Talk Sunday 7/19/2015
Charles J. Ingerson, Kingsland Ward
This previous Sunday I was asked to speak – given the
freedom of picking my own subject. Usually when I’ve been asked to speak I tie
my talk into the Hymns and try to develop my comments to create a harmony of
feeling. Since with this talk I was given very short notice – the assigned
speaker had been unable to make the meeting. The Intermediate Hymn was #230
“Scatter Sunshine” (Scripture Reference: Psalm 100:2 and James 1:27) and the
concluding Hymn #241 “Count Your Blessings” (Scripture Reference: Doctrine and Covenants 78:17-19 “Verily, verily, I say unto you, ye are little children,
and ye have not as yet understood how great blessings the Father hath in his
own hands and prepared for you; 18 And ye
cannot bear all things now; nevertheless, be of good cheer, for
I will lead you along. The kingdom is yours and the blessings thereof
are yours, and the riches of eternity are yours. 19 And he who receiveth all things
with thankfulness shall be made glorious; and the things of this earth
shall be added unto him, even an hundred fold, yea, more.” and
Alma 34:38 “That ye contend no
more against the Holy Ghost, but that ye receive it, and take upon you
the name of Christ; that ye humble yourselves even to the dust,
and worship God, in whatsoever place ye may be in, in spirit and in
truth; and that ye live in thanksgiving daily, for the many mercies and
blessings which he doth bestow upon you.).”
Though what follows is a bit disjointed it encompasses
what my talk consisted of with almost all points being duplicated. I used as my
theme the words found in Psalms 73:17 (but the whole Psalm) where it talks
about those within the world using greed/fraud/evil and apparently winning –
until one gets to verse 17! The sanctuary of God is the Temple (The House of the
LORD) here on earth today as in the past. Therefore the talk wove around our
being Temple Worthy at all times. Sometimes this is greatly understood – in that
for years only certain persons held the Priesthood or had access to the Temples
of the LORD. Temple worthy means just that one is in full obedience to the
Commandments of the Father and the Son.
Temple worthiness is predicated on obedience (full
obedience) understanding the Gospel Plan and the full comprehension of the
Atonement of Jesus Christ. Since the Church has been restored to this earth in
the early 1800’s Temples have once again been built for those worthy members of
the Church. However, what of those who had no access to the Temple? This
includes those who lived in distant lands or others who were otherwise denied
entrance.
Much has been made of this especially in the secular
world. However, understand anyone who’s been baptized by one holding the proper
authority and received the gift of the Holy Ghost by proper authority and live
worthily receives all of the blessings (ALL) that any other member receives who
is worthy. Thus, after this life – eternal life in the Highest Degree of Glory
awaits all who fully lived the commandments, statutes and laws of the Father
and the Son. People of the world and even many in the Church do not understand
this principle of the Gospel of Jesus Christ!
If this were not so – i.e. all worthy members receiving
all of the blessings of the Plan of Salvation – then God would be a changing
God – and therefore not God at all – for God the Father and his Only Begotten
are unchanging – truth is truth eternally – without end. Never was there a more
important principle in understanding the Atonement and the purpose of this
mortal probation than this – it is all predicated on full obedience. “If ye
love me – keep my Commandments.”
In addition, the
first two speakers were our new Missionary Sisters (Gibb and Butler) and so I
tried to incorporate what they shared with what I had to say. They spoke of
covenants – the Sacrament – great losses and wonderful blessings. In addition,
they referred to our ability to only go so far and then needing the
intervention of the Savior; i.e. the Atonement!
Theme: Psalms
73:17 Until I went into the sanctuary of God; then understood
I their end.;
Exodus
19:5
Now therefore, if ye will obey my voice indeed, and keep my covenant, then ye shall be a peculiar treasure unto me above all people: for
all the earth is mine;
Doctrine
and Covenants 122:8 The Son
of Man hath descended below them all. Art thou greater than
he?
Doctrine
and Covenants 121:35-37 Because their hearts are
set so much upon the things of this world, and aspire to
the honors of men, that they do not learn this one lesson—36 That the rights of the priesthood are
inseparably connected with the powers of heaven, and that the powers of heaven
cannot be controlled nor handled only upon the principles of
righteousness. 37 That they may be conferred
upon us, it is true; but when we undertake to cover our sins, or
to gratify our pride, our vain ambition, or to exercise control or
dominion or compulsion upon the souls of the children of men, in any
degree of unrighteousness, behold, the heavens withdraw themselves;
the Spirit of the Lord is grieved; and when it is withdrawn, Amen to the
priesthood or the authority of that man.
James 1:27 Pure religion and undefiled before God and the
Father is this, to visit the fatherless and widows in their affliction, and to
keep himself unspotted from the world.
Psalms
100:
Serve the Lord with gladness, all who
are His people—Be thankful unto Him and bless His name.
John 15:10 If
ye keep my commandments, ye shall abide in my
love; even as I have kept my Father’s commandments, and abide in his love.
John
14:15 If
ye love me, keep my commandments.
Exodus
20: 20 And
Moses said unto the people, Fear
not: for God is come to prove you, and that his fear may be before your faces, that ye
sin not.
Helaman
5:24 And
they saw that they had become weak,
like unto their brethren, the Lamanites, and that the Spirit of the Lord did no
more preserve them; yea, it had withdrawn from them because the Spirit of the
Lord doth not dwell in unholy temples;
Other Topics: Children of the Royal Birthright – all
other behavior is adoptive; Fear/Incentive Motivation; Attitude Motivation to
change our behaviors; Altruism is the obedience to the Gospel of Jesus Christ –
to be in his service – doing his will. Obedience to the Commandments (all of
them) and there are many – including understanding Isaiah. Isaiah and James
written to those of our day –
“James 1:1 James, a servant of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ,
to the twelve tribes which are scattered abroad, greeting.
Trials of Abraham – we’ll all go through them – used
President Eyring’s father’s example. Learning about the refiner’s fire – and
once knowing each morning we’d want to jump right in of our own free will.
Learn the Spirit of the Law – after we learn obedience to
the Law – in the Temple of God. If unable to go to the Temple – then our Chapel
– if not there our home – if not there in our room – if not there in ourselves!
For within us is the dwelling place of the Holy Ghost and therefore a Temple of
Fathers.
Respecting and sustaining our leaders – all of them even
to the person handing out hymnals! Respect and sustaining means doing all of
our callings – most importantly Home Teaching and Visiting teaching!
“Malachi 3:8 Will a man rob God? Yet ye have robbed
me. But ye say, Wherein have we robbed thee? In tithes and offerings.”
We must be paying a Full Tithe – Fast Offering – caring for the flock – as one
of the many shepherds available to the leadership of the Church. To understand
the importance of obeying the Prophets of the Lord – i.e. FHE and its
importance to the security of the family – President Kimball covenanted that if
we religiously held FHE our children might wander but we would never lose them!
When all we’ve done – endured what we’re able to endure
and hold steady to the course – then the Grace of God comes to our aid in
righteous causes or venues. The Grace of God is additional power – it doesn’t
replace us it adds to us in acknowledging all things in the Father and the Son.
All of this stems from the Atonement – without the Atonement of our Lord and
Savior Jesus Christ there is nothing else. All of this earth would be wasted
and we would be not!
The Law of Liberty – James
1: 25 But
whoso looketh into the perfect law of liberty,
and continueth therein, he being not a forgetful hearer, but a
doer of the work, this man shall be blessed in his deed.
James 2:12 So
speak ye, and so do, as they that shall be judged by the law of liberty. John Adams – speaking about
the Declarations of Independence.
The Two Ways – road to Zion or the road to Babylon – the
more obedient – exponentially going towards Zion – the less obedient
exponentially towards Babylon. There are no other roads or ways – only two –
right or wrong.
1 NE 15:23 And
they said unto me: What meaneth the rod
of iron which our father saw, that led to the tree?
1 NE 15:24 And
I said unto them that it was the word of God; and whoso would hearken unto the word
of God, and would hold fast unto
it, they would never perish; neither could the temptations and the fiery darts of the adversary overpower them
unto blindness, to lead them away to destruction.”
Holding to the Rod of Iron (word of God) – iron rusts
when exposed to air – while if we hold it stays smooth – if we let go it begins
to rust – then when we place our grip back on we cut our hands.
This is like our falling down in a mud hole – if we stay
down we’ll drown – while the quicker we get back up the easier it is to do. The
adversary wants us to stay down – a little longer each time we fall – therefore
no longer able to endure – and giving up to the darkness.
Two scriptures: 2 NE 2:24 & 25: 24 “But behold, all things have been done in the wisdom of him
who knoweth all things. 25 Adam fell that
men might be; and men are, that they might have joy.” Sister Butler
referenced these Scriptures – and how they apply to all of the above. For the
thing that almost all men are most afraid of is this Joy! For this Joy is to be
able to meet face to face with the LORD. In the New Testament we see this when
the Savior (his only begotten) came near to some villages they people asked him
to leave or fled in fear. As in Exodus 19, the people were in fear of coming
face to face with the LORD or even Moses who had been speaking with him.
Thus the verse: Exodus 19:5 “Now
therefore, if ye will obey my voice indeed, and keep my covenant, then ye shall be a peculiar treasure unto me above all people: for
all the earth is mine;” and concluding with Exodus 20:20 And Moses said
unto the people, Fear not: for God is
come to prove you, and that his fear may be before your faces, that ye
sin not.”
Thus in our lives if
we’re obedient we will become a peculiar treasure – and we’re to fear no the
LORD – but he has come to prove each of us (test us) to be obedient. We’ve
great reason fear if we’ve become disobedient and that we sin. Therefore we’ve
to be obedient (fully) and to sin not!
And I say these
things in the name of Jesus Christ amen – c/ork
“Sunday
Talk”
cji
7/21/15
Often
wondering what’s to be
where
speakers will go to direct
lessons
we so need to discern
a
varying point of view to see
yet
when it’s your turn to speak
what
occurs and how prepared
in
tune with the Spirit or all alone
so
much knowing to be said
while
so little able to articulate
a
Sunday talk to be present
coming
from the promptings
for
words I could not know
even
when trying to remember
thus
honoring, and understanding
we’re
but servants called today
as
those who share the truth
found
in Scriptures and love
presented
on the Sabbath day!
Copyright © 2015 –
cji
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