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| President Thomas S. Monson. Prophet, Seer, and Revelator |
I've heard this testimony given every month, sometimes multiple times a month. I gave it myself as a child or heard it given by other children. Adults also give a varied version of this as well. A little more elaborate than those of their children, but still hitting on all the same points. One of those points invariably is the actuality of a living prophet.
We believe the prophet to be the voice of God for us today. It's stated many times in the scriptures and we hear infrequently in sacrament meeting. So why don't we believe it?
I'm not talking about a superficial belief here. I'm talking about the belief that is followed up by action. The belief that drives you towards actually living those principles you believe and not just proclaiming them. Too many of us are guilty of lip-service. If we believe so much in a living prophet then what is the last thing he said? Think about it. We're about to hit General Conference again. How many of us remember what President Thomas S Monson told us last conference?
For those few of you who actually do remember I congratulate you! For the rest of us though, I'll admit that I'm just as guilty as the next man who does not remember what was told us last conference by our prophet. I've reread and, even watched his talk again once, since April, but his message is not yet truly written in my heart. Because that's what happens when you truly believe something.
If you do remember what he said then I hope you've been able to truly apply it in your lives. For the rest of us I would recommend a small review here. (Click on the link)
A Living Prophet
The Jews of Christ's time were obsessed with the ancient prophets to the point of rejecting the Messiah they had with them. The Jews professed allegiance to Moses and lineage through Abraham. They said "If we had been in the days of our fathers, we would not have been partakers with them in the blood of the prophets" (Matt 23:30), but then they turned around and killed their Savior.
Now I'll need to be careful with this application, but aren't we somewhat similar to those Jews in terms of our apathy? Or rather, application?
I think we've all had the thought, at once in our lives, of what it would be like to live during the time of Jesus Christ. To walk with Him and learn from Him. Maybe we've thought what it would be like to be a sibling of Nephi and what we would've done, how we would've listened. Possibly we've tried to imagine following Moses and how much more faithful we would've been than those slothful and idolatrous Israelites. Can you imagine what it would've been like to sit at his knee with the other Nephite children?You know where I'm going with this:
"What I the Lord have spoken, I have spoken, and I excuse not myself; and though the heavens and the earth pass away, my word shall not pass away, but shall all be fulfilled, whether by mine own voice or by the voice of my servants, it is the same."
(D&C 1:38, emphasis added)
We all believe this. We all know in our heads that this is true. I can see you nodding your heads now and thinking: Yes, yes, the prophet speaks for God. Now I know where you're going with all that. But Andrew, we already know this.
Yes we know it. But perhaps we don't yet believe it.
The Most Important Prophet
Other that Jesus Christ, who certainly was a prophet even though He was so much more than that as well, who is the most important prophet for you? Was it Adam our first father? Maybe Noah who saved mankind from the flood? Was it Mormon who compiled the records for the Book of Mormon? Or was it Joseph Smith who translated that record and restored the church to the earth? I think you know where I'm going with this too.
The most important prophet for you and I right now is the living prophet. If all the records and writings of the ancient prophets were destroyed, and if every church building and temple were destroyed, and if every book and document of spiritual value on the earth were burned, we could still follow the living prophet. He would lead us and guide to follow the will of God and our souls would not be lost, the priesthood line of power would remain intact, and the keys, ordinances, and blessings of the temple could be restored and again distributed among the earth.
We too often take for granted the actuality of a living prophet and living 12 apostles.
A prophet in his own house
Christ said "A prophet is not without honour, but in his own country, and among his own kin, and in his own house." (Mark 6:4) Those who grew up with Jesus and knew him personally before He began His holy ministry were the most reluctant to accept Him as their Savior while some who never did see Christ in the flesh were some of the most faithful to their testimony of His divinity.
This is similar to us. We are in the "prophet's country." We are his "kin" and his "house." Social media, the internet, and various other technologies have made access to the prophet and apostles so easy that with a few clicks of a button I can see what events they recently attended and the words they spoke there. This has poisoned us with apathy and tainted with procrastination the attention we might have given their words.
Think for a moment how things would be different if you only got to hear a prophet once every 5 years, and the only record you would have of his words were your own personal notes. How would that change your priorities. Would you go camping general conference weekend? Would you sleep through the talks? Of course not! You'd make great preparations to enable yourself to be there and to pay attention to every word!
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| "Awe don't watch it now.. You can just download it all later... You'll be much more prepared to watch it later... Think of all the other things you should be doing right now..." Cordially, The Devil |
We've all heard the whole "don't procrastinate the day of your repentance" bit. In fact I think it's lost some of it's potency because of how often it's repeated. So I'll use a different scripture: "But behold, your days of probation are past; ye have procrastinated the day of your salvation until it is everlastingly too late, and your destruction is made sure; yea, for ye have sought all the days of your lives for that which ye could not obtain" (Hel 13:38)
What if at the Judgement bar of God we are asked for 50 things thing a living prophet taught us during our lifetime and how we applied it. Could we answer? Then perhaps the Lord, as with Lot, asks for forty, then thirty, then twenty, then only ten. The populations of Sodom and Gomorrah were substantial and yet Lot couldn't find even 10 men who were righteous enough to be spared. In our lives the number of times we have had an opportunity to hear a prophet or an apostle speak are even more numerous! And yet can we mention even 10 things that our living prophet and apostles have specifically told us recently?
The Scriptures
In talking about living prophets and apostles I want to make it clear that I mean no disrespect or down-playing of those prophets, seers, and revelators, whom have gone before. They all took pivotal roles in God's plans for His children, particularly those in the scriptures.
Taken to an extreme one might say that we have no need for the scriptures as we have living prophets and apostles. This is a very misguided approach to Gods word.
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| We will be judged out of the best books. Including these. ^ |
Prophetic Contradictions?
The words of the living prophets trump those of past prophets such as in OD 1&2. Understand that neither prophet were "wrong" or "right." They spoke what God revealed to them.
God teaches "line upon line, precept upon precept." We are told this many times in the scriptures. We don't get everything all at once. Also, God has warned us "For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways, and my thoughts than your thoughts." (Isaiah 55:9) We mere mortals might look at something and with our limited knowledge think "That does not make sense. God's contradicting Himself." But that is like an ant watching a man pick up a rock and thinking "He's breaking the law of gravity! He can't do that!" But it's merely the understanding of the higher law of physics that brings things back into focus.
The most effective way to reconcile perceived contradictions is to pray. Perhaps not to pray for an answer, but for patience and faith to put doubts behind you until the day when you can ask the God of Heaven and Earth for yourself. Ask if the living prophet is indeed chosen of God and if you should follow him. Then follow in faith the answers you receive.
"...whether by mine own voice
or by the voice of my servants,
it is the same."
(D&C 1:38)
General Conference
I'm very excited to be able to hear from our prophets and apostles this coming month. I promise to all of you and to myself that I will not only pay even better attention this time around, but that I will strive to apply into my life their teachings. I invite all of you to do the same.
Keep Pushing On.
Andrew
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