Hear Him

In the most recent general conference, President Oaks gave a rather unique talk. He introduced his message with these words: “We believe in Christ. As members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, we worship Him and follow His teachings in the scriptures…. We are given the scriptures to direct our lives. As the prophet Nephi taught us, we should ‘feast upon the words of Christ; for behold, the words of Christ will tell you all things what ye should do.’ Most of the scriptures reporting Jesus’s mortal ministries are descriptions of what He did. My message today consists of a selection of the words of our Savior—what He said.” He then went on to quote over thirty passages of scripture that give us the direct words of the Savior. After an almost uninterrupted reading of these passages (he gave a brief introduction in the middle as he started reading from the Book of Mormon passages), President Oaks summarized his message this way, “We believe in Christ. I conclude with what He said about how we should know and follow His teachings: ‘But the Comforter, which is the Holy Ghost, whom the Father will send in my name, he shall teach you all things, and bring all things to your remembrance, whatsoever I have said unto you.’ I affirm the truth of these teachings in the name of Jesus Christ, amen.” In these final words we find both an affirmation of our belief in Jesus Christ as well as an invitation to apply His teachings in our lives. The Savior’s words will be most impactful to us when the Holy Ghost brings them into our minds and helps us to know how to live by them. President Oaks message is a powerful reminder that we are richly blessed to have so many of the words of the Savior, and we should more diligently seek to “hear Him” and apply these priceless teachings to ourselves.

               The passages from the Savior that President Oaks cited in his talk cover a variety of topics, but I see a few themes in these words. First, we find several invitations to come unto the Savior and follow Him. He said, “Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest” (Matthew 11:28). He also invited us, “If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross and follow me” (Matthew 16:25). To the Nephites He said, “And whoso cometh unto me with a broken heart and a contrite spirit, him will I baptize with fire and with the Holy Ghost” (3 Nephi 9:20). He also invited them, “Repent, all ye ends of the earth, and come unto me and be baptized in my name, that ye may be sanctified by the reception of the Holy Ghost, that ye may stand spotless before me at the last day” (3 Nephi 27:20). Another theme among these passages that President Oaks quoted is an invitation to keep the commandments of the Savior. He said, “And now for a man to take up his cross, is to deny himself all ungodliness, and every worldly lust, and keep my commandments” (JST Matthew 16:26). He also invited obedience to confirm the truth of His teachings: “If any man will do his will, he shall know of the doctrine, whether it be of God, or whether I speak of myself” (John 7:17). The Savior stressed the importance of keeping the commandments in this passage: “He that hath my commandments, and keepeth them, he it is that loveth me” (John 14:21). As He was taken up into heaven, His final words to His disciples centered around the importance of keeping the commandments: “Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost: Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you: and, lo, I am with you alway, even unto the end of the world” (Matthew 28:19-20). He wanted them most of all to teach others to keep His commandments. A final theme that we see in the passages that Elder Oaks cited is the need we have to love the Savior and others. In the Sermon on the Mount the Savior invited us, “But I say unto you, Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you, and persecute you” (Matthew 5:44). He declared later that the two great commandments are these: “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 22:37-39). The Savior confirmed how we can keep the love of the Father with us: “He that loveth me shall be loved of my Father, and I will love him, and will manifest myself to him” (John 14:21). President Oaks also quoted this simple but powerful invitation: “This is my commandment, That ye love one another, as I have loved you” (John 15:12). We have the stories of His life in part to help us know how to love and to try to do likewise. All these passages are indeed worthy of our careful study as we seek to come unto Him, keep His commandments, and love like He did. President Oaks’ message is a reminder to us that as we try to navigate the challenges of mortality, we should not neglect the guidance we can find in the divine words of the Savior.