What opposition are you experiencing in your efforts to improve your Sabbath day worship?
Discovering Truth
This is an important video to watch before we discuss opposition, or anything for that matter... Each of us have our own experiences. How do we share that with each other in a way that brings us greater light and knowledge?
? What success are you having in improving your Sabbath Day worship?
? How is your faith increasing?
Someone suggested that we try one day a week, to let our spirit drive our thoughts, actions and not our natural man. Like fasting from food so your spirit can master your body, we fast from doing what the natural man wants and let our spirit drive our day.
If the Lord wants us to focus on improving our Sabbath Day worship, then it stands to reason that the adversary DOES NOT want us to succeed and will provide opposition to our efforts. It's important that we understand how this opposition may come.
? What have we been taught about how the adversary and his minions will seek to destroy us in these latter days?
"Opposition In All Things" - Elder Oaks April 2016
"Our efforts to improve our observance of the Sabbath day pose a less stressful example of opposition. We have the Lord’s commandment to honor the Sabbath. Some of our choices may violate that commandment, but other choices in how to spend time on the Sabbath are simply a question of whether we will do what is merely good or what is better or best.
To illustrate the opposition of temptation, the Book of Mormon describes three methods the devil will use in the last days.
First, he will “rage in the hearts of the children of men, and stir them up to anger against that which is good” (2 Nephi 28:20).
Second, he will “pacify, and lull [members] away into carnal security,” saying “Zion prospereth, all is well” (verse 21).
Third, he will tell us “there is no hell; and … I am no devil, for there is none” (verse 22), and therefore there is no right and wrong.
Because of this opposition, we are warned not to be “at ease in Zion!” (verse 24)."
?Can you give an example of these three kinds of opposition?
?Which one does Satan focus on with you?
"On the Lord's Side:Lessons Learned from Zion's Camp" - Elder Bednar
"I believe at least two overarching lessons are to be found in Brother Brigham’s answer to that taunting question:
(1) the lesson of testing, sifting, and preparing, and
(2) the lesson of observing, learning from, and following the Brethren.
I emphasize that these lessons are as important, if not more important, for us to learn and apply today as they were just over 180 years ago for the volunteers in Zion’s Camp.
Pay attention to first prompting:
The Prophet Joseph Smith explained: “A person may profit by noticing the first intimation of the spirit of revelation; for instance, when you feel pure intelligence flowing into you, it may give you sudden strokes of ideas, so that by noticing it, you may find it fulfilled the same day or soon; … those things that were presented unto your minds by the Spirit of God, will come to pass; and thus by learning the Spirit of God and understanding it, you may grow into the principle of revelation, until you become perfect in Christ Jesus.”15
Elder Rasband (May 2017)
My experience has been that the Spirit most often communicates as a feeling. You feel it in words that are familiar to you, that make sense to you, that prompt you... We must be confident in our first promptings. Sometimes we rationalize; we wonder if we are feeling a spiritual impression or if it is just our own thoughts. When we begin to second-guess, even third-guess, our feelings—and we all have—we are dismissing the Spirit; we are questioning divine counsel.
The Prophet Joseph Smith taught that if you will listen to the first promptings, you will get it right nine times out of ten.17...If we pay attention to the promptings that come to us, we will grow in the spirit of revelation and receive more and more Spirit-driven insight and direction. The Lord has said, “Put your trust in that Spirit which leadeth to do good.”20
D&C 11:1212 And now, verily, verily, I say unto thee, put your trust in that Spirit which leadeth to do good—yea, to do justly, to walk humbly, to judge righteously; and this is my Spirit.
TESTIMONY:
We live in the last of the last days and Satan is ramping up his attack and will be most successful with us if he can keep us distracted and asleep.
Discovering Truth
This is an important video to watch before we discuss opposition, or anything for that matter... Each of us have our own experiences. How do we share that with each other in a way that brings us greater light and knowledge?
? What success are you having in improving your Sabbath Day worship?
? How is your faith increasing?
Someone suggested that we try one day a week, to let our spirit drive our thoughts, actions and not our natural man. Like fasting from food so your spirit can master your body, we fast from doing what the natural man wants and let our spirit drive our day.
If the Lord wants us to focus on improving our Sabbath Day worship, then it stands to reason that the adversary DOES NOT want us to succeed and will provide opposition to our efforts. It's important that we understand how this opposition may come.
? What have we been taught about how the adversary and his minions will seek to destroy us in these latter days?
"Opposition In All Things" - Elder Oaks April 2016
"Our efforts to improve our observance of the Sabbath day pose a less stressful example of opposition. We have the Lord’s commandment to honor the Sabbath. Some of our choices may violate that commandment, but other choices in how to spend time on the Sabbath are simply a question of whether we will do what is merely good or what is better or best.
To illustrate the opposition of temptation, the Book of Mormon describes three methods the devil will use in the last days.
First, he will “rage in the hearts of the children of men, and stir them up to anger against that which is good” (2 Nephi 28:20).
Second, he will “pacify, and lull [members] away into carnal security,” saying “Zion prospereth, all is well” (verse 21).
Third, he will tell us “there is no hell; and … I am no devil, for there is none” (verse 22), and therefore there is no right and wrong.
Because of this opposition, we are warned not to be “at ease in Zion!” (verse 24)."
?Can you give an example of these three kinds of opposition?
?Which one does Satan focus on with you?
"On the Lord's Side:Lessons Learned from Zion's Camp" - Elder Bednar
"I believe at least two overarching lessons are to be found in Brother Brigham’s answer to that taunting question:
(1) the lesson of testing, sifting, and preparing, and
(2) the lesson of observing, learning from, and following the Brethren.
I emphasize that these lessons are as important, if not more important, for us to learn and apply today as they were just over 180 years ago for the volunteers in Zion’s Camp.
As individuals and families, we too will be tested, sifted, and prepared, as were the members of Zion’s Camp. The scriptures and the teachings of the Brethren are replete with promises that
faith in the Lord Jesus Christ;
the making, honoring, and remembering of sacred covenants; and obedience to God’s commandments
will strengthen us to prepare for, to face, to overcome, and to learn from the trials and tests of mortality.
faith in the Lord Jesus Christ;
the making, honoring, and remembering of sacred covenants; and obedience to God’s commandments
will strengthen us to prepare for, to face, to overcome, and to learn from the trials and tests of mortality.
The leaders of the Lord’s Church clearly have identified some of the collective or generational tests we can expect to encounter in our day and generation. As the President of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles in 1977, President Ezra Taft Benson (1899–1994) raised a prophetic voice of warning in a meeting of regional representatives. I now quote extensively from President Benson’s message and invite your focused attention on his timely counsel:
“Every generation has its tests and its chance to stand and prove itself. Would you like to know of one of our toughest tests? Hear the warning words of Brigham Young, ‘The worst fear I have about this people is that they will get rich in this country, forget God and His people, wax fat, and kick themselves out of the Church and go to hell. This people will stand mobbing, robbing, poverty, and all manner of persecution and be true. But my greatest fear is that they cannot stand wealth.’”
President Benson continues: “Ours then seems to be the toughest test of all, for the evils are more subtle, more clever. It all seems less menacing and it is harder to detect. While every test of righteousness represents a struggle, this particular test seems like no test at all, no struggle and so could be the most deceiving of all tests.
“Do you know what peace and prosperity can do to a people—It can put them to sleep. The Book of Mormon warned us of how Satan, in the last days, would lead us away carefully down to hell. The Lord has on the earth some potential spiritual giants whom He saved for some six thousand years to help bear off the Kingdom triumphantly, and the devil is trying to put them to sleep. The adversary knows that he probably won’t be too successful in getting them to commit many great and malignant sins of commission. So he puts them into a deep sleep, like Gulliver, while he strands them with little sins of omission. And what good is a sleepy, neutralized, lukewarm giant as a leader?
“We have too many potential spiritual giants who should be more vigorously lifting their homes, the kingdom, and the country. We have many who feel they are good men and women, but they need to be good for something—strong patriarchs, courageous missionaries, valiant family history and temple workers, dedicated patriots, devoted quorum members. In short, we must be shaken and awakened from a spiritual snooze.”7
Consider that affluence, prosperity, and ease can be tests in our day equal to or greater in intensity than the persecution and physical hardships endured by the Saints who volunteered to march in Zion’s Camp. As the prophet Mormon described in his magnificent summary of the pride cycle contained in Helaman 12:
“And thus we can behold how false, and also the unsteadiness of the hearts of the children of men; yea, we can see that the Lord in his great infinite goodness doth bless and prosper those who put their trust in him.
“Yea, and we may see at the very time when he doth prosper his people, yea, in the increase of their fields, their flocks and their herds, and in gold, and in silver, and in all manner of precious things of every kind and art; sparing their lives, and delivering them out of the hands of their enemies; softening the hearts of their enemies that they should not declare wars against them; yea, and in fine, doing all things for the welfare and happiness of his people; yea, then is the time that they do harden their hearts, and do forget the Lord their God, and do trample under their feet the Holy One—yea, and this because of their ease, and their exceedingly great prosperity” (Helaman 12:1–2).
I invite you specifically to note the final phrase in the last verse: “and this because of their ease, and their exceedingly great prosperity.”
President Harold B. Lee (1899–1973) likewise taught about the collective test of ease that we face in our day: “We are tested, we are tried, we are going through some of the severest tests today and we don’t realize perhaps the severity of the tests we are going through. In those days there were murderings, there were mobbings, there were drivings. They were driven out into the desert, they were starving and they were unclad, and they were cold. They came here to this favored land. We are the inheritors of what they gave to us. But what are we doing with it? Today we are basking in the lap of luxury, the like of which we’ve never seen before in the history of the world. It would seem that probably this is the most severe test of any test that we’ve ever had in the history of this Church.”8
These teachings from modern and ancient prophets about latter-day tests and trials are sobering and solemn. But they should not be discouraging, and we should not be afraid. For those with eyes to see and ears to hear, spiritual warnings lead to increasingly vigilant watching. You and I live in “a day of warning” (D&C 63:58). And because we have been and will be warned, we need to be, as the Apostle Paul admonished, “watching … with all perseverance” (Ephesians 6:18). As we watch and prepare, truly we have no need to fear (see D&C 38:30).
Who’s on the Lord’s side? Now is the time to show that we have minds and hearts that accept and will be responsive to these inspired warnings. Now is the time to show that we are watching and preparing to withstand the latter-day trials of prosperity and pride, of affluence and ease, and of hard hearts and forgetting the Lord our God. Now is the time to show that we will be true at all times in whatsoever things we are entrusted by our Heavenly Father and His Beloved Son—and that we will keep the commandments of God and walk uprightly before Him (see Alma 53:20–21)...
President Lee warned of an additional collective test that is growing ever more pervasive in this generation: “We are now going through another test—a period of what we might call sophistication. This is a time when there are many clever people who are not willing to listen to the humble prophets of the Lord. … It is rather a severe test.”13
The test of sophistication is the companion to the test of prosperity and ease. How important it is for each of us to observe, learn from, and follow the Brethren...“Who’s on the Lord’s side?” Now is the time to show by hearing and heeding the counsel of the living apostles and prophets called of God in these latter days to oversee and direct His work on the earth. Now is the time to show we believe that God’s “word shall not pass away, but shall all be fulfilled, whether by [His] own voice or by the voice of [His] servants, it is the same” (D&C 1:38). Now is the time to show. The time is now!...
Here's another warning by Elder Oaks
"I will conclude by describing another subtle form of deception—the idea that it is enough to hear and believe without acting on that belief. Many prophets have taught against that deception. The Apostle James wrote, “Be ye doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving your own selves” (James 1:22). King Benjamin taught, “And now, if you believe all these things see that ye do them” (Mosiah 4:10). And in modern revelation the Lord declares, “If you will that I give unto you a place in the celestial world, you must prepare yourselves by doing the things which I have commanded you and required of you” (D&C 78:7).
It is not enough to know that God lives, that Jesus Christ is our Savior, and that the gospel is true. We must take the high road by acting upon that knowledge. It is not enough to know that President Gordon B. Hinckley is God’s prophet. We must put his teachings to work in our lives. It is not enough to have a calling. We must fulfill our responsibilities. The things taught in this conference are not just to fill our minds. They are to motivate and guide our actions."
And this is from the Bible Dictionary:
The devil is the enemy of righteousness and of those who seek to do the will of God.
Latter-day revelation confirms the biblical teaching that the devil is a reality and that he does strive to lead men and women from the work of God. One of the major techniques of the devil is to cause human beings to think they are following God’s ways, when in reality they are deceived by the devil to follow other paths.
Since the devil and his premortal angels have no physical body of flesh and bones, they often seek to possess the bodies of mortal beings. There are many such instances recorded in scripture Such can be evicted by the power of faith in Jesus Christ and the exercise of the holy priesthood. Jesus gave this power to His disciples
He is miserable in his situation and “stirreth up the children of men unto secret combinations of murder and all manner of secret works of darkness”
He tries to imitate the work of God by transforming himself nigh unto an angel of light . He is also a worker of miracles, by which he deceives many upon the earth . In fact, the scripture says he deceives the whole world He can cite scripture to make his point seem plausible All of this is his scheme to make man miserable like himself.
Protection against the influence of the devil is found by obedience to the commandments and laws of the gospel of Jesus Christ. The message of all the prophets and apostles is that truth, righteousness, and peace shall in the end prevail over error, sin, and war; the faithful shall triumph over all their afflictions and enemies and shall triumph over the devil. There shall be a complete and lasting victory of righteousness over wickedness on this earth, which will be done by the power of the Lord Jesus Christ."
And finally this, from Elder Maxwell -
"Whenever Church members speak of consecration, it should be done reverently while acknowledging that each of us “come[s] short of the glory of God,” some of us far short (Rom. 3:23). Even the conscientious have not arrived, but they sense the shortfall and are genuinely striving. Consolingly, God’s grace flows not only to those “who love [Him] and keep all [His] commandments,” but likewise to those “that [seek] so to do” (D&C 46:9).
A second group of members are “honorable” but not “valiant.” They are not really aware of the gap nor of the importance of closing it (see D&C 76:75, 79). These “honorable” individuals are certainly not miserable nor wicked, nor are they unrighteous and unhappy. It is not what they have done but what they have left undone that is amiss. For example, if valiant, they could touch others deeply instead of merely being remembered pleasantly.
In a third group are those who are grossly entangled with the “ungodliness” of the world, reminding us all, as Peter wrote, that if “[we are] overcome” by something worldly, “[we are] brought in bondage” (2 Pet. 2:19)."
? Can you see how Satan is using these clever, subtle tactics in your life?
? How can you prevent yourself from being deceived?
? How can you prevent yourself from being deceived?
D&C 6:36 Look unto me in every thought; doubt not, fear not.
Recognize the adversary as one of three voices in your mind, that we often mistake as just being our own voices.
John Pontius, author of "Following the Light of Christ" described it this way:
"The first is the voice of your own mind. You hear yourself think. You talk with yourself, discuss things with yourself, argue with yourself, berate, praise, and jabber with yourself all day long. This voice is distinguishable because it is unsure..it questions things, and is seldom definite or decisive. It almost always asks questions. "What was that? Who said that? Why did you say that?...
The second voice comes from Satan's realm...and will be cleverly disguised and enticing. It will appeal to the natural, carnal, sensual, and devilish side of us. There is real intelligence in the message and malice aforethought...The adversary tries to smother this voice [of the Holy Spirit] with a multitude of loud, persistent, persuasive, and appealing voices...A prompting from this source will nearly always be stated as an absolute. "Don't let him get away with that. You're too tired to pray. You deserve better." ...These promptings will always lead us away from the truth. They prompt us to disobey, to not pray, to abandon church assignments and family responsibilities, to commit sin and walk in forbidden paths...
"The first is the voice of your own mind. You hear yourself think. You talk with yourself, discuss things with yourself, argue with yourself, berate, praise, and jabber with yourself all day long. This voice is distinguishable because it is unsure..it questions things, and is seldom definite or decisive. It almost always asks questions. "What was that? Who said that? Why did you say that?...
The second voice comes from Satan's realm...and will be cleverly disguised and enticing. It will appeal to the natural, carnal, sensual, and devilish side of us. There is real intelligence in the message and malice aforethought...The adversary tries to smother this voice [of the Holy Spirit] with a multitude of loud, persistent, persuasive, and appealing voices...A prompting from this source will nearly always be stated as an absolute. "Don't let him get away with that. You're too tired to pray. You deserve better." ...These promptings will always lead us away from the truth. They prompt us to disobey, to not pray, to abandon church assignments and family responsibilities, to commit sin and walk in forbidden paths...
They cannot force us to do anything, unless we yield to them, and they value our inability to see them...One of their weaknesses is that they can rarely voice just one lie. While the Holy Spirit generally prompts us only once, the tempters often voice many objections to each prompting.
The third voice is the voice of the Lord through the Holy Spirit. It begins as the conscience, the light of Christ, and is a free gift...This voice grows in content and quality as one heeds its direction until it becomes a significant guide and measure of truth.
This voice always entices us to do good, to believe, serve, pray, and repent. It often prompts contrary to where you were headed. The voice of the conscience is easy to recognize because it is the only one of the three that prompts to do good. These promptings come as absolute statements. "Fast today." Your mind would have said, "I wonder if I should fast today" or "Perhaps I should fast." Any time you have a prompting to do good, it has to come from God.
This voice always entices us to do good, to believe, serve, pray, and repent. It often prompts contrary to where you were headed. The voice of the conscience is easy to recognize because it is the only one of the three that prompts to do good. These promptings come as absolute statements. "Fast today." Your mind would have said, "I wonder if I should fast today" or "Perhaps I should fast." Any time you have a prompting to do good, it has to come from God.
...A prompting is information that originates outside one's mind. The Holy Spirit prompts to do good, the devil prompts to do evil. Our minds consider and analyze the promptings and make decisions concerning them. These promptings all appear, and sound, exactly like our own thoughts. ... Good comes from God. Evil comes from the adversary. Questions and analysis come from within."
Here is some additional counsel about following first promptings:
The Prophet Joseph Smith explained: “A person may profit by noticing the first intimation of the spirit of revelation; for instance, when you feel pure intelligence flowing into you, it may give you sudden strokes of ideas, so that by noticing it, you may find it fulfilled the same day or soon; … those things that were presented unto your minds by the Spirit of God, will come to pass; and thus by learning the Spirit of God and understanding it, you may grow into the principle of revelation, until you become perfect in Christ Jesus.”15
Elder Rasband (May 2017)
My experience has been that the Spirit most often communicates as a feeling. You feel it in words that are familiar to you, that make sense to you, that prompt you... We must be confident in our first promptings. Sometimes we rationalize; we wonder if we are feeling a spiritual impression or if it is just our own thoughts. When we begin to second-guess, even third-guess, our feelings—and we all have—we are dismissing the Spirit; we are questioning divine counsel.
The Prophet Joseph Smith taught that if you will listen to the first promptings, you will get it right nine times out of ten.17...If we pay attention to the promptings that come to us, we will grow in the spirit of revelation and receive more and more Spirit-driven insight and direction. The Lord has said, “Put your trust in that Spirit which leadeth to do good.”20
D&C 11:1212 And now, verily, verily, I say unto thee, put your trust in that Spirit which leadeth to do good—yea, to do justly, to walk humbly, to judge righteously; and this is my Spirit.
President Harold B. Lee counseled, “All of us should try to . . . give heed to the sudden ideas that come to us, and if we’ll give heed to them and cultivate an ear to hear these promptings we too—each of us—can grow in the spirit of revelation” (Teachings of Presidents of the Church: Harold B. Lee [Melchizedek Priesthood and Relief Society course of study, 2000], 51).
President Harold B. Lee frequently said that “when your heart begins to tell you things that your mind does not, then you are getting the spirit of the Lord” (Harold B. Lee, “When Your Heart Tells You Things Your Mind Does Not Know,” New Era,February 1971, p. 3).
Our challenge is to become aware of who is talking to us and to yield to the enticings of the Holy Spirit. We can know the truth of what we hear in our head by looking unto the Lord in every thought, doubting not, fearing not, and obeying in faith.
“But if from thence thou shalt seek the Lord thy God, thou shalt find him, if thou seek him with all thy heart and with all thy soul.
When thou art in tribulation, and all these things are come upon thee, even in the latter days, if thou turn to the Lord thy God, and shalt be obedient unto his voice; … He will not forsake thee.
TESTIMONY:
We live in the last of the last days and Satan is ramping up his attack and will be most successful with us if he can keep us distracted and asleep.
Last
month I showed you a clip of Pres. Nelson promising us as we learn
better how to keep the Sabbath Day holy....faith in the world would
increase. I have wondered how when he answered that question by
leading me to some research that states that it only takes 10% of the
population to sway public opinion. Satan is doing a really good job
of trying to rally his 10%. God is asking us to do our part to become
HIS 10% with other Christians to sway others to acknowledge and
worship Him on the Sabbath, thus increasing faith in the whole
world! We can do this!
Gen Conf – don't miss even one session!
Gen Conf – don't miss even one session!
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