Sustaining faith ultimate comfort in life
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To those with lingering doubts and questions concerning the Church's divine mission, "there are ways to help your unbelief," said President James E. Faust, second counselor in the First Presidency.
Almost everyone who has searched for light, truth and knowledge has had — at one time or another — private questions. It's part of the learning process, President Faust said Saturday morning.
"Sustaining faith can be the ultimate comfort in life," he added. "All of us must find our own testimonies."
President Faust declared that a testimony begins with the acceptance, by faith, of Christ's divine mission and of the Prophet of the Restoration, Joseph Smith.
"The gospel as restored by Joseph Smith is either true or it is not," he said. "To receive all of the promised blessings we must accept the gospel in faith and in full. However, this certain faith does not usually come all at once. We learn spiritually line upon line and precept upon precept."
Many see the sheer wonder of the Church and believe it has great merit and substance. They appreciate what the Church can do for its believers. But they lack the spiritual confirmation that Joseph Smith saw in vision the Father and the Son, and that an angel delivered to Joseph Smith the plates from which the Book of Mormon was translated.
"Coming to know God is the principal spiritual gift that can come to any man or woman," President Faust said. "Joseph Smith received this knowledge of God first-hand."
Those with questions can have a confirmation from the Lord.
"One must 'ask with a sincere heart, with real intent,' and then God 'will manifest the truth of it unto you, by the power of the Holy Ghost,' " President Faust said.
Besides the Book of Mormon, strong evidence corroborates the claims of Joseph Smith, he added. The Three Witnesses and the Eight Witnesses handled the plates and testified that the Book of Mormon was translated by God. Members of Joseph Smith's family also accepted and believed his message.
"[Joseph's] closest associates were absolute in their belief in Joseph Smith's divine message," President Faust said.
The Church leader said the faith's claim to the keys which bind families for eternity is also persuasive.
"Those who cherish their family have a compelling reason to claim the transcendent blessing of being sealed for eternity in the temples of God," President Faust said. "For all grandparents, parents, husbands, wives, children and grandchildren, this sealing power and authority is a crowning principle, a pinnacle in the restoration 'of all things' through the Prophet Joseph Smith."
The Church's worldwide growth and strength is another evidence of the divinity of the Church's "holy work," he added. Still, each person must have a spiritual confirmation by the power of the Holy Ghost, which the Lord has promised to those "who look forward with an eye of faith."
There are several reasons why a person's faith flickers and dies, said President Faust, including human frailties, changes in Church procedures resulting from continuous revelation, indifference and transgression. President Faust spoke of a woman of pioneer stock who doubted the worth of the Book of Mormon, finding it boring. Then a friend challenged the woman to pray for answers about the sacred writings.
"This she did, and after she had prayed, she began to read the Book of Mormon again," President Faust said. "It was no longer boring. The more she read, the more fascinated she became with it, and thought, 'Joseph Smith couldn't have written that — these words were from God!' She finished reading it, and wondered how God would tell her that it was true. She said, 'A power strong, beautiful and joyful moved completely through my body. . . . I knew that Jesus Christ was resurrected, . . . that Joseph Smith was a prophet who saw God and Jesus Christ.' "
For those whose faith has faded, the reasons may be real to them, but these reasons do not change the reality of what Joseph Smith restored, he added. "One cannot successfully attack true principles or doctrine because they are eternal. The revelations that came through the Prophet Joseph Smith are still correct. It is a mistake to let distractions, slights or offenses pull down our own house of faith."
President Faust said Church members can, without having a complete understanding of all gospel principles, have a "certain testimony" that Jesus is the Christ and that Joseph Smith was a prophet commissioned to restore the Church.
"But when you pick up a stick, you pick up both ends," he said. "And so it is with the gospel. As members of the Church we need to accept all of it. Even limited spiritual assurance of some of the aspects of the gospel is a blessing, and in time the other elements of which you are uncertain can come through faith and obedience."
The gap between what is popular and what is righteous is widening. As Isaiah prophesied, many today "call evil good, and good evil."
"Revelations from the prophets of God are not like offerings at the cafeteria, some to be selected and others disregarded," President Faust said. "We are greatly indebted to the Prophet Joseph Smith for the many great revelations which came through him. He was without peer in restoring spiritual knowledge."
President Faust then spoke to those who believe, yet wished to strengthen those beliefs.
"I urge you to walk in faith and trust in God. Spiritual knowledge always requires an exercise of faith. We acquire a testimony of the principles of the gospel by obediently trying to live them," he said. A testimony of prayer comes through humble, sincere prayer. A testimony of tithing comes by paying tithing.
"Do not let your private doubts separate you from the divine source of knowledge," the Church leader counseled. "Prayerfully go forward, humbly seeking eternal light, and your unbelief will be dispelled. I testify that if you continue in the purposeful process of searching for and accepting spiritual light, truth and knowledge, it will surely come. By going forward in faith you will find that your faith will increase. Like a good seed, if it is not cast out by your unbelief, it will swell within your breast."
A person's testimony of Jesus Christ comes as a spiritual gift, he added.
"It will be as an ever recharging spiritual energizer to keep our spiritual light running to show us the way to eternal happiness."
