Monday, August 24, 2020

Brian Schultz Testimony - corrected

From: Brian Schultz

schultzbj@me.com



Brian Schultz Testimony

SCRB Reunion 2008, Lamoni, Iowa - Steve Ruoff:  “I learned to trust my God.  I learned that he answers prayers, and that he honors our expressions of faith.  I learned that it is essential that we move out in faith.  I learned that there are places made holy by his presence and his promises.  I learned that weekend that a city made holy by his presence is not just a dream.”  

RISE UP

Several months ago a friend gave me a stack of magazines published by the church in the 1960s.  Titled, “Herald,” they share testimonies and news from saints around the world.  One of sections that attracted my attention is called “Question Time.”  People send in their questions and they are addressed by a church representative.  I was struck by the loss of this resource and the apparent absence of our ability to appeal to a commonly agreed upon authority for settling matters of controversy.  A question has been on my mind that wants an answer—not just an answer to satisfy me, but one that arises from a common heritage and inspires us onward toward a common destination.  

The question is this:
  1. What is the glory of the Restoration of the Church of Jesus Christ?
… in other words, what do we have to offer to the world today?  What is the genius by which the church accomplished so much good in its early days?  What should be the focus of our witness to others and ministry among the saints?  What is the common undefeatable and undeniable truth around which all who are called members of Christ’s Church can gather?

It is written that if any of you lack wisdom, let him ask of God … and it shall be given him.  This asking must be by faith, nothing wavering.  It requires thought, studying the question in your mind first, then bringing the idea before God who promises to confirm the truth by the Holy Spirit.  I share the answers that God has given to me by way of testimony:  He lives.  He hears our prayers and cares about our concerns.  He is willing and able to answer our questions.

What is the glory of the Restoration?

Four things were brought to mind as I studied this question.  As I have prayed, the Holy Spirit has confirmed to the satisfaction of my mind their importance and relevance to the great and marvelous work.

  

  1. The Rock: the revelation that Jesus Christ is the Son of God
  2. The fullness of the gospel
  3. The ordinances of the kingdom of God and the authority of the priesthood
  4. Zion and the everlasting covenant

Arise, shine; for thy light is come, and the glory of the Lord is risen upon thee.  For, behold, the darkness shall cover the earth, and gross darkness the people; but the Lord shall arise upon thee, and his glory shall be seen upon thee.  And the Gentiles shall come to thy light, and kings to the brightness of thy rising.  -Isaiah 60:1-3

1.  THE ROCK:  Jesus is the Christ, the Son of the living God.  We affirm this truth as the foundation upon which all other distinctives of the message we proclaim are based.  The knowledge of this truth comes to the church by revelation:  to some it is given by the Holy Ghost to know that Jesus Christ is the Son of God, and that he was crucified for the sins of the world; to others it is given to believe on their words, that they also might have eternal life, if they continue faithful (Doctrine and Covenants 46:5d-e).  When Peter testified of this truth, Jesus affirmed that he did not gain this knowledge from man but from the Father who is in heaven.  Through this experience with Jesus, Simon became known as Peter and the church received the promise that, remaining upon this rock, the gates of hell will not prevail against it.  The keys of the kingdom of God are delivered to the servants of God through this revelation so that what is done in his name on earth is acknowledged as authoritative in heaven.  Of all the testimonies offered by Joseph Smith, this testimony is foundational:  “And, now, after the many testimonies which have been given of him, this is the testimony, last of all, which we give of him, that he lives; for we saw him, even on the right had of God; and we heard the voice bearing record that he is the Only Begotten of the Father; that by him, and through him, and of him, the worlds are and were created; and the inhabitants thereof are begotten sons and daughters unto God” (Doctrine and Covenants 76:3g-h).  Whatever challenges the church may face, whatever differences may arise in understanding of past and current instruction, the members can always come back to this rock and have a place to stand in oneness and agreement.  Whatever testimony we may bear to the world, it is essential that this truth be evident in our witness.   He is the Son of God.  He lives.  He is the ladder that connects heaven and earth and the sacrifice by which sin and death are conquered.  He comes again.  The world desperately needs this message and the evidence that God reveals himself to people on earth today.  

In his wisdom he has chosen to communicate this revelation to the world by faith.  Adam and Eve walked and talked with God.  They sinned and were lost from his physical presence.  In his mercy God continued to reach out to them by teaching them how to return to him.  Because of faith, they obeyed and were given the knowledge of Jesus Christ.  They communicated this truth to their children who were left to decide for themselves whether they would pursue a relationship with God or no.  So, the process has continued as history rolls forward toward its climax:   He will walk and talk with people on earth again.  We find ourselves planted by him in the last days of history.  There are reasons for this that are known to God.  Conditions may seem strange or different from those in the past, but the task committed to us begins with the same foundation as was laid in the beginning.  It is the basis for all the glory of the Restoration.  All who believe the message we proclaim do so because they have found in that message a witness credible enough to spark the work of faith.  

2.  THE FULLNESS OF THE GOSPEL:  In the Book of Mormon, we have communicated in plain language the gospel as Jesus understands it.  In 3 Nephi 12:25-32, he says, “Behold I have given unto you my gospel, and this is the gospel which I have given unto you, that I came into the world to do the will of my Father, because my Father sent me … that I might be lifted up upon the cross … I might draw all men unto me … as I have been lifted up by men, even so should men be lifted up by the Father, to stand before me, to be judged of their works, whether they be good or whether they be evil … whoso repenteth and is baptized in my name, shall be filled; and if he endureth to the end, behold, him will I hold guiltless before my Father, at that day when I shall stand to judge the world … nothing entereth into his rest, save it be those who have washed their garments in my blood, because of their faith, and the repentance of all their sins, and their faithfulness unto the end.”  

The first task given to the Restoration by God was to translate the book that contains the words above.  Joseph Smith was the one chosen to do this.  He accomplished his task by the gift and power of God.  The Book of Mormon is the result.  We can hold the book in our hands and read the words that it contains.  It is tangible proof that the glory of God is present in the Restoration.  At the time of its coming forth, the way to salvation was a matter of debate.  Even now the question of how a person enters into eternal life is contested.  The book addresses the question in simple language and the debate is closed by the word of God.  In love for the world, God sent his Son to be lifted upon the cross.  He did this so he could draw all people to him and raise them from death into life.  This is the atonement of Christ and the resurrection of the dead.  If a person believes this message, he will respond to it by intentionally turning over his will to that of God.  This is repentance and results in obedience to the word of God.  It is an act of faith.  This decision is demonstrated in baptism:  by water and the Spirit.  Sin is remitted and a new creature is born.  If he continues to walk in this Spirit by faith, he will be refined by its influence until he is made holy, as God is holy.  Only then will he find himself comfortable in the presence of God.  Those who do not continue with him in this way have no such assurance and must face eternity with uncertainty, fear, and dread.  This is the eternal judgment of God.  

The expressed purpose of the book is to shew those who are left of the house of Israel what great things the Lord has done for their fathers, to restore them to a knowledge of the covenants of the Lord, and to convince all people, Jew and Gentile that Jesus is the Christ, the Eternal God, manifesting himself unto all nations.  Why has he done this?  What part does the book play in his great and marvelous work?  … “And for this cause, that men might be made partakers of the glories which were to be revealed, the Lord sent forth the fullness of his gospel, his everlasting covenant, reasoning in plainness and simplicity, to prepare the weak for those things which are coming on the earth” (Doctrine and Covenants 108:11a).  These glories were revealed by God and they constitute the message he has given to the Restoration to proclaim.  People hunger and thirst for the assurances available because of the fullness of the gospel.  By obedience to the commandments of God, they can grow from grace to grace until they receive a fullness of the glory of God which brings with it an assurance of a glorious resurrection and eternal life.  All that saddens on earth is overcome:  sin and death are overturned.  Love and life are victorious through Jesus Christ.  Blessing, honor, glory, and power are his forever.  Amen.      

3.  THE ORDINANCES OF THE KINGDOM OF GOD AND THE AUTHORITY OF HIS PRIESTHOOD:  When God invited Moses to come up into his presence, the people saw the glory of the Lord and it was “like devouring fire on the top of the mount in the eyes of the children of Israel” (Exodus 24:17.  In Hebrews 12:29 and in Deuteronomy 4:24, God is described as a “consuming fire.”  Why is his presence so dangerous?  Fire consumes what is combustible.  Materials that are not combustible will not be consumed in the fire.  God revealed himself to Moses by appearing to him in a bush (combustible under normal conditions) that was on fire but not consumed by the process.  God is holy.  God is good.  His presence in its fullness consumes all that is not holy and not good just as fire consumes all that is combustible.  Apart from intervention on the part of God, we are sinful:  “the natural man is an enemy to God, and has been, from the fall of Adam, and will be, for ever and ever” (Mosiah 1:119).  In addition to being holy and good, God is also love.  Because this is so, God intervenes to bring about an intercession by which man can be changed from beings who are sinful and consumable in his goodness, into beings who are spotless, holy as he is holy, and, by grace, able to abide his presence.  Man’s identity as God’s enemy is transformed if he chooses to respond to enticings of the Holy Spirit.  As he does so, he puts off the natural man and becomes 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” (Mosiah 1:120).  This transformation manifests the power of godliness and involves the ordinances God has prescribed as the means by which we are changed.  God, who gave the ordinances, also gave the authority to perform them so that heaven acknowledges what is done on earth.  He calls this authority priesthood and the ordinances of the kingdom of God are:  baptism by water, the laying on of hands for the gift of the Holy Ghost, healing of the sick, ordination to priesthood, and patriarchal blessing, the sacrament of the Lord’s supper, marriage, the washing of feet by the presiding elder of the church, and the establishment of Zion.

God, who gave the ordinances, also gave the authority to perform them so that heaven acknowledges what is done on earth. He calls this authority priesthood and the ordinances of the kingdom of God are: baptism by water, the laying on of hands for the gift of the Holy Ghost, blessing of children, healing of the sick, ordination to priesthood, and patriarchal blessing, the sacrament of the Lord’s supper, marriage, the washing of feet by the presiding elder of the church, and the establishment of Zion.

The restoration of both ordinance and authority was, and is, a necessary and important component of the glory of the Restoration.  Through this means, those who seek the presence of God are lifted from selfishness and sin into the glory of his love and eternal life.  In section 83:3c of the Doctrine and Covenants, God states that “in the ordinances thereof the power of godliness is manifest; and without the ordinances thereof, and the authority of the priesthood, the power of godliness is not manifest unto men in the flesh; for without this, no man can see the face of God, even the Father, and live.”  In the past, the issue of who and where that authority was found was a matter of great interest among people to whom the gospel message was preached.  In our day the debate has moved from the field of harvest to the tables (virtual or otherwise) around which members of the church sit and contend the issue.  So sharp has been the contest that many have begun to wonder if these questions are even worth addressing.  Some have left the church to pursue a more peaceful and comfortable worship experience elsewhere.  What then is the answer and how shall the glory of ordinance and authority be manifest in the church and to the world?

Inspiring words of exhortation and instruction were given to Joseph Luff.   These have been published in a pamphlet called, Concerning Our Whereabouts.  Some of these words that apply to the ordinances of the kingdom of God and the authority of the priesthood are included here.  

Behold, saith the Lord: I have heard and do hear the petitions of those who are called my people. My ear is not heavy, neither is my arm short. My covenant with Israel is not forgotten, nor is my will slow to perform; but to whom shall I speak, and by whom shall my counsel be observed?  …

Behold and consider: If my weapons are not sufficient for your faith shall these things give them increase? Or shall ye add that which is carnal to make effective the work for which my Spirit hath been given?
Shall I be content while this evil doth pollute my estate? Behold the brick that is not burned and the mortar which is not tempered; yea, and the material which I have not selected, shall not find permanent place with that of my choosing; for my fires shall consume and my floods shall overwhelm, and men within and without my church shall yet learn that but one pattern hath been given by which ye shall build, if I shall accept your labor; and but one line hath been given by which to measure; and whosoever shall not gauge himself thereby and crucify himself to the world, shall yet be gauged thereby and shall lose his
all; for "whosoever shall fall upon this Stone shall be broken, but upon whomsoever it shall fall it shall grind him to
powder.” …

I have chosen them out of the world that through them I might reveal the sufficiency of my arm and the completeness of my ordinations for the performance of my great and strange work-yea, even the work unto which alone I had appointed them, that their achievements should not be by the wisdom of men, nor their triumphs give glory to the flesh; but behold they have returned to the world for their equipment. They have forgotten their calling. They have crowded my altars and my sanctuaries with the innovations of men and the weapons of their own choosing, till they have made the place too narrow for my feet that I cannot walk therein and there is small room for my dwelling among them. Instead of gold of my refining they have chosen brass and have thought to behold my image in the burnishing of their own hands. They have supplanted me in my house, insomuch that men seek me there and find me not as I am, but their ears are saluted with the creations of men and their eyes with the vision of that wherein my glory is not reflected. … 

"Surely the Lord will proceed to do a marvelous work among this people, even a marvelous work and a wonder, for the wisdom of their wise men shall perish and the understanding of their prudent men shall be hid." Ye were chosen out of the world to achieve by His method and for the glory of His name, but ye have returned to the world for your equipment and have esteemed His panoply insufficient; but He will bring His ordinances to honor and His council to be praised by all men. For shall He that hath created be led forth by the thing He hath made? Shall wisdom leave Him who hath made the wing when it is to be feathered for flight? The Lord shall clip thy wings in the day thou shalt spread them, and thou shalt fall prostrate before Him in thy peril, that thou mayest know that the heights of His consummation can not be reached on the wings that He hath not plumed.

The Lord shall proceed as of old and your wise men and your noble ones shall scarce be considered. His messengers shall bear His image-they shall be clothed with the power of His might and their tongues shall be as a flame of fire. Their beauty shall be the excellence of His adornment, for unto this end have they been permitted to suffer in the days of their preparation, that the marks of His body might be upon them. These shall go forth with all of His chosen and shall achieve as has been written, and their conquest shall be in the glory of His power, for in them shall He be revealed, and before this revelation shall the thousands of earth prostrate themselves, and at this beholding shall they cry out unto Him. The speech of these shall subdue and through the utterance of these shall many be quickened. The polish of your chosen words which have lulled them to slumber and the expressions of your preparation, together with the manner of your modeling by which ye have thought to allure shall be as the dust with which the foolish maiden hath sought to make her face beautiful, and shall cease to persuade. Men shall seek life and these cannot supply.

Blessed in that hour shall he be who hath made the word of the Lord his study and in that hath found contentment, for his face shall shine with the glory of its fulfillment, and his feet shall be beautiful in the light of its vindication. His lips and his tongue shall minister as in the stead of his Master and in these shall the heavens have delight. Their words shall mean accomplishment, for upon them shall the heavens wait and their eloquence shall be as the noise of the Holy Ghost. They shall not be known by the name given them of their fathers, but as the messengers of God, for in them shall He be discerned and His shall be the glory of their success.

Who hath ears to hear, let him be warned. He that hath heart for service let him herein find education. Behold your Omega in your Alpha, and remember that He who formed His tools for a beginning hath whetted them for the finish, and the day is at hand. The instrument shall not employ the Builder, but shall accomplish by the hand that formed it, as His wisdom hath
planned from the beginning, for eternity is His season and perfection is His attribute.

It is time for those who claim authority to act in the name of God to arise in the humility of heaven-bestowed power and do his works.  The promise is given:  “And if it so be that the church is built upon my gospel, then will the Father shew forth his own works in it” (3 Nephi 12:22).  In the wilderness of Sinai, Aaron was commanded to wear a plate upon his forehead with the words inscribed:  “HOLINESS TO THE LORD” (Exodus 28:36).  When Moses came down from mount Sinai with the two tables of testimony, his face shone with the glory of the presence of the Lord.  So impactful was this experience for the people when they saw him that they were afraid to come near to him and his face was veiled.  In this case, all Israel agreed upon the authority present in Aaron and who could dispute the evidence of the authority by which Moses acted as he delivered the word of God to the people?  When the members of the church agree upon and preserve the holiness of his ordinances, then the power of godliness is manifest among them.  Authority, as intelligence cannot be created by people.  It either is or is not.  It is bestowed by God.  If it is, then the works of God will be done in the life of that person as they were done in the lives of Jesus Christ, Moses, Elijah, and Nephi.   “A man can receive nothing, except it be given him from heaven” (John 3:28).  

This is the standard to which the members of Christ’s church are to hold those claiming to represent him.  All that enter not by the authority of the shepherd are either strangers or robbers and the sheep flee from them.  Why?  They recognize the difference between the voice of strangers and the voice of the shepherd.  Only as they heed the voice of the good shepherd are they prepared to see the face of God and live.  This process begins with his invitation to come unto him, the Son of God.  It extends to obedience to his commandment to repent and be baptized in his name.  In the ordinances of the gospel those who repent are refined and sanctified by the influence of the Holy Ghost as it guides them into all truth.  

4.  ZION AND THE EVERLASTING COVENANT:  What is the next step required of the people of God if Zion is to be established?  

What is written?  … Conditions were challenging in the days of Enoch, “but the Lord came and dwelt with his people, and they dwelt in righteousness.  The fear of the Lord was upon all nations, so great was the glory of the Lord which was upon his people … And the Lord called his people, Zion, because they were of one heart, and of one mind, and dwelt in righteousness; and there were no poor among them” (Genesis 7:20, 23).  

How did they get this way?  … The same way the latter day saints will become this way:  God will dwell among his people and be the salvation and the high tower of Zion.  “Therefore verily thus saith the Lord, Let Zion rejoice, for this is Zion, THE PURE IN HEART” (Doctrine and Covenants 94:5c).  

How are the hearts of the people purified? … “And even so I have sent mine everlasting covenant into the world, to be a light to the world, and to be a standard for my people and for the Gentiles to seek to it, and to be a messenger before my face to prepare the way before me” (Doctrine and Covenants 45:2d).  As John prepared the way for the people to receive the ministry brought by Jesus, so the everlasting covenant is given to prepare the way for the people to abide the day of his return.  This requires a pure heart.  The terms of the everlasting covenant set the standard by which those who want to dwell in Zion must live in order to do so. 

What are those requirements?  … “And the bow shall be in the cloud; and I will look upon it, that I may remember the everlasting covenant, which I made unto thy father Enoch; that, when men should keep all my commandments, Zion should again come on the earth, the city of Enoch which I have caught up unto myself.  And this is mine everlasting covenant, that when thy posterity shall embrace the truth, and look upward, then shall Zion look downward, and all the heavens shall shake with gladness, and the earth shall tremble with joy; and the general assembly of the church of the firstborn shall come down out of heaven, and possess the earth, and shall have place until the end come.  And this is mine everlasting covenant, which I made with thy father Enoch” (Genesis 9:21-23).  

So, what is required?
  1. Keep the commandments of God.
  2. Embrace the truth.
  3. Look upward.  
There are many commandments, but all are kept when a person loves God with all his heart, might, mind, and strength, and he loves his neighbor as himself.  There are many expressions of truth, but Jesus Christ is the Rock.  He is the way, the truth, and the life.  No one comes to the Father but by him.  He is the standard by which the truth of all words, actions, and events are measured.  Hold to him, treasure up his words, and you will not be deceived.  Look upward—this is a condition of humility and confesses our need for him to look downward.  “No one can assist in this work, except he shall be humble and full of love, having faith, hope, and charity, being temperate in all things whatsoever shall be in-trusted to his care (Doctrine and Covenants 11:4b).  

Ultimately, the presence of God in our midst is the qualifying factor and the end result of our preparation.  The degree to which we can endure and enjoy his presence depends upon our obedience to his instructions.  His very name proclaims it to be so:  “Therefore the Lord himself shall give you a sign; behold a virgin shall conceive, and shall bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel (which, being interpreted, is, God with us)” (Isaiah 7:14 and Matthew 2:6).  The effect of his presence with us is a change in us as individuals:  “And this is the name whereby he shall be called, THE LORD OUR RIGHTEOUSNESS” (Jeremiah 23:6).  The effect of this change in the lives of individuals is a change in relationships and a change in the communities they live in—from marriages to families, friendships, to school and work-place relationships, and expands outward until the earth is full of the knowledge of the Lord, as the waters cover the sea (Isaiah 11:9).  All will be affected as the entire measure of flour is raised by the leaven which the woman hid in it (Matthew 13:32). 

It is a joy to be connected by this gospel and to be bound together because we are wed to him.  His vision is glorious and far-reaching and worth every step taken toward its achievement.  I have learned many treasures of knowledge from my brothers and sisters with whom I have worshipped over the past several months.  Despite our physical separation, the ties of charity that bind us together have been strengthened and our mutual appreciation for one another has grown.  This has occurred in the midst of school and work uncertainties, sickness, surgeries, moves, and the birth of a baby to one among our local church family, work, and play.  Life rolls on quickly and the days may seem long but the months are short.  There is yet much to be done in our preparation for the return of Christ, but I am blessed by the saints and thankful to be numbered with them in the ranks of God’s army.    

May God bless each one of you in pursuit of his glory.  

“They shall not hurt nor destroy in all my holy mountain; for the earth shall be full of the knowledge of the Lord, as the waters cover the sea.  (Isaiah 11:9)”

“Prepare ye the way of the Lord, make his paths straight.  The keys of the kingdom of God are committed unto man on the earth, and from thence shall the gospel roll forth unto the ends of the earth, as the stone which is cut out of the mountain without hands shall roll forth, until it has filled the whole earth; yea, a voice crying, Prepare ye the way of the Lord, prepare ye the supper of the Lamb, make ready for the Bridegroom; pray unto the Lord; call upon his holy name …”  (Doctrine and Covenants 65)  





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