Lesson 37: Bruce

O.T. #37   “Thou hast done Wonderful Things” (Isaiah 25:1)

Bruce Lott

re: Isaiah 25:4  (see also 3 Nephi 12:3)  

“To be poor in spirit is to feel yourself as spiritually needy … for guidance and forgiveness and strength …. It is the opposite of pride or self-conceit.”

(Elder Harold B. Lee, Stand Ye In Holy Places, 343-344.)

re: Isaiah 25:6  (see also Isaiah 2:2; D&C 58:9) 

[2 Nephi 32:3)  “Angels speak by the power of the Holy Ghost;

wherefore, they speak the words of Christ. Wherefore … feast

upon the words of Christ; for behold, the words of Christ will

tell you all things what ye should do.”

[D&C 109:14-15)  “And do thou grant, Holy Father, that all those who shall worship in this house may … receive a fulness of the Holy Ghost”

re: Isaiah 25:7  (see also Moses 7:26)  

            “The same principles, the same order, the same Priesthood, the same gifts, and the same powers are instituted … in our day as they were in the days of Jesus, and all the reason that people do not see it is because of their traditions; the veil of darkness is over their minds…” (President Heber C. Kimball, Journal of Discourses 4:120).

            “[T]he world was wrapped in a veil of spiritual darkness, until there was not one fundamental truth belonging to the plan of salvation that was not … obscured by false tradition … [O]ur Lord Jesus Christ, [through the Prophet] Joseph Smith restored all these principles in their primitive beauty and power.”

(Elder Joseph Fielding Smith Jr., Doctrines of Salvation, 3:283.)

            “[T]he veil of the covering which is over the nations of the earth is measurably over the Latter-day Saints.  The same unrighteous principles, which becloud the minds of men universally, more or less becloud the minds of the Latter-day Saints.” (President Brigham Young, Journal of Discourses 3:191.)

“[We each] have the responsibility to determine if there is any part of [our] culture and traditions … that must be discarded …. That is not easily done. I have found how hard it is as I work to overcome some of my own incorrect traditions.

… Customs and traditions become an inherent part of us. They are not easy to evaluate... Carefully study the scriptures and counsel of the prophets ... evaluate each part of your life and make any adjustments needed … to set aside deeply held convictions or traditions that are not in harmony with the Lord’s plan.”

(Elder Richard G. Scott, April 1998 CR.)

“Our hope of salvation must be founded upon the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth, for we cannot build upon error and ascend [to] the kingdom of our God”(President Joseph F. Smith, October 1917 CR).

            “May God bless you, my brethren and sisters, fill you with his Holy Spirit, rend the veil of darkness that beclouds our minds … is my prayer in the name of Jesus.  Amen.”  (President George Q. Cannon, October 1875 Conference Report).

“Behavior begins with belief” (Elder Boyd K. Packer, Oct 1986 CR).

re: Isaiah 25:8 

“A carnal nature results not simply from having a physical body but from being ‘carnally minded’” (See “The Body as a Blessing,” July 1993 Ensign).

The “carnal mind” controls when “human appetites are mistakenly viewed as the only authentic reality…” (Elder Neal A. Maxwell, Apr 1983 CR). 

“To be spiritually minded is to view and evaluate experiences in terms of the enlarged perspective of eternity” (Elder Dallin H. Oaks, Oct 1985 CR).

re: Isaiah 26:19 

“I beheld that they were filled with joy and gladness, and were rejoicing together because the day of their deliverance was at hand... For the dead had looked upon the long absence of their spirits from their bodies as a bondage.”

(D&C 138:15, 50)  

re: Isaiah 30:20  (See also John 14:26; 2 Nephi 33:1)   

Why does the Lord allow the righteous to suffer afflictions?

“Abraham was laid upon the iron bedstead for slaughter…  Moses … was driven from his country and kindred . . . Daniel was cast into a den of lions … And did these afflictions come … on account of transgressions? No! …. It is a shame to the Saints to talk of … transgressions when all the Saints before them have had to come up through great tribulation …” (Teachings of the Prophet Joseph Smith, 260-261.)

“[It is a] feeble thought, that … the afflictions that we suffer … and the troubles that beset us … in the journey of life, are [all] attributable [to] the displeasure of God” (President Joseph F. Smith, Gospel Doctrine, 57).

Philippians 3:8, 10   “[F]or the excellency of the knowledge of Christ …

I have suffered the loss of all things …. [10] That I may

know him … and the fellowship of his sufferings …”

1 Peter 4:12-13       “Beloved, think it not strange concerning the fiery trial which

is to try you, as though some strange thing happened unto you:

“But rejoice, inasmuch as ye are partakers of Christ's sufferings...”

            Who are the teachers spoken of in Isaiah 30:20-21?

“[T]he Holy Ghost … is a teacher sent from the Father; and unto those who are entitled to His tuition He will reveal all things necessary for the soul's advancement” (Elder James E. Talmage, Articles of Faith, 162).

“[T]he Holy Ghost is a teacher; from him the saints learn all that is required to gain [exaltation]”(Elder Bruce R. McConkie, A New Witness for the Articles of Faith, 268).

Why has the Lord done all these wonderful things for us?

(See 2 Nephi 26:24).