Latest / Scripture Central / ”Stand Forever” Ep. 2 | Reason Down, and Believe | Elder Lawrence E. Corbridge

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”Stand Forever” Ep. 2 | Reason Down, and Believe | Elder Lawrence E. Corbridge · Scripture Central

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  We constantly witness realities far greater than the
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  resurrection. The most phenomenal occurrences
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  of all time are the most common. Far less significant than the
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  healing of the withered hand is the existence of the hand in the
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  1st place. Is there anything greater than
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  those realities? Undeniable, provable, beyond any
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  question, dispute or doubt? They require no faith.
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  Just look around and bleed. We may all be taken back from
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  time to time by the extraordinary, such as walking
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  on the water, multiplying bread and fish, raising the dead,
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  translating gold plates with special lenses or a stone and a
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  hat in the visitation of angels. Some people are hard pressed to
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  believe extraordinary things. And while it is understandable
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  that we may be challenged by the extraordinary, we shouldn't be
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  because ordinary things are actually far more phenomenal.
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  Hello, I'm Larry Corbridge, and this is episode 2 of the Stand
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  Forever series. In the last episode, we looked
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  at the big picture, the primary overarching framework for the
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  whole of the series. It looks like this A.
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  The essential problem in life is separation from God, our Father.
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  Without God, chaos, darkness, and death prevail.
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  B Jesus Christ bridges the gap if we will believe and follow
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  Him to the end and help others do the same.
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  He is the way, offsetting chaos, the truth, offsetting darkness,
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  the life, offsetting death. See, Therefore, cross the bridge
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  and close the gap, Believe and follow Christ to the end and
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  help others do the same. That's the overarching
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  framework. With this and the next episode.
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  We begin really at the end with the conclusion of the entire
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  series, just to make clear our destination, which is to believe
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  and follow Christ to the end and help others do the same.
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  Today the focus is simply believe.
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  One of the most profound ways of learning is through the
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  discovery of patterns in history and in Scripture. 2 important
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  patterns are that of a syllogism and reason down.
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  A syllogism is a form of deductive reasoning in which a
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  conclusion is drawn from 2 related assertions or premises.
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  The three parts of the syllogism are a the major premise, B the
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  minor premise, and C the conclusion.
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  For example, A smoking causes cancer, BI don't want to get
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  cancer C therefore what I won't smoke.
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  This framework for thinking and teaching is simple, but it's
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  also very powerful. The Lord often teaches this way
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  rather than only telling us what we should do, which again is C
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  the conclusion. He usually explains why and how
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  A&B leading us to correct conclusions.
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  For example, Doctrine and Covenant section 14, verse 7 is
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  essentially A syllogism. The Lord says eternal life is
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  the greatest of the gifts of God.
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  That's the why. B.
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  If you keep my commandments and endure to the end, you shall
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  have eternal life. That's the how.
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  See, therefore, what obviously keep God's commandments and
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  endure to the end. That's the conclusion, or in
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  other words, the what, the why, the how, and the what.
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  The conclusion is often implicit, as in this instance,
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  because it's so obvious that it goes without saying.
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  The only reason to not reach the conclusion is if you disbelieve
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  either of the two assertions are premises.
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  Otherwise, the only reasonable conclusion is to keep the
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  commandments and endure to the end.
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  The Lord usually does not tell us what to do without explaining
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  why and how. Here's another example.
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  Jesus said blessed are the merciful for they shall obtain
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  mercy rather than merely say forgive one another.
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  Blessed are the merciful for they shall obtain mercy.
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  Is actually a syllogism. It looks like this AI may be
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  forgiven. As I forgive others BI need to
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  be forgiven. C Therefore what I will forgive
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  others. Unless you can dispute either
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  premise, there's only one logical conclusion, which is
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  forgive. That is what great teachers do.
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  They lead people to inescapable correct conclusions.
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  That is how Christ taught. A final example is really the
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  whole of the King Benjamin sermon.
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  He said A awake to a remembrance of the awful situation of those
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  that have fallen into transgression, which is
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  everyone. B.
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  He said, The Lord Omnipotent, who reigneth, who was and is,
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  from all eternity to all eternity, cometh unto his own,
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  that salvation might come unto the children of man, even threw
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  faith on his name. See therefore in the words of
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  King Benjamin. If he believe these things, see
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  that you do them. Take heed that you do not
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  transgress, that the name of Christ not be blotted out of
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  your hearts. Understanding the pattern of
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  syllogisms. Let's now piece together an
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  important syllogism threaded throughout Scripture, which I
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  call Reason down. If you understand reason down,
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  not only will your faith be fortified, but you will know
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  that with God all things are possible, and nothing should be
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  hard to believe. On one occasion Jesus was
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  confronted by a Father and his troubled Son in the midst of a
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  great multitude. And the Father said, Master, I
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  have brought unto thee my Son, which hath a dumb spirit, and
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  where wheresoever he taketh him, he teareth him, and he foameth
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  and gnasheth his teeth, and he pineth away.
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  And I spake to thy disciples. And they should, that they
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  should cast him out, but they could not.
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  He went on to plead with the Lord, saying, If thou canst do
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  anything, have compassion on us and help us.
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  Jesus then said to him, If thou canst believe, all things are
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  possible to him that believeth. And straightway the father of
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  the child cried out and said with tears, these interesting
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  words, Lord, I believe, help thou mine unbelief.
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  Again, as I said, this is a very interesting response from the
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  Father. He said he believed but was but
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  feared it was not sufficient, that his belief was
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  insufficient. He hoped Christ could do
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  something for his Son, long plagued with an unclean spirit.
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  But his greater cry was Help thou mine unbelief.
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  He instinctively understood the dimension and hierarchy of
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  life's various problems, including the suffering of his
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  son. But few are more important than
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  belief. It wasn't yes, I believe, please
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  help my son. Rather it was I believe.
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  Help thou mine unbelief. He understood a connection
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  between his belief and the healing outcome.
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  He hoped for his child. Good comes when you believe.
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  Then Jesus rebuked the foul spirit, saying unto him, Thou
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  dumb and deaf spirit, I charge thee, come out of him, and enter
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  no more into him. And the Spirit cried and rent
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  him sore, and came out of him. And it was he was as one dead,
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  in so much that many said, He is dead.
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  But Jesus took him by the hand and lifted him up, and he arose.
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  That's the end of that account. He healed the Son, but did he
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  respond to the Father's cry? Help thou might unbelief.
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  Yes, He did. He healed the Son, and by so
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  doing He strengthened the faith of the Father's belief as well.
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  One of the most instructive and important patterns to be
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  discovered in God's dealings with His children is that He
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  leads us to correct an almost inescapable conclusions by
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  giving us phenomenal realities from which we may rightly
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  conclude lesser things are possible.
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  For example, when the resurrected Christ first
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  appeared to his disciples, Thomas wasn't there.
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  When they told Thomas what they had seen, Thomas replied, Except
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  I shall see in his hands the print of the nails, and put my
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  finger into the print of the nails, and thrust my hand into
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  his side. I will not believe.
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  The record goes on to say that after 8 days again his disciples
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  were within, and Thomas with them.
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  Then came Jesus, the doors being shut, and stood in the midst,
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  and said, Peace unto you. Then sayeth he to Thomas, Reach,
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  hit her thy finger, Behold my hands, and reach, hit her thy
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  hand, and thrust it into my side, and be not faithless, but
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  believing. Jesus seems to have said to
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  Thomas that he should be not faithless, but believing as a
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  direct result of having touched his hands inside rather than
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  touch my hands inside. And by the way, you should have
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  had greater faith. The unsurpassed marvel and
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  undeniable reality of the resurrection for Thomas and for
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  the many others who personally saw with their own eyes and
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  touched with their own hands, so far surpassed anything and
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  everything else that could otherwise follow.
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  Nothing thereafter should have seemed incredible or challenged
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  their belief. The magnitude of the
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  resurrection of Christ is so great that all else that could
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  later possibly follow would pale by comparison.
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  In effect the Lord was saying, You have both seen and touched
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  me, therefore you should be believing with respect to all
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  else that may follow. Except for the Atonement, which
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  was accomplished without mortal witness, the resurrection was
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  and is the crowning and most stunning achievement of Christ
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  ministry. If one died and rose again in
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  bodily form, then anything else is possible.
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  If the resurrection is a reality, anything else is
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  possible. Therefore believe, and not only
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  the resurrection, but the whole of the ministry of Christ was
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  filled with the miraculous as no other before or since.
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  He even said His works testify of Him, and if people did not
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  believe his words, they should have believed because of the
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  greater undeniable reality of the works they saw him do.
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  He said the works that I do in my father's name, they bear
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  witness of me if I do not. The works of my Father believe
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  me not, but if I do, though you believe me not, believe the
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  works, that ye may no one believe that the Father is in
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  me, and I in him. In effect, Jesus was saying what
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  is more amazing, that the dead be raised to life and the blind
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  receive their sight, or that I doing those things and the Son
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  of God. The greater, the more phenomenal
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  occurrences are the works I do. You have seen them, they are
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  undeniable beyond dispute. Why then can you not conclude
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  from the greater realities, the lesser possibility that I am the
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  Son of God? Lesser not in the sense of
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  importance, but lesser, but rather plausibility.
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  There is a pattern pattern in this to provide great realities
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  that we might believe in lesser possibilities.
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  God never asks us to extrapolate up, reason up, only down from
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  big to smaller. He never asks us to conclude
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  from a lesser reality that bigger and greater things are
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  possible. It always goes the other way.
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  He asks us to only extrapolate or reason down, not upward.
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  Reason down. He says take the far greater
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  realities I give you, such as the resurrection and his works,
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  and reason down from there to believe that lesser things are
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  also possible. Again, lesser not in importance,
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  but plausibility. Jesus does not heal an earache
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  and then say believe I may also raise the dead.
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  Rather, he raises the dead and says, I can heal your ear.
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  He does not say your sins are forgiven and then asks you to
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  reason upward from there to believe that he can heal the
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  sick and raise the dead. Rather he heals the sick, raises
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  the dead, and then says, in effect, Now in light of the
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  greater realities that you have witnessed, also believe I am,
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  that I am, and your sins may be forgiven.
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  On another occasion Jesus was presented one with a man who was
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  sick of the palsy lying on a bed.
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  And Jesus said unto the sick of the palsy, Son, be of good cheer
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  thy sins be forgiven thee. And behold, certain of the
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  scribes said within themselves, This man blasphemeth.
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  And Jesus knowing their thoughts, said, Wherefore think
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  ye evil in your hearts? For whether is easier to say thy
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  sins be forgiven thee, or to say, arise and walk, But that ye
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  may know that the Son of man have power on earth to forgive
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  sins, then he sayeth to the sick of the palsy, Arise, take up thy
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  bed, and go into thine house. And he arose and departed to his
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  house. On another occasion Jesus said
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  to his disciples about the death of Lazarus.
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  I am glad for your sakes that I was not there to heal Lazarus.
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  To the intent ye may believe. When later He stands before the
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  tomb of Lazarus, he will say in prayer, Father, I thank Thee
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  that Thou has heard me, and I knew that Thou hearest me
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  always, But because of the people which stand by, I said
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  it, that they may believe that Thou has sent me.
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  And when He thus had spoken, he cried out with a loud voice.
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  Lazarus come forth, and he that was dead came forth.
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  Then many of the Jews which came to Mary and had seen the things
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  which Jesus did believed on him. Some get it and some don't.
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  Some see the great undeniable realities and believe lesser
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  things are possible as well. Others don't connect the dots.
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  The 9th chapter of John contains another compelling example of
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  Reason Down, one who connected the dots.
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  It tales of the phenomenal miracle that Jesus performed,
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  giving sight to a man who was born blind.
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  Everything the Lord did was phenomenal, but this episode is
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  especially impressive because of the response of the man whose
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  eyes were made to see for the first time in his life.
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  When called upon to account for his sight, he simply explained.
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  He put clay upon mine eyes and I washed, and I do see.
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  From that phenomenal reality, he reasoned down to believe that
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  the man who gave him sight was of God.
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  For him that was not difficult. Which is greater, that one born
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  blind be made to see, or that the one who did it be of God?
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  He said, Now we know that God heareth not sinners, but if any
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  man be a worshipper of God, and do with his will, him he
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  heareth. Since the world began, was it
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  not heard that any man opened the eyes of one that was born
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  blind? If this man were not of God, he
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  could do nothing. He connected the dots.
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  He understood, he reasoned down. That brings us to this very
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  important question. Well, what about us, the
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  millions who have not personally witnessed A resurrected being,
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  or Angel, or the dead raised to life, or the blind made to sea,
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  or mana fall from heaven, A Bush that burns without being
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  consumed, or parting of the sea? Upon what greater reality, What
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  great work do we base our faith? Where do we begin?
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  What is the greater reality for us from which we may reasonably
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  believe in lesser things? Now listen to this.
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  The astounding answer is this. God gives to us, and we
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  constantly witness realities far greater than the resurrection or
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  the miracles of Christ, and far, far more phenomenal than the
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  visitation of angels. This leads us to this central
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  point, which is the primary assertion of the reason down
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  syllogism. The most phenomenal occurrences
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  of all time and eternity, the most amazing wonders, the most
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  astounding awesome developments are the most common and widely
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  recognized. They are also the very few facts
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  that are absolutely undeniable, provable beyond any question,
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  dispute or doubt. While they are undeniable, they
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  are also inexplicable. They are, but we cannot explain
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  them. These astounding reality simply
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  are. They require no faith.
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  And what are the most phenomenal, amazing and
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  undeniable realities? Listen to this.
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  I am, you are, we are, and all we perceive exists as well.
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  From subatomic particles to the farthest reaches of the cosmos
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  and everything in between. Is there anything greater than
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  those realities? No.
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  Nothing else comes close. Not nearly.
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  Is there any fact of reality more provable or less deniable?
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  No. You can neither deny your own
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  existence nor the existence of all that surrounds you every
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  day. And it all bears record of God.
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  All things denote there is a God.
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  The big things are a given that we may believe in smaller
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  things. When we acknowledge the big
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  things, how can we not believe lesser things are possible?
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  Now we can fill in and modify the major premise a bit.
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  A The most phenomenal occurrences of all time and
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  eternity, the most amazing wonders, the most astounding
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  awesome developments are the facts that we exist, and all
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  that surrounds us exists as well.
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  These few realities are the most common and are also the very few
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  facts that are undeniable, provable beyond any question or
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  doubt. While they are undeniable, they
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  are also inexplicable. They simply are.
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  We cannot explain that these astounding events, the facts
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  that of our existence simply are.
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  They require no faith. That's the major premise.
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  Now next the minor premise. B Listen to this.
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  Everything else that maybe is less than what actually is you
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  can't begin to imagine, much less describe, anything greater
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  than what already is. All other events, developments,
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  and occurrences are deniable, including miracles.
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  They are subject to dispute, but pale in comparison to the
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  monumental ordinary realities of what is.
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  Miracles are far, far less phenomenal and rank much, much
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  lower in magnitude on the scale of amazing things then those few
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  facts that are both indisputable and astronomically more amazing.
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  The facts that we and all that surrounds us exist in light of
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  what is nothing else should surprise us.
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  It should be easy to see the Creator and believe that with
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  Him, with God, all things are possible.
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  Far, far more phenomenal than resurrection is what birth.
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  The greater wonder is not that life, having once existed, could
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  come again, but that we ever exist at all.
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  Far more amazing than the dead be raised is that we live at
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  all. Far, far more amazing than the
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  silent heart that beats again is the heart that beats within your
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  breast right now. The fact that it can beat again
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  pales in comparison to the reality that it ever beats at
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  all. That one could walk on water is
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  not nearly as complicated, not nearly as amazing as water and
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  the Sea of Galilee in the 1st place.
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  Which is greater? Two parts of hydrogen attaching
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  to one part of oxygen to form water, The Sea of Galilee and
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  the planet the cradles, all of it.
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  Or that one could walk on it. Far less significant than the
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  healing of the withered hand is the existence of the hand in the
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  1st place. If it exists, it follows.
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  It can certainly be fixed when it is broken.
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  The greater event is not in its healing, but in its creation.
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  Far more amazing than the translation of gold plates are
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  the hands, the mind, and the heart that fashioned and
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  inscribe them to begin with. Which is greater, the sun that
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  lights the noonday, or that light may shine in your soul and
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  grow brighter and brighter until the perfect day?
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  Which is more phenomenal? That Earth be populated with all
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  kinds of animals and creatures, or they be preserved in a
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  family? Which is greater?
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  The power of a storm and the waves pounding the sides of a
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  small boat and the planet upon which they collide, where that
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  one stand and say peace be still and the wind and the waves obey
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  him? That Joseph Smith could be a
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  prophet is far, far less phenomenal than the undeniable
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  reality of what he did. Which is more phenomenal, the
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  Liahona or a smartphone? It is far more phenomenal that
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  the Book of Mormon, the Doctrine and Covenants, and the Pearl of
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  Great Prize exist than they be inspired of God.
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  That one could peer through a special lens or see even on a
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  stone. The modern translation of
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  ancient texts written on plates of gold is far less amazing than
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  the human eye. The wonder is not what the human
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  eye may see, rather the astounding wonder is that it
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  sees anything at all. Jesus said, Behold the fowls of
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  the air, for they sow not, neither do they reap nor gather
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  into barns, yet your heavenly Father feedeth them.
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  Are ye not much better than they?
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  He said, Which is more phenomenal?
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  That a Sparrow exists, or that existing a Sparrow would be
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  counted and known to its creator if it falls to the ground.
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  Which is more phenomenal? That you exist and that existing
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  you would be counted and known to your created Creator.
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  When you fall, the undeniable reality of your existence gives
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  gives rise to the eminently reasonable conclusion that
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  having created you, your heavenly Father follows you and
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  knows when you fall. The greatest miracle of God may
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  be the raising up of His posterity unto eternal life to
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  become even as He is. It is His work and His glory.
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  It is also one of the most controversial and vehemently
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  opposed doctrines of the restored gospel.
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  The Lord has said the light shineth in the darkness, and the
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  darkness comprehendeth it not. Nevertheless, the day shall come
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  when you shall comprehend. Listen to that.
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  The day shall come when you shall comprehend even God, being
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  quickened in Him and by Him. Then shall ye know that you have
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  seen me that I am, and that I am the true light that is in you,
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  and that you are in me. Otherwise you could not abound.
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  How likely is that? How likely?
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  The day shall come when you shall comprehend even God.
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  And isn't this at least one instance of reasoning up rather
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  than down, to conclude that, as God now is, man may become?
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  Isn't that an exception to the rule of reason down?
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  Surely going from mere weak and mortal man to the supernal
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  splendor and grandeur of godliness is an example of going
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  from the lesser to the greater, isn't it?
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  No, even that the greatest of all possibilities is less than
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  the reality of what is and what is.
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  I am and you are far, far more amazing than man may become as
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  his Maker. That a child may become as his
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  parents is the existence of the child to begin with.
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  The far greater phenomenon is the existence of the child
• 31:44
  filled with intelligence in the first instance, not that the
• 31:49
  child, once existing, may advance and progress to the
• 31:52
  level of parents. In light of the astounding
• 31:56
  reality of our existence, it is no stretch to believe we can
• 32:02
  move from one level of intelligence and achievement to
• 32:05
  the next, and from there on until the next until we realize
• 32:11
  the full measure of our potential.
• 32:15
  The truth is not nearly as fantastic or unbelievable as the
• 32:21
  naturalists advocate. The truth is simple and clear.
• 32:27
  Take the reality of your existence and believe you may
• 32:31
  become better. Do you hear that?
• 32:34
  That's all it is. Take the reality of your
• 32:38
  existence and recognize that you can become better.
• 32:43
  That's it. That's the simple, profound
• 32:46
  truth. That is the simple and profound
• 32:50
  truth of your divine potential. Improvement and advancement from
• 32:55
  1° of light and intelligence and capacity to the next, and from
• 33:00
  then on to the next, and so forth, is commonplace,
• 33:04
  consistent with all our experience.
• 33:07
  It is to be expected what or who is to say.
• 33:12
  Progress and improvement must stop and when and at what point
• 33:15
  and why? Where in all of our experience
• 33:18
  can we find offspring that cannot become as its parent?
• 33:24
  Why is it that people get so all hot and bothered by that?
• 33:28
  Why is it that self-evident truth is so hard for people to
• 33:33
  believe? It is because the truth about
• 33:37
  their potential requires change, and many prefer the darkness of
• 33:43
  denial over the brightness of their potential and the rigors
• 33:46
  of repentance. So back to our syllogism.
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  A. The most phenomenal events of
• 33:54
  all time and eternity, the most amazing wonders, the most
• 33:59
  astounding awesome developments are the facts that I am, you
• 34:04
  are, and all that surrounds us exists.
• 34:09
  Those few realities are the most common and are also the very few
• 34:13
  facts that are absolutely undeniable and provable beyond
• 34:17
  any question, any dispute, or any doubt.
• 34:21
  While they are undeniable, they are also inexplicable.
• 34:26
  They are, but we cannot explain them.
• 34:29
  These astounding events, the facts of our existence simply
• 34:33
  are. They require no faith.
• 34:36
  B. The second premise.
• 34:39
  Everything else that maybe is less than what it actually is.
• 34:47
  All other events, developments and occurrences are deniable and
• 34:51
  subject to dispute and pale in comparison to the phenomenal
• 34:55
  realities of our existence. Some of them we call miracles.
• 35:00
  Miracles are far, far less phenomenal and rank much, much
• 35:04
  lower in magnitude, as I said, on the scale of amazing things,
• 35:10
  then those few facts that are both indisputable and
• 35:13
  astronomically more amazing. Miracles require faith.
• 35:18
  What then is the conclusion? Believe.
• 35:26
  Therefore believe. Believe all things are possible.
• 35:32
  Be not faithless, but be believing that which is looms
• 35:39
  large over what may be and when the looming far greater
• 35:43
  realities are acknowledged. Life requires little faith in
• 35:51
  comparison to the few indisputable realities that are
• 35:54
  most amazing. Little faith is required of all
• 35:58
  men to accept all the other lesser events and occurrences we
• 36:03
  might label as miraculous in light of the indisputable
• 36:08
  realities. Anything else is smaller and
• 36:11
  possible. God gives us huge realities and
• 36:16
  invites us to believe that in light of what is, lesser things
• 36:21
  are also possible. We don't need to see lesser
• 36:27
  things to believe they are plausible, because the most
• 36:31
  phenomenal things we already see, the most amazing wonders,
• 36:35
  the most astounding awesome developments are ours to behold
• 36:39
  all the time. It is all before us, all of us,
• 36:44
  all the time. No one is favored, no one is
• 36:49
  shortchanged. We need no more just look around
• 36:56
  and believe.