1. The gospel of Jesus Christ is a
message of peace for a troubled world. Those who become instruments in God’s
hands can share the gospel and help others to become converted.
2. M. Russell Ballard, “Put Your
Trust in the Lord,” Ensign, Nov. 2013.
3. Don R. Clarke, “Becoming
Instruments in the Hands of God,” Ensign Nov. 2006.
4. “After all that has been said, the greatest & most
important duty is to preach the Gospel.” (TPJS p.330)
5. 1 Nephi 13:34-37- What blessings? When we seek
to share the gospel, we are blessed with the Holy Ghost and
can be saved in God’s kingdom.
6. Isaiah 52:7- How beautiful upon the
mountains are the feet of him that brings good tidings, that publishes peace;
that brings good tidings of good, that publishes salvation; that says unto
Zion, Your God reigns! - Mosiah
15:14–19, 26–28
7. “Peace and good tidings; good tidings and peace. These
are among the ultimate blessings that the gospel of Jesus Christ brings a
troubled world and the troubled people who live in it, solutions to personal
struggles and human sinfulness, a source of strength for days of weariness and
hours of genuine despair. … It is the Only Begotten Son of God Himself who
gives us this help and this hope. …
“The search for peace is one of the ultimate quests of
the human soul. … There are times in all of our lives when deep sorrow or
suffering or fear or loneliness make us cry out for the peace which only God
Himself can bring. These are times of piercing spiritual hunger when even the
dearest friends cannot fully come to our aid” (JRHolland “The
Peaceable Things of the Kingdom,” Ensign, Nov.
1996).
In what ways is the gospel of Jesus Christ a message of
peace?
8. “The bringing of peace requires the elimination of
Satan’s influence. Where he is, peace can never be. Further, peaceful
coexistence with him is impossible. … He promotes nothing but the works of the
flesh. …“As a prelude to peace, then, the influence of Satan must be
completely subjugated. …
“As the works of the flesh have universal application, so
likewise does the gospel of peace. If one man lives it, he has peace within
himself. If two men live it, they each have peace within themselves and with
each other. If the citizens live it, the nation has domestic peace. When there
are enough nations enjoying the fruit of the Spirit to control world affairs,
then, and only then, will the war-drums throb no longer” (MGRomney “The Price of
Peace,”Ensign, Oct. 1983).
9. When have you seen the gospel bring peace into
someone’s life? (Rick and Lucy on the Plane)
What are some ways in which we can effectively share the
gospel?
11. Alma 18:33–35; 23:5–6; 26:2–5, 15; 29:9–10- When we
become instruments in God’s hands, He grants us power to help others come to a
knowledge of the truth
12. "In 1974 President Spencer W. Kimball said
this: “Perhaps the greatest reason for missionary work is to give the world
its chance to hear and accept the gospel. The scriptures are replete with
commands and promises and calls and rewards for teaching the gospel. I use the
word command deliberately for it seems to be an insistent
directive from which we, singly and collectively, cannot escape.”
He also asked us to quicken our pace, working
together to build up the Church and kingdom of God.
This past June President Thomas S.
Monson echoed exactly the same message to
members of the Church. “Now is the time for members and missionaries to come
together … [and] labor in the Lord’s vineyard to bring souls unto Him. He has
prepared the means for us to share the gospel in a multitude of ways, and He
will assist us in our labors if we will act in faith to fulfill His work”
(“Faith in the Work of Salvation” [address given at a special broadcast,
June 23, 2013];
My message this afternoon is that the
Lord is hastening His work. In our day this can be done only
when every member of the Church reaches out with love to share the truths of
the restored gospel of Jesus Christ. We need to work together in
partnership with our 80,000 missionaries now serving.
Many members hesitate to do missionary work and
share the gospel for two basic reasons. The first one is fear. Many members do
not even pray for opportunities to share the gospel, fearing that they might
receive divine promptings to do something they think they are not capable of
doing. The second reason is misunderstanding of what missionary work is.
Now, we know that no one likes feeling guilty.
Perhaps you feel you may be asked to do unrealistic things in your
relationships with friends or neighbors. With the help of the Lord, let me
remove any fear you or any of our full-time missionaries may have in sharing
the gospel with others.
Brothers and sisters, fear will be replaced
with faith and confidence when members and the full-time missionaries kneel in
prayer and ask the Lord to bless them with missionary opportunities.
Simply
stated, it’s a matter of faith and action on our part. The principles are
pretty simple—pray, personally and in your family, for missionary
opportunities.
You don’t have to be an outgoing person or an
eloquent, persuasive teacher.
Talk with as many people as you can each day.
The Lord knows us. He knows we have our challenges. I pray that none of you
would ever feel that reaching out in normal, pleasant ways to share the gospel
would ever be a burden. Rather, it is a privilege!
The key is that you be inspired of God, that
you ask Him for direction and then go and do as the Spirit prompts you. When
members view the work of salvation as their responsibility alone, it can be
intimidating. When they view it as an invitation to follow the Lord in bringing
souls unto Him to be taught by the full-time elders and sisters, it is
inspiring, invigorating, and uplifting.
Heed the promptings of the Spirit. Supplicate
the Lord in mighty prayer. Become engaged in doing what you can in sharing the
great message of the Restoration of the gospel of Jesus Christ. (MRBallard,
2013)
13., Alma Benjamin Larsen and ‘Jim Drinkwater.’ I have
thought about Jim Drinkwater many times and wondered how he came to be one that
the Lord could trust. First of all, we must have love for God’s children. When
the lawyer asked the Savior, “Master, which is the great commandment?” the
Savior replied: “Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with
all thy soul, and with all thy mind. “This is the first and great commandment.
“And the second is like unto it, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself” (Matthew
22:36–39). When we feel love for God’s children, we are given
opportunities to help them in their journey back to His presence.
After losing his eyesight, my grandfather fasted and prayed
that if he was to remain in darkness, the Lord would give him peace. He states
that almost within the hour “my mind was enlightened and the cloud of darkness
had lifted from me.” He could see again, not with physical eyes, but spiritual
eyes. Later, Alma Benjamin Larsen was called to be a patriarch, where he served
for 32 years. Like the sons of Mosiah, my grandfather fasted and prayed, and as
a result, he was given the opportunity to bless thousands of God’s children.
We, like Jim Drinkwater and my grandfather, also need to
be receptive to the promptings of the Holy Ghost, for when we
desire to be an instrument in the hands of God, we can receive revelation.
I have a little book that I carry with me, where I record
the inspiration and thoughts that I receive from the Spirit. It does not look
like much, and it becomes worn out and needs to be replaced from time to time.
As thoughts come to my mind, I write them down and then I try to do them. I
have found that many times, as I have done something on my list, my action was
the answer to someone’s prayer. There have also been those times that I didn’t
do something on my list, and I have found out later that there was someone I
could have helped, but I didn’t. When we receive promptings regarding God’s
children, if we write down the thoughts and inspiration we receive and then
obey it, God’s confidence in us increases and we are given more opportunities
to be instruments in His hands.
In the words of President Faust: “You can be powerful
instruments in the hands of God to help bring about this great work. … You can
do something for another person that no one else ever born can do”
(“Instruments in the Hands of God, ”Ensign, Nov. 2005,
115)." (Don Clarke, 2006)
14. Book of Mormon published March 26,
1830-5,000 copies for $3000; $.60 each sold for $1.25- today 75-100K. Brown calfskin
bound. Today 110 languages. 66% of people on earth have access. 173,000, 000
copies. Christ mentioned 3925 times on average every 1.7 verses.
