Saturday, September 8, 2012

"Let Your Light So Shine Before Men..." (Matthew 5:16)

David A. Bednar's series of short videos about the light of Christ has inspired me to address the topic of the light of Christ at a deeper level. All of us, I believe are guilty of looking at another individual and judging them on how we perceive them. My dear reader, I exhort you to remember "man looketh upon the outward appearance, but the Lord looketh on the heart" (1 Samuel 16:7). We are all His beloved sons and daughters. As such each of us has traces of the divine, a spark of deity that, when cultivated and nurtured, has the potential to burst into flame and consume all that is rebellious and un-Christlike within us. This spark can cause our seed of faith to blossom and bloom into a beautiful flower of certainty that will root us in the Gospel and attach us firmly to Him. Yet what is this "spark"? How do we recognize it? And how do we cultivate it into a power of such caliber, that it can change the world?

There are a plethora of referees to light in the Bible. From Christ being a light to guide our feet (Psalm 119:105) to prophecies of Christ which compare Him to "the light of the morning" (2 Samuel 23). Yet the light that I wish to speak of is similar to what Paul talks about in 2 Corinthians 4:6 when he writes "For God, who commanded the light to shine out of darkness, hath shined in our hearts, to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ." Yet this light comes before we believe in Christ. Every man who has, lived, does live, and will yet live upon this Earth and any other Earths God has created has been instilled with the light of Christ. The world would call it a conscious. The little voice inside your head that each of us wrestles with when attempting to make what we view as life changing decisions. Perhaps the best place to look for an explanation of this kind of light is not found int he Bible at all but rather, in the pages of The Book of Mormon.

This particular definition of light comes at a time when the people of the American continent (Lamenites and Nephites) are extremely wicked. They are destroying one another without mercy. Mormon, the father of Moroni and editor of the book of Mormon writes in an epistle to his son "for so exceedingly do they anger that it seemeth me that they have no fear of death; and they have lost their love, one towards another; and they thirst after blood and revenge continually." (Moroni 9:5). Yet he admonishes his son "And now, my beloved son, notwithstanding their hardness, let us labor diligently" (Moroni 9:6). Despite the wickedness of the people Mormon, and in turn Moroni, were determined to try and call the people to repentance, to guide them to a remembrance of their God and a realization of their own wickedness. And just like Mormon did to his son I pray for your my dear reader that as the world departs more and more from the path of righteousness and the ways of God, "may Christ lift thee up, and may his sufferings and death, and the showing of his body unto our fathers, and his mercy and long-suffering, and the hope of his glory and of eternal life, rest in your mind forever" (Moroni 9:25)

As a result of all this wickedness Moroni writes somewhat of the things of God, thinking that he should have already been destroyed by the Lamenites considering the sore battles that have previously ensued. Yet he lives for a purpose he knows not. From this context comes the explanation of the light that is the center of this post, even the light of our Lord and Redeemer. "For behold, the Spirit [or light] of Christ is given to every man, that he may know good from evil;" (Moroni 7:16). Let's ponder upon this verse for a moment shall we. If God is our Father (which I boldly submit that He is) and he loves each of us as His child, would He not instill in each of us a personal compass that can guide us back tot he right path when we stray and ultimately lead us back to Him? If the goal of the Plan of Happiness is to have every soul return to Him why would he save some and not others? I submit to you that through this light, even the light of Christ, we come to understand the ways of God, our paths can be lit before us as we come to a knowledge of His Gospel and the truth He has revealed in these, the Latter Days.

Even some Latter Days Saints confuse the light of Christ with the Holy Ghost, which is the third member of the Godhead and confirmed upon you after baptism. So what exactly are the differences? We must fully understand the first, before we can understand the second.  In  verses of scriptures the light of Christ is explained as “the Spirit [which] giveth light to every man that cometh into the world” (D&C 84:46) “the light which is in all things, which giveth life to all things, which is the law by which all things are governed” (D&C 88:13; “the Spirit of Jesus Christ” (D&C 84:45), “the Spirit of the Lord” (2 Cor. 3:18;), “the Spirit of truth” (D&C 93:26), “the light of truth” (D&C 88:6), “the Spirit of God” (D&C 46:17), and “the Holy Spirit” (D&C 45:57). President Boyd K. Packer, President of the Twelve Apostles in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints has said: "Conscience affirms the reality of the Spirit of Christ in man. It affirms, as well, the reality of good and evil, of justice, mercy, honor, courage, faith, love, and virtue, as well as the necessary opposites—hatred, greed, brutality, jealousy (see 2 Ne. 2:11, 16). Such values, though physically intangible, respond to laws with cause-and-effect relationships as certain as any resulting from physical laws (see Gal. 6:7–9). The Spirit of Christ can be likened unto a “guardian angel” for every person..."

Yet what is this light of Christ meant to help us do? We previously discussed in Moroni how it is meant to help individuals determine right from wrong. This concept affirms the idea of agency, a foundational pillar of God's plan for each and every one of us. I have discussed with you the idea of a pre-existance, that we lived with God as spirits before we came to Earth. How everyone that is now upon the Earth chose to come here and follow the plan that our Eternal Father in Heaven laid out for us. Nephi affirms this idea of choice "Wherefore, men are free according to the flesh; and all things are given them which are expedient unto man. And they are free to choose liberty and eternal life, through the great Mediator of all men, or to choose captivity and death, according to the captivity and power of the devil” (2 Ne. 2:27). Yet we are admonished to “quench not the Spirit” (1 Thes. 5:19). Thus we can see that “[all] are instructed sufficiently that they know good from evil” (2 Ne. 2:5) I think every one understands this idea. When you first do some thing you feel to be wrong or against your moral standards it is difficult correct? You feel like everyone knows what you have done and the guilt can some times be unbearable. Yet when you do it a second, a third and even a fourth time unpunished it becomes easier, potential consequences do not appear quiet so ominous, the light of Christ, your conscious, becomes quieter and quieter until it is stifled completely and you cease to hear its guiding voice and recognizing His directing light.

As I have previously said, he Light of Christ existed in us before we came to this Earth. D&C 93:23 says "Ye were also in the beginning with the Father; that which is Spirit, even the Spirit of truth" This light will be with us every moment that we live and will not perish when the mortal part of us has turned to dust. It is ever there. Every man, woman, and child that has ever existed and will ever exist upon this Earth- everyone, no matter where they live or what they believe or what they do—has within them the imperishable light of Christ. In this respect, all men are created equally. The light of Christ in everyone is a testimony that God is no respecter of persons (D&C 1:35). He treats everyone equally for we are all His children and He loves us all the same.

Now for the Holy Ghost. It is important to know that the Holy Spirit can work through this light of Christ. It must be conferred upon us after baptism and we must receive it. If we do not heed the promptings the Holy Ghost will not strive with us. The Holy Ghost works through the Light of Christ to witness to us that some thing we hear or learn about is true. Paul wrote to the Corinthians that “God hath revealed them unto us by his Spirit: for the Spirit searcheth all things, yea, the deep things of God." (1 Corinthians 2:10). President Joseph Fielding Smith spoke of the teachings of the Holy Ghost and of the Spirit of Christ: “Every man can receive a manifestation of the Holy Ghost, even when he is out of the Church, if he is earnestly seeking for the light and for the truth. The Holy Ghost will come and give the man the testimony he is seeking, and then withdraw; and the man does not have a claim upon another visit or constant visits and manifestations from him. He may have the constant guidance of that other Spirit, the Spirit of Christ.”

My dear reader. You have the spirit of Christ. If you have been baptized and confirmed by the proper authority you also have the continual companionship of the Holy Ghost. There are so many beautiful promises in the scriptures about the companionship of the Holy Ghost. Christ told his disciples in Jerusalem before he ascended into heave:  “the Comforter, which is the Holy Ghost, whom the Father will send in my name, he shall teach you all things, and bring all things to your remembrance, whatsoever I have said unto you” (John 14:26). I testify to you that this is true. You were once taught of the things that I write about on this blog. If you prayerfully read the Book of Mormon, which is the word of God, with a desire to act upon the revelation you will receive the Lord will manifest the truth of these things unto you (see Moroni 10:3-5). Learn from the feet of the missionaries. Come to know the truths of the Gospel of Jesus Christ, cultivate this light of Christ through heeding the impressions you experience and walking in righteousness before the Lord. Let His light shine through you and may He bless you, until you read again.

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