Elder Bednar - Saturday Morning - Oct 2020

 

We Will Prove Them Herewith

(Abraham 3:25)

By Elder David A. Bednar

Of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles

Now is the time to prepare and prove ourselves willing and able to do all things whatsoever the Lord our God shall command us.

• learn to learn how to learn for yourself       
• And a vital element of my work was creating, grading, and providing feedback about student performance on tests.   
• periodic tests absolutely are essential to learning
• compare what we need to know with what we actually know 
• a standard against which we can evaluate our learning and development 
• a vital element of our eternal progression
• prove, examine and try - various patterns of demonstrating appropriately our spiritual knowledge about, understanding of, and devotion to our Heavenly Father’s eternal plan of happiness and our capacity to seek for the blessings of the Savior’s Atonement.    
• 1833, “Therefore, be not afraid of your enemies, for I have decreed in my heart, saith the Lord, that I will prove you in all things, whether you will abide in my covenant, even unto death, that you may be found worthy.”³
• 2020 - learning the valuable lessons that only challenging experiences can teach us. 
• Acknowledge the "greatness of God" and the truth that "he shall consecrate [our] afflictions for [our] gain."
• Two basic principles can guide and strengthen us - (1) the principle of preparation and (2) the principle of pressing forward with a steadfastness in Christ.    
• we are commanded to “prepare every needful thing; and establish a house, even a house of prayer, a house of fasting, a house of faith, a house of learning, a house of glory, a house of order, a house of God.”   
• "If ye are prepared, ye shall not fear. And that ye might escape the power of the enemy, and be gathered unto me a righteous people, without spot and blameless.”⁶
• Our efforts to prepare for the proving experiences of mortality should follow the example of the Savior, who incrementally “increased in wisdom and stature, and in favour with God and man”⁷— a blended balance of intellectual, physical, spiritual, and social readiness.  
• worked since the earliest days of our marriage to follow prophetic counsel about preparing for unforeseen challenges, so “examining” our state of readiness        
• had not recognized and addressed particular needs in timely ways.       
• repeated admonitions to prepare have been proclaimed by leaders of the Church for decades. The consistency of prophetic counsel over time creates a powerful concert of clarity and a warning volume far louder than solo performances can ever produce.  
• challenging times reveal inadequacies in temporal preparedness
• spiritual casualness and complacency inflict their most detrimental effects during difficult trials. 
• procrastinating preparation leads to unsuccessful proving
• the five foolish virgins proved themselves to be hearers only and not doers of the word. 
• review consistently - to learn the law and not merely memorize details. 
• Effective and timely preparation precedes successful proving- find the exam period to be one of the least stressful parts 
• one of the Lord’s primary patterns for growth and development - I will give unto the children of men line upon line, precept upon precept, here a little and there a little; and blessed are those who hearken unto my precepts, and lend an ear unto my counsel, for they shall learn wisdom; for unto him that receiveth I will give more.”     
• to “consider [our] ways”12 and “examine [ourselves], whether [we] be in the faith; [and] prove [our] own selves.”  
• What do we need to improve in our lives spiritually, physically, socially, emotionally, and intellectually?     
• Now is the time to prepare and prove ourselves willing and able to do all things whatsoever the Lord our God shall command us.  
• “I want you to know that as far as the gospel of Jesus Christ is concerned, our family is all in. We are all in.”       
• prepared to prove that they could learn lessons of eternal importance through the things that they suffered.¹⁴
• Faithfulness is... trusting and placing our confidence in Jesus Christ as our Savior, on His name, and in His promises.    
• As we “press forward with a steadfastness in Christ, having a perfect brightness of hope, and a love of God and of all men,”¹⁵ we are blessed with an eternal perspective and vision that stretches far beyond our limited mortal capacity. We will be enabled to “gather together, and stand in holy places”¹⁶ and “be not moved, until the day of the Lord come.”¹⁷
• The middle-ground options will be removed from us as Latter-day Saints. (Holland)      
•  “Choices have to be made. Not making a choice is a choice. Learn to choose now.” (Holland)      
• as we both prepare and press forward with faith in the Savior, we all can receive the same grade on the ultimate examination of mortality: “Well done, thou good and faithful servant:      
•                                                                                 

 FOOTNOTES:                                                                                                                                                

#6 - D&C 38:30 I tell you these things because of your prayers; wherefore, treasure up wisdom in your bosoms, lest the wickedness of men reveal these things unto you by their wickedness, in a manner which shall speak in your ears with a voice louder than that which shall shake the earth; but if ye are prepared ye shall not fear. 31 And that ye might escape the power of the enemy, and be gathered unto me a righteous people, without spot and blameless.”            

#10 James 1:22–25

22 But be ye doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving your own selves.

23 For if any be a hearer of the word, and not a doer, he is like unto a man beholding his natural face in a glass:

24 For he beholdeth himself, and goeth his way, and straightway forgetteth what manner of man he was.

25 But whoso looketh into the perfect law of liberty, and continueth therein, he being not a forgetful hearer, but a doer of the work, this man shall be blessed in his deed.                                                                                                   

#14: Doctrine and Covenants 105:6

6 And my people must needs be chastened until they learn obedience, if it must needs be, by the things which they suffer.                                                                                                                                

and from them that shall say, We have enough, from them shall be taken away even that which they have.(P. Nelson "What would you do if your knowledge was taken away?)                                                                                                                                                                         

D&C 101:22 Behold, it is my will, that all they who call on my name, and worship me according to mine everlasting gospel, should gather together, and stand in holy places;                                                                                                                 

D&C 87:8 for behold, it cometh quickly, saith the Lord.