Transcript www.kevinhinckley.com Thy Faith Hath Saved Thee What is his name? Minister of a growing church in Latin American: The minister has the number 666

www.kevinhinckley.com
Thy Faith Hath Saved Thee
What is his name?
Minister of a growing church in Latin
American:
The minister has the number 666 tattooed
on his arm.
"The spirit that is in me is the same spirit
that was in Jesus of Nazareth," he says.
Korihor
…he was Anti-Christ, he began to preach
unto the people against…the coming
of Christ
He says he learned he was Jesus reincarnate
when he was visited in a dream by
angels.
…behold, the [devil] appeared unto me in
the form of an angel…
He preaches there is no devil and no sin.
He saith unto [him] I am no devil, for
there is none.
His followers, he says, literally can do no
wrong in God's eyes.
He did say unto them…every man
prospered according to his strength;
and whatsoever a man did was no
crime.
He says he has a church-paid salary of
$136,000 but lives more lavishly than
that. During an interview, he showed off
a diamond-encrusted Rolex to a CNN
crew and said he has three just like
them. He travels in armored Lexuses
and BMWs…All are gifts from his
devoted followers.
And he began to be lifted up in the pride
of his heart and to wear very costly
apparel
Reminder on Documentaries
not made by the Church
As the Second Coming
Gets Closer:
Will we, as a church, look
more like the world, or less?
In their eyes, will we look more bizarre or
less?
Will Satan, the great deceiver and accuser,
spread more lies or less lies about us?
For that reason, will we be treated more
sympathetically or less?
Sister Susan Easton Black
Tell me a story," I nightly pled of Grandma as a child. Though I
wanted to hear of Cinderella, Snow White, or Sleeping Beauty,
she would say, "Susan, I can only tell you stories that are true.
If you want to hear truth, I have something to say." Not wanting
to sleep, I enthusiastically listened to stories of Jesus, the
Prophet Joseph Smith, the Book of Mormon, and those whose
sacrifices created our legacy of faith.
Though I believed in the truthfulness of Grandma's stories, there
was one that caused discomfort. It was of a young pioneer girl
named Sarah Ann who was in danger of being trampled by
stampeding buffaloes. In this perilous situation she knelt and
prayed for protection.
"In answer to her prayer," said my grandmother, "she remained
unharmed, even though hundreds of buffalo stampeded around
her."
Instead of marveling with wonder at the miracle, I emphatically
pronounced, "That's impossible!"
Grandma countered, "It is not impossible to those who have faith,
Susan. It was because Sarah Ann had faith and you don't."
BYU Devotional, 22 November, 1994
Question
When
If someone,
like Sister Black, is looking to
…I’ll Keep the
I have
develop Faith, what would
you tell her?
Commandments
Enough Faith
Answer: We don’t grow or produce faith.
President George Albert Smith
…I receive
Faith
is
a
gift
of
God;
it
is
the
fruitage of
As I do His
the
Will…
righteous
living. It does not
come
Gift of
Faith to us
by our command but as the result of
doing the will of our Heavenly Father.
John 11
Now a certain man was sick, named Lazarus, of Bethany, the town of Mary and her sister
Martha.
Therefore his sisters sent unto him, saying, Lord, behold, he whom thou lovest is sick.
When Jesus heard that, he said, This sickness is not unto death, but for the glory of God, that
the Son of God might be glorified thereby.
When he had heard therefore that he was sick, he abode two days still in the same place where
he was.
Then Martha, as soon as she heard that Jesus was coming, went and met him: but Mary sat still
in the house.
Then said Martha unto Jesus, Lord, if thou hadst been here, my brother had not died.
But I know, that even now, whatsoever thou wilt ask of God, God will give it thee.
Jesus saith unto her, Thy brother shall rise again.
Martha saith unto him, I know that he shall rise again in the resurrection at the last day.
Jesus said unto her, I am the resurrection, and the life: he that believeth in me, though
he were dead, yet shall he live:
And whosoever liveth and believeth in me shall never die. Believest thou this?
She saith unto him, Yea, Lord: I believe that thou art the Christ, the Son of God, which should
come into the world.
And when she had so said, she went her way, and called Mary her sister secretly, saying, The
Master is come, and calleth for thee.
Then when Mary was come where Jesus was, and saw him, she fell down at his feet, saying unto
him, Lord, if thou hadst been here, my brother had not died.
Question
What does He expect of us when,
for whatever reason, He tarries?
Finally
Jesus therefore again groaning in himself
cometh to the grave. It was a cave, and
a stone lay upon it.
Jesus said, Take ye away the stone. Martha,
the sister of him that was dead, saith
unto him, Lord, by this time he stinketh:
for he hath been dead four days.
Jesus saith unto her, Said I not unto thee,
that, if thou wouldest believe, thou
shouldest see the glory of God?
Then they took away the stone from the
place where the dead was laid. And Jesus
lifted up his eyes, and said, Father, I
thank thee that thou hast heard me.
And I knew that thou hearest me always:
but because of the people which stand by
I said it, that they may believe that
thou hast sent me.
And when he thus had spoken, he cried with
a loud voice, Lazarus, come forth.
And he that was dead came forth, bound
hand and foot with graveclothes: and his
face was bound about with a napkin.
Jesus saith unto them, Loose him, and
let him go.
Then many of the Jews which came to Mary,
and had seen the things which Jesus did,
believed on him.
Joseph F. Smith (Sec. 138)
As I pondered over these things which are
written, the eyes of my understanding were
opened, and the Spirit of the Lord rested upon
me, and I saw the hosts of the dead, both
small and great.
And there were gathered together in one place an
innumerable company of the spirits of the just, who
had been faithful in the testimony of Jesus while
they lived in mortality;
And who had offered sacrifice in the similitude of the
great sacrifice of the Son of God, and had suffered
tribulation in their Redeemer's name.
All these had departed the mortal life, firm in the
hope of a glorious resurrection…
I beheld that they were filled with joy and gladness, and were rejoicing together
because the day of their deliverance was at hand.
And the saints rejoiced in their redemption, and bowed the knee and
acknowledged the Son of God as their Redeemer and Deliverer from death
and the chains of hell.
Their countenances shone, and the radiance from the presence of the Lord
rested upon them, and they sang praises unto his holy name.
Parley P. Pratt
It was Joseph Smith who taught me how to
prize the endearing relationships of father and
mother, husband and wife; of brother and
sister, son and daughter.
It was from him that I learned that the wife of
my bosom might be secured to me for time and all eternity;
and that the refined sympathies and affections which
endeared us to each other emanated from the foundation of
divine eternal love. It was from him that I learned that we
might cultivate these affections, and grow and increase in
the same to all eternity. . . .
I had loved before, but I knew not why. But now I loved--with
a pureness--an intensity of elevated, exalted feeling, which
would lift my soul from the transitory things of this
groveling sphere and expand it as the ocean.
I felt that God was my heavenly Father indeed; that Jesus was
my brother, and that the wife of my bosom was an immortal,
eternal companion; a kind ministering angel, given to me as
a comfort, and a crown of glory for ever and ever. In short, I
could now love with the spirit and with the understanding
also.
[Parley P. Pratt, Autobiography of Parley P. Pratt, pp. 297–98]
Sister Black
On a whim [during my freshman year at BYU] a girlfriend and I decided to spend the
weekend in Salt Lake City. While sitting with suitcases in hand at Temple Square,
my friend casually remarked, "The president of the Church, David O. McKay, lives
just across the street in the Hotel Utah." Her continual nods of assurance and our
curiosity led us to the hotel. Speaking with the bellboy and then the hotel manager
about where the famous resident lived was frustrating. Their negative attitude,
punctuated with security implications, fell on deaf ears. We left them determined to
answer the hypothesis "If I were a prophet of God, behind which door would I
choose to live in this hotel?"
After hours of knocking on doors and greeting blank stares from grumpy hotel guests,
we staked out three floors. An innocent chambermaid on one of the floors revealed
the answer. Excitedly, we hugged each other as only BYU freshmen could. Our
enthusiasm was boundless, until we concluded to see if the prophet was home.
Being the smallest of the twosome, I was designated to knock on the door. If the
knock was answered, I had been programmed to say, "We are selling early orders
for Girl Scout cookies. Would you care to place an order?"
As I walked toward the door I felt reticent; yet, as my feet faltered and heart pounded,
my friend pushed me forward. It wasn't until I reached the door and was knocking
that she ran like a "flash of light" to the far end of the hall. I was just turning to run
when the door opened, and before me stood the prophet. He looked surprised but
didn't say anything. Neither did I, I couldn't. I felt like I had a key to the celestial
kingdom but did not belong--I was not worthy to be in his presence.
I started to cry and then to sob. He took me by the hand and said, "Won't you come
in?" I waved to my friend down the hall--whose open mouth betrayed her surprise-and entered the prophet's home. Our discussion remains personal, but the resulting
impact was to change my inner direction dramatically. I resolved, as never before,
to not just mirror faith, but to know of faith.