In Doctrine
and Covenants 1:33 the Lord give us this sobering warning.
"And he that repents not, from him shall be taken even the
light which he has received; for my
Spirit shall not always strive with man, saith the Lord of Hosts."
In verse 35
he continues, stating,
"For I am no
respecter of persons, and will that all men shall know that the day speedily
cometh; the hour is not yet, but is nigh at hand, when peace shall be taken from the earth, and the devil shall have
power over his own dominion."[1]
Both of
these conditions (the spirit of God no longer striving with man and absence of
peace), are self imposed states of existence. God does NOT desire us to exist
without His peace and would that His spirit might continue to strive with us.
However, he has made it clear that the “power” is in us! We are “agents unto
[ourselves], and inasmuch as [we] do good [we] will nowise lose [our] reward.[2]
Sadly, and
often in reference to Israel – to which we belong – The savior has lamented, “O
ye house of Israel whom I have spared…how oft would I have gathered you…how oft
have I gathered you…[and] how oft will I gather you as a hen gathered her
chickens under her wings…and ye would not.”[3]
It is
significant that there is a past, present, and future to the willingness of God
to gather us into “the shadow of his hand”[4]
This type of language from Jehovah falls in line with his declaration, “and my
arm is stretched out in the last days, to save my people Israel.”[5]
Elsewhere, when the house of Israel is compared to an olive tree, the savior’s
persistence, patience, and zeal to redeem as many of His people as possible is shown
in his sobering declaration, “it grieveth me that I should lose this tree.”
Other
examples of God’s longsuffering toward us abound, therefore, the problem is not
His willingness to come unto us, but our willingness to come unto him. Our
failure to come unto him deprives us of His spirit and peace.
So, in what
ways do we fail to come unto God?
We who are
here today and others just like us across the world live in the perilous times
spoken of by Paul to Timothy. He declared,
"...in the last days perilous times shall come. For men
shall be lovers of their own selves, covetous, boasters, proud, blasphemers,
disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy, Without natural affection,
trucebreakers, false accusers, incontinent, fierce, despisers of those that are
good, Traitors, heady, high-minded, lovers of pleasures more than lovers of
God; Having a form of godliness, but denying the power thereof: from such turn
away. For of this sort are they which
creep into houses, and lead captive… [men] women [and children]laden with sins,
led away with divers lusts, Ever learning, and never able to come to the
knowledge of the truth."[6]
These things are happening today. They are all around us. We
are truly living in the times when people “call evil good and good evil. [they]
put darkness for light, and light for darkness…bitter for sweet, and sweet for
bitter.”[7]
The "World" holds up the proud,
and it sees blasphemy as a comical hero.
The name of our Savior is no longer sacred, but because many see him as
"Just a good man" he again is sold over and over by the Judas
Iscariots of this world for the cheap price of humor. Parental disobedience is on the incline as
families fail to center their homes on eternal principles and to “teach their
children to pray, and to walk uprightly before the Lord.”[8] Various forms of godliness can be found in
nearly every corner of the world, but the power thereof is denied again and
again as devotion and religion become a practice of convenience rather than a
willingness to “live by every word that proceedeth forth from the mouth of God.”[9]
In the classical tragedy Hamlet, by William Shakespeare, King
Hamlet is murdered with a vial of poison which had been poured into his ear by his
brother Claudius. Shortly thereafter,
the King’s spirit laments about the torment that his untimely death is causing
him. He says that he is "...Doom'd
for a certain term to walk the night, and for the day confined to fast in
fires, till the foul crimes done in [his] days of nature are burnt and purged
away."
In a similar fashion, the music and media prevalent in our
day act as a spiritual poison to our ears and eyes. They creep into our homes through the
television and computer, and "lead captive [men] women [and children]
laden with sins, led away with divers lusts." Then, we are in danger of becoming
spiritually dead, "...Doom'd for a certain term to walk the night,...till the
foul crimes done in [our] days of nature are burnt and purged away", by
the cleansing effects of repentance through the atonement of Jesus Christ.
Brothers and sisters, it does not have to be this way. We do
not have to be among those who “walk in darkness at noon day”[10]
because “they seeing see not; and hearing they hear not.”[11]
The blood and sins of this generation do not have to be ours. We can have peace
in this life, even in the midst of darkness. That peace comes from Jesus
Christ.
Speaking on peace in the April 2013 conference, Elder Quentin
L. Cook stated the following:
“The heavenly aspiration of good
people everywhere has and always will be for peace in the world. We must never
give up on achieving this goal. But, President Joseph F. Smith taught,
“There never can come to the world that spirit of peace and love … until
mankind will receive God’s truth and God’s message … , and acknowledge his
power and authority which is divine.”
“We earnestly hope and pray for
universal peace, but it is as individuals and families that we achieve the kind
of peace that is the promised reward of righteousness. This peace is a promised
gift of the Savior’s mission and atoning sacrifice.”
“This principle is succinctly captured in the Doctrine and
Covenants: “But learn that he who doeth the works of righteousness shall
receive his reward, even peace in this world, and eternal life in the world to
come.”[12]
1.
True
peace comes from receiving God’s message & truth while acknowledging his
power and authority.
2.
To
receive those things means to do the works of righteousness.
“The only way to
build a peaceful community is to build men and women who are lovers and makers
of peace. Each individual, by that doctrine of Christ and His Church, holds in
his own hands the peace of the world.”
“That makes me
responsible for the peace of the world, and makes you individually responsible
for the peace of the world. The responsibility cannot be shifted to someone
else. It cannot be placed upon the shoulders of Congress or Parliament, or any
other organization of men with governing authority.”
I wonder if the Lord did not have that in mind
when he said: . . . "the kingdom of God is within you…"
“We are Zion…[and] We are under the tremendous commission so
to live, so to establish peace in our own hearts as to make our companionship,
wherever we are, a society to which the suffering, the uneasy, those without
peace, in all the world, may flee for safety. Truly a tremendous obligation rests
upon the Latter-day Saints.”[13]
Although we are responsible for
living in such a way that builds peace in our life, the Lord has promised that
we are not alone. As tribulations closed in around Jesus Christ and his
apostles, he spoke these reassuring words,
“I will not leave you comfortless: I will come to you…He that
hath my commandments, and keepeth them, he it is that loveth me: and he that
loveth me shall be loved of my Father, and I will love him, and will manifest
myself to him”[14]
While
wrapping up his discourse to his apostles, who would soon see him crucified,
Jesus declared,
“These things I have spoken unto you, that in me ye might
have peace. In the world ye shall have tribulation: but be of good cheer; I
have overcome the world.”
Jesus Christ is our ultimate exemplar in His gospel. No one has ever walked as perfectly as he did. No one has ever loved as deeply as he does. He is truly the way and the life. When he told his apostles that he would give them HIS peace, which was not of the world, his empowering example was what he meant.
“And I give unto you a commandment, that ye shall observe
to do the things which
ye have seen me do, and bear record of me even unto the end.”[15]
His invitation to do as he has done
and to enjoy His peace is not just for his apostles. The invitation is to us
all.
In closing I offer 3 ways that we,
as latter-day saints, can follow the example of Christ in building up peace in
our lives each day.
- Pray often – Christ prayed often. Most importantly, Christ prayed with gratitude to God the Father. Whether raising Lazarus from the dead or crying to his Father in the agony of his atoning sacrifice, Christ understood the power of prayer. 2nd Nephi 32:8-9
- “And now, my beloved brethren, I perceive that ye ponder still in your hearts; and it grieveth me that I must speak concerning this thing. For if ye would hearken unto the Spirit which teacheth a man to pray, ye would know that ye must pray; for the evil spirit teacheth not a man to pray, but teacheth him that he must not pray. But behold, I say unto you that ye must pray always, and not faint; that ye must not perform any thing unto the Lord save in the first place ye shall pray unto the Father in the name of Christ, that he will consecrate thy performance unto thee, that thy performance may be for the welfare of thy soul.”
- Search the Scriptures – Even the perfected Christ taught using the scriptures. Whether by parable or directly pointing to scriptures from the past, the Savior taught using the words of the scriptures. John 5:39
- “Search the scriptures; for in them ye think ye have eternal life: and they are they which testify of me.”
- Serve Others – Take only his earthy ministry, and there is no time in the recorded life of Christ when he was not engaged in serving others. From feeding 5000, to the individual blessing of countless souls, Christ’s life is the ultimate example of service borne out of pure charity.
I bare witness that real, true, abiding peace is within our grasps as we give heed to the teachings of Jesus Christ.
[1]
D&C 1:33,35 (emphasis added)
[2]
D&C 58:28
[3]
3rd Nephi 10:4-6
[4]
Isaiah 49:2
[5]
D&C136:22
[6]
2nd Timothy 3:1-7
[7]
Isaiah 5:20
[8]
D&C 68:28
[9]
D&C 88:12
[10]
D&C 95:6
[11]
Matthew 13:13
[12]
Quentin L. Cook, Personal Peace: The Reward of Righteousness, General Conference The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, April
2013.
[13]
John A. Widtsoe, Conference
Report, October 1943, pp. 112-116
[14]
John 14:18, 21
[15]
John 16:33
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