The Book of Revelation, part 1

Revelation 1-3; 12

See the previous post for a preparatory thought to share with your class the week before this lesson.

Hand out the five questions on "The Power of Imagery" to five class members to read aloud when asked.  Hand out the seven descriptions of Christ to seven class members.  Ask them to think about what this imagery tells them about Christ and prepare to share it with the class.

ATTENTION ACTIVITY: SCRIPTURE CHARADES

Call one person up front to face the class.  Divide the class into two teams.  Write on the board, behind the person, one of the key words or phrases from Revelation 12 below.  Have the class members then try to act out the word in turns without saying anything.  (Use a timer and give each team 30 seconds.)  Whichever team conveys the idea to the person wins the point.  Continue with a new person each time until all eight words or phrases have been guessed.

1. A woman
2. The sun
3. The moon under her feet
4. A crown of twelve stars
5. A baby boy
6. A rod of iron
7. A great red dragon
8. Two wings of a great eagle

THE POWER OF IMAGERY

Ask the class to think about the following five questions as they are read by the assigned class members.

1. Why are nightmares so terrifying, when we know they are not real?
2. Why is a story acted out in the temple endowment ceremony?
3. Why did Christ teach with parables?
4. Why are McDonald's commercials so effective, even though they rarely show the product they sell?
5. Why on earth did Joseph Smith say that the Book of Revelation was "one of the plainest books God ever caused to be written?"

The answer to all of these questions is THE INCREDIBLE POWER OF IMAGERY.

I believe it was Gerald Lund who said, "Of course Joseph Smith said it was one of the plainest books God ever caused to be written:  He saw the movie!"  But just because Joseph Smith saw many things in vision that we have not seen, it does not mean we cannot envision them ourselves.  We just have to put on our spiritual 3-D glasses as we read.  (See previous post.)

There are many theories that we possess two opposite kinds of thought--one that deals in words and logic, and one that deals in imagery and creativity.  If we're used to the logical, verbal side of the brain, the temple can be frustrating.  It's supposed to be the gospel "university" on the earth, isn't it?  Well then, why do we watch a movie, rather than hear a lesson?  Why can't we take notes?  Or, at least, why don't we have a little class with the temple president before we watch the movie so he can tell us "this is this, and that is that" and we can learn more?  Gradually, as we attend the temple more often, we come to the understanding that the reason that the temple ceremony is total imagery is that it is a better teaching method.  With the technology of the movies we see now in the temple, we have even more imagery.  For example, as we learned last week in class, God is Light.  If we watch for light in the temple movie, we can see and feel the light through the movie and receive more depth of understanding about it.

The logical brain controls willpower, but the imagery-focused brain is where we get drive.  Willpower is when we force ourselves to do something; drive is when we can hardly stop ourselves from doing something.  Psychologists who help Olympic athletes or performing musicians to do their best under pressure know that if we can imagine a winning outcome, we are more likely to end up actually achieving it.  God knows that, too.  If we can use our subconscious, imagery-driven, spiritual eye to catch the fire and grandeur and scope of the vision John received, it can become our own driving force to compel us to the grand finish line with the winning team, the Kingdom of God.  When we get discouraged or experience a setback, the images in the Book of Revelation can provide powerful encouragement to help us carry on.

THE BOOK OF REVELATION

"The title of the book in Greek is Apocalypsis, from which we get its other common name, the Apocalypse. Apocalypsis is formed from two Greek words—apo, a preposition denoting separation or removal, and kalypto, a verb meaning to cover, hide, or veil. Apocalypsis, then, literally means removal of the veil or covering. Hence its title in English, the book of Revelation (or the uncovering or unveiling).

"While many might find the title to be ironic, arguing that few books are more hidden or veiled, it is an appropriate one, for it truly reveals many things. Elder Bruce R. McConkie, in response to the question 'Are we expected to understand the book of Revelation?' answered:

'Certainly. Why else did the Lord reveal it? The common notion that it deals with beasts and plagues and mysterious symbolisms that cannot be understood is just not true. … If we apply ourselves with full purpose of heart, we can catch the vision of what the ancient Revelator recorded.' (Ensign, Sept. 1975, p. 87.)"  (Gerald Lund, "Seeing the Book of Revelation as a Book of Revelation," Dec. 1987 Ensign.)

The Book of Revelation, however, was written in a sort of "divine code."  (That phrase comes from my friend, LeAnn Whitesides.)  Only those who truly study and are guided by the Spirit can understand it.  This is a blessing, because, just like the similarly encoded book of Isaiah, it underwent very little change over the hundreds of years since it was written, as it passed through many hands.  People couldn't understand it, so there was no need to change it.  Even the changes made by Joseph Smith's editing are not really doctrinal, just clarifying.  The book, written by "John the Divine" (divine = seer) has been preserved in its purity.


REVELATION 1

Many sources give good information on Revelation 1-3, including those cited in this post, and also The Gospel Doctrine Class website, which was immensely helpful to me when I began teaching years ago, so I will not attempt a complete treatment of these chapters, but just an additional perspective.

John bears a beautiful and unusually worded testimony to introduce his revelation:

"I, John, the faithful witness, bear record of the things which were delivered me of the angel, and from Jesus Christ the first begotten of the dead, and the Prince of the kings of the earth.  And unto him who loved us, be glory: who washed us from our sins in his own blood, and hath made us kings and priests unto God, his Father.  To him be glory and dominion, forever and ever.  Amen.  For behold, he cometh in the clouds with ten thousands of his saints in the kingdom, clothed with the glory of his Father."  (Rev. 1:5-7 JST, p. 812 of the LDS Bible)

All numbers in Hebrew have a verbal meaning.  The number 10 means "testimony."  The number 1,000 means "divine completeness and the Father's glory."  (See Biblical Numerics.)  So there will a huge number (undoubtedly many, many more than tens of thousands--consider all the millions of infants alone who have died unsullied by earthlife and are saved) of glorified, perfected saints, who have been faithful to their testimonies of Christ, and who will be with Christ in his kingdom.

"If one of the major purposes of Revelation is to give us encouragement, we receive it almost immediately.  If myriads of people will return to reign with Christ--if tens of thousands are crowned kings and queens in his eternal realms--there is hope for each of us" (Michael Wilcox, Who Shall Be Able to Stand? Finding Personal Meaning in the Book of Revelation, Kindle Edition, chap. 1, para. 17).

John heard the voice of Christ identifying himself (1:10-11).  When he turned (notice, it took an action on his part to receive the vision), he saw seven golden candlesticks and Christ in the midst of them.  The meaning of the candlesticks is found in verse 20: they are the church congregations.

"The word 'candlesticks' reflects the King James translators' familiarity with wax candles.  What John actually saw, however, was a seven-branched menorah with a bowl at the top of each branch.  Each bowl held olive oil, into which a wick was placed and then lit, providing light...

"The seven churches must be filled with the Spirit that they might bring light, healing, and peace to the world.  The challenge has not changed for us today" (Wilcox, ch. 1, par. 18-19).  (See D&C 45:56-57 where the symbol of oil is explained to mean the guidance of the Holy Spirit.)

"John describes the voice of Christ 'as the sound of many waters.' (Rev. 1:15)  I frequently ask my classes when we reach this point to close their eyes and hear in their imagination the sound of many waters.  I then ask them to tell me what they are listening to.  I get three answers.  Some hear the waves of the sea rolling to shore, some hear a mountain stream rushing from high peaks, and some hear the thunder of waterfalls cascading down the rocks.  It doesn't matter which they hear, for all suit the purpose of the poetic description.  In each case the sound is a powerful one, impossible to ignore.  Yet when I ask them how they feel when they hear these sounds of water, they respond with words like 'Peaceful!' 'Calming!' 'Soothing!' 'Healing!'  The voice of God is powerful but instills solace" (Wilcox, ch. 1, par. 22).

"And he had in his right hand seven stars..." (v. 16) 

This is also interpreted in verse 20: it is the leaders of the churches.

"In the ancient world people used the stars for navigation.  People looked to them for direction because they were constant and unchanging.  On the central west tower of the Salt Lake Temple, about halfway up, you can see the Big Dipper carved into the granite.  These stone stars represent the priesthood, who will show us the way, just as we use the Big Dipper to find the North Star.  The local leaders must be constant in order to direct their members.  The Savior's upturned hand is a testimony of his willingness to succor them" (Wilcox, ch. 1, par. 24).

REVELATION 2-3

In these chapters, each of seven branches of the church of Christ is given a message, and each message follows a distinct pattern.  By picking apart the pieces of this pattern, we can see the messages in a new way that can show a relevance to our own lives.

The Savior's Self-Portraits
In each message, Christ identifies and describes himself. 

Have the assigned class members read their descriptions and tell how the images make them feel about Christ.

1. He that holdeth the seven stars in his right hand, who walketh in the midst of the seven golden candlesticks (2:1). 
2. The first and the last, which was dead and is alive (2:8).
3. He which hath the sharp sword with two edges (2:12).
4. The Son of God, who hath his eyes like unto a flame of fire, and his feet are like fine brass (2:18).
5. He who hath the seven stars (3:1).
6. He that is holy, he that is true, he that hath the key of David, he that openeth, and no man shutteth, and shutteth and no man openeth (3:7).
7. The Amen, the faithful and true witness, the beginning of the creation of God  (3:14).

Some supplementary comments:

For number 6:  "Anciently, locks were hand-carved from wood or hand-forged from metal and they were large, bulky and expensive...therefore used to protect only very valuable treasure...keys usually were held only by the wealthy and powerful--or entrusted by them to stewards.  Keys were typically worn around the neck on a chain, so if people saw a man on a street wearing a key, they could rightly assume that he was a man of power and authority." (Lund)

For number 7: "Amen is a word used so frequently in the Church that you would think that most Christians would know its meaning. However, many do not. Others tend to use the word frivolously, some even thinking that it simply means, 'the end.' But this word is much more than just the standard thing to say, or the appropriate ending of a prayer.

"[Amen] is one of the few words of scripture which is written in its original Hebrew form. In fact, it is practically a universal word, having been adopted directly from the Hebrew into Greek, Latin, English, Spanish, and many other languages. Found both in the Old and the New Testaments, it is also translated in different ways, depending upon the context of the passage in which it is found. This Hebrew amen is derived from the root [aman], which means to be firm or solid in the sense of permanency or faithfulness. Thus by implication, it means to be sure or true." (The Mountain Retreat; see also Bible Dictionary.)

The Savior's Knowledge of the Works of the Churches
Read these descriptions as a class and ask class members to listen with their hearts and feel whether Christ is speaking any of these words to them personally.

1. I know thy works, and thy labour, and thy patience...for my name's sake [thou] hast laboured, and hast not fainted (2:2-3).
2. I know thy works, and tribulation, and poverty, (but thou art rich) (2:9).
3. I know thy works, and where thou dwellest, even where Satan's seat is; and thou holdest fast my name, and hast not denied my faith (2:13).
4. I know thy works, and charity, and service, and faith, and thy patience, and thy works; and the last to be more than the first (2:19).
5. I know thy works, that thou hast a name that thou livest and art not dead (3:1).
6. I know thy works: behold, I have set before thee an open door, and no man can shut it: for thou hast a little strength, and hast kept my word, and hast not denied my name...Because thou hast kept the word of my patience, I also will keep thee from the hour of temptation, which shall come upon all the world, to try them that dwell upon the earth (3:8, 10).
7. I know thy works, that thou art neither cold nor hot... (3:15) .

Some supplementary comments:

For number 2: The meaning of being rich despite poverty is defined by its inverse in number 7.

For number 4: The word "works" is mentioned twice in this sentence.  Is it just carelessness?  Knowing the difficulty of recording scripture in ancient days, we can assume that every repetition has a purpose.  The purpose here is revealed when the Savior says he knows "the last to be more than the first."  These saints have increased their works from when they first began, through their faith, charity, service and patience.  The Lord is pleased when we improve; in fact he expects improvement.

For number 7: This church received no commendation. 

Christ's Rebukes
After receiving recognition from the Lord for what they were doing right, he pointed out what they needed to improve.  Are any of these warnings applicable to us?

1. "I have somewhat against thee, because thou hast left thy first love [passion for the gospel].  Remember therefore from whence thou art fallen, and repent, and do the first works..." (2:4-5)
2. The second church received not a rebuke, but a warning that they would suffer and great deal, but it would last ten days (2:10).  Remember the meaning of ten?  It would last as long as they testify.  But for being faithful unto death, they will receive a crown of life.
3. "Thou has there them that hold the doctrine of Balaam" (2:14).  In their midst, there are people who would convince the saints to dilute or divide their worship in order to obtain material gain.
4. "Thou sufferest that woman Jezebel."  David Stern (Jewish New Testament Commentary) translates this as "that Jezebel woman," or a woman who is like Jezebel.  In the Old Testament, Jezebel led the people into idolatry.  This congregation apparently had a similar woman, who was not being disciplined despite the fact that she had not repented.  The curse to her would also apply to her bedfellows, or the saints who followed her or tolerated her behavior.
5. "I have not found thy works perfect before God.  Remember therefore how thou hast received and heard, and hold fast, and repent" (3:3).  This counsel would apply to every single member of the church everywhere and in every age, as none of our works are perfect unless we remember what we have received and heard (the doctrine of the atonement), hold fast to it, and repent.
6. This church received no rebuke.
7. "I would thou wert cold or hot.  So then because thou art lukewarm, and neither cold nor hot, I will spue thee out of my mouth.  Because thou sayest, I am rich, and increased with goods, and have need of nothing; and knowest not that thou art wretched, and miserable, and poor, and blind, and naked: I counsel thee to buy of me gold tried in the fire, that thou mayest be rich; and white raiment, that thou mayest be clothed and that the shame of thy nakedness do not appear; and anoint thine eyes with eyesalve, that thou mayest see.  As many as I love, I rebuke and chasten: be zealous therefore, and repent" (3:15-19).  The Savior offers his atonement to make them rich, to clothe them, and to show them the way.  The price is to be zealous and repent (repentance requires effort).

The Promises to Those Who Overcome
Suggest to your class that they highlight these verses, preferably in a special color (I like yellow), so they are easy to find.  In times of discouragement, they can turn to Revelation and quickly become buoyed up by the promises for overcoming whatever trials are afflicting them.

These promises are huge!!!  Notice that thy seem to be in a progressive order.

1. "To him that overcometh will I give to eat of the tree of life, which is in the midst of the paradise of God" (2:7).  By turning away from the filthy water, and the great and spacious building of Lehi's dream, holding to the rod of iron through the mists of darkness, we can reach the tree of life, the fruit of which is the Atonement of Jesus Christ, the greatest manifestation of God's love.
2. "He that overcometh shall not be hurt of the second death" (2:11).  Through the Atonement of Christ, we will be safe from spiritual death.
3. "To him that overcometh will I give to eat of the hidden manna, and will give him a white stone, and in the stone a new name written, which no man knoweth saving he that receiveth it" (2:17).  What is manna?  Pure nourishment from heaven.  What is the white stone?  A personal Urim and Thummim "whereby things pertaining to a higher order of kingdoms will be made known" (D&C 130:10).  What is the new name?  "The key word" (D&C 130:11), a key that unlocks the door to the person's true identity, divine potential, and membership in the Lord's family.  Hmm.  Sounds an awful lot like the temple endowment.
4. "And to him who overcometh, and keepeth my commandments unto the end, will I give power over many kingdoms; and he shall rule them with the word of God; and they shall be in his hands as the vessels of clay in the hands of a potter; and he shall govern them by faith, with equity and justice, even as I received of my Father" (2:26-27 JST).  Those who continue until the end in this state will become kings and priests, queens and priestesses, ruling over kingdoms, with the power to shape and form them, governing (guiding and protecting) them as the Gods do.  Are you seeing the progression here?
5. "He that overcometh, the same shall be clothed in white raiment; and I will not blot out his name out of the book of life, but I will confess his name before my Father, and before his angels" (3:5).  We're still on the same train of temple thought, knowing that the white clothing in the temple symbolizes the purification of the Holy Spirit and the Atonement of Christ.  The nakedness and vulnerability of man's fallen state can be covered by the Atonement.
6. "Him that overcometh will I make a pillar in the temple of my God, and he shall go no more out; and I will write upon him the name of my God, and the name of the city of my God, which is new Jerusalem, which cometh down out of heaven from my God: and I will write upon him my new name" (3:12).  Walls, doors, stairways and windows of a building may be moved, but a pillar is a main supporting post and cannot be removed.  Those who become "fixtures" in the temple to go no more out will receive the name of Christ, and will be known as citizens of his heavenly city.  What is Christ's new name?  A new name according to Bible traditions would relate to a change in status.  When did Christ's status change?  When he overcame all through his Atonement and became the Father of our Spirits.
7. "To him that overcometh will I grant to sit with me in my throne, even as I also overcame, and am set down with my Father in his throne" (3:21).  Wow.  This is such an awesome image, it's hard to fathom.  Those who make it through the challenges of life, overcoming through the power of the Atonement, who keep their temple covenants and endure to the end, will actually be sitting on Christ's throne with him.  This implies becoming as he is, one of the revolutionary doctrines of the restored gospel.  There really isn't anywhere to go up from here.  That's why this is Promise #7: the number seven symbolizes divine completion and perfection.

REVELATION 12

The entire chapter is found in the JST Appendix of the Bible, p. 812-813, and it is best to read it there as there are many editorial changes and even a resequencing of the verses. 

If you have items that would depict parts of the chapter, you may want to bring them in a bag and pass them around the class just for a tactile relation to the subject.  People remember better if they have held (even fidgeted with) something relating to the subject.  Ideas might be stars, a lightbulb, a picture of bright sun rays, a dress, a moon, a bejeweled tiara, a photo of a newborn baby, a miniature metal rod, a toy Tyrannosaurus Rex or dragon, something that is red, a paper crown like from an English Christmas cracker or from a Burger King restaurant (or a homemade one).

Chapter 12 of Revelation tells the story of an astonishing, awe-inspiring woman.

The Glorious Woman and Her Child
V. 1  "And there appeared a great sign in heaven, in the likeness of things on the earth; a woman clothed with the sun, and the moon under her feet, and upon her head a crown of twelve stars."  We have the interpretation for the symbol of the woman in verse 7, and the symbol of the twelve stars...  The woman is the Church of God, and the twelve stars are the apostles.  With these two interpretations in mind, we should then ask ourselves, "What image is this verse trying to transfer to us?" in order to flesh out the revelation.She was "clothed with the sun."  She is not the source of light herself, but she is dressed in light.  Not only that, but the light that she is wearing is the sun, the most glorious source of light known to earthly men, so brilliant we can't even look at it.

"And the moon under her feet."  What is generally under our feet?  Our shadows.  This woman is so brilliant, she has no shadow, only light.

"And upon her head a crown of twelve stars."  A crown is worn by ruling royalty.  The number 12 in Hebrew indicates priesthood.  Her crown is her witness of Christ: the twelve apostles.  This provides her direct link (revelation) with heaven and the source of Light as she rules.

"The importance of this description is seen in such places as temple architecture.  The Nauvoo temple had starstones, moonstones, and sunstones, These were repeated in the Salt Lake Temple and even in more recent temples, such as the one in Palmyra.  In descending order from top to bottom the stones are placed--stars, sun, moon.  The stars encircle the top of the temple, resting above the sunstones.  The moonstones lie at the foot of the pillars.  Thus, when seen together, they duplicate the description of the woman in Revelation 12." (Wilcox, chap. 12, para. 8.)

(See "The Trumpet Stone" blog for photographic images of these symbols on temples, including the Big Dipper, mentioned earlier.)

V. 2  "And the woman being with child, cried, travailing in birth, and pained to be delivered."  Those who have delivered a child know they don't call it "labor" for nothing, do they?  It is one of the hardest things physically that a body can do.  Those who have adopted a child can also relate, as it is one of the hardest things emotionally that a woman can do.  (I speak from experience, as we have brought children into our family both ways.)

But then, as soon as the baby is delivered, there is tremendous relief and overwhelming joy.  This baby is the most wonderful thing the world has ever seen!  He was worth every minute of pain!  We would do it all again!  (But not right away!)  It is possible that our joy in the baby is greater because of the pain we endured to bring it into existence.

V. 3 "And she brought forth a man child, who was to rule all nations with a rod of iron; and her child was caught up unto God and his throne."  Who is this man child?  Verse 7 tells us he is the kingdom of our God and his Christ.  "The name of the child is Zion.  It has been the purpose of the Church in every age to establish a Zion community on the earth." (Wilcox, chap. 12, para. 9.)  The rod of iron with which he will rule is interpreted in Lehi's vision of the Tree of Life as the word of God.  (See also Rev. 2:26-27 JST.  Remember:  the best commentary on scripture is scripture.  The prophets all get their material from the same Source.) 

So:  The entire world will someday be ruled by the scriptures and revelation!  Won't that be wonderful?  At a couple of points in the existence of this earth, such a kingdom did exist, for example, in the City of Enoch.  But the kingdom was "caught up unto God and his throne," to remove it from Satan's grasp.  The future kingdom, however, will encompass the entire earth and become heaven.

The Great Red Dragon
V. 4 "And there appeared another sign in heaven; and behold, a great red dragon, having seven heads and ten horns, and seven crowns upon his heads.  And his tail drew the third part of the stars of heaven, and did cast them to the earth.  And the dragon stood before the woman which was delivered, ready to devour her child after it was born."

The dragon is Satan.  Why is this a good image for the devil?  In opposition to the word of God, his mouth breathes fire and destruction.  He is greedy and angry and hordes treasure for himself.  He is difficult to defeat. 

And why the color red?  Red is associated with heat, with fire, with danger, with pain, with suffering in most cultures of the earth.  (As are dragons).

There may be multiple meanings of the seven heads and ten horns.  Heads can symbolize political kings (17:9-12).  Gerald Lund hypothesizes that the seven heads may have been the emperors of Rome.  In our day, they may symbolize the "seven deadly heresies" named by Bruce R. McConkie. (Read about them at this link.)  As the number seven means "completion," they may also indicate that every type of evil or sin is employed by Satan.

Horns in scripture typically refer to power. Since ten means "testimony," this may refer to false testimony, lies, heresies and the power that they wield among men.

No matter the individual meanings of the symbols, the overall message is clear: Satan is attempting to rule over the earth with great power. 

His method of governance follows in the next sentence: with the power of his tail, he sweeps and crushes his servants, and flings them down.  He uses people and then casts them aside.  It is his ever-mistaken belief that by putting others down, he himself will be elevated.  But he is wrong and (verse 13) he himself is cast down.  His reign is as temporary as a paper crown.

THE DEFEAT OF THE DRAGON

How to fight the dragon?  "One of the most dangerous things one could do when fighting a seven-headed dragon would be to single out one head, label it the enemy, and focus all attention on its destruction.  The single focus would allow the other heads to attack." (Wilcox, Chapter 12, "The Red Dragon," para. 3.)  We have to be alert to attack from every direction.

V. 4  "And the woman fled into the wilderness, where she had a place prepared of God, that they should feed her there a thousand two hundred and threescore years." Michael Wilcox explains that this number, which equals the other scriptural phrase "time, times, and half a time" (see Dan. 7:25, and Rev. 12:14), and three and a half years, means a time of apostasy and trial, seeming best represented by the great apostacy, the time of Lucifer's most total power. 

"In the New World, the lights went out completely with the last great battles of the Nephites and Lamanites at the time of Mormon and Moroni.  The sacred plates were buried, and within a few centuries almost all remnants of Christian belief were eclipsed in the mystery religions of the Maya, Aztec, and other groups on this continent.  Only fleeting shadows of a white god who promised to return, along with some distorted rituals, remained as witness of the American gospel...Yet even here, the buried plates with their precious messages would not perish.

"However, in the Old World, in spite of the apostasy, Christianity survived.  Though changed in many of its doctrines, ordinances, and priesthood, many essential truths remained.  Most remarkable, the scriptures survived.  Some 'plain and precious truths' were removed, but what endured still carried a rich fullness.  The belief in resurrection, baptism, sacrament, atonement, priesthood, and scripture, though all distorted, continued to exist...We owe a deep debt of gratitude to hundreds of individuals who preserved, copied, debated, lived, displayed in art, and passed on the tenets of Christ's teachings.  The great cathedrals of Europe have always filled me with thanksgiving, in spite of their more somber elements, for they represent the triumph of the woman over the dragon.  This is not to deny the condemnation of the apostate church...in chapter 17, but to give credit where credit is due and validate the Lord's wisdom in keeping the woman from annihilation.  She fled into a gentile wilderness and lived."  (Wilcox, chapter 12, "The Woman in the Wilderness," para. 4-5.)  (For an example of this preservation of gospel truth through the apostacy, see a previous post.)

The story of the war in heaven is interjected in verses 6-13.  Why?  To show that the devil is always defeated.  "And the dragon prevailed not against Michael, neither the child, nor the woman which was the church of God...For they have overcome him by the blood of the Lamb, and by the word of their testimony...Therefore, rejoice O heavens, and ye that dwell in them." (V. 7)

V. 15 "And the serpent casteth out of his mouth water as a flood after the woman, that he might cause her to be carried away of the flood." What comes out from the mouth?  Words.  God rules with his word.  Satan hopes to rule with words.  Interestingly, the word "devil" comes from the Greek diablos, which means "slanderer" or "accuser."  Is this not a cool thing to know?  Slandering is what the devil does best.  He uses his words to ensnare others, to drag them down to destruction.  The meaning of the word "Satan," which is Hebrew, is "adversary".  So the dragon, the devil, uses his words, his doctrines, to oppose and destroy.  Just as Christ is the Living Water, the devil releases his killing water as a flood upon the earth to drown the inhabitants. 

What will save them?  The answer to this is not what we might expect.

V. 16  "And the earth helpeth the woman, and the earth openeth her mouth, and swalloweth up the flood which the dragon casteth out of his mouth."  The earth?  What could "the earth" refer to?  The laws of nature.  The devil may twist the truth and put forth his false teachings that seem to make sense, but he cannot change the consequences.  He fools himself and his followers into thinking that they can make destructive behaviors yield happiness and freedom just by making them sound right, but this mortal existence is not a court of law wherein the suit is won by the person who presents the best argument.  Instead it is governed by actual truth, the outcomes of right and wrong actions are already in place, and the devil and his servants ensnare only themselves.  The laws of nature, "the earth," swallow up their false teachings in the end.

...AND THEY ALL LIVED HAPPILY EVER AFTER

The great news, and the end of the story, is found in the story of the war in heaven, which is the precursor of the war on earth.  Just as the devil was "cast out [of heaven] into the earth" (v. 8), he will be cast out of the earth in the end."And I heard a loud voice saying in heaven, Now is come salvation, and strength, and the kingdom of our God, and the power of his Christ; for the accuser of our brethren is cast down, which accused them before our God day and night. 

"For they have overcome him by the blood of the Lamb, and by the word of their testimony; for they loved not their own lives, but kept the testimony even unto death.  Therefore, rejoice O heavens, and ye that dwell in them" (12:9-11).

Understanding the Book of Revelation

You  may want to share the following story with your class at the end of lesson 44 to get them in the right frame of mind for reading the assignment in Revelation.

When our older children were little, we took them to a 3-D movie.  For one of them, who was only four or five years old, it was the first
3-D movie she'd seen.  This was in the early days of 3-D and the movies were made 3-dimensional by playing two views of the scene on the screen at once which were slightly offset from each other and in slightly different colors.  You had to wear little cardboard glasses that had one blue lens and one red lens, so each eye would be watching a different "movie" and as the images were sent to your brain it created the special 3-D effect. (Click here for a link to a picture of 3-D glasses and an explanation of how they work.)

Well, our little daughter was upset about having to wear the funny glasses and refused.  She had never had to wear glasses to see a movie before, and she didn't see why she should have to for this one.  Beside, the glasses felt awkward to her.  Of course, as the movie began to play, she was even more upset because she couldn't see the movie!  Without the uncomfortable glasses, everything on the screen was just a blur.

The Book of Revelation is like an epic 3-D movie.  We have to approach it with an entirely different perspective than we do, say, the Book of Mormon, and if we refuse to do that, it's all just a blur of nonsensical words.

The irony of the Book of Revelation is that John had a wonderful vision--three-dimensional, multi-facted, sensory-laden, and emotionally-charged--all the stuff of the subconscious mind or the right brain or the artistic side, but the only "technology" available to him to convey his vision to us was the written word--the stuff of the conscious mind or the left brain or the logical thought process.  Somehow we have to transfer the language back into the mode in which John received the revelation.  If we just try to understand the words, it is a silly, disjointed story at worst, or a list of symbols and their interpretations at best.  BUT, if we can transfer the words back into the images, and call upon the spirit of personal revelation available to those who fervently study the scriptures, we can experience the emotions, the grandeur, the spiritual fire that this vision gave to John, and which still carries him in his work on the earth today.  To catch the vision of the Book of Revelation, we have to step out of our "spiritual couch-potato" comfort zone and put on our 3-D glasses. 

Keep that in mind as you study Revelation 1-3 and 12 this coming week.

Epistles of John: "God is Love"

1, 2, and 3 John

JOHN'S TESTIMONY

John begins his first epistle with his powerful testimony.

"Brethren, this is the testimony which we give that that which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we have looked upon, and our hands have handled, of the Word of life;

"(For the life was manifested, and we have seen it, and bear witness, and shew unto you that eternal life, which was with the Father, and was manifested unto us;)

"That which we have seen and heard declare we unto you, that ye also may have fellowship with us; and truly our fellowship is with the Father, and with his Son Jesus Christ.

"And these things write we unto you, that your joy may be full" (1:1-4). 

This is the purpose of testifying: to bring joy to others--not just a bit of joy, but complete joy.

POETRY AND IMAGERY

John is good at imagery and poetry.  After all, he's the same guy who wrote Revelation.  "An important characteristic of poetry is compression, or concentrated language"  (Creative Writing Now).  John is not verbose (his two epistles are among the smallest in the New Testament), but as a poet, he uses words with concentrated meaning and imagery to instill in us more deeply the truths he wants to teach.  "Often what causes the strongest emotions is not what the poem describes, but what it makes the reader imagine." With well-written poetry, it is not the literal meaning of the words that matters, but what kinds of intangible feelings those words provoke.

"'Poetry lifts the veil from the hidden beauty of the world, and makes familiar objects be as if they were not familiar' (Percy Bysshe Shelley).  Here Shelley points out an important aspect of poetry, which is to find fresh ways of looking at things we think we know well" (ibid.). 

"Sir Philip Sidney [said], 'Poetry is a speaking picture' (ibid.).

Ask the class members to take 1 minute to come up with a one-word, all-inclusive description of their mothers.

It is difficult to describe a person with only one word, and cover all the various aspects of their complex personalities.  But John is a poetic genius and his subject (God) is simpler than most people realize, so twice in the first epistle John is able to describe God completely with only one word.  What are these two one-word descriptions he gives of God? 

God is Light (1:5).
God is Love (4:8).

With these words, John links us with images and feelings that help us understand God in a fresh way. What images and feelings do you get when you think of light?  And what about love?  How is it that each of these words can completely describe such a powerful being as God?  I'd like to say that we'll figure that out in the next few paragraphs, but actually the depth and meaning of those words and their relation to God could be studied productively for many years.

But we'll give it a start...

GOD IS LIGHT

"This then is the message which we have heard of him, and declare unto you, that God is light, and in him is no darkness at all" (1:5).

To make this metaphor clear to us, John elaborates with alternating verses about what it means for us to be in darkness and then how God can be as a Light that dispels that darkness.

Darkness: "If we say that we have fellowship with [God], and walk in darkness, we lie, and do not the truth: (1:6)

Light: "But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship one with another, and the blood of Jesus Christ his Son cleanseth us from all sin." (1:7)

Darkness: "If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us." (1:8)

Light:  "If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness." (1:9)

Darkness: "If we say that we have not sinned, we make him a liar, and his word is not in us." (1:10)

Light: "If any man sin and repent, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous: and he is the propitiation for our sins: and not for ours only, but also for the sins of the world.  And hereby we do know that we know him, if we keep his commandments." (2:1-3 JST)

Darkness: "He that saith, I know him, and keepeth not his commandments, is a liar, and the truth is not in him." (2:4)

Light: "But whoso keepeth his word, in him verily is the love of God perfected: hereby know we that we are in him.  Brethren, I write a new commandment unto you, but it is the same commandment which ye had from the beginning.  The old commandment is the word which ye have heard from the beginning.  Again, a new commandment I write unto you, which thing was of old ordained of God; and is true in him, and in you: because the darkness is past and the true light now shineth." (2:5-8)

Darkness: "He that saith he is in the light, and hateth his brother, is in darkness even unto now." (2:9)

Light: "He that loveth his brother abideth in the light, and there is none occasion of stumbling in him." (2:10)

Darkness: "But he that hateth his brother is in darkness, and walketh in darkness, and knoweth not whither he goeth, because that darkness hath blinded his eyes."  (2:11)

(See also D&C 88:6-13.)

So, to summarize, if we follow the new commandment (which is really just the old commandment) to love, we will no longer be in darkness but will be walking in the Light--Light with a capital L.  Which leads us to John's second one-word description of God.

GOD IS LOVE

John uses the word "love" and its variations 46 times in the first epistle.  Although by the time of Christ the Law of Moses had morphed into a huge conglomoration of rules and regulations, many of which had completely lost their original meaning, the Law of Moses was originally based on love.  The phylacteries which the Hebrew bound upon their foreheads as they prayed contained the words of the Shema, the central prayer of the Jew and often the first scripture that a Hebrew child learned.  They were the first words uttered in the morning and the last at night.  Shema means "hear."  (Blair G. Van Dyke, "Profiles of a Covenant People," Covenants, Prophecies, and Hymns of the Old Testament: The 30th Annual Sidney B. Sperry Symposium, p. 37)

Click on this link to hear the Shema sung in Hebrew, and to learn more about its meaning to the Jews.

The first part of the Shema is Deuteronomy 6:4-9.  "Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God is one Lord: and thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thine heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy might.  And these words, which I command thee this day, shall be in thine heart." (Deut. 6:4-5).

"In Hebrew thought, the heart (not the mind) was the source of thinking, willing, and deciding.  Therefore, to love God with all one's heart was to make a deliberate commitment to steadfast loyalty and unwavering obedience.  To love 'with all thy soul' was the demand for the [servant] to be prepared to die for the [master].  It denoted full devotion.  To love 'with all thy might' meant that a [servant] would come to the aid of the [master] with all his force, with his army and chariots." (ibid.)

John reminded his readers of this new commandment, which was just a restatement of the old commandment that had been obscured by rabbinic law.

"And this is his commandment, that we should 1) believe on the name of his Son Jesus Christ [faith in Christ is of course based on a love for Him] and 2) love one another, as he gave us commandment." (1 John 3:23).  "If we could not love on command, the Lord would not have commanded us to love" (Ester Rasband, Confronting the Myth of Self-Esteem, p. 54). 

"He that loveth not knoweth not God; for God is love."  (4:8).

(Please note the great information on love in the first reader's comment at the bottom on this entry.)

KEEPING COMMANDMENTS ALLOWS US TO FEEL LOVED

In John's gospel, he wrote the words of the Savior:  "If ye keep my commandments, ye shall abide in my love." (John 15:10).

Wait--what? 

Isn't the love of the Savior unconditional?  Does this scripture say that the Lord will only love those who keep his commandments?

No.  It says only those who keep his commandments will abide in his love.  If you have ever been able to feel the love of God, you know that it is the most wonderful feeling in the world.  If we could abide in that love always, it would be amazing.

But what if you haven't felt the love of God, or if it has been a long time since you have? 

First, you must check your obedience to his commandments, which can all be summarized into two:  loving God and loving others.  "And he that keepeth his commandments dwelleth in [God] and [God dwelleth] in him.  And hereby we know that he abideth in us, by the Spirit which he hath given us' (1 John 3:24).

Second, you must check your willingness to receive God's love. 

"I attended a seminar a few years ago where a questionnaire led us to a conclusion about the expressions of love that we accept.  Some of us accept and recognize love when it is expressed verbally, some when another labors in our behalf, some when a loved one offers demonstrative affection, and some when material gifts are given to us.  There were still other ways.  The series of questions helped us to examine our behavior to see how we are willing to receive love.  The director of the seminar suggested that each of us has the right to receive love in the way that we recognize it and accept it.  His goal, he said, was that we would use this self-revelation to tell our partners how they should give love to us.

"At the end of the quiz I'm sure that I was not alone in feeling more self pity than self-discovery.  No one ever gets all they want from others...

"How valuable it would be to our mental health to examine the ways that others give love to us instead of the ways we are willing to accept it.  Inasmuch as we have a great need to be loved--indeed, a survival need--it seems to me that the great benefit would be in recognizing love that comes to us in ways that are perhaps not our way at all.

"God's love is perfect, but we are not.  Things of the world which we ignorantly would prefer as an expression of love may not be for our best good.  They may even be destructive and therefore would not be an expression of love at all.  We must be so humble that we trust the way our perfect Father in Heaven expresses his love for us and be grateful for it without condition.  If we don't do that, if we are unwilling to receive it, we fail to collect it.  Unrecognized and therefore uncollected, the love does not strengthen us, does not energize us, does not bless us...

"I have heard the same formula repeated many times: 'A loving God would surely see that all of his children were equal in comfort.' 'A loving God would see that all his children were treated fairly.'  However the complaint ends, it is the same: man telling God how to love him instead of seeing God's love in God's omniscient expression of it and being grateful.

"Gratitude is the key to collecting God's love." (Rasband, p. 60-62)

By keeping the covenant to love, and by gratefully recognizing God's hand in our lives, we then are blessed to dwell in His love.  In Hebrew this love of God's is called hesed, a word which, unfortunately, has no English equivalent.  It has to do with love that never fails, with compassion, with mercy and grace.  It is a love that translates into action, a rescuing kindness (Van Dyke).

"Whosoever shall confess that Jesus is the son of God, God dwelleth in him, and he in God.  And we have known and believed the love that God hath to us.  God is love; and he that dwelleth in love dwelleth in God and God in him." (4:15-16)

The benefit to us personally of dwelling in this love is the removal of possibly the most debilitating condition of our latter-day existence:  fear.

FEAR

As Paul stated in one of his epistles, "God hath not given us the spirit of fear, but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind" (2 Tim. 1:7).

At the very low point of the Great Depression, Franklin Delano Roosevelt was elected President of the United States.  In addition to being elected president of a country in crisis, FDR had faced serious challenges himself, being a paraplegic, and having narrowly escaped an assassination attempt three weeks before his inauguration.  (Five shots were fired, four people were wounded and the Chicago mayor was killed.) 

"In his first address as president, Roosevelt spoke directly to the mood of the day...'First of all, let me assert my firm belief that the only thing we have to fear is fear itself--nameless, unreasoning, unjustified terror which paralyzes needed efforts to convert retreat into advance.'

"Of course Roosevelt knew there were plenty of things to fear aside from fear itself.  But he also knew that as serious as the nation's problems were, 'unreasoning fear' would make things far worse by eroding faith in liberal democracy and convincing people to embrace the mad dreams of communism and fascism.  The Great Depression could hurt the United States.  But fear could destroy it.

"It's an insight older than the United States itself.  Roosevelt's line was lifted from Henry David Thoreau, and Thoreau in turn got it from Michel de Montaigne, who wrote, 'the thing I fear most is fear' more than three and a half centuries ago."  (Daniel Gardner, The Science of Fear, Kindle Edition, chapter 1, paragraphs 3-5.)

FDR knew that fear was a grave danger, and so does the Lord.  He knows that fear will incapacitate us and leave us open to the influence of the devil.  It will cause us to retreat rather than to advance.  That is why he has commanded us repeatedly in the scriptures to "fear not."  "For I, the Lord thy God, will hold thy right hand, saying unto thee, fear not; I will help thee." (Isa. 41:13)

But we live in the latter-days, the "perilous times" when "men's hearts shall fail them!" (See 2 Tim. 3:1; D&C 45:26.)  How are we supposed to avoid being afraid?  Perhaps, more than anything, it is the peril of fear itself that causes men's hearts to fail.  Because of our worldwide media, we are subject to an endless parade of fearful images right in front of our eyes.  Why?  Because fear sells. Newscasters focus on scary stories, and ask "could this happen to you?"  Most advertising is based on fear that our lives will not be safe or good or we will not be happy without the product in the ad.  Politicians prey upon our fears, offering to resolve the frightening problems they present.  Thanks to these "merchandisers of fear," despite the fact that we have more democratic societies than ever in the history of the world, more babies survive to adulthood even in underdeveloped countries, civil war and war between countries are both at a low point, and a longer and healthier life can be expected on every continent, we have become a "culture of fear."  (Gardner)

How do we overcome the fear that is being force-fed to us? By simply and specifically keeping the great commandment to love.  We can love our God and trust in him, we can love the people we fear, we can love the circumstances we are in, we can infuse love into our environment, our reactions to others, and our basic approach to life.  John taught that when we are filled with the pure love of Christ, it is not possible to be afraid.

"There is no fear in love; but perfect love casteth out fear: because fear hath torment.  He that feareth is not made perfect in love." (4:18)

Mormon lived in a more evil and frightening day than did we, as he witnessed the depraved condition of his people and the destruction of an entire civilization.  And yet he wrote in a letter to his son Moroni, "I fear not what man can do; for perfect love casteth out all fear" (Moro. 8:16).

We may not be facing the total annihilation of our civilization (even though the "fear merchants" may like us to think so), but this principle also has a a very real and very useful daily practical application that can literally change our lives.  If we are feeling "stressed" (stress is just fear by another name), we can ask ourselves what we are afraid of, and then we can see how to overcome that fear with love.  The result is that our stress can turn to joy.  Love is the greatest energizer, and the greatest bringer of peace.  Those very situations that bring us stress can be sources of happy excitement or joyful peace if we can train ourselves to face them with love instead of fear.

Ask class members to share something that stresses them--minor or catastrophic--and see if the class can brainstorm a way that love could overcome the fear.  Example: I am afraid of walking down the halls in the high school because I think everyone is judging my appearance.  Possible antidote:  Focus on others, smiling and saying hi to people who seem to need it.  Example:  I am so stressed out trying to keep my house clean.  Possible antidote:  Express gratitude for each aspect of your home as you work, for the mere fact that you have shelter, for all the items you are putting away.  Example: Fears produced by catastrophic life events can also be overcome by trust in the Lord (another aspect of love for the Lord), a hope to learn valuable lessons from the experience, and a desire to love and serve others also affected.

"Anciently, the Lord spoke to Isaac, saying: 'Fear not, for I am with thee' (Gen. 26:24). The admonition to 'fear not' was clear and direct and meaningful. The promise that 'I am with thee' was equally plain and direct and powerful.

"Down through the ages the same admonition, the same assurance, has been extended to every living soul who is willing to qualify. And yet, fear is prevalent throughout the earth. It stifles initiative, saps strength, and reduces efficiency. It weakens faith, brings doubts, and begets mistrust. Indeed, it tends to impede the very business of being. How negative, frustrating, and futile is fear...

"One lesson we have to learn is that fear is the beginning of defeat."  (Derek A. Cuthbert, "The Futility of Fear," New Era, Nov. 1985).  (See also, H. Ross Workman, Ensign, Dec. 2003.)

"God has given us the power of the gospel to lift us above our fears.

"God has given us the power of truth...

"We have nothing to fear when we walk by the light of eternal truth...

"We need not fear as long as we have in our lives the power that comes from righteously living by the truth which is from God our Eternal Father.  Nor need we fear as long as we have the power of faith...

"I have seen time and again that love of God can bridge the chasm of fear...

"How great and magnificent is the power of love to overcome fear and doubt, worry and discouragement."  (President Gordon B. Hinckley, "God Hath Not Given Us the Spirit of Fear," First Presidency Message, October 1984.)

JOHN'S TESTIMONY AND ADMONITION

At the end of the first epistle, John again shares his testimony:

"And we know that the Son of God is come, and hath given us an understanding, that we may know him that is true, and we are in him that is true, even in his Son Jesus Christ.  This is the true God, and eternal life" (5:20).

After bearing this testimony of the Savior, he adds this curious little sentence:

"Little children, keep yourselves from idols.  Amen." (5:21).

It seems disjointed or tacked on but actually it relates directly to, and even summarizes, the entire point of his epistle.  To know God and to be one with him is Eternal Life.  But to achieve this state, we must keep ourselves from idols, or from anything that may compromise our loyalty to the Lord.  The key is to closely control our love.  As he advised earlier:

"Love not the world, neither the things that are of the world.  If any man love the world, the love of the Father is not in him" (2:15 JST).

We must examine our pastimes, our passions, our use of resources, our goals, our desires, and make sure they all come up based on getting to know and be one with the Lord.  If they point in any other direction, our hope for Eternal Life as well as daily peace and joy is being frustrated.  We will fail daily, weekly, and eternally if we allow ourselves to be limited by fear, or if we love anything more than the Lord.

Please see the next blog entry for a little idea you may want to tag onto the end of this lesson to prepare your class for studying the Book of Revelation.

Epistles of Peter & Jude: "A Chosen Generation"

1 and 2 Peter; Jude

A ROYAL GENERATION

In the beloved children's book, A Little Princess, by Frances Hodgson Burnett, the principal character, Sara Crewe, is the rich, pampered, only child of her adoring father, left at a boarding school when he goes abroad.  She is the favorite of the director, Miss Minchin, and receives special treatment, although she notices Miss Minchin does not treat all the children fairly.  When news arrives that she is now orphaned and penniless, Miss Minchin takes away all her privileges, abuses her, and relegates to her the position of a slave. 

But Sara, whether she is rich and favored or destitute and despised, teaches the others, even the servant child, that every girl is a princess.  "I am a princess," she says. "All girls are. Even if they live in tiny old attics. Even if they dress in rags, even if they aren't pretty, or smart, or young. They're still princesses. All of us." 

She behaves as a princess herself--not a princess who expects to be waited upon, but a princess who knows she is of value, and who serves others with kindness.  "'Whatever comes,' she said, 'cannot alter one thing. If I am a princess in rags and tatters, I can be a princess inside. It would be easy to be a princess if I were dressed in cloth of gold, but it is a great deal more of a triumph to be one all the time when no one knows it.'"

Our then-3-year-old daughter Camille

wore this hot pink tiara every day for months.

Write "Royalty in Any Situation" on the board.

In earthly terms, what makes a prince or princess?  Inheritance. 

Write "Through the Merits of Our Father" on the board.

We also are royalty, through the merits of our Fathers:  God the Father, and Jesus Christ.  But, as in the story of Sara Crewe, that doesn't mean we get a trouble-free life of luxury.  Often our royalty is disguised behind trials, problems, weaknesses, mistreatment.  Like Sara Crewe, however, we must learn to act as royalty no matter what happens to us or how we are treated.

ANY SITUATION

"Simon Peter...was the chief apostle and equivalent of the prophet-president of the Church of Jesus Christ, though he is never called that in the New Testament...The Prophet Joseph Smith said of his predecessor, 'Peter penned the most sublime language of any of the apostles' (Teachings of the Prophet Joseph Smith, p. 301)" (D. Kelly Ogden & Andrew C. Skinner, New Testament Apostles Testify of Christ, p. 277). 

There is a great deal of divine doctrine in the two small epistles of Peter; unfortunately, we will only touch upon part of it here.

The first letter of Peter's was written from Rome before the persecutions intensified there.  It is centered on how saints might endure trials and suffering, a warning and preparation for the tough times ahead.  "[Peter] was a man who had grown perfect through his own trials, suffering, and experiences.  Tradition has it that Peter and Paul were both executed in Rome at a time of intense persecution and paranoia in Rome owing to Nero" (Ogden/Skinner, p. 277).  (See also the Bible Dictionary.)

"Dearly beloved, I beseech you as strangers and pilgrims, abstain from fleshly lusts, which war against the soul; Having your [conduct] honest among the Gentiles: that, whereas they speak against you as evildoers, they may by your good works, which they shall behold, glorify God in the day of visitation...

"For this is thankworthy, if a man for conscience toward God endure grief, suffering wrongfully.  For what glory is it, if when ye be buffeted for your faults, ye shall take it patiently?  but if, when ye do well, and suffer for it, ye take it patiently, this is acceptable with God" (1 Peter 2:11-12, 19-20).

Being called upon to suffer when we haven't done wrong is so unfair!  But it is following in the footsteps of Christ.  How else can we learn to act as royalty in any situation?

"For even hereunto were ye called; because Christ also suffered for us, leaving us an example, that ye should follow his steps: Who did no sin, neither was guile found in his mouth; who, when he was reviled, reviled not again; when he suffered, he threatened not; but committed himself to him that judgeth righteously; who his own self bare our sins in his own body on the tree, that we, being dead to sins, should live unto righteousness; by whose stripes ye were healed.  For ye were as sheep going astray; but are now returned unto the Shepherd and Bishop of your souls" (1 Peter 2:21-25).

"Jesus is our exemplar in all things.  His crown of thorns came first and then his crown of glory" (Ogden/Skinner, p. 278).

"Beloved, think it not strange concerning the fiery trial which is to try you, as though some strange thing happened unto you: But rejoice, inasmuch as ye are partakers of Christ's sufferings; that, when his glory shall be revealed, ye may be glad also with exceeding joy" (1 Peter 4:12-13).

As we learned in the lesson on Hebrews, the blessings God gives us are not always want we want and do not always come easily, but they always exceed our greatest imagining.  Eventually.

The great Christian writer, C.S. Lewis, fell in love with an American divorcee, Joy Gresham, just as she was diagnosed with terminal bone cancer.  They were married anyway in her hospital room in March of 1957, the ceremony being performed by the Reverend Peter Bide.  She lived just three years more.  Before she died, Lewis wrote in a letter to Father Bide, "We are not necessarily doubting that God will do the best for us: we are wondering how painful the best will turn out to be" (C.S. Lewis, in a letter to Father Peter Bide, April 29, 1959, quoted in The C.S. Lewis Bible, p. 1406).

As Elder Boyd K. Packer said, "Life will teach us some things we didn't want to know" (Boyd K. Packer, 1999 BYU Education Week Devotional).

"Humble yourselves therefore under the mighty hand of God, that he may exalt you in due time: casting all your care upon him; for he careth for you.  Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour...But the God of all grace, who hath called us unto his eternal glory by Christ Jesus, after that ye have suffered a while, make you perfect, stablish, strengthen, settle you" (1 Peter 5:6-10).

HOW TO BE ROYAL IN ANY SITUATION

"But ye are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, an holy nation, a [purchased, preserved] people; that ye should shew forth the praises of him who hath called you out of darkness into his marvellous light" (1 Peter 2:9).

"Deep down all of us know our mortal limitations.  We know we aren't wonderful--our enormous, eternal potential notwithstanding.  Inadequacy is the human condition, and unless we tap into the adequacy of our Father in Heaven, we live in a somewhat fearful state: fearful that our inadequcy will cause us to fail and will stand in the way of our being loved and valued.  Society, trying to rid us of that fear, tells us that we must feel adequate in ourselves...The belief that we must have self-esteem exacerbates the very problem it's supposed to combat: our search for self-esteem is a depressant, an anxiety producer, and a dreadful pressure" (Ester Rasband, Confronting the Myth of Self-Esteem, p. 1-2).

"There comes a still, small voice telling us that there is something we must do to relieve that anxiety.  Because we do not have a clear identification of our need, we think that we must do something to shore up our image of ourselves...That golden grain of divine discontent is not telling us that we must do something so that we can feel great about ourselves...It is there to remind us that we must do something to show our humility to our Father in Heaven, so that we can feel great about him" (Rasband, p. 17).

"You might ask...'But isn't some self-esteem necessary to achieve, to accomplish things?  Isn't self-esteem the means?' 'Not self-esteem,' I answer.  'Just love.  Love brings peace, and peace leads to confidence" (Rasband, p. 2).

"The real need of our heart is to be close to our Father in Heaven" (Rasband, p. 18).

Nephi, of all people, should have had a great self-esteem.  His father continually and publicly praised him for his righteousness, he had built a ship entirely by revelation from God which had carried his whole family safely across a huge ocean, he had a group of people calling themselves by his name--he was the prophet, for crying out loud!  And yet, it wasn't enough.  It is never enough.

"Nevertheless, notwithstanding the great goodness of the Lord, in showing me his great and marvelous works, my heart exclaimeth: O wretched man that I am!  Yea, my heart sorroweth because of my flesh; my soul grieveth because of mine iniquities.  I am encompassed about, because of the temptations and the sins which do so easily beset me.  And when I desire to rejoice, my heart groaneth because of my sins;

"Nevertheless, I know in whom I have trusted.  My God hath been my support; he hath led me through mine afflictions in the wilderness; and he hath preserved me upon the waters of the great deep.  He hath filled me with his love, even unto the consuming of my flesh" (2 Nephi 4:17-21)

"That which we call self-esteem is a high-maintenance condition, and therefore a barrier to peace...

"All of us are familiar with stories of movie stars and other celebrities who outlive their spot in the public eye and turn to alcoholism or other forms of private agony.  Whatever good feelings they had about themselves...It left them with greater  needs than they would have had had they never achieved such self-gratification" (Rasband, p. 32-33). 

"For all flesh is as grass, and all the glory of man as the flower of grass.  The grass withereth, and the flower thereof falleth away; but the word of the Lord endureth for ever..." (1 Peter 1:24-25).  "With the heavy rains of wintertime, grass can flourish and even spread over the barren wilderness [of the Holy Land], but it is gone with a wisp of the transitional khamsin (an Arabic word for a devastating east wind).  The blades are vivacious and vigorous one day--and vanished the next" (Ogden/Skinner, p. 279).  So it is with earthly honor and happiness.

But despite our inadequacies and the transitory nature of our existence, "we can have peace...It comes through identifying that the need of our heart is grace, and that grace comes when the motivation for our unmeasured doing is founded in love" (Rasband, p. 30).

PARTAKERS OF THE DIVINE NATURE

"Whereby are given unto us exceeding great and precious promises: that by these ye might be partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust [in other words, having repented].  And beside this, giving all diligence, add to your faith virtue; and to virtue knowledge; and to knowledge temperance; and to temperance patience; and to patience godliness; and to godliness brotherly kindness; and to brotherly kindness charity.  For if these things be in you, and abound, they make you that ye shall neither be barren nor unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ" (2 Peter 1:4-8).  (Remember that "knowledge" in the Bible implies an intimate relationship, not just a theoretical understanding.)  This divine nature is not something we do or develop ourselves--we are "partakers:" we get it from elsewhere, we get it from our Fathers.

Write "divine nature" in parentheses underneath "royalty" on the board.  Then add the list:  1) faith, 2) diligence, 3) virtue, 4) knowledge, 5) temperance, 6) patience, 7) godliness, 8) brotherly kindness, 9) charity. 

Sister Camille Fronk Olson gave an excellent talk at a BYU Women's Conference on Peter's admonition to partake of the divine nature in which she illustrated how it could be viewed as steps along a pathway to perfection.  (I highly recommend listening to this 30-minute talk, which you can do by clicking on this link, although I have given an outline here.  Unless otherwise noted, all of the following quotes in blue come from this talk.)

The first epistle of Peter warned the saints of trials to come, and instructed them in how to endure. "Therefore, recipients of [Peter's] second epistle would have been well-acquainted with trials of their faith and, having withstood the attacks, would have developed a steadfast trust in Christ."

"With faith as a foundation and diligence as our sustaining effort, divine attributes will gradually develop.  Peter taught that, 'while giving all diligence, add to your faith virtue.'  Virtue is the natural fruit of faith and diligence."  Virtue is the opposite of "the new apostacy" A. Lynn Scoresby identified.  (See a previous post.)  It is the opposite of hypocrisy.  It is knowing the truth and living it. 

"Virtue produces pure motives which, in turn, educate our actions...

"A remarkable phenomenon occurs when we make following Christ a natural part of life.  We begin to understand and make connections with gospel principles that previously seemed unrelated.  Paul identified knowledge as the addition to virtue.  When we sincerely obey the Lord, our knowledge about him and his doctrine deepens exponentially."

The next aspect of the divine nature is temperance:  self-control, the proper management of temporal things such as our time, our physical bodies, our appetites, our finances.  "When temperance is born of faith, virtue, and gospel knowledge, our ability to keep the first commandment preeminent is bolstered and enlivened...President Ezra Taft Benson taught, 'When we put God first, all other things fall into their proper place or drop out of our lives.  Our love of the Lord will govern our claims of affection, the demands of our time, the interests we pursue, and the order of our priorities.'"

Temperance helps us develop patience.  True patience runs much deeper than gritting our teeth or counting to ten while we wait for a problem to pass.  With godly patience, "we forget about checking our preconceived agenda for life while losing ourselves in helping others progress along the trail.  This patient response grows out of a willingness to have patience first with God...We don't know all that he has in store for us, but we are at peace knowing that it will be vastly superior to our myopically designed plan.  Such patience ripens into eternal perspective."

"We do not recognize others with divine natures by their outward appearance, but by how we feel when we are around them...The Greek word for 'godliness' suggests 'reverence' as a related term."  The godly value holy things; temple worship and sacrament service are significant to them.  They respect others and desire to forgive, seeing the royalty that is in them, just as Sara Crewe saw a princess in her fellow slave girl.

At this point, we can develop brotherly kindness.  The needs of others become apparent to us, and we desire to meet them.  We follow promptings of the Spirit to bless others without a second thought."The progression from brotherly kindness to charity is not a giant leap...[But] Peter teaches us that we cannot simply jump to charity.  Charity is given only after we receive the perfecting influence from all the other virtues...Paul taught that without charity any of the other attributes can become self-serving or self-lauditory, 'as sounding brass or a tinkling cymbal.'  With God's gift of charity, the Lord stretches, strengthens and solidifies all the other virtues he has given to us."

"And above all things have fervent charity among yourselves:for charity preventeth a multitude of sins" (1 Peter 4:8 JST)

"The Christian paradox is true.  Only when we lose ourselves will we find ourselves."  (Rasband, p. 37). "When we partake of the divine nature, our trust in the Lord becomes unshakeable.  We find no reason to question him, but only ways to better serve him" (Olson).  When we humble ourselves and give our whole selves to Christ, drawing his divine nature to ourselves amidst our trials, we will find that we are indeed royalty, through the merits of our Father. 

CONCLUSION

"Let thy bowels also be full of charity towards all men, and to the household of faith, and let virtue garnish thy thoughts unceasingly; then shall thy confidence wax strong in the presence of God" (D&C 121:45).  We do not have to be great to be confident of success in our mortal probation; we just have to be "in the presence of God," relying on his merits, living by the Spirit, driven by charity. We can be like the prophets of old, having peace and confidence despite our trials (and often because of them) if we strive to develop the divine nature in ourselves.

Here is a link to a really sweet and simple song written and sung by an 8-year-old girl who obviously has "confidence strong in the presence of God."  Despite of (or because of) the trial of losing her mother to death, she shows the depth of her relationship with God:  "I Thank God."

James: "Pure Religion"

James

INTRODUCTION

In Northern Utah, five minutes from my house, there is a beautiful canyon, Logan Canyon, and right along the road that goes through Logan Canyon there is a huge spring coming out of a cave.

Ricks Spring

In 1899, Brigham Young asked the Cache Valley saints to build a road through Logan Canyon to the Bear Lake Valley.  Thomas E. Ricks was the leader of that group, and the canyon road was built to what became known as Ricks Spring that first winter.  From its earliest discovery, Ricks Spring was very popular.  It was a great place for canyon travelers to stop and stretch and enjoy the cool air and icy water that came from the cave.  Everyone drank from the spring and people often took home jugs or bottles of the clear, cold water.  A rock and cement drinking fountain was installed next to the cave, fed by the spring water through pipes for those who didn't bring cups with them.

In the 1950s, hydrologists noticed that there seemed to be some connection between the water level at Ricks Spring and the Logan River, which winds through Logan Canyon and is filled with fish, beavers, ducks, geese, muskrats, deer and moose. 

Logan River in Logan Canyon

But it wasn't until 1972, when the Logan River froze in an unusually cold winter, water backed up above the ice, and Ricks Spring began to flow earlier than usual that the terrible discovery was made, confirmed by dye testing:  the water in Ricks Spring came from the Logan River across the road, from Tony Grove Lake a few miles away, and even from a livestock camp higher up the mountain. 

It was actually filthy water.  That would explain the digestive distress people sometimes got after a trip through the canyon.  Although there are many clear, clean springs in the Bear River Mountain range, Ricks "Spring" is not one of them.

Just for fun, you could bring a bottle of water labeled as Ricks Spring Water and ask if anyone in class wants to drink it.  Point out that it looks okay to you...

The apostle James lived in the Jordan Valley, an area with similar water purity challenges.  Being a seismic region, it contained both fresh water springs and mineral springs.  Great effort had to be taken to keep them separate and preserve clean drinking water.  (See Ogden & Skinner, New Testament Apostles Testify of Christ, p. 269).

The Jordan River

PURE WATER
"Doth a fountain send forth at the same place sweet water and bitter?  Can the fig tree, my brethren, bear olive berries?  either a vine, figs? so can no fountain both yield salt water and fresh.  Who is a wise man and endued with knowledge among you? let him shew out of a good conversation [better translation: "conduct" or "way of life"] his works with meekness of wisdom" (James 3:11-13).

Christ is the Living Water.  He teaches the ways to life and spiritual health.  His truth comes straight from the heavens as clear, clean rain or snow, (revelation, including personal revelation) or has sunk and been stored deep in the earth where all contaminants have been filtered out (scripture).

"But if ye have bitter envying and strife in your hearts, glory not and lie not against the truth.  [Thinking yourself righteous (glorying) is a lie if you carry envy or strife.]  This wisdom descendeth not from above, but is earthly, sensual, devilish.  For where envying and strife is, there is confusion and every evil work."  (James 3:14-16).

Satan feeds us poison water that appears to be pure.  He hides the truth that his "wisdom" has come up through the ground from murky river water, fields of cowpies, and lakes full of algae and tadpoles, and is therefore filled with pollutants and disease.

"But the wisdom that is from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, and easy to be intreated, full of mercy and good fruits, without partiality, and without hypocrisy.  And the fruit of righteousness is sown in peace of them that make peace" (James 3:17-18).

"The wisdom that is from above" is pure religion, and is actually the topic of the entire epistle of James.

THE EPISTLE OF JAMES

The Epistle of James is one of the earliest writings in the New Testament and was written to Church members in general.  James was the half-brother of Jesus, known by the Hebrew name Jacob (James is the Greek form), and was converted after the resurrection, possibly at the ascension of his Brother into heaven.  He was probably an Apostle, was the leader of the Church in Jerusalem, and was stoned to death by the Sanhedrin in A.D. 62, about 15 years after this epistle was written.  (See Ogden and Skinner, p. 264).

Because of its emphasis on the importance of works, this epistle presents problems for those who believe that grace alone saves--Martin Luther, for example.  But the Epistle of James is a wonderful pure source of the Living Water of Christ:  A book of practical religion.

DIGGING FOR PURE WATER

Assign a chapter to each person or group in the class, to dig out some principle of pure religion.  Give each a piece of paper and a marker to write the principle on, or if it is a small class, give each a large Post-It note.  Ask them also to identify a present-day example of the principle.  As they share their ideas, you can post their papers on the board and give additional information from the comments below. 

Be sure to refer to the many JST footnotes.

Chapter One

1:2-4  "My brethren, count it all joy when ye fall into divers temptations [trials]; knowing this, that the trying of your faith worketh patience.  But let patience have her perfect work, that ye may be perfect and entire, wanting nothing."

"No pain that we suffer, no trial that we experience is wasted.  It ministers to our education, to the development of such qualities as patience, faith, fortitude and humility.  All that we suffer and all that we endure, especially when we endure it patiently, builds up our characters, purifies our hearts, expands our souls, and makes us more tender and charitable, more worthy to be called the children of God" (Orson F. Whitney, quoted in Spencer W. Kimball, Faith Precedes the Miracle, p. 98).

1:5  "If any of you lack wisdom, let him ask of God, that giveth to all men liberally, and upbraideth not, and it shall be given him."

"This single verse of scripture has had a greater impact and more far-reaching effect upon mankind than any other single sentence ever recorded by any prophet in any age" (Bruce R. McConkie, Doctrinal New Testament Commentary, 3:246-247).

1:27  "Pure religion and undefiled before God and the Father is this, To visit the fatherless and widows in their affliction, and to keep himself unspotted from the vices of the world."

Here is a simple definition of religion:  1) to serve others, and 2) to purify ourselves.  All of our righteous aims in life can be contained in these two categories. 

Why the "fatherless and widows" specifically?  They symbolize those from whom we can expect no return favor.

And how does religion purify us?  C.S. Lewis explains:  "People often think of Christian morality as a kind of bargain in which God says, 'If you keep a lot of rules I'll reward you, and if you don't I'll do the other thing.' I do not think that is the best way of looking at it.  I would much rather say that every time you make a choice you are turning the central part of you, the part of you that chooses, into something a little different from what it was before.  And taking your life as a whole, with all your innumerable choices, all your life long you are slowly turning this central thing either into a heavenly creature or into a hellish creature: either into a creature that is in harmony with God, and with other creatures, and with itself, or else into one that is in a state of war and hatred with God, and with its fellow-creatures, and with itself.  To be the one kind of creature is heaven: that is, it is joy and peace and knowledge and power.  To be the other means madness, horror, idiocy, rage, impotence, and eternal loneliness.  Each of us at each moment is progressing to the one state or the other" (C.S. Lewis, from Mere Christianity, quoted in The C.S. Lewis Bible, p. 1398).

Chapter 2

2:16 JST  "If a brother or sister be naked, and destitute of daily food, and one of you say unto them, Depart in peace, be ye warmed and filled; notwithstanding ye give them not those things which are needful to the body; what doth your faith profit him?"

"I am often, I believe, praying for others when I should be doing things for them.  It's so much easier to pray for a bore than to go and see him" (C.S. Lewis, from Letters to Malcolm: Chiefly on Prayer, quoted in The C.S. Lewis Bible, p. 1397).

2:14-24  "What profit is it, my brethren, for a man to say he hath faith, and hath not works? can faith save him?  Yea, a man may say, I will show thee I have faith without works; but I say, Show me thy faith without works, and I will show thee my faith by my works.  For if a brother or sister be naked...(see above)...Even so faith, if it have not works is dead, being alone.  Therefore wilt thou know, O vain man, that faith without works is dead and cannot save you?  Thou believest there is one God; thou doest well; the devils also believer, and tremble; thou hast made thyself like unto them, not being justified.  Was not Abraham our father justified by works, when he had offered Isaac his son upon the altar?  Seest thou how works wrought with his faith, and by works was faith made perfect?"

"Christians have often disputed as to whether what leads the Christian home is good actions, or Faith in Christ.  I have no right really to speak on such a difficult question, but it does seem to me like asking which blade in a pair of scissors is most necessary.  A serious moral effort is the only thing that will bring you to the point where you throw up the sponge [Americans might say "throw in the towel"].  Faith in Christ is the only thing to save you from despair at that point: and out of that Faith in Him good actions must inevitably come" (C.S. Lewis, from Mere Christianity, quoted in The C.S. Lewis Bible, p. 1396).

Chapter 3

3:2-10  "For in many things we offend all.  If any man offend not in word, the same is a perfect man, and able to bridle the whole body.  Behold, we put bits in the horses' mouths, that they may obey us; and we turn about their whole body.  Behold also the ships, which though they be so great, and are driven of fierce winds, yet are they turned about with a very small helm, withersoever the governor listeth.

"Even so the tongue is a little member, and boasteth great things.  Behold, how great a matter a little fire kindleth?  And the tongue is a fire, a world of iniquity; so is the tongue among our members, that it defileth the whole body, and setteth on fire the course of nature; and it is set on fire of hell.

"For every kind of beasts, and of birds, and of serpents, and of things in the sea, is tamed, and hath been tamed of mankind; but the tongue can no man tame; it is an unruly evil, full of deadly poison.  Therewith bless we God, even the Father; and therewith curse we men, which are made after the similitude of God.  Out of the same mouth proceedeth blessing and cursing.  My brethren, these things ought not so to be."

"The Prophet Joseph Smith deepened our understanding of the power of speech when he taught, 'It is by words … [that] every being works when he works by faith. God said, ‘Let there be light: and there was light.’ Joshua spake, and the great lights which God had created stood still. Elijah commanded, and the heavens were stayed for the space of three years and six months, so that it did not rain. … All this was done by faith. … Faith, then, works by words; and with [words] its mightiest works have been, and will be, performed... 

"The voice that bears profound testimony, utters fervent prayer, and sings the hymns of Zion can be the same voice that berates and criticizes, embarrasses and demeans, inflicts pain and destroys the spirit of oneself and of others in the process. 'Out of the same mouth proceedeth blessing and cursing,' James grieves. 'My brethren [and sisters], these things ought not so to be.'

"Our words, like our deeds, should be filled with faith and hope and charity, the three great Christian imperatives so desperately needed in the world today. With such words, spoken under the influence of the Spirit, tears can be dried, hearts can be healed, lives can be elevated, hope can return, confidence can prevail."  (Jeffrey R. Holland, "The Tongue of Angels," April 2007 General Conference)

Chapter 4

4:3  "Ye ask, and receive not, because ye ask amiss, that ye may consume it upon your lusts."

"It may be clear that we shouldn’t ask for the wrong things, but sometimes it is not as clear how we determine what the right things are to ask for. Asking to pass a test we didn’t study for or to win a lottery are clearly on the 'amiss' side of the equation. But what about praying for obstacles to be removed in our lives, relief from afflictions, or help in directions we want to go?

"The entry under 'prayer' in the Bible Dictionary is insightful: 'Prayer is the act by which the will of the Father and the will of the child are brought into correspondence with each other. The object of prayer is not to change the will of God, but to secure for ourselves and for others blessings that God is already willing to grant, but that are made conditional on our asking for them.'

"How is our will brought into correspondence with the will of the Father? The scriptures answer: 'He that asketh in the Spirit asketh according to the will of God; wherefore it is done even as he asketh' (D&C 46:30). As we grow in the principle of prayer, we come to recognize that the Lord will guide our words by His Spirit, that the Holy Ghost will inspire us with what we should pray for." (Dan Skoubye, "Prayer: The Soul's Sincere Desire," Ensign, August 2002).

4:17  "To him that knoweth to do good, and doeth it not, to him it is sin."

See "Avoiding the Faces of Apostacy" in a previous post.

Chapter 5

5:14-16  "Is any sick among you? let him call for the elders of the church; and let them pray over him, anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord: And the prayer of faith shall save the sick, and the Lord shall raise him up; and if he have committed sins, they shall be forgiven him."

"That faith that, through Priesthood, heals, is the same faith that remits sin, or justifies: the healing power of Christ" (Ogden & Skinner, New Testament Apostles Testify of Christ, p. 270).

"Although Jesus healed many people without anointing them with oil—sometimes even healed a person without touching him or her—it was a general practice for priesthood holders in the Church to anoint the sick with oil. While performing their first missionary labors, the Twelve Apostles “anointed with oil many that were sick, and healed them.” (Mark 6:13)

"The epistle of James records the most detailed description of priesthood administration preserved for us from ancient times: “Is any sick among you? let him call for the elders of the church; and let them pray over him, anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord...

"We apply hands and oil, the physical touch and the tangible substance, but the hands and the oil do not heal. It is faith in Jesus Christ and the power of the priesthood that heals.

"So why is olive oil used?  Anciently, oil pressed from olives was considered the cleanest, clearest, brightest-burning, longest-lasting of all animal and vegetable oils. It was also the purest of oils and was thus appropriate for holy anointings. Joseph Fielding Smith has written, 'We find through all the prophetic writings that olive trees and olive oil are emblems of sacredness and purity.' (Answers to Gospel Questions, 5 vols., Joseph Fielding Smith, Jr., Salt Lake City: Deseret Book Co., 1957–66, 1:152.)" (D. Kelly Ogden, "I Have a Question," Ensign, October 1991).

CONCLUSION

"Ye adulterers and adulteresses [people who are untrue to their union with God], know ye not that the friendship of the world is enmity with God?  whosoever therefore will be a friend of the world is the enemy of God. Do ye think that the scripture saith in vain, The spirit that dwelleth in us lusteth to envy?" (James 4:4-5).

Are we "friends with the world" or "friends with God?"  What if we examine ourselves and find "pure religion" lacking from one or another aspect of our lives?  Even one dirty corner of our lives will make us unclean.  What then?  Are we to be cast out?  Are we hopeless?  Read on!

"But he giveth more grace."  Grace is always available to us!  "Wherefore he saith, God resisteth the proud, but giveth grace unto the humble.  Submit yourselves therefore to God.  Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.  Draw nigh to God, and he will draw nigh to you.  Cleanse your hands, ye sinners [follow the letter of the law--keep the outer observances]; and purify your hearts, ye doubleminded [follow the spirit of the law--live in faith, hope and charity].  "Be afflicted, and mourn, and weep: let your laughter be turned to mourning, and your joy to heaviness [suffer godly sorrow for your sins].  Humble yourselves in the sight of the Lord and he shall lift you up." (James 4:6-10).

This also is "pure truth":  That God will always give us a way out, a way up.  But we have to stop being doubleminded adulterers, wanting one foot in the world and one in heaven; a home in Zion with vacation time in Babylon; salvation on our own terms.  To become truly free, we must become willing slaves, giving every bit of ourselves to God's will.