A talk.

     I gave this talk in a recent stake conference - which was the most terrifying experience of my life, as I'm very much an introvert and hate being the center of attention. But I didn't faint at the pulpit or otherwise cause a scene. Well, maybe a little bit of a scene. It was a fire-breathing kind of talk. If you read it, you'll see.

God’s Word through Prophets

 

Hello! Unfortunately for you all, I do not have the gift of Moroni, who was mighty in speaking. I can write, however, so I pray that the Spirit will carry the Lord’s message to you today, even if I’m not the best messenger.

 

“O Lord . . . Thou are stronger than I, and hast prevailed: I am in derision daily, every one mocketh me . . . Then I said, I will not make mention of him, nor speak any more in His name. But His word was in mine heart as a burning fire shut up in my bones, and I was weary with forbearing, and I could not stay . . .”

So spoke Jeremiah after he was beaten and put in stocks for bearing an unpopular message to the people of Jerusalem: that of the impending Babylonian captivity. This was not the first time he would receive abuse for the message he carried, nor would it be the last. Think of it — God’s word burns in a prophet’s heart with such intensity that they cannot stay silent.

Prophets are called by God to lead each dispensation of gospel knowledge. In every age, the message is the same: Repent. Keep God’s commandments, and make covenants with Him. No matter what sorrows the world holds, they will be swallowed up in the joy of Christ, so learn of Him. Become like Him. Prepare for the day when you will return to Him. Each prophet teaches us truths about the Plan of Salvation, because that is the message of God to man — the good news — the Gospel of Christ.

Yet no matter how good the news, it has often been unpopular. Enoch’s success notwithstanding, nearly every prophet has suffered, and many died, for proclaiming the message God has given them. On the face of it, their success rate is abysmal. So why does the Lord continue to send prophets out into a world that is so hostile to their message?

As Jesus told the Pharisees and scribes, when they asked why he ate with sinners, “They that are whole need not a physician; but they that are sick. I came not to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance.”

Unfortunately, ‘the wicked [take] the truth to be hard’. It hurts to be told that you’re wrong! It’s uncomfortable to think that you might have to change the way you live. Much easier to believe that the one telling you is wrong, hateful, even evil. Samuel the Lamanite had some things to say about that attitude. I quote at length:

“[W]o unto this people, because of this time which has arrived, that ye do cast out the prophets, and do mock them . . . and do slay them . . . even as they did of old time.

“And now when ye talk, ye say: If our days had been in the days of our fathers of old, we would not have slain the prophets; we would not have stoned them, and cast them out.

“Behold ye are worse than they; for as the Lord liveth, if a prophet come among you and declareth unto you the word of the Lord, which testifieth of your sins and iniquities, ye are angry with him, and cast him out and seek all manner of ways to destroy him; yea, you will say that he is a false prophet, and that he is a sinner, and of the devil, because he testifieth that your deeds are evil.

“But behold, if a man shall come among you and shall say: Do this, and there is no iniquity; do that and ye shall not suffer; yea, he will say: Walk after the pride of your own hearts; yea, walk after the pride of your eyes, and do whatsoever your heart desireth—and if a man shall come among you and say this, ye will receive him, and say that he is a prophet.

“. . . O ye wicked and ye perverse generation; ye hardened and ye stiffnecked people, how long will ye suppose that the Lord will suffer you? Yea, how long will ye suffer yourselves to be led by foolish and blind guides? Yea, how long will ye choose darkness rather than light?”

While we may not literally cast stones at the prophets of our day, when they make statements in their prophetic capacity that go against our personal or political beliefs, do we mock them? Do we murmur? Do we prefer to listen to the easy message that aligns with the world’s views rather than upholding unpopular truths?

President Nelson invited us in the first session of last April’s General Conference to ponder what debris we might remove from our lives. I’d like to suggest a few ways of thinking that are unhelpful for disciples of Christ.

Nephi warns us: “[In our] day shall [Satan] rage in the hearts of the children of men, and stir them up to anger against that which is good.

“And others will he pacify, and lull them away into carnal security, that they will say: All is well in Zion; yea, Zion prospereth, all is well—and thus the devil cheateth their souls, and leadeth them away carefully down to hell.

“And behold, others he flattereth away, and telleth them there is no hell; and he saith unto them: I am no devil, for there is none—and thus he whispereth in their ears, until he grasps them with his awful chains, from whence there is no deliverance.”

So: What truths stir us up to anger? What rage has he set in our hearts?

God’s law is now seen as hateful in society. Every sin is seen as self-affirming. Pride is literally paraded, lust celebrated, wrath justified. Moral relativism pervades our culture, so who dares to define sin and condemn it? Prophets and apostles are given a divine mandate to do so.

How has our enemy pacified us? Are we so comfortable and safe that we would be unwilling to suffer for our beliefs? Elder Christofferson recently asked us what gospel principles we would be willing to die for. What gospel truths are worth defending to the point of losing followers on social media, losing a job, or possibly even losing your life? Think about it now, because the time is coming when you will need that kind of conviction.

Now, what of the devil’s flattery? The idea that there is no hell and no devil is older even than Nehor, who taught people just that in Alma’s day.

Aleksander Solzhenitsyn, who survived the gulags of the Soviet Union, once said, “I recall hearing a number of older people offer the following explanation for the great disasters that had befallen Russia: ‘Men have forgotten God; that’s why all this has happened.’” I would submit that not only has our society forgotten God; they have also forgotten Satan, or rather, they have forgotten what he truly is, and what he truly wants.

This is hardly unique to our society. But it is indeed dangerous to forget that we have an enemy who is actively working against us — and that he has had all the time in the world to perfect his art. He is using every last strategy now, in the final moment.

So how do we, as President Nelson said, “create counterstrategies and proactive plans” to combat Satan’s tactics?

One of the best is to question everything — faithfully. Some questions to ask about your questions: Where does this belief come from? What do the scriptures teach on this subject? Does my view differ from God’s view? And am I willing to change if it does?

Also, is the answer to my question situated in the proper context? Too often in this age of instant reaction and ten-second sound bites, we are hasty in judgment. Exhibit A: Elder Holland’s recent speech to the BYU faculty. He had some strong words for them, over several specific issues. In no way were his words inconsistent with what prophets and apostles have been teaching for years. But a few short lines, lifted out of context, circulated on social media. Suddenly, everyone had an opinion. Clickbait headlines proliferated. And almost nobody bothered to watch the whole talk — readily available in the Church Newsroom.

As we prepare for General Conference next week, let us consider that the Lord gives us two lines of communication. There is revelation for the Church, given through those with authority — and there is personal revelation, given just for us. Both have vital roles to play in our lives, but let us remember that those we sustain as prophets, seers, and revelators are just that. They are watchmen, warning us of dangers ‘yet afar off”.

Elder Maxwell once said, “Now we are entering times wherein there will be for all of us as Church members, in my judgment, some special challenges which will require of us that we follow the Brethren. All the easy things that the Church has had to do have been done. From now on, it’s high adventure, and followership is going to be tested in some interesting ways . . .”

As we seek to follow the prophets, let us remember their purpose: to point us toward Christ. Let us not only listen to their words; let us experiment on them. If we are faithful, I believe we will find peace in times of trouble and strength in our trials, so that we can say, as Paul, “I have fought a good fight, I have finished my course, I have kept the faith.”

In the name of Jesus Christ, amen.