Lectures on Faith 1: 18-24

Intro | Preface
Lecture 1: 1 |  2-9 | 10-11 | 12-17 | 18-24

Here at the end of the lecture, after describing what true Faith is, we finally get to the examples in scripture of those who obtained and exercised this Faith:

"The Savior says, Matthew 17:19-20, in explaining the reason why the disciples could not cast out the devil, that it was because of their unbelief: 'For verily, I say unto you,' said he, 'if ye have faith as a grain of mustard seed, ye shall say unto this mountain, Remove hence to yonder place! — and it shall remove; and nothing shall be impossible unto you' " (para. 18).

Back in the intro to this study, I mentioned what the Book of Mormon means by "unbelief." Christ said this caused of His disciples to lack both power and Faith. So, if having Faith in the right things is key to moving mountains, what are those right things? Joseph gets back to that in the next Lectures, so I'll cover that later.

As for moving mountains, look at the wording Joseph used: "If ye have faith . . . ye shall say unto this mountain. . ." Every time I've read this verse, I've seen it as saying "mustard seed-sized faith is all you need to move mountains." That doesn't seem to be what its saying. Rather, it seems to be describing a process. It seems to be saying "if you currently have as much faith as a tiny mustard seed, you will eventually have enough faith to move mounains," since "shall" would here refer to a promise they will later receive (1828 dictionary). In fact, Christ taught this "mustard seed" likeness after His parables about the Kingdom of God (Matthew 13: 31-32); the mustard seed needed to grow into a tree before it could house the Gifts and Hosts of Heaven, as symbolized by the birds (TPJS, pg. 98).

This seems to be a process, then, that necessarily begins as small as a seed sprouting underground, out of sight, until it gains the strength to appear before the world. Here are the examples of mature Faith Joseph gave:

"Moroni, while abridging and compiling the record of his fathers, has given us the following account of faith as the principle of power: he says, in Ether 12, that it was the faith of Alma and Amulek which caused the walls of the prison to be rent, as recorded in Alma 14: 26-29; that it was the faith of Nephi and Lehi which caused a change to be wrought upon the hearts of the Lamanites when they were immersed with the holy spirit and with fire, as seen in Hel. 5: 45-50; and that it was by faith the mountain Zerin was removed when the brother of Jared spake in the name of the Lord. See also Ether 12: 30. In addition to this we are told in Hebrews 11:32-35, that Gideon, Barak, Samson, Jephthah, David, Samuel, and the prophets, through faith subdued kingdoms, wrought righteousness, obtained promises, stopped the mouths of lions, quenched the violence of fire, escaped the edge of the sword, out of weakness were made strong, waxed valiant in fight, turned to flight the armies of the aliens, and that women received their dead raised to life again, etc. Also, Joshua, in the sight of all Israel, bade the sun and moon to stand still, and it was done. Joshua 10:12" (para. 19-21)

This is quite an impressive list; for us in our Hollywood-focused media, this sounds like something that'd fit right into any superhero movie. However, I came across a question in another discussion on this Lecture that added a new dimension to these powers, and to the phrase "principle of power:"

"Whose power?"

Are these scriptures describing people who wielded their own mystical powers, to the awe and wonder of their onlookers? Were they seeking to fulfill their own wills and desires?

Or are these scriptures describing people who acted on God's errand, did God's will, and received God's power only to fulfill His will? Were they simply declaring God's word and delivering His power?

Look at the wording. It's not Alma and Amulek that destroyed the prison; it was their Faith. It wasn't the Brother of Jared who moved Mt. Zerin; it was his Faith, as he spoke "in the name of the Lord." Read through the scriptures Joseph listed and decide for yourself. But to me, it certainly looks like any power demonstrated by those with true Faith must be demonstrated in conformity to God's will. Even if, technically, a person has received some portion of God's power, they are only borrowing that power, and must use it according to God's will.

Two examples fortify this interpretation for me: Nephi and Moses.

For Moses, after the children of Israel started rioting against Moses for water, God told him to speak to a rock in order to bring forth water (Numbers 20: 2-3, 7-8). However, he had already been entrusted with a portion of God's power. Instead of speaking to the rock, he complained to the people of Israel of how much work they expected of him, and smacked the rock twice with his staff. Water still came forth from the rock, but because Moses didn't do it in the way God directed, he was punished: he would not be allowed to enter the promised land. (vs. 10-12)

On the other hand, Nephi had also received a portion of God's power when he broke his brothers' bands out in the desert. (1 Ne. 7: 16-18) Therefore, when they tied him up again on the boat, they had already seen him break out once before. But this time, Nephi didn't get to break himself free; he was required to stay in those bands for about four days, causing great swelling in his hands and wrists (1 Ne. 18: 9-16). If he had broken out again, instead of submitting patiently, perhaps Laman and Lemuel wouldn't have received the broken hearts necessary for the Liahona to guide them. Whatever would have happened, it wouldn't have been a blessing for Nephi to exercise this power at his own will; it would have proven to be a cursing instead (D&C 41: 1).

Joseph sums up the examples (and the whole Lecture) like this: "We here understand that the sacred writers say that all these things were done by faith. It was by faith that the worlds were framed: God spake, chaos heard, and worlds came into order by reason of the faith there was in him. So with man also: he spake by faith in the name of God and the sun stood still, the moon obeyed, mountains removed, prisons fell, lions’ mouths were closed, the human heart lost its enmity, fire its violence, armies their power, the sword its terror, and death its dominion, and all this by reason of the faith which was in him. Had it not been for the faith which was in man, they might have spoken to the sun, the moon, the mountains, prisons, lions, the human heart, fire, armies, the sword, or to death in vain!" (para. 22-23)

Note the wording: "spake . . . in the name of God," or doing so "in vain." This mirrors the commandment "Thou shalt not take the name of the Lord thy God in vain (Mosiah 13: 15)." That's another tie to the idea that these powers must be at the Lord's direction; otherwise, we would appear to others to act "in the name of God," as though we had the Lord's approval, when we did not. That would be taking the Lord's name in vain, in this case.

By these descriptions, it seems clear that these powers are inseparably connected to true Faith in God, tested and tried over time to prove such Faith and obedience is true. A Sioux Holy Man by the name of Frank Fools Crow taught this same thing. He considered himself to simply be a "hollow bone," or someone who cleans himself out (through obedience and sacrifice) to deliver God's power to his people for healing and guidance. "The cleanest bones serve Wakan-Tanka and the Helpers (Sioux names for God the Father and His Angels) the best, and medicine and holy people work the hardest to become clean. The cleaner the bone, the more water you can pour through it, and the faster it will run. It is this way with us and power, and the holy person is the one who becomes the cleanest of all." (Fools Crow: Wisdom and Power, p. 26)

It takes work to clean out a bone, to make it into a pipe; but once it's cleansed, nothing would obstruct or taint the flow of water. It would simply be pure water, unaffected by the bone, to the health and healing of whoever needed it. 

By the looks of it, we can't expect to just pay some guru to teach us how to harness the universe; rather, we have to work at cleansing ourselves, repenting, and holding true to our Faith throughout the tests that will inevitably come. Thankfully, we have these examples in our scriptures to show such things are possible.

There is an ancient Taoist saying that says "The sage is he who has attained the central point of the wheel and proves it without himself participating in the movement and remains bound to the Unvarying Mean." It's pretty tricky grammar--as many ancient Chinese proverbs are when translated into English--but to put it plainer, it says "The sage is he who truly understands where the center of the circle is, and proves it by centering his outward actions around that point, always bound in his movement to that which never varies." The sage's actions reveal God to us, as if God is the center point which the sage draws a perfect circle around. And, as was mentioned in the post on this Lecture's first paragraph, if "religion" means to bind us to God, then the purpose of religion would be to make us all sages, "bound to the Unvarying Mean," or to God. As Moses put it, "Would God that all the Lord's people were prophets, and that the Lord would put His spirit upon them!" (Numbers 11: 26-29)

This teaching can also be found in one of the temple's oft-repeated symbols: the circle within the square.

Like in the Taoist saying above, the circle often symbolizes God, the Highest Power, the Ruler of all things, and the Unity among the Divine (as the Father and the Son are united as one; see John 17: 21-23 and TPJS, pg. 372). Numerically, it's compared to the number 1. The square, like the number 4--which I described in that post on the lightning strike--symbolizes the Earth, or Mortality. In that way, this symbol refers to bringing Heaven to reside on Earth, which temples ideally facilitate.

This is how God's will is done on Earth as it is in Heaven: by a Temple making God's will visible and tangible on this fallen Earth, because Heaven dwells in that Earthly Temple, "which Temple ye are" (1 Cor. 3: 16-17; see also 3 Ne. 24: 1). There's a lot that can be said on this topic, but I believe the topic comes up again in these Lectures, so I'll leave it here. (If not, the topic's worth its own post anyway.)

"Faith, then, is the first great governing principle which has power, dominion, and authority over all things: by it they exist, by it they are upheld, by it they are changed, or by it they remain, agreeably to the will of God. (If it's true Faith, it can't be any other way.) Without it there is no power, and without power there could be no creation, nor existence!" (para. 24, emphasis added)

Faith is the power behind everything that exists, everything that happens, and even everything we think. And as we have Faith in God, all things can be possible, as long as it's according to His will. Seems like this is something important, if not vital, to understand and obtain in our lives.

In the next Lectures, Joseph will show how this saving Faith is obtained.