe.

An international team of astronomers has found that the universe contains at least 2 trillion galaxies, ten times more than previously thought.

The Milky Way is only 100,000 light years in diameter. A light year is a measure of distance, not time. It is the total distance that a beam of light, moving in a straight line, travels in one year. To obtain an idea of the size of one light year, take the circumference of the earth (24,900 miles), lay it out in a straight line, multiply the length of the line by 7.5 (the corresponding distance is one light-second), then place 31.6 million similar lines end to end. The resulting distance is almost 6 trillion (6,000,000,000,000) miles! Times that number by 100,000 and that is the size of one light year.

Genes are composed of DNA, and it is predicted that there are over 3 billion basepairs in the human genome.  Humans have approximately 10 trillion cells, so if you were to line all of the DNA found in every cell, it would stretch from the earth to the sun 100 times.

About 3 billion basepairs of DNA fit into a space, just 6 microns across. If you stretch the DNA in one cell all the way out, it would be about 2m long, and all the DNA in all your cells put together would be about twice the diameter of the solar system.

“And were it possible that man could number the particles of the earth, yea, millions of earths like this, it would just be the beginning of the number of thy creations....” (Moses 7:30). Isn't it the height of arrogance to think our earth is the only one, or that we think we know God?

“He that ascended up on high, as also he descended below all things, that he might be in all and through all things, the light of truth; which truth shineth.  

This is the light of Christ.  

As also he is in the sun, and the light of the sun, and the power thereof by which it was made. 

As also he is in the moon, and is the light of the moon, and the power thereof by which it was made; as also the light of the stars, and the power thereof by which they were made; and the earth also, and the power thereof, even the earth upon which you stand.  

And the light which shineth, which giveth you light, is through him who enlighteneth your eyes, which is the same light that quickeneth your understanding; which light proceedeth forth from the presence of God to fill the immensity of space--the light which is in all things, which giveth life to all things, which is the law by which all things are governed, even the power of God who sitteth upon his throne, who is in the bosom of eternity, who is in the midst of all things” (D&C 88:1-13 emphasis added).

As Moses discovered "man is nothing" (Moses 1:10). But while "the glory of God" was upon Moses he could endure the presence of God. 

"And God spake unto Moses, saying: Behold, I am the Lord God Almighty, and Endless is my name; for I am without beginning of days or end of years; and is not this endless? And, behold, thou art my son; wherefore look, and I will show thee the workmanship of mine hands; but not all, for my works are without end, and also my words, for they never cease. Wherefore, no man can behold all my works, except he behold all my glory; and no man can behold all my glory, and afterwards remain in the flesh on the earth" (Moses 1:3-5 emphasis added).

The Lord then showed Moses just one thing:

"And it came to pass that Moses looked, and beheld the world upon which he was created; and Moses beheld the world and the ends thereof, and all the children of men which are, and which were created; of the same he greatly marveled and wondered" (Moses 1:8 emphasis added). 

But look what happened to Moses after the presence of God withdrew from him, and God's glory was no longer with him.

When Moses gained his strength of a man, Satan comes to him, and Moses, high on his experience with God's presence, decides to take on Satan by himself. At first Satan is civil with Moses and trys to convince Moses to worship him.

When Moses boasts that he is a son of God, and that he was just in the presence of God and beheld His glory, then Satan attacks.

What does Satan do? He, in a loud voice, says to Moses "I am the Only Begotten, worship me" (Moses 1:19). Moses thought he could dismiss Satan on his own, but found out how powerful Satan is when he relied on his own strength. Moses glimpses the evil, and this caused Moses to fear exceedingly and to see the bitterness of hell. Realizing his nothingness again, he calls upon God and in God's name Satan is dismissed.

What better example of repentance, and the constant need to repent! We endure in repentance to the end. Moses relied on his own strength for just a short time, but then experiencing his nothingness again, he repents and puts his trust in God. God then dismisses Satan and shows even more to Moses.

"And it came to pass that when Satan had departed from the presence of Moses, that Moses lifted up his eyes unto heaven, being filled with the Holy Ghost, which beareth record of the Father and the Son; And calling upon the name of God, he beheld his glory again, for it was upon him; and he heard a voice, saying: Blessed art thou, Moses, for I, the Almighty, have chosen thee, and thou shalt be made stronger than many waters; for they shall obey thy command as if thou wert God" (Moses 1:24-25).

After being back in the presence of God, Moses saw more of this earth and each inhabitant thereof. Moses asked by what power was this earth created. The Lord answers him:

"And the Lord God spake unto Moses, saying: The heavens, they are many, and they cannot be numbered unto man; but they are numbered unto me, for they are mine. And as one earth shall pass away, and the heavens thereof even so shall another come; and there is no end to my works, neither to my words. 

For behold, this is my work and my glory—to bring to pass the immortality and eternal life of man" (Moses 1:37-39).

Moses caught a glimpse of God, but not all. We can learn that we too must repent and turn to God continually, raise our sights above the pulpit and desire to know God. We want to bring Him down to our level (hence our emphasis on the mortal Jesus), and make him like us, when He is anything but.