The following is a testimony delivered on March 5, 2017:
I want to share a few scriptures that I have come to love that have helped me understand some things and I'd like to share a little bit. Everybody knows I'm big on definitions, and I love Noah Webster's definition of "submission".
SUBMIS'SION, n. [L. submissio, from submitto.]
- The act of submitting; the act of yielding to power or authority; surrender of the person and power to the control or government of another.
2. Acknowledgment of inferiority or dependence; humble or suppliant behavior.
3. Acknowledgment of a fault; confession or error.
4. Obedience; compliance with the commands or laws of a superior. Submission of children to their parents is an indispensable duty.
5. Resignation; a yielding of one's will to the will or appointment of a superior without murmuring. Entire and cheerful submission to the will of God is a christian duty of prime excellence.
And if we turn to the New Testament, in John 5:30, Christ says, "I can of mine own self do nothing: as I hear, I judge: and my judgment is just; because I seek not mine own will, but the will of the Father which hath sent me."
Christ, in His mortal ministry, was completely submissive and the scriptures admonish us to be submissive, also. Mosiah 3:19 says, "For the natural man is an enemy to God, and has been from the fall of Adam, and will be, forever and ever, unless he yields to the enticings of the Holy Spirit, and putteth off the natural man and becometh a saint through the atonement of Christ the Lord, and becometh as a child, submissive, meek, humble, patient, full of love, willing to submit to all things which the Lord seeth fit to inflict upon him, even as a child doth submit to his father."
There is an interesting interchange between Christ and the Pharisees in the book of Matthew. He says...it says...this is Matthew, chapter 21.
23 And when he was come into the temple, the chief priests and the elders of the people came unto him as he was teaching, and said, By what authority doest thou these things? and who gave thee this authority?
This is after He has cleansed the temple [before] the feast of unleavened bread.
24 And Jesus answered and said unto them, I also will ask you one thing, which if ye tell me, I in like wise will tell you by what authority I do these things.
25 The baptism of John, whence was it? from heaven, or of men?
Christ delineates authority. There is authority that comes from heaven and there is authority that comes from men.
And they reasoned with themselves, saying, If we shall say, From heaven; he will say unto us, Why did ye not then believe him?
26 But if we shall say, Of men; we fear the people; for all hold John as a prophet.
Even the Pharisees knew that—that authority from men gets superseded by authority from heaven.
27 And they answered Jesus, and said, We cannot tell. And he said unto them, Neither tell I you by what authority I do these things.
They didn't understand. They didn't understand where His authority came from. And, um, and Jesus...this so connects to being submissive because if you go back to chapter 7, which is part of the Sermon on the Mount, Christ says,
21 Not every one that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven.
You have to do the will. And how do you find out His will? You have to be in connection with Him and He tells you what to do and then you receive authority because you are submissive to His will. Christ had perfect authority because He was perfectly submissive and because God has all power and authority. So, as He delegates His will to you, you, therefore, have authority.
22 Many will say to me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in thy name? and in thy name have cast out devils? and in thy name done many wonderful works?
You can do a lot of "good" things.
23 And then will I profess unto them, I never knew you: depart from me, ye that work iniquity.
24 Therefore whosoever heareth these sayings of mine, and doeth them, I will liken him unto a wise man, which built his house upon a rock:
It's revelation.
25 And the rain descended, and the floods came, and the winds blew, and beat upon that house; and it fell not: for it was founded upon a rock.
26 And every one that heareth these sayings of mine, and doeth them not, shall be likened unto a foolish man, which built his house upon the sand:
27 And the rain descended, and the floods came, and the winds blew, and beat upon that house; and it fell: and great was the fall of it.
28 And it came to pass, when Jesus had ended these sayings, the people were astonished at his doctrine:
29 For he taught them as one having authority, and not as the scribes.
There are two parables after in Matthew 21. One of them has a great Joseph Smith Translation. I tell my Gospel Doctrine class it's extra credit. They're really good.
But I just want to end by saying that this is the reason why we can read in the Book of Mormon, 1 Nephi 10, Nephi says, concludes this chapter by saying, "And the Holy Ghost giveth authority that I should speak these things, and deny them not" because it is the power of the Holy Ghost that aligns us to the will of the Father and by obtaining the will of the Father we obtain authority.
The Words of Mormon, verse 17: "For behold, king Benjamin was a holy man, and he did reign over his people in righteousness; and there were many holy men in the land, and they did speak the word of God with power and with authority; and they did use much sharpness because of the stiffneckedness of the people--"
Alma, chapter 17: "Now these sons of Mosiah were with Alma at the time the angel first appeared unto him; therefore Alma did rejoice exceedingly to see his brethren; and what added more to his joy, they were still his brethren in the Lord; yea, and they had waxed strong in the knowledge of the truth; for they were men of a sound understanding and they had searched the scriptures diligently, that they might know the word of God.
3 But this is not all; they had given themselves to much prayer, and fasting; therefore they had the spirit of prophecy, and the spirit of revelation, and when they taught, they taught with power and authority of God."
Again, Christ was perfectly...He had perfect authority because He was perfectly submissive and I would suggest that we obtain authority in all that we do, in all of our daily lives, in just coming up with our daily routine, in praying to ask what the Father would have us do. Maybe He has errand that He wants us to run. When we pray, is our will aligned with His? When we teach, is His will aligned with ours, is our will aligned with His? When we give blessings, do we stop and align our will with His? And it's my prayer that I can find more authority in my life-I hope we all can-by finding out what His will is for us that we might have His authority in our lives.
I am grateful for my Savior. I bear testimony of Christ. I bear testimony that He has great authority and, if you look around in this world, it is not demanding. His authority, His power and authority reigns over everything that you see-the trees, the sun, the moon, the stars, the rain as it falls, the wind as it blows. It's gentle. He won't compel you to recognize His authority. It comes because you have aligned your will with His and I say these things in the name of Jesus Christ. Amen.