Justin on James

May I share with you all some things that I have picked up from the Come Follow Me manual?

I would like to talk about faith in Jesus Christ, the first principle in the Restored Gospel of Jesus Christ. Some of us may just brush it away, thinking that we know what faith is and of course we have faith. Sisters and brothers in Christ, this way of thinking is incorrect, for it is often the things that are plain and simple that tend to be overlooked, that tend to be disregarded, that tend to be uninteresting to the crowd because they think that they know it all, and that there is nothing that needs to be understood for all is understood.

I would like to echo the selfsame words of Alma about the Book of Mormon:

    "Now ye may suppose that this is foolishness in me; but behold I say unto you, that by small and simple things are great things brought to pass; and small means in many instances doth confound the wise.

    And the Lord God doth work by means to bring about his great and eternal purposes; and by very small means the Lord doth confound the wise and bringeth about the salvation of many souls." (Alma 37:6-7).

Faith is an essential and irreplaceable principle taught in the Book of Mormon. The Book of Mormon contains the fullness of the Gospel of Jesus Christ, which means that it contains essential and critical principles, ordinances, and truths that would bring souls to salvation, though it does not contain all the doctrines of God, neither the intricate aspects of each doctrine. Why is this so? It is for the precise reason that Heavenly Father reveals and teaches us line upon line, precept upon precept, here a little, there a little. The Book of Mormon does not and cannot comprise everything because men are not ready for a flood's worth of knowledge, principles, ordinances, and truths to be given to them altogether and in one go.

President Ezra Taft Benson defined "fullness of the Gospel of Jesus Christ" as "the complete set of doctrines we need to understand in order to receive salvation", so in other words, things that we need to know and practice that is necessary for salvation. Faith is the gateway to conversion, for without faith, we cannot fully live out the everlasting Gospel of Jesus Christ. Without faith, we cannot repent, we cannot be baptized, we cannot be confirmed in the Church of Jesus Christ by the laying on of hands to receive the gift of the Holy Ghost, and we cannot endure to the end. Without faith, salvation would be impossible, and exaltation would be nothing more than an unachievable desire. "[Without] faith it is impossible to please [God]: for he that cometh to God must believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him" (Hebrews 11:6). This is why faith is of eternal significance.

I would like to encourage all of us, including myself, to examine ourselves on a daily basis, perhaps on asking ourselves at the end of each day, whether we have strived to keep our baptismal covenants. Have we remembered Jesus Christ today? Have we taken upon ourselves the name of Jesus Christ today? Have we strive today to represent Christ in all that we think, say, and do? If not, are we going to repent tonight and seek Heavenly Father's forgiveness and promise Him that we would at least try to do better tomorrow? I promise that Heavenly Father will forgive all of us if the desire of our hearts is to keep our baptismal covenants, and if our hearts be sincere.

Just last week, a chain of events that took place left me doubting myself, on whether I even had faith in Jesus Christ. The Lord reassured me of what faith means:

    "And now as I said concerning faith—faith is not to have a perfect knowledge of things; therefore if ye have faith ye hope for things which are not seen, which are true.

    But behold, if ye will awake and arouse your faculties, even to an experiment upon my words, and exercise a particle of faith, yea, even if ye can no more than desire to believe, let this desire work in you, even until ye believe in a manner that ye can give place for a portion of my words.

    Now, we will compare the word unto a seed. Now, if ye give place, that a seed may be planted in your heart, behold, if it be a true seed, or a good seed, if ye do not cast it out by your unbelief, that ye will resist the Spirit of the Lord, behold, it will begin to swell within your breasts; and when you feel these swelling motions, ye will begin to say within yourselves—It must needs be that this is a good seed, or that the word is good, for it beginneth to enlarge my soul; yea, it beginneth to enlighten my understanding, yea, it beginneth to be delicious to me.

    Now behold, would not this increase your faith? I say unto you, Yea; nevertheless it hath not grown up to a perfect knowledge." (Alma 32:21, 27-29).

Having faith in Jesus Christ, as defined under "Topics and Questions", means "relying completely on Him?—trusting in His infinite power, intelligence, and love. It includes believing His teachings. It means believing that even though we do not understand all things, He does.".

After being reminded of the definition of faith, I was then reassured that I do indeed have faith. But through this episode, I've thus learned something valuable, and that is the need to examine our faith from time to time, even on a daily basis.

We live in a fast-paced world, and we are preoccupied with many things, and sometimes, we do seek Christ and try to understand Him and His teachings on a much deeper level, but somehow forgetting the simple yet essential principle of seeking Christ and being a disciple of Christ. We should not and must not be lifted up in pride and sealed up our ears to the plain and simple things, for if we do, these plain and simple things will be the ones to confound us.

Many of us will answer with a resounding yes, without thinking much, when asked whether we have faith in Jesus Christ, as if it's something that is obvious. Believe me, it is not. Don't be mistaken. Don't let the devil influence your way of thinking. Although we may be eating meat right now, please do not despise the milk. We do need to drink milk as well from time to time, if not, we would easily forget what milk taste like, and completely forget that there is such a thing as milk, once we were given meat to eat. It is a fallacy to think that since milk belongs to those who are new to the Gospel, and meat belongs to those who are seasoned disciples of Jesus Christ, that means we, as seasoned disciples of Jesus Christ, don't need to drink milk, lest we be judged and deemed by the people as unprepared and unworthy of the meat.

Faith, as simple as it may sound, and as frequent as you may hear, is something that can have profound impact on our lives, on our families, on those whom we serve, and those whom we are to set as an example to. Our faith mustn't be stagnant or depleting for too long because that would eventually lead to personal apostasy. Faith must be a slowly but steady increase, though occasional stagnation and depletion is alright due tobour response to some trials that we may face, but overall, it should be a slow and steady increase over the span of our mortal probation. We need to surround ourselves with ways by which an increase of faith is a guarantee. We need to use our faith in the good times and in trying times.

Sisters and brothers in Christ, I assure you that when you hit a spiritual low, don't fret, don't give up. Press forward, having that end in mind, which end is that this, too, shall come to pass, and the surety that what could only happen after a spiritual low is a spiritual high. Endure for now, press forward, and do whatever you can to hear Him through His Spirit, while anticipating the spiritual high which is to come. This sort of anticipation also requires faith, for "faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen" (Hebrews 11:1).

Elder Jeffrey R. Holland of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, in the October 1999 General Conference consoles and encourages us:

    "I think of those who want to be married and aren’t, those who desire to have children and cannot, those who have acquaintances but very few friends, those who are grieving over the death of a loved one or are themselves ill with disease. I think of those who suffer from sin?—their own or someone else’s?—who need to know there is a way back and that happiness can be restored. I think of the disconsolate and downtrodden who feel life has passed them by, or now wish that it would pass them by. To all of these and so many more, I say: Cling to your faith. Hold on to your hope. “Pray always, and be believing.” Indeed, as Paul wrote of Abraham, he “against [all] hope believed in hope” and “staggered not … through unbelief.” He was “strong in faith” and was “fully persuaded that, what [God] had promised, he was able … to perform.”

    Even if you cannot always see that silver lining on your clouds, God can, for He is the very source of the light you seek. He does love you, and He knows your fears. He hears your prayers. He is your Heavenly Father, and surely He matches with His own the tears His children shed.

    [...]

    Always remember in that biblical story that He was out there on the water also, that He faced the worst of it right along with the newest and youngest and most fearful. Only one who has fought against those ominous waves is justified in telling us—as well as the sea—to “be still.” Only one who has taken the full brunt of such adversity could ever be justified in telling us in such times to “be of good cheer.” Such counsel is not a jaunty pep talk about the power of positive thinking, though positive thinking is much needed in the world. No, Christ knows better than all others that the trials of life can be very deep and we are not shallow people if we struggle with them. But even as the Lord avoids sugary rhetoric, He rebukes faithlessness and He deplores pessimism. He expects us to believe!

Now, how do we increase our faith?

I would just list the ones that all of us are familiar with: Reading or studying the scriptures, prayer, attending sacrament meetings, watching General Conference, and a willingness to partake in the labor of love whenever there is an opportunity to do so.

If you have not been consistent in reading the scriptures, in praying, in attending sacrament meeting, and in doing all of the above, do you think you have been neglecting them? If so, are you then neglecting your faith?

Of course, we all have varying degrees of faith, some a little, some more, some great. But let me tell you what kind of faith we all should strive to have. The kind of faith that all of us should aspire to have is the kind of faith that would enable us to place total dependence on God and total submission to the will of God. I'm not trying to say that we don't have to do anything, but full reliance on God, in my opinion, is defined as having that humility to acknowledge, accept, and recognize that, hey, I am imperfect, and that as an imperfect being, I cannot accomplish great or impossible feats by myself, and I cannot overcome all of my trials and struggles by myself, and also having that softened heart to realize that, hey, although I'm imperfect, my Father in Heaven is perfect! I'm not alone in my struggles, Jesus is always there with me through His Spirit, who comforteth me in my time of need.

I'm sure all of us know what total submission means, but for the sake of clarity, it is defined as: whenever given an option to choose between our will or the will of the Father, we would always choose to do Heavenly Father's will.

When total submission and total dependence in our dearest Heavenly Father is combined, it produces a great faith, a faith that all of us should strive to have despite our imperfections. Our faith in Jesus Christ should enable us to forgive and forget those who offend us, love and minister to those in need without hesitation, labor in the Lord's vineyard when called to do so or given the chance, and do everything that the Holy Ghost tells or prompts us to do.

If your faith is not as what I've described, please do not be complacent and be lifted up in pride, thinking that you have known enough or thinking that you have known everything, for there is so much more to do to improve our faith in Jesus Christ, which is the simplest and first principle of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. So, whether milk or meat, we will need both of it in order to survive the storms ahead. These things I leave with you in the name of Jesus Christ, amen.