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If you don't do what The Lord says, you have no promise of blessings. Lds priesthood history teaches that you must listen to those over you. The degree of your blessings depends on how obedient you are.
If you don't do what The Lord says, you have no promise of blessings. Lds priesthood history teaches that you must listen to those over you. The degree of your blessings depends on how obedient you are.
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If you don't do what The Lord says, you have no promise of blessings. Lds priesthood history teaches that you must listen to those over you. The degree of your blessings depends on how obedient you are.
Copyright:
Attribution Non-Commercial (BY-NC)
Formatos disponibles
Descargue como DOC, PDF, TXT o lea en línea desde Scribd
FLDS Priesthood History for 3rd - 8th Grade Students
Taught by Warren Jeffs
Tape # 19 – January 4, 1996
Subject: Saul and Samuel -David and Goliath We are giving you things in classes like this, that you will have to answer for. If you're trained at a young age, you'll understand. The Lord tells us if we do what He says, He is bound to bless us. If we don't do what He says, we have no promise. How do you know what He says? It is called revelation. The Lord speaks through His prophet. When your parents tell you to do something, they are prayerful. They have inspiration what you should do. When you go to the prophet and say, " I think this or that should happen" or maybe you ask your parents something and they say "no", then you ask again and they say "no", and after much teasing, even if they give in - if it is not according to the will of those over you, it is disobedience. It is the first impression of your father that you should listen to, not after the begging and begging. So, for you to be called an obedient person, you must listen to those over you. Every blessing you will ever get in priesthood, you must listen to those over you and do as they direct, not you commanding them. This is what the story today explains. Saul became the great power among the people. When he spoke, everybody had to obey. If they didn't obey him, he would take his soldiers and punish them, even with death, if he wanted. Samuel anointed Saul's head with oil and blessed Saul to be king. Saul became as one of the prophets and was inspired of God. Very early on, Saul had the trouble of pride. The Lord would tell him to do things and he would do it almost. He would do it just a little different. Samuel warned him and told him that the Lord had sought another man, after His own heart, to be captain over His people. Saul was proving that he would obey but then changed the word of the prophet a little. Uncle Roy taught us, the degree of your blessings depends on how obedient you are. If you don't feel you have the blessings you want, it's because your obedience isn't in place. Saul had won many battles, until all Israel submitted to him. One day, the Lord spoke to Samuel and told him to tell Saul to take the armies of Israel and fight the Amalekites, perfect in evil. The Lord told Saul, through Samuel, to go down and kill every man, woman and child, every animal, every living thing in their city. Saul already had this bad habit of changing what the prophet said, just a little. So, he and his army killed everybody except the king. He killed many of the animals except he kept the best to bring back to offer as sacrifice on the alter. He changed what the prophet said, to himself, just a little. He thought he had a better idea. That's usually what we do, feeling that we have just a little better idea than what father wants, or the teacher. Look what happens to a person who almost obeys, but changes it just a little. They are still called disobedient. The Lord told Samuel that Saul committed a great evil, in that he disobeyed. Now, you could say, "Well, he pretty much obeyed him. He did most of everything." When the Lord speaks, we obey all the way or we are disobedient. Don't we always find a good reason for our disobedience? Samuel said to Saul, that the Lord commanded him to kill every living thing and instead, Saul disobeyed the Lord. Whatever good idea Saul had, was it better than just simply obeying? Here's the quote I want in your notes: Verse 22 and 23, Chapter 15 in the book called 1st Samuel. "Behold, to obey is better than sacrifice... for rebellion is as the sin of witchcraft or following devils, and stubbornness, unwilling obedience - is as iniquity and idolatry," said Samuel. The Lord then rejected Saul as being king. An evil spirit then took over Saul because he was rebellious to the prophet and to the Lord. 1 Agag, the king of the Amalekites, came to Samuel and humbly bowed down and said he supposed his life was spared to which Samuel replied, "As you killed women and children, so shall you die." That describes how wicked that king, was, for they were a people that worshipped idols and would offer up children as human sacrifices. Samuel, in front of all the people, took a sword and cut Agag down, hewing him in pieces. Then Samuel left Saul and wept because of Saul - he was so sad because of the evil Saul had done and was now rejected. The prophet always weeps and is hurt by our wickedness, and, whenever we don't obey, don't we feel like we have a good reason for it? Beware young people, you cannot change what the prophet says and think you're obeying. Some have thought, as we read these stories, that it's amazing how these people would just kill people - how the prophet could cut a man down. I want to remind you what the prophets have taught us, that whenever a man of God is commanded to kill another man, he is never bloodthirsty. If you see a wicked man killing another person, they are bloodthirsty – they love to do it. A righteous man never loves to kill. Instead, I’ll tell you what a righteous man does if he is called to fight in a battle. He humbly asks the Lord to strengthen his hand. He doesn’t go thirsting after blood and wanting to kill. He wants to do the Lord’s will, and he keeps sweet even in doing that. So don’t think Samuel or any of these prophets were blood thirsty, as they were called upon to strike down the enemy. I don’t want you boys feeling like, “For neat! For neat!” when people are killed or you will become bloodthirsty and lose the good spirit. We should not even want to watch the killing on television and movies. That will make you blood thirsty, like unto the world. You can’t keep sweet if you love those things, so don’t call it “neat”. Remember, a man of God is praying for strength when he is doing that work. Saul continued as king for many years - for forty years. Samuel was led by the Lord, to go to Jerusalem and find the next king in the family of Jesse of the tribe of Judah. The people were greatly afraid of the prophet. Remember, people are afraid of the prophet when they have a guilty conscience. Samuel called Jesse to bring his sons before him. He thought surely the oldest son was to be king because he was tall and strong. The Lord spoke with Samuel and said not to look on his appearance because the Lord sees not as man sees, but looks on the heart. The people didn't see the Lord appear. The Lord speaks in the prophet's mind. His spirit is always there in the prophet's mind. The prophet just thinks a prayer and the Lord's spirit puts the words in his thoughts. He talks with the Lord in that way. Now, young people, when you go and see President Jeffs, you are going to talk with the Lord. You ask him a question and he asks the Lord what the right answer is and although Heavenly Father doesn't appear in a flame or in a cloud, He is there, talking through the prophet - just like Samuel talked with the Lord while those people were standing around. Now, you must believe this - this is called revelation. Don't ever treat President Jeffs lightly. Jesse then had the next son, then the next - each one appeared before Samuel. Each time the Lord whispered to Samuel, this was not the one, until Jesse said those were his sons. Samuel said surely there was another son. The spirit of God had told him this certain man was one of Jesse's sons. Jesse said he had a youngest son - out tending the sheep. He called for this son, David, and the Lord told Samuel to arise and anoint him for David was the one. David was not real tall or strong looking, and had a beautiful countenance - a handsome young man. He was blessed to become king and immediately, the spirit of the Lord came into David and gave him the gifts of the spirit where he could become king. Saul had an evil spirit and the people called for someone who could play sweet music for the king and then maybe the bad spirit would leave him. David could play a harp-like instrument and he obeyed and came 2 (# 19) to play his sweet music for Saul. The evil spirit left Saul because David, who had the spirit of God, came around the king. That spirit in David caused evil spirits to leave. Many times, a young person who has a bad spirit usually - they come around their good father, and they feel good and have a good spirit. Very often, that kind of a person, when they're away from their father, they get the bad spirit again. It's possible to come around good people and feel their good spirit. It's for us all to keep sweet ourselves. I hope you are learning this lesson... the spirit of God stays with the obedient. Obedience means perfect obedience or it is not obedience. We now come to the story of David and Goliath. Goliath's height was approx. 9 feet tall. He wore a helmet of brass and a steel woven coat weighing approx. 150 pounds, about what I weigh. He had brass shields on his legs and chest and back. His spear weighed 20 pounds. He told the Israelites, if they could find someone to kill him, then the Philistines would be their servants. He mocked the Lord. Saul heard of this challenge. Daily, Goliath challenged the Israelites. David was sent to take food to his brothers in the army. He heard Goliath make fun of the Lord. When the prophet gives a man a blessing, the spirit of God is there to make sure it happens. David depended on the Lord and was impressed to challenge Goliath, who cursed him, I am sure with some rotten words. As Goliath came forward, David slung a stone and it hit the forehead of Goliath, who fell down, unconscious. David stood on him and pulled out Goliath's sword and cut off Goliath's head. The Philistines started to run and the Israelites ran after them and killed many. The Philistines were driven out of that land. David took the head of Goliath and showed all the people in Jerusalem. As Saul and David marched through the streets, the people rejoiced to be delivered from their enemies. The girls, dancing and singing, said Saul has slain thousands and David has killed ten thousands. They said David was stronger than Saul. From that moment on, because he had an evil spirit, Saul wanted to kill David. For many years, Saul tried to kill him out of jealousy, for no reason. Saul plotted a secret combination with certain people, to kill David, who was obedient through those years. As long as a person is obedient, the Lord blesses them. Can't you see that in all the stories we are telling you? When they turn ever so slightly from the commandments of God, the spirit of God leaves. Watch out, when you are tempted to change what your parents want you to do - even when that temptation leads you to think of a good reason, watch out - you'll still be a disobedient person. These stories sure make me want to do better. It teaches us what Heavenly Father is like, and He is the same God today, as He was in that day. He has a prophet today, just like the prophet Samuel. Young people, when you're in the presence of our prophet, you're in the presence of God. Don't you understand that? The Lord is with him all the time. His spirit is always leading our prophet, so treat his words carefully. When you're in his presence, sit up, look at him, watch him. He sets a perfect example and you can feel his spirit if you're praying. One more recommendation: I see many of you go through the line on Sunday, to shake his hand. After meeting, sometimes I've sat with father, and he starts naming a few families. He says, "This person or these children have a good look in their eye and I feel a good spirit." Others I have heard him say, "That family - those children, are dark. They don't have a good spirit, a good feel, a good look in their eye." Did you know that's what is happening when you are shaking his hand? He is feeling your spirit. Now, shake his hand and look him in the eye, but if you feel guilty about something, you'll have a hard time doing it, or if you look him in the eye, your spirit will be felt by him, that you've been disobedient. What a privilege it is to meet the prophet and know you've been obedient so he can feel the spirit that you have. You can't hide what spirit you have from him. This is so real, and I want you to love and respect the prophet whenever and wherever you can. Do you enjoy hearing these stories? Show me by doing good on your tests. Really care and study. 3 (# 19) January 9,1996 Subject: Saul and David We teach you the truths of priesthood and how you should live, through stories of the prophets. All of you young people know that if you try to tell your father what to do, you know you are wrong. Let's suppose you felt like your father was doing wrong and you step forth to try setting him in order. Even if he was doing something not just right, you, his son or daughter, would be seized by evil spirits. You would be wrong. Uncle Roy said, "I'm ashamed of some of you young people, and the parents who allow a certain evil." He said there were certain of our people that persecuted and were mean to apostate children. He taught us we have no right to even make fun of apostates. Once we persecute others for their wrongs, we are no better. We're taught that two kinds of people leave this work... the criticizers and the criticizers of the criticizers. So, if somebody leaves this work and then you spend your effort to criticize them and persecute them, you will get the same bad spirit. You have no right to do wrong, even to wrong doers. There are those over you who can set them in order. The law of the priesthood is, when anybody is corrected, it is through love. You persecuting even the wicked people, not through love, means you are wrong. You young people, before you came of age, we went through a division - an apostasy - among this priesthood. In 1978, three men, apostles, turned traitor to Uncle Roy. Marion Hammon, Guy Musser and Alma Timpson. The Lord allowed those three men to continue from 1978 until 1984. For around six years, they would come and control the meetings because Uncle Roy wasn't here. They talked against him. He allowed them to take charge of our meetings. Some of the men who were with Uncle Roy went to him and complained and criticized those three men. He got after us if we griped against those men. He said, "Be subject to the powers that be. The Lord is in control." He wouldn't even let us criticize these men who were talking against Uncle Roy. He said for us to have patience and endure well. This is some of the training your parents have been through. We have only the right to do right to the wrong doers. We don't join with them in their evils, but we treat them kindly. That's what this story today explains. David was blessed to win the battle with Goliath. Saul became jealous and an evil spirit took over - just because he heard the girls celebrating David. For the next several years, Saul's whole desire would be to kill David. In this story today, you will see David, a righteous man, treating even his enemy with kindness. What man could rise and kill the king when he is anointed of God? Who of the elders could have risen up and set those apostate men, who used to be apostles, who could set them straight? Only Uncle Roy could, or the Lord through him. In all these stories, David would not raise his hand to hurt Saul, though Saul tried to kill him. Saul gave his daughter, Michelle, to David for a wife. Now David was closely related to Saul. He dwelled in his household, yet Saul still plotted to kill David. The prophet Nathan gave David other wives. Samuel died at this time, when David was wandering in the wilderness. For over a year, David lived with king of the Philistines named Akish, so he would be safe from King Saul. He made a promise to live in peace and not harm Akish. David's loyalty was not for the Philistines, though. Sometimes he would secretly go out with his army and kill certain people in certain cities - wherever the Lord sent him. He would kill every man, woman and child so Akish couldn't find out he did it. This is what we witnessed in Uncle Roy. He wept over Guy Musser, and in his suffering and his patience, he gave those men, who turned against him, six years to repent, but they would not. When the Lord sent him in 1984, he then put them down and told them they could no longer teach this people. Talk about a lesson... How far should you overcome even the sin of criticism? You have no right to do wrong to wrong doers. Let the Lord handle them. Let those over you handle them. 4 (# 19)