Faith in Jesus Christ

About this Talk

Talk given in Traverse Mountain 2nd Ward on December 8, 2019 after a great number of calling changes, over 60 releases and 60 callings. Before being called as a bishop, I was being drawn to the 4th article of faith and how it outlines the doctrine of Christ. After being called, this study was called back to my mind and I felt prompted that the pattern there was to be an outline for our ward.

Prelude

Before I begin my talk I’d like to say a few words about the changes that have just been made.

I’ve often thought after being called as bishop that I just do not want to “mess up” the foundations that have been laid by Bishop Tate. This is still true. A leader I will always look up to as an example of Christ, he set the tone for our ward to be a welcoming one, a ward where faith can grow. However, the expectations that I initially set for myself, which certainly feels challenging enough to me, are not the same expectations that the Lord has set. It isn’t enough to maintain. Foundations were not laid to remain bare for us to look upon in adulation of their great strength. We are expected to build, we are expected to progress, and I’ve been pondering on how exactly the Lord would have us do that as a ward. This will be the topic of my talk. However, I want to discuss another related matter.

As we’ve grown in size as a ward, we’ve moved from having great difficulty shuffling any callings because we only had just enough members to fill them, to, now, having some members that do not have callings. I’ve been taught all my life that every member needed a responsibility and that meant we would need to start considering creating some callings. But General Conference changed that thinking for me. We all still need responsibility, but I realized that it already existed in the form of everyone participating in Come, Follow Me at home and ministering in a higher, holier way. Our leaders in the Church have been working to simplify in order to focus on the things that are most important right now. So I felt prompted to do the same.

However, this is important for all to understand: You should not think any less of your responsibilities if you do not have a calling, nor should you think the situation is permanent. What you should do is:

Be diligent in reaching out to your brothers and sisters through ministering assignments; you may receive more than someone with a calling
Lead your families in learning the gospel through Come, Follow Me lessons weekly and daily
Follow promptings from the Spirit as you seek personal revelation
Respond to needs that arise in the ward and serving where you can
“Be anxiously engaged in a good cause, and many things of [your] own free will, and bring to pass much righteousness.”1

Also, I will be advising our Relief Society and Elder’s Quorum presidents to carefully consider prioritizing those without callings to mentor youth as ministering companions. Our youth desparately need the converting experiences available to them through serving and loving others. They need strong mentors who will prayerfully involve them, ask for their valuable input, and help them to fulfill this assignment.

These are significant responsibilities and vital to the work of the Lord. Whether you have a current calling or not, all members of the church are called to serve in many different ways. I pray that the Spirit will help each of you understand the purpose your Father in Heaven has for you at this time in whatever capacity you serve.

Ward Priorities

I feel two priorities will be constant over these next few years: our youth and children and ministering. Ministering is the gospel in action. We still have much to do to improve, particularly involving our youth. Ministering is part of the covenant we made when we were baptized and confirmed members of the church. And we ALL have a divinely appointed focus on our youth and children in the ward, whether they are your own or not.

Additional priorities for our progression are found in the 4th article of faith:

The first principles and ordinances of the gospel are first, faith in the Lord Jesus Christ, second, repentance, third, baptism by immersion for the remission of sins, and fourth, laying on of hands for the gift of the Holy Ghost.2

Though the second two are relayed in terms of ordinances, there are principles there as well, we might say it this way:

Faith in the Lord Jesus Christ
Repentance
Making and Keeping Covenants
Seeking and Acting on Personal Revelation
And including Nephi’s addendum, Pressing Forward by Enduring to the End3

This can be a sequence, but not one that happens only once when the ordinances of baptism and confirmation are completed. It is a cycle of progression that repeats over many different time frames, both short and long, often overlapping, and moving us upward towards God continually. The temple has a critical role in this progression. I promise you will be hearing more about all of these. But today I would like to talk about the most fundamental of all of them, Faith in the Lord Jesus Christ.

As you well know, faith warrants an entire series of lectures.4 I will not cover all aspects, but I do pray the Holy Ghost will teach you those points that will help build your faith in Christ.

What is Faith in Christ

We’ve all heard that faith is a “hope for things which are not seen, which are true.”5 Belief and hope are important aspects of faith, but a few other words help expand our understanding of what faith in Christ is. The Guide to the Scriptures says: “As most often used in the scriptures, faith is confidence and trust in Jesus Christ that lead a person to obey Him.”6 This means that faith in Christ is believing Him, trusting Him, and having confidence in Him.

I’ve found looking at these other terms as synonymous for faith helps me better understand the meaning of certain scriptures. For example:

The centurion who was seeking relief for his servant sick and paralyzed, sought Jesus’s healing power, but afraid that he was not worthy to have the Holy One in his home, asked Jesus just to speak in word only and even at great distance believed it would be done.7 The Savior’s replied: Verily I say unto you, I have not found so great faith, no, not in Israel. You could modify this scripture with “I have not found so great trust in me, no, not in Israel.”8

When Christ appeared to the people in the Americas, filled with compassion and mercy, He asked that they bring anyone afflicted to Him saying “I see that your faith is sufficient that I should heal you.”9 Another way of saying it would be “I see that your confidence in me is sufficient that I should heal you.”

Peter, seeing the Lord walking on the water coming to their boat, sought to do the same. He received the assurance of the Lord before venturing out on the water.10 But when his focus was on his potential predicament as the wind and the waves became turbulent, his belief in the Savior’s power wavered.11

As Christ rescued the pleading Peter, he said, “O thou of little faith, wherefore didst thou doubt?”12 Another way to read this could be, “O thou of little trust in me, why did you doubt me?” It wasn’t just a matter of believing in general, it was a matter of having confidence in the Lord. Would the Savior, who bid Peter come out onto the water, let Peter drown? Of course not. Peter’s trust was shaken by the winds and the waves, and he doubted the Lord’s power that enabled him to walk on water through the midst of the tribulation. I know in matters of faith, I find so much of myself in Peter.

To trust the Lord, we must know and understand Him.13 This requires us to seek after Him.14 Seeking Christ through scripture study and following His example in asking for God’s help in prayer are the most basic ways in which we demonstrate our desire to have faith in Him.

Faith in Christ is Not Faith in Our Expectations

Our faith is placed in Christ because He is the one that enables the plan of our Father to bring to pass our immortality and eternal life.15 Faith in Christ is the belief and the hope that Jesus Christ overcame sin and death and therefore He has power to save us from the permanence of both of these obstacles that resulted from the Fall and separate us from God.16

However, it is important to remember that faith in Jesus Christ is inescapably tied to the purposes of God the Father.17 This means that Christ is not the one we should trust if we have motives other than salvation and exaltation. Faith and truth go hand in hand.18 We can’t have faith in Jesus Christ when we have expectations that are not aligned to God’s will.19 For example, if we are placing our confidence in Christ with the expectation that we will then no longer have trials to endure in this life, that is not true faith, because it isn’t based in truth. Faith to move mountains is only faith if God wants the mountains moved.20

In the Doctrine and Covenants, the Lord instructed Oliver Cowdery: “Remember that without faith you can do nothing; therefore ask in faith.” And then he adds: “Trifle not with these things; do not ask for that which you ought not.”21 Christ Himself declared “If ye have faith ye can do all things which are expedient unto me.”22 Of course, this means to have any hope for unseen yet true things, we have to be constantly seeking God’s will and not our own.23 We must search His commandments and receive personal revelation.

True faith in Jesus Christ is unencumbered by mortal expectations; it is enabled by the expansive perspective of eternal purposes.

True faith in Christ cannot be based on our own objectives because that isn’t truly trusting Him.24 After the miracle of the loaves and fishes in which Christ showed His power to multiply what we bring to the Him, people began to follow with the expectation that He would continue to feed them. Their objective was food, not in following Jesus.25 They were focused on the sign, with expectations that it would continue, and not focused on Him and His calling as the Christ. This is why they were told not to labor for that which perisheth, but rather labor for whom will give them that meat that perisheth not.26 He said to them: I am the bread of life: he that cometh to me shall never hunger; and he that believeth on me shall never thirst.27

And then He explained that true faith in Him is also faith in the Father’s purposes.

All that the Father giveth me shall come to me; and him that cometh to me I will in no wise cast out. For I came down from heaven, not to do mine own will, but the will of him that sent me. And this is the Father’s will which hath sent me, that of all which he hath given me I should lose nothing, but should raise it up again at the last day. And this is the will of him that sent me, that every one which seeth the Son, and believeth on him, may have everlasting life: and I will raise him up at the last day.28

True faith doesn’t expect the tree blooming into everlasting life to grow in certain patterns, at certain times, with fruit appearing on the branches of our choice hovering right at mouth-level or within easy reach, but rather faith in Christ looks forward to the time when we can partake of the fruit of eternal life from a tree that has grown in many unexpected, beautiful ways because we have trusted the Lord rather than our own arm of flesh.29

True faith means that through persecution, through injustice, through our own sin, through every trial, even through death, we can act in confidence that we are His.30 We are engraved in the palms of His hands and therefore He will not lose us.31 When He directs us to act in His name through the power of the Holy Ghost, we can act in faith that He is with us.32 And when we do, He is letting us partake in the work of salvation to increase our faith and trust in Him who is mighty to save.33

What we can expect is that as the Great Reconciler, Christ has power to reconcile impossible dualities.34 Justice and mercy,35 sheep and shepherd,36 sacrifice and sacrificer.37 In giving His life, He saved ours.38 Through death, He could be resurrected and open the doors for us all.39 He became the perfect good shepherd by becoming one of the sheep and he ended all sacrifice by offering himself on that altar.40 Surely we can have faith that He has power to reconcile us to God, even those of us who consider ourselves the very least, or the most sinful, or the most unworthy of His boundless grace?41

How Faith in Christ Grows - Exercising

Faith is a spiritual gift; we can pray for it to be bestowed on us. However, it is a gift that we are expected to grow. And that means exercising our faith so it will increase.42

From the Gospel Topic on Faith:

“We can exercise faith in Christ when we have an assurance that He exists, a correct idea of His character, and a knowledge that we are striving to live according to His will. Having faith in Jesus Christ means relying completely on Him—trusting in His infinite power, intelligence, and love. It includes believing His teachings. It means believing that even though we do not understand all things, He does. Because He has experienced all our pains, afflictions, and infirmities, He knows how to help us rise above our daily difficulties (see Alma 7:11–12; Doctrine and Covenants 122:8). He has “overcome the world” (John 16:33) and prepared the way for us to receive eternal life. He is always ready to help us as we remember His plea: “Look unto me in every thought; doubt not, fear not” (Doctrine and Covenants 6:36).”43

Nephi summarized these statements when he said:

The Lord is able to do all things according to his will, for the children of men, if it so be that they exercise faith in him. Wherefore, let us be faithful to him.44

In other words, faith in Jesus Christ is belief in His power expressed by action, including taking upon ourselves His name, keeping His commandments, and always remembering Him.45 Our faith has to be more than belief. As James said, even the devils believe and testify of Christ. 46

And more impressive than James’s comedic form in this next verse is his wisdom on the relationship of faith in Jesus Christ and the demonstration of our trust in Him. He says:

Yea, a man may say, Thou hast faith, and I have works: shew me thy faith without thy works, and I will shew thee my faith by my works.47

Elder David A. Bednar said:

Taking action is the exercise of faith. The children of Israel are carrying the ark of the covenant. They come to the River Jordan. The promise is they will cross over on dry land. When does the water part? When their feet are wet. They walk into the river—act. Power follows—the water parts.

We oftentimes believe, “I’m going to have this perfect understanding, and then I’m going to transform that into what I do.” I would suggest that we have enough to get started. We have a sense of the right direction. Faith is a principle—the principle—of action and of power. True faith is focused in and on the Lord Jesus Christ and always leads to action.48

An example of this principle of power and action would be stated in the well-known verse about tithing: “Bring ye all the tithes into the storehouse … and prove me now herewith … if I will not open you the windows of heaven, and pour you out a blessing, that there shall not be room enough to receive it.”49 If we exercise faith in Christ to act on this command, we receive blessings of His power, more than we can contain.50

Exercise your faith in Christ by giving your broken heart and contrite spirit as a sacrifice to Him51 and then receive His power to deliver you from trials past, present and future that you do not have to endure if you will turn to Him,52 and to comfort you in trials, past present and future that you must endure in this life, with a promise of release because He has already offered Himself as sacrifice for our souls.53

Trials of Faith

Sometimes exercising our faith, acting on whatever trust we have developed, can be difficult.

In the Karate Kid, Daniel-san is told by his mentor Mr. Miyagi to wax the car, paint the fence, sand the floor. He didn’t understand why he was performing these actions. At a critical point, he gets upset, feeling like he is just doing chores without fulfilling the purpose of learning karate. Mr. Miyagi shows him that while it may seem that these actions were pointless, they were all intended to build strength and perform crucial motions at the same time. Daniel-san’s faith, his confidence in his teacher, started small, but enough to perform what he was asked to do. When he felt frustrated, Mr. Miyagi showed him that he could be assured what he was asked to do was not pointless; they had a purpose. At this moment of understanding, Daniel-san put his full trust in his teacher, learning more and more and increasing his skill.54

As Moroni says in Ether 12:6

… Dispute not because ye see not, for ye receive no witness until after the trial of your faith.55

The woman of Canaan wanting her daughter to be healed called out to first a silent Jesus, faced His disciples calls for her to be led away because they grew weary of her pleading, and then responded to the Savior’s explanation that He was only sent to the lost sheep of the house of Israel, truly had her faith tried.56 But when she persisted in her faith, desiring a mere crumb fallen from the table of the Lord’s power, He finally said, “O woman, great is thy faith: be it unto thee even as thou wilt. And her daughter was made whole from that very hour.”57

The strength and conditioning of our faith in Jesus Christ requires that it be stretched, tested, proved, and exercised. These trials of faith have a broad range in degrees, from the Lord simply expecting us to act and keep the commandments before giving us a spiritual witness,58 to allowing us to face severe hardships and seeing if we will press forward and endure in our trust of Him.59 A trial may be receiving direction from the Spirit or receiving a calling, and finding that there are obstacles in your way, making you feel to say “Lord, if you want me to accomplish this why is it so hard?”60 Adversity like this can often be when faith grows strongest. Like Nephi who when faced with the task of building a ship, he asked the Lord for help along the way, first on where to find the ore for tools, then he returned oft to his temple mount to seek guidance, he prayed oft, and the Lord showed Him from time to time.61 But he also had to deal with disbelieving brothers, make the bellows and the tools, and, of course, the ship itself.62 When things are difficult, we have an opportunity to trust Christ, and turn to Him.63 And then “after our faith”, we experience the miracles, most importantly the miracle of participating in the work of God and a stronger relationship with our Savior.64

Elder D. Todd Christofferson explained what he learned from a personal trial:

“Though I suffered then, as I look back now, I am grateful that there was not a quick solution to my problem. The fact that I was forced to turn to God for help almost daily over an extended period of years taught me truly how to pray and get answers to prayer and taught me in a very practical way to have faith in God. I came to know my Savior and my Heavenly Father in a way and to a degree that might not have happened otherwise or that might have taken me much longer to achieve. … I learned to trust in the Lord with all my heart. I learned to walk with Him day by day.”65

We learn from these examples that when trials of faith occur, we should continue to trust, to believe, to confide in our Lord Jesus Christ.

The Result of Faith in Christ

Ultimately, Nephi had the utmost confidence, even through hardships, that the Lord would provide the way if he would only go and do what the Lord commands.

If God had commanded me to do all things I could do them. If he should command me that I should say unto this water, be thou earth, it should be earth; and if I should say it, it would be done. And now, if the Lord has such great power, and has wrought so many miracles among the children of men, how is it that he cannot instruct me, that I should build a ship?66

When we have true faith in Jesus Christ, we become bold, though hopefully not overbearing, in our approach.67 Confidence in Him gives us the courage to keep trying because of His atoning sacrifice. When we place our trust in Him, we can let go of our fear of men because He is with us.68 We believe in His miracles.

Miracles are signs of faith in Christ,69 and brothers and sisters, we have miracles yet to perform; the great work of the gathering of Israel is dependent on our youth who sit here today and it is our task, whether or not those youth are your own or someone else’s, for us all to exercise our faith in the great Jehovah to perform the miracle of helping our youth prepare for this task.

Just a few quotes from President Nelson’s talks in the last few years illustrate the task at hand:

“My dear young brothers and sisters, these surely are the latter days, and the Lord is hastening His work to gather Israel. That gathering is the most important thing taking place on earth today. Nothing else compares in magnitude, nothing else compares in importance, nothing else compares in majesty. And if you choose to, if you want to, you can be a big part of it.”70

“Our Savior and Redeemer, Jesus Christ, will perform some of His mightiest works between now and when He comes again. We will see miraculous indications that God the Father and His Son, Jesus Christ, preside over this Church in majesty and glory. But in coming days, it will not be possible to survive spiritually without the guiding, directing, comforting, and constant influence of the Holy Ghost.”71

“Individual worthiness to enter the Lord’s house requires much individual spiritual preparation. But with the Lord’s help, nothing is impossible. In some respects, it is easier to build a temple than it is to build a people prepared for a temple. Individual worthiness requires a total conversion of mind and heart to be more like the Lord, to be an honest citizen, to be a better example, and to be a holier person.”72

Each and every one of you has a part to play if you will exercise your faith in Jesus Christ and choose to participate. If you trust Christ, place your confidence in Him completely, you may be one who is described in Ether 12:19:

And there were many whose faith was so exceedingly strong, even before Christ came, who could not be kept from within the veil, but truly saw with their eyes the things which they had beheld with an eye of faith, and they were glad.73

The eye of faith means to have a vision of what can be, of what the Lord desires, and is a necessary part of exercising faith as a principle of power.

I invite you to share this vision with me:

Our youth deeply converted in their minds and hearts to the purposes of God, bearing strong testimony of Christ’s role as our Savior and Redeemer
Our youth ministering and supporting members of our wards with love and compassion
Our youth receiving and acting on personal revelation
Our youth serving missions, preaching the gospel, receiving temple blessings, serving in the temple
Our young women and young men having visions and dreams of things yet to come
Youth leading the way in doing family history work and performing ordinances on behalf of their ancestors
And of course, adult members providing righteous examples for the youth to follow by doing all of these things.

This is what the Lord would have us do. He is asking us to trust Him and through His power perform this miracle.

I testify that the Lord Jesus Christ is the way, the truth, and the life.74 It is only He that has power to save, and therefore, it is only He that is worthy of our confidence.75

When we are huddled in a shallow cave, shrouded in darkness, hearing only the deafening rain pouring outside, and only able to see the silhouettes of wolves that flash with each strike of lightning in front of us, we may find it difficult to believe that He is there. We may not have the voice to cry out for Him. But if we exercise our faith, just even desiring to believe that He is there, that He can deliver us from our trouble and our sorrow, then He will hear even the softest call for help.76

That is because Jesus Christ already stands at the door, knocking, waiting for us to answer.77 If we have faith to invite Him into the home of our hearts, He who already knows every inch, every depth of feeling we have, He will change us in preparation to enter into His holy home of the temple. And there we will learn how we can enter into our heavenly home as exalted beings, having trusted His example and relied upon the merits of Christ to become like Him.78 There, Jesus, as our advocate, will give us the assurance that we can stand in the presence of God.79

Jesus lives. He loves us. We can have faith in Him in the fullest. This is the first principle of the gospel by which we must live. I pray that we may do so, in the name of Jesus Christ, amen.