Come Listen to the Prophet

In the Sunday morning session the October 2015 General Conference President Thomas S. Monson gave a talk entitled “Be an Example and a Light” towards the end of his talk he started to struggle and slump down and needed help to get back to his seat when he was complete. I have seen a lot of articles on social media about how hard it was to see him like that and how people wished they could have supported him.  I agree this all of this but I think we all are missing the whole point.

Here is our modern day prophet holding to the pulpit with all his might in order to give the instruction the Lord wants him to give. He is using all of his strength to deliver the Lord’s message.  He is willing to stay there until the message is delivered or he will die trying. To me that means that his message must be important! Maybe we better really study it and really ponder it and actually try to implement it in our daily lives! I think we have focused too much on the man and not on the message.

President Monson reminds me of leader from the Book of Mormon. Near the end of his life, King Benjamin gave one of the most powerful sermons ever recorded in the Book of Mormon. Take a look at some of the things that King Benjamin said at the beginning of his speech Mosiah 2: 9&30.

“9 …I have not commanded you to come up hither to trifle with the words which I shall speak, but that you should hearken unto me, and open your ears that ye may hear, and your hearts that ye may understand, and your minds that the mysteries of God may be unfolded to your view.” 

 “30 For even at this time, my whole frame doth tremble exceedingly while attempting to speak unto you; but the Lord God doth support me, and hath suffered me that I should speak unto you…”

King Benjamin then proceeds to give a sermon that resulted in everyone covenanting to follow the Lord and keep His commandments.  That is a pretty impressive sermon! I am not going to spend the time breaking it down and discussing it. Please read it and study it for yourselves. But I don’t think that the Nephites who heard his voice were focused on the fact that their leader “doth tremble exceedingly while attempting to speak”. They were focused on the message and after the sermon the Nephites said in Mosiah 5:2-5 :

2 And they all cried with one voice, saying: Yea, we believe all the words which thou hast spoken unto us; and also, we know of their surety and truth, because of the Spirit of the Lord Omnipotent, which has wrought a mighty change in us, or in our hearts, that we have no more disposition to do evil, but to do good continually.
  3 And we, ourselves, also, through the infinite goodness of God, and the manifestations of his Spirit, have great views of that which is to come; and were it expedient, we could prophesy of all things.
  4 And it is the faith which we have had on the things which our king has spoken unto us that has brought us to this great knowledge, whereby we do rejoice with such exceedingly great joy.
  5 And we are willing to enter into a covenant with our God to do his will, and to be obedient to his commandments in all things that he shall command us, all the remainder of our days, that we may not bring upon ourselves a never-ending torment, as has been spoken by the angel, that we may not drink out of the cup of the wrath of God.

That is very impressive but as far as I can tell, President Monson’s sermon was just as great. It was given directly to us, the saints today. I was going to take out snippets of his words and decided not to. We need to read all of his words and study and ponder them all until we can say: “Yea, we believe all the words which thou hast spoken unto us; and also, we know of their surety and truth, because of the Spirit of the Lord Omnipotent, which has wrought a mighty change in us, or in our hearts, that we have no more disposition to do evil, but to do good continually.”

This is what President Monson wants. This is what the Lord wants. And this is what we need to do.