My Talk give on April 18th of 2011. Based on the Talk "As Many as I Rebuke, Love and Chasten," given by D.Todd Christofferson in the Latter-Day Saint Spring conference in 2011
heres the link
http://lds.org/general-conference/2011/04/as-many-as-i-love-i-rebuke-and-chasten?lang=eng
Hello, my name is Tiffany Roper. Ive been in this ward for a few months and was asked to give another talk on the recent spring general conference. I had trouble between two talks. I demand you all Read Both.
The two talks were As Many as I Love, I Rebuke and Chasten D. by Todd Christofferson of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles
and
What Manner of Men and Women Ought Ye to Be? Lynn G. Robbins of the Seventy
In the end I chose, As Many as I Love, Rebuke and Chasten.
So this is how it’s going to work. I’ll read some of the talk by D.Todd Christofferson and basically add commentary. I felt that was how I should conduct this speech.
Now, you have to pay attention because I skip around a lot. I eschew transitions personally.
Both speakers address the potential of humans to become divine in nature; in other words to throw off the cloak of human and take on the mantle of God.
A cloak merely conceals, while a mantle envelops, to be enveloped by divine nature we must undergo the personal trials that God places before us. So that we, may at some point may become perfect. As Christ says “I would that ye should be perfect even as I, or your Father who is in heaven is perfect” in 3 Nephi 12:48. The savior invites us to be holy so that we might abide in celestial glory. Not only with him and the Father, but like him and the Father.
The path to perfection is not easy; as it was not meant to be so. Perfection is obtained by the willingness to obey the gospel. And even with our human imperfections we can become like Christ, due to his atoning sacrifice.
D. Todd Christofferson said “He knows what is required, and so, to make our transformation possible, He provides His commandments and covenants, the gift of the Holy Ghost, and most important, the Atonement and Resurrection of His Beloved Son.”
Sadly, much of modern Christianity does not acknowledge that God makes any real demands on those who believe in Him, seeing Him rather as a butler “who meets their needs when summoned” or a therapist whose role is to help people “feel good about themselves.” 2 It is a religious outlook that “makes no pretense at changing lives.” 3 “By contrast,” as one author declares, “the God portrayed in both the Hebrew and Christian Scriptures asks, not just for commitment, but for our very lives. The God of the Bible traffics in life and death, not niceness, and calls for sacrificial love, not benign whatever-ism.”
I have many non member friends, many of which are either lukewarm Christians or an undeclared faith. The lukewarm Christian friends don’t get it. A thought occurred to me the other day. Just hear me out because this will sound strange at first but makes sense in the end. Jesus Christ’s death on the Cross was not a big deal. Why? Well, he’s a God with the power over life and death. He suffered for 5 hours on the cross because he wanted too. He could have endured physical death whenever he wanted. I’m not saying that the death and resurrection are not important, because they are deeply important to our salvation. But compared to the atonement, compared to the weight of our suffering, sadness, and sin, not only of this world but all worlds under the Father, his physical death on the cross was nothing. The price to save our spirits was a much heftier than to save our bodies. This only goes to say further, that our spirits are much more precious than our bodies, once again, not to say that our bodies are not important or precious. Back to Modern Christianity. It’s a pity, because they put emphasis on the physical death as opposed to the real triumph of spiritual death.
Ok pause, now back to what D. Todd Christofferson saying about “benign-whateverism.” I love this phrase. Benign means “having a kindly disposition”, whateverism means to be indifferent. Many modern Christians teach that you must only be good and by grace you’ll be saved. We know this not to be true because of what Mormon said
“For behold, if a man being evil giveth a gift, he doeth it grudgingly; wherefore it is counted unto him the same as if he had retained the gift; wherefore it is counted evil before God. …and…if he shall pray and not with real intent of heart; yea, and it profiteth him nothing, for God receiveth none such.” (Moroni7:9-10)
Some years ago Elder Dallin H. Oaks explained: “The Final Judgment is not just an evaluation of a sum total of good and evil acts—what we have done. It is an acknowledgment of the final effect of our acts and thoughts—what we have become. It is not enough for anyone just to go through the motions. The commandments, ordinances, and covenants of the gospel are not a list of deposits required to be made in some heavenly account. The gospel of Jesus Christ is a plan that shows us how to become what our Heavenly Father desires us to become.
Your hearts need to be in it. God doesn’t just say “Play nice and you’ll be fine,” he says “Become like me, through my son.”
Back to D. Todd Christofferson : “I would like to speak of one particular attitude and practice we need to adopt if we are to meet our Heavenly Father’s high expectations. It is this: willingly to accept and even seek correction. Correction is vital if we would conform our lives “unto a perfect man, [that is,] unto the measure of the stature of the fulness of Christ” (Ephesians 4:13). Paul said of divine correction or chastening, “For whom the Lord loveth he chasteneth” (Hebrews 12:6). Though it is often difficult to endure, truly we ought to rejoice that God considers us worth the time and trouble to correct.
To me this all means swallowing up pride and adopting humility. Being teachable: giving up something you want for something better, taking some pain for a greater purpose, throwing off the cloak and taking the mantle.
Back to Christofferson “Divine chastening has at least three purposes: (1) to persuade us to repent, (2) to refine and sanctify us, and (3) at times to redirect our course in life to what God knows is a better path.”
“Consider first of all repentance, the necessary condition for forgiveness and cleansing. The Lord declared, “As many as I love, I rebuke and chasten: be zealous therefore, and repent” (Revelation 3:19). Again He said, “And my people must needs be chastened until they learn obedience, if it must needs be, by the things which they suffer” (D&C 105:6; see also D&C 1:27).”
In addition to stimulating our repentance, the very experience of enduring chastening can refine us and prepare us for greater spiritual privileges. Said the Lord, “My people must be tried in all things, that they may be prepared to receive the glory that I have for them, even the glory of Zion; and he that will not bear chastisement is not worthy of my kingdom” (D&C 136:31). In another place He said, “For all those who will not endure chastening, but deny me, cannot be sanctified” (D&C 101:5; see also Hebrews 12:10). As Elder Paul V. Johnson said this morning, we should take care not to resent the very things that help us put on the divine nature.” End quote
My thoughts: “I think everyone should go through their own Hell at least once. Nothing refines you better than some hellfire in your life.”
I can attest from personal experience. God gives you a trial to test yourself. He already knows what you can handle. The hellfire is for you. It’s to refine you and craft you in to the image of God. In other words: to adopt a divine, a godly, nature. In other, other words, to take off the cloak and pick up the mantle.
Back to D. Todd Christofferson “God uses another form of chastening or correction to guide us to a future we do not or cannot now envision but which He knows is the better way for us. President Hugh B. Brown, formerly a member of the Twelve and a counselor in the First Presidency, provided a personal experience. He told of purchasing a rundown farm in Canada many years ago. As he went about cleaning up and repairing his property, he came across a currant bush that had grown over six feet (1.8 m) high and was yielding no berries, so he pruned it back drastically, leaving only small stumps. Then he saw a drop like a tear on the top of each of these little stumps, as if the currant bush were crying, and thought he heard it say:
“How could you do this to me? I was making such wonderful growth. … And now you have cut me down. Every plant in the garden will look down on me. … How could you do this to me? I thought you were the gardener here.”
President Brown replied, “Look, little currant bush, I am the gardener here, and I know what I want you to be. I didn’t intend you to be a fruit tree or a shade tree. I want you to be a currant bush, and someday, little currant bush, when you are laden with fruit, you are going to say, ‘Thank you, Mr. Gardener, for loving me enough to cut me down.’”
Years later, President Brown was a field officer in the Canadian Army. When a superior officer became a battle casualty, President Brown was in line to be promoted to general. But even though he was fully qualified for the promotion, it was denied him because he was a Mormon. The commanding general said in essence, “You deserve the appointment, but I cannot give it to you.” What President Brown had spent 10 years hoping, praying, and preparing for slipped through his fingers in that moment because of blatant discrimination. Continuing his story, President Brown remembered:
“I got on the train and started back … with a broken heart, with bitterness in my soul. … When I got to my tent, … I threw my cap on the cot. I clenched my fists, and I shook them at heaven. I said, ‘How could you do this to me, God? I have done everything I could do to measure up. There is nothing that I could have done—that I should have done—that I haven’t done. How could you do this to me?’ I was as bitter as gall.
Break for a second. Sound familiar? Im sure we can all relate to something like this. Return to story.
“And then I heard a voice, and I recognized the tone of this voice. It was my own voice, and the voice said, ‘I am the gardener here. I know what I want you to do.’ The bitterness went out of my soul, and I fell on my knees by the cot to ask forgiveness for my ungratefulness. …
“… And now, almost 50 years later, I look up to [God] and say, ‘Thank you, Mr. Gardener, for cutting me down, for loving me enough to hurt me.’” 5
God knew what Hugh B. Brown was to become and what was needed for that to happen, and He redirected his course to prepare him for the holy apostleship.
My thoughts- This reminded me of the devotional of the shack becoming a mansion. In the devotional you are compared to a shack. The owner moves in and starts to tear down the walls. You weep and cry and are a bitter as gall. You ask your master, why are you doing this? The master replies I am tearing down these walls so you can become a mansion.
Christofferson said “If we sincerely desire and strive to measure up to the high expectations of our Heavenly Father, He will ensure that we receive all the help we need, whether it be comforting, strengthening, or chastening. If we are open to it, needed correction will come in many forms and from many sources. Correction can come through others, especially those who are God-inspired to promote our happiness. Apostles, prophets, patriarchs, bishops, and others have been put into the Church today, just as anciently, erhaps some of the things said in this conference have come to you as a call to repentance or change, which if heeded will lift you to a higher place. We can help one another as fellow Church members; it is one of the primary reasons that the Savior established a church. Even when we encounter mean-spirited criticism from persons who have little regard or love for us, it can be helpful to exercise enough meekness to weigh it and sift out anything that might benefit us.
Remember that if we resist correction, others may discontinue offering it altogether, despite their love for us. If we repeatedly fail to act on the chastening of a loving God, then He too will desist. He has said, “My Spirit will not always strive with man” (Ether 2:15). Eventually, much of our chastening should come from within.” End quote
I do this all the time. I thought it was normal, but I guess not because he’s talking about it. But that’s not what im getting at. I promise you that Self-correction and Self-beat up on the inside are not the same thing. Self correction actually helps, self-beat up doesn’t. Self-correction is wonderful and to me means that you are not afraid of Hellfire anymore because you run into it. Now, don’t misread me. I don’t want you to go looking for trials. God will send what he knows is necessary and you will get what’s required. We can get through any type of Hell because of the atonement and spirit. All trials are for our refinement.
D Todd Christofferson said “All of us can meet God’s high expectations, however great or small our capacity and talent may be. Moroni affirms, “If ye shall deny yourselves of all ungodliness, and love God with all your might, mind and strength, then is [God’s] grace sufficient for you, that by his grace ye may be perfect in Christ” (Moroni 10:32). It is a diligent, devoted effort on our part that calls forth this empowering and enabling grace, an effort that certainly includes submission to God’s chastening hand and sincere, unqualified repentance. Let us pray for His love-inspired correction.”
I testify we can adopt a divine nature. We can change into the divine and we can fight off “the natural man.” I testify that God loves us and because of that Love he provided his perfect son and the atonement. I testify that we can become like god. We must offer a broken heart and contrite spirit. We must remember that we are not physical beings experiencing spiritual things, but rather Spiritual experiencing physical things. We must throw off the cloak and take on the mantle so that we can take on our true nature.
I say this in the name of the beloved son, our savior, Jesus Christ, Amen.
