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Showing posts with the label Ezra T. Benson

The Word of Wisdom (Ezra T. Benson)

When we first heard the revelation upon the Word of Wisdom many of us thought it consisted merely in our [not] drinking tea and coffee, but it is not only [not] using tea and coffee and our tobacco and whisky, but it is every other evil which is calculated to contaminate this people.  The Word of Wisdom implies to cease from adultery, to cease from all manner of excesses, and from all kinds of wickedness and abomination that are common amongst this generation—it is, strictly speaking, keeping the commandments of God, and living by every word that proceedeth from His mouth.  This is the way I understand the Word of Wisdom, consequently we have to keep all the commandments…in connection with the Word of Wisdom, in order to obtain the blessings, for unless we do keep the commandments of God, and not offend in any one point, we have not full claim upon the blessings promised in connection with this portion of the word of the Lord. Ezra T. Benson, Journal of Discourses 2:358

"infinite love for us..." (Benson)

“No mortal being had the power or the capability to redeem all other mortals from their lost and fallen condition, nor could any other voluntarily forfeit his life and thereby bring to pass a universal resurrection for other mortals.  Only Jesus Christ was able and willing to accomplish such a redeeming act of love.  We may never understand nor comprehend in mortality how He accomplished what He did, but we must not fail to understand why He did what He did.  Everything He did was prompted by his unselfishness, infinite love for us.” President Ezra Taft Benson - Ensign , Nov. 1983, 7

3 steps to avoid being deceived (Benson)

“May I suggest three short tests to avoid being deceived… What do the standard works have to say about it?… The second guide is: what do the latter-day Presidents of the Church have to say on the subject–particularly the living President?… The third and final test is the Holy Ghost…This test can only be fully effective if one’s channels of communication with God are clean and virtuous and uncluttered with sin.” President Ezra Taft Benson -Conference Report, Oct. 1963, 16-17

the pattern of Christ (Benson)

"That man is greatest and most blessed and joyful whose life most closely fits the pattern of the Christ. This has nothing to do with earthly wealth, power, or prestige. The only true test of greatness, blessedness, joyfulness is how close a life can come to being like the Master, Jesus Christ. He is the right way, the full truth, and the abundant life." —President Ezra Taft Benson

we do not have to prove the Book of Mormon is true (Benson)

We do not have to prove the Book of Mormon is true.  The book is its own proof.  All we need to do is read it and declare it.  The Book of Mormon is not on trial–the people of the world, including members of the Church, are on trial as to what they will do with this second witness for Christ. President Ezra Taft Benson - A Witness and a Warning,  13

the Word of the Lord (Benson)

"However diligent we may be in other areas, certain blessings are to be found only in the scriptures, only in coming to the word of the Lord and holding fast to it as we make our way through the mists of darkness to the tree of life."  (President Ezra T. Benson, Ensign, May 1986, 79)

let us not treat lightly the great things we have received (Benson)

"Let us not treat lightly the great things we have received from the hand of the Lord! His word is one of the most valuable gifts he has given us. I urge you to recommit yourselves to a study of the scriptures. Immerse yourselves in them daily so that you will have the power of the Spirit to attend you in your callings."  (President Ezra T. Benson, Ensign, May 1986, 2)

What is death like? (Dr. Peter Marshall)

What is death like? Here is a simple incident as told by Dr. Peter Marshall, chaplain of the United States Senate: In a certain home, a little boy, the only son, was ill with an incurable disease. Month after month the mother had tenderly nursed him, but as the weeks went by and he grew no better, the little fellow gradually began to understand the meaning of death and he, too, realized that soon he was to die. One day his mother had been reading the story of King Arthur and the Knights of the Round Table, and as she closed the book the boy lay silent for a moment, then asked the question that had been laying on his heart. “Mother, what is it like to die? Mother, does it hurt?” Quick tears filled her eyes. She sprang to her feet and fled to the kitchen, supposedly to go get something. She prayed on the way a silent prayer that the Lord would tell her what to say, and the Lord did tell her. Immediately she knew how to explain it to him. She said as she returned from the kitchen, “Ke