"What Shall I Do with Jesus"
Elder Sterling W. Sill
- Assistant to the Council of the Twelve Apostles
📅 0
📖 general conference
Pilate, believing Jesus was innocent, offered to release either Jesus or Barabbas, a notorious criminal, to the Jews. The Jews chose to release Barabbas and crucify Jesus.
After that long awful night of betrayal and trial, Jesus was brought before Pilate. Pilate believed that Jesus was innocent of any wrong and made a weak attempt to try and save his life by taking advantage of one of his privileges as Roman governor to release a prisoner to the Jews at the time of the Passover. Pilate had in his custody a noted insurrectionist and murderer by the name of Barabbas, and probably relying upon the sense of fairness of the Jews that certainly they would not consent ... (continued)
Forgiveness
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"What Shall I Do with Jesus"
Elder Sterling W. Sill
- Assistant to the Council of the Twelve Apostles
📅 0
📖 general conference
The speaker reflects on the decision made by the Jews and Pilate regarding Jesus and relates it to the decisions we make in our lives, emphasizing the importance of the question 'What shall I do with Jesus?'
We might safely assume that both Pilate and the Jews felt that they had permanently settled any question which may have arisen in connection with the life of Christ—Pilate by merely washing his hands, and the putting to death the very Son of God. But there is a peculiar relationship which exists between the life of Jesus Christ and every other soul born into the world. In that great period of our preexistence, Jesus was appointed and ordained to be the Savior of the world and the Redeeme ... (continued)
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"What Shall I Do with Jesus"
Elder Sterling W. Sill
- Assistant to the Council of the Twelve Apostles
📅 0
📖 general conference
The speaker discusses the ignorance of the Jews and Pilate in not recognizing Jesus as the Savior and relates it to our own potential ignorance and the consequences of our actions.
But we might ask ourselves this question: Why didn't they know? There is probably only one answer: They lacked the honest effort, earnest inquiry, and humble prayer necessary to find the truth. But in large measure, we make exactly the same mistakes. When we absent ourselves from sacrament meeting, we don't really understand what we are doing. When we fail to pay our tithing or when we are married 'until death do us part,' we know not what we do. It is our ignorance as well as our sins that ... (continued)
Forgiveness
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"What Shall I Do with Jesus"
Elder Sterling W. Sill
- Assistant to the Council of the Twelve Apostles
📅 0
📖 general conference
The speaker presents three alternatives to the question 'What shall I do with Jesus?'—rejecting Him, being neutral, or accepting Him—and discusses the implications of each choice.
The second alternative of this question, 'What shall I do with Jesus?' Matt. 27:22 is that we may try to be neutral, and believe neither one thing nor the other. That is impossible, for either God is, or God is not. There is no middle ground. It is all or nothing. We either accept him by design or we reject him by default. For when we fail to decide a question one way, we automatically decide it the other way. That is, when we fail to decide to get on the train, we automatically decide to st ... (continued)
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"What Shall We Do?"
Elder Hans B. Ringger
- Of the Seventy
📅 0
📖 general conference
Thomas Carlyle's advice on destiny and following it is cited to encourage individuals to pursue their highest goal of eternal exaltation with strength, devotion, and work.
Thomas Carlyle once remarked, "Know your destiny and follow it." We are here today because we believe that our destiny in life is to gain eternal exaltation. This is the highest goal in life, and it demands all of our strength, devotion, and work.
Forgiveness
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"What Shall We Do?"
Elder Hans B. Ringger
- Of the Seventy
📅 0
📖 general conference
Caterina Di Genova's belief about God's possession of a person's will leading them to perfection is used to illustrate the idea that through God, all things are possible, even in a difficult world.
It is now up to us to choose the way! Caterina Di Genova, who died in the Middle Ages as a martyr and who inspired future generations, is believed to have said, "Once God possesses the will of a person, God will dwell within this person and will lead him to perfection." To prevail in this world without God is difficult. Through God, however, all things are possible.
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"What Shall We Do?"
Elder Hans B. Ringger
- Of the Seventy
📅 0
📖 general conference
The disciples' question about rewards is addressed by Jesus, who promises a hundredfold return and everlasting life for those who forsake worldly attachments for His sake.
Should we expect or ask for a reward for our efforts? The disciples asked Jesus about a reward. Instead of chastising them, He answered, "And every one that hath forsaken houses, or brethren, or sisters, or father, or mother, or wife, or children, or lands, for my name"™s sake, shall receive an hundredfold, and shall inherit everlasting life"Matt. 19:29
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"What Shall We Do?"
Elder Hans B. Ringger
- Of the Seventy
📅 0
📖 general conference
Gottfried Keller's reflections during the formation of the Swiss federation in 1862 are used to encourage self-examination and contribution to the greater good in the eyes of the highest judge.
When Switzerland was in the process of political consolidation at the beginning of its new federation in 1862, the Swiss poet and novelist Gottfried Keller had questions similar to those of our time.
"Have I and my house lived such that I am in a position to be of benefit to the whole and to contribute to the humble embellishment, not in the eyes of an ignorant world, but in the eyes of the highest judge? Then when we ask ourselves: how we fare today as a nation before nations and how we have he ... (continued)
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"What Think Ye of Christ?"
Elder Bruce R. McConkie
- Of the First Council of the Seventy
📅 0
📖 general conference
The speaker recounts the biblical story where Christ questions the Pharisees about the lineage of the Messiah, which they cannot answer correctly due to their lack of knowledge about God and Christ.
When Christ was among men, in one of his last conversations with the Pharisees, he asked: '. . . What think ye of Christ? whose son is he?' He received the answer, 'The son of David.' Thereupon he asked:
How then doth David in spirit call him Lord, saying,
The Lord said unto my Lord, Sit thou on my right hand, till I make thine enemies thy
footstool?
If David then call him Lord, how is he his son?Matt. 22:42-45
Because those Jews had lost the knowledge of God and of Christ, they were unable to a ... (continued)
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"What Think Ye of Christ?"
Elder Bruce R. McConkie
- Of the First Council of the Seventy
📅 0
📖 general conference
The speaker describes the belief that Jesus Christ is the Firstborn Spirit Child of Elohim, who became a God in the pre-existence and created the world and all things in it.
We believe, and I certify that Jesus Christ is the Firstborn Spirit Child of Elohim who is God, our Heavenly Father. We believe that while he lived in the pre-existent world, by virtue of his superior intelligence, progression, and obedience, he attained unto the station of a God. And he then became, under the Father, the Creator of this world and all things that are in it, as also the Creator of worlds without numberMoses 1:33
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"What Think Ye of Christ?"
Elder Bruce R. McConkie
- Of the First Council of the Seventy
📅 0
📖 general conference
The speaker explains how ancient prophets and priests offered sacrifices in similitude of Christ's future sacrifice, and how Moses lifting the serpent on a pole was a symbol of Christ's crucifixion.
From Adam to Moses and from Moses to Christ, God's prophets and priests offered sacrifices. Such were in the similitude of the sacrifice of the Only Begotten of the Father who was to come. When Moses lifted the serpent on the pole in ancient Israel and told the Israelites that those who would look would live when they were bitten by poisonous serpents, it was in similitude of the fact that the Son of God would be lifted up on the cross and that all who would look to him might live eternallyNum. ... (continued)
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"What Think Ye of Christ?"
Elder Bruce R. McConkie
- Of the First Council of the Seventy
📅 0
📖 general conference
The speaker testifies of Christ's earthly ministry, his divine birth, his mission to die for the sins of the world, and his suffering in the Garden of Gethsemane.
We believe that Christ was born into the world, literally and actually, in the most real and positive sense as the Son of God, the Eternal Father. He was born with that Being as his Father just as certainly and just as actually, just as literally and definitely as he was born with Mary as his mother. It was by virtue of that birth that he was able to say that no man took his life from him, that he had power to lay down his life and power to take it up again, and had been so commanded of his Fath ... (continued)
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"What Think Ye of Christ?"
Elder Bruce R. McConkie
- Of the First Council of the Seventy
📅 0
📖 general conference
The speaker affirms the belief that Christ and the Father appeared to Joseph Smith in the sacred grove, marking the beginning of Christ's latter-day appearances and his guidance over the Church.
We believe that Christ has appeared in this our day with his Father, as has been certified to from this pulpit this day. His latter-day appearances began when he and the Father came to the Prophet Joseph Smith in the sacred grove. We believe that from the day of its organization, his hand has been guiding and directing and looking after the affairs of this Church. He has given us the spirit of revelation, and the Light of Christ, and also the Holy Ghost which bears record of the Father and the S ... (continued)
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"What Think Ye of Christ?"
Elder Bruce R. McConkie
- Of the First Council of the Seventy
📅 0
📖 general conference
The speaker shares his personal testimony of the truth of the work of the Church and the responsibility of its members to bear witness of Christ, exemplified by the missionary efforts in the Granite and Juarez Stakes.
Last Sunday I was in the Granite Stake. They have about 5500 members of the Church and sixty-three missionaries serving in the foreign field, nearly 1.2 percent of their stake population. Two weeks ago I was in the Juarez Stake. The Dublan Ward has 214 members of the Church and twelve foreign missionaries now serving. As President Smith said, there are 5000 missionaries out in the world today, which is one-half of one percent of the Church population.
I am not so sure but what we can increase ou ... (continued)
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"What Think Ye of Christ?"
Elder Dallin H. Oaks
- Of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles
📅 0
📖 general conference
A young Latter-day Saint applied for a scholarship at a midwestern university, leading to a theological debate about whether Mormons are Christians.
Many years ago a young Latter-day Saint enrolled in a midwestern university and applied for a scholarship only available to Christians. Both the applicant and the university officials were unsure whether a Mormon was eligible. After consulting a panel of theologians, they concluded that this Mormon was a Christian.
When I first heard of that event over thirty years ago, I was shocked that anyone, especially a member of our church, would entertain any doubt that we are Christians. I have come to ... (continued)
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"What Think Ye of Christ?"
Elder Dallin H. Oaks
- Of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles
📅 0
📖 general conference
The speaker reflects on his time as a law teacher, where he noticed that sometimes basic principles were neglected in favor of more complex, obscure matters.
For many years I was a teacher of law. A frequent teaching method in that discipline is to concentrate classroom instruction on the difficult questions—the obscure and debatable matters that lie at the fringes of learning. Some law teachers believe that the simple general rules that answer most legal questions are so obvious that students can learn them by independent study. As a result, these teachers devote little time to teaching the basics.
I believe some of us sometimes do the same t ... (continued)
Forgiveness
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"What Think Ye of Christ?"
Elder Dallin H. Oaks
- Of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles
📅 0
📖 general conference
The speaker recounts the defiant tone of the poem 'Invictus' by William Ernest Henley and the spiritual response by Elder Orson F. Whitney.
In his famous poem 'Invictus,' William Ernest Henley hurled man’s challenge against Fate. With head 'bloody, but unbowed,' determined man is unconquerable. The last verse reads:
(Out of the Best Books,5 vols., ed. Bruce B. Clark and Robert K. Thomas, Salt Lake City: Deseret Book Co., 1968, 4:93.)
Writing a half-century later, Elder Orson F. Whitney replied with these lines:
(Improvement Era,May 1926, p. 611.)
Man unquestionably has impressive powers and can bring to pass great things by t ... (continued)
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"What Think Ye of Christ?" "Whom Say Ye That I Am?"
Elder Robert D. Hales
- Of the First Quorum of the Seventy
📅 0
📖 general conference
The speaker encourages listeners to engage with the church and consider missionary work, sharing how his own parents' missionary service after retirement has set an example for their family.
There are many who will hear this message for the first time today. Ponder it carefully. Contact a member or a missionary of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. If you have heard the message before and the Spirit bears witness of its truthfulness and touches your heart, come back to activity and fellowship in The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. If you are a young man or young woman or retired couple and the Spirit bears witness to you that you should go on a mission to ... (continued)
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"What Went Ye Out "¦ to See?"
Elder Gerald E. Melchin
- Of the First Quorum of the Seventy
📅 0
📖 general conference
The speaker reflects on the overwhelming feelings and life changes after being called by the First Presidency, expressing gratitude for the blessings in his life, including a supportive companion and a faithful family.
When you receive a call from the Office of the First Presidency or one of the counselors in the First Presidency, your whole life rolls over. I can"™t think of words to express the thoughts that have been in my mind and in my heart since I visited with President Monson on Friday. As I thought about addressing you tonight, I felt so humbled and yet so honored, so privileged to be able to bear my witness of the Savior to the priesthood of the Church throughout the world. What an honor that is.
I ... (continued)
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"What Went Ye Out "¦ to See?"
Elder Gerald E. Melchin
- Of the First Quorum of the Seventy
📅 0
📖 general conference
The speaker recounts how his grandfather was introduced to the gospel by two missionaries who happened to pass by his door in the 1920s, leading to the speaker's lifelong blessing of knowing the gospel is true.
I think of two missionaries who came to my grandfather in the 1920s in Kitchener, Ontario. There were no LDS people in the city. They"™d been discouraged, and as they passed his door, they heard a song playing that had been played at their farewell. They approached the door to listen, and he saw them. They introduced the gospel to his heart. He joined the Church, and so all of my life I"™ve been blessed to know that the gospel is true and that we have a prophet who guides and directs us.
Forgiveness
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