New Names and the New Covenant

Chauncey C. Riddle

I ask for an interest in your faith and prayers. I tremble a little bit because as I say things it’s impossible to say everything and I find I miss saying important things. For instance, in relation to forgiving: somebody just brought to my attention that I didn’t say they have to trespass against us personally before we can extend mercy to them. I can’t be merciful to somebody when they trespass against you. Oh I can help in a way. If they defraud you l can pay you, the defrauded and in a sense I can help you. But that isn’t really mercy. The Savior can do that because he is perfect, he has no sins of his own. So the important place we apply mercy is when people trespass against us, and then we forgive them.

Well, let’s reconstruct the total picture of what we’re trying to do here. I’m trying to talk about the great law, which is to love the Lord our God, who is Jesus Christ, with all of our heart, might, mind, and strength. I equate that with faith in Jesus Christ. Faith in Christ is simply to love him with all of our heart, might, mind, and strength. And everything in the gospel; all the principles, all the laws, all the ordinances are designed to focus into that point, to bring us to full faith in Jesus Christ.

Now there are two main stems or aspects that comprise faith in Jesus Christ, as I understand it. One is repentance. The other is service. Repentance is getting our lives in order. It is rebuilding our character and our nature. Through obedience, through sacrifice, through consecration so that we can then learn to be just and merciful. In other words to love purely. So that when we go to serve we will be serving in the pure love of Christ. We are not doing our will. We’re not shedding forth our light. We are showing forth his light and truth in all that we do. Then repentance makes us a conduit. A perfected conduit for the light of Christ. Then as we go forth to serve, that is to say to love our neighbor, as Christ loves us, then we are simply reflecting his light that he loves us with, through ourselves to our neighbor, that their life might be blessed by Jesus Christ even as we are blessed by Jesus Christ.

And we have talked about blessing others, which is service in the stewardship that we have, and how the priesthood is the thing that enables us to fulfill those stewardships, when they are stewardships over people. Today our discussion concerns the New and Everlasting Covenant.  It is the New and Everlasting Covenant that puts all of repentance together. The things we have been talking about are not things we can do by our own will. What we do is choose to reflect the light and truth of Jesus Christ perfectly out into the world. To love our neighbor as Christ loves us. We can want to do that but we have  no power to do that on our own even if we understand it and choose it. We have to be empowered and the empowering comes in the New and Everlasting Covenant. That empowering is part of salvation.

Salvation comes through power. To as many as believe in him, Jesus Christ gives the power to become his sons and daughters. And his sons and daughters are his jewels. His jewels are the ones that are perfected and polished and reflect his light. Without changing it, without loss, they simply reflect his light becoming selfless as he is. He reflects the Father’s light. And if we reflect his light then we will be passing on that which is perfect and godly and good.

And so today I would like to review the New and Everlasting Covenant as the vehicle by which we accomplish all of these things. Let’s review the old covenant first just by way of background. In the council in heaven the first covenant was announced.

“We will prove them herewith, to see if they will do all things whatsoever the Lord their God shall command them.” Abr. 3:25

Now that’s the first covenant. That’s the law of justice or the covenant of justice.

“They who keep their first estate shall not have glory in the same kingdom with those who keep their first estate (be added upon.)” That is to say they will have the chance to go to the second estate. “They who keep not their first estate shall not have glory in the same kingdom with those who keep their second estate. And they who keep their second estate”, that is to say, who do everything they’re told without fail in their mortal probation, “shall have glory added upon their heads for ever and ever.” Abr. 3:26

But as we have pointed out, none of us keeps that first covenant . We all break it, except Jesus Christ. He claimed his blessings through that covenant. And of course, if no one had claimed blessing through that covenant there would be no one to be a Savior. And thus the New and Everlasting Covenant or the second covenant could not even exist. And so there is another covenant which comes in the mercy and grace of God. We read a little bit about this in Moses, Chapter 6. This is Enoch speaking to the people, he said that, “because Adam fell we are. By his fall came death,” spiritual death. “We are made partakers of misery and woe.” That partaking of misery and woe was necessary. And also necessary was that we understand the evil, the misery, and the woe. Because without understanding that we would not have the freedom to choose the good. The fall brought to us the knowledge of good and evil.

Under the first covenant, if we had chosen the good unerringly all during our lives we would satisfy the covenant. But we don’t do that so there has to be a way that we can still be saved after having chosen evil.

“Satan hath come among the children of men, and tempteth them to worship him; and men have become carnal, sensual, and devilish, they are shut out from the presence of God.”

Moses 6:49

And only by one of these covenants can we ever come back to the presence of God.

“But God hath made known unto our fathers that all men must repent. And he called upon our father Adam by his own voice saying: I am God; I made the world and men before they were in the flesh. And he said unto him: If thou wilt turn unto me, and hearken unto my voice, and believe and repent of all thy transgressions”, of having chosen evil, “and be baptized, even in water, in the name of my Only Begotten Son, who is full of grace and truth, which is Jesus Christ, the only name which shall be given under heaven, whereby salvation shall come unto the children of men, ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost, ask in all things In his name, and whatsoever ye shall ask, it shall be given you.”  Moses 6: 50-52

The main thing that we need to ask for is for the ability to stop choosing evil and start choosing only the good. Because the second law requires of us in the end to do what the first law requires. What the first covenant requires is to choose good without fail, without erring. But we get to err  under the second law, that is to say it is possible for us to have sinned and then learn to obey God in all things and still be saved because of the Savior’s atonement.

“And our father Adam spoke unto the Lord, and said: , why is it that man must repent and be baptized in water? And the Lord said unto Adam: Behold I have forgiven thee thy transgression in the Garden of Eden. Hence came the saying abroad among the people. that the Son of God hath atoned for original guilt, wherein the sins of the parents cannot be answered upon the heads of the children … And the Lord spake unto Adam, saying: Inasmuch as thy children are conceived in sin”, that is to say they are conceived into a sinful situation, “even so when they begin to grow up, sin conceiveth in their hearts, and they taste the bitter that they may know to prize the good. And it is given unto them to know good from evil.”  Moses 6: 53-55

No human being comes into this world and is of normal mentality except he has full command of good and evil. He may not know the gospel of Jesus Christ but he knows good and evil. He knows good by the light of Christ, and evil by the temptations of Satan. And thus each man is an agent unto himself …

“. . . and I have given you another law and commandment.” Moses 6: 56

And this other law is the New and Everlasting Covenant. This marvelous, wonderful gift of mercy from God whereby we may repent and learn to serve, that is to say, to choose good without sinning, without erring, and thus be established in an eternal path of righteousness.

“. . . all men everywhere must repent, or they can in no wise inherit the kingdom of God, for no unclean thing can dwell there.”  Moses 6:57

There has to be a way to get clean.

“For in the language of Adam, Man of Holiness is his name, and the name of his Only Begotten is the Son of Man, even Jesus Christ, a righteous Judge, who shall come in the meridian of time. . teach these things freely to your children saying: that by reason of transgression cometh the fall , which fall bringeth death, and inasmuch as ye were born Into the world by water, and blood and the spirit, which I have made, and so become of dust a living soul, even so ye must be born again”, spiritual “into the kingdom of heaven, of water and of the Spirit and be cleansed by blood. even the blood of mine Only Begotten; that ye might be sanctified from all sin, and enjoy the words of eternal life in this world, and eternal life In the world to come, even Immortal glory; For by the water ye keep the commandment”, the commandment to repent and be baptized, “by the Spirit ye are justified”, you are taught to be just and righteous. In other words to be both just and merciful. “And by the blood ye are sanctified.”  Moses 6:57-60

The blood of Christ enables us to work out our salvation so that our sins are all made up for by Christ. The suffering and the sacrifice are taken care of so that our record can stand as if we had never sinned, though we have. But the Savior acts as our buffer, our advocate, our Savior in that he saves us from the eternal consequences of those sins.

Now, let’s review the parts of the new and everlasting covenant. First we are called upon to repent and be baptized. To repent is to turn our hearts to Jesus Christ, to declare ourselves against evil and for good, and to recognize in Christ the only hope we have for achieving good and relinquishing all evil. And so we choose to make the covenant with him.  And the covenant of baptism is first of all that we will take upon ourselves his name. Secondly, that we will keep every commandment that he gives us. And thirdly, that we will always remember him. He tells us that always remembering him is the key to always having his spirit to be with us. And having his spirit to be with us brings us the knowledge and the power to choose only good, and thus to be worthy of our Father who himself has chosen only good, and is the epitome himself of all goodness.

If we make that covenant honestly and honorably, then hands are laid upon our head and we are given the right to the constant companionship of the Holy Ghost. And that is the pearl of great price as I understand it. Because without that we cannot fulfill the righteousness of Christ. That is what teaches us and empowers us with righteousness or justice. By the spirit we are justified. The Holy Ghost becomes our personal tutor to lift our minds to the vision of what it means to be perfect in Christ, to be just, to be kindly, to love with perfect love and thus to serve in the manner in which Christ serves. And so we receive the Holy Ghost.

If we then obey the instruction (the commandments) we are given to receive the Holy Ghost, and we receive it into our lives and we treasure him as our constant companion by yielding to him constantly, yielding to those enticings of the Holy Spirit, which entice us constantly to righteousness.  We can only do that by softening our hearts and letting ourselves be led as a little child in the way of Christ. After learning to follow the Holy Ghost, then comes the time where there is another new and everlasting covenant, another part of this whole covenant. Which is to receive the priesthood of God.

Now we are beginning to go into the service of others using thew power of God. The Aaronic priesthood, of course is a temporary priesthood, a temporal priesthood. It is receiving the Melchizedek Priesthood that is the really significant event. But both are important. As we receive the Melchizedek Priesthood, we enter into the oath and covenant of the priesthood. The oath and the covenant of the priesthood are part of this empowering. We make certain promises to the Lord.  He makes the oath, we make the covenant. We are not  to make oaths, because until we’re perfect we can’t guarantee that we will fulfill the oaths. But we can covenant, we can make promises to do the best we can to obey as we are told. So we covenant that we will use this priesthood to bless others as our Father directs us. He promises us if we will use this priesthood to bless and go on to receive the fullness of this priesthood then we will receive from him all that he has. We will share all that Christ has been given. Let’s read some of the words of  Section 84 of the Doctrine and Covenants. The whole first part of this section is a description of the oath and covenant of the priesthood.  Verse 20,

“Therefore in the ordinances of the gospel of Jesus Christ the power of godliness is manifest.”

This is the purpose of the ordinances which constitute the New and Everlasting Covenant is to deliver to us the power of godliness. Which is simply the power to be good. God is good, that’s what the word “God” means. And the power of godliness is the power to be good without error, fully good, wholly good.

“. . . without the ordinances thereof, and the authority of the priesthood, the power of godliness is not manifest unto men in the flesh; For without this no man can see the face of God, even the Father, and live.”

We can’t become good enough to stand in the presence of the Father and enjoy his eternal presence except through Jesus Christ who cleanses us from doing evil through repentance and from the consequences of having done evil through the Atonement.

“Now this Moses plainly taught to the children of Israel in the wilderness. and he sought diligently to sanctify his people that they might behold the face of God”

Sanctification has to do with our sins. Until our debts of justice, where we have sinned, are made up, he can’t stand us in is presence. He can’t stand anyone who has hurt someone else and doesn’t care. If we care there is a way to make up for it, to get the persons we have offended compensated and the record clean. That way is through Christ. But if we don’t care enough to make sure that everybody whom we’ve hurt is recompensed through Christ, then we don’t belong in his presence. The children of Israel in the wilderness hardened their hearts and they could not endure his presence. In other words they said, “The way is to straight for us. We still want to choose evil.There are some things that we desire to do that are not good.”  The Lord in his wrath (for his anger was kindled against them) swore that they should not enter into his rest. Which is his presence:

“Therefore, the Lord in his wrath. for his anger was kindled against them, swore that they should no enter into his rest while in the wilderness, which rest is the fullness of his glory. Therefore, he took Moses out of their mist and the holy priesthood also;” D&C 84:24-25

That is to say, he took from them the Melchizedek Priesthood. “The lesser priesthood continued”, with them “which priesthood holdeth the keys of the ministering of angels and the preparatory gospel.” D&C 84:26  This that they never-the-less might have some portion of good and righteousness that would help them to be prepared to receive the fullness again when the time was right. So the lesser power continued with them until John the Baptist:

“Which gospel is the gospel of repentance and of baptism and the remission of sins, and the law of carnal commandments, which the Lord in his wrath caused to continue with the house of Aaron among the children of Israel until John, who God raised up being filled with the Holy Ghost from his mother’s womb. For he was baptized while he was yet In his childhood and was ordained by the angel of God at the time he was eight days old unto this power, to overthrow the kingdom of the Jews”. D&C 84:27

To do good by the power of the Aaronic Priesthood is a preparation for doing greater good through the power of the Melchizedek Priesthood.  Having received the priesthood, it is then necessary for the recipients to make an acceptable offering unto the Lord through the powers of that priesthood:

“Therefore as I said concerning the sons of Moses, for the sons of Moses and also the sons of Aaron shall offer an acceptable offering unto that sacrifice in the house of the Lord, which house shall be built unto the Lord in this generation upon the consecrated spot as I have appointed. And the sons of Moses and of Aaron shall be filled with the glory of the Lord, upon mount Zion in the Lord’s house, whose sons are ye; and also many whom I have called and sent forth to build up my church. For whoso is faithful unto the obtaining of these two priesthoods of which I have spoken and the magnifying their calling are sanctified by the spirit unto the renewing of their bodies.”

D&C 84: 31-33

They are made holy by obedience to the Holy Spirit. And:

“They become the sons of Moses and of Aaron and the seed of Abraham, and the church and kingdom, and elect of God. And also all they who receive this priesthood receive me saith the Lord; For he that receiveth my servants receiveth me; And he that receiveth me receiveth my Father; And he that receiveth my Father receiveth my Father’s kingdom; Therefore all that my Father hath shall be given him. And this is according to the oath and covenant which belongeth to the priesthood. Therefore, all those who receive the priesthood, receive this oath and covenant of my Father, which he cannot break, neither can it be moved. But whoso breaketh this covenant after he hath received it, and altogether turneth therefrom shall not have forgiveness of sins in this world nor in the world to come.” D&C 84: 34-41

Those who turn away altogether are, of course,  the sons of perdition.

And I now give you a commandment, to beware concerning yourselves, to give diligent heed to the words of eternal life. For ye shall live by every word that proceedeth forth out of the mouth of God. For the word of the Lord is truth, and whatsoever is truth is light, and whatsoever is light is Spirit, even the spirit of Jesus Christ. And the spirit giveth light to every man that cometh Into the world; and the spirit enlighteth every man through the world that hearkeneth to the voice of the spirit. And everyone that hearkeneth to the voice of the spirit cometh unto God. Even the Father. And the Father teacheth him of the covenant which he has renewed and confirmed upon you, which is confirmed upon you for your sakes, and not for your sakes only, but for the sake of the whole world.”  D&C 84: 43-48

If all we needed to do was to be saved ourselves, of course we would just need to repent, in a sense. But repentance involves the service. We can’t fully repent and we can’t fully have faith in Christ without turning and helping the rest of the world be saved also.

“And the whole world lieth in sin and groaneth under darkness and under the bondage of sin.” D&C 84:49

And thus it is our mission, if we want to be saved, is to help save others, to love our neighbor and to share with them the opportunity of salvation, even as the Savior has loved us and has given us the opportunity to be saved.

Now we need to talk about names. Why these interesting names? The sons of Moses and of Aaron, the seed of Abraham, the house of Israel, the priesthood of Melchizedek. Now, we are given a key in the Doctrine and Covenants. We know the true name of the Melchizedek priesthood is not “the Melchizedek Priesthood.” We know the true name of the priesthood is “The Holy Priesthood after the order of the Son of God.” In other words, it is the priesthood of Jesus Christ. But it was given the name Melchizedek because Melchizedek was a great High priest in ancient times and used that priesthood so effectively (more effectively than anyone in the ancient world) to serve his fellow men and to bring them to Christ, that they too might be saved. That’s the purpose of the priesthood.

Now let’s look at the name Melchizedek. `Melki‘ means “king of,” `Zedek‘ means righteousness. The name means “king of righteousness.” Now why was the name Melchizedek given to the priesthood of God? Let me give you my interpretation. Please do not believe this unless you have better evidence than my evidence. But may I give you this as a hypothesis. My understanding is that Melchizedek is another of the names of Christ. He is the king of righteousness, there is no other king of righteousness. He is the sole fountain of righteousness on this earth. And if any person seeks to have righteousness they must come unto Jesus Christ and make their personal peace with him. He is the keeper of the gate of righteousness. He employs no servant there. And if we wish to have it we must deal with him. How did it happen that Melchizedek the man got that name? Well my guess is, that what the Savior is pleased to do is to put his own names upon his faithful servants. And thus everybody who comes to Christ is likely to get a new name. And the new name will be one of Christ’s names. I believe that “Melchizedek” is one of the names of Christ.

For instance, there was a man named Abram and when he became faithful he received a new name. What’s his new name? Abraham. What does Abraham mean? The AB is pronounced av in Hebrew. Av means Father. Ra means many. Am means people. Father of many people, father of many children. Who is the real father of all these children. The real father is the Savior. He’s the one who’s the father. He’s the creator of every human being on earth. Not the spirit body but the physical tabernacle. And he’s the one that enables each one to be reborn to righteousness. I think Abraham is one of the Son’s names, one of the Savior’s names. What was the first thing we promised in taking the new and everlasting covenant? To take upon ourselves the name of Christ. How many names does he have? At least four hundred that we have in the scriptures. And I suspect that when we get it all figured out that there will be a lot more than that.

Now, what are we to do? Christ’s purpose is to share everything he has with us. And as we acquire the attributes and blessings that he has acquired for our selves, we progressively take upon ourselves his name. Or we might say, his names, as we become like Him.

About three years ago Elder Dallin Oaks gave a talk in conference. He talked about the sacrament and what we promise to do there. At first I couldn’t understand what he was saying. But as I studied this material out it finally dawned on me what he was saying. I commend that talk to you. Go back and read it. You’ll find it to be very instructive, very enlightening. It pointed me to this understanding of taking upon us the name of Christ.     Let’s look at some of the other names. The name Enoch, means initiated or begun. What do we associate Enoch with? I associate him with law of consecration. When we get established or initiated or have begun in that law, we are taking upon ourselves the name Enoch. I understand the name Enoch to be a name of Jesus Christ which he gave to his faithful servant Enoch.

Consider the name David,  and the throne of David. The throne of David is Christ’s throne. It speaks in the scriptures of David in the last days and my understanding that means our Savior. The word `David’ means “loving.” He is the God of love. And his throne is the throne of grace and love. If you and I ever hope to fulfill the full love of Jesus Christ we will perhaps want to enjoy the throne of David. The throne of David is a place of service to others, where the welfare of others is put ahead of our own. Now true, the man King David had some problems. But the word David is still a good name.

The word `Moses’. What does the word `Moses’ mean? Who are the `sons of Moses?’ The word `Moses’ in the Egyptian means simply “the son.” Son, who is the son? We know who the son is. The word Moses is simply one of the Savior’s designations. The Hebrew meaning for Mosha, which is the Hebrew equivalent for the Egyptian Moses, means “rescued”. And we can see why that would be. He was rescued from the bulrushes. But there’s a little twist to that in the Egyptian. The name `Isaiah,’ “God has saved.” The name `Israel,’ “he will rule as God.” If you know what the blessings of Israel are and you hope to share them, when you rule as God you will take upon yourself the name Israel. That means you will rule under Christ, who is, as I understand it, the real Israel. And a man named Jacob was given that name as his new name because it was the name of his father Jesus Christ. Think about it and pray about it. If you have a new name you might wonder what it means. You might want to find out. Because I think you will find out that somehow it represents the Savior to you. And it’s something he would like you either to become or to be which he has rewarded you with already, in your path to perfection.

Let us now turn to Section 132 and read a few words about the New and Everlasting Covenant. Verse 2:

“Behold, and lo, I am the Lord thy God, and will answer thee as touching this matter.”

The matter of course is many wives and concubines. But many of these comments apply to the whole of the new and everlasting covenant. Therefore are pertinent to us.

“Prepare thy heart to receive and obey the instructions which I am about to give unto you; for all those who have this law revealed to them must obey the same.” D&C 132:3

In other words. it’s better not have known the Lord than to know him and then defy him.

“For behold I reveal unto you a new and an everlasting covenant and if ye abide not that covenant, then ye are damned.”  D&C 132:4

You’re stopped in your progress.

“For no one can reject this covenant and be permitted to enter into my glory.” D&C 132:4

There is no other way.

“For all who will have a blessing at my hands shall abide the law which was appointed for that blessing and the conditions thereof, as were instituted from, before the foundation of the world.” D&C 132:5

We need to quote another scripture here in this connection.

“There is a law upon which all blessings are predicated and when we receive any blessing it is by obedience to that law …” D&C  130:20

I understand this scripture to say that there is one law upon which all blessings are predicated. Not many laws, but only one law by which to receive blessing from God . When you talk about celestial things, it is the law of the gospel, not the laws of the gospel. Now, what’s that one law? The one law, as I understand it, is faith in Jesus Christ. Which translated in other words means to love Jesus Christ who is the Lord our God, with all of our heart, might, mind, and strength. Now, if we receive any blessing we get it only through that law by coming to full faith in Christ. Which means to partake of the fullness of the new and everlasting covenant. Because only in that covenant is there power to become fully just and merciful, to come to that fullness of love which is Christ, in which we are trying to emulate him. And these conditions were pointed and instituted from before the foundations of the world.

“And as pertaining to the new and everlasting covenant, it was instituted for the fullness of my glory; and he that receiveth a fullness thereof must and shall abide the law, or he shall be damned.”

Everyone who is not exalted is damned. We have our choice, no one is exalted except they want it and want it enough to give up all their sins and become a little child In the hands of Christ and do all things that he would have them do, to live by every word that proceeds forth out of his mouth.

“Verily I say unto you, the conditions of this law are these: all covenants, contracts, bonds, obligations, oaths, vows, performances, connections, associations, expectations …” D&C 132:7

Anything that is done in this world, that is not entered into and sealed by the Holy Spirit of promise, which comes in connection with the new and everlasting covenant.

“… of him who is anointed, both as well for time and for all eternity and that too most holy, by revelation and commandment through the medium of mine anointed, whom I have appointed on earth to hold this power on the earth. And I have appointed my servant Joseph, to hold this power in the last days and there is never but one on the earth at a time on whom this power and the keys of this priesthood are conferred.” D&C 132:7

Who has it today? President Ezra Taft Benson.

“Are of no efficacy, virtue, or force in and alter the resurrection from the dead.” D&C 132:7

The new and everlasting covenant is the only power that goes through death and resurrection. In other words, it’s the only thing that makes anything everlasting or eternal, that’s why it’s called for one thing the new and everlasting covenant.

“All contracts that are not made unto this end have an end when men are dead. My house is a house of order saith the Lord and not a house of confusion. Will I accept of an offering, saith the Lord, that is not made in my name? Or will I receive at your hands that which I have not appointed? And will I appoint unto you accept by law? Even as I and my Father ordained you before the world was? I am the Lord thy God. I have given you this commandment, no man shall come unto the Father but by me or by my word, which is my law.”  D&C 132: 7-10

To have faith in Christ is to fulfill the law.

“Everything that is in the world, whether it be ordained of man or thrones, or principalities, or powers of things that whatsoever that they may be, that are not by me or by my word, saith the Lord shall be thrown down and not remain after men are dead. Nor in nor after the resurrection, saith the Lord your God.” D&C 132:13

No marriage connection, no parent- child relationship, nothing of that will stand except it is confirmed, and hallowed, and made eternal, through the New and Everlasting Covenant.

“Whatsoever things are made are by me and whatsoever things are not by me shall be shaken and destroyed.” D&C 132:14

The thing that amazes me is how great a thing the Savior is trying to give to us. He’s trying to share with us all that he has, which is the power to govern and control and be a steward over the universe. And there’s nothing greater. But we must do it in his way, through covenant, through his power, under his Spirit, in his love and his mercy. So, we can’t say we haven’t been told.

Now, I rejoice with you in these things. This is marvelous, this is life. And to have an opportunity to know these things is the key to everything else. In heart, might, mind, and strength there is an order. The psychological order is mind, heart, strength, and might. That’s the order in which we must deal with things in the world. We first must understand them and then we must take them into our hearts and then we must reflect them in our bodies through our actions and that will then reflect any effect we have In the world. Now there are other orders given but that’s the order we have to do it. That’s the reason were talking about these things.

It’s important to remember that there are different kinds of minds. We’ll take just a little side trip here for just a minute and talk about the kinds of minds. There’s a mind or shall we say a person that corresponds to each of the four things: heart, might, mind, and strength. A person who’s center focus is the heart, I call a Hebrew. And Abraham Is the epitome of the Hebrew. He could not stand that anyone should suffer. He was willing to risk his own life to help others. The Savior, of course, is the same. He is the epitome of all good things. Abraham is a good example.He as a mortal human was born and raised out of the church. He found the gospel and so loved the Savior that he became known as “the friend of God.” Because he was all heart. He couldn’t stand that anyone should suffer and he wanted to help them whenever he could.

Now there is another kind of person, who is a mind person. The mind person glories in understanding and they want to figure everything out and know everything. Now that’s good except if you don’t have a heart. If you emphasis the mind and the figuring of it all out and you don’t have the heart to go and do it, the mind is relatively worthless. That’s what I call a Greek mind.

Now there’s the Trojan person. The Trojan person is one who thinks that the body is everything. They’re really interested in health. They really like the Word of Wisdom. They really emphasis that. They like the physical culture. They like things like Yoga, because it’s training the body, giving them power, strength. They like beauty, they like clothing, they glory in the trappings of the world. Considering a Trojan person, there’s nothing wrong with those things in their place. But if  you don’t have a good heart heart and a good mind to go with it, you don’t have very much.

And then there’s the Roman person who glories in might. They want power in this world above all else. They want to rule and reign. They want to get people to do what they want them to do. Sometimes, of course, they say they are doing it for the benefit of the people they’re reigning over. They are their brother’s keeper. And they’re going to make sure their brother is kept just the way he wants them kept.

Now I say this because as we talk about these things, there’s a danger. The danger is that we will slip into the Greek person, who is  ever learning, understanding the principles, but never coming to the knowledge of the truth. And the knowledge of the truth is Jesus Christ. To know him is to be him, to be as he is. And if we learn all of these things and don’t do something it’ s a damnation to us. And I say it because I tend to be Greek and I know it.  I’ve got to be transformed into a Hebrew, to be like Abraham, to be like my Savior. Otherwise all of this is a waste.

May I say again in conclusion. Please don’t believe a word I’ve said. I’ve shared with you the best that my heart and mind can produce. But I am a man and I`m still struggling with my own salvation. And I would commend to you the true and living God who does hear and answers prayers, who will enlighten every single one of us on these things if we will just go to him and pray about them and try to implement them the best we can in our lives. And if we will do that, he is gracious, he is good, he will answer us. Revelation is the life blood of this kingdom. It is the rock on which we must stand, each one of us personally and individually. And if we do, then we will have no regrets. That’s wisdom.

We have five minutes for questions, it. you would like to ask a question.

(question) Why does it require a sinless person to atone for someone else’s sins?

Because it if they weren’t sinless they would have to atone for their own sins. (follow-up unheard) My understanding is no, that when we have sinned — I don’t know what else I can say, in other words I can’t explain it fully. But that’s a good question we should both ask. So let’s ask it and get the answer, because there are answers.

(question) The meaning of the name of Noah?

Noah means quiet, rest. And of course where is there rest but in the Lord. He is the prince of peace. He is the author of all real rest. His rest is the glory of his presence.

(question) Adam?

The word Adam means man.

(question) I know a lot of us feel so overwhelmed and so impressed by the things you say but are limited in our ability to catch all your thoughts. And I can’t find any books, is there anything available?  (Bro. Riddle hold up the scriptures) laughing she responds, I guess I was put in my place.

I didn’t mean to insult you but I simply hope you realize that anything written by an ordinary man is not scripture. That would be a strictly secondary source. These (the scriptures) are the only primary sources we have. I need to enlarge that just a little bit. What are primary sources? The primary sources of scripture that we have are: the words of the prophets, of which these are part. These written scriptures, these are the canonized scriptures. The un-canonized scriptures are the other words of the prophets. The most important single piece of written scripture that we have that I know anything about is the temple ceremony. And my guess is, that if we really want to understand the ways of the Lord, we will go to the temple and study that ceremony until we understand it backwards and forwards. It is the most complicated, most beautiful puzzle I have ever seen and the most worthwhile thing to figure out. And if you and I can figure out what every word means in that ceremony we will have the greatest treasure there is, I think. That is the jewel that we think of.  The canonized scripture is preliminary to the temple in what it’s trying to deliver to us. And there are things beyond that of course. For eye hath not seen nor ear heard that has entered into heart of man the good things that God has to give those that love him. So, we are rich, we have so much already, that if we will just take that which we have and concentrate on it. We don’t need all the commentaries in the world. Sometimes the worst thing you can do is go read a commentary on the scripture and get your mind lost by a half-truth which keeps you from seeing what’s really in the scriptures. So that’s why I say, please don’t believe what I say, because I’ve talked to enough people who have heard me to know that some of them have been blocked by some of the things I’ve said and I’m sorry. But I share in the sense that maybe something I have said will cause you to get on your knees and pray about something. And in that situation, that is where the real good comes, that’s where the real pure stuff comes to us, and on this revelation from God we can base our lives and our salvation.

(question) Sariah?

Sariah was named Sarah, I think it means “princess.” And that’s fitting because if truly we serve under our Father, the king, we are truly princes and princess. In other words we are apprentice kings and queens.