Hope 2/3

Hope is the next step on the latter we must discuss. in my mind the word home comes with uncertainties. I hope I can win, I home I can get a good grade; I hope I can afford this and so on and so forth. We use the word to express a desire with an uncertain outcome in the future. However, the scriptures use the word differently in gospel context.

We will remain in Moroni 7 for this discussion.

 40 And again, my beloved brethren, I would speak unto you concerning hope. How is it that ye can attain unto faith, save ye shall have hope?

The interconnected nature of faith and hope is our first clue. Remember how faith is defined?

 41 And what is it that ye shall hope for...? 

We are to hope for something. Something in the future that we desire but are not certain. 

Behold I say unto you that ye shall have hope through the atonement of Christ and the power of his resurrection, to be raised unto life eternal

Working this phrase backwards gives the best results. We are to hope for eternal life, which makes sense. We want it, but it is no automatic process. Mormon qualifies hope through the Atonement and the Resurrection. We cannot hope for eternal life any other way. Only through the physical and spiritual cleansing provided by the Savior. 

The prepositions are key, on the first line we hope FOR, then on the second we hope THROUGH. Two types of hopes, hoping for something and then hoping in a process will allow one to make the second hope a reality. Our hope for something causes us to hope in something. We hope to get eternal life with our hope in the Savior. 

 And this because of your faith in him according to the promise.

All because of faith "according to the promise" that we have received through revelation in the form of covenants. 

 42 Wherefore, if a man have faith he must needs have hope; 

Hope is a prerequisite of faith.

for without faith there cannot be any hope.

And faith is a prerequisite of hope. 

When we rephrase the word hope in conjunction with the atonement. Do we think "I hope that the atonement works," or "I hope that the Savior will save me," or "I hope that I can be saved," or "I hope what I have done is enough?" I don’t think that there is any degree of uncertainty with the atonement. It is real it does work. We don’t fear that side of the bridge falling. It is perfect it is infallible. What is fallible is ourselves. Do we believe in ourselves? Do we say, "I hope I can make it" or "I will make It.”? I believe that hope in the atonement is our confidence in using and relying on its infinite power. We don’t hope we can be saved, we expect ourselves to qualify for grace. The atonement is a good thing for us to grab with our faith. And that gives us hope. 

Takeaways

Hope is faith in the Atonement

Do not hope that the Savor can save us, know that he can and have hope in yourself

Faith and Hope are inseparable

   

Bottom of Form

Faith 1/3

I was pondering on the word charity and exactly what it is. I’ve heard so many different definitions and ways of thinking about it and I just wanted to figure it out. In the end there was no circumventing the values of faith and hope and their relation to charity and discovering the end of the matter must be understood from the beginning.

Faith is like a little seed, yaw yaw we know all about faith, or do we? The first thought that jumps to the mind are undoubtedly something along the lines of believing without seeing or knowing or acting without seeing. Some sort of agency exercised without proof of the decision made. But in regards to charity and hope faith has a totally different meaning.

Our good friend Moroni provides his father's definition of faith. He starts by describing the light of Christ and the opposing forces in the world. 

Moroni 7

13 But behold, that which is of God inviteth and enticeth to do good continually; wherefore, every thing which inviteth and enticeth to do good, and to love God, and to serve him, is inspired of God.


A wonderful note on following the spirit. Whatever pushes us to serve God is good.

14 Wherefore, take heed, my beloved brethren, that ye do not judge that which is evil to be of God, or that which is good and of God to be of the devil.

15 For behold, my brethren, it is given unto you to judge, that ye may know good from evil; and the way to judge is as plain, that ye may know with a perfect knowledge, as the daylight is from the dark night.


Judging the two is easy. Choosing the right is another story.

16 For behold, the Spirit of Christ is given to every man, that he may know good from evil; wherefore, I show unto you the way to judge; for every thing which inviteth to do good, and to persuade to believe in Christ, is sent forth by the power and gift of Christ; wherefore ye may know with a perfect knowledge it is of God...

19 Wherefore, I beseech of you, brethren, that ye should search diligently in the light of Christ that ye may know good from evil; and if ye will lay hold upon every good thing, and condemn it not, ye certainly will be a child of Christ.

An interesting preposition on the first line. Search IN the light of Christ. Not with or by or near or throughout but in. Inside within or bounded. Search IN the light of Christ. Whatever that means. 

20 And now, my brethren, how is it possible that ye can lay hold upon every good thing?

An excellent question by any standard. How are we to find that which is of God and good and obtain them? We can discern by the Light of Christ what that is good but we need things to grab onto somehow. We need a rod, a substance, and a source to exercise judgment. We need every good thing in front of us if we have any hope to grab them. Where do they come from? 

21 And now I come to that faith, of which I said I would speak; and I will tell you the way whereby ye may lay hold on every good thing.

Perfect. He can answer my question. 

22 For behold, God knowing all things, being from everlasting to everlasting, behold, he sent angels to minister unto the children of men, to make manifest concerning the coming of Christ; and in Christ there should come every good thing.


So angels tell us...

23 And God also declared unto prophets, by his own mouth, that Christ should come.


And prophets...

24 And behold, there were divers ways that he did manifest things unto the children of men, which were good; and all things which are good cometh of Christ; otherwise men were fallen, and there could no good thing come unto them.

The answer is startlingly simple. Revelation by its diverse means and possibilities bring all things that are good. And he does not use the word "all" loosely. Every single thing ever from the beginning to the end to the 2/3rd mark that is considered good came from revelation. Everything. There is nothing good that was not revealed someway somehow. Could we think of the Creation as revelation? I don't see what not. 

25 Wherefore, by the ministering of angels, and by every word which proceeded forth out of the mouth of God, men began to exercise faith in Christ; and thus by faith, they did lay hold upon every good thing; and thus it was until the coming of Christ.

I like the last verse. It is by faith that we lay hold upon every good thing. Flipping it around we lay hold on good things by faith or we need faith to hold on good things or when we have faith we lay hold on good things or without faith we cannot hold good things or if we have good things then we have faith or if we do not have good things we do not have faith. We could go on and on but I will spare you. To summarize faith is acting on revelation. 

What does revelation bring that we must grab with our faith? 

32 And by so doing, the Lord God prepareth the way that the residue of men may have faith in Christ, that the Holy Ghost may have place in their hearts, according to the power thereof; and after this manner bringeth to pass the Father, the covenants which he hath made unto the children of men.


This verse lays out the steps. Faith in Christ then Holy Ghost then covenants. Covenants are the top and the culmination of what has been revealed. 

I often make the mistake of reading 33 and then ignore the next one. 

33 And Christ hath said: if ye will have faith in me ye shall have power to do whatsoever thing is expedient in me.

34 And he hath said: repent all ye ends of the earth, and come unto me, and be baptized in my name, and have faith in me, that ye may be saved.

If we have faith we will have power to do anything that we are command to do, and what has he told us to do? He has said "be baptized." I always thought that it meant that I could do anything that was good and righteous. Something along the go and do train of thought. 

Faith is acting without a sure knowledge. Or knowing things that cannot be seen. Choosing to believe. All these are true statements concerning faith. But unless our faith leads us to covenants it is failing. Covenants are the good things that have been revealed and we must grab onto them. Our faith helps us find and recognize covenants for us to grab. Our choice to grab nonetheless but it is our faith that gets us there. 

Takeaways 

The only good things that have ever entered into the world come by revelation.

Covenant are the zenith of revealed truth and what we could call The Best Thing.

Real faith leads us to make real covenants. 

What is Living Water?

The term Living Water is used often enough in the scriptures for multiple very plausible meanings to sprout up. Think what pops into your mind as you ask yourself this question. Through careful study there is an exact answer according the scriptures. Not to say that any other answer does not fit the profile or may be useful in understanding the concept, but there is a very direct and straightforward path that leads us to a straightforward conclusion.

We must first go to the main source of the phrase "Living Water." This comes from the dialogue between the Savior and the woman at the well in John Ch 4.

         A little background, Ch 3 is when Nicodemus the leader of the Jews approaches the Savior by night and is taught the sermon on being born again. Verse 16 is a classic and any Christian who paid any attention to any religious event knows how it goes. With this as the backdrop Christ journeys through Samaria and meets the Woman at the Well. The timing is no mistake. St. John shows the Savior of the world speaking to the rulers of the Jews and then to a Samaritan. A woman Samaritan no less, and a harlot Samaritan woman at that (see v 18). The universality of The Gospel is so clear. The Savior himself in a very brief amount of time going from the highest of the high and lowest of the low.

The following is what I like to call "unpacking" the scriptures.

John Ch 4

9 Then saith the woman of Samaria unto him, How is it that thou, being a Jew, askest drink of me, which am a woman of Samaria? For the Jews have no dealings with the Samaritans.

The social chasm is clear, "why are you even talking to me?" asks the woman.


10 Jesus answered and said unto her, If thou knewest the gift of God, and who it is that saith to thee, Give me to drink; thou wouldest have asked of him, and he would have given thee livingwater.

Christ wants her to ask for exactly the right thing. Two things that we need to know in order to ask the right question. The Gift of God and "Who it is that saith to thee, Give me to drink." If we had known these things we would of asked for Livingwater.

11 The woman saith unto him, Sir, thou hast nothing to draw with, and the well is deep: from whence then hast thou that living water?

The woman shows her innocence, looking for literal water, and gets brave by playing the covenant card.

12 Art thou greater than our father Jacob, which gave us the well, and drank thereof himself, and his children, and his cattle?
13 Jesus answered and said unto her, Whosoever drinketh of this water shall thirst again:

The Savior clarifies.

14 But whosoever drinketh of the water that I shall give him shall never thirst; but the water that I shall give him shall be in him a well of water springing up into everlasting life.

This is tricky. First of all the water that Christ speaks of has a magical ability to quench thirst indefinitely, a trait that the Woman who has walked from town with the intent to carry back a quantity of water, would find very appealing. One less chore to cross of the list for good!!! 

But the end product does not seem to be water that will end the need to drink, but an endless supply of water. Look at the words Christ uses, "the water that I shall give him shall be in him a well of water." living water is not water at all, but a source of water that never ends and "springs up" to eternal life.

 Putting that into Gospel context the Savior does not give us the magic eternal life pill that we take once in our life but rather sources that we must partake of regularly to survive. Water would be the obvious choice for a metaphor in desert Palestine. We must always make the conscience effort to drink and draw from the well that the Savior provides and always draw from the well-called Living Water. 

 15 The woman saith unto him, Sir, give me this water, that I thirst not, neither come hither to draw.

The wonderful footnotes give us this cross-reference to Doctrine and Covenants section 63, this sums it up nicely.

23 But unto him that keepeth my commandments I will give the mysteries of my kingdom, and the same shall be in him a well of living water, springing up unto everlasting life.

Takeaways

         We do not get all that we need from the Gospel, but an endless supply that we can draw from.

         Getting the water nessesary to survive eternally is a constant and never ending chore.

         If we know who the Savior is and the Gifts of God we will ask for this livingwater.

         Footnotes are amazing