Look to Jesus
Be of good cheer- Doubt not
Quoting extensively from the scriptures, Elder John M. Madsen on Saturday afternoon delivered his first general conference address since he was called to the Seventy last June.
He declared a love for the Lord's words to all who are called and appointed to go forth and preach the gospel in the latter days: "O ye my servants . . . be of good cheer, and do not fear, for I the Lord am with you. . . . " (D&C 68:5.)
Elder Madsen said those who know and understand the work of redemption wrought by the Savior and who know of His majesty, power and promise understand why they are to be of good cheer. "They who have come to know Him do not fear," Elder Madsen said. "They look unto Him in every thought.' Theydoubt not,' and they `fear not.' (D&C 6:36.) They know that He, the Lord Jesus Christ, is with them and that He will stand by them."
Elder Madsen further said: "No doctrine is more fundamental to an understanding of the plan of salvation than the doctrine that reveals the true identity and role of Jesus Christ."
He referred to President Ezra Taft Benson's declaration that the Book of Mormon is the instrument the Lord designed to "sweep the earth as with a flood, to gather out [HisT elect." (October 1988 general conference.)
"We have no more sacred privilege, and no more urgent and sacred responsibility, than to bear testimony that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of the living God," Elder Madsen said. "And we have no more effective `instrument' with which to accomplish this sacred task than the record which God has prepared for that very purpose, even the Book of Mormon, Another Testament of Jesus Christ. In its pages, as in the other standard works of the Church, the true identify of the Lord Jesus Christ stands forever revealed - past, present and future."
He said concert halls are filled at Christmas by people in many lands who, with reverence and rejoicing, stand and sing the triumphant and immortal words of Isaiah set to the music of Handel's Messiah:
" `For unto us a child is born, unto us a Son is given; and the government shall be upon his shoulder; and his name shall be called Wonderful, Counselor, The Mighty God, The Everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace.' " (JST Isaiah 9:6.)
Elder Madsen said the Book of Mormon verifies and clarifies who Jesus is. He quoted more than a dozen scriptures, which identify Jesus as the Christ; the Only Begotten Son; the Messiah; the Lamb of God; the Great Jehovah; the God of Abraham, Isaac and of Jacob; the Holy One of Israel who gave the Law unto Moses on the mount; the Father of heaven and earth; the Creator of all things whose atonement brings the resurrection of the dead; the Eternal Judge; and the Lord Omnipotent.
