Thy Faith Hath Saved Thee

1
Thy Faith Hath Saved Thee

• www.kevinhinckley.com

2
What is his name?

• Minister of a growing church in Latin American
• The minister has the number 666 tattooed on his
  arm.  
• "The spirit that is in me is the same spirit that
  was in Jesus of Nazareth," he says.
• He says he learned he was Jesus reincarnate when
  he was visited in a dream by angels.
• He preaches there is no devil and no sin.
• His followers, he says, literally can do no wrong
  in God's eyes.
• He says he has a church-paid salary of 136,000
  but lives more lavishly than that. During an
  interview, he showed off a diamond-encrusted
  Rolex to a CNN crew and said he has three just
  like them. He travels in armored Lexuses and
  BMWsAll are gifts from his devoted followers.

• Korihor
• he was Anti-Christ, he began to preach unto the
  people againstthe coming of Christ
• behold, the devil appeared unto me in the form
  of an angel
• He saith unto him I am no devil, for there is
  none.
• He did say unto themevery man prospered
  according to his strength and whatsoever a man
  did was no crime.
• And he began to be lifted up in the pride of his
  heart and to wear very costly apparel

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Reminder on Documentaries not made by the Church

• As the Second Coming Gets Closer
• Will we, as a church, look more like the
  world, or less?
• In their eyes, will we look more bizarre or less?
• Will Satan, the great deceiver and accuser,
  spread more lies or less lies about us?
• For that reason, will we be treated more
  sympathetically or less?

4
Sister Susan Easton Black

• Tell me a story," I nightly pled of Grandma as a
  child. Though I wanted to hear of Cinderella,
  Snow White, or Sleeping Beauty, she would say,
  "Susan, I can only tell you stories that are
  true. If you want to hear truth, I have something
  to say." Not wanting to sleep, I enthusiastically
  listened to stories of Jesus, the Prophet Joseph
  Smith, the Book of Mormon, and those whose
  sacrifices created our legacy of faith.
• Though I believed in the truthfulness of
  Grandma's stories, there was one that caused
  discomfort. It was of a young pioneer girl named
  Sarah Ann who was in danger of being trampled by
  stampeding buffaloes. In this perilous situation
  she knelt and prayed for protection.
• "In answer to her prayer," said my grandmother,
  "she remained unharmed, even though hundreds of
  buffalo stampeded around her."
• Instead of marveling with wonder at the miracle,
  I emphatically pronounced, "That's impossible!"
• Grandma countered, "It is not impossible to those
  who have faith, Susan. It was because Sarah Ann
  had faith and you don't."
• BYU Devotional, 22 November, 1994

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Question
When I have Enough Faith
Ill Keep the Commandments

• If someone, like Sister Black, is looking to
  develop Faith, what would you tell her?
• Answer We dont grow or produce faith.
• President George Albert Smith
• Faith is a gift of God it is the fruitage of
  righteous living. It does not come to us by our
  command but as the result of doing the will of
  our Heavenly Father.

I receive the Gift of Faith
As I do His Will
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John 11

• Now a certain man was sick, named Lazarus, of
  Bethany, the town of Mary and her sister Martha.
• Therefore his sisters sent unto him, saying,
  Lord, behold, he whom thou lovest is sick.
• When Jesus heard that, he said, This sickness is
  not unto death, but for the glory of God, that
  the Son of God might be glorified thereby.
• When he had heard therefore that he was sick, he
  abode two days still in the same place where he
  was.
• Then Martha, as soon as she heard that Jesus was
  coming, went and met him but Mary sat still in
  the house.
• Then said Martha unto Jesus, Lord, if thou hadst
  been here, my brother had not died.
• But I know, that even now, whatsoever thou wilt
  ask of God, God will give it thee.
• Jesus saith unto her, Thy brother shall rise
  again.
• Martha saith unto him, I know that he shall rise
  again in the resurrection at the last day.
• Jesus said unto her, I am the resurrection, and
  the life he that believeth in me, though he were
  dead, yet shall he live
• And whosoever liveth and believeth in me shall
  never die. Believest thou this?
• She saith unto him, Yea, Lord I believe that
  thou art the Christ, the Son of God, which should
  come into the world.
• And when she had so said, she went her way, and
  called Mary her sister secretly, saying, The
  Master is come, and calleth for thee.
• Then when Mary was come where Jesus was, and saw
  him, she fell down at his feet, saying unto him,
  Lord, if thou hadst been here, my brother had not
  died.

Question What does He expect of us when, for
whatever reason, He tarries?
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Finally

• Jesus therefore again groaning in himself cometh
  to the grave. It was a cave, and a stone lay upon
  it.
• Jesus said, Take ye away the stone. Martha, the
  sister of him that was dead, saith unto him,
  Lord, by this time he stinketh for he hath been
  dead four days.
• Jesus saith unto her, Said I not unto thee, that,
  if thou wouldest believe, thou shouldest see the
  glory of God?
• Then they took away the stone from the place
  where the dead was laid. And Jesus lifted up his
  eyes, and said, Father, I thank thee that thou
  hast heard me.
• And I knew that thou hearest me always but
  because of the people which stand by I said it,
  that they may believe that thou hast sent me.
• And when he thus had spoken, he cried with a loud
  voice, Lazarus, come forth.
• And he that was dead came forth, bound hand and
  foot with graveclothes and his face was bound
  about with a napkin. Jesus saith unto them, Loose
  him, and let him go.
• Then many of the Jews which came to Mary, and had
  seen the things which Jesus did, believed on him.

8
Joseph F. Smith (Sec. 138)

• As I pondered over these things which are
  written, the eyes of my understanding were
  opened, and the Spirit of the Lord rested
  upon me, and I saw the hosts of the dead,
  both small and great.
• And there were gathered together in one place
  an innumerable company of the spirits of the
  just, who had been faithful in the testimony
  of Jesus while they lived in mortality
• And who had offered sacrifice in the
  similitude of the great sacrifice of the Son
  of God, and had suffered tribulation in their
  Redeemer's name.
• All these had departed the mortal life, firm
  in the hope of a glorious resurrection
• I beheld that they were filled with joy and
  gladness, and were rejoicing together because the
  day of their deliverance was at hand.
• And the saints rejoiced in their redemption, and
  bowed the knee and acknowledged the Son of God as
  their Redeemer and Deliverer from death and the
  chains of hell.
• Their countenances shone, and the radiance from
  the presence of the Lord rested upon them, and
  they sang praises unto his holy name.

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Parley P. Pratt

• It was Joseph Smith who taught me how to
  prize the endearing relationships of father
  and mother, husband and wife of brother and
  sister, son and daughter.
• It was from him that I learned that the wife
  of my bosom might be secured to me for time and
  all eternity and that the refined sympathies and
  affections which endeared us to each other
  emanated from the foundation of divine eternal
  love. It was from him that I learned that we
  might cultivate these affections, and grow and
  increase in the same to all eternity. . . .
• I had loved before, but I knew not why. But now I
  loved--with a pureness--an intensity of elevated,
  exalted feeling, which would lift my soul from
  the transitory things of this groveling sphere
  and expand it as the ocean.
• I felt that God was my heavenly Father indeed
  that Jesus was my brother, and that the wife of
  my bosom was an immortal, eternal companion a
  kind ministering angel, given to me as a comfort,
  and a crown of glory for ever and ever. In short,
  I could now love with the spirit and with the
  understanding also.
• Parley P. Pratt, Autobiography of Parley P.
  Pratt, pp. 29798

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Sister Black

• On a whim during my freshman year at BYU a
  girlfriend and I decided to spend the weekend in
  Salt Lake City. While sitting with suitcases in
  hand at Temple Square, my friend casually
  remarked, "The president of the Church, David O.
  McKay, lives just across the street in the Hotel
  Utah." Her continual nods of assurance and our
  curiosity led us to the hotel. Speaking with the
  bellboy and then the hotel manager about where
  the famous resident lived was frustrating. Their
  negative attitude, punctuated with security
  implications, fell on deaf ears. We left them
  determined to answer the hypothesis "If I were a
  prophet of God, behind which door would I choose
  to live in this hotel?"
• After hours of knocking on doors and greeting
  blank stares from grumpy hotel guests, we staked
  out three floors. An innocent chambermaid on one
  of the floors revealed the answer. Excitedly, we
  hugged each other as only BYU freshmen could. Our
  enthusiasm was boundless, until we concluded to
  see if the prophet was home. Being the smallest
  of the twosome, I was designated to knock on the
  door. If the knock was answered, I had been
  programmed to say, "We are selling early orders
  for Girl Scout cookies. Would you care to place
  an order?"
• As I walked toward the door I felt reticent yet,
  as my feet faltered and heart pounded, my friend
  pushed me forward. It wasn't until I reached the
  door and was knocking that she ran like a "flash
  of light" to the far end of the hall. I was just
  turning to run when the door opened, and before
  me stood the prophet. He looked surprised but
  didn't say anything. Neither did I, I couldn't. I
  felt like I had a key to the celestial kingdom
  but did not belong--I was not worthy to be in his
  presence.
• I started to cry and then to sob. He took me by
  the hand and said, "Won't you come in?" I waved
  to my friend down the hall--whose open mouth
  betrayed her surprise--and entered the prophet's
  home. Our discussion remains personal, but the
  resulting impact was to change my inner direction
  dramatically. I resolved, as never before, to not
  just mirror faith, but to know of faith.