He Suffereth It - The Fellowship of His Suffering

I was pondering Mosiah 15:5 this morning and “suffereth” caught my attention. Here is the verse, “And thus the flesh becoming subject to the Spirit, or the Son to the Father, being one God, suffereth temptation, and yieldeth not to the temptation, but suffereth himself to be mocked, and scourged, and cast out, and disowned by his people” (Mosiah 15:5).

Typically, I believe, when we see the word suffer or suffering or suffereth, we think of feeling physical or mental anguish or pain. But, it is clear in scripture that there is a dual meaning found in the word suffer. The second phrase in the verse quoted above says, “but [He] suffereth himself to be mocked, and scourged, and cast out, and disowned by his people.” Here another definition of the word suffer is very evident. He “allowed” himself to be mocked, and scourged, etc. When focused on in this light, “to allow,” then we gain greater depth for the Lord’s perfect control of His emotions, feelings and ultimately His love for others and His willingness to allow them to exercise their agency, no matter the consequences.

Websters 1828 Dictionary’s third description of suffer is, “To allow; to permit; not to forbid or hinder. Will you suffer yourself to be insulted?”

Jesus truly “allowed or suffered” Himself to be mocked, scourged, cast out and disowned by His people (see Mosiah 15:5). His miracles prove that He had the power to stop the personal suffering, but He “allowed” it to happen.

“And the world, because of their iniquity, shall judge him to be a thing of naught; wherefore they scourge him, and he suffereth it; and they smite him, and he suffereth it. Yea, they spit upon him, and he suffereth it, because of his loving kindness and his long-suffering towards the children of men” (1 Nephi 19:9).

Here suffereth may be using both aspects of suffering, to allow and to feel pain. This adds great depth and meaning to our understanding of what will be expected of us as we truly come unto Him as true disciples of the Lord, Jesus Christ and His Father.

Jesus allowed or suffered others to hurt Him because He honored and respected everyone’s agency the same way Father does. He loves us so much that He willingly allowed or suffered Himself to feel pain or suffer to fulfill the demands of justice because of the consequences of our sins. We can repent. We can change. We don’t have to suffer any longer because He suffered for us already. He willingly “allowed” Himself to suffer for all of our sins. It is so beautiful! The magnitude of His love is beyond expression. Why? Because He loves us!

Father allowed all things to happen because He loved us enough to let us find truth and become one with truth through exercising agency and then changing, repenting. He needed a son willing to suffer himself to be slain for the sins of the world, willing to receive the justice of our sins. Jesus was that Son. Because of Him my sins can be remitted as I repent fully. I love Him. I testify of His reality.

On this path of becoming like the Savior, we come face to face with suffering, feeling mental and physical anguish and allowing all evil to happen to us. Experience has taught me that if we truly seek to know the Savior of the world, we will be required to willingly suffer others to do to us similar things to what they did to the Savior. As we LEARN the truth, ACT on that truth and then SHARE that truth with others, in some form or another we will have opportunities to be mocked, scourged, cast out and disowned by our people whom we love too. I would suggest the scriptures are replete with that truth (see John 17:3, Moses 1:39, Alma 7:11-14). Joseph Smith is an example of this too. He learned the truth about God, He acted on what he learned and then shared what he learned. Ultimately he was killed for this.

Some would say that because Jesus suffered, we won’t have to or because He allowed bad things to happen to Him, then we won’t have to. This is true to some extent as found in Doctrine and Covenants 19:16-19. We won’t have to pay the price of justice for our sins, if we repent. But there is another side to this. If we are required to become like Him to live with Him and His Father, then we will have the great opportunity to enter the fellowship of His suffering (Philippians 3:10). Here are two other great commands given to us by Jesus Christ, “...for the works which ye have seen me do that shall ye also do; for that which ye have seen me do even that shall ye do;” (3 Nephi 27:21). “...what manner of men ought ye to be? Verily I say unto you, even as I am” (3 Nephi 27:27).

On this journey we won’t handle these experiences perfectly. We won’t suffer these things to happen to us exactly as the Savior did until we have perfect charity. If we truly come unto Him, we will learn to suffer all things as the Savior did. I’m so grateful for His suffering the demands of justice that He can allow me to live in this grace period as I practice becoming like Him, as I practice charity.

To summarize my thoughts on suffering posted here, I might say this. If we are to become one with Christ, we must suffer as He did by suffering others to exercise their agency to our suffering. We join the fellowship of His suffering. I pray for strength to truly allow or suffer others to exercise their agency to my great pain. This pain is swallowed up in Christ as I give it to the Savior and trust in Him.

He is the ONE! He is the WAY! He is the LIFE and LIGHT of the world!

(See also Isaiah 53 and Mosiah 14).

Personal Revelation: Fear NOT! God Hath Not Given Us the Spirit of Fear

The Lord keeps showing me that fear is not of Him. I believe one of the major deceptions of the evil one is getting us to think that our fears are really answers from God telling us not to do or think certain things. Scripturally it is clear. Let’s look at a few verses and examples.

Paul taught, “For God hath not given us the spirit of fear; but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind. Be not thou therefore ashamed of the testimony of our Lord, nor of me his prisoner: but be thou partaker of the afflictions of the gospel according to the power of God” (2 Timothy 1:7-8). I believe this is one of the jewels of revelation. I have never found an example in scripture when the Lord uses fear to dissuade or discourage someone from moving forward in a particular course of action or thought. There is a righteous fear of the Lord, but that is describing a holy respect for God, not the fear described in this post.

“Fear not!” I just did a search on “fear not” in the scriptures. It comes up many, many times in the scriptures. Usually it is the Lord or His messengers telling the people to fear not. So many experiences in the scriptures and my own personal experiences have taught me that fear seems to always be at the gate of faith, opportunity and blessings from God. We have to walk through and into the face of fear to get to the blessings of God. Joseph Smith’s first vision is a great example of this.

Joseph shared, “After I had retired to the place where I had previously designed to go, having looked around me, and finding myself alone, I kneeled down and began to offer up the desires of my heart to God. I had scarcely done so, when immediately I was seized upon by some power which entirely overcame me, and had such an astonishing influence over me as to bind my tongue so that I could not speak. Thick darkness gathered around me, and it seemed to me for a time as if I were doomed to sudden destruction. But, exerting all my powers to call upon God to deliver me out of the power of this enemy which had seized upon me, and at the very moment when I was ready to sink into despair and abandon myself to destruction--not to an imaginary ruin, but to the power of some actual being from the unseen world, who had such marvelous power as I had never before felt in any being--just at this moment of great alarm, I saw a pillar of light exactly over my head, above the brightness of the sun, which descended gradually until it fell upon me” (Joseph Smith History 1:15-16).

Even though he spiritually prepared himself and went before God in sincere prayer, he was attacked by the evil one. In Joseph’s 1835 account of the first vision he stated, “I made a fruitless attempt to pray; my tongue seemed to be swollen in my mouth, so that I could not utter. I heard a noise behind me, like some person walking towards me. I strove again to pray but could not. The noise of walking seemed to draw nearer. I sprung up on my feet and looked around but saw no person or thing that was calculated to produce the noise of walking.” The devil will try to incite fear in any way possible.

The first vision is a great example of the adversary trying to use fear before a great spiritual manifestation or experience occurs. But Satan will also use fear to keep one from believing in a spiritual experience after it occurs as well. Moses seeing the Lord is a great example of the adversary trying to get you to worship him and disbelieve the great spiritual experience after it happens. It is interesting that in verse 15 of Moses 1, Moses recognizes that Satan’s glory is darkness unto him and Moses commands him to depart and deceive him not. The author of deception is darkness. His tactics are darkness. Fear is a dark feeling. Do not be deceived by fear. In verses 16 and 18 Moses commands Satan to depart but the evil one doesn’t leave. Satan rants in a loud voice and commands Moses to worship him. At this point Moses is being overcome by evil. The record states, “...Moses began to fear exceedingly; and as he began to fear, he saw the bitterness of hell” (Moses 1:20). Fear brought the bitterness of hell. Fear brings fruits of the evil one. When we listen to our fears, we’ll notice fruits of the evil one subtly enter our mind and heart. It can completely overcome us if we don’t recognize what is happening and cast out the evil one. Moses drew upon the Lord to overcome. The scripture reads, “Nevertheless, calling upon God, he received strength, and he commanded, saying: Depart from me, Satan, for this one God only will I worship, which is the God of glory. And now Satan began to tremble, and the earth shook; and Moses received strength, and called upon God, saying: In the name of the Only Begotten, depart hence, Satan. And it came to pass that Satan cried with a loud voice, with weeping, and wailing, and gnashing of teeth; and he departed hence, even from the presence of Moses, that he beheld him not.” (Moses 1:20-22). When Moses used the name of the Lord, that is when the devil had to leave his presence. So we must recognize fear when it comes and cast out the evil one in the name of our holy Redeemer, Jesus Christ.

Elder Jeffrey R. Holland has one of the best talks I’ve ever read on this topic of the adversary seeking to use fear to stop our progression on the path of illumination and revelation. I highly recommend it. I was led to it when I started dating my wife and was about to turn back. Here is the link https://speeches.byu.edu/talks/jeffrey-r-holland_cast-not-away-therefore-your-confidence/

As I ponder the decisions, questions and revelations I’ve received in my own life, the devil will always be there seeking to make fear a factor in my decisions moving forward and in my reflections about the past. Fear is the opposite of faith. That has become more and more clear as I continue to battle this in my life.

My thoughts go to Alma 32:21 and Ether 12:6.

“And now as I said concerning faith--faith is not to have a perfect knowledge of things; therefore if ye have faith ye hope for things which are not seen, which are true” (Alma 32:21).

“And now, I, Moroni, would speak somewhat concerning these things; I would show unto the world that faith is things which are hoped for and not seen; wherefore, dispute not because ye see not, for ye receive no witness until after the trial of your faith” (Ether 12:6).

I feel like these verses and experiences have taught me that faith isn’t so much in being absolutely certain in the answer from the Lord before moving forward. He gives line upon line and as we have faith to move forward He opens the way before us. We have to step into the fog or darkness, hoping and placing faith in Jesus that He will deliver us...not because He has spelled everything out for us and because it all logically comes together in our minds before stepping forward. We have to place our faith and trust in Him, in the small assurances and answers He has given us.

There is a great scene in the Indiana Jones movies. He comes to a ravine, a cliff, and there isn’t a bridge there. He has to step onto the empty space, trusting that there really is an invisible walkway there. It is a marvelous explanation of faith. We have hope that He will provide and deliver us. Sometimes we sit there and we ask and ask and ask for an absolute revelation and firm answer, telling Him that if He will just give us the full answer we will exercise faith and doing what He tells us to do. But where would the faith in Him be if we knew 100% the course we should take? It’s easy to have a law of Moses guide book and then exercise faith to follow it. What is difficult is exercising faith in Him as we inch our way out onto the cliff, believing in Him to provide a solid surface to walk on even though we can’t see or feel it there until we shift our weight fully on the foot that is walking off the cliff. Even though He has done that over and over again for us in our lives, it still requires faith each time to walk off the cliff.

Logically, it doesn’t make sense. It is a paradox and God seems to enjoy those paradoxes. I think it’s because He takes joy in revealing Himself to us in the details, as we feel and know there was no way things would have worked out if it wasn’t for His involvement in our lives.

Jeffrey R. Holland and the scriptures state it well. He said, “After you have gotten the message, after you have paid the price to feel his love and hear the word of the Lord, ‘go forward.’ Don’t fear, don’t vacillate, don’t quibble, don’t whine. You may, like Alma going to Ammonihah, have to find a route that leads an unusual way, but that is exactly what the Lord was doing here for the children of Israel. Nobody had ever crossed the Red Sea this way, but so what? There’s always a first time. With the spirit of revelation, dismiss your fears and wade in with both feet. In the words of Joseph Smith, ‘Brethren [and, I would add, sisters], shall we not go on in so great a cause? Go forward and not backward. Courage, brethren; and on, on to the victory!’ (D&C 128:22).” (“Cast Not Away Therefore Your Confidence,” Jeffrey R. Holland, Of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, Mar. 2, 1999, BYU Devotional).

These are higher doctrines of revelation that the scripture so beautifully share with us as we enter these roads. It is imperative that we live worthy of the influence of the Holy Ghost in our lives and trust the grace of Jesus Christ as we diligently seek Him. There is no substitute. It takes work and a heart centered in God and His ways above all else. My prayer is for the strength to always live in the meekness of His Spirit, ready to respond as He gently leads me along. Praise be to God for His goodness in leading us along to Him!

The Beattitudes - Some Thoughts

I was thinking about Matthew chapter 5 today and a couple questions came to mind that I thought I’d post.. The questions are these:

Is doing what is socially acceptable righteous?

Are doing the works of righteousness the same thing as being righteous?

My thoughts were on the Savior’s life and this beautiful sermon of the beatitudes in Matthew 5. 

Was John the Baptist socially acceptable? How about Noah, Enoch, Lehi, Samuel the Lamanite? 

Jesus taught that blessed are the peacemakers. How did He go about establishing peace? Did He do all things for peace’s sake, or rather, did He do all things for truth’s sake, and as everyone discovers and embraces ALL truth then He knew that it would ultimately lead to true peace?

I wonder when I see His full life before me more perfectly what the full Christ will BECOME for me. He was meek and lowly yet He stood up to all the false beliefs and traditions of the society He lived in. When they falsely accused, misunderstood and misrepresented Him, He truly loved them and had compassion upon them because they knew not what they did.

Truly, Jesus is the answer. I pray for strength and faith to be more like Him. I’m so grateful for Him. I fall at His feet before Him. He has saved me from my sins and I pray for strength to give away all my sins that I might come to know Him more perfectly. Truly, He is the ONE! He is the WAY!

A Witness for Christ

I read JST John 1:19 recently and the Lord taught me some truths that I’m following now.

Here is the verse: “And no man hath seen God at any time, except he hath borne record of the Son; for except it is through him no man can be saved.”

I have come to know my Savior, Jesus Christ. I believed scriptures like Doctrine and Covenants 93:1 and Doctrine and Covenants 88:68 and went to the Lord to receive that witness. I believed His word and He delivered the promised blessing over 20 years ago to me. I witness that He lives and that He condescends unto the children of men in power and great glory. His grace is sufficient as we strive to come unto Him. He is a rewarder of those that love Him and keep His commandments. I am not perfect but my heart is on Him. Deep peace and love come only in and through the power of the Redeemer, Jesus the Christ.

I write this witness and testimony that my children may know to what source they may look for a remission of their sins. I hope that my testimony will encourage others to receive the same witness for themselves, that He lives!

Vulnerability at the Gate

I was reading in Alma 49 and had some thoughts that I felt came from the Lord. In this chapter, the Lamanites had come upon the Nephites to battle to the cities they thought were least fortified. Moroni had prepared by putting the most fortifications in their weakest cities. Weaknesses had become strengths (Ether 12:27). In this way they were prepared and defeated the Lamanites. Even though there was strength in these weak places, there was still one place that was vulnerable. It was the entrance. The record explains how they protected the entrance. It reads,

“18 Now behold, the Lamanites could not get into their forts of security by any other way save by the entrance, because of the highness of the bank which had been thrown up, and the depth of the ditch which had been dug round about, save it were by the entrance.
19 And thus were the Nephites prepared to destroy all such as should attempt to climb up to enter the fort by any other way, by casting over stones and arrows at them.
20 Thus they were prepared, yea, a body of their strongest men, with their swords and their slings, to smite down all who should attempt to come into their place of security by the place of entrance; and thus were they prepared to defend themselves against the Lamanites.
21 And it came to pass that the captains of the Lamanites brought up their armies before the place of entrance, and began to contend with the Nephites, to get into their place of security; but behold, they were driven back from time to time, insomuch that they were slain with an immense slaughter” (Alma 49:18-21).

It is interesting that the entrance had to remain a little more vulnerable because they had to use the entrance when they weren’t in a battle. So, they increased their defenses in the spot of vulnerability and they put their strongest men there to defend that spot. In our lives there are some things that remain vulnerable because of the world we live in and the necessities of day to day living. For example, there is a telestial world that we live in. Sometimes it is impossible to block out all the filth. We interact with people that use poor language etc. When we interact with members of the church, many have lower standards and make evil look good. We must prepare with the most strength we can to fight off any false ideas, false doctrine and principles of evil that are taught all about us, from whatever source they come. We need the sword of truth to help us defend ourselves by the unrelenting attacks of the adversary. It is interesting in this account that the Lamanites care not for the lives of their people and are determined to take down even the most fortified city. We can never let our guards down. We must invite the Spirit into our lives each day.

It is interesting to me that even though they had prepared the rest of the city to be protected, they still needed active, live men to fight off those that attempted to attack them. We need to come ready to battle each day, no matter how much we feel prepared for the attacks of the adversary.

In reference to the entrance, it struck me that in order to progress in life, we have to be willing to consider doctrines and principles that we haven’t considered before. We have to be willing to be vulnerable, open to receiving new truths from God in the manner He chooses to expose us to them. For example, when someone loves the Bible and are exposed to the Book of Mormon, Another Testament of Jesus Christ. It can make them feel vulnerable to read such a record. In their minds, it might expose them to ideas that are untrue etc. If they exercise faith, they can read and ask God if it is true. When we are given the sealed portion, I’m sure we will have similar doubts and worries. If we are fortified with the Spirit of the Lord, having done this before we are presented with new information, then when we read new records we can take them to the Lord and recognize if they are rooted in Him or not.

I have been reading new records. Some have tasted very good and sweet to me. Others I wonder and ponder upon. I have been open to others sharing dreams and visions and I have read their accounts and taken it to the Lord to know if these things can be of benefit to me and are worth my time and ponderings. Some would argue they have enough in the Book of Mormon, but I would say that saying we have enough is exactly what Nephi warns us of saying. “Yea, wo be unto him that saith: We have received, and we need no more!” (2 Nephi 28:27). God has many, many records and witnesses He wishes to give us to enlighten us and come more fully unto Him. I know this is true. Joseph Smith taught about reading apocryphal writings, “Therefore, whoso readeth it, let him understand, for the Spirit manifesteth truth; And whoso is enlightened by the Spirit shall obtain benefit therefrom; And whoso receiveth not by the Spirit, cannot be benefited” (Doctrine and Covenants 91:4-6).

If we are going to ascend unto God, we must be willing to receive light and truth from whatever source God decides to lead us to. This will stretch us as we will feel vulnerable. That vulnerability creates a window of humility, an openness to the possibility that God is trying to teach us something useful and give us more light and knowledge.

Many people aren’t willing to expose themselves to new ideas because they are worried they will be deceived. This is interesting because they are already deceived. We live in a telestial world. We have to get past a telestial (deceived) level of thinking if we are going to rise above to greater light. To not be willing to learn new ideas is to be satisfied with the deceptions and lies we already live in.

I think some reasons we hold ourselves back from entertaining new ideas is the fear that we can’t recognize truth from error. I have found one good thing for me to do is stay firmly rooted in those things I know are true. For example, when I was studying for my masters degree in Bible and Ministry, I always made time to study and ponder in the Book of Mormon. There is a true, familiar spirit that I feel in the Book of Mormon. In this way, when I read other things or am exposed to different ideas, I can test how I feel as I’m reading these new ideas to how I feel when I read the Book of Mormon. I know what truth tastes like. Just like testing a new fruit. I know what a sweet orange tastes like and a fruit that isn’t sweet will not be one I want to continue tasting.

Strategies of the Evil One

This past year has been very interesting and trying for me. I have been tried to the core to see if I will put my faith in Jesus Christ or in man, no matter the consequences. I have found the Book of Mormon is continually revealing the enemies of Christ, as President Ezra Taft Benson declared. Since fear is not of God (2 Timothy 1:7), when otherwise good people let fear enter their heart, they also let the evil one have place in them to guide them in his ways. It is so subtle they don’t realize they are acting and thinking under his influence. The thoughts they have in their minds are directed by the evil one because they have made place to entertain fearful thoughts, thus letting him whisper in their ears. We know that the devil “whispereth in their ears” (2 Nephi 28:22). Therefore, those thoughts that are sprung up in fear are in the devil’s territory. Through fearful thoughts their minds have entered the territory of the evil one, even the one they pretend to abhor. I will share a couple common strategies from the Book of Mormon that they soon fall victim to as they listen to the wrong thoughts.

One is falling into a trap of assuming that a particular action equals a particular outcome. Usually this happens because of one’s own past experiences or what one wants to believe. A great example in the Book of Mormon is when the Lamanite daughters are abducted from their place of dancing and singing. The wicked priests of King Noah had abandoned their families and had found the daughters of the Lamanites in this place dancing and singing. The record states,

“And when there were but few of them gathered together to dance, they [the wicked priests of king Noah] came forth out of their secret places and took them and carried them into the wilderness; yea, twenty and four of the daughters of the Lamanites they carried into the wilderness.
6 And it came to pass that when the Lamanites found that their daughters had been missing, they were angry with the people of Limhi, for they thought it was the people of Limhi.
7 Therefore they sent their armies forth; yea, even the king himself went before his people; and they went up to the land of Nephi to destroy the people of Limhi” (Mosiah 20:5-7).

The Lamanites had been at war with Limhi’s people so they immediately assumed that the people of Limhi were the culprits. They let anger and fear guide their thoughts and immediately accused the wrong people and caused the death of many people on both sides of the conflict because of an incorrect assumption. They spread this assumption through rumor. All of a sudden an entire people are upset with Limhi’s people because of rumors. Fear, anger and rumor are great weapons of the evil one.

The next example is found with Amalickiah, a wicked Nephite dissenter. He is a master of deceit. Through deceit, lies and murder, he becomes the head of the entire Lamanite army. In order to become the head of the Lamanites, he has to eliminate the king. As he returns to the chief city, the king comes out to greet them and Amalickiah’s servants bow as if to reverence him. When the first servant stands back up he stabs the king to the heart and kills him. Immediately the king’s servants flee and Amalickiah’s servants lie and cry out to the people, “Behold, the servants of the king have stabbed him to the heart, and he has fallen and they have fled; behold, come and see” (Alma 47:26). From a distance it appears the lie is true.

The record continues, “And it came to pass that Amalickiah commanded that his armies should march forth and see what had happened to the king; and when they had come to the spot, and found the king lying in his gore, Amalickiah pretended to be wroth, and said: Whosoever loved the king, let him go forth, and pursue his servants that they may be slain” (Alma 47:27). Then Amalickiah’s servants, in their successful attempt to explain to the queen how her husband was murdered, make an appeal to the fact that the king’s servants fled from the scene so it is clear they have committed this murder (Alma 47:34).

The strategy here is to claim someone else is doing exactly what you are doing. My experience has taught me this principle over and over and here it is exposed in the great record of the Book of Mormon. Amalickiah states that the servants of the king did exactly what his servants did to the king and creates the image to support his deceit. So many times in our lives our enemies claim that we do something that they are doing. They then spread the false accusations and lies by describing their own feelings and evil acts but ascribing them to be of their enemy. It is a horrible tactic but as you ponder your life you will notice this is a common tactic of the adversary.

Look at those who accused our Lord. They claimed he was a blasphemer and a child of the devil, Beelzebub, when in reality they were the ones setting themselves up as a light and acting under the influence of the devil. It is a time-tested principle of the evil one, to claim someone else is doing whatever you yourself are doing.

It is hard to love those that persecute you in both of these strategies of the evil one. It is real and it becomes the perfect test of charity. When Jesus taught to love your enemies and those that fight against you and speak all manner of evil against you, this was hard doctrine. There is a reason many fall away from following Him as the intensity of the trials increase and all manner of evil is spoken against you and a lie overshadows you. If you care more of what men think of you than what God knows of you, then you will fall. If you only care what God knows of you, then you will live. Trust in God. Carry on in the paths of truth and righteousness and all these things will be for thy experience and for thy good (Doctrine and Covenants 122:7).

Come, Follow Me - How do we follow the prophet without making an idol of him?

President Russell M. Nelson has been trying to turn us to the Lord. I am convinced he would be disappointed in many of our fast and testimony meetings because of our continuous praising of him instead of praising the Lord, Jesus Christ or our Father in heaven. Some well-meaning saints may be trying to praise the Lord by expressing their love and devotion to the president of the church but we need to make sure that this mantra doesn’t derail us from the path to coming unto the Savior of the world, even Jesus Christ.

Listen to several paragraphs from the past general conferences of the church:

“In a coming day, only those men who have taken their priesthood seriously, by diligently seeking to be taught by the Lord Himself, will be able to bless, guide, protect, strengthen, and heal others. Only a man who has paid the price for priesthood power will be able to bring miracles to those he loves and keep his marriage and family safe, now and throughout eternity” (“The Price of Priesthood Power,” Russell M. Nelson, General Conference, April 2016).

“It is doctrinally incomplete to speak of the Lord’s atoning sacrifice by shortcut phrases, such as “the Atonement” or “the enabling power of the Atonement” or “applying the Atonement” or “being strengthened by the Atonement.” These expressions present a real risk of misdirecting faith by treating the event as if it had living existence and capabilities independent of our Heavenly Father and His Son, Jesus Christ.
Under the Father’s great eternal plan, it is the Savior who suffered. It is the Savior who broke the bands of death. It is the Savior who paid the price for our sins and transgressions and blots them out on condition of our repentance. It is the Savior who delivers us from physical and spiritual death.
There is no amorphous entity called “the Atonement” upon which we may call for succor, healing, forgiveness, or power. Jesus Christ is the source. Sacred terms such as Atonement and Resurrection describe what the Savior did, according to the Father’s plan, so that we may live with hope in this life and gain eternal life in the world to come. The Savior’s atoning sacrifice--the central act of all human history--is best understood and appreciated when we expressly and clearly connect it to Him.
The importance of the Savior’s mission was emphasized by the Prophet Joseph Smith, who declared emphatically that “the fundamental principles of our religion are the testimony of the Apostles and Prophets, concerning Jesus Christ, that He died, was buried, and rose again the third day, and ascended into heaven; and all other things which pertain to our religion are only appendages to it” (Drawing the Power of Jesus Christ Into Our Lives,” Russell M. Nelson, General Conference, April 2017).

Elder Larry Y. Wilson said this, “Some may think we shouldn’t expect daily guidance from the Spirit because “it is not meet that [God] should command in all things,” lest we become slothful servants. This scripture, however, was given to some early missionaries who asked Joseph Smith to obtain revelation they should have received for themselves. In a preceding verse, the Lord told them to come to the mission field “as they shall counsel between themselves and me.”
These missionaries wanted a specific revelation about their travel plans. They hadn’t yet learned to seek their own direction in personal matters. The Lord called this attitude what it is: slothful. Early Church members may have been so happy to have a true prophet that they were in danger of failing to learn how to receive revelation themselves. Being spiritually self-reliant is hearing the Lord’s voice through His Spirit for one’s own life” (“Take the Holy Spirit as Your Guide,” Larry Y. Wilson, General Conference, April 2018).

Elder Neil L. Andersen said this, “A prophet does not stand between you and the Savior. Rather, he stands beside you and points the way to the Savior” (“The Prophet of God,” Neil L. Andersen, General Conference, April 2018).

President Nelson says something very powerful right after indicating the Lord is leading this church. He says, “But in coming days, it will not be possible to survive spiritually without the guiding, directing, comforting, and constant influence of the Holy Ghost” (“Revelation for the Church, Revelation for Our Lives,” Russell M. Nelson, General Conference, April 2018). In other words, the Lord is guiding His church but if you don’t know how to communicate with Him, you will fall.

And then from last general conference, October 2018, “For much of the world, the Lord’s Church is presently disguised as the “Mormon Church.” But we as members of the Lord’s Church know who stands at its head: Jesus Christ Himself. Unfortunately, many who hear the term Mormon may think that we worship Mormon. Not so! We honor and respect that great ancient American prophet. But we are not Mormon’s disciples. We are the Lord’s disciples” (“The Correct Name of the Church,” Russell M. Nelson, General Conference, October 2018).

Go through and replace “Mormon” with “President Nelson”.

“For much of the world, the Lord’s Church is presently disguised as [President Nelson’s Church]. But we as members of the Lord’s Church know who stands at its head: Jesus Christ Himself. Unfortunately, many who hear the term [Follow the Prophet] may think that we worship [President Nelson]. Not so! We honor and respect [President Nelson, our current prophet]. But we are not [President Nelson’s] disciples. We are the Lord’s disciples.”

Let us be ever diligent in emphasizing the absolute necessity to follow the Lord, Jesus Christ. Anyone or anything that leads us to Jesus Christ will be of benefit to us, but we follow no man or woman. We must never put our trust in the arm of the flesh. Nephi said, “O Lord, I have trusted in thee, and I will trust in thee forever. I will not put my trust in the arm of flesh; for I know that cursed is he that putteth his trust in the arm of flesh. Yea, cursed is he that putteth his trust in man or maketh flesh his arm” (2 Nephi 4:34).

Notes:

Some great talks to emphasize this important distinction and powerful doctrine are found in President Henry B. Eyring’s talk where a young man came to him when he was bishop and was wise enough to not trust the bishop over the Lord. (“The Lord Leads His Church,” Henry B. Eyring, General Conference, October 2017). Another talk is by Elder D. Todd Christofferson, “The Doctrine of Christ,” General Conference, April 2012. He emphasizes the need for us to take our own spiritual responsibility in seeking our own witness about every word that cometh from the prophets of the Lord to make sure that the Holy Ghost ratifies the truth of what has been said. “By the power of the Holy Ghost ye may know the truth of all things,” (Moroni 10:5).