(to
reader: everything that is in parenthesis wasn’t written in the talk)
(Note
to self: think of your tone while you read, read calmly and with power.
annunciate. Relax, pause or take a breath at every bit of punctuation.)
(Well) As we all know Jesus Christ, our Lord, Savior, and redeemer. Suffered,
bled, and died for every single soul, who has ever lived on this earth. That we
might be able to be forgiven, and repent of our sins. So that one day we will
be able to return to live with him, and our Father in Heaven again. Theres a
scripture In John chapter 3 that i’d like to share, In the chapter Christ is
teaching Nicodemus, a Pharisee on how all of this is possible, (and how these
things might be accomplished) and in verse 3-6 it says: (read John 3:3-7, I
felt like I needed to add 7 in there as well)
So
when we depart from this life into the next, all of the things that are “of the
flesh” or things that are temporal, will not be able to come with us into the
next life. So in verse six when it says that, that which is flesh is flesh, and
that which is spirit is spirit, it means that, that the things of the flesh
will pass away just like flesh, but things that are of the spirit are
everlasting, they cannot be removed from us with the passing away of the flesh.
Now in Matthew chapter 16 Christ comes unto his disciples and gives unto Peter
the keys of the kingdom of heaven because (Christ) knows that he will be
crucified, and that his disciples will not be able to continue his work without
these keys in which he possesses. So in verse 18 and 19 it says: (read Matthew 16:18-19)
So
Peter is given the power and Authority of the Melchizedek Priesthood to bind
things according to the spirit, that the Apostles might be able to perform
ordinances among all of the people that will be ever-lasting. That they might
be able to return to live with him again. So at this point the church is able
to continue growing and performing Christ's work upon the earth without Christ.
But Before the Chapter ends, Christ gives a principal for them to live by. In
verse 24 it says (read V.24)
Now
when Christ is asking for all of those who are baptized and follow him to deny
themselves and to take up his cross. Christ is asking for them to give up all
of their ungodliness, all of their worldly desires, all of the things that
might hinder his work. And he asks them to take up his cross and to make
following Christ most important above all else.
Now sadly after the
death of Christ people persecuted the Apostles and killed them and all who
Christ had given this Power and Authority, died, and they took the powers of
binding the ordinances of baptism in heaven with them. The Authority to use the
Priesthood was taken away from the Earth.
But,
in the spring of 1829 The Melchizedek Priesthood Authority and Power was
restored to the earth! Peter, James, and John came as Heavenly beings to Joseph
Smith and Oliver Cowdery, to bestow upon them the same Authority and Power
which Christ gave to them. And since then The Church of Jesus Christ of
Latter-Day Saints has been continuing to perform Christs work upon the earth.
Now,
The advice Christ gave unto his disciples in Matthew chapter 16 verse 24
applies to all of us today. Since we are of the same order, and work, and
perform in the same way that Christ and his disciples did while they lived on
the earth. Christ has asked all of us to deny ourselves, and to take up his
cross and follow him. He wants all of us to put him and his work first above
all else, and consecrate our all to helping his work press forward in these
latter-days. But how does one “put Christ first” in their lives?
There
is no real instruction manual of what to do to put Christ first in our life,
(or even example sto look up in the topical guide). (But) I believe that in
order to know how to put Christ first in your life you first need to put
yourself in his shoes and think, what does he want most above all else?...
He
desires that all might be able to return to live with him again, and that his
followers are Obedient to the commandments that have been given them.
Now,
I have a few questions that I think everyone needs to sit down and think about
for themselves. When you are alone and if this comes to your mind ask yourself
this. What stops me from having the spirit around me at all times? What things
do I put before the Lord that prevents me to learn and grow in the way he wants
me to? What might I have to sacrifice to be a better servant to the Lord?
These
are all questions that I believe that we should ask ourselves frequently, that
we might be a better tool in the Lords hands, so that we might be used to build
his kingdom here upon the earth. The Foundation is set! Christ already Atoned
for our sins and did all that man needs to be able to return to live with him
again. It’s now our part to build off of that foundation to commence his
glorious work to make something spectacular of all men, and help bring them all
home to live with our Father again.
(Now,
even though this has already been read today,) I’d now like to read to you
Doctrine and Covenants section 20:77 to show you some of the ways we covenant
to put Christ first in our life, It says (read D&C 20:77)
As it says in the
prayer, There is a few key things that we covenant to do when we take the
sacrament;
·
We declare that we are willing to take upon us
the name of Christ, That we might all be examples of him who was perfect.
·
We covenant that we will always remember Christ
and the things he has done for us, and the things he wants us to do.
·
And we tell him that we will keep his
commandments which he has given us, and that we will be obedient to his will.
The
sacrament is a ordinance that enables the Saviors grace to be upon us that we
might be forgiven of our sins, But in doing so we also have to covenant to him
that we will put the Lord first.
(One
way that I’ve been trying to put Christ first in my life is ever) Since last
November I have gone to the temple twice a week every week, to go and feel the
spirit, to learn, and to do ordinances for those on the other side, who is
waiting for us to go and help them open the doors that bind them. And as i
continually went to the temple and helped the many souls progress and open
those doors, I came to realize that the Lord greatly blesses those who do his
work and will. I have had hundreds of tender mercies and sweet experiences in
these past few months that i’ve been doing this, just because I have been
faithfully coming to help people come unto Christ. I have come to know that the
Lord rejoices when we do his work, and he will help us, guide us, and bless us
greatly.
I
know that if we listen to the commandments that has been given us and follow
the teachings of Christ then not only you will be blessed, but the people you
serve, and everyone around you will be blessed by the good example that you are
through the way you live your life.
(I didn’t intend for this next part to be in
this talk, it was originally in my first farewell talk, but I awoke around 2 am
and shot straight out of my bed, I realized this needed to be in my talk, I
fell back asleep almost immediately after I put it in)
As some of you may know
I trained with my good friend Will in Brazilian Ju jitsu for a while. And I
worked up to gaining my first stripe for my white belt. I'm nothing to special
at it, and hardly be considered a teacher on the subject. But I do remember the
words of my gym leader and coach, who was well qualified to be a teacher and
knew what seems to me everything about the sport. (He is ranked number 4 in the
world for his weight division, and people travel from way far away just to learn
from him.) I am nothing compared to the man in the ways he knows how to fight,
but when I listened to his advise and I tried my hardest to preform in the way
he wanted me to, I would end up learning a lot and become better at it. Now in
Brazilian Jiu Jitsu, when you are fighting with your opponent it is common to
go into a position called closed guard. It's a position where your opponent is
laying on their back with their legs wrapped around you. while you are
kneeling.
Their objective is to
puuulllll you down, or trick you, and sweep you into a different position where
they will be more dominant, or submit you to finish the fight. Now I know some
people that when their opponent would get them into this position they would
think to themselves “I don't need to use the techniques my coach has been
teaching me, I can muscle out of it” and they wouldn't listen to the great
words of advise from someone who knows what seems like everything. They then
would struggle and pull and waste their energy until their opponent could do
what ever they wanted to them. They were very easily captivated, and they would
be put in the same situation many times because their opponent knew, they
wouldn't listen to the advise, which would cause them to slip, and fall, and be
defeated.
I
learned that it was best though to be obedient and listen to all the words that
my coach would give me, because in the end he knew better anyways. Now this is
not some unbeatable position I am talking about. It can actually be passed
pretty easily if you defend yourself, and you do not move into places that you
should avoid. There is three basic steps you take, in just about every possible
way you pass their guard. These steps are very relateable to obeying the
commandments of God. The first step you should take when passing your opponents
guard , is to anchor yourself to the mat by sitting on your ankles with the top
of your feet against the mat. For me this hurt a lot at first! I thought it was
almost as bad as being choked! It was difficult to get used to, but the more
diligently you anchor yourself to this foundation and work at gaining better
technique, the better off you are when your opponent tries to pull you
down.
It's just like the gospel. If you work at
gaining a testimony and obeying the commandments of God, you might feel as
though it is difficult at first and some of the things you have to give up
could be quite painful. But the more you work at gaining a testimony and
anchoring yourself to the savior Jesus Christ, the pain will go away and you
will be able to better protect yourself, and become stronger. The next step to passing your opponents
guard, is to posture up, and move your hands to stop them from coming any
closer. You stand your ground! Which keeps you away from their attacks. You
stay away from the temptations and the manner in which they are trying to trap
you. Now we have heard many times that the best place to be is as far away from
sin and temptation as possible. Even if you have to say no to your friends, or
turn off what ever electronic, or device you are being trapped with. You fight
against any struggle that might make you loose what you believe in, you stand
your ground and and keep your self anchored to the foundation, which you know,
it cannot fail!
And the last step is to look up at the
ceiling, and follow the technique. Looking up is imperative to passing the
guard, and there is a great difference in the strength of those who look up and
those who don't. It is said you tend to go where your eyes are pointed. And when
doing this small act of just looking up it strengthens the power you have in
your core, it can help straighten your arms to help fend of your opponent. You
then follow the teachings you have been given to help you get out of this
position, so you can fight back and win.
There are many people who look up and pray to
our Father in Heaven when they get caught in adversity, or they have great
trails they seem to be trapped in, and because of their faith and knowing which
direction to look they are strengthened and are helped, and sometimes delivered
from the adversity that is besetting them. But like I said there is many who
don't look up, they don't pour their souls unto prayer for help, for
deliverance, for guidance, and they trudge through the storm with only the
strength that is quickly accessible. Yes they might make it through the storm,
but they will be much more weary and beaten then those who looked up and prayed
for help and guidance. And the last thing you do that gets you out of the
opponents guard is by following the techniques that has been given and taught
to you.
We have been given many ways of guidance through
our lives, we have the scriptures that we can read almost any where now, we
have prophets teaching us and giving us instruction, we have sunday school
teachers, home teachers, bishop and his counselors, stake presidents, and
missionaries. All of which has been sent by our Father in Heaven who knows all
things, to teach and educate us on the techniques we need to learn and obey, to
reach our full potential and to help us through life. And all we have to do, to
get through adversity, to help other people, to return to live with him, and
help others come to him, all we have to do is be obedient to the words which he
is giving his servents, to teach to us. And now just because the Coach or
Father in Heaven isn't physically infrount of us teaching us, does not mean
that he isn't sending people infrount of us, to teach us and to educate us in
all the techniques we need to return to live with him.
But never forget you can always speak to this
worlds gym leader or coach to get help. All you have to do is look up and
follow the teaching that he gives us!)
(I
know that this church is true, I know that we have a Father in Heaven who
loves, cares, guides, and protects us. And we can all come to a knowledge and
gain a testimony and know that he is
there if we put Christ first in our lives, if we read our scriptures, if we do
work in the temple and if we are obedient to the commandments that the Lord sends
his servants to teach us. It is said that your testimony is like unto a seed
and I know that as you do these things your testimony will rise up and grow
stronger and become a immovable tree if you continually do these things. I know
the Adversary is real, and he is lying in wait to deceive us and to make us
doubt our faith, But I know personally that we can over come him, because even
I have been trapped by his deception and have doubted at times. But even as I
have over come his temptations and came to know of a sureity that the Church is
the True Church of Jesus Christ on the earth and all of the teachings are true
and if you continue on faithfully and act of the teachings your path will
become lighted even in the darkest hours. I love all of you and I am so
Grateful for all that you guys have done for me because I wouldn’t be where I
am right now if it wasn’t for all of your love, help and influence in my life.
Thanks! I say these things in the name of Jesus Christ Amen.)
