My Sacrament Talk

I gave a talk in Sacrament Meeting a few weeks ago. I know it is lengthy, but I figured I would post it here. The bishop asked me to talk on "Making the Scriptures a Part of Our Life". I wanted to talk about the importance of the scriptures using examples from the scriptures. I found a couple of fun things and just thought I would share. DISCLAIMER: I don't write my talks formally; I write them in more of an outline type of format, which comes out kind of choppy. Sorry if that makes it hard to understand. You have been warned...

Making the Scriptures a Part of Our Life

A. Why do we need the scriptures as a people?
The first example is Lehi (The good example).
He lived in Jerusalem during the reign of King Zedekiah.
He prophesied of the impending destruction of Jerusalem, but the people would not listen to him.
The Lord told Lehi to leave the city and he would take him to a promised land.
But, following the Lord’s command, they interrupt their journey to go back and retrieve the brass plates.
After repeated attempts and much difficulty, they eventually obtain the plates and continue on their journey to the promised land.
In 1 Nephi 5:21-22, we read how Nephi feels about taking these sacred records with them:
And we had obtained the records which the Lord had commanded us, and searched them and found that they were desirable; yea, even of great worth unto us, insomuch that we could preserve the commandments of the Lord unto our children.
Wherefore, it was wisdom in the Lord that we should carry them with us, as we journeyed in the wilderness towards the land of promise.
Nephi was very grateful for them.
He recognized that they needed them in order to “preserve the commandments of the Lord unto our children".
Years later, we see the lasting influence that those scriptures continued to have.
In Alma 37:8-10 Alma is testifying to his son Helaman:
Yea, I say unto you, were it not for these things that these records do contain, which are on these plates, Ammon and his brethren could not have convinced so many thousands of the Lamanites of the incorrect tradition of their fathers; yea, these records and their words brought them unto repentance; that is, they brought them to the knowledge of the Lord their God, and to rejoice in Jesus Christ their Redeemer.

The second example is the Mulekites (The bad example).
Mulek was one of the sons of King Zedekiah.
He also lived in Jerusalem at the same time as Lehi.
But he left a bit later.
He didn’t leave Jerusalem until the destruction actually began to happen.
He and a group escaped and were also led to the same promised land as Lehi.
But for about 300 years, neither group knew of the other's existence.
The Nephites were in the southern part of the land, and the Mulekites were in the northern part.
It wasn’t until the Nephites, under King Mosiah, fled the south and happened upon the Mulekites.
In Omni 1:17 we read of Mosiah’s first interaction with the Mulekites and what he discovers about them:
And at the time that Mosiah discovered them, they had become exceedingly numerous. Nevertheless, they had had many wars and serious contentions, and had fallen by the sword from time to time; and their language had become corrupted; [and this is the important part...] and they had brought no records with them; [and this next sentence explains the consequence of this] and they denied the being of their Creator...
The consequence of having no scriptures is that the people no longer knew who God was.
They didn’t maintain their spiritual traditions.
They didn’t, as Nephi puts it, “preserve the commandments of the Lord unto [their] children".

B. Why do I need the scriptures as an individual?
In 1 Nephi 19:23 Nephi tells us:
...I did liken all scriptures unto us, that it might be for our profit and learning.
In 2 Tim 3:16 Paul tells us:
All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness:
So, it gives us all this information, all this knowlege, but what for?
Paul continues in verse 17:
That the man of God may be perfect, throughly furnished unto all good works.
The scriptures are there to give us all the tools we need to then be able to carry out good works.

C. How do the scriptures profit me personally?
Both Nephi and Paul talk about the scriptures being for our profit.
It’s a bit general.
I want to get into specifics.
How exactly do they profit me?
What do the scriptures do for me?
I found a few examples.
1. Make Us Prosperous/Successful
Joshua 1:8
This book of the law shall not depart out of thy mouth; but thou shalt meditate therein day and night, that thou mayest observe to do according to all that is written therein: for then thou shalt make thy way prosperous, and then thou shalt have good success.
The scriptures will make our way prosperous and we will have good success. We see many examples of this in the scriptures.
2. Make Us Wise
Psalm 19:7
The law of the Lord is perfect, converting the soul: the testimony of the Lord is sure, making wise the simple.
2 Tim 3:15
And that from a child thou hast known the holy scriptures, which are able to make thee wise unto salvation through faith which is in Christ Jesus.
The scriptures make us wise.
I will talk a bit later as to what kind of wisdom we gain.
3. Enlarge Our Memory
Alma 37:8-10
And now, it has hitherto been wisdom in God that these things should be preserved; for behold, they have enlarged the memory of this people...
The scriptures enlarge our memory.
4. Answer Our Questions
Psalm 119:105
Thy word is a lamp unto my feet, and a light unto my path.
The scriptures show us where to go.
They tell us what we should do.
I think the same thing is a bit more clearly stated in 2 Nephi 32:3
...Wherefore, I said unto you, feast upon the words of Christ; for behold, the words of Christ will tell you all things what ye should do.
The scriptures answer our questions.
I had two very clear examples of this on my mission.
The first was when I was a fairly new missionary.
Every week we had a standing appointment to teach a young man named Andrea.
He was always very argumentative and we never seemed to progress with him.
One day we had to decide if it was time to finally stop teaching him.
I happened to read this scripture:
D&C 29:7
And ye are called to bring to pass the gathering of mine elect; for mine elect hear my voice and harden not their hearts;
As soon as I read it, I knew that it was the answer to my question.
Andrea was not hearing the voice of the Lord.
His arguing was because of his hard heart.
He wasn’t ready. We decided to stop teaching him.

Towards the end of my mission I had a similar situation.
We were teaching a couple named Cristina and Luca.
They were what we called “Eternal Contacts”.
They always had the missionaries over, but never seemed to progress or accepted any challenges.
The day came that we had to decide if it was time to stop seeing Cristina and Luca.
Then I read this scripture:
3 Nephi 18:32
Nevertheless, ye shall not cast him out of your synagogues, or your places of worship, for unto such shall ye continue to minister; for ye know not but what they will return and repent, and come unto me with full purpose of heart, and I shall heal them; and ye shall be the means of bringing salvation unto them.
I knew as soon as I read it that the Lord was telling me about Cristina and Luca.
He answered my question.
We continued to teach them.
I went home and they were still at about the same place.
About 5 years later, I got a letter from Cristina.
She wrote to tell me about her and Luca’s baptism.
I didn’t get to see it while I was on my mission, but the Lord knew it would happen.

I had the same question for two similar situations.
I received two very different answers specific to each of those situations.
Each scripture spoke to my heart in a certain way, that I knew it was an answer to my question.
5. Are a Way to Feel the Love of God
Jacob 3:2
O all ye that are pure in heart, lift up your heads and receive the pleasing word of God, and feast upon his love...
By reading the scriptures, we hear the Lord talking to us.
It is a way that the Lord communicates his love for us.
I think the next one kind of goes in conjunction with this one.
6. Heal Wounded Souls
Jacob 2:8
And it supposeth me that they have come up hither to hear the pleasing word of God, yea, the word which healeth the wounded soul.
Reading the scriptures helps heal our wounded souls.
And I think this one also leads us into the next one...
7. Give Us Hope
Romans 15:4
For whatsoever things were written aforetime were written for our learning, [I love the wording of this last sentence] that we through patience and comfort of the scriptures might have hope.
They tell us about promises and covenants that the Lord has made.
They show us how he has kept all of his promises.
It gives us hope that he will also keep his promises with us.
8. Serve a Specific Purpose in the Last Days
This is the time that they are to be understood
The scriptures, especially the Book of Mormon, will help guide us in the tumultuous latter days.
2 Nephi 25:8
Wherefore, they are of worth unto the children of men...for I know that they shall be of great worth unto them in the last days; for in that day shall they understand them; wherefore, for their good have I written them.
These are specifically for us, for our time.
This is the time that they are to be understood.
Well, what is it exactly that we need to understand?

D. How to NOT Be Deceived
In Matthew chapter 24, Christ is foretelling of the impending destruction of Jerusalem and then he begins to talk about the last days, and all of the signs and destruction surrounding it, and then his second coming.
Matthew 24:29-31
...and the powers of the heavens shall be shaken:
And then shall appear the sign of the Son of man in heaven: and then shall all the tribes of the earth mourn, and they shall see the Son of man coming in the clouds of heaven with power and great glory.
And he shall send his angels with a great sound of a trumpet, and they shall gather together his elect from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other.
We get an added insight from Joseph Smith’s translation of Matthew that isn’t in the Book of Matthew. I think it gives us some pertinent information:
JS-Mtt 1: 36-37
...and the powers of the heavens shall be shaken, then shall appear the sign of the Son of Man in heaven, and then shall all the tribes of the earth mourn; and they shall see the Son of Man coming in the clouds of heaven, with power and great glory;
And whoso treasureth up my word, shall not be deceived, for the Son of Man shall come, and he shall send his angels before him with the great sound of a trumpet, and they shall gather together the remainder of his elect from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other.
He’s talking about the difficult things preceding the second coming, and all of the chaos and commotion that will surround that time.
He stops to give us the key to avoid being swallowed and deceived by all of that chaos and commotion around us.
“...whoso treasureth up my word, shall not be deceived"

E. Help Us Avoid Deceit/Recognize Wickedness
The Book of Mormon also gives us a very clear example of how to avoid deceit.
Sherem is one of the antichrists in the Book of Mormom.
He preaches false doctrine to the people.
-Accuses Jacob of leading away the people
-Jacob is corrupting the Law of Moses
-Preaches worship of a being that isn’t even born yet
-No one can know of future events
-Accuses Jacob of blasphemy
The scriptures tell us that Sherem is able to “lead away many hearts”.
He publicly contends with Jacob.
But he is eventually smitten by the Lord.
End of Sherem.
The Scriptures tell about the aftermath...
Jacob 7:23
And it came to pass that peace and the love of God was restored again among the people; and they searched the scriptures, and hearkened no more to the words of this wicked man.
The people recognized that they had been deceived by Sherem’s words.
The remedy for that was to read the scriptures.
After that, they couldn’t be deceived by his words again.

I also like the way Mormon puts it in Helaman.
He’s very direct.
Helaman 3:29-30
Yea, we see that whosoever will may lay hold upon the word of God, which is quick and powerful, which shall divide asunder all the cunning and the snares and the wiles of the devil, and lead the man of Christ [I love that wording "man of Christ"] in a strait and narrow course...
The word of God can cut through all of the devil’s lies.
It will put us on the path back to our Heavenly Father.

F. In Conclusion
These examples brought to mind the Hymn “As I Search the Holy Scriptures” (#277).
I think this sums up the power of the scriptures very well:

As I search the holy scriptures,
Loving Father of mankind,
May my heart be blessed with wisdom,
And may knowledge fill my mind.

As I search the holy scriptures,
Touch my spirit, Lord, I pray.
May life’s myst’ries be unfolded
As I study day by day.

As I search the holy scriptures,
May thy mercy be revealed.
Soothe my troubled heart and spirit;
May my unseen wounds be healed.

As I search the holy scriptures,
Help me ponder and obey.
In thy word is life eternal;
May thy light show me the way.

G. Final Thought (if there's time)
Something interesting that I found.
In 3 Nephi 23:5 Jesus is talking to the people.
He uses some interesting wording that I only recently noticed.
And whosoever will hearken unto my words and repenteth and is baptized, the same shall be saved. Search the prophets, for many there be that testify of these things.
I love the wording.
Not “search the scriptures”, but “Search the prophets”.
You get a sense of the personal relationship that the Lord has with His prophets.
You see the great affection that the Lord has for the men that he calls as his prophets.
These are men that the scriptures often tell us that the Lord loves.
He wants us to read their words, their experiences, their examples.
He knows that their words will direct us to Him.
I actually saw a bit of this in an account of Joseph Smith.
He tells us in great detail about a specific experience he has with a scripture that he read as a young man:
JS – H 1:11-13
... I was one day reading the Epistle of James, first chapter and fifth verse, which reads: 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.
Never did any passage of scripture come with more power to the heart of man than this did at this time to mine. It seemed to enter with great force into every feeling of my heart. I reflected on it again and again, knowing that if any person needed wisdom from God, I did...
At length I came to the conclusion that I must either remain in darkness and confusion, or else I must do as James directs, that is, ask of God...
Joseph didn’t say, “I must do as the scriptures direct”.
He personalized it by saying “I must do as James directs”.
It’s as if he had had a personal conversation with James.
He truly searched the prophets.