Unless he yields to the enticings of the Holy Spirit – Mosiah 3:19 – Come, Follow Me Ponderize and Commentary
For the natural man is an enemy to God, and has been from the fall of Adam, and will be, forever and ever, unless he yields to the enticings of the Holy Spirit, and putteth off the natural man and becometh a saint through the atonement of Christ the Lord, and becometh as a child, submissive, meek, humble, patient, full of love, willing to submit to all things which the Lord seeth fit to inflict upon him, even as a child doth submit to his father.
As I have pondered on this scripture this week, the question that keeps coming to my mind is, why are we here on Earth? Think about that question for yourself, why are you here? You may be thinking how silly that question is, because we all know that we are here to return home to our Father in Heaven to live with Him in eternal glory in the celestial kingdom. But there is a huge difference between knowing something and doing something. Take a few moments and evaluate your actions, are they focused on and aligned with that celestial mission or are they more focused on and aligned with improving our life and status here in this life.
Elder Bruce R. McConkie said, “If we are to inherit eternal life in the kingdom of our Father, we must overcome the world.” This overcoming the world is more than just not committing sin, although that is vitally important, it is learning to be born again and become a new creature in Christ, even like unto a child in Christ.
I love this teaching from Joseph Smith.
“Every man lives for himself… But except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God. This eternal truth settles the question of all men’s religion. A man may be saved, after the judgment, in the terrestrial kingdom, or in the telestial kingdom, but he can never see the celestial kingdom of God, without being born of the water and the Spirit. He may receive a glory like unto the moon, [i.e., of which the light of the moon is typical], or a star, [i.e., of which the light of the stars is typical], but he can never come unto Mount Zion, and unto the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, and to an innumerable company of angels; to the general assembly and Church of the Firstborn, which are written in heaven, and to God the judge of all, and to the spirits of just men made perfect, and to Jesus the Mediator of the new covenant, unless he becomes as a little child, and is taught by the Spirit of God. (TPJS pg 12)”
I love this phrase, “unless he becomes as a little child, and is taught by the Spirit of God.” The ponderize scripture explains how we can accomplish this, “the natural man is an enemy to God… unless he yields to the enticings of the Holy Spirit, and putteth off the natural man and becometh a saint through the atonement of Christ the Lord, and becometh as a child.” The light of Christ or Holy Spirit within us is constantly enticing us to put off the natural man. The phrase, put off, is a very specific and strong phrase and leaves no room for misunderstanding or misinterpretation. If you put off your shoes, you no longer have shoes on, and another way of looking at it is that you removed your shoes. Once you remove your shoes, your feet can feel and experience so much more. So, the angel told King Benjamin to tell the people to put off or remove the natural man, because just like the shoes, the natural man, prevents us from feeling, experiencing, and becoming a saint and a child of Christ. In this new child like state, we are ready to be taught by the Spirit of God.
President Brigham Young explained it so well in these words:
“It is our privilege and our duty to continue to learn, until we shall have wisdom enough to command the elements as [the Savior] did, and until the earth is brought back to its paradisiacal state. But we must first redeem ourselves from every root of bitterness that may be in our nature, striving daily to overcome the evil that is in the world and in ourselves, sanctifying our hearts and affections until there shall be nothing abiding in us contrary to the Holy Ghost in its perfect and full fruition of enjoyment to the creature.“
We can and we must “overcome the evil that is in the world and in ourselves,” and be sanctified until nothing abides “in us contrary to the Holy Ghost in its perfect and full fruition.” This is so vital, because we must choose which side we will join, whether light or darkness, eternal happiness or eternal misery, Christ or the evil one; and this choice is made by overcoming or not overcoming the evil that is within us, and this can only be done through our own experience. As we choose, be very careful to choose wisely, because we will also be choosing who we want as our shepherd and Father.
Alma helped his people understand this same concept with these words:
“And now if ye are not the sheep of the good shepherd, of what fold are ye? Behold, I say unto you, that the devil is your shepherd, and ye are of his fold; and now, who can deny this? Behold, I say unto you, whosoever denieth this is a liar and a child of the devil.” Alma 5:39
Elder George Q. Cannon put it this way:
“There is a work devolving upon every son and daughter of Adam; there is a fight that we have to fight against—the evils of our own natures, for the heart of man is deceitful and desperately wicked. Jer. 17:9 The natural man is at enmity with Christ and with God; and unless he seeks to conquer his nature by bringing it into subjection to the mind of God, Mosiah 3:19 he is not a son, or she is not a daughter of God. This is the labor that devolves upon us.”
That is what the whole plan of salvation is all about, it is for us to choose what life we what to live for eternity. Our Father in heaven loves us, but He cannot choose for us or force us to choose Him, ultimately we must choose Him for ourselves.
The Lord told Abraham, “we will prove them herewith, to see if they will do all things whatsoever the Lord their God shall command them” (Abraham 3:25). The proving or testing we must pass through will not be easy. The ponderize scripture says, “willing to submit to all things which the Lord seeth fit to inflict upon him, even as a child doth submit to his father.”
The Oxford dictionary defines inflict as, “cause (something unpleasant or painful) to be suffered by someone or something.” We will be asked to pass through unpleasant and painful things to see if we will choose righteousness through it all. But remember that those unpleasant and painful things we will pass through were specifically fit for us and our growth and testing by a loving and all knowing Father in heaven.
From the chapter heading from Doctrine and Covenants 98 we learn that, “In July 1833, a mob destroyed Church property, tarred and feathered two Church members, and demanded that the Saints leave Jackson County.” Joseph Smith who was over 900 miles away could have only known of these difficulties through revelation and was given these instructive words:
Doctrine and Covenants 98:12–15
12 For he will give unto the faithful line upon line, precept upon precept; and I will try you and prove you herewith.
13 And whoso layeth down his life in my cause, for my name’s sake, shall find it again, even life eternal.
14 Therefore, be not afraid of your enemies, for I have decreed in my heart, saith the Lord, that I will prove you in all things, whether you will abide in my covenant, even unto death, that you may be found worthy.
15 For if ye will not abide in my covenant ye are not worthy of me.
President John Taylor quoting Joseph Smith explained how difficult it will be for those being proved or tried for the Celestial Kingdom of God.
“You will have all kinds of trials to pass through. And it is quite as necessary for you to be tried as it was for Abraham and other men of God, and (said he) God will feel after you, and He will take hold of you and wrench your very heart strings, and if you cannot stand it you will not be fit for an inheritance in the Celestial Kingdom of God.” (In Bowery, June 18, 1883, JD24:197) TLDP:5
Luke shares with us the words of the Master in JST Luke 14:27-28:
27 And whosoever doth not bear his cross, and come after me, cannot be my disciple.
28 Wherefore, settle this in your hearts, that ye will do the things which I shall teach, and command you
This whole process of putting off the natural man and choosing to follow Christ in all things, places and circumstances is the purpose and reason that we are here. As we put off the natural man, Christ becomes our shepherd and father and we become His sons and daughters, and we begin a new life in Christ and can be taught, molded, sanctified, and purified thus becoming like Him in all things. As we begin on this process of becoming and embark on this journey of faith, let us believe and have perfect faith that we can be taught at His feet here and now, while in this tabernacle of clay.
Elder Orson Pratt said, “No natural man hath seen God at any time. A natural man could not behold the face of the Lord in his glory, for he could not endure it; but when a mortal man or woman here on the earth has put away the natural or carnal mind; when he or she has put away all sin and iniquity, and has complied with the laws and commandments of God, then, like Jacob of old, he or she may see God face to face, and, like Moses, talk with the Lord as one man talks with another.”
It is my testimony that we truly can put off the natural man and become saints and children in Christ, and become like Him, even “unto the measure of the stature of the fulness of Christ” (Ephesians 4:13), just like a child can become like his father. In the name of Jesus Christ, amen.
Craig
Recent Comments