You may wonder about this title. It is common in the church to speak of “having” faith in Jesus Christ. But it is also common to hear people say that the faith that they have does not bring the results they desire or need. We emphasize “doing” rather than “having” faith here because everyone “has” faith. But it is in the correct doing of faith that results are obtained, and only in our works is our faith manifest.
Faith is trusting in something in the absence of sure knowledge that that something is presently trustworthy. We tend to put trust in things, ideas and people where that trust has proved to be helpful in the past. But trust we must.
Everyone has faith because human beings are so constituted that we cannot know enough to live by knowledge. We do not and cannot know that the sun will come up tomorrow, but we have faith that it will. We do not know the date we were born, but we accept the testimony of others on faith, and that suffices. We do not know what any other person thinks or feels, but we put faith in our surmises about them and that often works. Just about everything we ordinarily think we know turns out, on close inspection, to be something we just believe, and we put great faith in our beliefs and thus manage to muddle through life.
Every human being lives by faith, faith in something or someone or many somethings and someones. But there is only one faith that saves anyone in any eternal sense, and that is faith in Jesus Christ. Faith in Jesus Christ is a thing a person must do, not just have, and skill in doing faith in Christ is what makes it work. So let us now examine what skillful, competent doing of faith consists of so that our faith in Christ will not be weak or inadequate to our needs.
We here suggest five keys for doing faith in Jesus Christ. Do not suppose that this is the eternal last word on doing faith in Christ. You are invited to examine these ideas, to see if they are better than the notion of faith you have held up to now. Then you are invited to formulate your own rules and procedures for becoming full of faith in Christ. For you and I are saved no faster or sooner than we gain knowledge of how to do saving faith.
We will give a brief outline of five keys to doing faith in Christ, then we will return to each key for an analysis in greater depth.
First Key: Be certain that all our trust is in Jesus Christ. This means that His Spirit, His words, His prophets are the most important things to us in this world. We of course cannot put our trust in Him until we find His spirit, His words, and His prophets. So the first step in faith is to find a personal connection with Jesus Christ, then to be sure that that personal connection is the most important thing in our mortal life, more important than breathing or eating or obtaining any earthly satisfaction. Nephi tells us that we must proceed, “with unshaken faith in him, relying wholly upon the merits of him who is mighty to save.” (2 Nephi 31:19) The world “wholly” reminds us that if we do faith in Jesus Christ correctly, we need have faith in nothing or no one else. Let us make this point a little stronger: True faith in Jesus Christ precludes faith in anyone or anything else. Doing faith requires that we are or become spiritually sensitive so that we find Christ, then be spiritually constant in trusting Him and Him only.
Second Key: Recognize that faith in Christ is a gift of God. It is not something a person can do at will. Unless we become as a little child—humble, willing, submissive—we cannot and will not receive the Holy Spirit of God into our lives to become faithful.
Because faith is a gift of God, specifically one of the greatest gifts of the Holy Ghost, receiving a fulness of it requires ordinances. No one can be fully faithful to Christ unless they are baptized into the New and Everlasting Covenant and are fulfilling their commitments in that covenant. Those who trust in the witness of the Holy Spirit to believe that Jesus is the Christ, that the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is the only true and living church on the earth, and that they should accept the New and Everlasting Covenant of baptism into His church are on the path which leads to full faith in Christ.
Third Key: Faith is to work by mental exertion. The prophet Joseph Smith gave us this key in the Lectures on Faith. There are two main emphases here: First that doing faith is hard work and second that doing faith is mental work.
To say that faith is work means literally just that. Faith is something that must be worked at every minute of every day. We work at it by controlling our mind, which is the “mental” part. We control ourselves through our power of attention. Whatever we give our attention to is where the action is. Human life consists of a stream of influences and impulses which come into the mind and our personal reactions to these influences and impulses. The key is to separate out that which comes from Christ from that which comes from the world and from Satan, and to put our trust only in that which comes from Christ.
Thus to be faithful to Christ means to be constantly alert, perceptive of spiritual influences, and decisive in reacting to each kind of influence. Faith in Christ is difficult work, but it is doable. It demands our constant attention, the full application of our intelligence, and all of our acting. There is not more consuming or occupying action than doing full faith in Jesus Christ. It requires that we gain control of our minds and then focus deliberately in every thought in doing what Christ would have us do. The Savior said: “Look to me in every thought; doubt not, fear not.” (D&C 6:36)
Fourth Key: What we have mentioned so far is so demanding that it can be sustained in a human being only when the heart as well as the mind is fully committed to doing faith in Christ. This fourth key is what the heart must do: it must hunger and thirst after righteousness. The promise is that those who thus hunger and thirst will be filled with the Holy Ghost. Only by the power of the Holy Ghost can we find Christ, seize the gift of the Holy Ghost, and put our mind to full acting on faith in Christ. If our heart is not in it, we will soon lose interest or be diverted to whatever our heart is interested in.
Our heart is our desires. Unless we want to do what is right more than we want anything else, we will not hold fast to Christ and have full faith in Him even if we do encounter Him in the world as so many did during His mortal ministry, or as many do now in reading the Bible and the Book of Mormon. Each of us must decide: Do I desire to serve God or to serve mammon? If we choose God, we can be faithful only by following the narrow path of faith in Christ. Every other path in this world is serving mammon. So unless our heart yearns for righteousness, which is found only in Christ, we will be diverted from Christ by pleasure, social rewards, money, power, beauty, and all the other good things this world has to offer. No wonder full faith in Christ is such a rare commodity in this world.
Fifth Key: There is a consequence of doing full faith in Christ. This consequence is the test as to whether a person has full faith in Christ or not. One who does full faith in Christ will be found serving his or her fellow human beings with all of his heart, might, mind and strength. He or she lies down each and every night of the world exhausted in the causes of relieving anguish, ignorance, suffering and poverty among the people of this earth. And this is done in the power of Christ through unshaken faith in Him.
The great commandment of God is that we love Him with all of our heart, might, mind and strength. This love is manifest only in persons who have put their full faith in Christ. You can tell one who has full faith in Christ because of their life of total selfless service to others. To love and serve God is to love and serve His children under His direction. There is no other way to do love of God.
Now that we have painted the overall picture of the five keys to doing full faith in Christ, let us revisit each of them for more detail. Please note that the five keys are not necessarily in serial order. We are attempting to paint a picture of doing full faith in Christ by giving linear sequence of words. But the picture is a whole, and must be seen as a whole to be understood.
First Key: To say that our faith must be in Jesus Christ and in Him only can be refined to point out that our specific trust must be in the name of Jesus Christ. This is the only name under heaven whereby man can be saved. (D&C 18:23) The name of Jesus Christ is His priesthood authority.
When we look to Jesus Christ for help and salvation, He delivers it to us through His priesthood authority. We must find and submit ourselves to that priesthood authority to begin the process of salvation. We do this by accepting the ordinances of baptism of the water and baptism of the spirit. We continue that salvation by serving faithfully under those who preside over us in the priesthood in our wards and stakes. We further that salvation by fully receiving the Holy Priesthood, that is to say, the name of Jesus Christ, upon ourselves in His holy temple. Then we finish our salvation by ministering to the children of men in this world using the powers of His name, His priesthood, which we have gained in the temple. This is the power by which Peter, James and John built up the church of Jesus Christ in the meridian of time. This is the power by which Nephi blessed his people, by which Ammon converted King Limhi, by which the Savior wrought His Atonement, by which the preparations for the Second Coming of Christ will be fulfilled by those of our own time.
Hallowed be His holy name. May we magnify it in our faithfulness.
Second Key: As faith in Jesus Christ is a gift of the Holy Ghost, so responding faithfully to this gift brings other gifts. A faithful servant of Christ operates by the gifts of the Holy Ghost. He uses the gift of prophecy to prepare well for the future. He uses the gift of tongues to touch the hearts of those who need more faith. He uses the gift of knowledge to instruct those who are weak in the faith. He uses the gift of healing to lift those who struggle with the adversary over physical or mental afflictions. He uses the gift of wisdom to know how to lift those in his stewardship. Being full of the knowledge and power of God, he fills every church assignment in the way the Savior himself would do it, supporting fully those who preside over him and loving into competence in being faithful to Christ all those over whom he presides. Through the gifts of God he is attaining the measure of the stature of the fulness of Christ.
The faithful servant of Christ works until he has every spiritual gift he or she needs to meet the challenges and opportunities of the service he or she has to bless others each day. The most demanding service anyone has are the twin tasks of being a Christ-like husband and father or a Christ-like wife and mother in the New and Everlasting Covenant.
Third Key: To work by mental exertion in being faithful is to learn to control one’s own mind completely. Knowing that Satan is able to put evil thoughts into our minds, which are temptations, and knowing that all action begins in the mind, the faithful servant of Christ fights the good fight of faith every minute of every day in his or her mind.
Part of this struggle is negative. It is to block, to thwart immediately every temptation to evil which comes into the mind. Does a swear word come to mind? Repent immediately and pray for help that it will never come again. Does a covetous thought come to mind? Repent immediately of desiring that which is not right, perhaps even giving away something of our own which is precious to us so that we do not become attached to things. Does a lustful, lascivious thought come into our mind? We must pray immediately with all of our might for the great gift of a pure heart that such a thought will never afflict us again, and work and work until indeed such a thought never comes again.
Until we win the battle of good over evil in our minds, we can never win the battle in our actions. This is why the Greek word for repentance is so apt. The word is metanoia, to change our minds. Faithfulness is wrought in the mind by rejecting and eschewing immediately every temptation to evil. To let a temptation linger for even a moment is to succumb to that temptation in a degree. Our reaction to the temptation to think evil must become reflexive, so habitual or “knee-jerk” that we do not struggle, but simply reject, withdrawing in horror to what Satan would have us do. President McKay said it this way: You can’t stop the birds from flying over your head, but you can surely stop them from nesting in your hair!
The positive side of working faith by mental exertion is to search out the good which God provides and treasure it. We seek after everything which is virtuous, lovely, of good report or praiseworthy, because these are the things of God in this world. We observe the instructions of the scriptures and take each admonition to heart and mind until each is habitual with us. We listen to our bishop and stake president or other presiding authorities and hang on every instruction until we have absorbed all into our character as a permanent fixture. We scan general conference addresses for anything we yet need to do to come into full compliance with what faithful Latter-day Saints do. We try to become skillful in all that we do, that we honor our master thereby. We try to beautify, cleanse, uplift, and refine everything we live with or deal with. We are unabashedly trying to create heaven on earth, recognizing all the while that we do so by first creating a heavenly mind within ourselves.
Thus we work to be faithful by mental exertion, excluding all that is evil and holding fast to all that is good until our mind is sufficient to full faith in Jesus Christ.
Fourth Key: Our mind cannot work the work of faith unless our heart is pure. We must look to our heart, and ferret out every desire for evil, for selfishness, for feathering our own nest, until those tendencies are all gone. If we observe in the course of a day’s living that our heart is not yet pure, that we yet desire something we know is evil, we can take immediate steps. One step to purity is to fast until we are relieved of the evil desire. Fasting without mighty prayer is but going hungry. As we are humble, our prayers will be guided by the Holy Spirit so that they become effective. As they are effective, we can root out of our hearts every impurity, every untoward desire. Father wants us to struggle with these evils in our heart one by one, so that our agency is not abrogated by His changing of our hearts. When we want to be pure more than we want to live or breathe, then we are humble enough to receive purity of heart step by step until every trace of selfishness is gone. The pure heart is the most important aspect of the faithful saint, but the mind is the battleground where the struggle with good and evil is won and won permanently.
Fifth Key: Perhaps the greatest miracle in this world is a person who has struggled until they have become fully faithful to Jesus Christ. That is the hardest thing for any human being to accomplish, yet every necessary help or grace necessary to that stupendous accomplishment is made available by our loving Heavenly Father to every single one of His children who come into mortality. He hopes that each will esteem His love and gifts and overcome the world. But He know that many will not choose to do so.
How beautiful and precious then is the soul who has fought the good fight and has overcome. Give them any assignment in the kingdom, and they will find a way to fulfill it. Face them with any problem, and they will overcome it through their faith. If there is anything godliness can accomplish, they will do it. There is no greater accomplishment or reward than to be a servant of Jesus Christ, fully faithful. They already have eternal life, which is the life of and with the gods. They commune with and cooperate with the Father, the Son and the Holy Ghost daily in their never-ending quest to rescue every human soul from damnation. Service is their watchword, love is their weapon, power in the priesthood is their backup, accomplishment is their record. For they love God with all of their heart, might, mind and strength, and in the name of Jesus Christ do they serve Him.
Does all of this sound overwhelming and impossible—cause you to feel hopeless? If this is your reaction, that will be because you have been trying to do what is right on your own and failing. Remember that all that we have said comes through the grace and love of our Master, Jesus Christ. His apostles, glimpsing the pattern of full faith in Christ which we are also attempting to do, said to Jesus: “Master, who then can be saved?” He replied, “With man, this is impossible. But with God all these things are possible.” (Matthew 19:25–26) The greatest thing any human can do is to become faithful to Jesus Christ. It is not surprising that the task should be difficult. But it is wonderful to know that anyone who wants that attainment enough to be willing to sacrifice everything else for it will gain that goal if he or she truly hungers and thirsts after righteousness.
The question now rightly arises, how does one teach full faith in Jesus Christ to another? There are two answers. The first is that it cannot be taught. That greatest human attainment is worked out as a personal relationship between each human being and his Master, Jesus Christ. No one can tell anyone else exactly how to be faithful except Jesus Christ himself. The second answer is that there is much that can be done to point the way toward the strait and narrow path of faith, both by precept and by example. As we teach of Christ, prophesy of Christ, and honor Christ, we help others to gain ideas which will help them to be faithful. That is what we are attempting to do here, right now, in this discussion. But of course the great way to teach faith in Christ is simply to be full of doing faith in Christ ourselves. The example is worth more than a million words.
May I suggest a way to remember how to be faithful? Let each of the five keys be represented by the thumb or a finger on your right hand. Let the thumb remind you to put your trust solely in the holy name of Jesus Christ. Let your index finger remind you that faith, like every other good thing, is a gift from God, and to seek earnestly the best gifts. Let your middle finger remind you that faith is wrought by constant mental exertion to prize the good and eschew the bad. Let your ring finger remind you that only as we hunger and thirst after righteousness can faith be a potent reality in our lives. Let your little finger remind you that the reality and fullness of faith exists only in the loving service we give to our fellowmen through the power and gifts we have received from God.
When you raise your right arm to the square to attest to your faith in Christ or to sustain actions in the kingdom, let each finger of your right hand be a testimony that you have and use five keys to faith in Jesus Christ.
May each of us turn as a little child and receive fully of the grace of Jesus Christ, that in His love we may come to a fulness of His faith, and of His hope and of His charity, and thus be new creatures in Christ. In the holy name of Jesus Christ I bear my witness that Christ lives, that this is His church and priesthood, that there is no sacrifice we could make to become faithful that would not be worth it; that everyone of us can become celestial beings and do celestial good through Christ if only we want to do faith in Jesus Christ more than we desire any other thing. Amen.
Chauncey C. Riddle Zion Institute for Children 2 March 1996
How would you like to have the philosopher’s stone? It would turn everything to gold. Or would you like to find the fountain of youth, so that you would never be ill or aged? Would you like to be the world’s greatest scholar, scientist or artist? Or perhaps you would like to have the formula for political success, so that you could become the most powerful person on earth. Maybe you would settle for an inside understanding of the financial markets so that you could become a billionaire overnight and become the wealthiest person who has ever lived. For all these things do the people of this world seek.
But there is something more important, more powerful, more helpful than any of these. To possess that something is to have the only true and lasting wealth and power. That something is the most important thing for any human being to know about. To practice it is the greatest feat ever to come to the attention of mankind. That special something is faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. Every human being already lives by faith in something. But the only faith that saves has its object in Christ. As we speak of faith hereafter, we refer only to genuine faith in Jesus Christ.
For if a human being attains to full faith, he or she can then have anything they desire. Because they are faithful to Christ, they will and do desire only and all of that which is good to desire, and desiring, they obtain every good thing for themselves and for those whom they love.
If mankind understood the power of faith in Christ, pursuit of faith would become the major task of every human being. No person would rest, day or night, until they were in full possession, command and practice of that faith. For such would be the only intelligent thing for any human being to do.
Why then, is it not so? Why do human beings work long and hard at other things, searching, ever searching for power, wisdom and wealth, but never being satisfied? The answer to this strange madness on the part of humans is that they are captive to an evil being. That evil being is Satan, the father of lies. The only possible release from that captivity is to seek out and practice full faith in Jesus
Christ. Every human who does not have full faith in Jesus Christ is to one degree or another yet captive to Satan. This means that most of us, including most members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, are yet captive to Satan in some degree. Captivity to Satan is the handicap each human must overcome to create full faith in Christ in their own life.
Why then would anyone strive to have faith? All who gain faith in Christ do so because in the midst of this worldly setting of unfaith they hear a message. That message comes from God through angels, missionaries and scriptures to call all of God’s children to repentance, to entice them to establish faith in Christ in their lives. This faith is the call to love others selflessly in a world where selfishness rules, and with that call comes the offer of power to be able to actually love that way. The message is dual: it is physical in that there are human words to contemplate. It is spiritual because the meaning of those words and the truthfulness of the message is attested to by the Holy Spirit. The physical words speak to the mind of man; the spiritual message is especially to the heart of man. To seize upon both of these gifts from God and to prize them together makes the possibility of faith in Christ. And that faith makes possible freedom from captivity in the chains of Satan if it so be that the hearer of the word of God hungers to love unselfishly.
So I talk about faith in Jesus Christ today because it is the most important topic in this world. Not to understand it is to have no real hope, to be locked in those chains of lies and selfishness with the majority of mankind. To understand faith and what it can do is the message every human being needs and deserves as a child of God. But the messengers are yet few.
So for this hour may I share with you my reflections out of a lifetime of searching for understanding of faith in Jesus Christ and striving to attain faithfulness.
First some observations about the fundamental principles of the Restored Gospel of Jesus Christ as they relate to faith. We begin with a temporary definition of faith, temporary because faith is not an idea, it is an activity. Like any reality, faith must be lived to be known. But it must be partly understood to attempt to live it, and that partial understanding must begin through words, which is where we begin. These words cannot create faith in Jesus Christ or even a precise image of that faith; what these words can do is cause each of us to go to Father and pray mightily for faith in Christ, until we are able to construct it in ourselves. Father gives us the materials, but we must put the materials together in our own heart, might, mind and strength to create real faith.
Now the definition: To be faithful to Jesus Christ is to have learned to live as he lives, to do what he does, to love as he loves. Repentance is the process of changing our lives over from whatever we are now doing to a living of full faith in Jesus Christ. Faith and repentance are not possible through just taking thought, or even coupling thought with desire. Faith and repentance are gifts of God, for they both require help from God to implement them. They are not wholly gifts of God, for we mortals must also do our part, all we can do. When we accept the gifts of God, then take correct thought, do fully desire, and take correct action, then and only then are faith and repentance possible. We are able to love Him only because He loves us first. We focus on faith in Christ then as the ability to love others as He loves us. This is the Savior’s commandment: “That ye love one another, as I have loved you.” (John 15:12)
Now we attempt a description of faith. This description will be complicated. If successful, this description will become a pattern by which one may obtain unto great faith. Faith is something like a tree. A tree can be beautiful, nourishing, helpful, but need not be understood to fulfill those blessings to us. But to create a tree that does those things, a great many complicated things must be mastered. So it is with faith. The important thing is to build it, to create it, not just to look at it. The challenge is to make ourselves into a great and faithful tree of life. And though words are insufficient to our task of explaining the details, they are a good start. So let us begin.
To plant and establish our tree of life, we must begin by clearing the ground so that the new tree will not be choked out by the cares of the world and the deceitfulness of worldly riches. Since a human being consists of four parts, according to the scriptures, we must deal with four aspects of clearing the ground. The four parts of a human being are heart, which is our desiring; mind, which is our thinking; strength, which is our doing: and might, which is our governing. We keep in mind that each step of becoming faithful to Jesus Christ is a step of repentance, a hearkening to the word of God as found in the Restored Gospel of Jesus Christ.
Faith Level One: Clearing the Ground
The first step of repenting unto faith in Christ is to clear our heart of desire for evil doing. Since spiritual as well as physical nature abhors a vacuum, we cannot clear our hearts of desire for evil doing simply by pushing each evil desire out. Rather must we fill our heart with the desire to be good, even as God is good. How is this done? It is done by receiving into our hearts the love of God as witness is borne to our souls through the Holy Ghost of Christ and of God’s love for us. God loves us first; if we can then reflect that love back to him and to others, we can have faith. If we do not want to reflect that love, or if we have not yet received that love, we cannot repent unto faith. What the gift of God’s love enables us to do it to stop worrying about ourselves and feathering our own nest. Basking in the assurance of future well-being which is part and parcel of God’s love, we can cease selfishness and begin to concentrate on what we can do for others.
While our heart is forgetting itself and beginning to reach out to others in love, the mind must be busy focusing on Christ himself, to understand who and what he is, and also what he has done, is doing, and will yet do for mankind. What a tremendous task! It is a task impossible to natural man, the uninspired human who has not been touched by God’s love. But the gift of God comes to all men, sooner or later, and they are taught by the Holy Spirit not only the sweetness of God’s love, but the magnificence of the Savior’s atoning power by which he enables all of us to repent and to return to our Father in Heaven. As God’s love touches a human being with the holy scriptures, with the teaching of prophets, and with understanding through the Holy Spirit, the mind of man is fed with images of the great plan of happiness which the Gods have established for every human being. To be as a little child in receiving God’s love is also to open our minds to the wonders of eternity, and to begin to comprehend the preciousness of agency, the terrible consequences of sin, the inevitability of justice, and the beauty of Christ’s mercy in suffering for the sins of every human soul, followed by his offering of both tutelage and forgiveness to every contrite heart. For the mind to dwell on these understandings of Christ strengthens the heart in its task to let go of selfishness and to begin to sacrifice for the love of others, as our Savior directs.
While our heart is beginning to be unselfish and our mind begins to glory in the wondrous plan of God, we must be acting with our body to cease every sinful action. A good place to start is to check ourselves against the ten commandments, that special terrestrial standard of righteousness given to bless ancient telestial Israel. When we can honestly say that we have no other God before Jesus Christ, that we worship only through Him, that we treasure sacredly His name, that we keep His Sabbath day holy, that we verily do honor our father and our mother, that we do not kill, that we do not commit adultery or fornication, that we do not steal, that we never bear false witness, that we indeed do not covet anything which is not ours, then we have begun to clear the ground of our spiritual lives of the evil which will prevent us from fully accepting God’s love. The ground we clear is, of course, our own self.
Finally, in our preparation stage for faith, as we begin to reject evil and want only the good in our deeds, as we think firmly on the greatness of the plan of salvation, and as we change our lives from worldliness to basic righteousness through keeping the ten commandments, we must also repent in our might, our stewardship. We do this by making amends for our past selfishness wherever this is possible. In the scriptures this is called “restitution.” If we have wronged someone, they have suffered by our action; restitution is to relieve in an honorable way that suffering which we have caused in them, restoring the injured party to where they would have been had we not injured them. Restitution is difficult; in many cases it is impossible. But our addressing restitution is our act of faith in Christ to show that we truly are sorry for having sinned, and that we are willing to go to great lengths to set matters right. The Savior’s atonement is the only means by which we can attain full restitution for our sins. But the atonement can come fully into place for helping us to be honorable before God only when we do all that we can to make up for our sins. This restitution finishes clearing the ground for the fullness of faith in Jesus Christ.
Faith Level Two: Planting the Tree
Now that the ground is cleared, we can proceed to the establishment of the ways of God in our souls. This is to plant the tree of life. Again we repeat the heart, mind, strength and might sequence.
Now that the heart has turned from selfishness to concern for others, the heart needs next to learn to trust God and his wisdom and plan in all things. This is to rest confident that God is mindful of all things in the universe, that all things are ultimately in His control, and that He will make sure that all things will work together for good for those who love the Lord. The heart of faith is to feel content to stay oneself upon God. This means that worry is now banished from the life of the faithful person. They find themselves concerned about problems and persons in their lives, but they now never worry or fret, because they know that God is in His heaven and is mindful of all things, and will work our all things for the good of all concerned. Fear is not part of the faithful person’s life because they know that there is nothing to fear except sinning, for God will turn any other thing or experience to good for the faithful person.
That implicit trust of the heart in God necessitates at the same time firm belief in the mind and the goodness of God. That firm belief is not blind, for it is built upon the experience of having tasted the goodness of God, through the witness and warmth of the Holy Spirit. It is a childlike ability to hope for a continuation of that love which has been felt, trusting that the God who has announced himself by such marvelous means will not now irresponsibly absent himself from His child. As this child meditates in the way of the Lord, searching the scriptures and gleaning the prophets, that person sees that the hand of the Lord is in all things, working out the salvation of souls. It is seen that all that happens, be it storm, or war, earthquake or terrorism, is but what the hand of God allows. God gives agency to man, and thus there is great evil in the world; but God is God because He can and does turn each bit of that evil that men do into good for those that love Him. He will crown with blessing and comfort all who can endure in faith every event as the hand of God. It is impossible to overstate the importance at this stage of the development of faith of the absolute trust of the heart and the absolute confidence of the mind in the goodness of God. Only these make possible any great advance beyond this point. If they are lacking, faith in Christ is aborted into some kind of counterfeit.
The strength aspect of planting the tree of life in our being is to partake of the New and Everlasting Covenant given by God for the salvation of His children. It is with full heart and mind to enter into the waters of baptism and promise to be willing to take upon us His name, to keep every commandment He gives us, and to remember Him always. Under the hand of an authorized servant of Jesus Christ we are lowered into the water of burial and are brought back forth in the newness of a soul reborn unto God. Then hands are laid upon our head, and we are commanded to receive the Holy Ghost as our constant companion. This gift, this pearl of great price, is worth more than all of the riches in this world, even put together. For that gift becomes our lifeline, our iron rod by which we may now persevere through the mists of darkness unto the fulness of faith in Jesus Christ. As we are willing to accept the constant companionship of the Holy Spirit, and to abide the counsel and direction we receive from that divine source, we now are beginning that real and permanent eternal faith in Jesus Christ that makes our salvation possible. Until now our beginnings of faith have been good, but temporary and incomplete. Now we may move forward toward that which is eternal and perfect.
Thus faith is a gift of God. Without the gift of the Holy Ghost, we would have no chance of doing the will and work of God, to love as He loves. But now having the great gift, we have a precursor of the greatest gift, which is eternal life. Eternal life is the fullness of faith, to love as God loves. Having the Gift of the Holy Ghost, we can now thread that strait and narrow path which leads from baptism, the beginning of real faith in Christ, to the end, which is full faith in Christ.
And what is to be done with our might, that our heart, mind, and strength may be forever firmly planted as a tree of life? As our heart trusts implicitly in the goodness of God and our mind sees the worthy hand of God in all things, and as we receive the New and Everlasting covenants of baptism by water and by fire and the Holy Ghost, we now need to order our stewardship in a manner that befits a child of God. We need to look to our home to assure that it is freed from all that is unseemly or disordered or not needed. We need to look to our allegiances and friendships that they are all appropriate. We need to get ourselves out of debt, that we are not in bondage to mammon. We need to comb our minds for lingering untruths from the world, and our hearts for any lingering patterns of emotional or spiritual dwarfism. We are preparing our soul to become a temple of the Lord, a dwelling place for the spirit and power of God.
As we progress in keeping our covenant of baptism, keeping our heart full of courage and our mind firm in every form of godliness, it will be our opportunity to receive further gifts from God in the remainder of the ordinances of the New and Everlasting Covenant. We will enjoy the Holy Priesthood, and then the temple endowment. Finally, we shall be sealed in the temple as husband and wife, being set apart to the greatest priesthood callings of all eternity, the opportunities to see the power and authority of God Himself to be husband and wife, father and mother. If heart, might, mind and strength are together fitly framed at this point, then we are indeed firmly planted as a tree of life, and we can proceed to the final level of spiritual development of faith.
Faith Level Three: Bringing the Tree to Fruition
When the tree of faith is firmly planted in the cleared, choice spot of ground, it must be nourished and protected with tender care. It is nourished by receiving the continuing whisperings of the Holy Spirit and humble obedience thereunto. As the sun shines upon the natural tree, so is nourishment from the Son of God, His light and life. If the tree is allowed to receive this light and to incorporate it into itself, we are receiving the commandments of God through the Holy Spirit, and becoming more holy and more powerful in heart, might, mind and strength. The end of this process is to have come into the heart, might, mind and strength of Jesus Christ Himself, fully grown up unto His spiritual stature. Part of this light will come through personal revelation, some of it will be the love of God shed upon us from our priesthood leaders in the family and church; and some of it will come through our children as their lives are touched by the Savior.
If our hearts will receive this nourishment from God, the result will be an overwhelming love for our God and for our neighbor. We will know that we have grown to this stature of heart when we wake up every morning with a feeling of joy at the prospect of being alive and having the opportunity to serve God and our fellow men that day. The joy continues as we make our plans and preparation for the day’s labor. And that joy is fulfilled as we actually perform the ministrations we have been enticed to carry out by the Holy Spirit for that day. Our hearts will then exclaim: “This is really living; this is life eternal.” For God is with us, in us, through us, as we use the power of His spirit and His holy priesthood to bring blessing to others. Our heart will feel that it lacks nothing, for joy will be complete. We will then see the face of the Savior every day; and even more important, we will recognize Him every time we see Him.
If our minds receive this nourishment from the Holy Spirit, our minds will be led by the Holy Spirit to understand the scriptures. Then, indeed, the Book of Revelation in the Bible will be one of the plainest books ever written, and the writings of Isaiah will be transparent counsel from a dear friend. The words of the living prophets will be food to our souls and vision to our minds. The whisperings of the Holy Spirit will tell us the future, assure us of what to do and not to do in all things, and warn us to warn others of the wrath to come. We will know what to say, how to act, what to do and not do in every missionary, genealogical and perfecting labor in the church. For we will have the mind of God for all our needs. We will not be omniscient as yet, but everything we need to know we will be given at the right time and place.
As our physical tabernacles receive this nourishment from the Holy Spirit, we are renewed in the flesh unto whatever callings we have in the kingdom. It is then our delight to waste and wear away our flesh in the service of the Master as we minister in our callings to Father’s children. No obstacle is insurmountable, no challenge too great, no disease too devastating, no opposition successful until we have finished our labors on the earth. The gifts and blessings of the Holy Spirit flow unto us as we need them and use them, and we thank God for all of these gifts and blessings. Whatever we touch in the things of the world, in knowledge, in understanding, in teaching, in demonstrating, will prosper because we are on the Lord’s errand twenty-four hours of every day of the world. When we drop exhausted at night, our sleep is peaceful and spiritual in the Lord. When we rise in the morning to the joy of being alive, our path is clear before us. Every day is a day of eternity to us while yet in the flesh.
What happens to our might when we have fully given ourselves to the Lord in heart, mind and strength? Then our might is multiplied, our prayers are heard and our ordinances carry. Then the doctrine of the priesthood distills upon our souls as the dew of heaven and our kingdom flows unto us without compulsory means forever. Then we are just persons, the salt of the earth, saviors on Mount Zion. In the hands of such persons, the work of God does not falter nor fail.
The fullness of faith in our might means that we are fully consecrated to the Lord. We fully support the priesthood order of the kingdom of God. We are past any concern for how much any service to the kingdom will cost us, for all that we have belongs to the Lord and we stand ready to give all, even our lives, in the cause of Christ. And the giving is not a burden but a joy, a release from being earth and time bound, to see eternity in time and to have time while in time to do all that properly prepares us for eternity.
The practicer of full faith in Christ fulfills the scriptural injunctions about love. Such a one “suffereth long, and is kind, and envieth not, and is not puffed up, seeketh not her own, is not easily provoked, thinketh no evil, and rejoiceth not in iniquity, but rejoiceth in the truth, beareth all things, believeth all things, hopeth all things, endureth all things.” (Moroni 7:45)
Now, with the tree planted in cleared ground and nurtured to maturity, we may pluck the fruit of the tree of life, that which is sweet beyond all description. That fruit is the deeds of pure, Christ-like love which we administer to those around us. The fruit is not something we receive, but something we give. To give pure love is real living. This is eternal life.
We said before that to be faithful to Jesus Christ is to have learned to live as He lives, to do what He does, to love as He loves. Having become mature in our faith, ourselves a fruitful tree of life, it is now possible to be live as Christ lives because we have received him in us, and have a new heart, mind, strength and might through His gifts, power and presence. We now do what He does because we have His priesthood power and His callings, and we do what He would do were He here. We love as He loves because we have received the pure love of Christ, have taken it literally to heart, and now minister to others in the pure love of Christ.
It remains now to relate what we have said to certain scriptures from the Book of Mormon.
It should already be clear to you that what I have said is closely related to Alma’s description of faith in Alma 32. Let us turn to that passage, beginning with verse 28: “Now, we will compare the word unto a seed. Now, if ye give place, that a seed may be planted in your heart, behold, if it be a true seed, or a good seed, if ye do not cast it out by your unbelief, that ye will resist the spirit of the Lord, behold, it will begin to swell within your breasts; and when you feel these swelling motions, ye will begin to say within yourselves—It must needs be that this is a good seed, or that the word is good, for it beginneth to enlarge my soul; yea, it beginneth to enlighten my understanding, yea, it beginneth to be delicious to me.” Notice several things from this passage. First, it is the word of God which begins faith. Second, the word is accompanied by and attested to by the Spirit of the Lord; this is the dual witness to mind and heart of which we earlier spoke. And notice where the seed is to be planted: in our own heart. What is it that begins to grow as we plant this seed? It is our ow heart, our self: “for it beginneth to enlarge my soul.”
Alma continues in verse 34: “And now, behold, is your knowledge perfect? Yea, your knowledge is perfect in that thing, and your faith is dormant; and this because you know, for ye know that the word hath swelled your souls, and ye also know that it hath sprouted up, that your understanding doth begin to be enlightened, and your mind doth begin to expand.” Again we see that what sprouts and is growing is our self, our mind and our understanding. And we are sure that this word of God is good because it does exactly what was promised: we are becoming bigger and better souls by believing in the word and exercising even a particle of faith in Jesus Christ.
Verses 35 and 36: “O then, is not this real? Is say unto you, Yea, because it is light, and whatsoever is light, is good, because it is discernible, therefore ye must know that it is good, and now behold, after ye have tasted this light is your knowledge perfect? Behold, I say unto you, Nay; neither must ye lay aside your faith, for ye have only exercised your faith to plant the seed that ye might try the experiment to know if the seed was good.” In a world rank with counterfeits of faith in Christ, it is most important to have the ability to tell a good seed from a bad one. A good seed always grows, and when it grows to produce light, knowledge and love, to enlarge our souls, we know of a surety that it is from God.
But it is not enough just to plant the tree: Verses 37–39: “And behold, as the tree beginneth to grow, ye will say: Let us nourish it with great care, that it may get root, and grow up, and bring forth fruit. But if ye neglect the tree, and take no thought for its nourishment, behold it will not get any root; and when the heat of the sun cometh and scorcheth it, because it hath no root it withers away, and ye pluck it up and cast it out. Now this is not because the seed was not good, neither is it because the fruit thereof would not be desirable; but it is because your ground is barren, and ye will not nourish the tree, therefore ye cannot have the fruit thereof.” We noted above that it is not enough just to plant the tree, to partake of the New and Everlasting Covenant. We must continue to grow in the covenant by following the Spirit of the Lord, which nourishes the tree and allows us to grow unto greater and greater service in the Kingdom of God and among our fellow men. If we are not obedient to the Spirit, we do not do the good works, and we begin to wither away. Why would one who has tasted of the good word of God wither away? Because the tree can be nourished only by repentance. If we do not repent and clear our ground of every worldly encumbrance, the worldly encumbrances will choke out the spirit and our tree will wither and die.
But if we have truly cleared the ground so that the tree can be nourished when it is planted, and if the tree has been truly planted by partaking of the New and Everlasting Covenant, then we are in a position to bring the tree to maturity. Verses 41 and 42: “But if ye will nourish the word, yea, nourish the tree as it beginneth to grow, by your faith with great diligence, and with patience, looking forward to the fruit thereof, it shall take root; and behold, it shall be a tree springing up unto everlasting life. And because of your diligence and your faith and your patience with the word in nourishing it, that it may take root in you, behold, by and by ye shall pluck the fruit thereof, which is most precious, which is sweet above all that is sweet, and which is white above all that is white, yea, and pure above all that is pure; and ye shall feast upon this fruit even until ye are filled, that ye hunger not, neither shall ye thirst.” Remember that the savior said, “Blessed are all they who hunger and thirst after righteousness, for they shall be filled with the Holy Ghost.” (3 Nephi 12:6) After they are filled with the Holy Ghost, they no longer hunger and thirst because they then have the power of pure love. Likewise, those who pluck the fruit of the tree of life are filled with the Holy Ghost and never hunger nor thirst again.
What does it mean to pluck and eat the fruit of the tree of life? To what end does the Holy Ghost fill any person? The purpose of being filled is plain: it is so that the child of God can be enlarged and empowered to do the work of Godly love in the earth. The fruit is not literally eaten to bring joy; literally, it is given away. The fruit is the joy of feeding the hungry, clothing the naked, visiting the sick, causing the blind to see, bringing solace to the bereaved soul, ministering the word of God in purity and truth—these are the kinds of acts which bring joy, which are the fruit of the tree of life. We become trees of life not to receive blessing, but to give blessing. There is no other satisfaction that comes to any human being which begins to equal that of doing the work of the Savior in ministering to His little ones.
This brings to mind another tree of life story, that told by father Lehi to his family, as recorded in 1 Nephi 8. This tree of life I take to be the same tree which Alma bids us to plant in our hearts, and which I have described today in our clearing the ground, planting the tree, and bringing the tree to maturity. Father Lehi says in verse 12: “And as I partook of the fruit thereof, it filled my soul with exceedingly great joy; wherefore, I began to be desirous that my family should partake of it also; for I knew that it was desirable above all other fruit.” He was able to get only part of his family to come, for Laman and Lemuel would not hearken and come and partake of the fruit.
But even some who partook of the fruit did not continue. Father Lehi says: “And it came to pass that I beheld others pressing forward, and they came forth and caught hold of the end of the rod of iron; and they did press forward through the mist of darkness, clinging to the rod of iron even until they did come forth and partake of the fruit of the tree. And after they had partaken of the fruit of the tree, they did cast their eyes about as it they were ashamed. And I also cast my eyes round about, and beheld, on the other side of the river of water, a great and spacious building; and it stood as it were in the air, high above the earth. And it was filled with people, both old and young, both male and female; and their manner of dress was exceedingly fine; and they were in the attitude of mocking and pointing their fingers towards those who had come at and were partaking of the fruit. And after they had tasted of the fruit they were ashamed, because of those that were scoffing at them; and they fell away into forbidden paths and were lost.” (1 Nephi 8:24–28)
Why on earth would anyone be ashamed after tasting the pure love of God? How could the adversary have such power over them? The answer is that not every child of Heavenly Father really delights in wasting and wearing his life away in the service of other human beings. The way of this world is to get; to get much, to get it fast, and to keep as much as possible. But the way of Christ is to give and give until it is all gone. The getters of the world think that the givers are foolish; they laugh them to scorn and insist that they are mentally incompetent. That scorn takes its toll on the weak and faint of heart. Even tasting the love of God in beginning to do good for others is not enough. They cannot bear the crosses of the world. They shrink from sacrifice and responsibility and are soon lost in forbidden paths.
One great point that Father Lehi’s dream brings us is that celestial faith in Christ, though the most wonderful, the most powerful, the most desirable activity in the world, is not for everyone. Everyone is invited to the feast of the Savior’s love, but not everyone is willing to wear the wedding garments. To be fully faithful to Christ means that we must not only do good, but be willing to suffer and to sacrifice to do good, even as our Savior did. There are three degrees of glory hereafter. Each place is a place of faith in Christ. But not everyone desires full faith in Jesus Christ.
We now turn to the words of Nephi. Nephi commends to us to partake of the covenant, which we have said is to plant ourselves in goodly, cleared ground as a tree of life. Nephi says: “For the gate by which ye should enter is repentance and baptism by water; and then cometh a remission of your sins by fire and by the Holy Ghost. And then are ye in this strait and narrow path which leads to eternal life; yea, ye have entered in by the gate; ye have done according to the commandments of the Father and the Son; and ye have received the Holy Ghost, which witnesses of the Father and the Son, unto the fulfilling of the promise which He hath made, that if ye entered in by the way ye should receive. And now, my beloved brethren, after ye have gotten into this strait and narrow path, I would ask if all is done? Behold, I say unto you, Nay; for ye have not come thus far save it were by the word of Christ with unshaken faith in Him, relying wholly upon the merits of him who is mighty to save. Wherefore, ye must press forward with a steadfastness in Christ, having a perfect brightness of hope, and a love of God and of all men. Wherefore, if ye shall press forward, feasting upon the word of Christ, and endure to the end, behold, thus saith the Father: Ye shall have eternal life. And now, behold, my beloved brethren, this is the way; and there is none other way nor name given under heaven whereby man can be saved in the kingdom of God.” (2 Nephi 31:17–21)
As we repent of our sins, we begin to clear the ground to plant ourselves as a tree of life. As we are baptized and receive the Holy Ghost, we are cleansed of our former sins, which finishes the task of clearing the ground. As we press forward, feasting upon the word of Christ, we are nurturing our tree of life. And if we endure to the end, which end is to have full faith and to love with the pure love of Christ, we shall and will have eternal life. Only through His name, which is to say through His holy priesthood, through this power of God unto salvation, may any human being attain to full faith in Jesus Christ. But every human being who wants to love purely as Christ loves and does not mind the shame and the sacrifice of it, can do it, for God’s gifts and blessings are offered to all.
We conclude with the admonition of Mormon: “Wherefore, my beloved brethren, pray unto the Father with all the energy of heart, that ye may be filled with this love, which he has bestowed upon all who are true followers of his Son, Jesus Christ; that ye may become the sons of God; that when he shall appear we shall be like him, for we shall see him as he is; that we may have this hope; that we may be purified even as he is pure. Amen.”
To which Amen I add my testimony that Jesus Christ lives and loves us. And I hope that each of us can endure unto the end of full faith in Jesus Christ, that we might come to love as He loves. In the name of Jesus Christ, Amen.
One of the things that makes it delightful to be a philosopher is the opportunity to look at the big picture. Let us share musings for a few minutes about the sweep of the way things really are as we examine the human condition. We will speak sub species aeternitas, as if we were god, as is the philosopher’s wont.
The human condition is a continuum. At one extreme is the totally natural state of a human being as represented by feral children, those raised by animals with no human nurture. Such persons are essentially animals, knowing nothing of human language or knowledge, of history or of future, living from moment to moment and day to day by reacting to their immediate environment to nourish and to protect themselves.
The middle ground of the human continuum is filled with human activity which is a response to human conventions. Human conventions are systems of cooperation which are achieved in a more or less arbitrary manner and which enable human beings to enter into and fulfill cooperative arrangements.
One very prominent human convention is language. The sounds of any human language are arbitrary, intrinsically worthless. But by having agreements as to the significance of those sounds and how they are to be organized, we humans manage to communicate with each other in rather sophisticated ways about quite complex matters. This communication is a cooperation which makes possible a great many other cooperative endeavors which take the human being far beyond the feral state. Human conventions are civilization, and civilization is simply the sum of the conventions a group of human beings employ.
Using language, human beings organize and conduct family cooperation, that foundation stone of all civilized peoples. The family cooperates to produce food, clothing and shelter and to perpetuate whatever civilization the persons involved enjoy.
Beyond family life, language enables exchange of goods in an organized manner, which is the economic structure of groups of families. Civil government is a convention created to govern the relationships of families to each other and the relationships of individuals from different families to each other. Technology, the production of goods and services, begins in the family but gains power and scope through language usage to become a community affair. Art, which is a species of technology, flourishes through human conventions of systems of representation and presentation. The highest human conventions are sometimes the moral codes which govern human conduct and guide aspiration and cooperation.
Conventions have their seamy side as well as their good side. Conventions are used by some persons to enslave others. They are used to promote false ideas and evil morality. They are used to pursue war to gain advantage over others by taking their lives, property and goods.
The fact that human conventions are used by humans to produce evil as well as good, and that sometimes the evil of the conventions is greater than the good, causes some persons to be pessimistic about the whole human enterprise, to see it all as simply an arbitrary game for gaining advantage over other persons. Thomas Hobbes pointed out that even bad conventions are better than no conventions, for bad civil governments are still better than the feral condition of no government.
But fortunately, there is another end to the human continuum. In addition to the feral state of nature and the more or less arbitrary human systems of conventions which create civilization, there is also the presence of God and His covenant with man. Whereas the feral state is animal, evil in the sense of being little, essentially sub-human, the other end is divine, essentially super-human as human beings take upon themselves the divine nature and become as God. Whereas the middle ground of human civilization is built upon arbitrary conventions which enable cooperation for both good and evil, the divine end is built upon cooperation with God in doing only good. Whereas the feral condition is one of relative powerlessness and local effect only, the divine condition is a focus of power, knowledge and goodness that reaches out to eternity. Whereas the feral condition has minimal cooperation and rewards selfishness, the divine condition is one of total cooperation and oneness, the consummation of selflessness.
While the feral and the divine conditions provide us with very distinctive alternatives, the bridge between the two is the human system of conventions. The only way one can go from the feral condition to the divine is through the system of human conventions. So let us examine the human conventions a bit more closely.
We have already noted that human conventions tend to be arbitrary. It is arbitrary whether we drive on the right or left side of the road, and whether we use English, Swedish or Swahili. It is arbitrary whether we use a patronymic or a matronymic naming system. It is arbitrary where we place local, state and national boundaries. The tax laws we enact are arbitrary, as are the requirements for citizenship and the legislative process. So much of what civilization consists of is so obviously arbitrary, that some among us have concluded that everything is arbitrary, that there is no right or wrong, good or evil, and we can and should just do as we please. To do as each of us would please without any conventions would take us back to the feral jungle, which almost everyone recognizes as undesirable. So the pressure is to use our arbitrary human conventions to feature evil as good.
If we pretend that there is no divine, then anything more feral is appropriate if we desire it. Everyone admits there is a feral end, but not everyone admits that there is a divine end to the continuum. Without the divine, civilization tends to sink toward the feral until it is destroyed, even as happened to the Nephites, the Jaredites, and the Romans.
But there is a divine influence in this world. It infuses the arbitrary human systems with real good, with ideas which point men toward divinity. The more a civilization incorporates the divine into its conventions, the more it will prosper and gain power, and the more it will perpetuate itself.
So: the real question with which every civilization must grapple is the question: Is there a divine opportunity or is everything just arbitrary? Another way to say this is to ask if there is an imminent God who can and does help human beings, or is everything simply accidental and natural. The United States government and most of the first universities of this country were founded on the premise that there is a God and there is a good. But the sentiment that there is no God and that all is arbitrary is taking over our nation.
Three current issues show the difference clearly. The first issue is abortion. If there is no God and no right and wrong, then whatever is legal is appropriate. So if the government passes a law that its unborn have no legal protection, it doesn’t matter. The whole thing is a game anyway, so why not make it convenient for our selfishness.
The second issue is same-sex marriage. If marriage has no divine purpose because there is no divine, then why not accord to any so-called marriage the legal conveniences of traditional marriages?
A third issue is euthanasia. If there is no divine, if human life is only a convenience, if there is not right and wrong, then why should any human being have to suffer? Why not let anyone who is in mental, physical or social pain just apply to someone who can quickly and efficiently cause death and receive legally sanctioned assistance? If it is only a game anyway, why not have it be a game we enjoy playing?
What is behind all of each of these issues is that men sometimes reject God, then play being their own god in their own pleasant games. God gives human life, but men who do not want a god, take life and think that they give it or deny it at their own pleasure, thus playing god. God ordained marriage between man and woman for eternal purposes, to bring the couple into the nature of the divine. But men and women who do not want to serve the true and living God want to subvert marriage to mere convenience, be it heterosexual or homosexual, thus becoming gods unto themselves. It is God who ordains death and the suffering of human life, and in his economy, no suffering or pain is lost or wasted; it all has its purpose. But those who know not the true God want to play god and take life whenever they feel like doing so. The next step is of course to take the life of those who are deemed by others to have no purpose in living, even as Hitler executed the ill, the mentally incompetent and the genetically undesirable.
The playing of god by humans has a long and complicated history. Fathers and mothers have done it, judges, doctors and generals regularly do it, scientists and philosophers try their hand at it. The most glaring examples of playing God, however, are when men set themselves up as a light unto the world and dispense wisdom and instruction to get praise and gain, both in and out of the churches of the world.
So each of us has a very practical choice. Each of us in our thinking and acting must either worship the true God, worship a false god, or play god ourselves. If we worship the true and living God, we will stand for truth and right, even if we must sacrifice to do so. If we worship a false god, such as the “will of the people” or some charismatic human, we become pawns in their posturing as God. If we play god ourselves, then we will do as we please to compromise with evil and bring the civilization crashing down around ourselves.
Civilization can be good or evil. Good civilization is filled with right from the true God, and it prospers. Evil civilization is filled with evil and selfishness, and it crumbles. But the worst civilization is the one that knows the true and living God and deliberately turns its back on Him and plays at being its own god. This is why the Nephites were destroyed and the Lamanites persevered. The Nephites wound up deliberately playing god, while the Lamanites played god because they did not know God.
The conclusion of my tale is that you and I have a great personal responsibility in the future of our civilization. If we know that there is a true God but pretend that there is no god by going along with those who know not God, we create the conditions for the destruction of our civilization. We are sent to leaven the lump, but if the leaven has lost its lifting power, it is to be cast out and trodden under foot and the lump will be utterly destroyed as in the prophecy of Malachi.
For we know that the conventions of men are not all arbitrary. There is a right and a wrong about many issues, and we must stand for the right. We cannot say with the world, “I will play the game and pretend that there is no God and no right and wrong about political issues.” For us to do so is spiritual death to ourselves and a condemning of our civilization to death as well. For if a population has in it those who know God and yet serve Satan, it is a worse population than another where no one knows God and serves Satan by default. If you and I do not rise to the occasion and serve Jesus Christ, who is the God of this land, we doom this land to another destruction, just like the three previous nearly total destructions which have come upon it.
There is a clear prophecy that if the constitution of the United States is to be saved when it hangs by a thread, it will be the elders of Israel who will save it. But the prophecy does not say that it will be saved. That is up to you and to me.
In conclusion, then, we have a choice. We may pretend that the human conventions in which we all participate are all arbitrary and whatever is legal is acceptable, or we can wield the sword of the Spirit of God in promoting that which is just and true. We are endowed and empowered agents before the true and living God, and the choice is ours.
The Oxford English Dictionary defines “quid pro quo” as follows: “One thing (or action) in return or exchange for another; tit for tat.” It is plain that quid pro quo is the essence of justice: one should pay for that which he takes from the system, or one should be paid for that which he contributes to the system. A distant reflection of this principle is found in Newton’s law of motion: To every action there is an equal and opposite reaction.
We now ask: Is the principle of quid pro quo a rightful part of the Restored Gospel of Jesus Christ?
Quid pro quo is the obvious basis of the Law of Moses. The “eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth” idea is clearly essential to that law. But the Law of Moses, though clearly the platform on which the Restored Gospel of Jesus Christ is based, is not the Restored Gospel. So far we cannot conclude that quid pro quo is part of the Restored Gospel.
Our Father in Heaven is a being of justice. He cannot look upon sin with the least degree of allowance; so any sin for which there has been no acceptable quid pro quo suffering prevents the perpetrator of the sin from dwelling in Father’s presence. Though his Son, Jesus Christ, has suffered the quid pro quo for every sin of every human being, past, present and future, neither our Savior’s suffering nor a quid pro quo suffering of the perpetrator of the sin, nor both of those possible sufferings, suffices to bring the perpetrator of a sin to be able to dwell in the Father’s presence. Because justice is not the essence of Father’s being. The essence of his being is Love, which is more than justice.
The pure love of the gods is a delicate balance of justice and mercy. Justice must always be satisfied: there must always be a quid pro quo somewhere, somehow. Mercy cannot rob that quid pro quo. Mercy is forgiving the quid pro quo due from someone else by paying it oneself. What mercy accomplishes is the transference of the obligations of quid pro quo. If there is a debt, justice requires that the debt be paid, but mercy allows the debt to be paid by someone other than the person who accrued the debt. Just as justice must always be satisfied, so mercy must always be extended for God to remain God.
Human beings who understand and accept the Restored Gospel of Jesus Christ are in apprenticeship training for godhood. The essence of that training is first to learn obedience, then to learn the pure love of Christ by becoming both just and merciful. Obedience enables faith in Jesus Christ. Faith in Jesus Christ enables acting in the same manner is which Christ acted: to show perfect justice and perfect mercy. Perfect justice and perfect mercy when combined with power through obedience fulfill perfect love.
Perfect justice is to meet all of one’s obligations with quid pro quo. One’s obligations are partly defined by the fulfillment of all of the promises or contracts which one has made, including fulfilling any penalties due for non-performance of any promise or contract. The remainder of the obligations of justice are defined by paying the quid pro quo for any person for whom one has a fiduciary responsibility if that person is not fully an agent.
Perfect mercy is to extend to all of one’s debtors, those who have trespassed against one by breach of promise, contract or law, whole-hearted forgiveness. This is not the forgiveness of indifference nor that of awarding the problem to someone else: it is the personal payment of the quid pro quo which justice demands of one’s debtor, then restoring that person to the place of honor as if that person had been just.
In the apprenticeship for coming into the image and stature of Christ, it seems that obedience is the least difficult, justice through obedience is the next most difficult, and mercy through obedience and justice is the most difficult of all. Apparently that is why those who gain a little obedience, but not enough to become just, are telestial. Those who become fully just through their obedience become terrestrial. And those who are able to add mercy to their justice through obedience are able to become celestial.
Our Savior fulfills obedience by doing all that Father instructs and nothing else. He fulfills justice by perfectly completing all of his own promises and contracts and the law, then by fulfilling the quid pro quo of justice for all human beings because he has a fiduciary responsibility for each of them and none of them is fully an agent. He fulfills mercy by extending to all humans forgiveness of all requirements of justice due for past performance (where human beings are essentially not agents), on the condition that they become just in present performance wherein they are agents.
To become a disciple of Christ is first to learn obedience by looking unto him in every thought and by doing all things which he commands. Then it is to learn to keep every promise and contract, and to fulfill every law, through the power which obedience to Christ makes possible. Thirdly, it is to extend unconditional mercy to all men wherein they have of seem to have acted unjustly against us.
Our Savior does not extend unconditional mercy to all men. He does not because it is He that enables each to be agentive and he can judge to what degree each human being is agentive and how well each is using that agency. He extends mercy where the agent is not able, but requires justice where the agent is fully able.
It is tempting for humans to attempt to extend mercy conditionally, as the Savior does, rather than unconditionally as He asks us to. He can extend it conditionally because he is God. He knows exactly when it is in the best interest of a human being to extend mercy and when it is best to require justice. He has all power in heaven and earth. And because He has all power, He extends mercy and justice unfailingly as well as unerringly.
No human being is of himself or herself very powerful, very knowledgeable, or very wise. Only in Christ do we find these. Therefore, it is only through all the obedience, faith in Christ, that we can muster that we can fulfill justice justly or extend mercy mercifully.
Since we cannot be obedient or just, save we are supported and enabled by Christ, our obedience and justice are not ours, but His. We cannot claim any reward or prerogative for our obedience of justice, for without him those would never have happened. True it is that we must do all we can, and that without all we can do He is powerless to make us obedient or just. All He asks is that we give Him our heart, might, mind and strength, all of each, that he might remake them into his own image.
The key factor is the heart. The heart must become pure where it is now selfish. It must become large where it is now small. It must learn to love and serve God above all else where it now tends to be hard, independent, carnal and sensual.
The heart of man cannot be purified and perfected except by fire. The first application of fire is the struggle to become obedient to Christ. The second application of fire is the struggles to become just. Winning the first struggle enables one to shine with the light of the stars. Winning the second struggle enables one to shine with the light of the moon. But the third purification by fire is the greatest of all: the requirement to learn mercy unconditioned by our own wisdom. He who wins this last struggle is able to shine with the light of the Son. For he then has charity, which is the greatest of all.
The Gospel of Jesus Christ is not a quid pro quo arrangement. The God-given reward for living the gospel is immense compared with the pittance required of human beings. But the reward is only guaranteed to be spiritual in this mortal sphere; the full reward is promised only for those who look forward to eternity with the eye of faith. God is just and merciful; He is always there, ready to save. Thus the independent variable, the controlling factor in the system of salvation, is that bitter pittance that humans must offer. It is bitter because there is no guarantee of a quid pro quo in this life. One is asked to be obedient, just and merciful when many around one do none of those and seem to prosper, even prosper in the Church of Jesus Christ. They have their reward. But eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, nor has entered into the heart of man the blessings which are to be poured out upon the heads of those who learn through the New and Everlasting Covenant to be obedient, just and merciful.
The Mormon Intellectual fix WCr date in WCrVol. II, No. 1, 28 February 1968
Members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints who develop themselves intellectually enjoy the riches of a double heritage. Participation in that Church brings them a legacy of prophets and principles, revelation and exhortation, as well as an active program of cultural, social, and moral reformation. Intellectual development brings to them the knowledge, culture, scholarship, and technology of the world of their fellowmen. These two heritages might be characterized in Greek terms as “mantic” and “sophic”; in direction as vertical as opposed to horizontal sources; or, as “other-worldly” and “worldly.” Tensions associated with the proper relating of these two influences, both within the individual person and also within the LDS Intellectual community, create rather considerable interest and excitement, both within and without that community. That tension may be seen as a great asset or as detrimental, depending upon one’s point of view, but it is unquestionably a very real factor in the present local scene.
The religious heritage of the LDS intellectual is centered in a special concept of deity. In this heritage, Jesus Christ is the God of this earth, a personal, specific, divine being who once lived on earth as a man and who now, as a resurrected, corporeal person, controls this universe. Much of this foregoing theological commitment is shared with other Christians. The special difference is that to the LDS person, Jesus Christ is available for personal communication at all times. To be a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is to acknowledge that Jesus Christ has and does literally speak with and appear to prophets today. To be active in this religion, each individual member is expected to communicate with Christ daily through the Holy Spirit, receiving instruction and guidance about the practical matter of moral uprightness in daily life. The goal of every person who lives this religion is to overcome unrighteousness and evil through the guidance of the Christ, and having done so, to be allowed into the personal presence of Jesus Christ, to see him face to face, as have the prophets, both ancient and modern. This is the “mantic” heritage.
The “sophic” heritage brings to the LDS intellectual the total cultural, scientific, and social deposit of the ages. Through the processes of education, scholarship and experimentation, that total deposit is available to him, as it is to every other human being. Far from being afraid or disdainful of this heritage, as religious persons are sometimes said to be, he is anxious to inherit: “If there is anything virtuous, lovely, or of good report or praiseworthy, we seek after these things.” (13th Article of Faith.)
As the possessor of a dual heritage, however, the LDS person cannot take either lightly. He must seek revelation constantly to be true to his religion, and he must seek the best that is in the world constantly, through study and experience. To become a master of both is his religious goal.
A problem arises, however, when the commitment to his religion runs contrary to the wisdom of his fellowmen. He may then be forced to choose between his prophet and contemporary sociology, between revelation and the opinion of his peers. He cannot give equal allegiance to both traditions. The possible solutions to this dilemma mark the tensions within the Church.
LDS persons who accept the prophets and revelation but will not study, discuss, reason and experiment are automatically excluded from the group known as “LDS intellectuals.” These, of course, do not fully accept their religion, because it enjoins them to seek learning, to be “intellectual.”
At the other extreme is the member of the Church who is well-acquainted with the heritage of the world and gives it his primary allegiance. Ordinarily he is a person who does not enjoy personal revelation on anything like a daily basis; this makes him suspect that the prophets do not enjoy much, if any, personal revelation. This type of person may be an active member of the Church, but becomes uncomfortable when Church policy or statements of the prophets go contrary to what he has learned from the world. He views the non-intellectual Church member as hopeless and suspects the integrity of any intellectual who puts faith first.
The LDS intellectual who enjoys personal revelation but insists on meeting the intellectual world on its own ground sees himself as taking the best of both worlds. He sees the non-intellectual Church member as needing to be inspired, and the intellectual who rejects revelation as one who is blind. He believes that revelation will help him to solve the problems of the world to the degree to which he himself works hard to implement those solutions. He sees the LDS Church as the nucleus of a perfect social organization that will eventually meet every human need for every human being: economic, cultural, intellectual, political, and religious.
The future of the LDS Church will be a struggle to encourage its faithful non-intellectuals to become faithful intellectuals and to encourage its intellectuals to become faithful to Jesus Christ through their own personal revelation.
President David O. McKay Vol. II, No. 3, 20 March 1968
It is entirely fitting that President David O. McKay should receive the Exemplary Manhood Award from the Associated Men Students of Brigham Young University. Fitting though this honor is it does not begin to touch the greatness of the man. For this one is more than a man, a great man. He is a prophet of the living God. He is the personal steward representing the Creator of this universe, even Jesus Christ, to every living soul upon this earth.
If we assent to the Exemplary Manhood Award, perhaps we could also envision a greater honor to be bestowed. Perhaps we could see him as the Savior’s personal emissary, inviting all men to come and drink freely at the fountain of life, truth and righteous. Perhaps through the Holy Spirit we could believe and obey in all things as he speaks the mind and will of Christ. Perhaps through this faithfulness we could come to a unity of the faith, the perfecting of the Saints, the adornment of the bride ready for the Bridegroom. This would indeed honor David O. McKay and the Lord Jesus Christ who has sent him.
Through the years the words of President McKay have sweetly vouchsafed peace to our souls, courage to our hearts, strength to our determination. The following selection of these choice sayings is brought to your attention in the hope that all of us might rededicate ourselves to the service of Christ and that we might encourage others to do the same as we savor the prophetic, challenging words of this great man:
Christ
I know that God lives, that his Son Jesus Christ is the Savior of the world, and that divine beings restored through the Prophet Joseph Smith the gospel of Jesus Christ as he established it in the meridian of time. (CR, Oct. 1967, p. 153)
The Church
Thus does the Savior and His Church become my inspiration, my ideal in life. I think it is the one great thing for which man should strive. It presents the most efficient methods for human service, social uplift and progressive steps toward universal peace and brotherhood; and in its idea of salvation it comprehends the whole of the human family. (CR, April 1963, p. 99)
Communism
The position of this Church on the subject of Communism has never changed. We consider it the great satanical threat to peace, prosperity, and the spread of God’s work among men that exists on the face of the earth. (CR, Oct. 1964, p. 92)
Force
Force rules in the world today. Individual freedom is threatened by international rivalries and false political ideals. Unwise legislation, too often prompted by political expediency, if enacted, will seductively undermine man’s right of free agency, rob him of his rightful liberties, and make him but a cog in the crushing wheel of regimentation. (CR, Oct. 1965, p. 8)
God as the Center of our Lives
When God becomes the center of our being, we become conscious of a new aim in life. To indulge, nourish, and delight the body as any animal may do is no longer the chief end of mortal existence. God is not viewed from the standpoint of what we may get from him, but rather from what we may give him.
Only in the complete surrender of our inner life may we rise above the selfish, sordid pull of nature. What the spirit is to the body, God is to the spirit. When the spirit leaves the body, it is lifeless, and when we eliminate God from our lives, spirituality languishes. (CR, April 1967, pl 134, emphasis added)
Hearts
Merely an appreciation of the social ethics of Jesus, however, is not sufficient. Men’s hearts must be changed. Instead of selfishness, men must be willing to dedicate their ability, their possessions—if necessary, their lives, their fortunes, and their sacred honor for the alleviation of the ills of mankind. Hate must be supplanted by sympathy and forbearance. (CR, Oct. 1963, p. 89)
Love of Life
I love life! I think it is a joy to live in this age. Every morning, as I view from my window the mountains to the east and greet the sun as it ushers in these unexcelled autumn days, I feel the joy and privilege of life and appreciate God’s goodness. (CR, Oct. 1966, p. 4)
Missionary Work
It is the responsibility of every member of the Church to preach the restored gospel to every nation, kindred, tongue, and people, that the evils of the world may be met by the counteracting forces of truth. (CR, Oct. 1967, p. 151)
The Noble Life
The noblest aim in life is to strive to live to make other lives better and happier. (CR, April 1961, p. 131)
Radiate the Divine Nature
God helps us to be partakers of the Divine Nature. May the spirit of this great conference radiate from your hearts to those who you will meet when you go back to your stakes and wards, and especially may it radiate in your homes. (CR, Oct. 1960, p. 60)
Reverence
The greatest manifestation of spirituality is reverence; indeed, reverence is spirituality. Reverence is profound respect mingled with love. (CR, April 1967, p. 86)
Self-Mastery
I plead with the members of the Priesthood throughout the Church to practice self-mastery. Be master of yourselves, master of your appetites, master of your passions. (CR, Oct. 1958, p.88)
Spirituality
Spirituality is the consciousness of victory over self, and of communion with the Infinite. (CR, April 1967, p. 8)
The Test
Man’s earthly existence is but a test as to whether he will concentrate his efforts, his mind, his soul, upon things which contribute to the comfort and gratification of his physical nature, or whether he will make as his life’s pursuit the acquisition of spiritual qualities. (CR, Oct. 1963, p. 89)
Truth
The most precious thing in the world is a testimony of the truth. (CR, Oct. 1964, p. 92)
Unity
The greatest safeguard we have for unity and strength in the Church is found in the priesthood, by honoring and respecting it. (CR, Oct. 1967, p. 6)
We Must Be Born Again
Force and compulsion will never establish the ideal society. This can come only by a transformation within the individual soul—a life brought into harmony with the divine will. We must be “born again.” (CR, Oct. 1961, p. 7–8)
The Anchor Vol. II, No. 6, 15 April 1968
President David O. McKay admonished us in his closing conference message to make the Gospel the anchor of our lives. An anchor is a device for giving a ship some freedom of motion, but setting definite boundaries beyond which it cannot go. As the wind, waves and tide force the ship in directions that lead to destruction, the anchor holds it safely in check.
So with our lives. The fierce winds of passion, the waves of confusion, the tides of the ways of men, the stealthy fog of temptation, all effectively put us in peril. If the Gospel is our anchor, then Christ is our rock. As a sure mooring he enables us to bridle our passions that we might love purely, to know the truth that we be not double-minded, to walk in the narrow path of righteousness that we might do great good to penetrate the fog of temptation with the light which leads us out of darkness to eternal life.
How joyful we ought to be that there is a god who is our God, who loves us enough to restrain us from evil, to protect us against destruction! How grateful ought we to be for that tug of conscience that tells us that we have gone far enough, that any further will sever our connection with the rock of our salvation! If we are humble and obedient to the tugs of the anchor chain, if we can resist being restive and proud, then the might and power of all eternity is extended to us to guarantee safe harbor. But if the anchor becomes a burden and the rock too restrictive, we can cut ourselves loose; but then we must depend upon our own power for any salvation we get.
The choice is simple: anchor, restraint, safety, salvation, Christ; or relativity, license, danger, degradation, destruction.
Two Kinds of Religion Vol. II, No. 7, 22 April 1968
As we take spiritual inventory, we should understand the type which our personal pattern of religion exemplifies. There are two main types of religion. Both can be good, but one can be better.
The first kind of religion is an attempt to avoid evil. It seeks a pattern of safety among pitfalls. It seeks defense against a formidable adversary. It is essentially negative. Carried to extreme, its progressive protections and proscriptions lead the doer to inactivity. Only in doing nothing is he safe. Nirvanistic loss of personal identity and responsibility is the eternal bliss.
The second kind of religion is an attempt to do good. It seeks to establish heaven in a fallen world. It strives for an offensive against everything which deters growth, development, fulfillment. It is positive. Its culmination is in the enlargement and exaltation of the individual through laying hold of every good thing. An eternity of solving problems in blessing others is the great goal.
The first alternative will be recognized as legalistic, law-of-Moses type of religion. The second will be seen to be a more expansive, spiritual type of religion. The former breeds fear and carelessness. The latter breeds the impetuous Peter who sought good in spite of himself. We can see these two types in the restored Church today: legalistic proscribers and liberalizing expansionists. The interesting thing to note is that neither of these approaches by itself enables one to live the Gospel of Jesus Christ.
To live the Gospel one must enjoy both kinds of religion, both negative and positive. The negative side, as the law of Moses, is carnal; it is for the body, for the subduing of the flesh. The ultimate goal of this side of living the Gospel is to strip the flesh of identity, of autonomy, to make it humbly obedient as a passive entity, an instrument of the spirit. The spirit having gained mastery and control of the body with the help and guidance of the Holy Spirit, it can then with that same help pursue positive religion, to do the works of righteousness, of charity, uninhibited by a recalcitrant tabernacle but strengthened by a body in form like that of God himself. The fulness of the Restored Gospel leads a person to mighty works of witness, of priesthood and of love as the individual participates in the warning of the nations and in the establishment of Zion.
Man is a dual being, body and spirit. He needs two religions. One of proscription, to subdue the flesh, and another of enticement to do good, to enlarge the spirit. The negative must come first, even as the schoolmaster law of Moses prepared the way for the Gospel of Jesus Christ. But both must have their fulfillment. Then we shall be sons of both Moses and Aaron:
“For whoso is faithful unto the obtaining these two priesthoods of which I have spoken, and the magnifying their calling, are sanctified by the Spirit unto the renewing of their bodies. They become the sons of Moses and of Aaron and the seed of Abraham, and the church and kingdom, and the elect of God.” (D&C 84:33–34)
Both of these religions must center upon Christ through the laws and ordinances of his Gospel. As the Law of Moses witnessed the sacrifice of the Savior’s body, even so does the Gospel witness his faith, his complete obedience to the Father in the spirit. Jesus Christ is both our example and our succor in living both of these religions. As we fulfill all righteousness in him, the two become one religion. This then is our hope:
And again I would exhort you that ye would come unto Christ, and lay hold upon every good gift, and touch not the evil gift, nor the unclean thing. …
Yea, come unto Christ, and be perfected in him, and deny yourselves of all ungodliness; and if ye shall deny yourselves of all ungodliness and love God with all your might, mind and strength, then is his grace sufficient for you, that by his grace ye may be perfect in Christ, and if by the grace of God ye are perfect in Christ, ye can in nowise deny the power of God.
And again, if ye by the grace of God are perfect in Christ, and deny not his power, then are ye sanctified in Christ by the grace of God, through the shedding of the blood of Christ, which is in the covenant of the Father unto the remission of your sins, that ye become holy, without spot.” (D&C 10:30, 32–33.)
Spring, a Time of Hope Vol. II, No. 8, 29 April 1968
On a fine spring day the surge of life as nature awakens is electric. Blooming flowers, nascent leaves, bursting buds, tireless bees, pungent fragrance, all attest the energy, the power, of life.
For one who loves Christ, every day is a fine spring day. As he feels the testimony, the love, the gifts, the comfort of Christ, his bosom swells; the power and sweetness of spiritual life cause him to be exuberant. In spite of troubles and trials, he knows no anxiety, for he knows that in Christ all things work for good for those that love the Lord. Each day becomes an exciting adventure as the Lord’s mission takes him to new places, to meet new people, to help solve new problems. He knows no failure in any venture, for the Lord prospers him spiritually no matter what happens physically or temporally. As he goes through each day, a singing happiness of self-mastery, accomplishment, benevolence and compassion rewards and nourishes him, and the anticipation and intimation of joy beckon him onward. Knowledge distills upon his soul, understanding wreathes his experience, power flows to enable him to lay hold upon every good thing. The life and light and love of Christ are his life, his hope, his love. So every day is as spring.
And when you couple spiritual life with a beautiful spring day. …
Messages to the faculty of the College of Religion, Brigham Young University, 1966
No. 1
The following ideas are submitted in the hope that each of us can more completely fill our potential as servants of the Lord in instructing the youth of Zion.
One of the choice expressions of the task of teachers in the Church is given by Moroni:
… and their names were taken, that they might be remembered and nourished by the good word of God, to keep them in the right way, to keep them continually watchful unto prayer, relying alone upon the merits of Christ who was the author and finisher of their salvation. (Moroni 6:4)
Let us enlarge briefly upon these concepts:
Their names were taken: We are accountable for the influence we have wrought upon each soul who has been under our tutelage. We have their names in order to insure that to each one has been extended the love, understanding, and nourishment which is the rightful heritage of the children of God.
That they might be remembered: This is to treat them as individuals, not as “classes” or groups. Needs are personal and particular. Optimal good is done only on a person-to-person basis.
Nourished by the good word of God: The prime function of a teacher in the Church is not to express his or her own ideas and opinions but to lead the flock to feast upon God’s words: first the Scriptures, both canonized and those from the living prophets; then the words of God which come by the Holy Spirit to each individual.
To keep them in the narrow way: There is only one way that is right, and it is strait and narrow. It is to hearken to the voice of God in all things, for by his Holy Spirit God will show us all things which we should do. (2 Nephi 32:3)
To keep them continually watchful unto prayer: Since one receives the Holy Spirit through the prayer of faith, it is the opportunity of the teacher to encourage and commend prayer and meditation, that each spiritually new-born son or daughter of Christ might grow continuously to spiritual maturity, ever watchful against the sophistries of the adversary and the temptation to spiritual drowsiness.
Relying alone upon the merits of Christ: If only we can recognize and teach that all good is of Christ, and that as intelligent beings we ought to rely solely upon Him for our nourishment, our knowledge, our health, our wealth, and our priesthood!
No. 2
The true Latter-day Saint is one who has come to terms with at least one fundamental fact: All he or she has or hopes for comes through Christ. They know that they must rely upon their Savior for every good thing –for forgiveness of sins, light to cease sinning, for knowledge of truth, for strength to do what is good, for the gifts of the Spirit to overcome all things. Such persons are humble and meek before God. They know that pride is the enemy of all righteousness. They know that but for the grace of God, they would be as the worst sinner. They know that the rewards of men are paltry compared to the peace of the Spirit. They know that the more like the Savior they become, the more they can expect to be shamed, ridiculed and despised by men. They know that acceptance by their Heavenly Father is the only real test with which they need be concerned.
How does one act in relation to his fellowmen, especially towards his brothers and sisters in the Gospel? Is one concerned to appear to be learned before his fellow man? Is one constantly concerned with one’s “image?” Does one have to be heard uttering wise sayings in all public gatherings? Does one plead and scheme for the honors of men? Does one apply all the leverage one can to up his salary? Is one offended and self-righteous and critical on the occasion of evidence of the shortcomings of his brothers or sisters or colleagues? Does one demand preferential treatment because of one’s status or callings? Does one seek the adulation of students and derogate those who disagree with him? Does one overestimate one’s ability and contribution?
All of these questions are important, and there are others even more powerful and disquieting than these. But what is needed is that everyone ask and answer each of these questions for one’s self. It will not do to fly to a loved one or friend and say, “Tell me it is not so.” These problems must be worked out in the depths of meditation, in the anguish of one’s own conscience, in the solace of one’s wilderness. The wonderful prospect is that if we can ever come to full and honest terms with ourselves, with our own conscience, then we are on that strait and narrow road to acceptance by Him who sees and knows all. If ever accepted by Him, then what of arrogance, pomposity, ego-mania, image-adoration, self-aggrandizement? All will be swallowed up in the pure love of Christ as we gain that most precious attainment. And then we can be to our fellowmen the true servants of Christ which it is our opportunity to become.
No. 3
What is our task as teachers of religion? It is to bring souls to Christ. The principal means of accomplishing that goal is to encourage everyone whom we can to do three things: (1) to have a profound respect for the Lord, (2) to hearken to the living prophets, and (3) to seek the Holy Spirit as a guide for all things in their lives. We join Isaiah and Jacob in challenging all men: “Who is among you that feareth the Lord, that obeyeth the voice of his servant, that walketh in darkness and has no light?” And with those prophets we also add the solemn warning from the Lord to those who would substitute the reasoning of men for the revelations of God: “Behold all ye that kindle fire, that compass yourselves about with sparks, walk in the light of your fire and in the sparks which ye have kindled. This shall ye have of mine hand –ye shall lie down in sorrow.” (2 Nephi 7:10-11)
What then of the mechanics of teaching? What of syllabi, curricula, facts, and programs? These are the framework of our opportunity to bring the good word of God to the children of God. Let us make no mistake: There is no salvation in these methods and tools. Only by helping people to come to a personal acceptance of the atonement of our Savior and a spiritual rebirth is there any profit.
Shall we relegate the mechanics of teaching to the realms of evil and disdain the obligations thereof? Certainly not. Only in the excellence of the academic framework can we obtain the spiritual objective. To be slothful academically would be sheer hypocrisy –pretending to be a university, then dishonoring the trust of those who come for learning. As we are masters of the techniques and disciplines, wise in the things of the world, apt in our scholarship, incisive in our insight, disciplines and in our procedures, faithful to our duties, – then can we in the power of truth and righteousness show to all the better way.
No. 4
The moans and groans from students upon the occasion of any examination might lead one to think that such tests are some form of cruelty. One might also be led to think that evaluation of teachers is a terrible evil as one listens to the rumblings of the faculty. But in our sober moments we know that testing and evaluation are an indispensable aspect of progress.
The hallmark of intelligence is action which is appropriate to the contextual situation. Understanding the situation comes only through constant testing and probing. We test our students to see what they know and thus what they need to be taught. We are evaluated as teachers to see where we can best serve and in what we need to improve. As the carpenter with his square and level, the plumber checking for leaks, the physician performing a thorough examination, the courts proving a will, so we must evaluate and be evaluated constantly. To do otherwise would be to settle for the blind and rigid determinacies of a machine.
In the Gospel, too, we are constantly being evaluated and are evaluating. The Lord judges our every thought, desire, word and act, and bestows or withdraws his blessings from moment to moment according to our heed and diligence. The essence of home teaching is to discern in love and spirituality the needs of the families we serve, then to administer the Gospel and its ordinances carefully and perceptively in accordance with the progress and problems that are apparent. Likewise we are testing our own hunger for righteousness constantly, deciding from moment to moment where to draw closer to the Lord or to shrink from Him, to have Him as our God or not.
Since evaluation is an unavoidable and indispensable aspect of this earthly probation, would it not be well to appreciate it and learn to profit fully both from evaluation and being evaluated? “For all who will not endure chastening, but deny me, cannot be sanctified.” (D&C 101:5)
No. 5
Time is of the essence.
The precious passing moments press upon us, then filter into the abyss of eternity, leaving only a residue of memory. But that memory can be of the brightness of accomplishment—of love, or sacrifice in service, of honor in defense of truth and principle; or it can be of the dull pain of waste, of aimlessness, of self-seeking or submission to the pressure of the moment. And that memory is part of the eternal “me.”
In our teaching, every moment should be treasured as a gem. We can focus our efforts so that the class we are conducting, the counseling we do, the evaluation of student papers,—all can be high quality, and achievement of real love to bless our students. With that in mind, let us review some of the pitfalls to avoid:
Going to class unprepared, forced to “play it by ear.”
Allowing meaningless digressions in class discussions, however pleasant.
Presenting material that is unorganized.
Dismissing class sessions at “the drop of a hat,” such as only giving an assignment then dismissing the class session on the first day of meeting the class, going early to assemblies, dismissing class for the day before vacation, etc.
Being “buffaloed” into releasing class five minutes early as the students start to stir, close books, put on coats, etc.
Finding it unimportant to start the class on time.
Taking role inefficiently.
But if one has a yearning to improve the opportunity of time, there are excellent strategies to employ:
Have a repertoire of choice answers to questions, so that the interest which provokes a student’s question also becomes the cement to fix a gospel principle in that person’s mind.
Highly integrate class sessions with outside study assignments.
Deliberately concentrate on building rapport with the class members during the first few meetings, and when it is established, communication and learning will increase many fold.
Be so filled with your subject that it cries out to be expressed, then measure it carefully to the needs and abilities of your group.
Artfully turn every digression into a novel approach to the intended subject matter.
Treasure the chance to bear your testimony in all humility and to impress each child of our Heavenly Father in your charge with the greatness of the simple fundamentals of the Gospel.
No. 6
It is good to avoid the very appearance of evil.
Priestcraft is the merchandizing of religion, representing to promote the work of God but doing it for hire and the honors of men. The Book of Mormon is particularly blunt in labeling priestcraft as one of the great evils of the latter days.
How then does a professional teacher of religion associated with the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints avoid that evil? He is on the horns of a dilemma. He can avoid teaching the truth of the Gospel; in which case he denies the very reason for being hired and becomes a hypocrite. Or, he can teach the Gospel well, which can only be done through the guidance of the Holy Spirit. But then he is selling the gift of God. How can one escape?
The professional teacher of religion, of all people, must tread the strait and narrow. No final prescription can be given that will answer all situations. But there are some guidelines. Consider these:
He or she can humble themselves in mighty prayer to receive the Holy Spirit, then do all he or she can to follow that spirit unto doing a perfect job of teaching students.
One can recognize that because he or she is paid to teach religion, any real good done in that capacity is simply what is expected –that which one was hired to do. To earn eternal blessings, such an one must also work out his or her heart in the Church and Kingdom of God after working hours, as a free contribution.
He can be careful never to take money for any activity which could possibly be construed as Church work, which others would be expected to do for nothing.
Salary should never be a principal consideration in his teaching. If what he is paid is insufficient for his needs, the Lord will show him other, more remunerative and less perilous occupations if he is faithful.
He should assume no priesthood prerogatives because of his teaching position. One prime objective of his teaching should be to encourage strongly the support of local and general priesthood authorities.
He can plead with the Lord to show him exactly how to escape from his dilemma, how to be a just man while teaching for hire.
What a great delight it is to teach young people the Gospel! But, oh how careful we must be.
No. 7
The typical disease of our age is materialism. Materialism is the belief that all of our important problems have a material (especially economic) causes. The changing of material (especially economic) circumstances supposedly will provide the panacea. This is the thesis of Marx. Curious, isn’t it, that western nations claim to be anti-Communist while having swallowed whole the central Communist idea. No wonder then that we only quibble with the Communists as the most efficient means to achieve the materialist utopia.
Do you lack evidence of our materialism? Consider these: Most of us live beyond our means (installment buying) in the attempt to hasten felicity. Readiness to take a handout. Concern to buy at the lowest price regardless of whom we thus support or why the price is low. (Do you support Communist governments by purchasing the products of their slave-labor?) Supposing that our problems would be solved if our income doubled. The proportion of time we spend nourishing and caring for our physical being as compared with the time we spend nourishing and caring for our spiritual being. Not to mention present political palaver.
What is the cure for materialism? It is simply to live that Gospel of Jesus Christ which we verbally and emotionally espouse. It is to heed the full message of John the Baptist. (Have you noticed how many discussions of religion are an attempt to repudiate the specifics of what John said was necessary to the repentance of his materialistic contemporaries, that they should impart of what they have to those who have less, to be honest and exact in business affairs, to be content with their wages, not to attack others nor accuse anyone falsely. Luke 3:9–14) It is to put our full trust in the Lord Jesus Christ, to be guided and instructed by Him in all things, putting first the welfare of our spirits: the purifying of our hearts, our unity with the living prophets, our service in the Kingdom; then latterly and almost incidentally seeking counsel and help for health, wealth and retirement. It is to act to show that we really believe that the best thing to do is to seek first the Kingdom of God and His righteousness, trusting that all else necessary will follow. It is genuinely to seek first for a hope in Christ before we seek for riches. It is to give our wealth away as the Lord directs. It is to begin to sacrifice all we possess, as is necessary, for the sake of righteousness.
Seek not for riches but for wisdom, and behold, the mysteries of God shall be unfolded unto you, and then you shall be made rich. (D&C 6:7)
Then shall the righteous answer him, saying, Lord, when saw we thee an hungered, and fed thee? Or thirsty, and gave thee drink? When saw we thee a stranger, and took thee in? Or naked, and clothed thee? Or when saw we thee sick, or in prison, and came unto thee? And the king shall answer and say unto them, Verily I say unto you, Inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of these my brethren, ye have done it unto me. (Matthew 25: 37–40)
No. 8
Dr. Nels Ferré, eminent Protestant theologian, visited the BYU campus last week.
After being with us for nearly two days, talking with faculty and students, reading literature about “Mormonism” which was put into his hands, he finally made what to him was a startling discovery. He found out that “Mormons” are “Christians.” Isn’t it wonderful that he found out before he left?
But there is an application of all this. How long does it take our students to find out that our master is the Lord Jesus Christ? Do they wonder what the ultimate source of value and truth is to us?
Is it obvious to them that we stand as witnesses of the divinity of Jesus Christ at all times and in all things, and are delighted to be called his people? Is there any message more crucial to our task than the following:
And now, my beloved brethren, after ye have gotten into this straight and narrow path, I would ask if all is done? Behold, I say unto you, Nay; for ye have not come thus far save it were by the word of Christ with unshaken faith in him, relying wholly upon the merits of him who is mighty to save.
Wherefore, ye must press forward with a steadfastness in Christ, having a perfect brightness of hope, and a love of God and of all men. Wherefore, if you shall press forward, feasting upon the word of Christ, and endure to the end, behold, thus saith the Father: Ye shall have eternal life. (2 Nephi 31: 19-20)
No. 9
Teaching is an art. It is a “fine art” in the best sense of the term, closely related to the drama.
The teacher writes the script, selects the cast, directs the performance and evaluates the individual audience response. He writes the script as he prepares his lesson outlines, texts and objectives. He selects the cast as he himself lectures or leads a discussion, employs audio-visual aids, brings in visiting authorities, calls on students for presentations and responses. He directs the performance each day in class, suiting the action to the need, shifting the focus, tempo, devices, scenery and cast as he sees fit. And he evaluates the audience to his own satisfaction, even giving them permanent grades for their aptness or lack of attention.
Now some observations on this situation:
As drama is the most powerful form of art for most people, so teaching is an opportunity to wield great power.
The teacher is not only powerful, but very powerful; the greater his skill, the more power he has over his students.
The power of teaching can be used either for great good or for great evil.
Some disdain to teach well, thinking it beneath their dignity to communicate effectively or consistently. They limit their role to that of being the “great authority.”
Some confuse effective teaching with entertainment; they “ham” it up or titillate their students by name dropping, or make obscure references, or digress exasperatingly.
The good teacher has a nigh absolute mastery of the subject matter to start with. His principal concern in class work is to lead and guide the individual students in that field,—enthusing, correcting, enriching, nourishing, as his perception of student needs shows opportunity.
Of all subjects, the Gospel of Jesus Christ ought to be taught well.
The real test is the active response of the audience. Does the Holy Spirit operate through us as teachers to make of the students godly men and women, examples of righteousness to all the world?
No. 10
What is our task as teachers of religion?
Our task is to witness of Jesus as the Christ and to point everyone to the straight and narrow gate of faith in the Lord Jesus Christ, repentance of all sin, sincere taking of the covenant of baptism, and seeking and living by the Gift of the Holy Ghost. Everything else is ancillary.
It is not our task to teach the errors of the world. Satan is highly efficient, and none of us need to be advocatus diabolic, though we may compare truth with error to highlight the truth.
It is not our task to be “objective scholars” in the manner of the world. There is no such thing as attaining real truth through scholarship alone. But we must be as fair and objective in our scholarship as we can be.
It is not our position to cower before the onslaughts of modern science. Science today is a powerful pragmatic tool for subduing the earth, but most of its proponents make of it a pious and dedicated atheism. We can give science its due without letting it become Lord and Master.
It is not our task to disabuse people of all their false and naïve notions. It is sufficient to teach the truth in humility and to let the Holy Spirit guide them to see the error of their ways.
It is not our task to call anyone to repentance. That function is reserved to those who preside in priesthood authority. But we can show that repentance through Christ is a thing most desirable, the hope of all mankind.
It is our task to create an atmosphere of light and warmth where the tender plant of faith can take root and grow against the day of trial.
No. 11
Suppose evidence comes to my attention that I am not highly rated as a teacher. What should I do? I could deny that the rating has any validity. I could assess the raters evil persons who are “out to get me.” I could insist that I am really an excellent teacher but that there are few who can appreciate my talents. In short, one alternative is to become exceedingly defensive and to attempt to preserve my self-confidence and my self-image by counterattack.
But another alternative is open to me. I could set my goal to become perfect, even as my Savior is perfect. I could recognize that only as I present myself as a humble little child before my Savior can I truly progress towards perfection. I could take the specific evidence that my teaching leaves something to be desired as a stimulus for thought, meditation, and prayer –for chance to do a better and better job in all things, including my profession. I could refuse to identify the real “me” with the habits and patterns of my fallen nature. I could work to be spiritually alive and to “grow up” in the Lord, to strive for spiritual maturity. I could see spiritual maturity as the goal in which every evil thought, every untoward desire, every petty selfishness would be replaced in my new creation in Christ wherein I would become a more powerful and more humble exponent of the Kingdom of God.
I could not only teach people to have faith in Christ and to repent. I could show them the way.
Perhaps I had better do this even if I am highly rated already.
No. 12
We cannot see many important things in the universe. We cannot see God, tomorrow, yesterday, or the spiritual order of existence. We cannot tell by seeing or reasoning what true righteousness is. For a knowledge of all these things we must depend on someone other than ourselves. If we believe the Holy Ghost when it whispers to us of these things, we are beginning to exercise the kind of faith that will save us.
Everyone has faith in something or someone. Sometimes we believe other people. Sometimes we trust our own thinking. Sometimes we expect our strength or our money to save us. But the only faith that leads men to righteousness or salvation is faith in the Lord Jesus Christ.
For us to have faith in Jesus Christ, three things must happen:
We must receive the still, small voice of the Holy Spirit witnessing that Jesus Christ is the Savior of the world and telling us what to do.
We must believe the witness and instructions of the Holy Spirit. This takes courage to be true to what we know within ourselves.
We must act in accordance with the instructions of the Holy Spirit. If we can repent and become a disciple of Christ through obedience to the Holy Spirit, we then have faith in Jesus Christ.
No. 13 Conference Weekend
The Lord has told us that whenever:
His ordained servants
Speak for or to their stewardship
By the power of the Holy Ghost,
the result is scripture. It is the mind if the Lord, the voice of the Lord, and the power of God unto salvation. (D&C 68:2–4)
While some wonder why the Doctrine and Covenants ends with the Manifesto [1966], true servants of God recognize that the Lord gives additional scriptures daily, through his living prophets. The true servants recognize that the words of the living prophets are as important and binding as anything in the standard works.
If there is anything more important that we as teachers of religion could do than to encourage all of our students to pay close attention to Conference, and to instill in them a desire to support and sustain the living prophets? To bring souls to Christ is to bring them first of all to accept His chosen servants. Whosoever receives them receives also the Savior and the Father.
May we all do our best to make this Conference (April 1966) and its messages the highlight of our teaching this semester.
No. 14 Repentance
The man who loves righteousness but finds himself doing evil in spite of himself knows he needs to change. But how can he change if he doesn’t know how to do so? The Gospel of Jesus Christ is the message to all men to tell them how to change to become righteous.
Men must first recognize that thoughts are the basis for all feelings and actions. “As a man thinketh, so is he.” (Prov. 23:7) To repent, men must change their thinking. First, they must believe in Jesus Christ, that He lives and is the Savior of the world. Then they must be willing to obey the Savior in all things which he commands them, The voice of the Savior through the Holy Spirit will lead them to as much truth and righteousness as they are willing to receive and live.
As men obey the Savior, they will confess their evil ways and forsake them. They will do whatever they can to right the wrongs they have done and will implore the Savior to right those things they are powerless to correct.
But the Savior will not continue to guide men nor will he right their wrongdoings unless they formally pledge to accept his atoning blood and covenant to obey His voice in all things. That formal pledge can only be made in the ordinance of baptism. Thus it is that making the covenant of baptism is the most essential aspect of repentance in the Gospel of Jesus Christ. (Moro. 8:25)
This then is the agency of man: to remain captive to the adversary, confirming the Fall, or to take upon us the mind of Christ, to hearken to the voice of the Lord. Every man must choose. To choose the latter is the true metanoesis.
Can we teach this so plainly to our students that they can put on the whole armor of God and effectively quench the fiery darts of the adversary?
No. 15 Book of Mormon Week
One way of looking at the Book of Mormon is to see it as the special instrument which God has given for the perfecting of the souls of men in these latter days. If a man will read, study, pray, meditate about this book, then reform his life to accord with the intelligence thereby received, he will be able to draw nearer to God and the reality of being redeemed than he can by using any other book. The Book of Mormon is the stone which whets, shapes and sharpens the mind, heart, and life of every person worthy to be called a “Latter-day Saint.”
Nothing we can do for our students can compare with leading them to Christ and to support the authorities of the Church who the Savior has sent to us than championing to them the Book of Mormon. That book is the priceless antidote for intellectual pride, for dependence on the arm of flesh, for self-centeredness, for carnality, for indifference, ignorance, poverty, tyranny—for any and all of the ills that beset mankind. Since this is Book of Mormon week on campus, we have a wonderful opportunity to bear witness and to encourage our students to appreciate this great gift from our Lord.
No. 16
One of the serious faults of our educational process is the oppression of authoritarianism. Professors act often as if they know for sure what they are talking about. Students are pressured into memorization of the opinions of the “authorities” rather than being taught to think for themselves. Non-conformists fare badly, both as students and as faculty. The hallmark of erudition for most academic matters is the paraphernalia of quoting someone.
One gem of truth which we can crystalize out of the scriptures is that no one knows for sure anything of importance unless it is through personal revelation. Science is an impressive practical tool, but singularly lacking in demonstrable truth, especially as to causation. Scholarship mines opinion, not reality. Reason reinforces prejudice, but never vouchsafes the nature of existence. Only from the Lord, who is The Truth, does one obtain knowledge of things as they are and were and will be: The Truth.
So when we teach, let us remember certain fundamentals:
If we teach the truth, it is by revelation. (Ye receive the spirit by the prayer of faith, and if ye receive not the spirit, ye shall not teach. D&C 42:14)
If our students understand the truth as we teach, it is by the Spirit. (Therefore, why is it that ye cannot understand and know that he that receiveth the word of truth by the Spirit of truth receiveth it as it is preached by the Spirit of truth? Wherefore, he that preacheth and he that receiveth, understand one another, and both are edified and rejoice together. D&C 50:21–22)
Therefore, we are not authorities, or even teachers, in our own right. We are but messengers, bearing humble testimony to that which we have received, hoping that our hearers will believe not what we say but that they will believe the voice of the Lord.
Could we ever achieve a university which operates on these ideas, what wonders of learning, ability and technology could we attain?
Our Savior has said that we should be holy, for He is holy. Holy is a form of the word, “wholly.” What can we do to be holy? Be wholly focused on Him.
Have your mind constantly on the Savior, discerning whether you are pleasing Him or not.
Look with compassion, kindness and forgiveness toward every other human being you encounter during the day. Let your constant prayer be: How can I serve this person?
Own what is necessary and keep it in good order and repair, ready to present it to the Savior.
Dress, look, and act like the living prophet.
Never overeat nor consume anything that is not good for you.
Be out of debt, and be current and generous in tithes and offerings.
Search the scriptures, the conference reports, and the Holy Spirit daily.
Pray constantly. Let your day be a long conversation with the Lord.
1. A person is a human being: a body and a spirit.
An individual human person is one who has learned to act independently of other human beings and to act as a unit to do the things human beings do.
An individual human person has four parts which enable him or her to act as a unit to do the things which human beings do:
Heart: The ability to make choices among possible alternative actions. (Example: Shall I hit him back or not.)
Mind: The ability to understand self, the universe, and possible actions. (Example: He hit me because his brother hit him.)
Strength: Physical ability to act. Strength is time. (Example: I am too tired to hit him. Therefore, I have no strength, no time.)
Might: The things one can affect by acting. Might is space. (He is up in the tree above me. I cannot reach him. He is out of my space, therefore I have no might to hit him.)
A person becomes an individual by:
a. Gaining control of his heart, mind, strength, and might.
b. Unifying his heart, mind, strength and might.
2. Some actions of a person are unique. Others are habitual. The habits of a person are his character. An undeveloped character has weak habits; decisions are made by the pressures of the moment. A developed character has strong habits; decisions are made on the basis of principle. The basic parameters of character are as follows:
Heart:
Righteous (unselfish)
Unrighteous (selfish)
Mind:
Realistic (deals with reality)
Unrealistic (deals with fantasy)
Strength:
Gifted (many talents)
Limited (few talents)
Might:
Mighty (affects much)
Damned (affects little)
Effective person: Realistic, gifted, mighty Ineffective: Unrealistic or limited, damned.
Saint: a Righteous, effective person. Natural Man: An unrighteous person (effective or not).
The purpose of human mortality is to allow each person to become an individual, and in that process to achieve that character which he or she desires to achieve. Every person’s habits are his or her religion.
Habits = Character = Religion
3. Agency is power to act. A human being is an agent because he or she has power to act. The four essentials of that power to act are:
a. The ability to understand reality and possible actions: Mind
b. The ability to choose among possible actions: Heart
c. The physical ability to act to carry out the choices make: Strength
d. The ability to affect something with one’s strength: Might
Human agency is a gift of God. God controls our mind, our strength, our might, and only he can purify our hearts. As we allow God to purify our hearts, he can give us additional mind, strength, and might. As these increase, our agency increases. As our hearts become completely pure (righteous), God can increase our agency without limit until we have a fulness of all that he has. Receiving that fulness of mind, strength and might added to a pure heart is to be exalted.
The focal point of human agency is the heart. By the choices we make with our heart, we form our own habits=character=religion. Our agency is the power God has given each of us to form our own habits=character=religion.
4. Righteousness is doing what is best in the long run, in eternity, to achieve the greatest possible happiness for all others who will be affected by our personal choices. No human being, by human means, can know exactly who will be affected nor how by any given decision. Therefore, no human being can be righteous without help from outside himself, help from a being who is omniscient and righteous.
The most important use of agency any person can make is to become a righteous individual.
5. There is salvation from unrighteousness (the state of the natural man) only through God, the only being who is omniscient and righteous. God, our Father, has told us to hear his Son, Jesus Christ. He is the means, the way, the truth and the light to us. Only if we hear him can we be saved from unrighteousness.
A person can become a righteous individual only by hearing, accepting and loving Jesus Christ with all of his or her heart. To thus yield our hearts to God is the key to loving God with all of our heart, might, mind, and strength.
To become a righteous individual is to be saved. To be saved is to have the habits=character=religion to love God with all of our heart, might, mind and strength.
6. Whatever agency a person has received from God, he is responsible for that power and must account for it at the close of his probation. Those who know and enjoy the Restored Gospel of Jesus Christ have more agency than those who do not have it, and therefore are more responsible. During his or her probation, every human being is given enough agency to have power to be saved from unrighteousness. Those who use that power to become saved will rejoice; those who do not will weep and wail and gnash their (resurrected) teeth because they didn’t avail themselves of the opportunity. The net result of all this is that no human being can then blame what he or she is in heart, mind, and strength or what he or she has done with might on anyone else. We are free. We do what we desire to do. To blame anyone or anything else for the state of our being or our actions is untruthful and debilitating. Though we are not fully free now, we should act as if we were. Taking the full responsibility is the best way to facilitate repentance and to begin to become what the Restored Gospel makes it possible for us to become: exalted.
The first step in becoming a righteous individual is to take full responsibility for what one is and does. To blame anyone or anything other than ourselves for what we are or do is to dig a pit for ourselves. (See Deut. 6:5; Matt. 23:36–40; D&C 59:5; 2 Nephi 31:19; Moses 6:52)
7. Satan gained increased opportunity to tempt, afflict and torment mankind because Adam and Eve hearkened to him and rejected Father’s counsel. Satan is the destroyer, having power over disease and death, but carefully controlled by Father as to how he will use that power. Satan is the tempter, but his only power to tempt man is to encourage a man to follow after his own desires in disobedience to the commandments of Father. Thus, every man looks at the world and divides it into things desirable (good in his own eyes) and undesirable (evil in his own eyes). Satan simply encourages each person to seek and do that which is good in his (that person’s) own eyes. (James 1:13–15)
Woe unto that person who calls the Father’s good evil and evil good! (2 Nephi 15:20–21)
But happy is the person who hungers and thirsts after the Father’s good, which is righteousness. (3 Nephi 12:6)
8. Being spiritually dead, no man understands himself or his surroundings truly. Man judges upon appearances only, and thus makes many mistakes. Every person has the experience of choosing to do certain acts because he thinks they are good and will bring satisfaction, but discovers to his sorrow that he was mistaken. But men have enough success in gaining satisfaction that they tolerate a few mistakes rather philosophically, especially when what they seek is simply the pleasures of the flesh. (Isaiah 29:8)
9. The natural man is fallen man, selfish man, blinded man. He is without God and Christ in the world. He is able to live quite well as an animal, eating and drinking and procreating, but no individual is sure of success even in that. The more an individual yearns for something more than immediate physical satisfaction, the more he senses he needs help. If he wishes guaranteed physical pleasure, he seeks power. If he desires to know, he seeks to find a knower, usually another human being, or perhaps a book. But if it is the heart of man that yearns for righteousness, no satisfaction will be found in this world. (Ether 12:27–28)
10. The natural man is an enemy to God. “Enemy” means one who is not loved. Most natural men do not love God because they do not know him. Some do not want to know him and reject his message when it comes. But some men yearn for righteousness and welcome the message of the God of righteousness when they are privileged to receive it. (Mosiah 3:19)
11. To know good and evil and to be able to choose between them is to become an independent self. Every man is sufficiently instructed in good and evil that he can show his true desires. (2 Nephi 2:5) Only souls who have been given this agency and who then show that they love God enough to keep his commandments can be exalted. Thus the creation of the world focused on giving men this agency so essential to the time and place for making gods. (2 Nephi 2:16)
12. Though we know little about the creation of the earth, we are given great detail about the creation of the world. We are given a word by word, blow by blow account of that important process, that we might understand it. For our business on earth is to reverse the effects of that fall, to take ourselves out from under the evil influences of this world through the help of our Savior. (2 Nephi 2:24–25)
Lesson Two: God
1. The key to theology: Human beings are of the race of the gods, and may inherit all the gods have. Evidences:
a. Adam and Eve were literally begotten as children of the gods.
b. Mary, a human being, conceived and bore a child for her husband, Elohim.
c. Jesus, the Son of God (Elohim) and son of Mary, appeared to be a normal human being.
d. Some human beings were gods in the premortal existence.
e. The announced purpose of the Gospel of Jesus Christ is to invite every human being to become one with God, a god.
2. A god is a person having all power, to whom the angels are subject (D&C 132:20). Every god is a being who is righteous, omniscient, omnipotent, and coordinates with every other god.
a. Righteousness is doing what most contributes to the eternal welfare of every being one affects. Every god has a pure heart (devoid of selfishness) and is fully dedicated to the eternal cause of righteousness. No god takes any vacations or lapses from righteousness, but rather devotes his whole heart, mind, strength and might to that cause.
b. Omniscience is knowing all: everything small and large, near and distant, simple and complex, past, present, or future. An omniscient being cannot be surprised. Omniscience helps to make righteousness possible.
c. Omnipotence is having all the power that exist, so that anything which can be done may be done by an omnipotent being. That is not to say that an omnipotent being will need to do everything which can be done. A god uses omnipotence only to do the works of righteousness. And omnipotence helps to make righteousness possible.
d. To be coordinated with every other god is essential to being a god, for there is but one righteousness, one truth for the omniscient to know, one righteous use of omnipotence in any given situation. Were a god not to coordinate with all other gods there would be confusion as to who would and should do a given work of righteousness. But there is no confusion. As perfect (complete) omniscient beings, all gods are in full communication with each other at each instant, and act as one.
3. There is but one God. That one God is the sum total of all gods united in a priesthood structure. Every person in that priesthood structure has a specific place in the priesthood hierarchy and perfectly fills his or her role. Every person (god) has a father in the priesthood order. Every person (god) does only and exactly that which he or she is instructed to do by the person who stands to him or her in the relation of father. Thus, the whole group acts as one; they constitute a single unit. Thus, there is one true God but many true gods.
4. There are two kinds of true gods, though all have the four characteristics mentioned above. One kind is a personage of spirit, not having a tabernacle of flesh and bone. The other kind is the personage of spirit who has been through a mortal experience and has acquired a body of flesh and bone. The Savior as Jehovah before his mortal ministry was the first kind, and as that kind he created and governed the heavens and the earth and all things that in them are. As the Only Begotten of the Father, our Savior became the second kind of god, which he will be to the rest of eternity.
5. There are two kinds of false gods. Satan would feign claim to be the god of this world, and he indeed tries to become the same by intimidating human beings and conspiring with them. He is one kind of counterfeit God, and his counterfeit “good” is gain and power. The other kind of false god is the individual human beings invent to please themselves and to justify what they wish to do; the counterfeit good here is the selfish desires of the individual person. “For they have strayed from mine ordinance, and have broken mine everlasting covenant; They seek not the Lord to establish his righteousness, but every man walketh in his own way, and after the image of his own God, whose image is in the likeness of the world, and whose substance is that of an idol, which waxeth old and shall perish I Babylon, even Babylon the great, which shall fall.” (D&C 1:15–16)
6. God has said to man:
“… the fulness of the earth is yours, the beasts of the field and the fowls of the air, and that which climbeth upon the trees and walketh upon the earth;
Yea, and the herb, and the good things which come of the earth, whether for food or for raiment, or for houses, or for barns, or for orchards, or for gardens, or for vineyards;
Yea, all things which come of the earth, whether for food or for raiment, or for houses, or for barns, or for orchards, or for gardens, or for vineyards;
Yea, all things which come of the earth, in the season thereof, are made for the benefit and use of man, both to please the eye and to gladden the heart;
Yea, for food and for raiment, for taste and for smell, to strengthen the body and to enliven the soul.
And it pleaseth God that he hath given all these things unto man; for unto this end were they made to be used, with judgment, not to excess, neither by extortion.
And in nothing doth man offend God, or against none is his wrath kindled, save those who confess not his hand in all things, and obey not his commandments.
Behold this is according to the law and the prophets; wherefore, trouble me no more concerning this matter.
But learn that he who doeth the works of righteousness shall receive his reward, even peace in this world, and eternal life in the world to come.” (D&C 59:16–23)
7. We must know who and what our god and our God is. If the god we worship is a false god, there is no hope for our future. Our great opportunity and responsibility is to search until we find and associate ourselves with the true and living God. Then we can intelligently hope for every good thing. (Moroni: 7)
Lesson Three: Creation of the Earth
1. Compared with what there is to know about it, we know very little about the creation of the earth (either from the scriptures, because they say little about it, or from science, because all scientific accounts of the creation are guesswork).
2. When our story begins in Genesis 1, Moses 2, and Abraham 4, the earth was already in existence. At the time it was empty, desolate, without life. How long before had it been created? We do not know, but possibly it was very old even then.
3. How long did the creation last? We do not know for sure, but one good guess is that it took 7,000 years. (D&C 77:12)
4. Where was the earth reformed in this creation? Why is that important to us? Apparently not in this solar system, but somewhere near the throne of God. (Abraham 5:13)
5. Who reformed the earth for Adam and Eve? The council of the gods; or, in other words, God. (Abraham 4)
6. Why is it important to know that God created the heavens and the earth? So that we will know that it did not happen by chance or by some “natural” process. God was and is firmly in control of the process. To suppose that the universe operates on its own, without direction, is equivalent to a belief in magic. We have ample testimony to the contrary. To reject those testimonies is to reject God.
7. What is the order of the universe in which we live and wherein our earth has its place? The planets and stars of the universe are organized into orders, with each order being governed by a higher order. Each planet rotates at a certain set pace, the more rapid the rotation, the lower the order. At the center and governing all, never changing but pursuing one eternal round, is God. (Abraham 3)
8. What is a kingdom? A kingdom is a portion or space, and in every space there is a kingdom. All kingdoms are governed by law, and to every law there are certain bounds and conditions. The bounds and conditions are set by God, who is the king. (D&C 88:34–39)
9. How does God govern the universe? By light. The light which causes our eyes to see and the light of truth are the same light, from the same source. They are the light of Christ. This light created and governs the sun, the moon, the earth, and all living things. That light causes one to be intelligent. It fills all space with the influence of God. (D&C 88:6–13)
10. Some things are created to be acted upon. They are governed by the light of Christ. Other things are created to act. These latter may accept the law of Christ, which is His light, or they may be a law unto themselves. Those who insist on being a law unto themselves severely limit their capacity to grow.
Lesson Four: The Creation of the World
1. The earth is the physical planet upon which we dwell. A world is an extensive time and place for existence and action. A world was created by the fall of Adam, which world ended in the flood. We live in the second world, which will end in the fire at the Second Coming. The millennium will be the third world, and that world will end when the earth dies. See Joseph Smith History 1:55, which identifies the world with the wicked people who dwell on the earth.
2. Satan was Lucifer (light-bearer), who was an angel of great authority in the presence of God. He rebelled against God, seeking honor, glory and power independent of God. Because of that rebellion, he and his followers were cast away from the throne of God and were sent down to this earth. Their work here is to thwart the work of God by encouraging hate, anger, selfishness and disobedience to God on the part of mankind. (Moses 4:1–4)
3. Adam and Eve were born to the gods as children and sent to this earth. They had two bodies, one spiritual, the other of flesh and bone. The spiritual body consisted of three parts: heart, the sensor of truth and right and the decision maker; mind, the power of understanding and perception; and body, the power to move and act on spiritual material. The fleshly tabernacle also had a heart, which pumped spirit to the body; a brain, which coordinated the mind with the tabernacle of flesh; and the fleshy tabernacle, with which to interact with the coarse material of this earth.
When they were put into the Garden of Eden, Adam and Eve had celestial bodies. But their eyes were not yet open. They did not understand good and evil in general. They knew not to partake of the forbidden fruit, but had been given to choose for themselves. Thus God had given them a tiny bit of agency. (Moses 7:32)
4. Satan worked on that tiny bit of agency and convinced Eve that her own desire for knowledge was better than Father’s commandment. So she asserted her own will and defied Father. Then she convinced Adam that he must follow, which he did. Then the eyes of their understanding were opened in that each of them now could see that every opportunity to act could be seen as good (God’s will) or evil (anything else). With that new knowledge and using the power to choose for themselves which Father had given them, they became subject to their own wills, being able to and having to choose for themselves between good and evil in everything which they did. (Alma 12:31)
5. Adam and Eve had been told that if they partook of the forbidden fruit they would immediately die. When they partook, they did die, spiritually, and in that very day. This spiritual death was to be cut off from Father, no longer to be able to see him and converse with him directly. The opening of the eyes of their understanding was matched by the closing of the eyes of their spirit bodies. Their flesh became telestial, corrupt. This telestial flesh became a veil, the veil which stopped all of their spiritual senses. Their spirits were yet alive, but walled up in the corrupt tabernacle which now had blood in the veins instead of spirit matter. Thus they could no longer see and communicate with the spiritual existences around them at will as they had done. (D&C 29:36–41)
6. The blood which now coursed through the bodies of Adam and Eve gave them the opportunity to die.
7. The physical universe which we see with our natural eyes is created after the pattern of the spiritual universe. The spiritual universe is prior in time, and governs and controls the physical universe. (Moses 3:7; D&C 29:30–36)
8. To see the physical kingdoms of the universe, large and small, operating in their times and seasons and order is to see God moving in his majesty and power. (D&C 88:4)
9. One important fundamental of righteousness is to acknowledge the hand of God in all things, both spiritual and natural. (D&C 59:21)
10. Could the universe or this earth be improved upon? No, for they have been created (organized) by a perfect, omniscient and omnipotent being for the purpose of blessing His children.
Lesson Five: The Gospel
1. The Gospel of Jesus Christ is the good news of life and salvation sent to the natural man. It itself is a short message, consisting of perhaps ten ideas which can be said in about one breath. The gospel is compatible with all truth; indeed, it embraces all truth and light in the universe. Those ten ideas are as follows, given in an expanded version.
2. First, that Jesus Christ is the Son of God the Father, is himself a God, and is heir to all that the Father has. He was Jehovah, the god of the Old Testament, whose name means “will be.” The god who would be was born of Mary in the land of Jerusalem of the seed of Abraham, but is literally the only Begotten Son of God the Father in the flesh. He came into the world to do the Father’s will, which he did, leading first a sinless life and then giving up his perfect and potentially unending mortal life that he might ransom the souls and bodies of all mankind.
3. Secondly, it was the Father’s will that he be lifted up upon the cross. This is symbolic of his working out of the atonement for the sins of all mankind. Having lived a sinless life, he had no sin to his charge, and having a divine heritage, he never would have had to die. But it was the Father’s will that he personally and voluntarily takes upon himself to suffer the debt of justice due for each and every sin that had been or ever would be committed by any human being on this earth. The debt of justice is a suffering equal in pain to whatever pain had been inflicted on everyone affected by the original sinning of the sin being compensated for. This also includes righting the wrong and restoring to those hurt the opportunities and blessings they had been deprived of by the original sinning of that sin in question. The Savior could suffer for our sins because he had none of his own to pay for. He can right the wrongs because he is the Eternal God of Heaven and Earth, and has all power over all things to accomplish all things for the salvation of mankind. A third aspect of the atonement is that the Savior seized the keys of death and hell from Satan, which Satan had gained at the occasion of the Fall of Adam, thus making possible both the opening of the gates of hell, the prison doors, to make possible the preaching of the Gospel of Jesus Christ to the souls in prison, and the resurrection from the grave of every soul who had once received a mortal body on earth.
4. Thirdly, it is the Father’s will that after our Savior had paid the debt and made salvation possible for every human being, that every human being be required to stand before the Savior to account for the opportunity each will have had to repent of his sins an to be forgiven through the atoning blood of Christ. Our Savior is the keeper of the gate to the heavens, and he employs no servant there. What the Savior will want each person to witness is whether that person’s actions have been good, that is to say Godly, or evil, that is to say, in defiance of God. Apparently no one will have to say much, because what everyone did, thought and desired in their probation will be publicly manifest for all to see. Each person judged will agree with his own judgment and proclaim the wisdom, mercy and greatness of God.
5. There is a five-fold way for each human being to prepare for the great day of judgment. This five-fold way is the pattern for one’s entire life and also for each specific decision.
The first of the five-fold ways is to put one’s trust, one’s faith in Jesus Christ. When a person hears the Gospel taught by authorized servants and confirmed by the power of the Holy Spirit, one knows that one should rely wholly and solely on the merits of the Savior for all of his needs for light and truth. To receive revelation from God is to be invited to enter into the straight and narrow way. To put one’s whole trust in that revelation is to exercise faith in the Lord Jesus Christ, which is the only faith that saves.
6. The second part of the five-fold path is to repent. Under the direction of the Holy Spirit, that is to say through faith in Jesus Christ, each of us must undertake to go through our heart, mind, strength and might and order all of it according to the truth and light which the Savior sends to us. This is a lifetime project, but it is incumbent upon those who have received some portion of direction to live up to that direction before doing anything else. That is godly repentance.
7. The third part of the five-fold path is to enter into covenant with the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost, to become completely faithful in all things. Specifically, we promise to take upon ourselves the name of Jesus Christ, to proclaim that name and never to be ashamed of it before any man; to keep all of the commandments which he gives to us personally; and to remember him always. These promises lead to all of the higher ordinances of the Gospel of Jesus Christ and have perfection of the person as their goal.
8. The fourth part of the five-fold path is to actually receive the Holy Ghost. No one can get to this point without having received something from the Holy Ghost already. Knowing what that spirit is and what it does for us, we must now take that spirit as our constant companion, knowing that as we are faithful, it will show us all things that we should do. This is our life-line, the rod of iron that enables us to stay in the narrow way of righteousness through the mists of darkness.
9. The fifth part of the five-fold way is to endure to the end. The end is life eternal, to become as Christ himself is in heart, might, mind and strength. This is truly a counsel of perfection, reaching for the stars with a grasp wherein the grace of God fully complements all we can do to suffice unto attaining to the end.
10. The power and pertinence of that five-fold message are matched by a solemn warning that enduring to the end is important. For if one does not endure to the end, one will be hewn down and cast into the fire with no further opportunity to repent, to change, to inherit eternal life.
11. Finally, there is the promise to match the warning: He who will repent, be sanctified by the Holy Ghost and will endure to the end through this five-fold process will enter into the kingdom of God and will be fully acceptable to the Father. That is the Gospel of Jesus Christ.
12. The message of the Father to all mankind is that we should hear his Beloved Son, in whom he is well pleased. The Son gives us his Gospel, the good news as to how we can overcome the Fall of Adam and be restored to the presence of the Father as beloved sons and daughters. That Gospel is not the only way to love God, but it is the only way to love God fully and to become as God is.
13. When God’s children live the Gospel of Jesus Christ in any numbers, they are given the privilege of instituting a celestial society on the earth. That society is called, “Zion.”
Lesson Six: The Savior
1. Our Savior has over four hundred name-titles (counting all the variations). Each of these is significant of some special aspect of his mission. Some of the principal name-titles he bears are the following:
· Christ: Anointed One, the one whom Father has commissioned.
· Messiah: The Hebrew version of the title, “Christ”.
· Redeemer: The one who saves men from the Fall.
· Savior: The one who saves men from their sins.
· Jehovah: The god of the Old Testament who became Jesus.
· Jesus: The Anglicized form of the Greek representation of the Hebrew “Joshua”, which was the Savior’s given name in mortality.
· Master: The leader to whom we look.
· Lord: The ruler or president over the faithful.
· Rabbi: The Hebrew for “teacher.”
· Only Begotten: The only human on earth ever directly begotten by God the Father.
· Son of Man: Son of Man of Holiness, God the Father being Man of Holiness.
· Alpha and Omega: The one who begins all things and also ends them.
· Great I Am: The fully existing one.
· Mighty One of Israel: Abraham’s God, who is almighty and specially remembers the children of Abraham.
· Good Shepherd: He who leads us into life eternal.
· Fountain of Righteousness: The only source of righteousness for the inhabitants of this earth.
· The Way: He is the perfect example of the only way back to the Father.
· The Truth: He is the source of all truth for mankind.
· The Life: He is the giver of all forms of life.
· The Light of the World: His light brings hope for righteousness and peace to all mankind.
· The Door: No one can get into heaven except through Him.
2. The merits of Him who is mighty to save:
· He is the authorized representative of our Father in Heaven.
· He knows all things.
· He can do anything which can be done.
· He is perfect; no selfishness of any kind.
· He is love: His love blesses every human being.
· He is long-suffering: He lets us work out our salvation.
· He is mindful: He maintains a constant vigilance over all his creations, and no thought, feeling, desire, action or problem of any of His creations escapes his attention.
· He is in control: Nothing in heaven or earth happens except by his instruction, permission or allowance.
· He saves: He can perfect and exalt any human being who desires to be saved.
3. As Christ (Messiah, the Anointed One), our Savior has a specific mission to perform in behalf of the Father. We will break it into parts for understanding, with the understanding that in reality this mission is all one piece, each part being a necessary part of the single whole.
a. Firstborn of the Father: His role was to accept the Father’s will as the plan for salvation of all mankind.
b. Jehovah: His role was to create the heavens and the earth (and many other earths and heavens like this one) and all things that in them are. This creation includes the Fall, and is ongoing, even now.
c. Lord God: His role after the Fall was to be the light of the world, thus to control how much knowledge, truth and wisdom every man has or can get. Thus, the Savior is in control of the life, breath, accomplishments and failures of every being. (Of course every being has agency; the Savior’s control is what enables that agency to be a reality.)
d. Son of God: Being born of Mary, from her gaining a body of flesh and bone and blood, and being sired by our Father in Heaven, he gained power to be perfect and to live forever. He lived a perfect life, explicitly obeying His Father in all things he said and did.
e. Savior: He atoned for the sins of all mankind, suffering the wrath of Almighty God for them, that they might not need to. And he voluntarily gave up his opportunity to be a mortal forever in order to seize the keys of death that all men might be resurrected from the grave.
f. Judge: All men go immediately to his presence when they die and are assigned to prison or paradise, as is expedient. But only those who go to paradise see him and know that they have gone back to his presence when they die.
g. Advocate: When all preparations are complete, each person is resurrected and stands before the Father, the Son and the Holy Ghost to receive a final (eternal) judgment. The Savior there pleads the case of every soul who was willing to hear His voice and repent through the Holy Spirit.
h. Father: The Savior is father in the patriarchal lineage to all of the righteous for the remainder of eternity. With them he shares all that His Father has given Him, and they become equal with Him to all eternity. Those who were not completely righteous become the servants to him and his righteous children, and they willingly, gladly serve the Savior and his righteous children to all eternity (exception: the sons of Perdition).
4. The Atonement:
God’s law is righteousness. He only commands or instructs or entices men to do that which is righteous. The spokesman for that law is Christ. To obey that law with one’s body is the beginning of faith. To obey fully is to love God (obey Him) with all of one’s heart, might, mind and strength. Whatsoever any person does that is not of faith is sin.
Sin, being transgression of God’s law, knowingly or unknowingly, always inflicts evil on those whom it affects (opposite to the blessings which faith begets). The Father is acutely mindful of the blessings and evils which men visit upon one another, and he cannot look upon sin with the least degree of allowance. Every sin must be compensated for by 1) a suffering equal to the suffering caused by the sin, and 2) a restoration to the person(s) sinned against by the blessing(s) they would have had, had the perpetrator not sinned.
Our Savior did not sin once during mortality. Because of this He could take upon Himself the suffering due for the sins of every other human being. This he did, suffering he wrath of his Father or all the sins of mankind, past, present and future, in that last twenty-four-hour period of his life. Only a God could suffer that much. But the Savior persevered, difficult though it was, and finished his preparations to the children of men. This specific act of suffering was the atonement. The Hebrew form of this concept means, “to cover.” The Greek form means, “drastic change.” The English form means, “to reconcile.”
Lesson Seven: Faith in Jesus Christ
1. A principle is a general rule, a universal. In the Gospel of Jesus Christ there is but one rule or law. All other principles are but explications, portions or facets of the one general rule. (D&C 132:4–13)
2. The name of the one law is: Faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. Other wordings to describe the law are:
a. Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, with all thy might, mind and strength; and in the name of Jesus Christ shalt thou serve him. (D&C 59:5)
b. One must love, hear and obey Jesus Christ, making every sacrifice necessary to do so. (D&C 97:8)
3. There is no shortage of faith in the world, for every person lives by faith. Each must do so because we know nothing about the future (we only guess). Every person puts his faith and trust for the future in something or somebody.
4. Characteristics of faith in Christ:
a. Type: Relationship to Christ.
b. Similar: Trust, obedience, love for, belief in.
c. Contrary: Unbelief, distrust, disobedience, disdain for, ignoring.
d. Prerequisite: Personal revelation from Jesus Christ.
e. Constituents: Love for, trust in, obedience by sacrifice.
f. Perfection: To live by every word that proceeds forth from His mouth, with a firm mind in every form of godliness.
g. Counterfeit: To confess with the mouth, but not to believe or obey.
h. Complement: Fear.
i. Opposite: actively work against Christ by the power of Satan.
j. Celestial faith: To love and obey God will all of my heart, might, mind and strength.
k. Terrestrial faith: To believe and obey God when he speaks to me.
l. Telestial faith: To obey God when I am threatened.
m. Perdition: To pretend to obey God, but secretly to work against him.
5. Key scriptures on faith:
a. Hab. 2:4 The just shall live by faith
b. Matt. 9:22 Thy faith hath made thee whole
c. Matt. 9:29 According to thy faith, be it unto you
d. Matt. 21:21 If ye have faith, and doubt not
e. Luke 22:32 I have prayed for thee, that thy faith fail not
f. Rom. 10:17 Faith cometh by the hearing of the word
g. Rom. 14:23 Whatsoever is not of faith is of sin
h. 2 Cor. 5:7 For we walk by faith, not sight
i. Gal. 2:6 Be justified by the faith of Christ
j. Gal. 3:12 The law is not of faith
k. Eph. 2:8 By grace are ye saved through faith; it is the gift of God
l. Eph. 4:13 We all come in a unity of the faith
m. Eph. 6:16 Above all, taking the shield of faith
n. Heb. 11:1 Faith is the substance of things hoped for
o. Heb. 11:6 Without faith it is impossible to please God
p. Heb. 12:2 The author and finisher of our faith
q. Jas. 1:6 Let him ask in faith, nothing wavering
r. Jas. 2:14 Even so, faith, if it hath not works, is dead
s. 1 Pet. 1:7 Through the trial of your faith
t. 2 Pet. 1:7 Add to your faith, virtue
u. 2 Nephi 31:19 Christ with unshaken faith in him
v. Mosiah 8:18 That man through faith might work might miracles
w. Hel. 3:35 Wax firmer in the faith of Christ
x. Eth. 3:19 He had faith no longer
y. Moro. 7:39 Of strong faith and a firm mind
z. D&C 8:10 Without faith you can do nothing
aa. D&C 63:9 Faith cometh not by signs
bb. D&C 104:55 All the properties are mine or else your faith is vain
6. Key Questions:
a. How is faith related to knowledge? One must have a personal knowledge of God’s command, then do it, not knowing that God will bless us, but believing that he will.
b. Who needs faith in Christ? All who have sinned and are accountable.
c. Will faith ever be done away? Some faith is replaced by knowledge. But faith is the principle by which the gods interrelate. It is an eternal principle.
d. What can faith accomplish? Faith is the power to lay hold of every good thing, including enduring to the end.
e. What is it to be faithful? It is to endure to the end, until I have the heart, might, mind and strength of Christ.
Lesson Eight: Obedience and Sacrifice
1. Obedience and sacrifice are part of faith in Jesus Christ. When one who has not had faith desires to begin to do so, the beginning of faith is to obey the commandments of God. That obedience must be sincere. It must not be just a business deal with God: I’ll do this for you if you will do that for me. The obedience must be that of a humble child before his father, who, having sinned, now earnestly seeks to walk in the way of his father. The measure of the sincerity of that obedience is the sacrifices one is willing to make to obey the Father.
2. Obedience is of the strength, the body. Sacrifice is of the strength and of the might. Before we can obey, we must learn the Father’s will; this is the involvement of our mind. We understand the instruction of God with our mind, obey with our bodies, and give up whatever of our might (money, time, property, influence) that is necessary to fulfill obedience. This is part of faith, a substantial beginning to faith. It lacks only the pure love of Christ to make it a complete faith. But most of us can learn and gain that pure love that completes faith only through obedience and sacrifice.
3. The word obey derives from the Latin obedire, which comes from ob + audire, to give ear. The Greek is hupakouo, to hear under. The Hebrew is shama, to hearken, to hear.
a. Celestial obedience is to hear and recognize the voice of God and do exactly as he instructs, and to do it immediately.
b. Terrestrial obedience is to obey God only after we fully understand why we are being told to do something.
c. Telestial obedience is to obey God only when we feel like doing so.
d. Perdition obedience is to obey God only when forced to do so.
e. Constituents: Understand the revelation from God, and act accordingly.
f. Counterfeit: To obey God’s instruction only when and as Satan prompts us to do so. This is not obedience to God.
g. Opposite: Obedience to Satan.
h. Complement: To do only as we desire to do.
i. Similar: Faith in Jesus Christ, to hearken, to serve.
j. Contrary: Refuse to hear; to disdain, disobey and ignore.
k. Positive example: Adam offering sacrifice after being cast out.
l. Negative example: Jonah trying to run away from his mission call.
4. The difference understanding obedience should make:
a. Heart: I should desire to obey God in all things, no matter the cost.
b. Mind: I must strive to identify the voice of God unerringly and to understand all that he would have me do.
c. Strength: I must discipline my body to do God’s will in all things.
d. Might: I must never count the cost; I will serve and obey no matter what the cost, knowing that eventually the cost is all that I have.
5. Key scriptures on obedience:
a. Rom. 5:19 So by the obedience of one
b. Rom. 16:26 To all nations for the obedience of faith
c. Heb. 5:8 Yet learned he obedience by the things which he suffered
d. Isa. 1:19 If ye be willing and obedient, ye shall eat
e. Deut. 27:10 Obey the voice of the Lord, thy God
f. 1 Sam. 15:2 To obey is better than sacrifice, and to hearken than
g. Acts 5:29 Ought to obey God rather than men
h. Rom. 6:16 His servants ye are to whom you obey
i. Heb. 5:9 Salvation unto all them that obey
j. 1 Pet. 1:22 Purified your souls in obeying the truth
k. D&C 105:6 Chastened until they learn obedience
l. D&C 130:19 Through his diligence and obedience
m. Moses 5:8 Be obedient unto the ends of your lives
n. Moses 5:11 God giveth unto all the obedient
o. 1 Neph. 4:18 I did obey the voice of the Spirit
p. Jac. 4:6 And the very trees obey us
q. D&C 42:2 Hearken and hear and obey
6. The word sacrifice comes from the Latin sacra, holy and ficeo, to make or to do: to make holy.
7. To sacrifice is to put oneself into the path of holiness by obeying the voice of God and by giving up all that he requires us to give up to perfect that obedience. There is no sacrifice without obedience.
a. Celestial sacrifice: To obey the Lord unto giving up all he requires.
b. Terrestrial sacrifice: To sacrifice unto the Lord when it seems right (to our own mind) to do so.
c. Telestial sacrifice: To sacrifice when we feel moved (by our own desires) to sacrifice unto the Lord.
d. Perdition sacrifice: To sacrifice only as Satan instructs us to do.
e. Genus of sacrifice: Quality of obedience.
f. Similar: Diligence, promptness, carefulness.
g. Contrary: Loose, undependable, careless, shallow.
h. Perfection: To lay down one’s life.
i. Opposite: To cling to all we have and are.
j. Counterfeit: To sacrifice only as Satan commands.
k. Prerequisite: Obedience.
l. Constituents: Something owned that is precious to us. Giving up that something precious to be abused.
m. Positive example: The Savior gave up his infinite mortality.
n. Negative example: The rich young man would not give away his wealth.
8. Difference understanding sacrifice should make:
a. Heart: I must hold nothing more dear than obedience to God.
b. Mind: I must learn what sacrifices he would have me make.
c. Strength: I must perform the sacrifices he instructs.
d. Might: I must suffer any loss necessary, possibly all I have.
9. Key Question: What is the most important sacrifice which all persons must make: To have a broken heart (to give up all pride or supposition that I somehow am “worthy” of being saved), and to have a contrite spirit (to be willing to suffer with Christ, to give up everything of this world, if necessary, as he did).
10. Key scriptures:
a. Exo. 5:8 Let us go and sacrifice to our God
b. Exo. 12:27 It is the sacrifice of the Lord’s Passover
c. The physical universe which we see with our natural eyes is created after the pattern of the spiritual universe. The spiritual universe is prior in time, and governs and controls the physical universe. (Moses 3:7; D&C 29:30–36)
d. Prov. 15:8 Sacrifice of the wicked is an abomination
e. Daniel 12:11 The daily sacrifice shall be taken away
f. Hos. 6:6 For I desire mercy, and not sacrifice
g. Plus: Mal. 1:8; Rom. 12:1; Heb. 11:4; 2 Neph. 2:7; Alma 26:32, 34:10; D&C 59:8, 64:23, 97:8
Lesson Nine: Gospel Principles (Continued)
1. Hope is the righteous expectation of receiving the blessings which the Father has to give to us.
2. “Hope” comes from the Anglo-Saxon hopa; Ger. hoffa.
3. Hope is an attitude of heart and mind; the mind understands a possibility which the heart then desires. If the person works intelligently to achieve that possibility, then hope is justified.
4. Gospel hope is to understand the way of holiness, to desire it and the place to which it leads, and to enter into it. Only then, through one’s faithful obedience to God, can one have a hope in Christ.
a. Celestial hope is righteous expectation of eternal life.
b. Terrestrial hope is the expectation of a just reward.
c. Telestial hope is wishing that things would be better.
d. Perdition hope is the desire both to sin and to receive the blessings of God.
e. Opposite: Doubt.
f. Complement: Wonder.
g. Counterfeit: Wish.
h. Positive example: Lehi had a hope in Christ.
i. Negative example: Laman had no hope in Christ.
5. Difference this concept should make in my life:
a. Heart: I trust completely in the Lord’s love and providence because I love Him.
b. Mind: I believe that the future is assured because I understand and accept the ways of God.
c. Strength: I serve God with all of my strength because I have hope.
d. Might: I perfect my stewardship to become a celestial kingdom stewardship because I have hope: I trust that God will be with me and sustain me.
6. Key Scriptures:
a. Joel 3:16 The Lord will be the hope of His people
b. Heb. 6:19 Which hope we have as an anchor of the soul
c. 2 Neph. 31:20 A perfect brightness of hope
d. Alma 32:21 If ye have faith, ye hope for things
e. Ether 12:4 With surety hope for a better world
7. Charity is the pure love of Christ, caring for Him and for His righteousness above all else unto the perfect fulfilling of all of his instructions.
8. How does one obtain this pure love? This love does not occur naturally. It is a gift of God to all who seek it through mighty prayer, repentance from all sinning and striving to be faith full.
9. “Charity” comes from the Latin caritas, which derives from carus, dear.
a. Celestial love is charity, God’s pure love reflected back to him and to our neighbors (which includes our enemies).
b. Terrestrial love is loyal love for family and friends.
c. Telestial love is whimsical affection.
d. Perdition love is love for self and self alone.
e. The genus of charity is relationships with others. Similar are to like, esteem, venerate, honor, eulogize.
f. Contrary are to despise, ignore, vilify, deprecate.
g. Opposite: Hatred for Christ and neighbor.
h. Complement: Selfishness.
i. Prerequisites: Receiving the pure love from Christ, plus faith on our part.
j. Constituents: Love grows through faith in Christ until it is perfected in charity.
k. Counterfeit: Fawning.
l. Positive example: Nephi loved so purely that he could perform miracles.
m. Negative example: Laman and Lemuel could not love their father, their brothers, nor their God, though they were served, blessed, protected and preserved by them.
10. Key Scriptures:
a. 1 Cor 13 (Whole chapter)
b. Moroni 7:44 If he have not charity he is nothing
c. John 13:34 A new commandment I give unto you, that ye love
d. John 14:15 If ye love me, keep my commandments
e. D&C 121:41 By meekness and love unfeigned
11. Repentance is to turn from whatever we have been doing to the way of Christ, to love and serve Him with all of our heart, might, mind, and strength.
12. “Repent” derives from the Fr. repentir, from the L. poenitentia, to regret. The Greek is metanoia, to change one’s mind. The Hebrew has two forms, one meaning to sigh, the other to return.
a. Celestial repentance is to replace every sin with faith in Jesus Christ.
b. Terrestrial repentance is to have remorse, resolve, replacement and restitution.
c. Telestial repentance is to say, “I’m sorry.”
d. Perdition repentance is to repent celestially, then to repent of that repentance (to turn back to sinning deliberately.)
e. Prerequisites: Desire to change, knowing how and to what to change.
f. Opposite: To turn to evil.
g. Complement: Hard-heartedness.
h. Counterfeit: To say one has repented, but to continue sinning in secret. (Confess but not forsake.)
i. Positive example: Cornelius fully accepted the way of Christ.
j. Negative example: Ananias and Sapphira said they were faithful, but were not.
13. When is it too late to repent? When one has denied the Holy Ghost; when one has shed innocent blood; after mortal death (LDS persons who understand the Gospel cannot repent to celestial salvation except in this life); when one has so little life left that he cannot establish new habits of righteousness (there can be no deathbed repentance).
14. When is repentance complete? Only when one has become as the Savior in heart, might, mind and strength.
15. What restitution is required for the law of Moses? One for one. For the law of Christ (the Gospel): four for one. (See D&C 98)
16. Key Scriptures:
a. Alma 5:49 They must all repent and be born again.
b. D&C 19:4 Every man must repent or suffer.
c. + 2 Cor. 7:10; Heb. 6:4–6; 1 Ne. 14:5; Jac. 3:3.
Lesson Ten: Gospel Principles (Concluded)
1. Justice is required of men by God, for God is just, and for men to be godly they must be just. The word “justice” comes from the Latin justus, just, which derives from jus, right or law.
2. To be just or to achieve justice is to do what is right according to the law. To do what is right according to human law is an approximation of real justice, for neither the laws themselves nor the interpretations and procedures by which men pursue justice are perfect. True Justice is thus to obey God’s law according to his instructions. It is to be upright, square, to measure up to what God requires. The opposite of justice is to default on one’s obligations.
3. God requires that a man make only appropriate promises, then keep those promises exactly. This includes the careful discharge of stewardships, the honoring of others, the full payment of debts. Terrestrial justice is to restore one for one for a wrong done, a tooth for a tooth. Celestial justice requires that a wrongdoer restore four times the hurt caused.
4. In the New and Everlasting Covenant, every person promises to obey every instruction which God gives them. Thus to be just, a person must live by every word which proceeds forth out of the mouth of God. Perhaps the most important thing a person can do is just to have an eye single to the glory of God.
5. God commands all men to be merciful. The word mercy comes from the Latin mercedem, which means reward or fee. Also derived from that root are the words merchant and mercenary, both involving the payment of money.
6. To be merciful is to pay the debts of others, either those owed directly to ourselves or those owed to others. God commands every man to pay his own debts if he can, thus to be just, but also commands us to be merciful towards others, even as He is. Thus to refuse to be merciful when God so instructs is to decline to be just.
7. No man can pay the debt for his own sins, for that takes a being of infinite power to correct the wrongs that we have done which have infinite consequences. Thus we all depend on God for mercy. But God requires of us that we forgive all men their trespasses against us before he will forgive us.
8. The justice of God requires that every man recognize the source of all of the good things which he has, which source is God himself. The formal manner of making that recognition is to consecrate all that one has to God.
9. The word consecrate comes from the Latin consecrare, to devote as sacred. To consecrate is to dedicate someone to the service of God, or to dedicate and use something in the service of God. It is required of every just servant of God that he consecrate everything he has to the service of God. That means that he will use his strength, his mind, his talents, his property only to serve the God of Heaven. In this serving of the God of Heaven, he will pay his debts to the world, but will never willingly use anything which he controls for an evil purpose.
10. One who has consecrated all to the Lord must use all that he has to promote good in the world according to God’s instruction, and to report back to God exactly what he has done in fulfilling those instructions. Thus to use one’s goods and to report back in a cycle which begins on earth and extends into eternity is to fulfill the principle of stewardship.
11. The word stewardship comes from old English stig, of uncertain meaning, and ward, keeper. The word was used to designated one who controls the domestic affairs of a household or a special officer of a royal household.
12. To be a steward is to acknowledge God as the owner of all that we are and have, including our own bodies, and to strive to please Him in all that we do with His property. The only way to please Him is to act in faith in Jesus Christ, which is to obey his law, which is to be just.
13. To Keep the commandments of God is not a power which men have naturally. Thus the natural man, he who is without God and Christ in the world, can only sin continually. But God sends His love into the world to save every man out of the world who desires to be saved. This salvation comes by teaching the Gospel of Jesus Christ and administering the ordinances to all who sincerely obey it. The power which enables men to keep the commandments of God is the constant companionship of the Holy Ghost, which no natural man can have. But to all those who are willing to come to Christ as little children, repenting of their sins and sincerely desiring to keep every commandment which God gives them, God gives the unspeakable gift of the Holy Ghost. But this holy person cannot dwell in an unclean vessel. So any person who needs the Gospel because they have sinned and is unclean must also be cleansed by the blood of Christ, through the atonement, before that constant companionship can come. That cleansing does come after one has made the covenant of baptism and at the moment one receives the Holy Ghost according to the command given in the ordinance of confirmation into the church, when it is said to us, “Receive the Holy Ghost”. That necessary cleansing is called in the scriptures sanctification.
14. The word sanctification comes from the Latin sacra, sacred or holy, and from ficare, to do or to make. Thus sanctification means to make holy. In the gospel of Jesus Christ, sanctification means to make holy. In the gospel of Jesus Christ, sanctification is the making of something whole or holy by the power of God for the sake of a subsequent special service to God. That service is the living of a faithful, just, merciful, consecrated life of stewardship under Christ. That sanctification is achieved by God forgiving all the past sins of the repentant person who has forgiven others their trespasses.
15. The desired result of mortality in the Gospel of Jesus Chris is to attain to the habits, the character, the religion of Jesus Christ, to take upon ourselves the divine nature, which is to rise to the measure of the fulness of the stature of Christ. This change can be made only by those who are sanctified. The change itself is called justification.
16. The word justification comes from the Latin and means to make just. Gospel justification is not only making the deeds of a man just, but making him just, one who will do no sin. He abides every law (commandment) of God, and thus is lawful, Just. The counterfeit of gospel justification is being excused for breaking the law while remaining unable to keep the law. This counterfeit may be asserted by the self, and is then known as self-justification. Or it may be asserted by an earthly judge as a way of suspending a punishment. But real gospel justification is rising in strength and the gifts of God unto keeping every law, thus becoming a truly just person.
Lesson Eleven: The Saving Ordinances
1. The saving ordinances are those necessary to exaltation. They are also called the New and Everlasting Covenant. The specific ordinances of that covenant are baptism, laying on of hands for the bestowing of the Gift of the Holy Ghost, ordination to the Melchizedek Priesthood, the temple endowment, and temple sealing.
2. Baptism is the beginning of the covenant with God. To be eligible for this ordinance one must be accountable, have heard, understood and accepted the Restored Gospel of Jesus Christ, must have exercised faith in Jesus Christ unto repentance from all sinning (of which the person is aware), and repentance unto the requesting of baptism. This worthiness is to be ascertained and attested by the person who controls the records, for a baptism is official only when recorded by the person who has the authority to do so.
3. Baptism is administered by one having authority from the record keeper, who has authority from God. The candidate enters the water with the person performing the ordinance and is completely immersed in and then brought forth from the water. This process serves as a symbol of the death and resurrection of the Savior. It also represents the death of the old, unrepentant person, the candidate was who then arises out of the water into a new life, a new creature being remade in the image of Christ. Two competent witnesses must attest the correctness of the administration of this ordinance.
4. The purpose of this ordinance is for the candidate to make a covenant with God through this immersion in which he or she promises (1) to take upon themselves the name of Jesus Christ (willing to be known by all men as His servant), (2) to keep all the instructions he or she receives from the Savior, and (3) to remember the Savior (and this covenant) always. This covenant is not of force unless the candidate truly makes those promises. The ordinance cannot be recognized unless it is immediately followed by the next ordinance, the laying on of hands, for only then can the promises be kept.
5. The laying on of hands for the Gift of the Holy Ghost is performed by someone who is authorized to do so by he who controls the records. The administrator must hold the Melchizedek priesthood. The essence of the ordinance is to pronounce that the person is a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and to command him or her to receive the Holy Ghost. The purpose of this ordinance is to bestow the opportunity for the constant companionship of the Holy Ghost on the person. Through that companionship he or she will have access to the knowledge and power necessary to know and keep the general and personal commandments of Jesus Christ to him or her.
6. Those who enjoy and treasure the companionship of the Holy Spirit will be obedient, and as they are obedient, they are told more and more of what to do. The ultimate and ideal condition is to walk, talk, think and feel under the constant influence of this divine being. That is the basic preparation for being able to abide the presence of the Son and the Father, which is eternal life.
7. Ordination to the Melchizedek Priesthood is administered to one who has been faithful in keeping the covenant of baptism and faithful in yielding to the influence of the Holy Spirit (those two are one and the same thing, said in different ways.) The recipient promises to use the power of God righteously: to do whatever God instructs the bearer to do, and to do it as he is instructed to do it. This is the covenant of the priesthood. The oath of the priesthood is God’s promise to share all that he has with those who prove faithful to their priesthood covenants during their probation.
8. Every bearer has potentially the full power of the Melchizedek Priesthood as an elder. But that power is manifest only as authorized. Specific authorization may come with ordination to an office other than elder, such as seventy, high priest, or patriarch. A priesthood bearer is fully authorized only when (1) he is acting in the authority to which he has been ordained, (2) to which he has specifically been set apart, and (3) for which he is acting under specific instructions from the Holy Spirit (D&C 68:2–4). A Melchizedek Priesthood bearer who is thus fully authorized speaks the mind and will of the Lord and has the power of God unto salvation. Ordinations to this priesthood are eternal in nature.
9. The purpose of the temple endowment is to give further priesthood knowledge, power and authority to the recipient. It is a special gift from God to complement the Gift of the Holy Ghost. It gives the worthy recipient knowledge and power to overcome the world while in the flesh and to pass to the celestial kingdom in the next world. Much of the endowment is highly symbolic. It may be understood only by one who enjoys the companionship of the Holy Spirit born out of faithful obedience to Jesus Christ through that same Holy Spirit. There are specific covenants and promises which a person must make to complete the receiving of the endowment. The promises are sacred, and must not be spoken of outside the temple, but are all embraced in the idea that we should love the Lord, our God, with all of our heart, might, mind and strength, and serve Him in the name of Jesus Christ (D&C 59:5). Anyone who is willing to do that will have no surprises nor discomfiture with any of the covenants or promises made in the temple. The temple is not a place one goes as a test of his faith, but as a reward for his past faith and an empowering of greater faithfulness in the future.
10. The temple sealing is marriage in the New and Everlasting Covenant and the binding of children to their sealed parents. The ordinance is permissive, not compulsory. It permits the formation of an eternal union which God will honor if the participants forge and prove an eternal bond of love in righteousness. But no one is required to maintain any association or binding which is against his or her will or desires. This temple sealing is the official ordination and setting apart of a couple to be authorized mother and father before God. No one else can or does have that authority (ability and authority must not be confused). All other forms of marriage that human beings have participated in must be repented of and replaced by this sealing to have any force or existence beyond the grave. (D&C 132).
11. These saving ordinances are earthly ordinances and can only be performed on earth in the flesh. Thus this mortality is the unique access to the celestial blessings in eternity. Faithfulness in mortality on the part of the human family is the only possible means of becoming as the Father is and sharing all He has. Faithful children may perform these ordinances on earth and in the flesh for their departed ancestors, but if no one were faithful on earth while in the flesh, there could not be any blessing in eternity for anyone, including the righteous (Malachi 4:5–6).
12. The details of the New and Everlasting Covenant are the most important piece of information in this world. But that information is useless without the power and authority to administer the ordinances.
Lesson Twelve: Other Ordinances
1. The Blessing of Little Children
Purpose: To assist and protect children until they come to the age of accountability.
Procedure: The child is given a name which is to be used on the records of the church and such blessing as the person who is mouth is inspired to give.
Priesthood: The Melchizedek Priesthood is necessary.
Note: Many children are prayed for, not blessed, in the attempt to perform this ordinance.
2. Administering to the sick
Purpose: To keep the adversary from cutting the person’s mission short. The healing is not given simply to relieve the person, but so that they can do the Lord’s work. In other words, healing is not done so that the person can continue to sin, but so that he or she can to the work of righteousness.
Procedure: Normal: Two persons perform. One anoints with consecrated oil. The second seals the anointing and pronounces whatever blessings are given to him to say by the Holy Spirit.
Exceptions: One person may anoint and seal and bless in one operation. One person may lay hands and bless without using consecrated oil. A worthy sister may, for members of her family, anoint with consecrated oil and pray for the person to be blessed. In an emergency situation a priesthood bearer can administer to himself if and as he is instructed by the Holy Spirit.
Priesthood: The Melchizedek Priesthood is necessary.
Note: If the person is healed, he or she is also forgiven of his or her sins.
3. Blessing
Purpose: To increase the flow of divine blessings to the recipient. These may be blessings of comfort, knowledge, strength, courage, etc., according to the need of the recipient.
Procedure: Any person may request a blessing for a special concern, and any priesthood leader may initiate a blessing for someone in his stewardship. If both parties agree that a blessing from the Lord is desirable, then hands are laid on and the mind and will of the Lord is spoken.
Priesthood: The Melchizedek Priesthood is necessary.
Note: much evil can be done in attempting to perform this ordinance outside of priesthood stewardship boundaries.
4. Patriarchal Blessing
Purpose: To provide a personal revelation to the recipient which designates his or her lineage in Israel and such other blessings as are important to administer by the Holy Spirit.
Procedure: Upon receiving the proper recommendation from one’s Bishop (and Stake President, in some cases), the person presents himself or herself to the patriarch designated by agreement between the person receiving the blessing and the person making the recommendation. The patriarch then administers that blessing which is given through him by revelation.
Priesthood: The administrator must be an ordained patriarch.
Note: Fathers may give patriarchal blessings which may be recorded by the family, but they will not be recorded by the church as the ordained patriarch’s blessings are.
5. Cursing
Purpose: To bring the person to his senses so that he will be encouraged to repent. All cursings from the Lord are actually blessings.
Procedure: The person administering the curse must be acting in his priesthood stewardship and say and do only that which the Lord instructs.
Priesthood: The Melchizedek Priesthood is required.
Note: The administrator must take no delight in the curse.
6. Excommunication
Purpose: This is a form of curse. It is administered to release the person from his or her covenants, to cut him off from the companionship of the Holy Spirit, and to deliver the person into the power of Satan. All this is done in the hope that the person will be brought to repent.
Procedure: An official church court must be convened, to which the person involved must be invited. A high council court must try a bearer of the Melchizedek Priesthood. A Bishop’s court may try any other person who is a member, and may also disfellowship a bearer of the Melchizedek Priesthood. Witnesses are heard, and the charges against the person must be established either by the person’s own testimony, or in the mouths of two or more witnesses. After the evidence has been heard, the presiding authority renders the verdict of the Lord (received through prayer, from the Holy Spirit). If the verdict is upheld by the other members of the court (the Bishop’s counselors, or the counselors and high council of the Stake President), then the verdict is rendered to the person concerned with whatever counsel to encourage him or her to repent that seems appropriate. It is the recording of this ordinance which makes it official. Priesthood: The person administering this ordinance must be the presiding high priest over the person concerned.
7. Consecration.
Purpose: To set somebody or something apart for the work of the Lord. This is an occasion for the administration of the blessings which will make the performance of that work possible. Examples: Consecration of oil; dedication of a home, a chapel, a temple, or a grave; the setting apart of a person to a special calling.
Procedure: The person who performs the ordinance does and says those things which are given to him to do by the Holy Spirit.
Priesthood: The person performing must either have stewardship authority over whoever or whatever is being consecrated, or have a specific delegation of authority to do so from the proper steward.
8. The Sacrament of the Lord’s Supper.
Purpose: To enable a person to renew all of his or her own covenants with the Lord, and to thereby regain the companionship of the Holy Spirit.
Procedure: The emblems (bread and wine, or bread and water) are consecrated and passed to worthy members of the Church. The sacramental prayers of consecration recapitulate the covenant of baptism. To be worthy to partake, one must be earnestly striving to keep one’s covenants. The emblems represent the flesh and blood of the Savior and may become the flesh and blood of the Savior.
Priesthood: The administrator must hold the office of Priest in the Aaronic Priesthood, but may be assisted by Teachers or Deacons.
Note: To partake of the sacrament unworthily, not intending to honor one’s covenants, is to invite Satan, disease and death into one’s life.
Lesson Thirteen: Priesthood
1. Priesthood is the power and authority to represent God. It is the power of God himself, given to man to use correctly. To receive the priesthood is to enter into an apprenticeship training to become a god by learning to do all things under the tutelage of God.
2. There are two basic kinds of power in the universe. One is push power, such as the power of a lever, a jack or an explosion; this kind takes a small amount of physical push power, such as muscle power, and multiplies it through mechanical or chemical means. The second kind of power is word power, the ability to control and direct things by speaking to them. Priesthood power is this second kind of power.
3. The life of a Latter-day Saint is supposed to be the learning of the ability to do all things by priesthood power instead of push power (which is compulsion). The more righteous a person is, the more successful he or she will be in using priesthood power to accomplish the work of his or her stewardship. To most LDS persons, it seems easier and faster to use push power to get things done, so priesthood power is perhaps wished for, but is not employed except in an emergency when there is no other hope.
4. In actual practice, a righteous person under the influence of the Holy Spirit will simply do whatever he or she is instructed to do by that Spirit, and in the manner instructed. When doing the work of God, the how of doing is always at least as important as the what of doing. This means that some things will be done by push power, and some by priesthood power. But the long-term trend will be to increase the usage of priesthood power and to decrease the use of push power.
5. The instruction for using priesthood power is as follows:
… the rights of the priesthood are inseparably connected with the powers of heaven, and that the powers of heaven cannot be controlled nor handled only upon the principles of righteousness. That they may be conferred upon us, it is true; but when we undertake to cover our sins, or to gratify our pride, our vain ambition, or to exercise control or dominion or compulsion upon the souls of the children of men in any degree of unrighteousness, behold, the heavens withdraw themselves; the spirit of the Lord is grieved; and when it is withdrawn, Amen to the priesthood or the authority of that man. Behold, ere he is aware, he is left unto himself, to kick against the pricks, to persecute the saints, and to fight against God. We have learned by sad experience that it is the nature and disposition of almost all men, as soon as they get a little authority, as they suppose, they will immediately begin to exercise unrighteous dominion. Hence, many are called, but few are chosen. No power or influence can or ought to be maintained by virtue of the priesthood, only by persuasion, by long-suffering, by gentleness and meekness, and by love unfeigned; By kindness, and pure knowledge, which shall greatly enlarge the soul without hypocrisy, and without guile—Reproving betimes with sharpness, when moved upon by the Holy Ghost; and then showing forth afterward an increase of love toward him whom thou hast reproved, lest he esteem thee to be his enemy; That he may know that thy faithfulness is stronger than the cords of death. Let thy bowels also be full of charity towards all men, and to the household of faith, and let virtue garnish thy thoughts unceasingly; then shall thy confidence wax strong in the presence of God; and the doctrine of the priesthood distill upon they soul as the dews from heaven. The Holy Ghost shall be thy constant companion, and thy scepter an unchanging scepter of righteousness and truth; and thy dominion shall be an everlasting dominion, and without compulsory means it shall flow unto thee forever and ever. (D&C 121:36–46)
6. The pattern of the world is to use force and compulsion, especially on other persons, in the satisfying of one’s personal needs (some form of slavery), and the use of force and compulsion to manage one’s stewardship (political or business arrangements which depend upon the use of force).
The pattern of the saint is to use his own physical power to satisfy his own personal needs (to labor with his own hands), and to use the power of the priesthood (persuasion) to manage his stewardship.
Why does the saint insist upon supplying his personal needs by the labor of his own hands?
7. How is the power of the priesthood to be used in:
a. Education
b. Farming
c. Manufacturing
d. Law
e. Medicine
f. Police work
g. Building
h. Scientific research
i. Scholarly work
j. Politics
k. Raising a family
l. Bonding a husband and wife
Lesson Fourteen: Marriage
1. The marriage companionship is the unit of exaltation. “Nevertheless neither is the man without the woman, neither the woman without the man, in the Lord.” (1 Cor. 11:11)
2. God ordained marriage as a holy ordinance pertaining to the Melchizedek Priesthood. Many ignore the Lord, choosing to marry in their own way, as they please. “Noah called upon the children of men, that they should repent, but they hearkened not unto his words. And also, after they had heard him, they came up before him saying, Behold, we are the sons of God, and have we not taken unto ourselves the daughter of men? and are we not eating and drinking and marrying and given in marriage? and our wives bear unto us children, and the same are mighty men, which are like unto men of old, men of great renown.” (Genesis 8:8–9, JST)
3. Temple marriage is the setting apart of a man and a woman to the priesthood offices of husband and wife, father and mother. If that couple honors all of their covenants and thus enjoys the constant companionship of the Holy Ghost through faithful obedience, they will have the full power of God and of eternity to assist them in forging a new priesthood unit, to become gods.
4. The covenants and keys of the endowment are special helps to assist that couple to live lives so faithful that they inherit all the blessings God has to give and to escape the penalties for unfaithfulness.
5. Having all the prerequisites, the couple may set about to become as one in heart, might, mind and strength. This can be done only as each of them first loves the Lord their God with all of his and her individual heart, might, mind and strength.
6. To become one in heart is first to become pure in heart, unmixed with any selfishness. No one can become pure on his or her own, and no one comes that way. But anyone can become pure in heart by partaking of the New and Everlasting Covenant and then imploring the Lord, patiently and with tears, until He grants through His grace that the person’s nature, his or her desires, can be changed. It takes long imploring so that each can first prove to the Lord that he or she desires to be pure in heart, more than anything else, including continued mortal life itself. This is essentially a dying, a ceasing to exist of the person we were, which was good and evil (selfishness) mixed together. When each becomes pure, each is as the Lord Jesus Christ. Being one with Him, then each is also one with his or her spouse. They then share a special pure love for each other and a pure love for all others.
7. As a couple becomes one in heart, they necessarily must also be becoming one in mind. Being one in heart greatly facilitates becoming one in mind. To be one in mind is to have exactly the same knowledge and beliefs. This is achieved by having common experience, sharing individual experiences through communication, working through the scriptures together, facing problems together and learning from such experience. The key is for each to come to have the mind of Christ, for then will they see eye to eye with each other. They will have the mind of Christ according to their sincere repentance from all sin, and through humbly seeing to know both the gospel and the mysteries through the help of the Holy Spirit. One object of study, searching and prayer should be the temple ceremonies themselves. They may not be discussed outside the temple, but a husband and wife may go to the temple, study the ceremonies diligently, then compare notes and impressions while yet in the temple. Their goal should be complete agreement about religion, education, art, politics, scientific theories, history, current events, and the future. As each acquires the mind of the Savior, the two will become one with each other.
8. The two must become one in strength. They must learn to work together, sharing the burdens and harvests, setbacks and rewards. Each must adjust eating, sleeping and hygiene habits unto what the Lord would do until they are in perfect harmony. Through commanded sexual union they will form a common gene pool from which the Lord may draw special combinations of bodies for the spirits he desires to send into the world. As each learns to work hard, intelligently, and spiritually on the appropriate tasks in the Lord, which they can do fully only in the Lord, then they will grow together and literally become one flesh, one strength. They will learn, do, perceive, be pleased by, abhor and seek the same things. While it is true that sometimes their work will be complementary (she may be cooking while he repairs the roof) they will work so cooperatively that each learns to do virtually all that the other does so that each can fill the other’s place if needed.
9. They become one in might in that they have all things in common. All that they own is the Lord’s property, and they are stewards. As companions and as a presidency they counsel on all matters. Neither is ever surprised by what the other does, for they have first become one in heart, mind and strength, thus making it natural and fully possible to be one in administering their money, their property, their political influence, their social benefactions. As they are one with the Lord as to how to govern their might, even so will they then be one with each other.
10. Above all other helps that a husband and wife need to become one, there are four helps that stand out above all the rest, and all are of God. The great help for the hearts to become one is the love of God. The Father’s perfect example in an ever available blessing of love shows each husband and wife just how each must feel. When we are filled with that love and can return that same love back to God, then we can show that love for our spouse. The great help for our minds is the truths which come to us through the Holy Spirit. As we cherish that Spirit and the truths it brings, our whole souls become filled with truth, and as husband and wife we can rejoice in the truths we share as one. The great help we have for our strength is that our bodies are literally the bodies of the gods. We are genetically of the race of the gods and can inherit the full potential of that heritage in our flesh as we as a couple are properly united in strength. The great help we enjoy as to might is the Holy Priesthood. By making the priesthood the basis of how we relate to all persons, problems and things, doing all things as the Lord has shown us he would do and has done, we truly can fulfill our apprenticeship.
11. There is no other success in this world which compares with the forging of an eternal bond of love between a husband and wife. Raising a family is important, but that will never be a complete success unless the marriage is eternally bonded. There is no scientific breakthrough, no artistic excellence, no triumph on the battlefield, no political contribution, no service rendered which can compare with the importance of the welding together of a man and a woman in the New and Everlasting Covenant. If that possibility were to fail, all the eternal work of the gods fails. Where it succeeds, the work of godliness is assured to all eternity.
Lesson Fifteen: Israel
1. The most important thing to associate with the name “Israel”, is the covenant, the New and Everlasting Covenant, the covenant God made with Abraham and with the fathers before him. Israel is the people of the covenant. The children of Israel are the heirs of the covenant, having the potential to become the Children of Christ. One must become part of the House of Israel before he can become part of the House of Christ.
2. The blessings of Abraham came to Abraham because he partook of and was fully faithful to the New and Everlasting Covenant. That is to say, he was fully obedient to the Lord in all things, and thus was called the Friend of God.
Those blessings are:
a. The hand of Jehovah, the Almighty, would be over Abraham and his posterity.
b. To become a great nation.
c. To receive blessing above measure.
d. To have his name great among all nations.
e. He and his seed to be a blessing to all nations by taking the covenant to them.
f. All who accept the covenant will become Abraham’s seed and rise up and call him blessed.
g. God will bless those who bless him and curse those who curse him.
h. The right of the Holy Priesthood will continue in Abraham’s seed forever. (The above from Abraham 2:8–11)
i. To be a father of many nations.
j. To receive a new name.
k. To be exceedingly fruitful; to have posterity as the sands of the seashore or the stars in heaven.
l. Kings should be among his seed.
m. God would specially follow and be a God unto his seed forever.
n. To receive a promised land for an everlasting inheritance. (Items 9–14 from Genesis 17: 8–13, Inspired Version.)
3. Sarai, wife of Abraham, is partaker of all of Abraham’s blessings with him, for they are one in the New and Everlasting Covenant. Some of the specifics are reiterated as the “blessings of Sarah” (Genesis 17:21–22, JST):
a. She would receive a new name.
b. God would bless her.
c. She would have posterity.
d. She would be the mother of nations.
e. Kings and people would be of her.
4. The token of the covenant God made with Abraham was circumcision. From the time of Abraham until after the death of the Savior, all blood and convert Israel was circumcised. But many who were circumcised either rejected or could not enter into the ordinances of the New and Everlasting Covenant, which was what brought the blessings listed above to Abraham and Sarah. Therefore in the time of the Apostles of the Savior, circumcision was done away as the token of the Abrahamic blessings of Abraham. Judaism, an apostate form of Christianity, could not deliver either the covenants nor the blessings of Abraham. Thus circumcision remains the token of Judaism.
5. The blessings of Abraham are thus the heritage both of blood Israel (Abraham’s literal seed) and spiritual Israel (those who receive the Holy Priesthood through the New and Everlasting Covenant). But only those who are faithful to Jesus Christ inherit.
6. Those who do inherit are specially blessed above all other persons on earth. As heirs of God through Christ and Abraham, they have the potential to enjoy the powers of God (called the “gifts of the Spirit”) in mortality. Through those powers they can do mighty works and miracles. The life of the Prophet Joseph Smith is a measure of the difference that heritage can make.
7. The heritage of Israel is a spiritual but also a physical heritage. There is a gene for faith in Jesus Christ. To be faithful, one must either inherit that gene from Abraham or acquire it by being born again of water and the spirit in the New and Everlasting Covenant.
8. To have the physical gene of faith by either heritage sets one apart from the rest of the world. The heritage of the New and Everlasting Covenant requires that one spend the remainder of his and her life in the service of Christ. Part of that requirement is to bear children: not just one’s own children, but God’s children and Abraham’s children. Children are not a convenience, not a nicety in the New and Everlasting Covenant. They are a necessity required by the covenant. The faithful therefore do not attempt to limit the number of children they bear except as they are expressly directed by God Himself. The passing on of the gene of faith is as much a part of the living of the covenant as is paying a full tithing or consecrating all of one’s talents. To stint on any of the requirements is not to serve and love God with all of one’s heart, might, mind and strength.
9. Israel is given a promised land as a place in which to partake of the new and Everlasting Covenant and through it to love, serve and know God. The scattering of Israel is primarily the removal of the privilege of partaking of the New and Everlasting Covenant. Secondarily, Israel may also be sent away from its promised land. Either scattering takes place only because of wickedness on the part of those who have the right to the covenant.
10. The gathering of Israel is the opportunity to return to the New and Everlasting Covenant. Israel is gathered by the preaching of the Restored Gospel of Jesus Christ. If Israelites are gathered physically, that is primarily to partake of the temple ordinances to receive the fullness of the New and Everlasting Covenant. Wherever a temple is built, there is a promised land. If the people of that land receive the covenant and live by it, they will make that place into a holy land.
11. But Israel is not always faithful. 1 Nephi 11:34–36:
“And after he was slain I saw the multitudes of the earth, that they were gathered together to fight against the apostles of the Lamb; for thus were the twelve called by the angel of the Lord.
And the multitude of the earth was gathered together: and I beheld that they were in a large and spacious building which my father saw. And the angel of the Lord spake unto me again, saying: Behold the world and the wisdom thereof; yea, behold the house of Israel hath gathered together to fight against the twelve apostles of the Lamb. …”
Lesson Sixteen: Overcoming the World
1. Our challenge and probation in this world is to see if we will do all things which the Lord our God commands us to do. (Abraham 3:25) Each person is sufficiently instructed that he or she knows good from evil. Good is what God commands through the Light of Christ. Evil is what Satan encourages. Overcoming the world is to learn to choose only the will of God (the good) over our own selfish desires, which is the evil that Satan encourages.
2. Our mortal opportunity presents us with many challenges and predicaments. Each is an occasion to exercise faith in Jesus Christ, thus to choose the good over evil. Every time we choose the good, we grow towards the stature of Jesus Christ. Every time we choose the evil, we shrivel towards the likeness of Satan. By rejecting Satan and evil in choosing good, we have our opportunity to prove ourselves true and faithful to God in all things.
3. Want (poverty) is an occasion to choose to value what we have and make the most of it. If we develop our talents and use our time to produce good things, we grow and at the same time lessen our poverty. But we may also choose evil by complaining that others have more than we do and by trying to get something for nothing (as in stealing, overcharging, underpaying, etc.)
4. Illness is an occasion to thank the Father for all of the parts of us that don’t hurt and strive to set our lives in order before him so that we no longer need to be ill. Or we may choose evil in complaining, exaggerating our woe, being nasty to others because we are in pain, seeking worldly remedies for a cure.
5. To have enemies is an occasion to love them, to pray for them, and to do good for them. Or we may endlessly tell others how terrible they are, seek to be nasty to them as they are nasty to us, and undermine them in any way we think we can get away with.
6. To live in a neighborhood is an opportunity to love those close by in acts of thoughtfulness, generosity and kindness, sharing their burdens and joys with them. Or we may impose on them, criticize them, encroach on them, ignore them, and rejoice in their misfortunes.
7. To live in a ward is the opportunity to support the priesthood authority over us by our faith, prayers, and diligent carrying out of callings, rejoicing with and serving our brothers and sisters in the Gospel. Or we may sit back and point out how it really should be done, use our callings for personal aggrandizement, flaunt our superiority over the less well-endowed members, undermine the priesthood, see ourselves as God’s gift to those struggling imbeciles.
8. To have a prophet at the head of the church is the opportunity to treasure every word that comes from him, to pray for him, to support fully by doing what he instructs us to do. Or we may choose evil by deciding to ignore him, or think he is very old and senile, complain that he is really quite narrow in his views of the world’s problems, and see him as rigid and unfeeling, a man carried away by power and authority.
9. To be a husband or wife is to have the opportunity to cooperate fully with someone, twenty-four-hours a day, in the Lord; the opportunity to have a close, close neighbor to learn to love fully and deeply, a great preparation for learning to love our children the same way. Or we may thrust the burden of cooperating on our partner, use our partner as a punching bag to vent our frustrations, be selfish and demanding, pout and punish him or her, and harp on his or her shortcomings.
10. To have an automobile is a great advantage to care for a stewardship, to use it with care and thanksgiving, to have it convey us comfortably to those places where we need to be to fulfill our errand before the Lord, to show that we are courteous and law-abiding. Or we may use it to show off, to invest time and money which should be spent elsewhere, to have it convey us for pleasure alone, to drive dangerously and recklessly for thrills, to intimidate others who offend us by their driving mistakes.
11. We have a home as a shelter in which to live as a family, in love and cooperation, where order and peace and love may abound, where the word of the Lord is sought and treasured, where good literature and music and art are savored, where friends may come to share our joys with us, a place where family and genealogy are honored. Or our home can be a place of contention, a dwelling place for evil spirits; it can be a mess, a monument to sloth and procrastination; it can be a convenience store only, where people pass one another as little as possible enroute to their favorite pleasure.
12. Mealtime can be an occasion for sharing love, stimulating intelligent conversation, and enjoying beautifully prepared nourishing food. Or mealtime can be an occasion for individual snacks on junk food, critical sibling and spouse rivalry, and the celebration of animosity.
13. Family prayer can be an occasion wherein the concerns of each member of the family are tenderly addressed and the will and help of the Father are sought in cooperative humility. Or it can be a burden which someone feels we have to do and everyone else wants to get over as possible to get on with his or her selfish projects.
14. Growing a garden is an occasion to worship God and the marvelous and productive earth He has given us, to produce a space of beauty, order and productivity, a means of providing the very best nourishment for one’s family while getting needed exercise, to celebrate the success of tender know-how horticulture. Or a garden can be a place of weeds and neglect, or failure and frustration, of too little and too late in a halfhearted attempt to fulfill someone else’s desire.
15. Accident or calamity is the occasion for implementing previously well-prepared contingency plans, to minimize suffering while demonstrating faith and intelligence, to show that priesthood power and righteousness are the great allies in times of trouble. Or we may go into a state of shock, hiding ill-preparation behind a facade of uncontrollable emotion, complaining about the idiocy and dementedness of others, or loud breast-beating to draw sympathy, all the while only making the situation worse instead of helping.
16. While the examples could be multiplied many times, the pattern is clear. Every situation of daily life is a situation of challenge, an opportunity to choose good over evil, an opportunity to further the work of God or to abet Satan. It is not mainly in the grand events of history that souls are won and lost. Rather, it is in the decisions of simple everyday life that we prove our allegiance to the Father.
Lesson Seventeen: Putting It All Together
1. Everything that has been said so far about Gospel Essentials is but preparation to live it. Knowledge of these matters without living them is worse than ignorance, for to know these things and not to live them is to stand condemned. So how do we put it all together to live it?
2. The key to living the gospel is not mysterious or abstract. Rather, it is simple and obvious: it is simply a matter of what we desire. If we desire to live the Restored Gospel, heaven comes to our aid and there is nothing in heaven or earth which can stop us. On the other hand, if we desire not to live the Restored Gospel, nothing in heaven or earth can force us to, for God will not force us, nor will he let anyone else do so.
3. This simple solution is complicated by the fact that usually our desires are mixed. Usually a member of the Church genuinely desires to live the gospel, but also desires other things. So what do we do when we are torn in different directions by a desire to be social, to have political clout, to have health at any cost, to be independently wealthy, to travel first class to see the world, to live in a fine home, to have prosperous children and grandchildren,—and still be true to Jesus Christ?
4. Again there is a simple solution: have an eye single to the glory of God. Then we shall reap the promise: “If, therefore, thine eye be single, thy whole body shall be full of light.” (3 Nephi 13:22) To have one’s eye single is to desire nothing of ourselves except to fulfill the work and plan of the Father. It would be outrageous to give complete and unquestioning allegiance to any man. But God is not a man as men are. Man of Holiness is our Father’s name. This is he who is perfect, complete in righteousness, who lives not for himself, but only lives to bring to pass the happiness of others. To know that he is worthy of such allegiance, we must try Him. Have you tried not desiring anything but the will of the Father? For a minute? For an hour? For a day? Only he who has tried knows very much about light. Only he who has tried knows that this is the key to the water that one drinks and never thirsts again.
5. So what is the key to making our desires single to the glory of God? Again, the answer is straightforward: pray. Pray always, about everything, in every circumstance, that the Kingdom of God may come, that the will of God might be done on earth as it is in heaven. And if no one else will, it is enough that I, alone, might strive to be full of faith in God, so full that I can let go of everything which I personally desire in this world. That leaves only the will of the Father to be desired.
6. But how to pray so that such a marvelous end might be achieved? Again, we are not ignorant. We know that the beginning of spiritual life is to have the Holy Spirit with us, bringing messages from the Son and the Father. To recognize that Holy Spirit, never to confuse it with the evil spirit, is our challenge. If there are at least some times and places where we can identify that Holy Spirit for sure, then we have sufficient beginning. Then what must we do? We must pray and pray in the name of Jesus Christ until we come to a circumstance wherein we know and are sure that the Holy Spirit is directing us. This moment of light is our window on eternity. If at that moment we will simply do what it is that we know we have been instructed by God to do, we set in motion the eternal cosmos in our behalf. By obedience to what we know is the Holy Spirit, we qualify for more of that same influence. If when it comes again, and we are sure of it, we are again faithful to it, then we will again add to our opportunity to have that influence with us. Eventually, through our faithfulness, that influence will become so great that it will begin to tell us how to pray: the exact feelings to have, ideas to treasure, and words to say. When we thus learn how to pray, we pray truly, after the manner of Jesus, rather than after the manner of men.
7. Thus, if by that holy path, we can learn to pray truly, in the order of prayer of the Savior, then we have entered into that path of Holiness that leads to the purification of our desires. When our desires are pure, every other good thing will follow, for then our faith will be full, complete, perfect.
8. Prayer is an exercise which we perform often in public. But true prayer is not learned and not perfected in public. Prayer is learned and perfected only when one is alone. “But thou, when thou prayest, enter into thy closet, and when thou hast shut the door, pray unto the Father who is in secret; and the Father, who seeth in secret shall reward thee openly.” (3 Nephi 13:6) There in secret, with no posturing, we experiment and try until we know the Holy Spirit and how to pray.
9. True prayer is that which one feels, thinks and says when guided in the exactitude of those things by God: Father, Son, or Holy Ghost. “That which of God is light, and he that receiveth light, and continueth in God, receiveth more light; and that light groweth brighter and brighter until the perfect day. And again, verily I say unto you, and I say it that you may know the truth, that you may chase darkness from among you; He that is ordained of God and sent forth, the same is appointed to be the greatest, notwithstanding he is the least and the servant of all. Wherefore, he is possessor of all things; for all things are subject to him, both in heaven and on earth, the life and the light, the Spirit and the power, sent forth by the will of the Father through Jesus Christ, his Son. But no man is possessor of all things except he be purified and cleansed from all sin. And if ye are purified and cleansed from all sin, ye shall ask whatsoever you will in the name of Jesus and it shall be done. But know this, it shall be given you what ye shall ask: …” (D&C 50: 24–30)
10. Where and when should we pray? Everywhere, and at all times, according to Amulek. (Alma 34:17–27) Why? For one thing, so we can learn how to do it correctly. Why not practice constantly? If that is the key to living the Restored Gospel, why not learn to do it as perfectly as possible and as soon as possible?
11. Thus learning to fulfill the New and Everlasting Covenant can be done only by doing, by measuring up to the promises we have made with God. With man, this is impossible. But with God, all these things are possible unto him whose heart is pure, who, through mighty prayer, has overcome the world and has laid all that he is and has at the feet of the Savior.
12. Is this not life, that eternal life of mind, heart and posterity which is the heritage of those who are the children of Christ?
Lesson Eighteen: Worthiness
1. To be worthy is to be good. None but God is good (completely; Matt. 19:17). Therefore, none but God is worthy. We are all unprofitable servants (Mosiah 2:21).
2. To be invited to go to the House of the Lord, the temple, is to be invited to approach the Celestial Kingdom and the presence of the Father. In our present state we could not endure him, for no unclean thing can enter into his presence. Only through the power of the ordinances of the Melchizedek Priesthood can we be transformed enough to be able to stand in His presence. “This greater priesthood administereth the gospel and holdeth the key of the mysteries of the kingdom, even the key of the knowledge of God. Therefore, in the ordinances thereof, the power of godliness is manifest. And without the ordinances thereof, and the authority of the priesthood, the power of God is not manifest unto men in the flesh; For without this no man can see the face of God, even the Father, and live. Now this Moses plainly taught to the children of Israel in the wilderness, and sought diligently to sanctify his people that they might behold the face of God; But they hardened their hearts and could not endure his presence; therefore, the Lord in his wrath, for his anger was kindled against them, swore that they should not enter into his rest while in the wilderness, which rest is the glory of his presence. Therefore, he took Moses out of their midst, and the Holy Priesthood also.” (D&C 84:19–25)
3. Not having the priesthood after the order of Melchizedek, the children of Israel were cut off from the temple ordinances, and thus from the presence of God. They were then given a lesser opportunity, the Law of Moses, as a schoolmaster to bring their faith up to par where they could partake of the New and Everlasting Covenant without damning themselves. The essence of the law of Moses is found in the Ten Commandments. These are the terrestrial requirements which prepare the heart, might, mind and strength of a person to then go on to love God will all of one’s heart, might, mind and strength as required in the New and Everlasting Covenant. The basic preparation for receiving the Restored Gospel, the Melchizedek Priesthood and the temple covenants is to be faithful in keeping the Ten Commandments.
4. “Thou shalt have no other gods before me.” Do we worship other gods? Some people worship money, some power, some pleasure, some their own ego. The requirement is that we carefully search our hearts and minds to be sure that we worship only the true and living God.
5. “Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image, or any likeness of any thing that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth: Thou shalt not bow down thyself unto them, nor serve them: for I the LORD thy God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children unto the third and fourth generation of them that hate me; And shewing mercy unto thousands of them that love me, and keep my commandments.” Having rejected other Gods, we must also reject their ways, customs and commandments, serving and obeying only the true and living God. We must examine ourselves to eliminate every trace of the worship of false gods.
6. “Thou shalt not take the name of the LORD thy God in vain; for the LORD will not hold him guiltless what taketh his name in vain.” Do we treasure the names of God, making them sacred and holy, using them with great care and only when surely appropriate? The names of God are keys. If the keys are misused or mangled, they will not work in their necessary places in the ordinances of the New and Everlasting Covenant.
7. “Six days shalt thou labor, and do all thy work: But the seventh day is the sabbath of the LORD thy God: in it thou shalt not do any work, thou, nor thy son, nor thy daughter, thy manservant, not thy maidservant, nor thy cattle, nor thy stranger that is within thy gates: For in six days the LORD made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that in them is, and rested the seventh day: wherefore the LORD blessed the sabbath day, and hallowed it.” Do we indeed work hard six days a week to provide for the needs of those who depend upon us? And do we then reverence the Lord’s day, making it very special, a time to remember Him in ordinances and in doing his work? Remembering the sabbath faithfully is a significant mark of true Israel.
8. “Honor thy father and thy mother: that thy days may be long upon the land which the LORD thy God giveth thee.” Do we esteem and honor our parents, not finding fault with them (though faults there may be)? Do we care for them in their old age? Do we honor all that they have done to help us? Do we speak well of them?
9. “Thou shalt not kill.” Is life sacred and holy to us because it is the handiwork of God? Would we rather be killed than to kill (unless the Lord commands otherwise)? Do we think twice about killing animals, trees and plants, unborn children?
10. “Thou shalt not commit adultery.” Are we chaste and noble in our sexual relations and practices, in every thing, in every way?
11. “Thou shalt not steal.” Are we scrupulously careful never to take that which is not ours, and to return that which we find that belongs to our neighbor? Do we refrain from stealing time as well as substance? Do we pay enough for everything we purchase? Do we refrain from extortion or gouging when we sell something?
12. “Thou shalt not bear false witness against thy neighbor.” We may not always know the whole truth, but when we speak, are we careful not to misrepresent what we do know? Is our word as good as our bond? Are we trustworthy in all things?
13. “Thou shalt not covet thy neighbor’s house, thou shalt not covet thy neighbor’s wife, nor his manservant, nor his maidservant, nor his ox nor his ass, nor any thing that is thy neighbor’s.” Are we content with the blessings which the Lord has given us, or will give us through our own honest labor?
14. Those Ten Commandments spell out our general preparation. We must also relate properly to the Savior’s kingdom in this dispensation: Do we know that the president of the Church truly represents the Savior? Do we know that only he has all of the keys necessary? Do we think anyone else is worthy of our allegiance? Are we willing to support the Church and Kingdom? Do we evidence that by paying a full tithing? Do we abide the precepts of the Word of Wisdom? And are we ready to go on to perfection while upholding the Church of Jesus Christ?
15. These things make us ready. Not worthy; but rather, then able to grow to become as our Savior is.
The most important event in the total history of this world is the event known as the Atonement of Jesus Christ. It is possible to construe what the atonement is narrowly or broadly. To see it in narrow focus is to emphasize the suffering and sacrifice of Jesus Christ on the last day of his mortal life and ministry, culminating in his death on the cross. To see the atonement in broad focus is to emphasize the total mission of our Savior from the time of the grand council in heaven until the last judgment is over and every person once mortal has entered into his or her eternal future. Let us explore the broad perspective and note how it also includes the narrow focus.
The English word “atonement” is made up of three words conjoined: “at-one-ment.” This word signifies the labor of bringing two sides or parties together, to make two into one. It is our Savior’s task, as assigned in the council in heaven, to assist every human being who ever has or will live on this earth to become one with our Father in Heaven. To be one with Father means to share all that He is and has: His perfection, power, knowledge, priesthood, and opportunities. Our Savior is one with our Father and it is His desire, attempt and mission to bring all of us humans to be one with Father, even as He is. This is the “at-one-ment.” He can do this, of course, only for those who will trust Him and cooperate.
Let us now recount the steps and stages of this attempt to help us become one with Father.
The first step was the cleansing of heaven after the grand council. A third of the hosts of heaven rebelled against Father and His plan to bless all of His spirit children. These rebellious souls were cast out of Father’s presence by our Savior, and cast down to this earth to await a future need for their services.
The second step was the preparation of this earth as a dwelling place for mankind. This planet was not created out of nothing, for it was already in existence when the Savior came down to form it for man’s habitation. The earth was prepared with all things necessary for man to live on it in the flesh, then Adam was placed on the earth, the first flesh on earth. All of the plants and animals created for this world were brought here to be useful to Adam and Eve and their posterity.
The third step was the creation of the world. The world is a spiritual kingdom on the earth, the earth being this planet. The world was created after Adam and Eve were placed in the Garden of Eden. Adam and Eve were placed in the garden as a married couple, having covenanted with Father to obey him in all things and having received the instruction to multiply and fill up the earth with their posterity. One of the first things they did was to disobey Father by yielding to the temptations of Satan. The result of that disobedience was the Fall. The earth fell out of its then orbit, Adam and Eve were cast out of the Garden and out of Father’s presence, and they were put into the power of Satan because they had obeyed him. Satan gaining power over Adam and Eve was the creation of the world, or Satan’s kingdom on this earth. Satan and his third of the hosts of heaven are here to torment and try each of us every day of our mortal lives.
The fourth step was giving Adam and Eve and their posterity a new covenant, the New and Everlasting Covenant, which would enable them to eventually work their way back out of the power of Satan. They were taught and empowered how to become godly instead of carnal, sensual and devilish as man had become in the Fall. This fourth step was teaching Adam and Eve and their posterity the Gospel of Jesus Christ, that through faith in him and repentance of all their sins they could be saved from the evil within their own selves. Through receiving the ordinances of the holy priesthood and keeping their covenants, they could change their basic eternal natures which had allowed them to fall and become as Christ is in heart, might, mind and strength. Part of this fourth step was the sending of the Holy Ghost, angels, and prophets, seers and revelators to keep the posterity of Adam informed about the wondrous news of the Gospel of Jesus Christ and to keep the offer of the New and Everlasting Covenant before the people through the Church of Jesus Christ. Adam’s posterity kept rejecting the Holy Spirit, the prophets, the church, the Gospel and the new covenant, so these were taken away and then restored many times.
The fifth step of the atonement was the mortal life and mission of that God who had created and presided over the earth up to this point. Christ was born to Mary, was the son of our Father in Heaven, and lived a perfect life in obeying all of Father’s commands. Having lived a perfect life, he needed no savior or redeemer for his own future. And being perfect, he could offer his own spotless life as a sacrifice for the remainder of mankind. So he sacrificed. He gave up his potentially unending mortal life in exchange for the keys of death. Having seized the keys of death, that assured that all mankind would be resurrected in the flesh and live forever, even as he will. And he suffered. He suffered the pains of all men, both for the sins they had committed and for the sins committed against them, so that there could be a forgiveness of the penalties and consequences of every human sin. And as a god, Christ undertook restitution for the sins of all humankind. As a God he blessed every human being with a restoration of every blessing they would have received had the not been sinned against. With this restitution, every human being exists in eternity as if they had not been sinned against, shortened in their enjoyment of Heavenly Father’s blessings.
The sixth step of the atonement is the judgment. As Christ was lifted up by mortal men and crucified, so Christ will draw all men up to him at the last day and will judge them. He will judge them by what they did when the Holy Spirit testified to each of them that he was and is the Christ, the Savior of mankind and that they should forsake all ungodliness and become sinless, as he, Christ, is. An integral part of the atonement is that every soul receives a full witness and explanation of the salvation through Christ before coming to the bar of judgment, and the person is to be judged by what they do after they have received that full witness and opportunity to be saved from themselves and their own wickedness. So all men will stand before Christ and will be judged, even as each of them judged him and accepted or rejected him. Those who did good will be given great eternal reward. Those who did evil will be sent to receive all that they can stand, which may be but a little.
The seventh step of the atonement is that the Savior takes all who have accepted him and his covenant in their probation, who did have faith in him and repent unto a pure heart, and teaches and nurtures them in the ways, powers and duties of godhood until they have received a fulness of all things and have become as He is and as Father is. This seventh step is the climax of the atonement: each soul who will receive it is now like the Father and the Son. These enter into their rest and become one with all the gods in all of their future exciting adventures in creating worlds, peopling those worlds with souls, and giving each of those souls the same opportunity to become one with Father and Christ that we have been given. Thus, the final step of the at-one-ment is actually bringing each soul who will receive it into a spiritual and functioning oneness with Father and the Son in their eternal round of creating worlds and blessing souls.
Thus the atonement of Jesus Christ is the whole basis and reason for the existence of each human being. We exist to be given the opportunity to inherit all that our Father is and has. How grateful we ought to be to our Savior for carrying out this wonderful plan of our Father to bless each of us. How we ought to strive to fight against the power of the adversary to stop us from receiving our heritage through Jesus Christ!
I would like now to make some specific suggestions as to how each of us might profit from the atonement in our daily lives:
Carefully inspect all things that come before us and separate them into really good, indeterminate, and really bad.
Focus our heart and mind on that which we know is really good. Leave aside all the indeterminate and really bad. All that is good comes from Christ.
Plan and work each day to do all of the really good you can. This will include constant prayer in the name of Christ, daily reading of scripture, careful attention to serving those around us, being cheerful and happy, being thankful for all things the Lord sees fit to inflict upon us.
Deliberately seek out and foster everything that is virtuous, lovely, of good report or praiseworthy. The sum of these four steps is to be as a little child before God and to shun the teachings and ways and fashions of this world as one would flee a raging fire.
May the Savior ever be in our hearts; may his magnificent atonement ever be on our minds to inspire and guide us; and may we ever follow the whisperings of his Holy Spirit and overcome this world through Christ, I pray in the name of Jesus Christ, Amen.
