A SAVING WORD

 

“A 1986 “Guideposts” magazine contains the story of a woman who discovered what she called “the nevertheless principle”. She had been facing a difficult experience with her husband’s having a malignant brain tumour. She said that in the midst of the experience, at a moment of her greatest pleading, God granted her a word in a moment of inspiration. This single word was NEVERTHELESS. She said:

“I knew it had to be a special word, though I didn’t yet know it would become a life-style. I was sure only that it was a kind of promise. It was even a powerful little phrase: never the less.

“Never the less with God, no matter what. Always the most. Though I was alone in this automobile, nevertheless God Himself was right here beside me. Though doctors pronounced Jerry incurable, nevertheless he would be gloriously healed. Perhaps not here on earth as we had prayed. If Jerry’s physical body should die, nevertheless he would go on living in another, greater dimension.” (Marion Bond West, “One Simple Word from God”, p 12)

-       (Jerry A. Wilson, “The Great Plan of Happiness” p 40)”

This woman researched the word ‘nevertheless’ in her Bible and found it 90 times. There is a scripture in the Doctrine and Covenants which uses this word to its biggest potential to teach us of Christ’s character:

“For I the Lord cannot look upon sin with the least degree of allowance; NEVERTHELESS, he that repents and does the commandments of the Lord shall be forgiven” (D&C 1:31-32).

Imagine if that word was not there. Imagine if instead of a semicolon there was a fullstop. Instead this one simple word introduces not only three doctrinal principles but the Saviour’s attribute which makes salvation possible: repentance>obedience>forgiveness…..born out of mercy.

If there was no mercy, we would all be lost. If He was not, we would not be, silence would have wept at Calvary!

- CATHRYNE ALLEN 

(Art by Land of Dreams)

MIGHTY JOB

 

“It Is not the function of religion to answer all questions about God’s moral government of the universe, but to give courage (through faith) to go on in the face of questions a man never finds the answers to in his present status.

“Therefore, take heed of yourselves, and as a wise world thinker once said, “If the time comes when you feel you can no longer hold to your faith, then hold to it anyway. You cannot go into tomorrow’s uncertainty and dangers without faith.”  (Elder Harold B. Lee, Church News, as quoted by Keith H. Meservy, “Job: Yet Will I Trust In Him”, pp 139-53)

After 50 years in the Church, I am still striving to fully understand about suffering. I have had my fair share of it and understand different aspect of it but not in its entirety. I wish there was a different medium through which we can earn eternal life and I wish that the Saviour didn’t have to suffer so.

Every time I re-visit the account of mighty Job, I come to understand a little more of this principle but the lessons from this man’s life are endless. The whole premise of Job’s experience is that God does not spare righteous people from suffering in this life.

It was believed anciently that suffering only comes upon the wicked and that it is God given as punishment. When Jesus healed a man blind from birth, His disciples asked Him: “Master, who did sin, this man or his parents that he was born blind?”  Jesus answered that neither sinned and that the purpose of the man’s blindness was for the ‘works of God to be manifest in him’ (John 9:2,3). So with all of us, there is obviously a purpose for whatever we are afflicted with that is not of our doing.

I rather think that Job had to learn this lesson. His friends accused him of being sinful in some way to have ended up in such extreme suffering. Job defended his integrity (Job 27:6), knowing full well he did not sin but he must have wondered why he, a man who God called ‘perfect’ (Job 1:8) was not spared.

Job’s service to his fellowman was extensive: he strengthened weak hands (4:3); supported those who were falling (4:4); strengthened the feeble knees (4:4); delivered the poor (29:12); cared for the orphans (29:12); helped those whom no one else would help (29:12; gave the widow cause to sing with joy (29:13); was eyes to the blind (29:15); was feet to the lame (29:15); was father to the poor (29:16); searched for people in need of his assistance (29:16); opened his home to strangers (31:32).

 In his extreme suffering Job wished he was never born and disclosed a fear: “For the thing which I greatly feared is come upon me, and that which I was afraid of is come unto me” (Job 3:25). Perhaps seeing so much suffering in others, made him fear sin and think that his righteousness would spare him. This made him question if he did really commit some sin so he begged the Lord to reveal it to him so he could repent (Job 13:23).

While Job did not understand why God permitted his affliction, he would not judge the Lord nor lose his faith in Him and could therefore say “let come on me what will” (Job 13:13). Had he distrusted, he would have questioned God’s integrity in whom he believed impeccably. (See the Old Testament Student Manual, Job: “Hast Thou Considered My Servant Job”)

There is one other man who might have wondered why he wasn’t spared….Joseph, the beloved Prophet of the Restoration… and we all know about his suffering…..

Your watchful eye was over all my trials

So carefully crafted

With love and tender care,

The crucible almost too hard to bear;

Yet did I worship Thee

Praising Thy name forever.

 

You stood as sentinel to my yielding heart

Knowing my trust would stand the test of time;

You crushed the enemy of my soul in the final hour,

Your glory, Your might, Your unfathomable power.

- CATHRYNE ALLEN 

(Art: Oh God, Where Art Thou? by Paul Marli)

TO BE FREE

 

For years I admired and at times envied someone in my close circle who was doing all the wrong things but seemed to have it all. I felt under-privileged and even victimised by my persistent and arduous journey on the strait and narrow. At times I even wondered if doing the right things was worth it. I arrived at my 60s with pretty much nothing; no husband, no home, no financial security, no material possessions. Now that I am here, however, I realise I have something far more superior to any of these things.  And that someone who seemed to have it all? Well, she has bondage. Over the years as I have watched this person be led 'by the neck with a flaxen cord'  (2 Nephi 26:22) my feelings of admiration and envy have turned to pity and compassion. Recently I spent some time on the phone with this person as she related through tears her entrapment in an emotionally abusive and spiritually degrading situation. After years of bad choices, her faith in God has all but been destroyed and belief in the basics of the Gospel been severely diminished. How does a flaxen cord become so strong around a person's neck that the adversary has the power to bind a person with it forever? (2 Nephi 26:22). The answer is, with one bad choice at a time and with each choice, a lack of repentance. And lack of repentance means only one thing, suffering. What once seemed like freedom to choose turns out not to be freedom at all.

In his latest conference talk, President Oaks said that 'we can be cleansed by the process of repentance' (Oaks, 'Cleansed by Repentance', CR April 2019). As I contemplated this I realised that this cleansing is not only beneficial in regards to final judgment and eternal life but that it is also meant to be advantageous to us here and now. True and sincere repentance leads to forgiveness and forgiveness leads to freedom. Freedom from the effects of sin such as: shame, guilt, lack of self-respect, low self-esteem, depression, emotional pain, sorrow, anxiety, weakened personal and spiritual power and all negative emotions generated by sin. As I contemplated further about the freeing power of forgiveness I also came to understand how much more freedom we can gain as we willingly forgive others. Setting aside the fact that forgiving others is a commandment (D&C 64:9,10), I am certain this commandment was put into place for the benefit of the victim and not the oppressor or perpetrator. Some people erroneously believe that forgiving someone their offences means that our forgiveness absolves them from their actions and that means that they are forgiven. In reality, we do not possess the power to forgive anyone's sins. That power rests with God. Forgiving another their trespass against us means acknowledging their human frailties and freeing ourselves from the effects of their actions such as: resentment, hatred, bitterness, judgment, pain and all inflicted suffering. This can be a tall order however, where a very serious offence has taken place. How do you forgive physical and mental abuse by a spouse, sexual abuse by a family member, betrayal of a loved one, even murder of someone close to you?

I can testify to you that there is no pain bigger than the Atonement. When it is beyond our mortal capability to forgive another there is still hope. I have been through an experience in my life too personal to recount where forgiveness was beyond me. It was in that moment of suffering that I was given to know that through my faith in Jesus Christ and the power of His Atonement I could be gifted a forgiving heart. As I petitioned the Lord over and over, this gift was granted. I cannot adequately describe all the positive consequences that ensued as a result of this gift in my life and the lives of those around me, especially my children. The freedom it afforded me decades ago lives with me still. That gift of a forgiving heart has enabled me to forgive over and over the foibles of others;  from my friends to Church leaders to my children to strangers. It has taught me to let go and do so with compassion. This in turn has increased my capacity to love. 

As I listened to my friend agonise over her situation I wondered why we choose pain in our lives when we can have so much better through obedience to God's commandments. Sin is never as good as it appears to be. To those not vigilant enough, appearances are easily misunderstood. But gloss can dim overnight and reveal its ugliness and the devil calls for collection of debt all too soon. Compare his clutches of deceit and hatred to the loving arms of the Saviour who vigilantly watches over us waiting for the slightest act of obedience so that He might bless us. I am certain our pain is His pain and with everlasting mercy and kindness He stands with open arms to receive us and give us freedom from the wounds inflicted by our thoughtlessness, ignorance and waywardness. For has He not said, '....though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow....be faithful and diligent in keeping the commandments of God, and I will encircle thee in the arms of my love." (Isaiah 1:18; D&C 6:20)

THE BOOK OF HOPE

Some two thousand years ago, during the bleakest period of Church history, there was on the island of Patmos an exile, a prophet and an apostle of the Lord Jesus Christ, the last apostle alive, all others having been killed before him. And to that rocky island prison, on a particular Sunday came the glorified, exalted Christ to the apostle whom He called 'The Beloved'. "Heralded by the trumpet-blast of the godly voice and standing in the midst of seven golden candlesticks symbolic of the seven branches of the church in Asia was the Saviour. Some fifty or sixty years before He had hung in agony on the cross and had been laid in the dark recesses of a borrowed tomb. Now he stood in blinding, blazing glory before John: "I am he that liveth, and was dead", he declared, "and, behold, I am alive for evermore" (Revelation 1:18)" (The Life and Teachings of Jesus and His Apostles, p 449)

So overcome was John that he fell to the earth as though dead but the Saviour touched Him and told him not to be afraid but to write down the revelation which he was about to receive for the seven branches of the Church who were facing life-threatening persecutions. "They knew the wrath of a government intent on enforcing the policy of emperor worship. They knew the clutch of fear at the approaching sound of Roman legionaires. By the time of Patmos, according to the traditions that have come down to us, Peter had been crucified, Paul beheaded, Bartholemew skinned alive, Thomas and Matthew run through with spears. John was the only surviving apostle (an apostle who would survive it all and never taste of death); all the others had died violently because of their faith. By the time of Patmos, the history of the Church included the lining of Nero's colonnade with crucified Christians and the savagery of the mobs screaming for blood in the Coliseum and the Circus Maximus." (The Life and Teachings of Jesus and His Apostles, p 449).

The revelation which John the Beloved received is known to us as The Book of Revelation. There are many scholastic views of the book which offer explanations as to its' meaning. Some argue that the book needs to be considered with a non-prophetic view, that all that is contained therein pertains to the past, meaning John's day, referring to the clash between the Church and the Roman Empire. Others however, claim that the Book needs to be considered with a solely prophetic view and that the symbols within it are to be seen as future predictions of all the great events of history. Viewed either way, people throughout Christendom have found the Book of Revelation hard to understand. Joseph Smith has said, however, that "the Book of Revelation is one of the plainest books God ever caused to be written" (Teachings, p. 290). One can wonder how that can be so considering the extensive use of symbolism used by John when describing his vision. The clue to its plainness lies in the very heading of this book. Because The Book of Revelation was received by revelation, it can also be best understood through revelation. Thankfully, as Latter-day Saints, we not only have personal revelation to rely on for understanding of this book but also revelation given to latter-day prophets: "Thanks be to the interpretive material found in sections 29, 77, 88 and others of the revelations in the Doctrine and Covenants; plus the revisions given in the Inspired Version of the Bible; plus the sermons of the Prophet; plus some clarifying explanations in the Book of Mormon and other latter-day scripture; plus our over-all knowledge of the plan of salvation - thanks be to all of these things.....the fact is that we have a marvelously comprehensive and correct understanding of this otherwise hidden book" (Bruce R. McConkie, Doctrinal New Testament Commentary, 3:431).

The greatest purpose and meaning of The Book of Revelation is that it is a book of hope. It's main purpose is not history but prophecy. This is evident in the fact that the Book covers the history of the earth's 6 thousand years only briefly whereas it expounds on the period of the Millenium in lengthy detail. What does this have to do with hope? The Book of Revelation gives us hope in that Millenium reign when evil, "in all of its power and wickedness, shall be put down once and for all" (The Life and Teachings of Jesus Christ and His Apostles, p. 444). This knowledge would have given great hope to the saints who were witnessing the decline of the Church and the beginning of the Great Apostasy but it is of even greater value to us because it assures us that the forces of great evil which are gaining momentum in our day will one day be destroyed and come to an end. The Book of Revelation highlights the conquest of evil and that God is still over all and will triumph in the end, which triumph will cause all His creations to worship Him with glory and praise. The Book of Revelation presents the greatest contrast between the Saviour's first coming to earth and the second. Whereas the first time he was despised and rejected of men, when all this is over and the earth is rolled together as a scroll, even the earth will sing His praise and honour His name (Rev 4:9-11, 5:14, 11:17, 16:5).

The hope of true followers of Jesus Christ, and the hope referred to in John's revelation should be to gain eternal salvation in the kingdom of God. Moroni tells us that if we have no hope we must be in despair (Moroni 10:22). An absence of hope for something better than this telestial life would surely suppress any incentive to repent, deplete the power of endurance, entice fear and diminish belief needed to overcome the natural man. The Book of Revelation gives us hope that all these things are possible. In it John sees Satan as a red dragon driving a woman with a child (The Church) into wilderness (apostasy) (Rev 12). As the woman rises again out of the wilderness John records 'the dragon was wroth with the woman, and went to make war with the remnant of her seed, which keep the commandments of God, and have the testimony of Jesus' (Rev 12:17). This is a frightful depiction of our day which would leave us, the members of the Church, to the buffetings of Satan if we had no hope that we can fight the fierceness of the battle that we are engaged in: "Yet, of all people, we as Latter-day Saints should be the most optimistic and the least pessimistic. For while we know that 'peace shall be taken from the earth, and the devil shall have power over his own dominion', we are also assured that 'the Lord shall have power over his saints, and shall reign in their midst' (D&C 1:35-36) (Ezra Taft Benson in CR, Oct. 1974, p. 90).

No one can read the concluding chapters of Revelation without feeling the hope that John felt as he looked forward to our day. It is somewhat appropriate that the Saviour would give him this glorious vision considering he was to live to witness incredible calamities, wars, pestilence, wickedness and the Great Apostasy. It might also be appropriate for us to assume that this vision was given to the beloved apostle, who would never taste of death, out of love so that the hope of the triumphant ending would enable John to endure everything preceding the Millenium when 'the dragon, that old serpent, which is the Devil, and Satan' will be bound for a thousand years enabling a period of peace for those who will dwell with Christ in paradisiacal glory' (Rev 20:2). One would have to wonder what kind of chain it would have to be to bind the Prince of Darkness and what kind of bottomless pit could contain him? To believe that such a thing could ever happen means for us to believe that we are more powerful than him because we have kept our first estate. Because Satan is a spirit only, all his power is derived through spiritual means from those who live on this earth clothed in earthly tabernacles, meaning us. His power is added upon from spiritual energy that we create. We make him powerful by creating spiritual energy of darkness through sin or powerless by creating spiritual light through righteousness. Since the Saviour is the Light of the World, Satan is the opposite, the Prince of Darkness. The chain he will be bound with and the bottomless pit he will be cast into as referred to in the Book of Revelation are terms symbolic of righteous living of those who will qualify to live during the Millenium (see Eldred G. Smith in CR, Apr. 1970, p 142 and 1 Nephi  22:26). In other words, because of people's righteousness, there will be no spiritual darkness and therefore Satan's power will dissipate.

Righteous living proceeds from a committed heart of true followers of Jesus Christ. It does not come from complacency that some of us in the Church are familiar with: "The abundant life is a spiritual life. Too many sit at the banquet table of the gospel of Jesus Christ and merely nibble at the feast placed before them. They go through the motions - attending their meetings, perhaps glancing at the scriptures, repeating familiar prayers - but their hearts are far away. If they are honest, they would admit to being more interested in the latest neighborhood rumors, stock market trends, and their favourite TV show than they are in the supernal wonders and sweet ministerings of the Holy Spirit. Do you wish to partake of this living water and experience that divine well springing up within you to everlasting life? Then be not afraid. Believe with all  your hearts. Develop an unshakable faith in the Son of God. Let your hearts reach out in earnest prayer. Fill your minds with knowledge of Him. Forsake your weaknesses. Walk in holiness and harmony with the commandments. Drink deeply of the living waters of the gospel of Jesus Christ" ( Joseph B. Wirthlin, The Abundant Life, Ensign, May 2006).

Being merely Church members is not enough, we must build the spiritual core within us which will enable us to stand when the mighty winds of apostasy descend upon us. Then no imperfect leadership in the Church can offend us, no transpired event in Church history will sway us, no Church teaching we do not understand will cause us to give up. If we are built on the spirit of prophecy and an unshakable testimony of  Christ, we will withstand any pressure to cave and any temptation to sin and seek justification for same through some imperfection that we insist we have found in the Church for such imperfections only serve as great stumbling blocks that obscure our vision from perfectly seeing the Saviour of all mankind. With an absence of fear, being filled with hope and armed with righteousness and faith we can defeat and bind the enemy who seeks our destruction and pave the way for Him who will 'wipe away all tears from [our] eyes' (Rev 21:4) and with whom we can live during the Millenial reign of peace and happiness. It is therefore, our duty here and now to 'drink deeply of the living waters of the gospel of Jesus Christ' that we might have reason to hope for a better world, a world where 'there shall be no more death, neither sorrow, nor crying, neither shall there be any more pain: for the former things are passed away' (Rev 21:4).

".....for we have a labor to perform whilst in this tabernacle of clay,

that we may conquer the enemy of all righteousness....."

(Moroni 9:6)

THE SORROWING HEART

We live in a fallen world. A world of pain, suffering, grief, sorrow and many other negative emotions and maladies of the mind and heart. It is for this purpose we were sent here, to experience and master the world of opposites; that in our experience with sorrow we might know joy. This world was made for the perfection of our experience; to shape, mould and perfect us that we might have joy in this life and the fullness of joy throughout our eternal existence. Without knowing mortality, we would never have known this fullness but would have languished in innocence and imperfection for eternity. It was therefore imperative that we became agents of our own fate whereby we could choose the outcome of our eternal station. In the process of choosing between right and wrong that would lead us to this outcome, is a necessary teaching tool known as sorrow. This sorrow is born from our inclination to indulge the natural man and is meant to lead us back from wayward paths to the path of accountability, purpose and wisdom. 

The sorrow spoken of here falls into two categories: the sorrow of the world and 'godly sorrow'. It is important for us to understand the distinction between the two because one can keep us trapped in misery while the other can grant us emotional and spiritual freedom. When we choose to be in the world and have no regard for God's laws, we are prone to experience worldly sorrow. The world is trapped in this type of sorrow which offers no peace and no redemption. When the Nephite civilization began it's demise into total destruction, many of them lamented the state they were in which gave Mormon great hopes that their sorrow would lead them to repentance. In this, Mormon was greatly disappointed because he records: "But behold this my joy was vain, for their sorrowing was not unto repentance, because of the goodness of God; but it was rather the sorrowing of the damned, because the Lord would not always suffer them to take happiness in sin" (Mormon 2:13). In other words, the Nephites sorrowed because they could not have it both ways; they could not live in sin and at the same time be happy. And herein is found one of Satan's biggest lies; that we are free to do whatever we want. Freedom of the heart, however, does not come with 'whatever we want'. Very often 'whatever we want' comes with sorrow. Today, in our attempt to prove that we are free to choose, we have surrounded ourselves by the sorrow of the world: lives devastated by drugs, cruelty, abusive behaviour, greed, selfishness, corruption, immorality, deceit and much more. Those who are of the world experience sorrow for their reckless behaviour when they are shocked into it by the consequences of their actions or when they are found out. 

Unlike worldly sorrow, godly sorrow leads to repentance and freedom. A truly repentant person will experience sorrow not only because of the cost of sin to themselves but also because they offended God. They can see clearly they have put in jeopardy the salvation of their soul, they come to regret their actions and their sorrowing results in a broken heart. This is godly sorrow. This sorrow brings about grieving that teaches us accountability and grows in us a desire to abstain from further sinning. Desisting the sin is simply not enough to effect true repentance because it does not bring about a change of heart. Merely desisting without godly sorrow means it is just a matter of time before we go back to the sin which has had us in its grip. When we experience godly sorrow, we show sincerity in our intentions to forsake the sin. This painful 'payment' acts as a perfect deterrent in the repentance process.

God's love for us is always there but when we are living a sinful life we distance ourselves from that love. Catastrophically, we also distance ourselves from our chance of salvation and ultimate exaltation. Repentance is perhaps the greatest proof of God's mercy towards His children. Not wanting to leave us in the fallen world forever He has provided the way for us to be reconciled to Him and be once more worthy of His presence. Repentance is crucial for this reconciliation. No unclean thing can enter the kingdom of God (3 Nephi 27:19) because God Himself is clean, pure and perfect therefore He cannot receive us into His presence if we are unclean and tainted by sin. But uncleanliness can be eradicated for those 'who have washed their garments in [Christ's] blood, because of their faith, and the repentance of all their sins, and their faithfulness unto the end' (3 Nephi 27:19). 

The path to reconciliation with God is in Christ. He is the healing in our wings and the path back to freedom and spiritual security. Because of Him we need not suffer the sorrow of the world but the sorrow that will bring us back to God. This is the sorrow that is worth the pain because it is momentary as opposed to the sorrow of the world that is never ending. "The delightful promise of the Gospel to those who 'sorrow after a godly sort' (2 Cor. 7:11) is complete forgiveness and reconciliation to God. There is a power in the Atonement of Christ that makes the repentant soul new again: "Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new. And all things are of God, who hath reconciled us to himself by Jesus Christ" (2 Cor. 5:17-18). This dream of a new life, a new start, a new chance is made reality in the Atonement of Christ." (Breck England, NT Lesson 35, Be Ye Reconciled to God)

A bird 

Once broken

Can never fly,

They say,

Quite so high

Again.

Perhaps.

But as for me,

Now desperately

In need of mending,

I have a healer

Who would restore

These foolish wings

Without a scar.

I will lie quiet

Beneath His touch.

I will listen

As He whispers,

"Rise, and fall no more"

And then -

Then I shall

Soar.

- Carol Lynn Pearson

THE EASINESS OF THE WAY

 "Come unto me, all ye that labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light."   (Matthew 11:28-30)

"In Biblical times, the yoke was a device of great assistance to those who tilled the field. It allowed the strength of a second animal to be linked and coupled with the strength of a single animal, sharing and reducing the heavy labour of the plow or wagon. A burden that was overwhelming or perhaps impossible for one could be equitably and comfortably borne by two bound together with a common yoke....

Why face life's burdens alone, Christ asks, or why face them with temporal support that will quickly falter. To the heavy laden it is Christ's yoke, it is the power and peace of standing side by side with a God that will provide the support, balance, and strength to meet our challenges and endure our tasks here in the hardpan field of mortality." (President Howard W. Hunter, Conference Report, October 1990)

The yoke in mortality that each one of us must bear is the responsibility to become perfect as our Father in Heaven is perfect. This responsibility is our journey to godhood and eternal life, a journey that we cannot travel alone for a yoke requires two to pull the burden attached to it. We cannot choose whether to bear a yoke, that choice was made before this world was, but we can choose which yoke we will bear. We can either choose to bear the yoke of Christ or the yoke of the Adversary. Christ has offered us His yoke and has promised that His yoke is easy. This yoke entails covenants and obedience and sacrifice. We might well ask ourselves, how can such a yoke be easy? The yoke of 'perfection' is easy because Christ is yoked by our side, gently leading us in the direction we should go to avoid the pitfalls and heartaches and shouldering the weight we cannot bear. His strength compensates for our lack and empowers us to overcome and become. With Him comes power and enlarged capacity. In short, he makes the way easy with the endowment of His grace.

A life of sin with scorching consequences which is the yoke of the Adversary is a far heavier and harder yoke to bear in mortality than Christ's yoke of commandments, covenants and sacrifice. When you are yoked with the adversary, you are left to bear the burdens of sin such as shame, addiction and moral degradation alone. The Adversary is not interested in being yoked with someone to bear burdens and consequences of sin. He is only interested in placing the yoke of oppression that leads to spiritual destruction on those who are willing to take it.  Satan's is a 'yoke of iron' that 'brings us down into captivity' (1 Nephi 13:5). Christ's yoke, on the other hand, offers freedom from sin and its devastating consequences. His compassion and mercy make it possible for us to cast off the yoke of sin and bondage and be free as is illustrated by the sinful woman who dared to enter the house of Simon, the Pharisee and who wept as she bathed the Saviour's feet. This woman would have found no forgiveness from Simon, a representative of the austere 'law' she was subject to but in his house she found the Saviour who was willing to take the burden of her sins upon Himself, to pay the price of justice in the winepress that He had to tread alone (Isaiah 63:3).

Simon, who was repulsed by the sinful woman, who omitted to observe the custom of the day to treat a distinguished guest with 'marked attention; to receive him with a kiss of welcome, to provide water for washing the dust from his feet, and oil for anointing the hair of the head and the beard' (Jesus The Christ, p. 261) stood in poor contrast to a sinful woman who acknowledged Christ's saving grace, who 'stood at his feet behind him weeping, and began to wash his feet with tears, and did wipe them with the hairs of her head, and kissed his feet, and anointed them with the ointment' (Luke 7:38). This woman 'represents all of us with our burdens, making our way to the one true source of rest and relief. Knowing that ridicule might well follow her entrance into the eating chamber, knowing that her reputation would accompany her, and knowing that she would not be welcome by some within, still she entered. She was heavy-laden with the recognition of her sins and the downward spiral of her life' (Ted L. Gibbons, NT Lesson 10: Take My Yoke Upon You and Learn of Me, March 2011).

To those of us who are weighed down with heavy burdens of remorse and sin, mortal hardship and pain, sorrow and discouragement and who are often overwhelmed with the requirements for exaltation, the Saviour offers relief and peace, comfort and help. He alone has the capacity to carry all our burdens and all our sorrows and all our imperfections. He who has hung on the cross has taken upon Himself the hardships of mortality for each one who would come to Him and believe. He alone can wipe the slate clean and wash our garments though they be as scarlet to once again be white as snow (Isaiah 1:18). If we come to Him, He will set us free and He will encircle the faithful in the arms of His love (D&C 6:20).

For "he shall feed his flock like a shepherd: he shall gather the lambs with his arm, and carry them in his bosom............" (Isaiah 40:11).

HE WHO HAS PAVED THE WAY

The Inspired Version of the Bible records that at the onset of His mortal ministry and following His baptism, Jesus was 'led up of the Spirit, into the wilderness, to be with God': "And when he had fasted forty days and forty nights, and had communed with God, he was afterwards an hungered and was left to be tempted of the devil" (Matthew 4:1,2, Inspired Version, italics added). In the King James Version of the Bible, it is recorded that he was led by the spirit into the wilderness to be tempted of the devil. Bruce R. McConkie makes it clear that this was not the case: "Jesus did not go into the wilderness to be tempted of the devil; righteous men do not seek out temptation. He went 'to be with God'. Probably he was visited by the Father, without question he received transcendent spiritual manifestations. The temptations came after he 'had communed with God', 'after forty days.' (McConkie, DNTC, 1:128; see also Mosiah 3:7). The King James Version in Matthew 4 continues to record that Jesus was taken by the devil here and there to be tempted of him. The Inspired Version constantly corrects this in the footnotes stating that the Spirit took Jesus and set Him on the pinnacle of the temple and an exceedingly high mountain to show him all the kingdoms of the world and the glory of them. This is an extremely important point we need to take notice of. If we did not have the Inspired Version we would be convinced by the erroneous account of the King James Version that the devil had the upper hand with Jesus and that he has the upper hand with us. This is simply not true. The devil has no upper hand in anything. He is simply an upstart and an outcast. He has no power over the children of men except what they give him. He cannot take away anyone's agency or make anyone do his bidding and he most certainly cannot take us anywhere. His only dominion lies in temptation. That is the extent of his power.

I heard an evangelist say on TV recently that the adversary has no power on his best day to take us out on our worst day. This is a sobering thought considering he is so well practiced and considering how well he knows us from pre-existence and from observation. Unknowingly we have taught him where our worst weaknesses lay by our repeated misuse of agency. He knows the traps, the pitfalls, human foibles and all weaknesses. So how can we be more powerful than him? Because of two things:

1. We have a body. This is our biggest advantage. We have kept our first estate and now we are on the second leg of our eternal journey. We stand to gain eternal life. He has already lost that chance. He stands to gain nothing for when all this is over he will be nothing. Isaiah said this of him: "Yet thou shalt be brought down to hell, to the sides of the pit. They that see thee shall narrowly look upon thee, and consider thee, saying, Is this the man that made the earth to tremble, that did shake the kingdoms?" (Isaiah 14:15,16). In the end Satan will be stripped of the limited power he now has and his reign of horror on this earth will be over. For now he is considered 'the god of this world' but he will once again be just an outcast. 
2. We have once before chosen the God of Glory over Lucifer. We have the power to continue to choose Him who delivers us from the sting of sin and death and offers us ultimate freedom. When God revealed Himself to Moses, Moses beheld His glory and was taught of his divine origin as God repeatedly called him, 'Moses, my son'. When God withdrew, the devil appeared on the scene and wanted to be worshipped also. True to his character, he sought to make Moses believe he was lesser than he was by calling him 'son of man' (Moses 1:12). Satan knew that if Moses believed he was the son of God, he would also believe that he had God's power at his fingertips and could therefore resist him. Moses was not to be confused, however, and he pointed out to Satan that he had no glory, only darkness, and therefore he had no power over him (1 Moses:15) and by his conviction he was able to cast him out of his presence. When Jesus resisted the three temptations of the devil He proved to those who follow Him that all power to overcome lay within Him. We as his followers and disciples, through our faith on Him and by the virtue of our agency, have access to this power to overcome and conquer the enemy of all righteousness.

It was after the Saviour had made his covenants with the Father through baptism that Satan came to tempt Him. So it is with us. Often when we are baptised into the Church, we think we are safe and have 'arrived'. Nothing could be further from the truth. The adversary will work on us, the covenant people, more than he will work on those who have not made sacred promises to God. More often than not his temptations will come in three ways that he tempted the Saviour with: 1. a temptation of the appetite; 2. a yielding to the pride and fashion and vanity of those alienated from the things of God; 3. a gratifying of the passion, or a desire for the riches of the world or power among men (David O. McKay in CR, Oct 1911, p. 59). We who are his targets need to be vigilant at all times to recognise the subtle slide into sin that he constantly lays before us. Why? Because by it we stand to lose a lot. Here is a clear explanation of this fact:

"Repentance is, frankly, just plain smart, because sin makes you stupid. Stupid because you are deaf, dumb and blind to the ways of the Lord. Stupid because habitual sin drives the Spirit away, leaving you outside the protective influence of the Holy Ghost. Stupid because it makes you incapable of drawing upon the powers of heaven. Being stupid costs a lot. Sin costs a lot too. It can cost time, money, peace of mind, progress, self-respect, your integrity and virtue, your family, the trust of those you love, and even your Church membership. Sin is just plain stupid. And the cost is off the charts. So repent now. Repent daily. If you want to be sanctified, repentance is not optional" (Sheri L. Dew, You Were Born to Lead, You Were Born for Glory, BYU Speeches, December 2003)

We are powerful beyond our capacity to understand. This power is shown in the moments of our choices. The power within us comes from God. It is His gift to all those who commit to follow Him. We cannot afford to give this power away for it has the potential to crown us with eternal life and endless glory. We want this, we have always wanted this. We are His children who are destined to wear the crowns of godhood. He has paved the way and by it made us powerful enough to conquer and overcome through His sinless sacrifice. The path is straight, the road smooth, the journey easy if we walk it following the footsteps before us. The Atonement is the key and it can make us brilliant and holy and glorious beyond anything we can ever imagine (Cathryne Allen, How to Use the Power of the Atonement, November Blog 2013). Use it, call upon it and trust in it. The reward is yours and it is waiting.

"And Christ hath said: If ye will have faith in me ye shall have power to do whatsoever thing is expedient in me."  (Moroni 7:33)

KING OF KINGS

We can find in the Gospel of Matthew the detailed father-to-son genealogy linking Joseph to King David. As Joseph was a cousin to his espoused wife Mary, Joseph's genealogy is basically Mary's genealogy too. Jesus, Mary's son, therefore, inherited from his mother royal blood and the right to David's throne. Had the tribe of Judah that Jesus was born into been a free and independent nation at the time of His birth, Jesus would have been born the King of the Jews. Instead Jesus was born of the lowliest birth  into the most humble of circumstances, his divinity heralded by angels to only a group of shepherds, announcing a less than majestic birth of a true Shepherd and the King of Kings. When Jesus was brought before Pilate accused of proclaiming Himself to be the King of the Jews, His response to Pilate was: "My kingdom is not of this world" (John 18:36). During his mortal life, Jesus was not interested in an earthly kingdom. His interests were not political aspirations or desire to gain power. What He was interested in was establishing a kingdom of loyal subjects who would take upon themselves His name and proclaim him their God and the King of their salvation.

When Daniel found himself in Babylon serving King Nebuchadnezzar,  he interpreted the King's disturbing dream through revelation from God. This dream had to do with earthly kingdoms who have come and gone and had no power of endurance. By the time Christ was born, Egyptians had been conquered by Assyrians, Assyrians by Babylonians, Babylonians by Persians, Persians by Greeks and Macedons and Greeks and Macedons by Romans. In Nebuchadnezzar's dream the kingdoms were portrayed by an image of a man signifying man made kingdoms of this earth. Each part of the image represented a different kingdom, the last being feet and toes that stood for 10 modern governments born from the Roman Empire. We know these kingdoms today as the 'crowned heads of Europe'. In his dream, Nebuchadnezzar saw the image of the kingdoms broken into pieces by a stone cut out without hands (Daniel 2:34) meaning not a man made stone but divinely crafted by God representing a kingdom that the God of heaven shall set up, that shall never be destroyed, that would consume all other kingdoms and that shall stand forever (Daniel 2:44). This dream and prophecy was fulfilled in 1820 through the restoration of the Gospel.

The enduring nature of the kingdom begun in 1820 is intended to cover the whole earth and prepare it for the Millennial reign when Jesus will return and be at last crowned King of Kings bringing with Him peace and prosperity to his loyal subjects. Why the title King of Kings? Because no other kingdom that has ever existed will equal His in scope and perfection. Christ's kingdom will end political mayhem and oppression doing away with human foibles and man's wisdom. It will end crime, poverty, sickness, sorrow, death, killing, calamities, natural disasters and all evil. No other king has ever had the power to affect change of such proportion. We live in a troubled world: politically, religiously and morally. Governments are failing to safeguard our economies, law and order and the moral fibre of our society. Our judicial system, comprised of imperfect men who are exercising earthly wisdom are failing to protect the innocent in our society. We have witnessed this truth only this week as a madman was allowed to walk our streets free and inflict terror on the citizens of our city. The world is deep in sin and ripening for destruction. We are guilty of gross moral and ethic transgressions: human trafficking, sexual exploitation, abuse of children, thieving, murder, rape, greed, abuse of power, bondage and many atrocities that I couldn't even name. It always fascinates me when I sit in Church lessons where the coming of the Saviour is portrayed as something we should dread. Why are we anticipating the Saviour's return with trapidation? How long have we waited for Him? Long enough to warrant scorn from non-believers. Should we not look forward to His return with eagerness and joy? Instead of discussing in class how Daniel saved the day by interpreting Nebuchadnezzar's dream should we not focus on the hope of the Millennial day, what that dream was really about? I feel that if we familiarised ourselves with the condition of the Millennial reign we would desperately await His coming with eagerness and joy.

It is true that when He comes, the Saviour will exercise judgment on the wicked but for the loyal subjects of His Kingdom, He will bring love, mercy, peace and joy because that's who He is. He will be eager to see us and press us to his bosom. Should we not be longing for this? Recently I sat in the Gospel Doctrine class where a question was asked: "If you knew that the Saviour was coming tomorrow what would you change in your life?" Of course, there were many answers indicating much needed personal change. The answer to this question should be: nothing! There is nothing you could do in one day to change your life in a drastic way. One of the answers was - doing more missionary work. How much missionary work could you do in one day that would make up for years of not doing it??? If the Saviour was coming tomorrow, there is nothing you could change, it would be too late. Should we not instead put on a party to welcome Him back, to let Him know that He is wanted and needed to fix this sad telestial world we find ourselves in, to take away our sorrows and dry our tears, to fix the broken hearted, to give us much needed peace?

Who is this King of Kings that will come to reign in righteousness for a thousand years? He is known by many names because He is a God of  many perfect attributes but mostly He is a God of love and mercy and justice. He will come to claim His own and when He does every knee shall bow and every tongue confess that He is the Christ. And when He comes we will hail Him as our God and our King, the King of Kings, known by majestic names such as these:

Jehovah

Jesus Christ

The Lord

The Son of God

The Son of the Eternal Father

The Lamb

The Shepherd

Redeemer

Almighty God

The God of Israel

The God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob

The Lord of Hosts

The Holy one of Israel

The Redeemer of Israel

King Immanuel

The Eternal God

The Redeemer of the World

Holy One

The Saviour

The Mighty One of Jacob

The Mighty One of Israel

Messiah

The Lord God

The God of Hosts

The Prince of Life

The Lord of Glory

Eternal King

Lord God Almighty

The Son of Righteousness

The Lord of Hosts

Alpha and Omega

The Great I Am

The Stone of Israel

Holy Messiah

I Am

The Great Mediator

Son Ahman

Firstborn

King of Glory

The Lord God of Hosts

The Father of Heaven and Earth

The Creator of All Things

Wonderful

Counselor

The Mighty God

The Everlasting Father

The Prince of Peace

AN IRON PILLAR, THE LOVING JEREMIAH

"Hear ye, and give ear; be not proud: for the Lord hath spoken. Give glory to the Lord your God, before he cause darkness, and before your feet stumble upon the dark mountains, and while ye look for light, he turn it into the shadow of death, and make it gross darkness. But if ye will not hear it, my soul shall weep in secret places for your pride; and mine eye shall weep sore, and run down with tears, because the Lord's flock is carried away captive". (Jeremiah 13:15-17)

The Scattering

Seeped in inquity, the Northern Kingdom of Israel fell in 721 B.C. and was taken captive by Assyrians. One hundred years later the remaining Kingdom of Judah totally abandoning the God of Israel faced extinction at the hands of Babylonians. So total was their rejection of Jehovah that they turned to animal worship "turning a large room in the temple into a chapel for its' services... the sun worship also finding a footing in its' court...in the very holiest spot of the sanctuary, about twenty-five men, presumably representatives of the high priest...stood with their back to the temple-the open sign of apostasy-and worshipped the rising sun, their faces turned to the east...they even offered their children in sacrifice to god Molech (Jeremiah 32:35) (Old Testament Student Manual, 1 Kings-Malachi, p 261). The moral corruption of Judah was astounding and qualified them for utter destruction: "Instead of doing righteous works, the people swore falsely, showed no repentance or compassion, they turned to the houses of prostitution, they coveted their neighbour's wife, had a 'revolting and rebellious heart', laid snares for other men and grew fat with illegal gains (Jeremiah 5:1-31). When the Lord was ready to deal with Sodom and Gomorrah, he promised deliverance of these cities if 10 righteous souls could be found there. For Judah he made the promise that it would be spared if ANY could be found who lived justly or sought the truth (Jeremiah 5:1) but no such person could be found. Judah was filled with corrupt prophets and priests and people seeped in sin who 'loved to have it so' (Jeremiah 5:31). The real national tragedy was Judah's unwillingness to 'give ear' and repent. Over and over they rejected the sound political counsel and a call to repentance until they came to the point of no return.

Jeremiah, like Mormon, was called to cry repentance among a people for whom there was no hope. A people whose hearts had grown so hard they had no inclination or willingness to repent and like in Mormon's day 'the day of grace was passed with them, both temporally and spiritually' (Mormon 2:15). Nevertheless, Jeremiah, ordained to his calling long before he was born (Jeremiah 1:4,5) did not cease striving to save his people begging them in vain, for 40 years, to turn back to God. During that time Jeremiah was in a state of continuous suffering as he was accused of political treason, put in stocks, thrown in prison, persecuted, hunted by men of his home town who sought to kill him and so angered the elders of the Jews because his prophecies came true that they cast him into a dungeon what is often called 'a pit prison'. "The only way in and out of this dungeon was through a hole in the top, through which he was lowered with cords. Since there was no drainage, the bottom was a sea of mud into which Jeremiah sank" (Ted Gibbons, OT Lesson 41).

So dejected and full of despair was Jeremiah that he cried out: "O Lord, thou knowest: remember me, and visit me, and revenge me of my persecutors; take me not away in thy longsuffering: know that for thy sake I have suffered rebuke" (Jeremiah 15:15). Even though he was rejected and no one would pay any heed to his words, he could not desist from his calling which burned within him like a fire: "I am in derision daily, every one mocketh me. For since I spake, I cried out, I cried violence and spoil; because the word of the Lord was made a reproach unto me, and a derision, daily. Then I said, I will not make mention of him, nor speak any more in his name. But his word was in mine heart as a burning fire shut up in my bones, and I was weary with forbearing and I could not stay" (Jeremiah 20:7-9).  Despite the undeserved treatment he received at their hands, he sorrowed greatly for his people:  "Oh that my head were waters, and mine eyes a fountain of tears, that I might weep day and night for the slain of the daughter of my people!" (Jeremiah 9:1)

Jeremiah was acceptable to the Lord in every way because he did not shrink back from his preaching. I imagine the Lord speaking to him like He spoke to Helaman's son Nephi regarding his service: "Blessed art thou, Nephi, for those things which thou hast done; for I have beheld how thou hast with unwearyingness declared the word, which I have given unto thee, unto this people. And thou has not feared them, and hast not sought thine own life but has sought my will and to keep my commandments" (Helaman 10:4). His was indeed, like many other prophets of old, a labour of love, not just for his people but also for Him who issued the call. When Jeremiah was called to serve, the Lord assured him he was equal to the task because He knew him before he was born (Jeremiah 1:5). "The phrase 'I knew thee' means more than a casual acquaintance. The Hebrew word yada, which is translated knew, connotes a very personal, intimate relationship. Indeed, Jeremiah's premortal appointment consisted of being foreordained, sanctified and sent forth" (Old Testament Student Manual, p 235). Jeremiah was clearly loved and beloved by the Saviour before he was even born. Out of this loving relationship was born Jeremiah's dedication and commitment to serve Him at all cost.

The tragic dispersion of the House of Israel is also a message of love. The siege of Jerusalem was savage and lasted 18 months. During that time 'the people of Jerusalem were starved to the point of cannibalism (Lamentations 4:8-10). As the final defenses broke down and the Babylonians became victorious, King Zedekiah and his army fled toward the Jordan River but were captured. He was forced to watch as his family was murdered, had his eyes taken out  and was taken captive to Babylon. The city was burned, Solomon's temple was destroyed, and the kingdom of Judah came to an end....the Babylonians took the remnant of the people to Babylon except for some who were left behind under Babylonian rule....to harvest the crops ' (Old Testament Student Manual p. 261). How is this a message of love? The dispersion of the House of Israel stands as a monument of God's infinite mercy towards His children and his undying love for even the vilest sinner who He longs to see return to Him. Even though the Kingdom of Judah got what it deserved, they are not forever abandoned for the Lord made them this promise:

"For thus saith the Lord, That after seventy years be accomplished at Babylon I will visit you, and perform my good word toward you, in causing you to return to this place. 

"For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, saith the Lord, thoughts of peace, and not of evil, to give you an expected end.

"Then shall ye call upon me, and ye shall go and pray unto me, and I will hearken unto you.

"And ye shall seek me, and find me, when ye shall search for me with all your heart"

(Jeremiah 29:11-13)

THE SUFFERING OF JOB

"I am the law and the light. Look unto me, and endure to the end, and ye shall live; for unto him that endureth to the end will I give eternal life."  (3 Nephi 15:9)


There has been some dispute among the scholars regarding the real existence of Job. If his existence was fiction, it would make The Book of Job the greatest literary work of the Old Testament and perhaps of all scripture. Because of latter-day revelation, we know that Job was indeed a real person. When Joseph Smith cried out in anguish: "Oh God, where art though? Where is the pavilion that covereth thy hiding place?" (D&C 121:1), the Lord responded with: "My son peace be to thy soul; thine adversity and thine afflictions shall be but a small moment; and then if thou endure it well, God shall exalt thee on high.....Thou art not yet as Job; thy friends do not contend against thee, neither charge thee with transgressions, as they did Job (D&C 121:7-10). If Job was not a real person, the comparison between Joseph's and his sufferings would have been intolerable, since one cannot compare real with unreal things (Old Testament Manual, 1 Kings-Malachi, p 29). Perhaps the question of Job's valid existence could be attributed to the unusual conversation between God and Satan which provides a poetic setting of the stage for Job's test in mortality. Whether the conversation was real or not, we do know that God is not in cahoots with the devil, nor does he bargain with him or agree to his evil deeds. This conversation, however, and the whole story of Job is consistent with the concept that God allows Satan to afflict and torment man to test and prove him according to the purpose of mortality.

Job was an exceptionally righteous and upright man. He lived in the Land of Uz (Job 1:1), which was a large region east of the Jordan River. To understand why his trials were so great one needs to understand the greatness of the man who experienced them. Job is a perfect example of the principle that the trial has to equal the stature of the man. Just any trial would not do for a man who the Biblical account describes in the following manner:

He was upright (1:1)
He feared God (1:1)
He avoided evil (1:1)
He instructed many (4:3)
He strengthened weak hands (4:3)
He supported those who were falling (4:4)
He strengthened the feeble knees (4:4)
He walked in the Lord's ways (23:10)
He did not turn away from the commandments (23:11)
He loved the Lord's words more than food (23:12)
He delivered the poor (29:12)
He cared for the orphans (29:12)
He helped those whom no one else would help (29:12)
He gave the widow cause to sing with joy (29:13)
He was eyes to the blind (29:15)
He was feet to the lame (29:15)
He was father to the poor (29:16)
He searched for people in need of his assistance (29:16)
He never found joy in the suffering of his enemies (31:29)
He never wished evil on his enemies (31:30)
He opened his home to strangers (31:32)
He did not try to hide his sins (31:33)
He would not follow a multitude to do evil (31:34)
He refused to be silent because of the disapproval of others (31:34)

So Job was righteous, did good continually, was incredibly respected in the community and he was fabulously wealthy. You could say, his life was perfect. Hence the whole argument that Satan presented. When the Lord held Job up as an example of perfection, Satan challenged with something to this effect: "Of course he is good when you are blessing him left, right and center. It's easy to be good when you have a perfect life, but take all that away and see how much he is going to love you and believe in you." So Job went from the pinnacle of society to living in rags on the outskirts of the city, in constant pain, not understanding what has happened to him. Basically he went from the picture of perfection to this:

"From the symptoms, some have said that it appears that he had elephantiasis. Sore boils, one of the symptoms of this disease, had attacked Job's body, forming large pustules which itched so greatly that a piece of pottery was used to scrape them. Job's face was so disfigured that his friends could not recognise him. Worms or maggots were bred in the sores (7:5). His breath became so foul and his body emitted such an odor, that even his friends abhorred him (19:17ff), and he sought refuge outside the city on the refuse heap where outcasts and lepers lived. Pain was his constant companion (30:17,30) as were also terrifying nightmares (7:14). Whereas, formerly old, young, princes and nobles alike honored Job, he now felt abused by those whom society itself rejects; who live on the outskirts of town, among the bushes, along the ditchbanks or in caves" (Keith H. Meservy, "Job: 'Yet Will I Trust In Him'", Sixth Annual Sidney B. Sperry Symposium, BYU, January 1978)

"For I know that my Redeemer liveth, and that he shall stand at the latter day upon the earth:
And though after my skin worms destroy this body, yet in my flesh shall I see God" (Job 19:25)

The greatest lesson we can take away from Job's example of tenacity and endurance is his testimony of the Saviour of the world. It is this testimony that enabled him to rise above each wave of his suffering. Even though he sunk to the depths of despair wishing to die, not understanding the reason for his suffering, he remained true to his conviction of God's wisdom and power. He was also convinced of his integrity as a person. When his friends suggested that his misfortunes had befallen him because of his past sins, Job bore his testimony by replying, "I know that my Redeemer liveth". Job knew that even though he was a sinner like all men, he was a repentant sinner and that because he had accepted Jesus Christ as his personal Saviour he was forgiven of his sins and what is forgiven is forgotten of the Lord: "Behold, he who has repented of his sins, the same is forgiven, and I, the Lord, remember them no more" (D&C 58:42). This is a good indication of his understanding of the Atonement: "It is important to remember that Job was 'perfect' not because he had never committed sin - he concedes that there were 'youthful iniquities' in his life - but because the Redeemer makes him, as a repentant sinner, perfect through His own blood. We too can be perfect in this sense" (Breck England, "I Know That My Redeemer Liveth" Lesson 32, Meridian Magazine)

If Job was not required to suffer for his sins, why was he required to suffer at all if he was such a good and righteous person? And what of us? Why are good people allowed and even called to suffer in this life? This answer is twofold. Firstly, all those who desire to come unto Christ have to experience a portion of his suffering to properly know Him. Job knew of God prior to his suffering but at the end he came to know God: "I have heard of thee by the hearing of the ear: but now mine eye seeth thee" (Job 42:5). In other words, before his suffering, Job knew God theoretically but through his suffering he came to know Him experientially. Not only did his suffering draw him closer to God so that his faith could be perfected, but he came to understand what it was like to be Him because in reality Jesus suffered above us all. To receive His glory, we need to become like Him and be partners in some small measure in His sufferings and walk the path He walked.

Secondly, the fiery darts that we suffer in mortality are designed to fit us for exaltation. Jesus himself had to learn obedience 'by the things which he suffered' (Heb 5:8,9). Suffering is meant to educate us, mould us and refine us. President Kimball said:  "Is there not wisdom in his giving us trials that we might rise above them, responsibilities that we might achieve, work to harden our muscles, sorrows to try our souls? Are we not exposed to temptations to test our strength, sickness that we might learn patience, death that we might be immortalized and glorified? If all the sick for whom we pray were healed, if all the righteous were protected and the wicked destroyed, the whole program of the Father would be annulled and the basic principle of the gospel, free agency, would be ended. No man would have to live by faith. If joy and peace and rewards were instantaneously given the doer of good, there could be no evil - all would do good but not because of the rightness of doing good. There would be no test of strength, no development of character, no growth of powers, no free agency, only satanic controls. Should all prayers be immediately answered according to our selfish desires and our limited understanding, then there would be little or no suffering, sorrow, disappointment, or even death, and if these were not, there would also be no joy, success, resurrection, nor eternal life and godhood" (Faith Precedes the Miracle, p. 97). In other words, there would be no point in being here.

Our eternal welfare is God's main concern. He would have us become like Him so we can in the end be a mirror image of all that He is and all that He has. For this reason He will allow us to suffer in the refiner's fire that we might come out purified and have His image in our countenance. This is illustrated well in the following story:  "Some time ago, a few women met in a certain city to study the scriptures. While reading the 3rd Chapter of Malachi, they came upon a remarkable expression in the 3rd Verse: "And He shall sit as a refiner and purifier of silver". One woman proposed to visit a silversmith and report to them on what he said about the subject. She went accordingly, and without telling the object of her errand begged the silversmith to tell her about the process of refining silver. After he had fully described it to her, she asked, "But sir, do you sit while the work of refining is going on?". "Oh yes, Madam", replied the silversmith, "I must sit with my eye steadily fixed on the furnace, for if the time necessary for refining be exceeded in the slightest degree, the silver will be injured". The woman at once saw the beauty, and comfort of the expression, "He shall sit as a refiner and purifier of silver". God sees it needful to put His children into a furnace; His eye is steadily intent on the work of purifying, and His wisdom and love are both engaged in the best manner for us. Our trials do not come at random, and He will not let us be tested beyond what we can endure. Before she left, the woman asked one final question, "When do you know the process is complete?" "Why, that is quite simple", replied the silversmith. "When I can see my own image in the silver, the refining process is finished".

As you sit in the furnace of your affliction, remember His watchful eye is over you. He does not love you less because He has allowed misfortune to befall you. In fact, He loves you more because of what you will become and what you will have endured. He knows your sorrow and your anguish. He has seen your tears and He longs to encircle you in the arms of his love. You were bought with a price and you are cherished. You are his sheep and He is your Shepherd. Have strength as you trust in His promises and His work to bring to pass the immortality and eternal life of His most valuable possession which is you.