Today’s Reading: Helaman 13:1-19
3 But behold, the voice of the Lord came unto him, that he should return again, and prophesy unto the people whatsoever things should come into his heart.
4 And it came to pass that they would not suffer that he should enter into the city; therefore he went and got upon the wall thereof, and stretched forth his hand and cried with a loud voice, and prophesied unto the people whatsoever things the Lord put into his heart.
5 And he said unto them: Behold, I, Samuel, a Lamanite, do speak the words of the Lord which he doth put into my heart; and behold he hath put it into my heart to say unto this people that the sword of justice hangeth over this people; and four hundred years pass not away save the sword of justice falleth upon this people.
“The prophet does not have to say, ‘Thus saith the Lord’ to give us scripture.” -Ezra T. Benson [i]
As I sat in our Gospel Principles class and listened to the discussion around me, I started to feel a little discomfort. The discussion was quickly turning south and I was having that inner struggle…”Should I say something or should I just keep my comments to myself?” After all, I am not a gospel scholar by any means. I am just little old me who struggles to read her scriptures on a daily basis. I have moments of deep study (such as when I am writing a post), but I don’t spend hours a day in the scriptures. Maybe what I have to say is not accurate. Maybe it would contribute to the downslide of the discussion and we would end up in the pit where someone ends up feeling offended. And so I kept my comments to myself.
Fortunately the teacher did an excellent job of redirecting the discussion and validating the feelings of all those involved in the discussion, but I was still left pondering what had transpired. The discussion was centered around what constitutes as scripture. Does the term scripture only refer to scriptures that have been canonized? (If you’re like I was and find yourself wondering what “canonized” means, click here.) If that’s the case, then that means that the documents, “The Living Christ: The Testimony of the Apostles” and “The Family: A Proclamation to the World” should not be classified as “scripture”, and personally, I have a problem with that. I have always lived by the teaching that we find in Helaman 13: When the Lord’s servants speak the things that the Lord puts into their hearts, then I should take it as scripture.
I am a person who loves to look up the definition of words, so just for fun, I looked up the definition of the word “scriptures” and this is what I found.
Definition of scripture
-
1a (1) capitalized : the books of the Bible —often used in plural (2) often capitalized : a passage from the Bible
-
a body of writings considered sacred or authoritative
Look at that second definition closely.
“A body of writings considered sacred or authoritative.”
If that is the definition of scripture then my theory appears to be correct.
When the Lord’s chosen servants speak the things that the Lord puts into their hearts, then we can count on it to be scripture, to be a “body of writings considered sacred or authoritative.” Now obviously this is the gospel according to Desirae, but how about we hear from the Savior himself?
D & C 1:38 What I the Lord have spoken, I have spoken, and I excuse not myself; and though the heavens and the earth pass away, my word shall not pass away, but shall all be fulfilled, whether by mine own voice or by the voice of my servants, it is the same. (emphasis added)
Samuel the Lamanite spoke with the power of the Lord as he stood upon that wall. He prophesied to the people and spoke the words of the Lord that were put into his heart. The same goes for our prophet and apostles today. I testify this is true and I can say that I know this for sure because I have personally asked the Lord in prayer and He has answered my prayers. I echo the words of the prophet from my youth, President Ezra T. Benson when he said, “This Church is not being directed by the wisdom of men. I know that. The power and influence of Almighty God are directing this church.” [ii]
You can receive the same testimony. You can take counsel from a prophet or apostle to the Lord in prayer and say, “Lord, is what this person said truth? Is this thy will?” Then you have to listen, and quite possibly you will have to wait and listen some more. The answer will come in the Lord’s time and in the Lord’s way, but it will come.
I grew up the oldest of 5 children in the blazing heat of Southern Utah. After high school and some college experience I met and married Mark Ogden and we are the parents of four children. I have owned and operated my own home-based preschool for more than a dozen years, and I consider myself an accidental author as well. When I am not in my minivan transporting children from one activity to the next, I enjoy playing the piano, blogging, speaking about my life’s experiences, and feeding my insatiable crafting disease.