Knowledge of God – Page 2

The Good Samaritan

As the story was related to me, many years ago, as a missionary, Elder Jack Welch was admiring the stain glass art work in a German Cathedral. This particular glasswork depicted the parable of the Good Samaritan. It was then he connected the meaning of the parable to the Plan of Salvation. Years later and many hours discussing and pondering his discovery, this is my understanding of the Savior’s immortal words. My thanks to Brother Welch’s insights.

The parable is found in Luke 10:25-37

Challenges: Are they from God or Satan?

When teaching the gospel to an investigator, it is common for the teaching missionaries to warn the investigator of impending temptations and trials the closer they come to the truth. “Satan will have you,” we warn.

While on my mission, one of the major stumbling blocks encountered was the story of Nephi dispatching Laban with his own sword. Sometimes the investigator would return the Book of Mormon with a brief, but firm explanation that such a story was inappropriate for scripture, while others would place the book on the porch with a short message.

It is finished!

I received a phone call from a young friend who is a recent convert. While visiting his family and disclosing his newly acquired faith, many questions and statements have been entertained. Last night he called asking how to handle his grandma’s statement, which is roughly as follows:

The bible is the last word from God; there is no more. When Jesus was on the cross he said, “It is finished”, which means there is no more church organization and no more scripture.

The answer is two-parts:

Part 1

My Testimony of the Book of Mormon

My testimony of the Book of Mormon

Richard P. Himmer

23 April 2012

Our family just concluded reading the Book of Mormon aloud. We read almost every night before bedtime as part of our nightly routine for the past two years. Some nights it was only one scripture, while other nights we had up to four readers taking turns. Some nights we didn’t get far because of the many questions our sons would ask. When friends would spend the night, we would take extra time to explain the background behind the story or we’d go to the map on the wall and point out specific geographic landmarks for reference.

The Prophecies are Fulfilled (5 BC – birth of Jesus Christ)

And so things continued in the land about as they were. The wicked hardened their hearts and the righteous looked for the sign. The wicked rationalized the signs and the verity of a Savior saying, “…it is not reasonable that such a being as Christ shall come…[1]”

If He were to really come, why in Jerusalem? What are we, the “B” team? If He’s going to come, He should come here as well and prove to us that He is God. The more they thought about it, the angrier they became. Since there were more wicked people than righteous they made very wicked laws, and the most startling law of all time came as the five years were about to expired.

Samuel the Lamanite (5 BC)

The scene is now set for Samuel the Lamanite who comes into the land of Zarahemla and delivers his message of repentance along with a specific timeline of events. He indicates that Zarahemla would already be destroyed by fire if it were not for the righteous within the city.

Now if you’re among the wicked, at whom do you turn your wrath? A wicked mind accepts no blame, therefore, the righteous are going to get the consequences. To those who repent he gives them an out, but to those not willing to change Samuel says that their days of probation are over. Imagine a prophet of God telling you that your mortal probation is over while you are still alive.

How Nephi understood Isaiah

The third reason the writings of Isaiah provide such difficulty is his education. Isaiah was among the educated elite of his day. He was raised in the big city of Jerusalem and spent his entire life preparing to serve the Lord. He was aggressive in dealing with the skeptics of his day for he was a prophet in his own city and did not use diplomacy with his tongue:

“The Lord…hath made my mouth like a sharp sword…and made me a polished shaft[1]. The Lord God hath given me the tongue of the learned, that I should know how to speak a word in season to him that is weary[2]. “

The Key to understanding Isaiah

“Unto you it is given to know the mysteries of the kingdom of God; but to others in parables; that seeing they might not see, and hearing they might not understand.[1]”

The writings of Nephi become a ‘key’ as it were, to unlocking the mysteries of Isaiah. Full comprehension is therefore relegated to those who accept the Book of Mormon as the word of God. For those whose pride blocks the insights provided by divine intervention, the clarity of Isaiah is looking through a glass darkly[2] and the precepts are coded in a script or tongue undecipherable except to those carrying the blood of Israel.

The Gift of the Holy Ghost

On the day of Pentecost, Peter admonished all those within ear shot to “repent and be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins, and ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost.” (Acts 3:28)

The gift is an endowment of divine grace and goodness. An endowment is a gift donated by a benefactor for the use of others on conditions specified by the giver.

There is a difference between the Holy Ghost and the gift of the Holy Ghost (History of the Church, 4:555.) The Holy Ghost is a personage of Spirit (D&C 130:22) while the gift of the Holy Ghost is the right to receive the companionship and association of the Spirit.

Who Has Seen the Personage of the Holy Ghost?

Prophets and saints of all ages have seen the Lord, Jesus Christ. He is manifested in dreams in the night, visions during day, and face-to-face as with Moses and Joseph Smith. There are a few who have been honored to see the Father, however, seeing the personage of the Holy Ghost in another matter.

His presence is manifested, his influence is felt, his voice is heard, but his person is kept hidden from view except in rare instances[1]. Man’s attention is not intended for any being except the Father whom we worship, and the Son, through whom we worship.

What is Repentance?

Elder Burton explains repentance by going to the Old Testament. The OT was written in Hebrew and the word for repentance is shube. The meaning of the word is ‘to turn away’ or ‘to change.’

We are commanded to preach repentance. If you consider the meaning of shube, then we are commanded to preach the concept of living differently, to turn away from sin or to change the way we live.

When the Bishop exhorts us to repent, he is suggesting we change or turn away from harmful habits and turn unto the Lord.

Faith vs. Knowledge – con’t

Which comes first, faith or knowledge?

Is faith a vague uncertain hope in something that, with proper attention grows into knowledge? Or is faith something that grows based on a foundation of knowledge?

Faith, as I understand it, carries two levels of commitment and two levels of knowledge. The first level is that of action. You exercise your faith that you may receive an answer, direction, confirmation, clarity, or greater knowledge. In order to exercise said faith, it must be based on something.

Which comes first: Knowledge or Faith?

Is faith an action that sprouts knowledge? Does the action come first before knowledge is present or created?

Or is faith based upon truth and existing knowledge? Is faith therefore, something that grows out of and comes because of a prior knowledge of the truth?

Answer: Faith is the child of knowledge! It is reserved for those only who first have knowledge; there neither is nor can be any faith until there is knowledge. No one can have faith in a God of whom he knows nothing. No one can have faith unto life and salvation in a false god; no idol ever had power to raise the dead or stop the sun. (McConkie, A New Witness for the Articles of Faith, pg. 166.)

True Doctrine of God

Accepting the true doctrine of the Fall is also accepting Jesus as the Christ, the Only Begotten of the Father, and a separate, glorified and eternal Being as the Second God of the godhead. Having faith in Jesus Christ means you know His true identity (John 17:3).

Believing in a Christ that is of one substance with the Father may bring about many blessings and be a strength to the soul, but it is not worshipping God as commanded in Exodus 20:3

“Thou shalt have no other gods before me.”

Adam = mortality; Christ = immortality

Therefore, as Adam brought about mortality, Christ brought about immortality and for those who accept Him, eternal life. But, if Adam had not partaken of the fruit, there would be no need for Jesus Christ, and Lucifer would never have had to display his incredible temper and prideful, rebellious personality.

The fall is the child of the creation and the atonement is the child of the fall (McConkie, A New Witness for the Article of Faith, pg. 81). Salvation was made available in and through the creation, the fall, and the atonement. These three are each part of one divine plan.