Examples of those who didn't put on the whole armor of God

So, I want to have a potential list of people who didn't have on the whole armor of God, so here's some thoughts.

King David - I watched a brief video about him yesterday on lds.org and it shows him being sneaky about watching Bathsheba and almost deciding not to watch her. Very good portrayal. It made me think of a good friend of mine and a story he told. Bro. Grimmer hunted and fished in Alaska. One day while hunting he had a strong feeling that he was in a very dangerous situation. He turned around and saw a bear very close to him. He ran away as quickly as possible.

Years later he was having dinner in a place as part of a trip and heard some music come on. He had the exact same feeling at that time (that he was in a very dangerous situation). A stripper was actually about to come out on stage. Once again he ran away as quickly as possible. He commented that he isn't sure which situation was more dangerous.

I appreciate the takeaway that the Lord will warn us to help us avoid sin if we're doing our best.

3 Witnesses - I believe I've written about them before but the 3 witnesses appear to have had deep testimonies about one thing (Book of Mormon) and relatively shallow testimonies about everything else. Their testimonies didn't grow as well as they should have beyond the Book of Mormon. I suspect that they had a strong testimony of the Book but did not learn daily from the Book. Otherwise, their shield of faith would have grown much larger and stronger. The Lord pushed them to be more committed (David Whitmer was among the first asked to live the law of consecration for example), but none of them made it out of Missouri with their testimonies of the Gospel and Church.

Corianton - I think he was actually a pretty good guy in most respects. He did get called on a mission. He did end up being very faithful. However, he had a couple flaws, he was very proud and he fell for one woman in particular. Here's the account from Alma 39:

2For thou didst not give so much heed unto my words as did thy brother, among the people of the ^aZoramites. Now this is what I have against thee; thou didst go on unto boasting in thy strength and thy wisdom.

3And this is not all, my son. Thou didst do that which was grievous unto me; for thou didst forsake the ministry, and did go over into the land of Siron among the borders of the Lamanites, after the ^aharlot Isabel.

4Yea, she did ^asteal away the hearts of many; but this was no excuse for thee, my son. Thou shouldst have tended to the ministry wherewith thou wast entrusted.

Side note: what if Isabel wasn't a professional harlot but just a promiscuous woman. Is the prophet calling her name right here? Potentially a little funny....

President Monson seemed to address this in his Priesthood Session Message - he told us to avoid numerous sins and also asked us to not do anything of which we wouldn't be proud. It's just not enough to have on half or even most of the armor of God.

I will talk a little bit more about how to put that armor on tomorrow....

Have a good day.

Inspiration

One of the things that became more clear to me yesterday is how clearly revelation and inspiration can come, in particular for things that revolve around the Priesthood. For instance, I do not have thoughts that "just come" about work things very often. However, when I was listening to priesthood session I had many thoughts about things to do, prioritize, change, etc.

Also, we're speaking on Sunday. Last night Jamie told me her talk and a bunch of ideas came to me as I heard her thoughts. It's an interesting process that just doesn't happen when thinking about too many subjects. It can happen in work things as well, but it happens more often and more clearly and more consistently in spiritual matters.

So here's the main points I want to get out in the talk, although it needs to be flushed out better.

1) Explain why it's necessary to put on the "whole armor of God" and not parts of the armor of God.

a) I have clearly seen in the lives of numerous people that having only parts of the armor of God is not acceptable. For instance, I know someone who is a very good person in many ways. I remember him giving a talk in which he said he thought it wasn't wise to listen to some of his 80s rock music in the car with youth he was driving. The music he was talking about wasn't that bad, but he wanted to be an excellent example. This same guy has had some other at first minor issues however that led to major problems. He's a good guy, but he only had part of the armor of God on. I can think of numerous life examples. There's also some scriptural examples (like David). The Savior also warns in the Sermon on the Mount to avoid a lot of sins. I also have a story or two from my own life about this.

A few other people who had chinks in the armor: many early Saints. The 3 Witnesses had a sure testimony of only the Book of Mormon but not of a lot of other things. Clear holes in the armor. Also, Sidney Rigdon - the Lord even warns Sidney in D.C. 35 that the leader of the church is the one with the keys - 25And ^aIsrael shall be ^bsaved in mine own due time; and by the^ckeys which I have given shall they be led, and no more be confounded at all. Sidney should have known not to try to lead the church. We all are guided to know what our weaknesses are.

2) Potentially include this: it's important to care about everyone in the church having the full armor of God. I remember in Guatemala one time we had a priesthood class that discussed D.C. 58:54-57.

54And your ^aminds in times past have been ^bdarkened because of^cunbelief, and because you have treated ^dlightly the things you have received—

55Which ^avanity and unbelief have brought the whole church under condemnation.

56And this condemnation resteth upon the children of ^aZion, even all.

57And they shall remain under this condemnation until they repent and remember the new ^acovenant, even the ^bBook of Mormon and the ^cformer commandments which I have given them, not only to say, but to ^ddo according to that which I have written—

One member said that as long as his family was reading scriptures as they should then it didn't matter how anyone else was doing with their scripture reading, his family wouldn't be under condemnation. Essentially, he didn't care what other people were doing; it just mattered that he was doing well. This sounds harsh, but I wanted to yell at him for a considerable while. We are all affected by everyone else. For example, if everyone in the entire ward is strong spiritually, the ward will continue to grow. It's likely that youth will join the church with their families and my son or daughter may end up dating or even marrying people who joined the church simply because of how strong the entire ward was. Our lives are greatly affected by those who are in the church and we have to be extremely invested in how they're doing. I was shocked that a man who had been a member for so long didn't understand that. Elder Choi talks about this idea in his conference talk here: http://lds.org/conference/talk/display/0,5232,49-1-1117-18,00.html

Enoch and the city of Zion was lifted up because everyone was of one heart and one mind and dwelt in righteousness. It's important to me that my family is spiritually strong and that every family in the ward is as well. "No man is an island." :)

3) Why I want the full armor of God? Because it's a better way to live. I really like the Elder Maxwell quote about living well. Something like, "it's important for youth to have more examples and fewer critics, not just so that they know that walking the path and holding onto the iron rod is possible, but also so that they know it is worth doing." - admittedly, this section may get cut and needs more thought.

4) Why it's worth it? Because you'll get to partake in the Sacrament meeting with the Savior and all the great prophets and faithful Saints that will be held at Adam-ondi-Ahman if you do have the full armor of God. That's why D.C. 27 contains the armor of God and a description of that great Sacrament meeting. Pretty cool.

What convinces me that meeting will be so great?

a) Elder Shumway spoke to us about taking the Sacrament with the Prophet and what an amazing experience it is (when I was a missionary). I can only imagine how much better it would be with the Savior there.

b) My own experiences with the Savior and with some of his servants (listening to Pres. Eyring, talking with a temple president, briefly meeting an area seventy, briefly meeting elder Hales, a few others that I'm not thinking of right now :) convince me that being at that meeting alone would be one of the most choice experiences we could ever have. It's so worth it to put on the armor of God in this life to end up there. Great ROI.

Still a lot to do, but this is coming along.

Have a great day

Armor of God

I've got to get my talk done (and lesson prepared) for this week, so I'll focus on those things here. Conference was quite good. I hope you enjoyed it.

Amazing that the whole thing is online immediately when it's done. No waiting around.

I think it's critical that we're to take on the "whole armor of God". In the verses there is armor that protects our head, feet, loins, chest and a sword and shield to cover everything else. Basically, everything is covered in some way, plus there's a potential "offensive" component (not just defensive as most armor is) to the armor (a sword).

This idea of the whole armor makes me think of a few ideas:

1) Our commandments are fairly comprehensive. Most areas are covered by the commandments, particularly when you think about the 13th article of faith and needing to enjoy things that are good.

2) The Sermon on the Mount certainly goes into great detail about the right things to do and things to avoid.

3) Pres. Monson's talk in priesthood session mentioned multiple things we shouldn't do in order to be happy. He even said, "don't do anything you wouldn't be proud of."

I think the plan will be to come up with some stories about how to have the whole armor of God.

A few that come from the top of my head: In LA I would run to work sometimes. There was a gym on the way. If I read scriptures that morning it was 10x more likely that I would choose to not run by the gym or look in than if I didn't. (Now certainly the gym isn't pornographic, and I wouldn't just be checking people out, but I would notice how pretty the women were (or weren't). I don't know why scriptures have such a profound impact on my mind and actions, but they do. Probably because they bring the Spirit.

I'll share a couple more stories later. It'll help me decide which ones to tell.

Have a great day and try to put the whole armor on. :)

Armor of God

I'll post a bit on this over the next couple weeks since that's our Sacrament speaking topic in two weeks. I think the most useful thing I could do is try to take this idea that can be somewhat abstract and make it as tangible as possible. How do we put it on? What are the results of putting it on? Or not putting it on?

Here's the verses in D.C. 27 (also in Ephesians 6)

15Wherefore, ^alift up your hearts and ^brejoice, and ^cgird up your loins, and take upon you my whole ^darmor, that ye may be able to withstand the evil day, having done all, that ye may be able to^estand.

16Stand, therefore, having your loins ^agirt about with ^btruth, having on the ^cbreastplate of ^drighteousness, and your feet shod with the preparation of the ^egospel of ^fpeace, which I have sent mine ^gangels to commit unto you;

17Taking the shield of faith wherewith ye shall be able to quench all the ^afiery darts of the wicked;

18And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of my ^aSpirit, which I will pour out upon you, and my word which I reveal unto you, and be agreed as touching all things whatsoever ye ask of me, and be faithful until I come, and ye shall be ^bcaught up, that where I am ye shall be ^calso. Amen.

I'm not sure how to work it in yet, but there's got to be a reason this comes in the same section that principally talks about the Sacrament including the Sacrament meeting that will be held with the Savior at Adam-ondi-Ahman.

Here's a good quote about the armor of God by N. Eldon Tanner.

“Examine your armor. Is there an unguarded or unprotected place? Determine now to add whatever part is missing. … Through the great principle of repentance you can turn your life about and begin now clothing yourself with the armor of God through study, prayer, and a determination to serve God and keep his commandments.

It comes from this Ensign article: it's got some good thoughts:http://lds.org/ldsorg/v/index.jsp?vgnextoid=024644f8f206c010VgnVCM1000004d82620aRCRD&locale=0&sourceId=588cb9b658f5e110VgnVCM100000176f620a____&hideNav=1

Repeating verse 15 again:

15Wherefore, ^alift up your hearts and ^brejoice, and ^cgird up your loins, and take upon you my whole ^darmor, that ye may be able to withstand the evil day, having done all, that ye may be able to^estand.

I think "whole armor" is an important word. How many people have we lost because they were unprotected in a couple of areas? My aunt's husband was a great guy in many areas but had a weakness for thinking about other women. My good friend from home was good at a lot of things, including serving in his callings and he was very sharp and easy to talk to, but he was not good at scripture reading or being with his wife and made a couple big mistakes. The kid one year older than me in my ward that I thought was most likely to serve a mission out of his family of all his brothers (i.e., bore his testimony a lot; really loved the church) did not because he had a long-time girlfriend and married her instead. Recently I noticed he got a tattoo.

Jesus talks about the whole armor in the sermon on the mount. Throughout Matthew 5 he mentions living what we often refer to as "the higher law". I don't know that I love that characterization. He's essentially helping people avoid the "larger mistakes" listed in the 10 commandments by saying, "don't do things that get you on the path to breaking these larger commandments."

Also, the whole armor of God is definitely necessary "that ye may be able to withstand the evil day, having done all, that ye may be able to^estand."

I'm not exactly sure what the "evil day" is. Perhaps it's these days in general b/c they're a time where wickedness is very easy to find. Or perhaps, it's the very last days in which evil will be so bad the Lord will decide to come to save the righteous from faltering. Or perhaps, it's referring to our specific, individual "evil days". We all have days where difficult or even evil things happen to us or around us and we need to be able to withstand on that particular day.

I think I'll try to mention the different aspects of life that we need to protect that are mentioned by the armor of God section, and how we protect them. Stories will be important to illustrate points. I think this topic in particular can easily be too abstract and not help an individual as much as it otherwise could.

Enjoy your Sunday.

LaDon