The Nature of Rebellion

1
The Nature of Rebellion

• Kevin Hinckley

2
Duh Labels

• On a blanket from Taiwan
• Not to be used as
  protection from a tornado
• On a fireplace log
• Caution Risk of Fire
• On an American Airlines packet
  of nuts
• Instructions open
  packet, eat nuts
• On an electric router made for carpenters
• This product not intended for use as a dental
  drill
• On a string of Chinese-made Christmas lights
• For indoor or outdoor use only
• On Nytol Nighttime Sleep-Aid
• Warning May cause drowsiness
• On a can of self-defense pepper spray
• May irritate eyes
• On novelty rock garden
• Eating rocks may lead to broken teeth
• On a helmet-mounted mirror
• Remember Objects in the mirror are actually
  behind you
• On a cartridge for a laser printer

3
Leo
I am an enemy to God
4
Elder C.S. Lewis

• human beings, all over the earth, have
  this curious idea they ought to behave in a
  certain way, and cannot really get rid of it.
  Secondly, that they do not in fact behave in that
  way.
• They know the Law of Nature they break it. These
  two facts are the foundation of all clear
  thinking about ourselves and the universe we live
  in. (Mere Christianity, p. 8)

5
Origin of Rebellion

• Lucifer, War in Heaven
• His actions are of someone who feels betrayed
• accuser of our brethren
• Great deceiver

Korihor (Alma 30) ye lead away this people after
the foolish traditions of your fathers, and
according to your own desires and ye keep them
down, even as it were in bondage, that ye may
glut yourselves with the labors of their hands,
6
Cure for deception (DC 54)the anti-rebellion

• And again, I will give unto you a pattern in all
  things, that ye may not be deceived (and rebel)

7
Patterns
Covenant Making
Sacrifice
Endowment of Spiritual Power
8
Cure from deception (DC 54)

• And again, I will give unto you a pattern in all
  things, that ye may not be deceived
• Wherefore he that prayeth, whose spirit is
  contrite, the same is accepted of me if he obey
  mine ordinances.
• He that speaketh, whose spirit is contrite, whose
  language is meek and edifieth, the same is of God
  if he obey mine ordinances.
• And again, he that trembleth under my power shall
  be made strong, and shall bring forth fruits of
  praise and wisdom, according to the revelations
  and truths which I have given you.

9
Example of contrite pattern

• Now Naaman, captain of the host of the
  king  of Syria, was a great man with his
  master, and honourable, because by him
  the LORD had given deliverance unto
  Syria he was also a mighty man in valour, 
• but he was a leper.
• And the Syrians had gone out by companies, and
  had brought away captive out of the land of
  Israel a little maid and she waited on Naaman's
  wife.
• And she said unto her mistress, Would God my
  lord were with the prophet that is in Samaria!
  for he would recover him of his leprosy.
•  So Naaman came with his horses and with his
  chariot, and stood at the door of the house of
  Elisha.

10
Example of contrite pattern

• And Elisha sent a messenger unto him, saying,
  Go and wash in Jordan seven times, and thy
  flesh shall come again to thee, and thou shalt
  be clean.
• But Naaman was wroth, and went away, and said,
  Behold, I thought, He will surely come out to
  me, and stand, and call on the name of the
  LORD his God, and strike his hand over the
  place, and recover the leper.
• Are not Abana and Pharpar, rivers of
  Damascus, better than all the waters of Israel?
  may I not wash in them, and be clean? So he
  turned and went away in a rage.
• And his servants came near, and spake unto him,
  and said, My father, if the prophet had
  bid thee do some great thing, wouldest thou not
  have done it? how much rather then, when he
  saith to thee, Wash, and be clean?
• Then went he down, and dipped himself
  seven times in Jordan, according to the saying of
  the man of God and his flesh came again like
  unto the flesh of a little child, and he was
  clean. (2 Kings 5 1-14)

11
Weighing in the balance
Sacrifice
?
Rebel
Or
12
Elder Neal A. Maxwell

• The many other things we 'give' are
  actually the things He has already given or
  loaned to us. 
• However, when you and I finally submit
  ourselves, by letting our individual wills be
  swallowed up in God's will, then we are really
  giving something to Him! It is the only
  possession which is truly ours to give!"
• (Ensign, Nov 1995, p24)

13
Elder C.S. Lewis

• T The more you obey your conscience, the
  more your conscience will demand of you. And
  your natural self, which is thus being starved
  and hampered and worried at every turn, will get
  angrier and angrier.
• It is as though Jesus were saying to each of us
  'Give me All. I don't want so much of your time
  and so much of your money and so much of your
  work I want You. I have not come to torment your
  natural self, but to kill it. . . .
• Hand over the whole natural self. . . . I will
  give you a new self instead. In fact, I will give
  you Myself my own will shall become yours.' 
  (Mere Christianity, p. 166)

14
T.S. ElliotFuneral Pyres

• The only hope, or else despair,
• Lies in the choice of pyre or pyre,
• We only live, only suspire
• Consumed by either fire or fire
• Question
• Why do we delay, hesitate and procrastinate
  putting our will on the alter and allowing our
  natural man to be consumed?

15
Prophet Joseph Smith

• "For a man to lay down his all, his character and
  reputation, his honor, and applause, his good
  name among men, his houses, his lands, his
  brothers and sisters, his wife and children, and
  even his own life alsocounting all things but
  filth and dross for the excellency of the
  knowledge of
  Jesus Christ
• requires more than mere belief
  or supposition that he
  is doing the
  will of God.
•  Lectures on Faith (Salt Lake City Deseret Book
  Co., 1985), 65.

16
Traditional View
Thoughts
Feelings
Actions
17
Robert Millett

• Holding back or giving less than is
  required always produces divided
  loyalties. We need not have our
  membership records in the great
  and abominable church in order to be disloyal to
  the kingdom of God the issue is not where our
  records are but rather where our hearts are.
• The divine word is certain "there are many
  called, but few are chosen," because their hearts
  are set upon the things of this world, rather
  than upon those things which have eternal worth.
• Eye Single to the Glory of God Reflections
  on the Cost of Discipleship ( 1991)

18
Ah, theres the question

• What is the heart?
• Hearts can be past feeling (Emotion?)
• The Lord can speak to our hearts (Is it our
  thoughts?)
• Hearts can
• Soften and harden and/or be pierced with deep
  wounds
• Become set on good or evil
• Cry out
• Be broken and made glad
• Turn, change and be bound
• have a seed of faith planted in them

19
Alma

• I know that he granteth unto men according to
  their desire, whether it be unto death or unto
  life. (Alma 294)

20
Spiritual View
Traditional View
Desires (Heart)
Thoughts
Feelings
Actions
I must perfect myself
Anxiety and Discouragement
Try harder Or give up
I need to be control
I have to win
I must be more perfect than everyone else (The
Rameumptom Principle)
Despair Somewhere Im not as good
Give up or Try Harder
Trust, Faith Nervousness
Service
How does He want Me to Do this?
All I want is what God wants
21
Elder Busche

• Shortly after our baptism, Jutta and I became
  aware of an elderly sister named Sister Maischt,
  whose enthusiasm for the gospel and the Church
  was so extraordinary that the shabbiness of her
  outward appearance did not matter much. From her
  looks, she was as close to a fairy tale witch as
  anyone I have ever seenalways wearing the same,
  long, ugly black dress and never clean, always
  smelly. She simply did not try to look groomed or
  acceptable.
• She was originally from East PrussiaShe had
  five children and a husband all killed by the
  RussiansShe lived in a shed without plumbing
  or electricity and lived off the food she grew
  on her land. She never talked about the
  details. When anyone asked her about her
  background, she would immediately change the
  subject and talk about the goodness of Christ,
  the support of angels, and her testimony of
  the Book of Mormon

22

• One day, my wife and I discussed Sister Maistcht
  and the fact that she walked two hours one way to
  go to church. We debated whether we should make
  the sacrifice and leave 30 minutes earlier on
  Sundays to give her a ride. We felt good as
  finally agreed to do this service for her.
• How surprised I was, however, when I presented
  her with our suggestion. She said Brother
  Busche, you cannot do this to me. Im an old
  lady. How can I ever show the Lord how much I
  love Him, how much I adore Him, how much I depend
  on His atoning sacrifice for my salvation and my
  desire to serve Him?
• Im too old and too ugly and to forgetful to
  serve as the Relief Society president or even a
  teacher. The greatest joy of my life is on Sunday
  when I can get up early in the morning, walk to
  church, and take the sacrament. Yes it is a long
  walk and, yes, my legs hurt and my back hurts,
  but every step I rejoice.
• As I walk I sing the hymnsbecause my walk is a
  celebration of my Savior and Lord, Jesus Christ.
  And you want to take this away from me? You cant
  do this to me. Let me walk.

23

• One day, she came to me, as Branch
  President, and gave me a large amount of
  money. She said, Brother Busche, this is the
  money for my funeral because this will be the
  last week of my life. I protested and said
  Sister Maischt, you are going to live much
  longer. You are not going to die.
• She said You dont understand. The Lord
  told me that my time of probation is over
  and that I should come to you to arrange for
  my funeral. This is the money, and these are
  the songs and the speakers. She handed me a
  piece of paper with the arrangements for her
  funeral.
• When she did not show up the next Sunday in
  church, the Relief Society sisters visited her.
  They found her dead in her hovel, calmly and
  peacefully gone.
• Yet her influence remains
• In my mind, she is a monument of womanhood that I
  know will stand in the day of her resurrection,
  in prominence and beauty, and stands for me as a
  beacon of light in these days when we are so
  easily distracted by the things of this world.
• Yearning for the Living God, p. 166