From Institute Manual

John 6:60-69

The Savior can overcome natural elements, and we can have faith that He will help us overcome the natural man; we can walk with Him even when His sayings are hard.  

Elder Bruce R. McConkie explained Jesus’s response, found in John 11:9–10: “Certainly Jesus would go to Judea in spite of the threats of death that faced him there. ‘Though it be the eleventh hour of my life, yet there are twelve hours in the day, and during that designated period, I shall do the work appointed me without stumbling or faltering. This is the time given me to do my work. I cannot wait for the night when perchance the opposition will die down. He that shirks his responsibilities and puts off his labors until the night shall stumble in the darkness and fail in his work’” (Doctrinal New Testament Commentary, 1:531).

Elder Dallin H. Oaks of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles shared the following insights to help us accept the Lord’s timing:

“The first principle of the gospel is faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. Faith means trust—trust in God’s will, trust in His way of doing things, and trust in His timetable. We should not try to impose our timetable on His. As Elder Neal A. Maxwell has said:

“‘The issue for us is trusting God enough to trust also His timing. If we can truly believe He has our welfare at heart, may we not let His plans unfold as He thinks best? …’ [Even As I Am, 93] …

“Indeed, we cannot have true faith in the Lord without also having complete trust in the Lord’s will and in the Lord’s timing” (“Timing” [Brigham Young University devotional, Jan. 29, 2002], 2; speeches.byu.edu).

John 13:34–35. Disciples of Jesus Christ Are Distinguished by Love

After the Savior dismissed Judas, the setting was prepared for the Savior to give important teachings to the rest of the Apostles, as recorded in John 13:31–16:33. One of the first such teachings was the commandment to love others (see John 13:34–35). This commandment is also found in Leviticus 19:18. However, whereas in the Old Testament we are exhorted to love our neighbors as ourselves, here the Savior commands us to love one another as He loves us.

As you study the raising of Lazarus, found in John 11:17–45, look for similarities between this miracle and the Resurrection of Jesus Christ. How do you think this miracle may have prepared the Savior’s disciples to believe in His Resurrection?

From Institute Manual:

Elder Lawrence E. Corbridge of the Seventy quoted John 14:6 and exhorted us to follow Jesus Christ as “the Way”:

“There is only one way to happiness and fulfillment. He is the Way. Every other way, any other way, whatever other way, is foolishness. …

“… We can either follow the Lord and be endowed with His power and have peace, light, strength, knowledge, confidence, love, and joy, or we can go some other way, any other way, whatever other way, and go it alone—without His support, without His power, without guidance, in darkness, turmoil, doubt, grief, and despair. And I ask, which way is easier? …

“There is only one way to happiness and fulfillment. Jesus Christ is the Way” (“The Way,” Ensign or Liahona,Nov. 2008, 34, 36).

From the Institute Manual:

John 14:16–23, 26; 15:26; 16:7. “Comforter” as a Title of the Holy Ghost and of Jesus Christ

In the New Testament, the Greek word paraklētos,translated “Comforter” in the King James Version, appears only in the writings of John. The word is composed of para, meaning “beside,” and klētos,meaning “one who is summoned.” A paraklētos is one who is summoned to another’s side as a helper, intercessor, or advocate. In John’s writings, the title paraklētos is applied to two individuals: the Holy Ghost and Jesus Christ. The Savior promised His disciples that after He departed, they would not be left alone but would have the companionship of the Holy Ghost to help them (see John 14:16, 26; 15:26; 16:7). The Savior’s promise that He would give His disciples the Holy Ghost as “another Comforter” (John 14:16; italics added) meant that He Himself was also a Comforter. The Prophet Joseph Smith spoke of the two Comforters in this way:

“There are two Comforters spoken of. One is the Holy Ghost, the same as given on the day of Pentecost, and that all Saints receive after faith, repentance, and baptism. This first Comforter [is the] Holy Ghost. …

“The other Comforter spoken of is a subject of great interest, and perhaps understood by few of this generation. After a person has faith in Christ, repents of his sins, and is baptized for the remission of his sins and receives the Holy Ghost, (by the laying on of hands), which is the first Comforter, then let him continue to humble himself before God, hungering and thirsting after righteousness, and living by every word of God, and the Lord will soon say unto him, Son, thou shalt be exalted. When the Lord has thoroughly proved him, and finds that the man is determined to serve Him at all hazards, then the man will find his calling and his election made sure, then it will be his privilege to receive the other Comforter, which the Lord hath promised the Saints, as is recorded in the testimony of St. John, in the 14th chapter, from the 12th to the 27th verses.

“Note the 16, 17, 18, 21, 23 verses. …

“Now what is this other Comforter? It is no more nor less than the Lord Jesus Christ Himself; and this is the sum and substance of the whole matter; that when any man obtains this last Comforter, he will have the personage of Jesus Christ to attend him, or appear unto him from time to time, and even He will manifest the Father unto him, and they will take up their abode with him, and the visions of the heavens will be opened unto him, and the Lord will teach him face to face, and he may have a perfect knowledge of the mysteries of the Kingdom of God” (in History of the Church, 3:380–81).

From Institute Manual:

President James E. Faust (1920–2007) of the First Presidency said: “We acquire a testimony of the principles of the gospel by obediently trying to live them. Said the Savior, ‘If any man will do his will, he shall know of the doctrine’ [John 7:17]. A testimony of the efficacy of prayer comes through humble and sincere prayer. A testimony of tithing comes by paying tithing. … I testify that if you continue in the purposeful process of searching for and accepting spiritual light, truth, and knowledge, it will surely come. By going forward in faith, you will find that your faith will increase” (“Lord, I Believe; Help Thou Mine Unbelief,”Ensign or Liahona, Nov. 2003, 22).