I will be teaching an Institute class this summer called "The Writings of John." We will study the Book of Revelation, John's Epistles, and the Gospel of John. I have been doing some reading to prepare and yesterday I read an article concerning John's teachings about the Atonement that helped me see some verses in Revelation in a new light (see previous post about commentaries).
The book of Revelation is a revelation of Christ through John to the seven churches in Asia (in other words, 7 Branches of the Church in Asia). Revelation 2-3 has particular counsel to the members of those churches. He commends them for their righteousness, chastises them for their sins then gives them tremendous promises if they will be faithful and true. Each of these promises are prefaced with the words "To him that overcometh." I have long associated this phrase with the similar phrase in D&C 76:53 that promises the Celestial kingdom to those "who overcome by faith and are sealed by the Holy Spirit of promise, which the Father sheds upon all those who are just and true."
Life sends us temptations and challenges of all kinds--gut wrenching experiences and other bumps in the road. It takes faith to overcome these. Great blessings await us if we do.
But yesterday the curtain parted and I saw something else in these verses. The author connected them with the principle of grace. The Bible Dictionary defines "grace" as "divine means of help or strength, given through the bounteous mercy and love of Jesus Christ." All the blessings of the Atonement of Christ come to us through the grace of Christ. Through the grace of His Atonement we are resurrected, forgiven, comforted, strengthened, and empowered. Grace is an "enabling power" that gives us strength to overcome the temptations and challenges of life. It is the power by which we overcome the natural man and become new creatures. It is the power by which we are able to do and become far beyond what we could do or become by our own devices.
The Fall provided us with the wonderful gift of mortality--a school unlike any other where we can learn and have vital life changing experiences. But we could never go home at the end of our school if it weren't for the matchless Atonement of Christ. We have much to overcome--death, sickness, weakness, challenges, and sin. Only through the grace of Christ can we overcome these things.
Thus we "overcome" by coming unto Christ. We overcome by deepening our prayers. We overcome by drinking from the scriptures. We overcome by thoughtfully and purposefully renewing our covenants. We overcome by letting our will be swallowed up in His. It's the purpose of our life--to fully drink of the Atonement and "overcome by faith."
And then we will receive those marvelous promises found in Revelation 2-3.
We will "eat of the tree of life" (Rev 2:7).
We will not be hurt by the second death (Rev 2:11).
We will "eat of the hidden manna" and be given "a white stone" when we are exalted (Rev 2:17, see also D&C 130:10-11).
We will be given power to rule with a rod of iron and be given the morning star (Rev 2:26-28). (Jesus is "the bright and morning star" Rev 22:16.)
We will be "clothed in white raiment" and not have our name blotted out of "the book of life," but Christ will "confess [our] name before [the] Father and before his angels (Rev 3:5, see also D&C 45:3-5 where Christ, our advocate, pleads our cause before the Father).
We will become "a pillar in the temple of [our] God" to "go no more out" and will have written upon us "the name of God." (Rev 3:12). What a cool promise this is!
And finally we will sit with Christ on His throne because He also overcame (Rev 3:21).
These are marvelous promises. These and countless other blessings will be ours if we will completely and fully come unto Christ and receive the power of the Atonement in our lives and overcome by faith every challenge of mortality.
I pray we will.
Tuesday, April 26, 2011
One benefit from scriptural commentaries
President Marion G. Romney used a rancher's metaphor to explain that reading the scriptures themselves has more value than reading what others have written about them. He said, “I don’t know much about the gospel other than what I’ve learned from the standard works. (the scriptures) When I drink from a spring I like to get the water where it comes out of the ground, not down the stream after the cattle have waded in it. . . . I appreciate other people’s interpretation, but when it comes to the gospel we ought to be acquainted with what the Lord says”(Marion G. Romney, Ensign, Nov. 1982, 15 ).
This reminds me of someting President Packer has written: “It is important to know the gospel, for instance, according to the leaders of the Church. But an even better starting place is to know the gospel according to one's own self; that is, to take a subject such as the Word of Wisdom and really search our own minds as to how we feel about it. We should read what we can find in the scriptures about the subject and then write down our feelings. Then we may compare those feelings against what leaders of the Church have written or said.
“If we are sincere, we will find our conclusions being sustained by their conclusions. If we are searching inside ourselves in the right way, and we have included prayer as part of that search, we are tapping the same source of intelligence that the leaders of the Church are tuned-in upon.
“Then we may become independent witnesses of that principle from our own inquiry. Then our obedience is not blind obedience. Then our agency is protected and we are on the right course. Then we will do things because we know they are right and are the truth. We will know this from our own inquiry, not simply because someone else knows it. (Boyd K. Packer, Teach Ye Diligently, p.119)
I have learned much from reading what others have written about the scriptures. One particularly sweet experience was when I carefully read the Gospels with Elder McConkie's Mortal Messiah series as a guide. I learned a lot and began to feel that I was having a little private scripture study session with Elder McConkie each morning as I read.
But President Romney is right. The scriptures have a quality of their own; a life of their own. They are different than anything else we can read. They are the bread of life and the waters of life. The power is in the word.
Having said that, one benefit for me of commentaries (or from being taught by someone else from the scriptures) is that sometimes it helps me see things in a new light. Sometimes when we read the scriptures it's like seeing a "re-run." We know the plot. We know what the characters are going to say. We may remember what the spirit taught us last time we read it and we may not see what the Spirit would teach us this time. Sometimes a commentary can point us in a new direction so the Spirit can teach us something brand new and fresh.
This reminds me of someting President Packer has written: “It is important to know the gospel, for instance, according to the leaders of the Church. But an even better starting place is to know the gospel according to one's own self; that is, to take a subject such as the Word of Wisdom and really search our own minds as to how we feel about it. We should read what we can find in the scriptures about the subject and then write down our feelings. Then we may compare those feelings against what leaders of the Church have written or said.
“If we are sincere, we will find our conclusions being sustained by their conclusions. If we are searching inside ourselves in the right way, and we have included prayer as part of that search, we are tapping the same source of intelligence that the leaders of the Church are tuned-in upon.
“Then we may become independent witnesses of that principle from our own inquiry. Then our obedience is not blind obedience. Then our agency is protected and we are on the right course. Then we will do things because we know they are right and are the truth. We will know this from our own inquiry, not simply because someone else knows it. (Boyd K. Packer, Teach Ye Diligently, p.119)
I have learned much from reading what others have written about the scriptures. One particularly sweet experience was when I carefully read the Gospels with Elder McConkie's Mortal Messiah series as a guide. I learned a lot and began to feel that I was having a little private scripture study session with Elder McConkie each morning as I read.
But President Romney is right. The scriptures have a quality of their own; a life of their own. They are different than anything else we can read. They are the bread of life and the waters of life. The power is in the word.
Having said that, one benefit for me of commentaries (or from being taught by someone else from the scriptures) is that sometimes it helps me see things in a new light. Sometimes when we read the scriptures it's like seeing a "re-run." We know the plot. We know what the characters are going to say. We may remember what the spirit taught us last time we read it and we may not see what the Spirit would teach us this time. Sometimes a commentary can point us in a new direction so the Spirit can teach us something brand new and fresh.
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