I hope you enjoy some insights from my Come Follow Me Helaman 7-12 (If you missed last week’s insights for Come Follow Me Helaman 1-6 click here). Save this pin to read later.
Loving A Sinner.
“Yea, because I have got upon my tower that I might pour out my soul unto my God, because of the exceeding sorrow of my heart, which is because of your iniquities!” Helaman 7:14
This verse did not mean much to me until I was a missionary. And when I was a missionary, I realized how much I cared for people. When they repented I rejoiced, when they did wickedly I wept. I found myself in a situation similar to Helaman.
When you care about someone and have a true love for them, their actions will cause your soul to either rejoice (as mentioned in v8) or to sorrow.
When this happens you find yourself at an intersection of divine crossroads, and you ask yourself, what can I do for this person I love who is sinning?
All Prophets Testify of Christ.
“…as many as should look upon the Son of God with faith, having a contrite spirit, might live, even unto that life which is eternal.
And now behold, Moses did not only testify of these things, but also all the holy prophets, from his days even to the days of Abraham.” Helaman 8:15-16
I get asked all the time questions like “Is Muhammad a prophet?” or is so and so? The answer is simple, did he testify of the Divinity of Christ? If not, he is not a Prophet.
There are a few stipulations to being a Prophet, and this verse teaches us the first litmus test. Prophets always testify of Christ. If the person claiming to be a prophet does not testify of Christ he is NOT a prophet of God.
But, not all men who testify of Christ are not Prophets. I testify of Christ, but I am not a prophet. Many say the are called by God to do the work, and it is true, He uses righteous men to prepare the hearts of man, but being called to the work does not make one a Prophet.
The second litmus test is Prophets always have a Divine calling AND Priesthood keys, before God sends them out into the world they are always ordained by someone else who has Authority, like the 12, or 70 in the New Testament.
The Lord has called modern Prophets and Apostles. We are led by 15 men who hold the Apostolic call, 3 of them function the First Presidency with the Prophet being the chief, and 12 of them function as the Quorum of the 12 Apostles.
These men hold the Calling from God, and the Priesthood Keys on Earth, they are the only ones who pass the litmus tests, they are the only true Prophets on earth today.
The value of Honesty
“And then shall he say unto you, that I, Nephi, know nothing concerning the matter save it were given unto me by the power of God. And then shall ye know that I am an honest man, and that I am sent unto you from God.” Helaman 9:39
Nephi, (Of Nephi and Lehi) in this story was accused of lying by the judges, they claimed that Nephi arranging for the Chief Judge to be murdered so that he could fake a prophecy and set himself up as a prophet.
But I find it interesting, they just accused him of being a murderer, a false prophet, “Confederate” with those who are Gadianton Robbers! But Nephi only takes personally one of the attacks, the attack on his integrity, the fact they are claiming he is not trustworthy.
He could’ve easily said, “do this and you will know I am a Prophet of the Almighty God!”
But he did not, he said you will know “I am an honest man” This shows you how much Nephi valued trustworthiness, that was what he wanted to restore in that he was “an honest man.”
Honest is one of the most important character traits, it is easy to be honest when there is no temptation to lie, being honest when your honesty ‘hurts’ you is when it is hard. But it is impossible to trust a liar. And we are taught by President David O. McKay the value of honesty and trust when he taught, “It is better to be trusted than to be loved.”
Priesthood Keys.
“Behold, I give unto you power, that whatsoever ye shall seal on earth shall be sealed in heaven; and whatsoever ye shall loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven; and thus shall ye have power among this people.” Helaman 10:7
The Priesthood is talked about very often within the scriptures, less so Priesthood keys and even less so the Sealing keys. This chapter talks about when the Lord covenants with Nephi before His angels to give him the sealing keys, whatever he seals will be sealed.
The Lord gives this power to Nephi because will “not ask that which is contrary” to the Lords will (v5). Because Nephi has earned the Lord’s trust he is endowed with Power from on high. One can receive ordinances but until they are righteous and obtain the Lords trust they do not have the power.
In our day 15 men hold the sealing power, the same power given to Nephi, the same power held by Elijah, which he restored to the Prophet Joseph, these 15 men hold all the keys that have been given to man! Because we live in the age of a Restoration we have the Priesthood “Never, ever again do we have to question, ‘Where are the keys?'”
~Gary E. Stevenson
Brothers.
“And behold, Lehi, his brother, was not a whit behind him as to things pertaining to righteousness.” Helaman 11:19
Some of my favorite people in the scriptures and church history are the brothers of the Prophets, we rarely talk about them. But I have an affinity for them, I love the stories of Sam and Hyrum, and Lehi, truly they did what was right without the fanfare.
And in the cause of Hyrum his blood was the first blood split at Carthage, most people don’t know he the assistant prophet, meaning when Joseph was not in present Hyrum was the acting prophet. (When asked what hot drinks meant it was Hyrum who clarified it as Tea and Coffee).
Of Hyrum’s faithfulness, Joseph Smith said: “I could pray in my heart that all my brethren were like unto my beloved brother Hyrum, who possesses the mildness of a lamb and the integrity of a Job, and in short the meekness and humility of Christ, and I love him with that love that is stronger than death.”
(Journal, 1835–1836, Dec. 18, 1835)
If you would like more amazing facts about Hyrum I wrote this article that you’d love; “5 Things You Did Not Know About Hyrum Smith The Patriarch.“
The God of Nature.
“And thus, according to his word the earth goeth back, and it appeareth unto man that the sun standeth still; yea, and behold, this is so; for surely it is the earth that moveth and not the sun.” Helaman 12:15
One of the reasons I love the book of Mormon is that it shows that when true religion is taught it embraces true science and the two run together, and it also disproves false science, at the time this was written, the common belief was that the Sun moved, but the Nephites did not embrace that, they knew true science.
One of the greatest blessings of being a Member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints is that I have a cheat for the scientific method, I have the Holy Ghost, a Personal Tutor who knows all the answers!
When a scientific theory I am taught at school disagrees with what the God of Nature has taught me via His Personal Tutor (The Holy Ghost) I know it is wrong, because the God of Nature always is correct.
Does this mean I don’t have questions? Absolutely…NOT! Questions lead to Faith! I agree with Elder George R. Hill III of the Seventy, who was also a renowned chemist and the world authority on coal. Who said: “There is no conflict between the facts and truths of science and those given to us by direct revelation…Apparent conflicts arise when the theories of science—which serve as a scaffolding erected to try to understand relationships among observed facts—are mistaken for the experimentally verified facts.”
