Sunday Talks

I don't think I have ever stated that Nicole and I are members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, but I do think that everyone who reads our blog is already aware of this. For those readers that may not be aware, in the LDS church it is the members who are responsible for delivering the sermons/talks. All of the positions/callings in the church are on a volunteer basis, no one gets paid. Nicole and I were asked to give the talks this past Sunday, the interesting part about it was that we were asked on Friday night to give the talks on Sunday. So on Saturday we spent most of the day preparing our talks.

Since I don't think any of our readers were in attendance on Sunday I figured I would post my talk on our blog so those interested could read it. I would post Nicole's talk, but she didn't want me to. I apologize for those readers with short attention spans, my talk is longer than our usual blog postings. But I hope that most of you will take the opportunity to read.

On Friday night we had the Ward Variety Show. As Nicole and I are on the Ward Activities Committee we are grateful to all of you that attended, and especially grateful for those of you that shared your talents with us. There are many talented individuals in this ward, especially Bro. Faux. We got to see his talent of karaoke singing along with his talent of asking us to give a talk at the last minute. I think we had Bro. Faux worried for minute that we might have declined his invitation, but Nicole and I both are excited to have this opportunity to speak today, we have been married for over three years and this is the first time we have ever been asked to speak. I was surprised that we made it this far!

Because of the short notice I received and that the topic we were given was on revelation I thought about relying 100% on immediate revelation for my talk. But out of fear that I would have had nothing to say I spent all day on Saturday preparing my talk. The LDS website was a very helpful website.

I first want to expand on an experience that Nicole shared with you about her decision not to attend college on the east coast and to go to BYU-Idaho instead. After my mission I attended BYU-Idaho and I enjoyed it, I had a lot of fun there. But I had always wanted to attend a much larger University; I applied to over a dozen different universities in hopes to transfer to one of them. All of the responses came back in the form of rejection letters; it wasn’t so bad since I was getting that same response from every girl I asked out. I got the impression that I needed to stay and I ended up staying at BYU-Idaho for a few more semesters, and then I met Nicole. I found out Nicole was transferring to UNLV, a school that I had not applied to yet. I applied and got accepted; we moved to Vegas and got married. I am grateful that Nicole listened to her promptings to not attend school back east and to attend BYU-Idaho.

Just as Nicole spoke on Personal Revelation I too am going to speak on revelation. I want to speak more on the role that revelation plays in the church. I wanted to find out what the definition of revelation was, the church website has a perfect definition but I want to share with you two other sources I found.

On Wikipedia.com, it says that revelation is an uncovering or disclosure via communication from the divine of something that has been partially or wholly hidden or unknown.

In the Websters Dictionary it is defined as an act of revealing or communicating with divine truth, something that is revealed by God to humans, a pleasant often enlightening surprise.

The definition that I like the best and the one that LDS website states, it is:

Revelation is communication from God to his children. This guidance comes through various channels according to the needs and circumstances of individuals, families, and the church as a whole. When the Lord reveals His will to the Church, He speaks through His prophet. Prophets are the only people who can receive revelation for the Church, but they are not the only people who can receive revelation. According to our faithfulness, we can receive revelation to help us with specific personal needs, responsibilities, and questions and to help us strengthen our testimony.

Revelation is something that distinguishes The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints from other religions and churches. Most other religions do believe in revelation, many say that their leaders receive revelation from God so long as it does not contradict the Bible. What makes us different in the terms of revelation is that we believe in new and continuing revelation from a living prophet. As the world changes and new challenges face us our loving Heavenly Father gives us revelation through his prophets on how to deal with these changes.

Some examples of modern day revelations are:

The Doctrine and Covenants, modern day scripture that contains 134 revelations received by Joseph Smith alone, plus a few others added in as they were received.

The Word of Wisdom, this was given to us by the prophet Joseph Smith in Section 89 of the Doctrine and Covenants. Verse 4 of this section says “Behold, verily, thus saith the Lord unto you: In consequence of evils and designs which do and will exist in the hearts of conspiring men in the last days, I have warned you and forewarn you, by giving unto you this word of wisdom by revelation”. The Word of Wisdom tells us what foods we should partake of and what foods we should avoid.

The Articles of Faith, 13 Articles written by Joseph Smith to explain our beliefs. The 9^thKingdom of God”. article states “We believe all that God has revealed, all that He does now reveal, and we believe that He will yet reveal many great and important things pertaining to the

The Family: A Proclamation to the World, this was given to us in 1995 by the First Presidency and the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles. It is a declaration and reaffirmation of principles that are vital to the happiness and well-being of every family.

The Ensign Magazine, each month we can receive a magazine with a message from the 1^st You could say that our revelation comes in the mail on a monthly basis! Presidency along with many other articles from church leaders.

Missionary Work, since I have been on my mission Church leaders have reformatted the discussion so that the spirit can guide the discussion more effectively. There are new missionary websites such as Mormon.org and jesuschrist.lds.org.

General Conference, twice a year we have the opportunity to hear the prophet and apostles speak to us and reveal Gods word. We will have this opportunity next week at the 178^th annual general conference.

These are just a few of the revelations that Heavenly Father gives to us in our day.

When Nicole talked about revelation for the purpose of prophecy she mentioned the order that revelation is received. Revelation in the church comes in an orderly way. Those who have been properly called, sustained, ordained, or set apart can receive revelations pertaining to their jurisdiction. The prophet receives revelations for the church as a whole and the world, we receive revelation for ourselves.

In Doctrine and Covenants Section 42 Verse 11 it reads:

“Again I say unto you, that it shall not be given to any one to go forth to preach my gospel, or to build up my church, except he be ordained by some one who has authority, and it is known to the church that he has authority and has been regularly ordained by the heads of the church”.

It is important that adhere to this order, Boyd K Packer touched on this in the 1989 November issue of the Ensign. He said:

“That is why the process of sustaining those called to office is so carefully protected in the Church – that all might know who has the authority to teach and to bless”.

He goes on to say that we should not use our own personal revelation to direct others.

“Few things disturb the channels of revelation quite so effectively as those people who are misled and think themselves to be chosen to instruct others when they are not chosen. Others, fearing they also might go astray, then hold back and do not seek the source of divine revelation. Obedience to constituted priesthood authority will protect us from going astray”.

I have never had any personal experiences with anyone using their own personal revelations to direct others, but I have heard of situations where some were offended by such instances.

In the same article, Elder Packer continues to talk about continuing revelation. He states that when there are changes in the church organization or procedures that this is a testimony that revelation is ongoing.

There was a saying that I remember my mission president using often, if I remember correctly he would say, “If things don’t change, then they stay the same”. When thinking of revelation this saying came to my mind, if nothing is changing then there is no new revelation. Its not that the doctrines ever change, it’s the methods and procedures that change.

Elder Packer closed his message by saying:

“Revelation continues with us today. The promptings of the Spirit, the dreams, and the visions and the visitations, and the ministering of angels all are with us now. And the still, small voice of the Holy Ghost “is a lamp unto our feet, and a light unto our path”.

Nicole spoke of the Holy Ghost and its role in revealing the truthfulness of revelation to us, she said that:

“When you are being taught a new gospel principle and you come to know it is true, that is a revelation from God testifying to you of the truthfulness of that gospel principle through the Holy Ghost”.

Before I close I want to share with you a few more quotes I found on the truthfulness of revelation in our day.

On November 1, 1891 President Wilford Woodruff gave a talk at a Stake Conference regarding the principle of revelation because of some changes that had recently been made.

“The Latter-day Saints should not get the idea that the Lord has forsaken his people, or that He does not reveal His mind and will; because such an idea is not true. The Lord is with us, and has been with us from the beginning. This church has never been led a day except by revelation. And He will never leave it. It matters not who lives or who dies, or who is called to lead this Church, they have got to lead it by the inspiration of Almighty God. If they do not do it that way, they cannot do it at all. The Lord will not fail in these last days, and He will fulfill all that he has promised through His Prophets and Apostles, until Zion arises in its glor”.

In a 1^st Presidency Message by President James E. Faust of the August 1996 Ensign he talks of Present day Revelation. The message originally has President Gordon B Hinckley’s name mentioned, I am going to read it with President Thomas S. Monson’s name in his place.

“We now move forward nobly and boldly, with courage and conviction, led by our prophet, Thomas S. Monson. He is in every aspect entitled to our sustaining action. For many years he has been sustained as an apostle of the Lord Jesus Christ. He is the senior Apostle on the earth. He has been sustained as the President of the Church. He is the presiding high priest over all the priesthood on the earth. He alone holds and exercises all the keys of the kingdom under the Lord Jesus Christ, who is the head of this Church and is the chief cornerstone. President Monson is leading this work forward and is assisted by two counselors and sustained by the Quorum of the Twelve”.

I know that this church is led today by a prophet of God, one who receives revelation from a loving Heavenly Father. I know that our Heavenly Father loves us and has plan for each of us, which he reveals to us at the appropriate times. I know that it is through the still same voice of the Holy Ghost that we come to know this. President Monson is a true and living prophet appointed by God to lead and direct his church on the earth today. This I testify of, in the name of Jesus Christ, Amen.