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Peace on Earth, Good will towards men www.Kevinhinckley. com

Peace on Earth, Good will towards men

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Page 1: Peace on Earth, Good will towards men

Peace on Earth, Good will towards men

www.Kevinhinckley.com

Page 2: Peace on Earth, Good will towards men
Page 3: Peace on Earth, Good will towards men

President HinckleyA boy who came down to breakfast one morning and

said to his father, "Dad, I was dreaming about you last night."      "You were?“"Yes."What were you dreaming?“

"I was dreaming that I was climbing a ladder to heaven, and on each rung of the ladder as I went up, I had to write one of my sins.“

His father said, "Yes, where do I come into your dream?“The boy said, "As I was going up, I met you coming down for

more chalk."

Page 4: Peace on Earth, Good will towards men

President Hinckley

Occasionally in times of meditation I reflect on that question posed by the angel in the vision given Nephi: "Knowest thou the condescension of God?" (1 Ne. 11:16).

Condescend is an interesting word. It means to drop down to a less dignified level and to cast aside the privileges of rank. He was the very Son of God, the child of the Almighty, the creator of the earth under the direction of His divine father. John says that "without him was not any thing made that was made" (John 1:3).

But He willingly and knowingly, as the major participant in the eternal plan of God, set aside every privilege pertaining to His divine sonship and came to earth under the most humble of circumstances. He was born among a conquered people, in a vassal state, into a society where there was much of conflict and bitterness and hate.

(Gordon B. Hinckley, Teachings of Gordon B. Hinckley, p.281-282-)

Question:Was it necessary that He “condescend”?

Page 5: Peace on Earth, Good will towards men

Elder NelsonCaravans stayed at what was then known (and is still known) as a caravansary, or a khan… Such a facility is typically

rectangular in shape. It has a central courtyard for the animals that is surrounded by walled cubicles where the people rest. These quarters allowed guests to be elevated slightly above their animals with open doorways so that owners could watch over their animals.

As a youngster, whenever I heard those words "no room in the inn," I assumed that No Vacancy signs were posted at local motels or that the innkeepers were inhospitable or even hostile. Such an assumption is probably way off the mark. People of that part of the world were no doubt then as they are now--most hospitable. Particularly would this have been true at a season when the normal population of Jerusalem and neighboring Bethlehem would be swollen with large numbers of relatives.

At a caravansary, animals were secured for the night in the center courtyard. In that courtyard there would have been donkeys and dogs, sheep, and possibly camels and oxen, along with all of the animals' discharges and odors. Because the guest chambers surrounding the courtyard were filled, Joseph possibly made the decision to care for Mary's delivery in the center courtyard of a caravansary--among the animals. There, in that lowly circumstance, the Lamb of God was born.

Page 6: Peace on Earth, Good will towards men

Elder Nelson Continues

Why was reference made twice in Luke 2 to His being wrapped in swaddling clothes? What is the meaning of those five words

"wrapped him in swaddling clothes"?

I sense a significance beyond the use of an ordinary diaper and receiving blanket. Instead of those five words in the English text, only one word is needed in the Greek New Testament. That word is sparganoo, which means to envelop a newborn child with special cloth, strips of which were passed from side to side. The cloth would probably bear unique family identification. That procedure was especially applicable to the birth of a firstborn son.

I think that such a concept of a cloth with family markings might also have been relevant when Joseph, son of Israel, became the birthright son and received the unique cloth coat of many colors--a fabric symbolic of the birthright.

Then the soldiers of the governor took Jesus into the common hall, and gathered unto him the whole band [of soldiers].

And they stripped him, and put on him a scarlet robe.

And when they had platted a crown of thorns, they put [it] upon his head, and a reed in his right hand: and they bowed the knee before him, and mocked him, saying, Hail, King of the Jews!

(Matt 27:27-29)

Page 7: Peace on Earth, Good will towards men

Elder McConkie

"Witnesses, testifying of the truth and divinity of any given gospel verity,

prepare the way for others to gain the same sure knowledge possessed by the one who bears the original testimony" (New Witness 446).

"In every dispensation, from Adam to the present, two or more witnesses have always joined their testimonies, thus leaving their hearers without excuse in the day of judgment should the testimony be rejected" (Mormon Doctrine)

Page 8: Peace on Earth, Good will towards men

John 10

I am come that they might have life, and that they might have it

more abundantly.I am the good shepherd; the good shepherd giveth his life

for his sheep. And the shepherd is not as a hireling, whose own the sheep are not, who seeth the wolf coming, and leaveth the sheep, and fleeth; and the wolf catcheth the sheep and scattereth them.

For I am the good shepherd, and know my sheep, and am known of mine.

Page 9: Peace on Earth, Good will towards men

Luke 2

And there were in the same country shepherds

abiding in the field, keeping watch over their flock by night.

Page 10: Peace on Earth, Good will towards men

Elder Gerald LundOne of these verses is frequently misquoted:

"Keeping watch over their flocks by night." But the verse does not say flocks, plural, but flock, singular.

One scholar explained the significance: "There was near Bethlehem, on the road to Jerusalem, a tower known as Migdal Eder, or the watchtower of the flock. Here was the station where shepherds watched the flocks destined for sacrifice in the temple. . . .

It was a settled conviction among the Jews that the Messiah was to be born in Bethlehem, and equally that he was to be revealed from Migdal Eder. The beautiful significance of the revelation of the infant Christ to shepherds watching the flocks destined for sacrifice needs no comment.

The flock mentioned in the scripture, then, apparently was the one used for temple sacrifices, and the shepherds thus had responsibility for the most important flock in the region. (Gerald N. Lund, Selected Writings of Gerald N. Lund: Gospel Scholars Series , p.144)

Page 11: Peace on Earth, Good will towards men

Luke 2

And there were in the same country shepherds abiding in

the field, keeping watch over their flock by night.

And, lo, the angel of the Lord came upon them, and the glory of the

Lord shone round about them: and they were sore afraid.And the angel said unto them, Fear not: for, behold, I bring

you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people.For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Saviour,

which is Christ the Lord.

Page 12: Peace on Earth, Good will towards men

Elder MaxwellAt times Nephi, like Paul, was perplexed. Nevertheless he modeled for us when he trustingly said, "I know that [God] loveth his children; nevertheless, I do not know the meaning of all things" For us in this time of "distress of nations, with perplexity," gospel perspective is vital if we are to endure it well.

We will not always know the full meaning of what is happening to us or around us, but like Nephi we can still know that God loves us personally and will see us through our difficult or down times.

Mary, in the midst of her wonderment at the birth of Jesus, needed time to ponder all that the visiting shepherds and others had said. So she trusted; and “pondered them in her heart" . Bright and perceptive, Mary still doubtless found, as did Alma, that she could not "speak the smallest part" of what she felt.

(Neal A. Maxwell, If Thou Endure It Well [Salt Lake City: Bookcraft, 1996], 58.)

Page 13: Peace on Earth, Good will towards men

Elder Russell Nelson

I share comforting counsel with you today. It comes from section 68 of the

Doctrine and Covenants, where we read this commandment from our Master: "Be of good cheer, and do not fear, for I the Lord am with you, and will stand by you; and ye shall bear record of me, even

Jesus Christ, that I am the Son of the living God, that I was, that I am, and that I am to come."

Lovingly we cling to that promise. Difficult days are ahead for all mankind. Sin is on the increase. We live in a time of wars and rumors of wars. The Church and its members will come under attack and endure persecution.

Jesus descended below all things in order to rise above all things. He expects us to follow His example. Yoked with Him, we can rise above all challenges, no matter how difficult they may be. Peter offered this counsel: "If any man suffer as a Christian, let him not be ashamed; but let him glorify God on this behalf."