Faith
Hello Brothers and Sisters, I am Elder Burt, and I have been asked to give a talk on faith. This is a topic that is very near to my heart, and it is critical if we are to do as the Lord commands. It is, or at least it should be, by faith that we are here in this building today. It is by faith that we partake of a small portion of bread and water to renew covenants. It is by faith that we enter the house of the Lord to make more sacred covenants with God, and with a hope that we will be blessed for those covenants so long as we keep them.
There are many other things that go along with faith. One that is critical is trust. We must trust that our Father in Heaven will be there when we need him. We must have trust that our prayers will be answered by him. In fact you could even say another word for faith is trust.
Joseph Smith had a lot of trust. He had a very hard situation, and maybe some of you can relate to it.
He lived in a very small house, with a whole ton of siblings. His family was constantly going to different church's, and it wore out his dad so much that he stopped going altogether. They could barely make enough money to feed themselves, and the grip of poverty was firm over the Smiths. It is not a pleasant situation. Joseph himself was not much of a reader, however, like many of us when things get hard, he looked to the Bible for comfort. He read the epistle of James. It is now one of the most influential verses in the restored church. James 1:5 simply and poetically says:
"If any of you lack wisdom, let him ask of God, that
giveth to all men liberally, and upbraideth not; and it
shall be given him"
Joseph said that this pierced his soul. He was motivated to ask in faith, what to do. This verse is amazing as it is asking us to take the first step and ask God. Joseph Smith did indeed take it to God. He knelt down to pray, and Joseph had this to say about his experience:
"I saw a pillar of light exactly over my head, above the
brightness of the sun, which descended gradually
until it fell upon me.
When the light rested upon me I saw two Personages,
whose brightness and glory defy all description,
standing above me in the air. One of them spake unto
me, calling me by name and said, pointing to the other
—This is My Beloved Son. Hear Him!"
It is by faith that the Prophet Joseph Smith could be a tool in the hands of the Lord. This would commence the rushing in of the last dispensation preparatory to the second coming of the Messiah himself. And it all started, with one verse of scripture, and the faith and trust necessary to act upon it.
Preach my gospel, an inspired manual for the church to assist in the missionary work, has this to say about faith in Jesus Christ.
"Faith in Christ leads to action. It leads to sincere
and lasting change. Having faith causes us to try as
hard as we can to learn about and become more like
our Savior with unshaken faith in him, relying wholly
upon the merits of him who is mighty to save. We
want to learn His will and keep His commandments.
Even though we will still make mistakes, we show our
love for Him by striving through the power of Christ’s
Atonement to keep His commandments and avoid sin."
Preach my Gospel states it perfectly. My favorite part is the first part which I will repeat "Faith in Christ leads to action". The Lord will not force us to believe in him. That would go against the plan of salvation that the father has set out for us, and it would go against the foundational principle of agency. The Lord however has many ways of making us want to come to him to learn the gospel. Once the gospel is presented to us, it is up to the individual person to act. Once we act, we can begin to look for the effects and results of faith. Apostle Bruce R McConkie, in my personal opinion one of the greatest speakers to ever walk the face of the earth, had this to say about faith.
"Miracles, signs, the gifts of the spirit, the Knowledge
of God and godliness, and every conceivable good
thing-all these are the effects of faith, all of these
come because faith has become the ruling force in
the lives of the saints."
God will never let our faith be in vain. Now granted this does not mean that we will have a marvelous and grand manifestation of spirit from the very hour that we begin to have faith. In Mathew chapter 16:4 the savior says this about seeking for signs.
"A wicked and adulterous generation seeketh after a sign; and
there shall no sign be given unto it, but the sign of
the prophet Jonas. And he left them, and departed."
We must be patient. We have to continually humble ourselves before God and continue to endure and
persevere, with faith that God will give us what he needs us to have, to continue in faith. The Lord also had this to say about sign seeking in Doctrine and Covenants section 63:
7 And he that seeketh signs shall see signs, but not
unto salvation.
8 Verily, I say unto you, there are those among
you who seek signs, and there have been such even
from the beginning;
9 But, behold, faith cometh not by signs, but signs
follow those that believe.
10 Yea, signs come by faith, not by the will of
men, nor as they please, but by the will of God
Earlier in my Mission I was teaching a wonderful women named Michelle. She had a Jewish back‐
ground and was not really interested in any particular religion. She started meeting with us as more of an intellectual exercise then an actual sincere investigation of the restored church of Jesus Christ. We taught her the first two lessons and was intrigued, but hardly had any convincing experience up to the point. She believed there was a God, but doubted that we needed a savior, and did not really believe in Jesus. She however treasured the Old Testament. Me and my companion shared a very simple scripture out of Genesis with her. This scripture was Genesis 1:26 ¶
"And God said, Let US make man in our image, after
our likeness: and let them have dominion over the fish
of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over the
cattle, and over all the earth, and over every creeping
thing that creepeth upon the earth."
When we shared this verse with her, she started to realize that Jesus was there as well in the creation.
This was the spark that would eventually lead to her faith and testimony in our savior Jesus Christ. We continued on in the lessons and discussions, and she was baptized a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints October 20th 2018.
Another result of true faith is repentance. Repentance as emphasized this last general conference is not simply going to bishop and apologizing for what you have done. Although that is sometimes necessary, repentance should be a daily occurrence. We live in a fallen world in mortal bodies, and as a result every day we turn away from God. This does not mean that God is angry at us and will refuse to forgive us. In fact quite the opposite. Every time we sin, The good Lord will use it as an opportunity to mold us and shape us like a Potter with clay. All we must do is look to him, and let him in to change us.
However like everything else, this requires faith. If we do not have faith that Christ can heal us, then we will be reluctant to change. If we do not have faith that he truly did suffer on the cross and in the Garden for our sins, then we will be skeptical to let him into our lives and open the door to bear the burdens of our lives with us.
Faith unto repentance leads to many amazing things. One of the first fruits of repentance is baptism. In Alma chapter 7:15, this ancient American prophet describes perfectly what Baptism means.
15 Yea, I say unto you come and fear not, and lay
aside every sin, which easily doth beset you, which
doth bind you down to destruction, yea, come and go
forth, and show unto your God that ye are willing to
repent of your sins and enter into a covenant with him
to keep his commandments, and witness it unto him
this day by going into the waters of baptism
So Brothers and Sisters we must ask ourselves. Are we willing to let our sins bind us down and control us? Are we going to set the bar low for ourselves? Are we going to limit who we are because of our lack of faith and desire?
Faith in Jesus Christ and in his restored gospel also leads to our desire to spread the gospel. We must
contribute to the gathering of scattered Isreal. The great apostle Paul made it crystal clear what to
look forward to.
Ephesians 1:10 That in the dispensation of the fulness
of times he might gather together in one all things in
Christ, both which are in heaven, and which are on
earth; even in him
The Gathering of Israel absolutely must not be a thing that we hear that goes in one ear and out the other. The Gathering of Israel is not simply something we read about in the scriptures and conference talks. We are expected as members of not Joseph Smiths church, not Russel M Nelsons church, but our Lord and Savior Jesus Christs church, to share the gospel with others. To bring them not to another sect or denomination of Christianity, but to bring them home. To be willing to help them return to the presence of our Father.
This leaves one more question. Do we truly love our neighbors? Do we have a sincere love for people not as coworkers, friends or in laws, but a true love for them as literal sons and daughters of God? If we do, we must have faith in ourselves and in the Holy Ghost that we will be guided to opportunities to share this wonderful Gospel message with others. We should not do it out of fear, but out of Love for God's children.
The Savior himself used this analogy about the Gospel of Jesus Christ and the light it brings into peoples lives.
Mathew 5:15-16
15 Neither do men light a candle, and put it under a
bushel, but on a candlestick; and it giveth light unto all
that are in the house.
16 Let your light so shine before men, that they may
see your good works, and glorify your Father which is
in heaven
Brothers and sisters, do not fall into the devils trap of thinking you cant do it. Do not fall for the false
emotion and idea that you so not have enough knowledge, or that you are not ready yet to share.
Please have faith in yourself and in your Savior Jesus Christ and all will be well. The time is far spent and there is little remaining.
Brothers and Sisters this is my testimony
