I’m going to call this exploring the Lectures on Faith by Joseph Smith.
I have mixed feelings about Joseph Smith’s Lectures on Faith. I’ve read it a few times, and each time, most of it went over my head. So, if I were to read it again, would I fair any better? I’m not sure, but I’m sure there is something I can learn from the experience.
Someone recently said that the Lectures on Faith are Joseph Smith revealing to man how to know God. In the old days, Adam walked with God. It would not have been uncommon for those who knew the first fathers, those patriarchs who walked and talked with God, to have been taught the true nature of God and how to come to know him. As time went on we were taught that God was unknowable and mysterious. I do not doubt that a man may come to know God, to walk and talk with him.
As for myself, I have some hurdles to overcome in my life. I worry about knowing God and standing before him knowing he is fully aware of all of my flaws and weaknesses. It is easy to say that God is loving and compassionate, at the same time, the scriptures are pretty clear that no unclean thing can dwell in his presence. I was recently pondering and thought of some of the sins people carry. How terrifying it would be to stand before God knowing you had broken his commandments and maybe even your temple covenants. It is deeply humbling to ponder. So, I draw closer to God with both hesitation and humility knowing I am completely reliant upon his mercy.
I hope to know Him one day. I hope to honor His name. I hope to stand as a witness of Him. So here I sit both speculating in wonder and hesitating to bear the weight of such an experience. I’m not expecting anything to happen. But I am on a journey that leads in that direction.
I started by listening to the lectures. This will likely take a little time. There truly are gems throughout the lecture. Here is one snippet from Lectures on Faith number one.
Would you exert yourselves to obtain wisdom and intelligence, unless you did believe that you could obtain them? Would you have ever sown if you had not believed that you would reap? Would you have ever planted if you had not believed that you would gather? Would you have ever asked unless you had believed that you would receive? Would you have ever sought unless you had believed that you would have found? Or would you have ever knocked unless you had believed that it would have been opened unto you? In a word, is there any thing that you would have done, either physical or mental, if you had not previously believed?
Lectures on Faith
I feel as though I am taking a very superficial look at this. Kind of like Sunday School answers. What is 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; fourth, Laying on of hands for the gift of the Holy Ghost. What is faith? Believing in God.
I feel as though there is something said, half said, and something left mysterious. He says faith “is the assurance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.” Then goes on to say that faith is a “principle of power” or the power of God. He then goes on to explain that it was used to perform many mighty miracles. But, I’m not seeing or understanding exactly how the heart and mind come into alignment to use that power. I can say a prayer or give a blessing and just command something, but were my heart and mind in alignment with God and his will? Was my understanding of God in that moment or that point of my life such that I knew him well enough I could use his power with the expectation that it would be granted?
I feel as though Faith is like an onion. There are many layers to faith and I have only peeled back the first layer. Maybe it is more like open heart surgery and I have learned there is a heart inside the body. I know the body is there, I know something is keeping it alive, I’ve been told that thing is the heart and it is deep inside the chest. And it gives the body power and strength. Its power (ability to pump blood) feeds the rest of the body and there is no part of the body that it does not touch or reach. Without it, the body dies. Without knowledge and understanding, it is impossible to know all things about the heart, to open the chest give it a pacemaker, replace it, or divert the blood and keep the body alive. All those things were layers of truth built upon layers of truth. In this comparison, it would be layers of faith.
President Nelson said: “Over time, our research revealed important truths, one of them being that we could touch the heart without harming it,” President Nelson said. “Later, we learned that if we altered the normal sodium/potassium ratio in blood that nourished the heart, the heart would stop beating. Then, when we wanted the heart to start beating again, we simply restored the blood’s sodium/potassium ratio back to normal. It worked! It worked every time!” As he explained, faith became knowledge, and knowledge became power.
I believe the founding principle here is that there are truths unknown to man. They are discovered by exercising faith. As our faith increases, our knowledge and confidence grow before God. We come to know God and our will aligns with his. At that point, we have access to his power (I didn’t go into this part), but God has granted the use of his power through the priesthood. But we must come to know God in order to truly have access to that power.
How can we know God if we have not served him? Or, if we have made no attempt to know him?
Mosiah 5:13
13 For how knoweth a man the master whom he has not served, and who is a stranger unto him, and is far from the thoughts and intents of his heart?
Mosiah 5 (churchofjesuschrist.org)
This then brings us back to all the lessons President Nelson has taught us over the last few years. Stay on the covenant path; Hear Him; Let God Prevail; Strengthen Spiritual Foundations; Spiritual Momentum; Temples; Become a Peacemaker; Gain Priesthood Power; Think Celestial; and more. There is more we can all do to increase our Faith in Jesus Christ.
I have Faith in Jesus Christ.
RESOURCES:
WEBSITE: Lectures on Faith
VIDEO: