45: “Jesus Christ, the Author of Eternal Salvation” (Hebrews 1–6)

Segment 1

Scriptures:
Hebrews 2:1 (Take heed)

Links:
The Price of Superstition by Tyson Abaroa
The Cost of Secrets by Tyson Abaroa

Segment 2

Scriptures:
Hebrews 1:2-3 (Christ is heir)
Hebrews 1:6 (Christ is firstborn)
Hebrews 2:16-17 (Christ is our High Priest)
Hebrews 2:10 (Christ is the captain of salvation)
Hebrews 2:6 (Son of man)

Segment 3

Scriptures:
Hebrews 3:1-6 (What Christ builds cannot fall)

Quotes:
Imagine yourself as a living house. God comes in to rebuild that house. At first, perhaps, you can understand what He is doing. He is getting the drains right and stopping leaks in the roof and so on: you knew that those jobs needed doing and so you are not surprised. But presently He starts knocking the house about in a way that hurts abominably and does not seem to make sense. What on earth is He up to? The explanation is that He is building quite a different house from the one you thought of—throwing out a new wing here, putting on an extra floor there, running up towers, making courtyards. You thought you were going to be made into a decent little cottage: but He is building a palace. He intends to come and live in it Himself. (C.S. Lewis, Mere Christianity, (New York: Touchstone, 1996))

Segment 4

Scriptures:
Hebrews 4:3-5 (Enter His rest)
Hebrews 4:8-10 (Rest from works)

Words of the Prophets:
From this we understand that in this life “the rest of the Lord” comes as we increase our knowledge of, and faith in, the reality of Jesus Christ, even to the assurance that He lives and loves us. “The rest of the Lord” in eternity is entering into the presence of the Lord. (W. Craig Zwick, “Enter into the Rest of the Lord”, February 2012 Ensign)

The ancient prophets speak of "entering into God's rest"; what does it mean? To my mind, it means entering into the knowledge and love of God, having faith in his purpose and in his plan, to such an extent that we know we are right, and that we are not hunting for something else, we are not disturbed by every wind of doctrine, or by the cunning and craftiness of men who lie in wait to deceive. We know of the doctrine that it is of God, and we do not ask any questions of anybody about it; they are welcome to their opinions, to their ideas and to their vagaries. The man who has reached that degree of faith in God that all doubt and fear have been cast from him, he has entered into "God's rest," and he need not fear the vagaries of men, nor their cunning and craftiness, by which they seek to deceive and mislead him from the truth. I pray that we may all enter into God's rest—rest from doubt, from fear, from apprehension of danger, rest from the religious turmoil of the world; from the cry that is going forth, here and there—lo, here is Christ; lo, there is Christ; lo, he is in the desert, come ye out to meet him. The man who has found God's rest will not be disturbed by these vagaries of men, for the Lord has told him, and does tell us: Go not out to seek them: Go not out to hunt them; for when Christ shall come, he will come with the army of heaven with him in the clouds of glory, and all eyes shall see him. We do not need to be hunting for Christ here or Christ there, or prophets here and prophets there.—Oct. C. R., 1909, p. 8.  (John A. Widtsoe, Joseph F. Smith, “Gospel Doctrine: Selections from the Sermons and Writings of Joseph F. Smith” Deseret Book Company, 1919.)

Segment 5

Scriptures:
Hebrews 4:16 (Promise of hope)

Segment 6

Scriptures:
Hebrews 6:10-11 (God is not unjust)
Hebrews 6:13-15 (God keeps His promise)
CR: D&C 132:29
Hebrews 6:16-20 (Covenant keeping)

Words of the Prophets:
Samuel Smiles wrote: “‘Hope is like the sun, which, as we journey towards it, casts the shadow of our burden behind us.’ … Hope sweetens the memory of experiences well loved. It tempers our troubles to our growth and our strength. It befriends us in dark hours, excites us in bright ones. It lends promise to the future and purpose to the past. It turns discouragement to determination.”

Hope is the anchor of our souls. I know of no one who is not in need of hope—young or old, strong or weak, rich or poor. As the prophet Ether exhorted, “Wherefore, whoso believeth in God might with surety hope for a better world, yea, even a place at the right hand of God, which hope cometh of faith, maketh an anchor to the souls of men, which would make them sure and steadfast, always abounding in good works, being led to glorify God.”  Everybody in this life has their challenges and difficulties. That is part of our mortal test. The reason for some of these trials cannot be readily understood except on the basis of faith and hope because there is often a larger purpose which we do not always understand. Peace comes through hope. (James E. Faust, “Hope, an Anchor of the Soul”, October 1999 General Conference)

If you ever think that the gospel isn’t working so well for you, I invite you to step back, look at your life from a higher plane, and simplify your approach to discipleship. (Dieter F. Uchtdorf, “It Works Wonderfully!”, October 2015 General Conference)