1/12/14 Review

1/12/14 – Teachings of the Presidents of the Church – Joseph Fielding Smith

Chapter 1 – Our Father in Heaven

“True and faithful.” For President Joseph Fielding Smith, this was more than an often-repeated phrase.  It was a heartfelt expression of his hope for all people.  It was also a description of his life, from his childhood through his service as President of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. 

How do we endeavor to be true and faithful? 

President Smith said, “It is my desire to remind you of the nature and kind of being that God is, so that you may worship him in spirit and in truth and thereby gain all of the blessings of his gospel.”

President Smith marveled at the technology and advances of his day, yet was concerned about another trend he saw in the world.  He lamented: “All of these discoveries and inventions have not drawn men nearer to God! Nor created in their hearts humility and the spirit of repentance, but to the contrary, to their condemnation….Faith has not increased in the world, nor has righteousness, nor obedience to God.”

President Smith recalled his grandfather’s prayers, which were always very personal.  He said they were “as if talking to a friend.”

What leads a person to be able to talk to Heavenly Father as if to a friend?  Some reasons might include: we are confident you are in good standing with Him; we’ve done if for a long time, and built up the habit and relationship; we have to have the knowledge and belief in Him.

Beginning with Joseph Smith’s First Vision, the true knowledge of God has been restored in our day.  From modern revelation, what are God’s characteristics?  We know that the Father and the Son were separate personages; they have tangible bodies as the body of man; we were created in God’s image; his “unchangeable”; the framer of heaven and earth; the literal and personal father of the spirits of men; He is omnipotent and omniscient; He has all power and all wisdom; He possesses all of the knowledge, faith, power, justice, judgment, mercy, truth, and the fullness of all godly attributes. 

President Smith said, “We know that Heavenly Father is a glorified, exalted personage who has all power, all might, and all dominion, and that He knows all things.  We testify that He, through His Only Begotten Son, is the Creator of this earth and of worlds without number.”

Question to ponder:  Who are we to Heavenly Father?  How has he shown His love to us? How can we help our family members feel like that?

The Lord said to Moses:  “…For behold there are many worlds that have passed away by the word of my power.  And there are many that now stand, and innumerable are they unto man, but all things are numbered unto me, for they are mine and I know them.” [Moses 1:35]

And in verse 37, He told Moses: “…The ^aheavens, they are many, and they cannot be numbered unto man; but they are numbered unto me, for they are mine.”

Heavenly Father has provided, through His Son, Jesus Christ, and the Plan of Salvation, the way of redemption so we can be brought back to His presence. 

President Smith tells us that “a gracious and loving Father has in these last days spoken again from heaven to his servants the prophets….His voice has been one inviting all men to come t His Beloved Son, to learn of Him, to partake of His goodness, to take His yoke upon them, and to work out their salvation by obedience to the laws of His gospel.  His voice has been one of glory and honor, of peace in this life, and of eternal life in the world to come.”