Chapter I: Foreword

No other teacher in the history of the world has wielded so profound an influence upon humanity as has Jesus the Christ. Practically the whole world has been Christianized. His doctrines have entered not only into households but also into governments and nations. But the Christianity that prevails generally, is the doctrine of Jesus highly merged with the opinions of men. Indeed, the world's Christianity is often more largely man-made than Christ-made. A perfect knowledge of Jesus cannot be gained, however, until men learn more about what He Himself taught, and less about what scholars have said about His doctrine.

This little book is an attempt modestly to present in popular form the teachings of Jesus. It is intended for boys and girls of high-school age. It is to be understood, then, that there is here no exhaustive treatise of the teachings of Jesus; nor is there conducted a study and investigation of profound scholarship. Such a work from the Mormon point of view must be deferred, if desirable at all. But it is hoped that what Jesus taught--in part at least--is here presented simply and plainly and truly, so that anyone who reads may understand. It is further hoped that the writing of these lessons has been "moved by the Holy Ghost," so that those who read them may learn to love the teachings of Jesus, and to know and to love God, and His Son, Jesus, whom He sent to redeem the world. "Worship God: for the testimony of Jesus is the spirit of prophecy." O. J. P. W.

Salt Lake City, December 12, 1917.

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The Illustrations

Light of the World.

1. Christ and the Doctors.

2. Nazareth, Palestine.

3. Simeon Blessing the Lord.

4. Jesus and the Woman of Samaria.

5. Jesus and Nicodemus.

6. Christ Healing the Blind Man.

7. The Sower.

8. The Temptation of Christ.

9. Market Scene at Bethlehem.

10. The Forgiving Father.

11. The Consoling Christ.

12. Jesus Praying.

13. The River Jordan, Palestine.

14. "Lord, Help Me."

15. Raising the Dead.

16. The Garden of Gethsemane.

17. Baptism of Jesus.

18. None.

19. Jesus and the Fishermen.

20. Christ's Charge to Peter.

21. Christ Teaching from a Boat.

22. "Consider the Lilies."

23. Christ and the Rich Young Ruler.

24. Lazarus at the Rich Man's House.

25. The Sermon on the Mount.

26. None.

27. Jesus Blessing Little Children.

28. Jerusalem from the Mount of Olives.

29. The Good Samaritan.

30. Christ in the Home of Mary and Martha.

31. Jesus Washing Peter's Feet.

32. The Wise and the Foolish Virgins.

33. Christ Driving Out the Money-Changers.

34. Jesus Healing the Sick.

35. Christ before Pilate.

36. Touch Me Not.

37. The Good Shepherd.

38. Come Unto Me All Ye That Labor.

39. The Ascension.

40. Angel Moroni.

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Table of Contents

I

His Father's Business

Testimony of Napoleon--Universal worship of Jesus--Purpose of this book--Duties of Jesus at age of twelve--Jesus in the temple--His Father's business--What is eternal life?--Special mission of Jesus.

II

What It Means to Know God

Abraham's determination to serve God--God Himself--God of Abraham and of Isaac and of Jacob--First Commandment--What does it mean to know Jesus Christ?--Necessary to understand God's plan--Divine mission of Jesus--What we would do if we had learned to know God and Jesus--The condition of eternal life.

III

The God of Israel

A very important question--The truth is simple and easy--Jesus's explanation of God--The testimony of Paul--God is our Father--A real joy to know the true God.

IV

What Jesus Said of Himself

Jesus's testimony to the woman of Samaria--The testimony of the people of Sychar--Jesus taught always that He is the Christ--The answer to John--The confessions at the trials of Jesus--And on the way to Emmaus--How shall we find out Christ?

V

The Special Witness of Jesus

The end of the period of preparation--The testimony at the baptism--John's testimony--Who the Comforter is--The mission of the Holy Ghost--The Holy Ghost in Jesus and the apostles--The Holy Ghost amongst the Nephites--How to confer the Holy Ghost--Nature of the Holy Ghost--Importance of the Holy Ghost.

VI

Before There Was An Earth

A remarkable vision--The pre-existence of Jesus--The spirits of all men eternal--The man born blind--Conclusion.

VII

The Presence of Evil

A review--The problem of evil--The parable of the sower--The meaning--The devil the power of evil--A council of the spirits--Jesus volunteers--Lucifer volunteers--Lucifer rebels--The declaration of Jesus.

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VIII

Why Evil is in the World

The devil's desperate hope--The temptation of Jesus--The application--Guard against suggestions of the devil--Why there is evil--The trial of man--A state of probation--The free agency of man.

IX

The Crown of Creation

A wonder-rousing sacrifice--Why should God be mindful of man?--The parable of the lost sheep--Man's soul without price--Man the offspring of God--The questions answered--Reverence for God--Reverence for personal honor--Reverence for personal purity.

X

The Forgiving Father

The parable of the prodigal--The forgiving father--Condemnation of the self-righteous--The publican and the Pharisee.

XI

Sincerity in Worship

Finding and losing one's life--The necessity of harmony--Three forms of temptation--Instruction in praying and alms-giving--The real value of worship--Humility and sincerity.

XII

How to Pray

The Lord's prayer--Jesus had found God--The prayers of the Jews--The prayer of Jesus--The Lord's prayer analyzed--Teach us to pray.

XIII

Persistence in Prayer

The Lord will answer--Pray often and persistently--The importunate friend--The unrighteous judge--An urgent desire necessary--Implicit trust necessary--Seek first the Kingdom of God--Labor and confidence hand in hand--The sin of worry--God knows best--Thy will be done.

XIV

The Power of Faith

Confidence vs. faith--The incident of the fig tree--Forgiveness accompanies prayer--Reason for concrete examples--The interpretation--Jesus's own interpretation--Examples of the power of faith--The dispensation of the fulness of times, the wonderful example.

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XV

The Handmaid of Faith

The case of Mr. Baldwin--Words added to faith--The principle of works--A parable--The works of Jesus--The works of man--Conclusion.

XVI

The Meaning of Repentance

The irreverence and ruthlessness of Pilate--The necessity of repentance--The barren fig tree--Repentance a fundamental doctrine--Jesus's exclamation against the wicked--Repentance a universal principle--Things of which to repent--The service principle of the Gospel.

XVII

Baptism by Immersion

The first principles and ordinances--Baptism essential to salvation--Humility and obedience the psychology of baptism--The law of obedience in daily life--The example set by Jesus--The purpose of baptism--The door of the sheep-fold.

XVIII

The Gift of the Holy Ghost

What Jesus told Nicodemus--The laying on of hands--The teaching and practice of Paul--The practice of the apostles--The teaching and practice of the apostles derived from Jesus--What is the gift of the Holy Ghost?--The conditions and the source of intelligence.

XIX

The Foundation Stone

A few questions--Parables by the sea--The meaning of the parables--The Church and the Kingdom--The testimony of Peter--The testimony of Jesus--Its significance.

XX

The Test of Authority

The figure of the architect--The application--One mark not sufficient--The submission of Jesus--The submission of the apostles--The second mark--Two orders of priesthood.

XXI

The Third Mark

The horror of darkness--The speech of the Indian Chief--The figure of the architect again--The plan of eternal life--The necessity of plans--The application--The principles of the Gospel--Men judged by the Gospel--The three marks.

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XXII

Single Minded Loyalty

A supreme privilege--The true worth of membership--Conditions of membership--Single minded loyalty--No man can serve two masters--A simple application--A parable in point--The light of the body--A summary--A paraphrase.

XXIII

Riches and the Kingdom of God

A liberal man--An unnatural doubt--The case of the rich young ruler--The difficulty of the sacrifice--The conclusion of Jesus--The amazement of the disciples--The power of God--A promise of worldly blessings--The object of the world's desire--The parable of the unjust steward.

XXIV

Succeeding With What One Has

The rich man and Lazarus--Wanted, a chance--The parable of the talents--A general law--The water boy--Intellectual endeavor--Spiritual growth--The lesson applied.

XXV

Think Right

The great commandment--The beatitudes--A high ideal of life--The great beatitude--The pure in heart--Things that defile--Vulgarity in thought, word and deed--Plain teaching.

XXVI

The Ugliness of Anger

The story of Cain--The occupation of Abel--The brothers' sacrifices--The anger of Cain--The murder of Abel--The lesson at home--The power of the mind--The teachings of Jesus--Jesus an example--The strength of self-control.

XXVII

With What Measure Ye Mete

The two school girls--The theft--The suspicion--The discovery--The tables turned--An every day occurrence--The mote and the beam--What Jesus said.

XXVIII

The Golden Rule

Positive instruction--The doctrine of reconciliation--The attitude of a citizen of the Kingdom--The doctrine of forgiveness--The parable of the unforgiving servant--The meaning--The right attitude towards our enemies--The golden rule.

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XXIX

The Good Samaritan

The law of love--The reward of brotherly love--Questions of the tempting lawyer--The parable of the good Samaritan--A discussion--The real neighbor--The fulness of the answer--The lesson clinched--The command renewed.

XXX

No One Can Live to Himself

The fable of the body and its members--The time of Aesop--The growth of society--A football squad--The teachings of Jesus--The family--The family sacred--The state--The state divinely instituted--The Church--Duties of membership--The teachings of our own Church.

XXXI

He That Exalteth Himself

The old law and the new--The teaching of Jesus psychological--A concrete example--The motive all important--Jesus's doctrine of rewards--A parable in point--A sound psychological principle--A further illustration--Peter and the question of recompense--The reward worth while--Conclusion.

XXXII

Extra Service

The parable of the laborers--The value of service in the world's work--The value of service in the Church--The test of profitableness--The application to the day's work--The application to the Church service--An exclamation against mere formal--performance of duty.

XXXIII

A Prophet in His Own Country

A perfect man and an exemplary leader--A work full of wonder--A healer and worker of miracles--The conditions in Palestine--A mission of love--The centurion's servant--Stilling the tempest--The raising of Lazarus--In His own country.

XXXIV

The Meaning of Miracles

The explanation of the scribes--The universal presence of law--The miracle of the telephone--Other miracles of science--The power of the Priesthood--The purpose of miracles--The privilege of the sick.

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XXXV

An Atoning Sacrifice

An incredible thought--Jesus's foreknowledge of His death--The necessity of Jesus's death--The significance of the death of Jesus--Worldly views of how Jesus's death can save--The real significance of the death of Jesus--The Nephite explanation--Why Jesus submitted to His enemies--The new testimony of Jesus.

XXXVI

The Place Called Paradise

A well established fact--The five appearances of the risen Christ--Five more appearances of the Christ and the ascension--The value of the testimony--Where had Jesus been?--Today in Paradise--The Gospel to the dead--A plain explanation--Every knee and every tongue.

XXXVII

Other Sheep

The first commission to the twelve--The leaven of the Gospel--The Kingdom of the Gentiles--The case of Cornelius--The preaching of Barnabas and Paul--"Other sheep"--A puzzling question--Forty days--In the land of the Nephites--The appearance of Jesus to the Nephites.

XXXVIII

Our Advocate With The Father

The householder and the husbandmen--God the great householder, Jesus the Son--The exaltation of Jesus--Our advocate with the Father--Many mansions in the Father's house--Lord of Lords and King of Kings--Jesus to come again--The nearness of Jesus.

XXXIX

The Living Christ

Jesus the living Christ--The testimony of Napoleon--The conviction of an English philosopher--Declarations of Emerson and Webster--Additional testimony--Reasons for strong testimonies in the Church--Evidences of testimony in the Church--"The testimony last of all."

XL

A Religion Worth While

The feeding of the five thousand--The meat that endures to everlasting life--What Jesus taught--The acts of the apostles--The great apostasy--The restoration of the Gospel--A religion that satisfies--A comprehensive religion--A Church of authority--The bread of life.

{12} PICTURE: CHRIST AND THE DOCTORS, Hofmann

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What Jesus Taught