Francis Harper Message for 7/13/2018

From: Francis Harper
wbfrmsup@iowatelecom.net


Francis Harper Message for 7/13/2018

Dear Ones,

Even if we do not have a strong faith and testimony of the truth and reality of a living God, we can believe in the testimony of others until we receive our own. Jesus said: “Blessed are they who shall believe on me; and again, more blessed are they who shall believe on your words, when ye shall testify that ye have seen me and that I am” (Matthew 5:3 IV).

You can believe in the testimony of men like Peter. His testimony is recorded in 2 Peter 1:16-17. “For we have not followed cunningly devised fables, when we made known unto you the power and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, but were eye-witnesses of his majesty. For he received from God the Father honor and glory, when there came such a voice to him from the excellent glory, This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased. And this voice which came from heaven we heard, when we were with him in the holy mount.”

You can believe in the testimony of Joseph Smith, Jr. His testimony is recorded in Church History, Vol. 1, p 9. “After I had retired into the place where I had previously designed to go, having looked around me and finding myself alone, I kneeled down and began to offer up the desires of my heart to God. I had scarcely done so when immediately I was seized upon by some power which entirely overcame me, and had such astonishing influence over me as to bind my tongue so that I could not speak. . . . But exerting all my powers to call upon God to deliver me out of the power of this enemy . . . just at this moment of great alarm, I saw a pillar of light exactly over my head, above the brightness of the sun; which descended gradually until it fell upon me. It no sooner appeared than I found myself delivered from the enemy which held me bound. When the light rested upon me I saw two personages (whose brightness and glory defy all description) standing above me in the air. One of them spake unto me, calling me by name, and said, (pointing to the other,) This is my beloved Son, hear him.”

The truth of Joseph’s testimony was confirmed to me during a visit, at the Sacred Grove, near Palmyra, New York in the summer of 1997. While there I was led to two tables of stone; replicas of the tables of stone given to Moses on Mount Sinai. See Exodus 32:15-16.

You can believe in the testimony of Sundar Singh of India. His testimony is recorded in Nepal and the Gospel of God. Lindell, p 84-86. This young lad had an above average hunger for spiritual things and prayed to know God and his salvation. He wrote, “I got up at three in the morning, and after bathing, I prayed that if there was a God at all He would reveal Himself to me, and show me the way of salvation, and end this unrest of my soul. I firmly made up my mind that, if this prayer was not answered, I would before daylight go down to the railway, and place my head on the line before the incoming train. I remained till about half past four praying and waiting and expecting to see Krishna or Buddha, or some other Avatar of the Hindu religion; they appeared not, but a light was shining in the room. I opened the door to where it came from, but all was dark outside. I returned inside, and the light increased in intensity and took the form of a globe of light above the ground, and in this light there appeared, not the form I expected, but the living Christ whom I had counted as dead. To all eternity I shall never forget His glorious and loving face, nor the few words which he spoke. My heart was filled with inexpressible joy and peace, and my whole life was entirely changed.”

“Wherefore, seeing we also are compassed about (surrounded) with so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which doth so easily beset us, and let us run with patience the race that is set before us, Looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith; . . .” (Hebrews 12: 1-2).

Love to All,
Francis Harper

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“Have Faith In God”

“And Jesus spake and said unto him, Have faith in God (Mark 11:24 IV; 11:22 KJV).
Paul wrote: . . . without faith it is impossible to please him; for he that cometh to God must
believe that his is, and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him (Hebrews 11:6).
On one occasion Jesus said to his disciples, O faithless and perverse generation! how
long shall I be with you? How long shall I suffer (put up with) you? (Matthew 17:17). At another
time Jesus expressed his disappointment in the faith of his disciples, he asked them, “why are ye
fearful, O ye of little faith?” After his resurrection as he walked with two of his disciples toward
the village of Emmaus, Jesus said to them, “O fools, and slow of heart to believe all that the
prophets have spoken!” (Luke 24:24 IV; 24:25 KJV). It is obvious that Jesus expects his
disciples to have faith in God and in the Scriptures that testify of him.
Is Jesus satisfied with the level of faith in his disciples today? Paul wrote of the faith of
Abraham: “He staggered not at the promise of God through unbelief; but was strong in faith,
giving glory to God; And being fully persuaded, that what he had promised, he was able also to
perform. And therefore it was imputed (credited) to him for righteousness . . . and for us also, to
whom it shall be imputed, if we believe on him that raised up Jesus our Lord from the dead”
(Romans 4:20-24).

We could be called the “Doubting Thomas” generation. Thomas, one of the twelve, was absent, when
after the resurrection Jesus appeared to the other disciples. Thomas was told by them, “We have seen the Lord. But he said unto them, Except I shall see in his hands the print of the nails, and put my finger into the print of the nails, and thrust my hand into his side, I will not believe. And after eight days again his disciples were within, and Thomas with them; then came Jesus, the doors being shut, and stood in the midst, and said, Peace be unto you. Then saith he to Thomas, Reach hither thy finger, and behold my hands; and reach hither thy hand, and thrust it into my side; and be not faithless, but
believing. And Thomas answered and said unto him, My Lord and my God. Jesus saith unto him, Thomas, because thou hast seen me, thou hast believed; blessed are they that have not seen and yet have believed (John 20:25-29). “And when they saw him, they worshiped him; but some doubted (Matthew 28: 16 IV; 28:17 KJV). The same could be said today.

Jesus asked: “. . . when the Son of Man cometh shall he find faith on the earth?” As we
observe the diminishing numbers of true believers in our communities, the Lord’s question is
becoming more pertinent day by day. “And the Spirit and the bride say, Come. . . And let him
that is athirst come. And whosoever will, let him take the water of life freely . . . Even so, come,
Lord Jesus” (Revelation 22:17, 20).
Until the Lord comes, those who believe must continue to encourage the unbelievers to
have faith in God. Alma’s “lecture on faith” may be a good place to begin. He wrote: “Yea, there
are many who do say, if thou wilt shew unto us a sign from heaven, then we shall know of a
surety; then we shall believe . . . 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 . . .” (Alma 16:139, 151).