followHIM - Christmas Part 2 : Brother Bradley R. Wilcox

Episode Date: December 18, 2021

Dr. Brad Wilcox returns for Part II. He shares being called to the Young Men’s General Presidency and his personal experience and testimony of apostles and prophets. He also affirms that the resurrected Christ is Always With Us.Show Notes (English, French, Spanish, Portuguese): https://followhim.co/episodesFacebook: https://www.facebook.com/followhimpodcastInstagram: https://www.instagram.com/followhimpodcastYouTube: https://www.youtube.com/c/FollowHimOfficialChannelThanks to the followHIM team:Steve & Shannon Sorensen: Executive ProducersDr. Hank Smith: Co-hostJohn Bytheway: Co-hostDavid Perry: ProducerKyle Nelson: MarketingLisa Spice: Client Relations, Show Notes/TranscriptsJamie Neilson: Social Media, Graphic DesignWill Stoughton: Rough Video EditorAriel Cuadra: Spanish TranscriptsKrystal Roberts: French TranscriptsIgor Willians: Portuguese Transcripts"Let Zion in Her Beauty Rise" by Marshall McDonaldhttps://www.marshallmcdonaldmusic.com/products/let-zion-in-her-beauty-rise-pianoPlease rate and review the podcast.

Welcome to part two of this week's podcast. So how is it that we, through Christ, are begotten sons and daughters of God? How do we become the children of God through Christ when we're already children of God? Do you see the confusion that that can create? But I love to say, let's replace the word here, begotten sons and daughters of God, to sealed. Sealed sons and daughters to God. Yes, we are begotten. Our spirits were beloved and begotten by heavenly parents. And yet, we still need to be sealed to them. We have to choose to stay sealed to them.

Think about a family, a mom and a dad on earth who are married in the temple, then their children are born in the covenant. Well, God and Heavenly Mother had spirit children who were born in the covenant. But those children still have a choice. That doesn't force them to be sealed to their parents. They have to make the choice to accept Jesus Christ, accept his atonement, and they have to, as they accept Christ, they're choosing to remain sealed to their parents. And in the same way, as we accept Jesus Christ, we're making the choice to be sealed to him, to be sealed to God, to be sealed to our heavenly parents. And we're making that choice.

So if the word begotten confuses you here, maybe think sealed. That it's through him, through Christ, that the inhabitants of the world are sealed or can be sealed in God's eternal family. Another thing that's a little confusing is in the next paragraph. It says, built upon the foundation of apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ himself being the chief cornerstone. And that can be confusing for people because lots of people have different bases for their faith. Catholics believe that the rock is Peter. Protestants believe that the rock

on which the foundation of the church is, is the scriptures, the word of God. This foundation of apostles and prophets is something that's very meaningful to us, but to others, they don't always see that as the foundation. Listen to something that my brother has been thinking about and has written as he looks at the footnotes and the scriptures around that Matthew 16 of those famous verses where we read, thou art Peter and upon this rock, I will build my church and I will give unto thee the keys of the kingdom of heaven, and whatsoever thou shalt bind on earth shall be bound in heaven. And then it says, Many Catholics believe Christ was saying he would build his church upon Peter, from whom they claim their authority. Many Protestants believe the rock of which Christ spoke is the word of God found in the Bible from which they claim their

authority. Latter-day Saints look at the verses differently. In the footnote, we read that in the original Greek, Peter's name is Petros, which means small rock, while the rock upon which Christ would build is Petra, meaning bedrock. Peter, the little rock, would not be the foundation himself, but would stand with other apostles and prophets and with Christ, the chief cornerstone, to become the bedrock foundation of the church. They would have the authority and keys to lead the church through revelation. The same revelation Peter received when he declared Jesus to be the Christ. Flesh and blood, said Jesus, hath not revealed it unto thee, but my Father which is in heaven. So, it's kind of interesting that this document so clearly states that the foundation is the

apostles and prophets with Christ as a cornerstone so that they can receive revelation and that they can lead the church today. Christ can lead the church today through revelation to his prophets and to his apostles. And I love understanding that. Could I share something about that story that maybe your distant relative S. Michael Wilcox shared at a CES symposium once. He kind of took a way to apply that Matthew 16 story, whom do men say that I am? And then, but who do you say that I am?

And then Peter, blessed art thou, because God told you that. And brother S. Michael Wilcox made a wonderful way to apply this. What have you heard, but what do you think, and what has God told you? And my brother-in-law, Jeff, teaches seminary in Harriman, and he said all the time, I begin class by, all right, what have you heard? Yep, I've heard that, I've heard that, I've heard that. And then, okay, but what do you think? What have you studied? What have you prayed about? What did you do with that? Did you research it? Did you open the scriptures? Did you go to the churchofjesuschrist.org? And then what has God told you? Wonderful way to apply that. I think it's fascinating that Jesus, it sounds like he

would care about popular opinion. Whom do men say that I am? I think he wanted to know where they were at and probably wants to know, yeah, wants to know where we are at. What have you heard? But what do you think? And that's when Peter has that great moment. Thou art the Christ, the son of the living God. Where did you get that, Peter? And I told my classes just a couple of days ago before this recording,

if you believe in Jesus Christ, where did you get that? Your prophets and prophetesses, you know, small letter P. What does it say in the book of Revelation, Hank? The testimony of Jesus is the spirit of prophecy. And when we read the Isaiah chapters and Nephi says, well, they're plain unto those that have the spirit of prophecy, it sounds like, oh, it's easy for you, Nephi. But no, all of us, if we have a testimony of Christ, have the spirit of prophecy. And like Peter, that's where we got that.

Beautiful. Well, in the final paragraph of the document, there are some powerful personal words. We bear testimony as his duly ordained apostles. It is such a blessing for us to have living apostles. So many people believe in Jesus because of Peter, James, John, and we do too. But we also have Russell, Dallin, and Henry. We have living apostles, living prophets on which we can rest our testimonies and with whom we can bear our personal witness, as you said, John, our testimonies of Christ that have come to us through revelation. But we don't stand alone in that. We stand together with them.

Our testimonies can rest on their testimonies. And when we bear the testimony revelation has given to us, we're not standing alone because we are standing together with them. 2020 was a crazy year for all of us, but it will be a memorable year for me the rest of my life because I was called to the Young Men Presidency during that year. I'll never forget the day it was March 12th that the world shut down and Hank and John, maybe you remember BYU was saying, Hey, we're going to close down, come to campus. Hank, you might've been in that same faculty meeting with me where they said,

you're going to learn how to use something called Zoom. Had you ever heard of Zoom? I was like, I remember going, oh, no. Yeah, I thought, Zoom, what are they talking about? Well, I was hurrying to campus to go to this meeting to figure out how we were going to finish the semester. Now that everything was being locked down and my phone was just ringing over and over people canceling firesides people canceling tours and trips and people canceling everything and then there was another phone call and I answered it and it was Elder Cook's secretary saying that Elder Cook would like to meet with my wife and me the next Sunday on the 15th then my head went into complete tailspin. Not only was the whole world closing down, but suddenly I was wondering what Elder Cook was needing to talk

to me about. And so, Hank, I might've been in that meeting, but I sure wasn't thinking about Zoom, I'll tell you that much. And the next Sunday we drove up to Salt Lake and it was so crazy. Do you remember? I mean, we were like the only people on the freeway. Do you remember that? It's like everything shut down. Nobody was moving. And there we were driving up to Salt Lake and it felt like a scene out of a end of the world movie or something. We got there. My wife had said, when I told her about the phone call, she said, Brad, they're going to call you to the Young Men General Presidency. And I said, no. I said, honey, I think a call like that would probably come from the first presidency. And she said, I think they're a little busy right now. And sure enough, they were busy trying to figure out how to deal with all these new changes,

but Elder Cook was asked to call me and the other counselor, Ahmed Corbett, so we met with him that day and were called into the presidency with Brother Steve Lund. And then they told us, you can't tell anybody. Well, that's pretty common, you know, don't share this news. But they said, not even with your family, because we don't know what's going to happen. You know, in conference, we don't know what's going to happen. So just don't share this. So Debbie and I were very careful to not even share this with our children. And then they would call and say, okay, you need to be in conference, but it's not going to have an audience, but you need to be there because you're being sustained. And then they said,

you can bring your family. And then they called and said, no, you can't bring your family, just come with you and your wife. And then they called and said, you can't bring your wife, just you. And then they called and said, you can't come. We're not going to have an audience at all. We're just going to broadcast conference. So there I was during general conference. And on the Saturday when they were announcing the new, those who were being sustained, i was just there in the house and my daughter and her husband had come over and we'd had scones it's kind of a conference tradition and so then in the afternoon session president oak started reading the names for sustaining and i said oh i want to listen to this and my daughter dad, it's only the sustainings. And I sit down, but I want to listen

to this. I want to hear this one. So I'm listening to all the people who are being sustained to different callings. And when we finally got to the end and they were announcing the new young men presidency, they announced Steve Lund's name. And my daughter said, oh, dad, I know him. I met him. I did an interview with him when I was in one of my classes at BYU. He is so great. And she totally missed my name. She totally missed it. Her husband leans over and kind of touches her and says, I think they just called your dad to something. And she said, no, what would they call my dad to? I mean, he's just sitting here eating scones.

And then she looked at me, she said, did they just call you to something? And I said, yeah, they just called me to something. And so then we have a picture of us hugging in front of the TV as the following speaker was speaking. But then the whole thing started again. They said, okay, we're going to set you apart on Wednesday. You can bring your families. Then they called and said, no, don't bring your families, just you and your wives. And even when we met Elder Cook in the lobby of the church administration building, even then he said, I have no idea what's going to happen. This is all new. He says, maybe they'll separate into different rooms and set you apart separately. He says, I just don't know. Finally, the door to the conference room that's just east of President Nelson's office opened, and we were invited in.

And there was the whole first presidency. And President Nelson said, I think we're a small enough group that we can stay together and not be breaking any rules. And then he said, I wish we could hug you. I wish we could shake your hands. I wish we could greet you. But since we can't, feel my love. And I felt it. I felt it. We all did. Do you remember that general conference when President Nelson gave us an apostolic blessing? When we stood in our living rooms all around the world and we did the Hosanna shout? And President Nelson read the new document on the restoration? I mean, do you remember?

We all felt that love. And it came right through the TV. And it reached all of us. But there I was standing in the same room as the first presidency. And my wife and I felt it. President Nelson set Steve Lund apart. And he did something I'd never seen before. He said, let's have another chair brought forward. And then he said to our wives, we don't set you apart in this calling, but we know how

important you are to the success of this work. So please come sit by your husband as we set your husband apart. And so Colleen Lund sat right there by Steve as President Nelson set him apart. And then Ahmed Corbett was set apart and his wife Jane sat next to him. But Ahmed Salim Corbett has a name that's a little tricky to pronounce. He has come from a Muslim background and he has an Islamic name. And so the secretary had written the pronunciation of the name out on a card. But as the brethren stood there around Ahmed,

Elder Oaks, who was setting him apart, couldn't see the pronunciation card. But as the brethren stood there around Ahmed, Elder Oaks, who was setting him apart, couldn't see the pronunciation card. And President Nelson picked up the card and he held it in between his fingers, just like this. And as he had his hands on his head, he held this card so that his counselor could read the name and pronounce it correctly. He didn't think twice about it. He was just in such meekness just helping his counselor out. And then Elder Eyring, President Eyring, set me apart, and I got to hold Debbie's hand the whole time that he set me apart. And then I stood up and I turned around and there was the whole first presidency like right there. And I wanted so badly to just hug them, but I couldn't.

And so I just said, General Conference was awesome. And they laughed. Having those holy hands placed on my head and to be there in the presence of prophets, seers, and revelators. Over the last year and a half, as I have been able to work more closely with the brothers and the sisters who lead this church. My testimony has been so strengthened as I see their goodness. They're not one way on a camera and one way when the camera's off. We live in a world where so many people have double standards that we just expect our politicians to act one way when they're in front of a crowd and another way when they're in the privacy of their own homes. Or we expect movie stars and sports stars to have two standards, one when they're on camera and another when they're in their hotel rooms. And yet I can testify that these men don't have a double standard.

The Elder Christofferson you see at a pulpit is the same Elder Christofferson that I see in meetings and in a hallway. The goodness of these men and these women just radiates, and it is the same goodness in private as it is in public. Their love of the Savior is sincere, and it is secure. They know the Lord. They know His voice. They know revelation. And I've been able to have, over the past year and a half, a front row seat to watching this process. And it really is something remarkable. Elder Holland once said at a state conference, I wouldn't devote my life

to a fairy tale. He testified of the reality of Jesus, who is leading his church today. And these brethren, they give their whole lives. Hank, you and I were just in a meeting with Elder Anderson in which he said, you know, I've been lobbying to try to get an apostle emeritus position. He was so fun. In the church. Because he said, the only way out of my calling is death. One exit, he said.

He says there's just one exit. And you think of the schedule that are theirs, the expectations that people constantly have for them to be 100% there. I mean, the rest of us get a little day off here and there. The rest of us can have a bad day now and then, but there's this constant expectation that they will be witnesses, and they step up to that, and they wouldn't if they didn't know that what they're doing is the right thing, the true thing, the good thing. And I have been so privileged to be able to watch these brethren and to be able to see them up close

as they literally give their lives to this work and to this cause. And it's not fun. It's not always fun for them. Somebody said, oh, that would be fun. You could travel all over the world. Give me a break. The amount of traveling these brethren do, the time zones they wake up in and go to sleep in. I mean, I can't even imagine what they go through. People say, oh, it would be so fun to have everybody come up and say hi to you. Yeah, just like all the people who attack them

mercilessly on social media and the internet. Oh yeah, that would be fun. We just have to realize that these brethren wouldn't sacrifice if they didn't know exactly what they were sacrificing for and didn't know that it's worth it. We could say those words about Peter, James, and John. We could say them about Paul, and we can say them about our apostles, these duly ordained apostles today. The Doctrine and Covenants says we should waste and wear out our lives. I remember first seeing President Monson speak, and he's there standing up, and he's wiggling his ears, right? And then his last talk, where he can barely hold himself up. Same with Joseph B. Werthlin, who we mentioned earlier, can barely stand up there. Remember David B. Haight, how he's just shuffling up to the front, right? And they literally waste and wear out their lives in the cause of the living Christ.

And it's a beautiful sacrifice that they make. It's a beautiful example for us, but it's also a source of joy. These are not sad, unhappy men. They are full of joy and full of humor and full of light and full of life. And it's just so wonderful to be able to see them. I have an autistic grandson, and he has memorized the names of the brethren and their pictures. But it's very frustrating for him when one passes away. And so, because then he can't understand why that one's not there anymore. And so, his parents have up on the wall of the bedroom, the living apostles, and then they have the dead apostles that he knows in another panel over here. So that way he still sees all these faces that he's familiar with.

Well, when he met Elder Anderson in the parking lot of the church office building, I said, Roman, do you know who this is? I'm thinking, well, I'll show off here because I know he knows who this is. And he said, you're Neil L. Anderson, but you're dead. Poor Elder Anderson didn't quite know how to respond to that one. Okay. Because he didn't know about our little, our two charts up there. And I don't know why Roman got confused and thought he was in the dead category and not the living category. But he said, yeah, you're Neil L. Anderson, but you're dead. Brad, did you notice in our meeting with Elder Anderson how he and his wife were just, they looked so happy together.

Here's a couple that is giving their life to the church and to the Lord. And did you see him just standing side by side there and he had his arm around her and she was speaking to us? And leaning on him. Right. Leaning on him. Right. Leaning on him. He was kind of leaning on that table and she was standing next to him and just kind of leaning back into his arm that was around her waist. It was beautiful to see these couples working together because the sacrifices that these brethren are making are matched by the sacrifices that their wives are making.

And I love that their wives are making. And I love that these sisters are now sitting on the stand in general conference as their husbands come and walk in and out with them and help them find their seats. I love that because you look at what Wendy W. Nelson has done to help and support our prophet and to be literally at his side through so many of his travels and teaching with him and testifying with him. I just am so in awe of these sisters. You know, it's interesting that in such an important and concise document, what scriptures would they decide to share? And my favorite of the many names that Jesus has is Advocate. And I love that this, because we got to talk about it earlier in the year when Jesus appeared

in the Kirtland Temple and Oliver Cowdery was there with Joseph Smith. I am the first and the last. I am he who liveth. This document is called the living Christ. I am he who was slain. I am your advocate with the Father. And I've just always loved that nickname. We talked about it when we did section 45 in 1 John. If any man sin, we could add,

if any woman sin, if any teenager sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ, the righteous. And the idea of an advocate is like an attorney for the defense, someone that comes to your side. And I just think that's so, I just love that they would put that one in there. I am your advocate. They don't know it, but they also included my favorite title of Christ, Emmanuel, God with us. And right in the very final paragraph, they have Emmanuel. So, my favorite title for Christ is also included in the document, and that's meaningful to me. And here, this third paragraph, he instituted the sacrament. And I remember reading something of Elder Bruce C. Hafen, where he talked about, look at those words, with them, this promise that

he will always be with us in the sacrament prayer, our advocate, our companion, always with us. I really like the fourth and the fifth paragraph where they said his life didn't begin in Bethlehem and it didn't conclude on Calvary. He is so much bigger than that. He rose from the grave and they have a title for him, risen Lord. They're in that paragraph. And in the Bible dictionary, it says that Christianity is founded on the greatest of his miracles and it is his resurrection. And I've told my students, believing in the resurrection of Jesus, that is a game changer in life. This is not a little thing to believe that this man who was dead is now alive, that changes everything. That changes everything

about your life and mine to believe that he was dead, truly dead, heart dead, brain dead. And then he came back and he is up and moving and going and he is alive. That changes everything. You know, people had done miracles before. People had taught doctrine before that he taught. It was that atonement and resurrection which makes him the greatest figure of all time. This is from President Howard W. Hunter about the resurrection. He says, without the resurrection, the gospel of Jesus Christ becomes a litany of wise sayings and seemingly unexplainable miracles, but sayings and miracles

with no ultimate triumph. No, the ultimate triumph is the ultimate miracle. For the first time in the history of mankind, one who was dead, raised himself into living immortality. You know, I've heard people memorize this document. I think it's an incredible goal. If you're thinking, oh, I can't memorize the whole thing, memorize the last three sentences. He is the light, the life, and the hope of the world. His way is the path that leads to happiness in this life and eternal life in the world to come. God be thanked for the matchless gift of his divine son. You have a mission statement right there, don't you? For life. I love the title of this, Hank and Brad, The Living Christ, The Resurrected Christ. There was

something I put in my little book about Christmas that I get more comments on, and it's not original with me. A man named William B. Smart wrote church news editorials, super insightful little editorial in the church news called The Three Levels of Christmas. And he spoke of level one is Santa Claus and reindeer and jingle bells and the Christmas tree and how wonderful that is and how joyous it is and how we love that. But he said there's another deeper level called, and I'm just paraphrasing, the silent night level. And that's the baby Jesus of the wise men and the star, the shepherds, you know, and that story that we tell in Luke 2. Dressing up all the kids in their bathrobes and doing the nativity.

And we sing Silent Night and it's awesome. But he said this great line, he said, But the man who keeps Christ in the manger will in the end be disappointed and empty. And I think, yeah, the world is okay with the baby Jesus, but what about the Jesus that grew up and started giving us these invitations over and over, even some of them commandments, you know? And that's the third level. And the man who keeps Christ in the manger, and there's a tendency to, well, yeah, we're okay with the baby Jesus, but. Pull him out once a year. Yeah.

And he invited us to follow him and to do even hard things and to learn to become like him and to serve like him. And the whole reason for Christmas is the adult Christ, the third level, the living Christ, as this document calls it. You have the Santa Claus level, the silent night level. The silent night level is the baby Jesus. Yeah. And then the living Christ or the adult Christ level, the Redeemer, our advocate, our Emmanuel, right? This is the, this is, without this level, the other levels wouldn't exist. There wouldn't even be Christmas, to paraphrase C.S. Lewis, always winter, but never Christmas.

So it's fun to be talking on this third level of Christ, really the Easter level that's so critical, without which we wouldn't even have the other levels. John, maybe it's because the baby Jesus doesn't demand much of us, right? Exactly. Like the adult Jesus does. He made invitations and commandments and asked us to be like him. Talk about a tall order. A Christ who doesn't expect anything of us is making nothing of us. And that's simply not the case because we are his work and his glory.

Brad, there's this great second to the last paragraph. We testify that he will someday return to earth. I mean, that is a reality to us. The Lord is coming back. That is no myth, as we talked about before. This is no myth. He is coming back, and we plan on it. Yes, and he will rule as king of kings and reign as Lord of lords, and every knee shall bend and every tongue shall speak in worship before him. This is beautiful doctrine because not only will people recognize Christ, but they will recognize his church. That means that everybody who has fought against the church, everybody who thinks that what we're doing is crazy, everybody

who thinks that it's just this anomaly off in the western part of the United States and that it will never amount to anything, everybody will one day realize that Jesus is the Christ and that this is his church, that we were not throwing our lives away by devoting ourselves to this cause, to this work. And that is a very comforting feeling for all of us on days when we begin to wonder and struggle to find a motivation to keep going. Boy, one day we're going to face Christ and we are going to see him and feel the excitement of that moment and feel the love that he will share and we will have

the satisfaction of knowing that our faith was not misplaced. Other people are going to have to have a big turnaround where they realize that this Jesus that they heard about that they dismissed so easily is actually real. But for those of us who have clung to our faith, that will be a joyous day when others will realize that we were right all along. I know both of you, your worlds revolve around the Savior. Your entire worlds revolve around him. It's the way you speak, it's the way you act, it's your family, it's everything. It all revolves around him. And I read this from Elder Oaks, and he says, what does it mean to be valiant in the testimony of Jesus? He says, surely this includes keeping his commandments and serving him. So therefore, what from this document

is, if you're devoted to him, keep his commandments and serve him. He said, but wouldn't it also include bearing witness of Jesus Christ, our Savior and our Redeemer to believers and non-believers alike? And then he says this, to those who are devoted to the Lord Jesus Christ. Listen, how many people are listening to this, John? And they're devoted, John and Brad, they're devoted to the Lord. To those who are devoted to the Lord Jesus Christ, I say, there has never been a greater need for us to profess our faith privately and publicly. So to me, that's a takeaway from this, that I want to do better at professing my faith both privately with my children and my wife and publicly with my friends, my ward, my, you know, on social media.

In the very last paragraph of the document, it says, his way is the path that leads to happiness in this life and eternal life in the world to come. Therefore, what? It's because of our faith in Jesus Christ that we can be happy and that we can find joy. We can feel this gladness of the season all year long. We don't have to go through the post-Christmas trauma of saying, now I can't be happy until next December when they start playing Christmas music again. We can feel joy all the time. C.S. Lewis said this. He said, Money, poverty, war, prostitution, classes, slavery, the long and terrible story of man trying to find something other than God, which will make him happy. That is why it is just no good asking God

to make us happy in our own way, without bothering about religion, or, Hank, without bothering about commandments. God cannot give us happiness and peace apart from himself because it is not there. There is no such thing. I testify that this document clearly. His way is the path that leads to happiness in this life and eternal life in the world to come. President Benson used to say, Christ is the way, the truth, and the life. He is the right way. He is the saving truth.

And he is the abundant life. I know that. I feel it. He is the saving truth and he is the abundant life. I know that. I feel it. He is the happiness in my life. And so Merry Christmas to everybody. Thank you for listening to us as we've discussed this important document. And as you've heard my testimony, if anybody ever asks me, why are you happy? There's only one answer. Because of the guy I share a birthday celebration with. Because of Jesus Christ. And I say that in

his name. Amen. Hope everybody has a great Christmas. There's a heart coming to you. Merry Christmas. We will be back for the Old Testament Follow Him curriculum. Thank you all for listening. We're grateful for your support. We couldn't do this without our executive producers, Steve and Shannon Sorenson. We love you, Sorenson family. To all Steve and Shannon's kids and grandkids, Merry Christmas. We love you. We're grateful for our production crew. We have David Perry, Lisa Spice, Jamie Nielsen, Will Stoughton, Kyle Nelson, and just for, I had never mentioned him before,

but he does a lot of work for us, Scott Houston. Scott, Merry Christmas. And we hope you all will join us as we have a brand new season of Follow Him.