Fly High – Acts part 11
On the Lighter side of life: See funny pictures from Aha.com
Opening Illustration:
A NATIONAL PRAYER OF REPENTANCE
Joe Wright is the pastor of Central Christian Church in Wichita, KS. On January 23, 1996, He was asked to be the guest chaplain for the Kansas State House in Topeka. He prayed a prayer of repentance that was written by Bob Russell, pastor of Southeast Christian Church in Louisville, Kentucky. According to an article in the Kansas City Star from January 24, 1996, his prayer stirred controversy, and one member of the legislative body walked out. Others criticized the prayer. The controversy didn’t end there. Later that year in the Colorado House, Republican representative Mark Paschall angered lawmakers by using Joe Wright’s prayer as the invocation. Some members there also walked out in protest.
Paul Harvey got a hold of the prayer and read it on his program. He got more requests for copies of it than any other thing he had ever done. Here’s what he prayed:
"Heavenly Father, we come before you today to ask your forgiveness and to seek your direction and guidance. We know your Word says, "Woe to those who call evil good," but that’s exactly what we have done. We have lost our spiritual equilibrium and inverted our values. We confess that:
We have ridiculed the absolute truth of Your Word and called it pluralism.
We have worshipped other gods and called it multi-culturalism.
We have endorsed perversion and called it an alternative lifestyle.
We have exploited the poor and called it the lottery.
We have neglected the needy and called it self-preservation.
We have rewarded laziness and called it welfare.
We have killed our unborn and called it a choice.
We have shot abortionists and called it justifiable.
We have neglected to discipline our children and called it building self-esteem.
We have abused power and called it political savvy.
We have coveted our neighbor’s possessions and called it ambition.
We have polluted the airwaves with profanity and called it freedom of expression.
We have ridiculed the time-honored values of our forefathers and called it enlightenment.
Search us, O God, and know our hearts today; try us and see if there be some wicked way in us; cleanse us from every sin and set us free. Guide and bless these men and women who have been sent here by the people of Kansas, and who have been ordained by you, to govern this great state. Grant them your wisdom to rule and may their decisions direct us to the center of your will... Amen
Contributed to sermoncentral.com by: Troy Borst
SOURCE: http://www.truthorfiction.com/rumors/kansasprayer.htm
Thesis: Acts 13:1-13 teaches us the importance of prayer, fasting and worship and it also shows us that we are to be godly leaders who are directed and filled with the Holy Spirit.
Scripture Text: Acts 13:1-12
1In the church at Antioch there were prophets and teachers: Barnabas, Simeon called Niger, Lucius of Cyrene, Manaen (who had been brought up with Herod the tetrarch) and Saul. 2While they were worshiping the Lord and fasting, the Holy Spirit said, “Set apart for me Barnabas and Saul for the work to which I have called them.” 3So after they had fasted and prayed, they placed their hands on them and sent them off.
4The two of them, sent on their way by the Holy Spirit, went down to Seleucia and sailed from there to Cyprus. 5When they arrived at Salamis, they proclaimed the word of God in the Jewish synagogues. John was with them as their helper.
6They traveled through the whole island until they came to Paphos. There they met a Jewish sorcerer and false prophet named Bar-Jesus, 7who was an attendant of the proconsul, Sergius Paulus. The proconsul, an intelligent man, sent for Barnabas and Saul because he wanted to hear the word of God. 8But Elymas the sorcerer (for that is what his name means) opposed them and tried to turn the proconsul from the faith. 9Then Saul, who was also called Paul, filled with the Holy Spirit, looked straight at Elymas and said, 10“You are a child of the devil and an enemy of everything that is right! You are full of all kinds of deceit and trickery. Will you never stop perverting the right ways of the Lord? 11Now the hand of the Lord is against you. You are going to be blind, and for a time you will be unable to see the light of the sun.”
Immediately mist and darkness came over him, and he groped about, seeking someone to lead him by the hand. 12When the proconsul saw what had happened, he believed, for he was amazed at the teaching about the Lord.
Introduction:
Over the last few months we have been studying the Book of Acts. We have been digging in this book and discovering how God uses ordinary people. We see that God draws these people to Him and then fills them with the Holy Spirit. The primary focus of the book of Acts is to show how the Holy Spirit empowers people to do ministry. Today we are going to observe the church in Antioch taking the time to pray, to fast and to worship. As they are doing these spiritual disciplines the Holy Spirit speaks to their hearts as a congregation and tells them to send out Barnabas and Paul on their first missionary journey.
I want you to notice that they received the churches 1st missionary vision because they were praying-fasting and worshipping the Lord. These spiritual disciplines always open the door to vision and direction from the Lord. When the teachers and the prophets receive a confirmation about two of their leaders they sent them out to accomplish the mission from God. The leaders laid their hands on them and prayed for them before these two before they set foot outside the church. These two men were officially sent out by a fairly new church to reach more people with the Gospel of Jesus Christ. The Word says they were called – they were commissioned by the laying on of hands and they were sent. But here is the big key - they went. It’s important to note who was involved in this whole process – it was the Holy Spirit.
A few introductory observations about our lessons from this text:
1. Satan noticed that these two men were serious about bringing the Word of God to a new region.
* Satan does observe people and he does decide who to attack based on their commitment level to Jesus and his great commission.
2. Out text tells me that proclaiming the Word of God and listening to the Holy Spirit will cause people and evil spirits to rise up against our work and calling.
* When we says “yes” to God –Satan paints a big red bull’s-eye on our back.
3. Satan tried to stop these men from fulfilling their mission and from bringing the Word of God to the governor -- the leader of this island of Paphos.
* Note evil spirits will try to prevent people from hearing the Word of God.
* Evil spirits will rise up to oppose the preaching of the truth and they will say that the truth of God is a lie.
*Satan will take notice and he will fight back against those who preach the Word and lead people to Jesus.
* Satan will use evil influences either spirits or humans to turn people away from the faith.
4. The Holy Spirit will rise up through his chosen vessels to oppose the evil ones and to expose their wicked ways.
5. Satan took notice of the faithful actions of these two men and acted to stop it but the Holy Spirit led Paul to confront the evil spirit and it was rendered powerless -- blinded -- to show how deceived he was.
6. The Holy Spirit is the one that will pronounce judgment on the wicked. He is the one that directed Paul to confront Bar-Jesus.
7. The Holy Spirit will remove obstacles to the Gospel as we stand in the authority of the Word of God. Boldness is a must for the Christian and facing spiritual forces of evil and human forces evil take the spiritual disciplines of prayer, fasting and worship.
8. The Holy Spirit will reveal who has the ultimate power. A seeker will take notice of who has the power and the authority. He saw it was Jesus and he accepted the Lord and became a believer in spite of the influence of Bar-Jesus.
9. Note it says Paul being filled with the Holy Spirit took the offense – in comparison to Bar-Jesus who was not filled with the Holy Spirit but is filled with a evil spirit - is therefore rebuked and judged by the Holy Spirit.
10. Out text tells me that there are two types of leaders in this world:
* One set apart by God and called by God and led by God – they are empowered and filled with the Holy Spirit.
* The other type is one who is separated from God rejected by God and led by their selfish desires. They are filled with evil which is modeled by deceit and trickery.
T.S. - Let’s look at a couple of my observations from our text today in more detail.
I. What do the actions of prayer, worship and fasting bring to a church and to an individual (Acts 13: 1-5).
a. Prayer, worship and fasting help us to hear from God!
i. The Story of Chris Tomlin – video clip – and the power of praise and worship in hearing the voice of God.
1. The truth is there is power and God does speak to people in the midst of worship.
ii. Prayer, worship and fasting open our hearts to hear from God and I have observed that this is God’s 3 common scenarios that He likes to use.
iii. Prayer, worship and fasting enable us to hear the directions of the Holy Spirit.
1. These disciplines open a channel to Heaven and close the noise of this world out as we do them.
2. It’s like getting a clear channel to Heaven and filtering out the static from this world.
3. It hears clearly from the Lord without all the static!
4. These spiritual disciplines always open our hearts and help to remove the obstacles that hinder us from receiving form the Lord.
b. Prayer, worship and fasting will help cast new vision or even renew the vision of a local church or of an individual.
i. Antioch received their vision for outreach through a time of prayer and fasting.
1. Their vision from the Holy Spirit was to send Barnabas and Paul out to spread the Gospel to other regions.
ii. Many people who have been called into ministry or to a specific task have heard the voice of the Lord through one of these three spiritual practices.
1. They heard – they obeyed!
iii. Spiritual tasks like these open our spiritual eyes and open our spiritual ears into the spiritual realm of the Lord.
iv. This helps us to see Him better and to see Him clearer.
1. Some people in times like these have received visions from the Lord and it has changed their course of direction.
c. Prayer, worship and fasting guide us in decision making.
i. When we deny the flesh to focus more on God we hear His voice clearer.
ii. Insight from the Holy Spirit rises up stronger in times like these in life.
iii. These spiritual disciplines seem to reaffirm what to do in certain situations in life.
d. Prayer, worship and fasting identify the call of God.
i. In spiritual disciplines such as these we discover God clarifying specific calls on our lives.
1. We gain clarity of thought and direction when God speaks to us in times like this.
2. I recall when God spoke to me about being a pastor – he did it through a time of prayer and fasting.
a. I knew that God wanted be to move toward this goal by enrolling in Bible College.
b. Was it easy – no – I resisted and the Holy Spirit persisted!
c. Share about sitting in the chapel on the fist day of school.
ii. Prayer, worship and fasting help’s to identify the people called by God to go.
1. These spiritual disciplines will help speak direction to an entire body of Christ.
e. Prayer, worship and fasting should compel us to action.
i. These spiritual disciplines will motivate us to seek after the Lord with our whole heart-mind-souls and strength.
1. These spiritual disciplines will help us to not just be hearers of the Word of God but doers of the Word of God.
ii. These spiritual disciplines will thrust us forward in God because they challenge us to get out of our apathetic states.
iii. They will motivate us to get busy for God and make a difference with the gift he has given us – Jesus Christ.
f. Prayer, worship and fasting will empower us to proclaim the Word of God fearlessly.
i. When we do these spiritual disciplines we then receive the insight and the power to perform the task given to us from the Holy Spirit.
ii. Because these disciplines help us to know God and his call better then we know what is most important in life – Pleasing God not men!
iii. For me I have had to deal with very difficult situations and make a stand for the truth at times and in the process I have been criticized – lied about and even accused of doing evil things. But I did it because I knew the Holy Spirit told me too do it.
T.S. – Prayer-fasting and worship are spiritual disciplines that open the channel to Heaven and the Holy Spirit will use these times to direct our lives-- if we are willing to listen and obey. It’s in moments like these that spiritual leaders are birthed and sent out by the Holy Spirit.
II. Two types of leaders in the world today (Acts 13:1-12).
a. Type A is a servant leader who models Barnabas and Paul. They do the following:
i. A man of God – This is a person who has surrendered their life 100% to Jesus Christ.
ii. A person filled with the Holy Spirit – baptized in the Holy Spirit.
1. This person is filled to overflowing with the Holy Spirit.
a. Because of the Spirit’s filling they have Power from on high to be witnesses for God.
b. They have the Holy Spirit spilling out of their lives and enabling them supernaturally to do things for God.
iii. A person of prayer.
1. A person of prayer is a person in communication with the Lord.
2. This person knows the voice of the Lord.
3. This person can and will exercise the gift of praying in tongues like the apostle Paul did.
a. Paul said this about “Praying in the Spirit” – “I thank God that I speak in tongues more than all of you” (I Corinthians 14:18).
b. Praying in tongues or in the Spirit does do spiritual things:
i. You speak to God not men (1 Cor. 14:2)
ii. Praying in tongues edifies the one doing it (1 Cor. 14:4).
iii. Praying in tongues should be used to help us express a revelation, a word of knowledge, or a word of instruction to us (1 Cor. 14:6).
iv. Praying in the Spirit is meant for the building up of the believer.
v. Praying in the spirit is to be used when we do not know what we are to pray for.
iv. A person who knows how to worship God.
1. Serve is one aspect of this Greek word according to one minister!
2. To serve God in worship – think about it.
a. The surrender of our will and our way!
b. The giving glory to God for His faithfulness.
3. Do you serve God in your worship or do you expect God to serve you in your worship?
v. A person who knows the art of fasting.
1. Fasting in my view is done so as to deny the self.
2. When the self is crucified we have a tendency to hear the voice of the Lord clearer.
vi. A person who listens to the Holy Spirit.
1. A person who is a Godly leader not only hears the voice of the Lord but he actually listens to it and obeys its directives.
2. A person who follows the direction of the Holy Spirit will be successful in leading people from here to eternity.
3. To know if you are hearing the Holy Spirit or another Spirit – do this check:
a. When you feel the Lord tells you to do something and you do it and it happens as you saw it then you know you heard from God.
b. Be careful that you learn to distinguish His voice from other voices and from your own voice.
vii. A person bold enough to preach the truth
1. Whether they are governors or other leaders in the world.
viii. A person who confronts the false prophets with the power of the truth.
1. This is a must in our society today!
ix. A person willing to make a stand for Jesus even when it endangers their lives.
1. These types of leaders make a power impact on the spread of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Paul and Barnabas were these types of leaders!
b. Type B is a leader like Bar-Jesus (A self serving leader)
i. A sorcerer – using divination to influence people.
1. Using the practices of the occult to further his influence on a leader for personal gain and gain for the dark side.
ii. A false prophet - A person who spreads false messages and teachings, claiming to speak God’s words.
1. Punishments for false prophets were just as severe in the New Testament as they were in the Old. Paul caused a false prophet to be stricken with blindness (Acts 13:6-12), but most other punishments were more permanent in nature. Jesus said the false prophets would be cut down and burned like a bad tree (Matt. 7:19). Second Peter 2:4 describes being cast into pits of darkness. The ultimate punishment appears in Revelation 19:20; 20:10—the false prophet, the beast, and the devil will be thrown into a lake of fire and brimstone and be tormented forever.
2. False prophets must be confronted by the men/women of God to expose the lies and to prevent people from being tricked into its deception.
iii. Bar-Jesus Meaning (Son of Jesus) was a Jew but he was not a son of God. He was not one of God’s chosen people.
1. He had the Jewish title but not the Lord in his heart.
2. He was rather a child of the Devil – why because he was filled with evil not good.
a. You cannot be filled with sin and be a child of God!
b. Remember – God will not reward sin! He will judge!
3. There are those today who claim to be Christian – Christ like but they are not! Don’t be deceived! There are Bar-Jesus types in this world and posing as Christian and they are not.
iv. Is a person filled with deceit
1. Deceit – from http://www.selfknowledge.com/23796.htm
a. An attempt or disposition to deceive or lead into error; any declaration, artifice, or practice, which misleads another, or causes him to believe what is false; a contrivance to entrap; deception; a wily device; fraud.
2. (Law) Any trick, collusion, contrivance, false representation, or underhand practice, used to defraud another.
b. Synonyms -- Deception; fraud; imposition; duplicity; trickery; guile; falsifying; double-dealing; stratagem. See Deception.
v. Is a person filled with trickery
1. Trickery – From Brainy Dictionary - The art of dressing up; artifice; stratagem; fraud; imposture.
vi. Is a person filled with lies
1. Lies:
a. A gross falsification or misrepresentation of the facts, with constant repetition and embellishment to lend credibility
b. The propaganda technique, as in politics, of using this device
2. Lied, ly’ing
a. To make a statement that one knows is false, esp. with intent to deceive b) to make such statements habitually
b. To give a false impression; deceive one
c. A false statement or action, esp. one made with intent to deceive, anything that gives or is meant to give a false impression, the charge of lying --give the lie to, to charge with telling a lie, to prove to be false; belie --lie in one’s, throat (or teeth) to tell a foul or outrageous lie.
vii. Is a person filled with evil intent and evil purpose.
viii. A person seeking his own agenda and perverting God’s Word for personal gain.
ix. A person who opposes the Word of God because of selfish reasons.
x. A person who calls evil good and good evil.
1. “Woe unto them that call evil good, and good evil; that put darkness for light, and light for darkness; that put bitter for sweet, and sweet for bitter!” Isaiah 5:20
xi. A person who is spiritually blind and will be judged by the Holy Spirit.
1. Michael Luke from sermon central.com -- Why was Bar-Jesus made blind?
1. To teach him about his spiritual blindness
2. To show the power of the Gospel is stronger than anything else
a. Isn’t it funny that we have treated the Gospel as if it is powerless whereas the 1st century church
treated the Gospel as if there was no other power
b. Perhaps that’s the reason so many Christians have a lack of power today!
Conclusion:
1. The result of being led by the Holy Spirit and filled with the Holy Spirit.
Governors - men of influence will become believers and God will use you miraculously to lead many to the truth of Jesus.
Conversion is one of the main goals of everything we do
--The church exists to:
1. Be the body of Christ to the world in which we live
2. Provide a suitable environment for Christians to grow to maturity in Christ
3. Carry the Gospel of Christ to those who do not know Him in expectation that they will commit their
lives to Him
A PLEA FOR FISHING in the church today!
Now it came to pass that a group existed who called themselves fishermen. And lo, there were many fish in the waters all around. In fact, the whole area was surrounded by streams and lakes filled with fish. And the fish were hungry.
Week after week, month, and year after year, these who called themselves fishermen met in meetings and talked about their call to fish, the abundance of fish, and how they might go about fishing. Year after year they carefully defined what fishing means, defended fishing as an occupation, and declared that fishing is always to be the primary task of fishermen.
Continually, they searched for new and better methods of fishing and for new and better definitions of fishing. Further, they said, "The fishing industry exists by fishing as fire exists by burning." They loved slogans such as "Fishing is the task of every fisherman." They sponsored special meetings called "Fishermen’s Campaigns" and "The Month for Fishermen to Fish." They sponsored costly nationwide and world-wide congresses to discuss fishing and to promote fishing and to hear about all the ways of fishing, such as the new fishing equipment, fish calls, and whether any new bait had been discovered.
These fishermen built large, beautiful buildings called "Fishing Headquarters." The plea was that everyone should be a fisherman and every fisherman should fish. One thing they didn’t do, however. They didn’t fish.
In addition to meeting regularly, they organized a board to send out fishermen to other places where there were many fish. The board hired staffs and appointed committees and held many meetings to define fishing, to defend fishing, and to decide what new streams should be thought about. But the staff and committee members did not fish.
Large, elaborate training centers were built whose original and primary purpose was to teach fishermen how to fish. Over the years, courses were offered on the needs of fish, the nature of fish, where to find fish, the psychological reactions of fish, and how to approach and feed fish. Those who taught had doctorates in fishology, but the teachers did not fish. They only taught fishing. Year after year, after tedious training, many were graduated and were given fishing licenses. They were sent to do full-time fishing, some to distant waters which were filled with fish.
Many who felt the call to be fishermen responded. They were commissioned and sent to fish. But, like the fishermen back home, they never fished. Like the fishermen back home, they engaged in all kinds of other occupations. They built power plants to pump water for fish and tractors to plow new waterways. They made all kinds of equipment to travel here and there to look at fish hatcheries. Some also said that they wanted to be part of the fishing party, but they felt called to furnish fishing equipment.
Others felt their job was to relate to the fish in a good way so the fish would know the difference between good and bad fishermen. Others felt that simply letting the fish know they were nice, land-loving neighbors and how loving and kind they were was enough.
After one stirring meeting on "The Necessity for Fishing,” one young fellow left the meeting and went fishing. The next day he reported that he had caught two outstanding fish. He was honored for his excellent catch and scheduled to visit all the big meetings possible to tell how he did it. So he quit fishing in order to have time to tell about the experience to other fishermen. He was also placed on the Fishermen’s General Board as a person having considerable experience.
Now it’s true that many of the fishermen sacrificed and put up with all kinds of difficulties. Some lived near the water and bore the smell of dead fish every day.
They received the ridicule of some who made fun of their fishermen’s clubs and the fact that they claimed to be fishermen, yet never fished. They wondered about those who felt it was of little use to attend the weekly meetings to talk about fishing. After all, were they not following the Master who said, "Follow me, and I will make you fishers of men"?
Imagine how hurt some were when one day a person suggested that those who don’t catch fish were really not fishermen, no matter how much they claimed to be. Yet it did sound correct. Is a person a fishermen if, year after year, he never catches fish? Is one following if he isn’t fishing?
Contributed to sermon central by: Steve Greene
2. The result of being opposed to the Gospel and a deceiver is you will be blinded by the truth and judged for your sinful ways.
Article : Calling Evil Good
by H. Wallace Goddard
Woe unto them that call evil good, and good evil; that put darkness for light, and light for darkness; that put bitter for sweet, and sweet for bitter! Isaiah 5:20
Satan is the master of inversion. Where God offers Light, Satan provides darkness. God confers joy, peace, and love. Satan dispenses lies, misery, and bitterness. Satan’s latter-day lies stand in contrast not only to heavenly revelation but even to good research on families and human development.
Being Married
The world suggests that being married is just one rather old-fashioned and unprogressive way of living. Rates of cohabitation are exploding. Divorce is epidemic. Both cohabitation and divorce are offensive to God. "Marriage is ordained of God unto man" (D&C 49:15). The wisdom of God’s commandment is supported by decades of research. Cohabitors who later marry are more likely to divorce (and be violent in the relationship) than those who do not cohabit. Cohabitation is not an effective testing ground for an enduring relationship. The multitude of benefits of marriage for both men and women is sustained by Waite and Gallager’s new book, The Case for Marriage.
Married people live longer, have better health, earn more money and accumulate more wealth, feel more fulfilled in their lives, enjoy more satisfying sexual relationships, and have happier and more successful children than those who remain single, cohabit or get divorced.
Meanwhile the long term damage of divorce on children is underscored by Wallerstein’s longitudinal work reported in her most recent book, The Unexpected Legacy of Divorce. Both Wallerstein’s book and the Waite and Gallager book are enormously unpopular with some progressives in today’s world but both are based on good science. More important, they agree with the timeless truth given by God.
Success in Marriage
Satan has promoted a medical model of marriage: Notice anything that is wrong with your partner, think about it, talk about it, and invite your partner to fix it. It seems so reasonable. Many marriage programs have been based on skillful communication of discontents. But God recommends a very different approach to building relationships: personal repentance and love for our partner. When we cover our own sins, gratify our pride or exercise control over our partner by shifting attention away from our need to repent and to our partner’s faults, the heavens withdraw themselves (See D&C 121: 37).
No power or influence can or ought to be maintained by virtue of [spousehood], only by persuasion, by long-suffering, by gentleness and meekness, and by love unfeigned;
By kindness, and pure knowledge, which shall greatly enlarge the soul without hypocrisy, and without guile-- D&C 121:41-42
The best new research in marriage makes the same point. John Gottman’s remarkable program of research on marriage recommends editing (Some things don’t need to be said!), more positives (Kindness!), and self soothing (Gentleness!). In successful marriages, partners value the relationship over being right ("Repair attempts.") Gottman has found the pattern of marital conflict to be remarkably predictable. (Satan is not creative.) But happy couples are wonderfully unpredictable. They make the creative use of differences, work to build their relationship, and actively invest in their love.
I cannot find any place in scripture where the Lord commands us to carefully catalogue our partner’s follies. Nor can I find any place where he directs us to fix our partner. He does command charity, that pure love of Christ that transcends any ordinary definition of love. It is not surprising that research is coming to recommend kindness as the essential ingredient of healthy family relationships. The Lord and His servants have always recommended kindness, patience, and love. Joseph F. Smith counseled:
We all have our weaknesses and failings. Sometimes the husband sees a failing in his wife, and he upbraids her with it. Sometimes the wife feels that her husband has not done just the right thing, and she upbraids him. What good does it do? Is not forgiveness better? Is not charity better? Is not love better? Isn’t it better not to speak of faults, not to magnify weaknesses by iterating and reiterating them? Isn’t that better? . . . Is it not better to drop [faults] and say nothing about them–bury them and speak only of the good that you know and feel, one for another, and thus bury each other’s faults and not magnify them; isn’t that better? (pp.180-81)
Chastity and Fidelity
Satan has portrayed chastity and fidelity as provincial, boring, and even lowbrow. But the Lord delights in chastity. (See Jacob 2:28). He commands it even in today’s sexualized world. What does excellent research find?
Those having the most partnered sex and enjoying it most are the married people. The young single people who flit from partner to partner and seem to be having a sex life that is satisfying beyond most people’s dreams are, it seems, mostly a media creation. In real life, the unheralded, seldom discussed world of married sex is actually the one that satisfies people the most. (Michael, Gagnon, Laumann, & Kolata, 1994)
Hollywood is wrong. The joys of married life have always been superior to the excitement of a swinging lifestyle.
Raising Children
Satan has parents looking for some magical combination of rules, consequences, timeout, and rewards that will teach their children to be good citizens. Heavenly Father provides a simple directive: "I have commanded you to bring up your children in light and truth" (D&C 93:40).
"Light and truth" suggest to the mind love, compassion, heavenly inspiration and the teaching of gospel principles. Decades of research on parenting confirm that nothing matters more than love. Urie Bronfenbrenner said it eloquently:
Every child should spend a substantial amount of time with somebody who’s crazy about him or her . . . There has to be at least one person who has an irrational involvement with that child, someone who thinks that kid is more important than other people’s kids, someone who’s in love with him or her, and whom he or she loves in return. (Psychology Today, May 1977)
Love also sets the context for moral development. Hoffman (1983) suggests that children develop in their commitment to goodness and concern for others as we love them, set good examples, reason with them, and help them understand how their behavior affects others. That is bringing them up in light and truth.
Relationship with Self
Satan’s greatest coup may be in the area of our relationship with self. Old Scratch insists quite reasonably that "you cannot love anyone until you love yourself." But the Lord has always recommended the opposite course: "And whosoever will lose his life in this world, for my sake, shall find it in the world to come" (JST Matthew 16:28). Self discovery comes through forgetting self.
Even scholars have been concerned about the modern western emphasis on self. Baumeister has observed a revolution in the way people find meaning in life.
Love and work are regarded by modern Americans as means of cultivating, exploring, and glorifying the self, and if they fail in this they lose their legitimacy. A relationship that stifles the self ought to be broken off; a job that fails to foster self-expression or growth should be changed (pp. 104-5, emphasis in original).
The new emphasis on self has caused a redefinition of morality.
For centuries . . . each individual made his or her major life choices between the conflicting demands of self-interest and morality. . . . Virtue meant conquering the various forms of self-interest, including greed, lust, laziness, and cowardice. . . . Vice, in contrast meant putting the impulses and desires of the self first and acting on them even when such actions ran counter to the community’s needs, wants, and values. The hero exerted and suffered for others, and in the process the hero helped the community. The villain indulged his or her own selfish appetites at the expense of others. . . . [But] in the 20th century . . . morality has become allied with self-interest. It is not simply that people have the right to do what is best for themselves; rather, it has become an almost sacred obligation to do so. The modern message is that what is right and good and valuable to do in life is to focus on yourself, . . . Once it was a virtue to place the best interests of others ahead of your own. Now, instead, there is an increasingly moral imperative to do the opposite (p. 113).
Krauthammer has observed that "the reigning cliche of the day is that in order to love others one must first learn to love oneself. This formulation . . . is a license for unremitting self-indulgence, because the quest for self-love is endless" (1993, p.76). Satan must laugh as Americans obsess on self-love and never quite get to loving God or neighbor.
When meeting our own needs becomes the moral standard in all our decisions, marriage suffers, children suffer, communities suffer, eternity suffers. What trend could better fulfill the promised latter day doom:
This know also, that in the last days perilous times shall come. For men shall be lovers of their own selves, covetous, boasters, proud, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy, (2 Timothy 3:1-2, emphasis added)
God does not provide commandments as an arbitrary test of our willpower. They simply define the path to happiness. That God who created us and gave us Life knows how to bless us. God enjoins marriage, love, service, and unselfishness. Such commandments look like restrictions to the natural man but the spiritual person recognizes them as guides to love, joy, and peace. Truly we can choose misery or we can choose joy.
When we choose to obey Satan he pays us in the currency of his realm: misery. "The devil will not support his children at the last day, but doth speedily drag them down to hell" (Alma 30:60). When we obey God, we receive "good measure, pressed down, and shaken together, and running over, shall men give into your bosom" (Luke 6:38).
God’s way is always better!
Notes:
Baumeister, R. F. (1991). Meanings of life. New York: Guilford Press.
Hoffman, M. L. (1983). Affective and cognitive processes in moral internalization. In E. T. Higgins, D. N. Ruble, & W. W. Hartup (Eds.), Social cognition and social development: A sociocultural perspective (pp. 236-275). New York: Cambridge University Press.
Krauthammer, C. (1993, June 28). Beware the study of turtles. Time.
Michael, R. T., Gagnon, J. H., Laumann, E. O. & Kolata, G. (1994). Sex in America: A definitive survey. Boston: Little, Brown, & Co.
Smith, J. F. (1998). Teachings of the Presidents of the Church: Joseph F. Smith. S.L.C.: The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.
