Sacrifice
Sacrifice
This world is the place of sacrifice. We all came here to make sacrifices. We wanted to come here; we knew it would require sacrifice to produce the faith necessary for salvation, and we gladly came. Christ is the great prototype of the “saved man,” according to The Lectures on Faith. He came and gave Himself as a sacrifice, and we are to “follow Him” if we are to be saved. We came here to lay on the altar everything: our desires, appetites, passions, and everything with which the Lord has blessed us. Abraham put his beloved son on the altar, intending to kill him and then burn his remains, because God asked it of him. He did not refuse. However bitter, terrible and painful the request, the Lord asked it of Abraham, and he proceeded to offer it. No one obtains the faith necessary for salvation unless they are prepared to sacrifice all things to God. Faith for salvation cannot otherwise be obtained. Read the Lectures on Faith and see it is all set out there.1 Now I do not expect anyone to be asked to sacrifice their only child. Nor to be told to kill someone and take their possessions. What I expect is that in the context of the life someone has lived or is living, they will be asked to do, or not do, something which is so specific to them that they alone will understand why it is a sacrifice to them. If asked of another, it may be completely insignificant. But when asked of them, it will be exactly what the person will struggle to place on the Lord’s altar. Hence the term sacrifice with its partial meaning of parting with something involving great value to them. However, it is not possible to rule anything in or out — the Lord alone will know you and what is required for you to obtain this faith. The requirements for obtaining this kind of faith are the same for every man or woman who has ever lived. Without making the sacrifice it is not possible to obtain the faith.2
1 “Sacrifice,” Dec. 12, 2011, www.denversnuffer.com/blog
2 “Belief Becomes Knowledge,” May 5, 2010, www.denversnuffer.com/blog
Lectures on Faith: Lecture 6
7 Let us here observe, that a religion that does not require the sacrificeof all things, never has power sufficient to produce the faith necessary unto life and salvation; for from the first existence of man, the faith necessary unto the enjoyment of life and salvation never could be obtained without the sacrificeof all earthly things: it was through this sacrifice, and this only, that God has ordained that men should enjoy eternal life; and it is through the medium of the sacrificeof all earthly things, that men do actually know that they are doing the things that are well pleasing in the sight of God. When a man has offered in sacrificeall that he has, for the truth’s sake, not even withholding his life, and believing before God that he has been called to make this sacrifice, because he seeks to do his will, he does know most assuredly, that God does and will accept his sacrificeand offering, and that he has not nor will not seek his face in vain. Under these circumstances, then, he can obtain the faith necessary for him to lay hold on eternal life.
8 It is in vain for persons to fancy to themselves that they are heirs with those, or can be heirs with them, who have offered their all in sacrifice, and by this means obtained faith in God and favor with him so as to obtain eternal life, unless they in like manner offer unto him the same sacrifice, and through that offering obtain the knowledge that they are accepted of him.
9 It was in offering sacrificesthat Abel, the first martyr, obtained knowledge that he was accepted of God. And from the days of righteous Abel to the present time, the knowledge that men have that they are accepted in the sight of God, is obtained by offering sacrifice: and in the last days, before the Lord comes, he is to gather together his saints who have made a covenant with him by sacrifice. Psalms 50:3-5: Our God shall clime, and shall not keep silence: a fire shall devour before him, and it shall be very tempestuous round about him. He shall call to the heavens from above, and to the earth, that he may judge his people. Gather my saints together unto me; those that have made a covenant unto me by sacrifice.
10 Those, then, who make the sacrificewill have the testimony that their course is pleasing in the sight of God, and those who have this testimony will have faith to lay hold on eternal life, and will be enabled, through faith, to endure unto the end, and receive the crown that is laid up for them that love the appearing of our Lord Jesus Christ. But those who do not make thesacrificecannot enjoy this faith, because men are dependent upon this sacrificein order to obtain this faith; therefore, they cannot lay hold upon eternal life, because the revelations of God do not guarantee unto them the authority so to do; and without this guarantee faith could not exist.
11 All the saints of whom we have account in all the revelations of God which are extant, obtained the knowledge which they had of their acceptance in his sight, through the sacrificewhich they offered unto him: and through the knowledge thus obtained, their faith became sufficiently strong to lay hold upon the promise of eternal life, and to endure us seeing him who is invisible; and were enabled, through faith, to combat the powers of darkness, contend against the wiles of the adversary, overcome the world, and obtain the end of their faith, even the salvation of their souls.
12 But those who have not made this sacrificeto God, do not know that the course which they pursue is well pleasing in his sight; for whatever may be their belief or their opinion, it is a matter of doubt and uncertainty in their mind; and where doubt and uncertainty is, there faith is not, nor can it be. For doubt and faith do not exist in the same person at the same time. So that persons whose minds are under doubts and fears cannot have unshaken confidence, and where unshaken confidence is not, there faith is weak, and where faith is weak, the persons will not be able to contend against all the opposition, tribulations and afflictions which they will have to encounter in order to be heirs of God, and joint heirs with Christ Jesus; and they will grow weary in their minds, and the adversary will have power over them and destroy them.
2 …The axe is laid at the root of the trees, and every tree that brings not forth good fruit shall be hewn down and cast into the fire. I the Lord have spoken it.
3Verily I say unto you, All among them who know their hearts are honest, and are broken, and their spirits contrite, and are willing to observe their covenants by sacrifice, yea every sacrificewhich I the Lord shall command, they are all accepted of me, for I the Lord will cause them to bring forth as a very fruitful tree, which is planted in a goodly land, by a pure stream, that yields much precious fruit.
4Verily I say unto you, that it is my will that an house should be built unto me in the land of Zion like unto the pattern which I have given you. Yea, let it be built speedily by the tithing of my people. Behold, this is the tithing and the sacrificewhich I the Lord require at their hands that there may be an house built unto me for the salvation of Zion…” (T&C 96:2-4)
9We read in Genesis 4th Chapter, verse 4 [Gen. 3:7], that…Abel, he also brought, of the firstlings of the flock and of the fat thereof. And the Lord had respect unto Abel and to his offering. And again, Hebrews 11th Chapter, 4thverse [Heb. 1:37]: By faith Abel offered unto God a more excellent sacrificethan Cain, by which he obtained witness that he was righteous, God testifying of his gifts: and by it he being dead yet speaketh.
12 The power, glory, and blessings of the Priesthood could not continue with those who received ordination, only as their righteousness continued. For Cain also being authorized to offer sacrifice, but not offering it in righteousness, therefore he was cursed. It signifies then that the ordinances must be kept in the very way God has appointed, otherwise their priesthood will prove a cursing instead of a blessing. If Cain had fulfilled the law of righteousness, as did Enoch, he could have walked with God all the days of his life and never failed of a blessing. (T&C 140:9, 12)
3 …Those who love their life will lose it, but those willing to sacrifice their life in this world will obtain endless lives, worlds without end. If any man is loyal to me, let him follow me and every upward step I achieve, there will my loyal followers join me. Any who are loyal to me, my Father will approve. (The Testimony of St. John 9:3)
10 …In the name of Father Ahman I declare to you, the individual who trusts me, what
I have accomplished he will also. Followers will also accomplish the greater works I do next. Followers will also finish the path, as I am now concluding, at the place my Father dwells. As he helps me, I will help you, and you will accomplish what I have along with the greater sacrifice I have yet to finish. And whatever you shall ask in my name, I will answer, so that the Father may be glorified by the honor shown his Son. If you shall ask any thing in my name, I will answer. (The Testimony of St. John 10:10)
Glossary—Charity: …This [charity] is never given unless the recipient is willing to do things he would rather not, thereby offering himself as a sacrificeto God. No one is trusted by God to hold this honor unless he will subordinate his will to the will of the Father. (T&C Glossary of Terms, “Charity”)
Glossary—Covenant: Paragraph 9 of Lecture Sixth says, And in the last days, before the Lord comes, he is to gather together his saints who have made a covenant with him by sacrifice. This event will be in the “last days” but still “before” His Second Coming. The wording is important. A covenant will be made “by” sacrifice, and not a covenant “to” sacrifice. Only through actually sacrificingis it possible to obtain a covenant with the Lord. (T&C Glossary, “Covenant”)