ChaunceyRiddle

19 May 2002

Being overwhelmed by circumstances recently, I have found that the best way out of my situation is to prioritize, then work with vigor on the Number One Problem until it is sufficiently resolved that it is no longer Number One, then move on to the new Number One Problem. The problems are mowed down, and suffering seems to be minimized by this strategy.

Finding this success in temporal things, it occurred to me to apply this same strategy to spiritual matters. In so doing, I found it easy to see that faith in the Lord Jesus Christ has to be my Number One Priority; I take this to mean that I must look to Him in every thought and circumstance and try to do His will above all else. I also understand that the first fruits of faith in Jesus Christ is repentance; I take this to mean that I must be about the business of changing every sin and bad habit into an act of faith in Jesus Christ. But what would be priority Number Three?

It occurs to me that the first step of repentance is to forgive others their trespasses against me. I remember that the Lord says in the Doctrine and Covenants, Sec. 63:8–11, the following: “My disciples in days of old, sought occasion against one another and forgave not one another in their hearts; and for this evil they were afflicted and sorely chastened. Wherefore I say unto you, that ye ought to forgive one another; for he that forgiveth not his brother his trespasses standeth condemned before the Lord; for there remaineth in him the greater sin. I, the Lord, will forgive whom I will forgive, but of you it is required to forgive all men.”

The Lord also says in 3 Nephi 13:14–15: “For, if you forgive men their trespasses your heavenly Father will also forgive you; But if you forgive not men their trespasses neither will your heavenly Father forgive your trespasses.”

Understanding that forgiveness of sins and the companionship of the Holy Ghost are inextricably linked together, and that I cannot enjoy the guidance of the Holy Ghost to repent and have faith if I am not forgiven of my sins, I see that my first task of repentance is to forgive all others their trespasses against me. Then I can be forgiven, then I can enjoy the companionship of the Holy Ghost, then I can effectively work on the next steps of repentance under the expert guidance of the Holy Spirit.

It is plain to me that forgiveness of others is a clear priority in my life, my key to repentance and to faith in Jesus Christ, and thus my key to spiritual progress.

Oak Hills 2nd Ward
23 February 2003

The most important choice we can make if to decide to have faith in Jesus Christ.

I would like to share some things with you that I have learned about faith in the big part of a century that I have been in this mortality.

1. Faith in Jesus Christ is not something one has, though we speak that way. Strictly speaking, faith is what we are. It is like honesty. Honesty is not something one has; only knee-jerk honesty is real honesty. If we have to stop and decide each time we speak if it is worthwhile for us to tell the truth, we are not honest. Likewise, if we are faithful, we do not stop to think if it is worthwhile to keep the commandments of God; we just act faithfully because we have acquired the characteristic of faithfulness. It is what we are.
2. Everyone has faith, and there is no shortage of faith in this world. But the only faith that saves anyone’s soul is faith in Jesus Christ. Faith in Christ is to obey His commandments. Specifically, it is to obey all of the commandments He gives to us as an individual, as we promise to do when we partake of the sacrament. We receive instruction from the Savior through the scriptures, through His living prophets and others who preside over us in the Holy Priesthood, and we receive it directly through the gift of the Holy Ghost. Without faith, that is to say, without being obedient to the instruction He gives us, it is impossible to please Him or to do any good thing. All good comes from Christ. If we do not obey Christ, we of necessity are doing evil, for there are only two choices in any situation. There is no middle ground. Either we do good through faith in Christ, or we do evil. Evil covers the whole range of things that are not as good as they could and should be. If we have faith in Christ, we do His will, and then our acts are as good as they could and should be. In sum of point No. 2: Either we act in faith in Christ and do good by doing what He directs us to do, or we do evil because our faith is in something or someone else.
3. Why we do what we do in responding to the instructions of Christ is as important as what we do. Our Savior has commanded us to attend Sacrament Meeting. If I attend because I love Him and want to do His good, my obedience will be accepted. But if I attend for some other reason, it is not counted as faith. Cain learned this when he performed sacrifices unto the Lord. He had been commanded to offer sacrifices, but did so only because Satan prompted him to do so. He did the right what but had the wrong why, so his offering was rejected.
4. How we do what we do in acting in faith in Christ is as important as what we do and as why we do it. It is not enough to do what we are asked to do, even if we do what we do out of love. We must also do what we do correctly. Oliver Cowdery learned this lesson when he tried to translate the inscriptions on the plates from which our Book of Mormon came. He wanted to do a good thing and probably had a good motive for doing it. But he did not inquire of the Lord how to translate. He proceeded by the means he thought appropriate. But that is not faith in Jesus Christ. Had he inquired of the Lord and tried to figure out what the inscriptions meant with the help of the Lord, he probably would have succeeded. I have made this same mistake in disciplining my children. In trying to teach them the way of Christ, and out of love for them and for the Lord, I nevertheless sometimes have disciplined them in wrong ways, which wrong ways did not work. Had I gone to the Lord for specific instructions as to how to do what he wanted me to do, the result would have been far different.
5. When we do what we do in acting in faith in Jesus Christ is equally as important as what we do, as why we do it, and as how we do it. The Lord has His own timing, and if we are on His errand, we must act when He says to act, not at our own convenience. If we receive an instruction from the Lord and say in our hearts, “That is a good thing to do. Someday I will do it”, we are rejecting Christ as our master and do not have faith in Him. To have true faith in Jesus Christ we must receive His instruction and do exactly what He says to do, for the right reason, how He says to do it, and exactly when He says to do it. There is no other way to true faith in Christ.
6. Faith cannot become strong without hope. As our faith grows, we begin to have confidence in our relationship with our Savior, and that confidence waxes stronger as our faith grows. It becomes a bastion of power against the opposition to faith that enables us to endure to the end.
7. The end to which we and our faith and hope must endure to have full faith is charity, the pure love of Christ. This love is the ability to reflect the love that comes from Christ back to Him and also to all others we encounter in our daily walk of faith in Christ. When we have this love, there will be no obstacle, no barrier, no task, no opportunity that our faith cannot overcome. We will then be just men made perfect through Jesus Christ.
8. There is a tremendous opposition to this true faith in Jesus Christ in this world. The principal opposition might be said to be worldliness, or taking our cues and instruction from the people around us in the world. But to say it that way simply masks the real truth: the principal opposition to Christ in this world is within each one of us. It is our temptation to be selfish, to do things our own way, according to our own desires. The world affects us only because we individually want it to do so. We are agents. We can choose. But our choice is limited to doing our own will, which always produces evil of some degree, or to have this true faith in Christ which we have been describing, and do good. So the opposition to faith in Christ boils down to our own selfishness.
9. It is difficult to be faithful to Jesus Christ. Our Savior said: Straight is the gate, and narrow the way and few there be that find it. Any human being can find it once they know the Restored Gospel of Jesus Christ, for the purpose of preaching and teaching the gospel to every soul is to set every soul free to choose between Christ and selfishness. If we choose Christ, we have but entered the gate; we must then press forward, feasting upon the word of Christ and endure to the end, which is to be a person of pure faith in Christ, which is also eternal life. Anyone can do it, but few do, because only a few want to. Motivation is hugely important. If you wanted to become a skilled violin player, you would have to practice many hours a day for years to attain your goal. And not everyone has the innate ability to succeed at that task. But the Savior makes it possible for every human soul to develop pure and full faith in Him. This is more difficult to do than to become a skilled violinist. But we are given 24 hours a day to practice for a lifetime, and that is enough to become faithful.

Let us remember King Benjamin’s insight: The natural man is an enemy to God and has been since the fall of Adam and ever will be [selfish] unless he putteth off the natural man through the atonement of Christ and becomes as a little child: meek, submissive, humble, patient, full of love, willing to submit to all things the Lord sees fit to inflict upon him. (Mosiah 2:19) We will do this by doing as Mormon enjoins: “Wherefore, my beloved brethren, pray unto the Father with all the energy of heart, that ye may be filled with this love which he hath 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.” (Moroni 7:48)

The Lord’s curriculum is unerring. Anyone who wants to love God with all of his heart, might, mind and strength will, through prayer and repentance, learn to overcome by faith and to enter into the rest of the Lord Jesus Christ for all eternity.

Let us summarize: The most important thing any of us will do in our eternity is to practice until we become a person of full faith in Jesus Christ so that we do what He instructs us to do, for the right reason, in the right way, at the right time, in full hope in Christ and in the pure love of Christ. There is no other way. I pray that each of us may accept the love of Jesus Christ and come unto Him through praying with all the energy of our hearts to be full of faith, hope, charity in Jesus Christ. Amen.

The Riddle Family is in Utah and the west because of the Gospel and the Church of Jesus Christ. What are they?

The Restored Gospel of Jesus Christ is a simple message. It is:

1. If you will put you whole trust in Jesus Christ
   repent of every sin
   covenant to obey Christ in baptism
   receive the Holy Ghost by the laying on of hands, and
   endure to the end?
2. Then you will be prospered in a richness of
   spiritual gifts
   power in the priesthood
   strength in the family, and
   success in subduing the earth,
3. so much that you will be totally satisfied with your life
   and accomplishments.

The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is the Savior’s instrument for delivering the opportunity to know the Gospel of Jesus Christ and to partake of the ordinances of salvation to every person on the earth. It is the mission of the Church to:

1. Perfect the Saints (encourage them until they live the Gospel).
2. Preach the Gospel to every person on earth.
3. Assist families to help their kindred dead.

If you and I would turn to the Savior and love Him with all of our heart, might, mind and strength, then learn to love our neighbors as the Savior teaches us how to do so (He teaches us through our prophets and through our conscience, which is the Holy Ghost), there is no earthly problem we could not solve. The Savior’s way of righteousness is the way of happiness, of power, of salvation.

May I encourage you to claim the blessings of the Restored Gospel through increasing your faith in and love for Jesus Christ. I bear my witness to you that the Savior’s love is the most wonderful, most satisfying, most encouraging thing on this earth, and that the only intelligent way to act for any of us is to return His love by faithfully keeping His commandments and supporting His kingdom.

In the course of a religious discussion a lady was asked if she believed in infant baptism. “Believe it? I’ve seen it!” she exclaimed. This anecdote reflects a problem about truth for many people. Is truth what ought to be or what actually is the case? For Latter-day Saints, truth is what actually is.

The Doctrine and Covenants gives us a plain statement as to what truth is: “And truth is knowledge of things as they are, and as they were, and as they are to come.” (D&C 93:24) We see that truth is knowledge of things. This knowledge is understanding, a mental comprehension of how the thing we want to know about relates to other things. We see a tree. To see it is not to understand it necessarily. To understand it we must grasp other correct ideas which relate it to other things. Those other ideas are represented by questions such as: Where did the tree grow? How old is it? What species is it? How was it propagated? Is it mature? Of what use is its wood? To have the answer to many such questions is to begin to understand the tree, to begin to know it as it really is.

When we have learned everything important about our tree as it is, and as it was, and as it will be, then we comprehend the truth of it. Mere physical inspection of the tree will give us some information about it, but not a very large portion. To understand that tree we need help. That help is available through the Lord. Our Savior and the Holy Ghost are both known as the Spirit of Truth. If we want to know the real truth about anything important, we must gain the truth from them. Truth is a spiritual matter.

Satan is in on the act as well. As the father of lies it is his business to substitute misinformation for correct understanding wherever possible. He propounds his lies directly, in personal revelation, and indirectly through people in their conversations and writing. He fills the world with lies to confuse and misdirect as many souls as possible. He fills the world with lies to confuse and misdirect as many souls as possible. He would have us believe that our tree grows by itself, without any spiritual influence. He would have us believe that its species was created by blind chance and that killing it has no moral involvements. Those lies are bad enough when applied to trees. But of course Satan says the same things about human beings, and many humans believe him.

When we think about it, we begin to realize that everything in the universe is to some degree connected with everything else. Everything shares a common time and space framework, and many things affect others in cause and effect sequences. The result of these interconnections is that there is one giant truth about the universe at every moment. To understand anything completely, we must understand everything completely. Truth is one great whole. Only a being great enough to comprehend that whole knows the real truth. We humans are not that great, and therefore must settle for glimpsing the pieces of truth.

As we glimpse those precious pieces of truth which come to us from our God, we must be careful to admit that we do not understand everything and that when we testify of the fragments revealed to us that is strictly our personal witness. No other person had better get his truth from us. We bear our witness so that our hearers will accept our words, but we entice our hearers to go to God Himself, to seek the Spirit of Truth, that they might be given their own personal glimpses of truth in their own personal revelation.

In the world, of course, there is a good deal of noise about truth, some of which would be amusing were it not tragic. We see some men persecuting and killing others because the others will not accept their witness of the truth. We see some self-righteously pretending to have discovered the real truth about the universe or some part of it from some historical document, and think they can then belittle others who are doubtful. We see worldly fads in “truth” that are like waves on the seashore, dashing all who would think for themselves. We see people strain at a gnat, insisting that the whole world we know is some human mistake a man has made, while swallowing a camel by denying the hand of God in all things, and the while strutting as champions of truth.

The real truth is spiritual and comes to individuals who can receive the Lord and reject Satan. It lingers and grows only with those who live by it, humbly struggling to repent of their sins and to make the world a better place by correcting their own stewardships. Every man’s witness will eventually come back to him. If he has testified truly, by the Spirit of truth, he will be justified. If he has received and believed the myths of the father of lies, they will haunt him to eternity. There is a truth about how things are and were and will be. The wise seek that truth humbly, bear witness gratefully, and above all live what they know to be the will of God.

After many years of teaching in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and at Brigham Young University I have sometimes lamented that the best kept secret in the Church is the Gospel of Jesus Christ. I say this with sorrow out of the many conversations with members of the Church focusing on two issues: 1. What is faith in Jesus Christ? 2. What is repentance?

When I ask members what their concept of faith in Jesus Christ is, I often have them quote to me the scripture: “Faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.” (Hebrews 11:1) Then I say, “What does that mean?” and they usually admit that they do not know. And they usually do not recognize that that quotation from Paul is a description of faith, telling us something about it rather than being a definition of what faith is.

Or I might turn to the dictionary found in our standard LDS edition Bibles. Under the heading of “Faith” is the following: “Faith is to hope for things which are not seen, but which are true (Heb. 11:1, Alma 32:21), and must be centered in Jesus Christ in order to produce salvation. To have faith is to have confidence in something or someone.” I submit that one can have full confidence in Christ until the day they die and still not have an ounce of faith in Christ. If I am wrong, please labor with me and set me straight.

To me the burden of the Holy Scriptures is this: Faith in Jesus Christ is willing and immediate obedience to some message I have received from Jesus Christ. The message may come through another person, from the scriptures, from my conscience, as well as from our Savior Himself. What all these messages will have in common is that they will be given to me by the power of the Holy Ghost. I must obey, for faith is to do something, and that something almost always will involve doing some act which helps another person to fill some need they have. Faith without such works is dead. (James 2:17) It must be willing obedience, not as the devils who must obey. It must be immediate, the more immediate the better, for to delay is to try to find a substitute for faith in Christ. To have true faith in Christ one must have learned about our Savior from some source, like what he is learning, be instructed to do something, and respond with an action doing that something as directed by the Holy Spirit.

I recognize that a person may exercise faith in Christ without being able to define what that faith is. But would it not be better to have a firm mental hold on what faith in Christ is and be fully conscious of exercising it? Faith in Christ is something one deliberately does, not something one sort of has.

When I ask members of the Church to tell me what repentance is, they often will quote to me the four R’s: Recognition, Remorse, etc. What they do not recognize is that one can do the R’s without one ounce of faith in Jesus Christ. Doing the four R’s may be a good thing to do, but I think that is surely not what our Savior intended when He told us to repent.

Again we may look to the dictionary entry for “Repentance” found in our standard LDS Bible. There we read: “The Greek word of which this is the translation denotes a change of mind, i.e., a fresh view about God, about oneself, and about the world. Since we are born into conditions of mortality, repentance comes to mean a turning of the heart and will to God, and a renunciation of sin to which we are naturally inclined.” I submit that one can change his or her mind and turn his or her heart to God and disapprove of sinning without performing a shred of repentance.

To me, the burden of the Holy Scriptures on repentance is this: Replace every act of your life which is not an act of faith in Jesus Christ with an act of faith in Jesus Christ. To replace one act is to begin to repent. But one has not repented until one has replaced every act, or, in the Savior’s words, one has become completely faithful to Christ (3 Nephi 12:48, Moroni 10:32).

I see people who have committed serious sins and then they receive a temple recommend. That may be a beginning of repentance, but is of itself not full repentance. I see people who try to keep the standards of the Church unto repentance, but I see almost no recognition of that if we have not repented of all our sins, we are not yet fully on the strait and narrow path.

There surely is a lot of repenting going on among members of the Church. But I personally perceive very little understanding of what repentance is and the necessity of completing it. Would it not be better for members of the Church if they had a true and correct and full understanding of what repentance is supposed to be in the Gospel of Jesus Christ?

Is it possible that the clear and precise concepts of faith in Christ and repentance in Christ are withheld because the way is so strait and so narrow, out of fear that members of the Church would become discouraged and fall away into lax ways and more sinning? I submit that regardless of what is taught, many members will find the way too strait and too narrow and will fall away.

But the purpose of the Church as I understand it is to establish Zion. Zion cannot and will not be established with watered down definitions of faith and repentance. They are the crux of living the Gospel of Jesus Christ.

I hope that my lament will be answered somehow with clearer understanding of what true faith in Jesus Christ and repentance in Jesus Christ are on the part of those who care about the cause of Christ in the earth.

28 May 2014

The Cause of Christ

The cause of Christ in the earth is the cause of human happiness. Humans are not happy under all circumstances. There are immutable laws of happiness built in to the nature of social existence. If implemented, these laws bring to each human being the maximum possible satisfaction for living a human life on this earth.

Jesus Christ, the Savior of mankind, has taught humans how to be happy from the beginning, from the time of Adam and Eve. He did this first as Jehovah, then as the mortal Joshua of Nazareth, now in the Greek form of His name, Jesus the Messiah or Jesus Christ. He teaches mankind how to avoid the lies and selfishness which lead to unhappiness and to find the true principles of the abundant life. He is the leader for happiness in this world and makes possible happiness in the next world for all who will receive that blessing.

Satan, a real and powerful person, is the unseen father of lies and selfishness in this world. His influence is felt by every human who is accountable. He opposes the work of Christ because he wants all of mankind to be miserable as he is. He rejected the plan of happiness for himself out of selfishness and now tries to get all humans to abandon their own personal happiness for selfishness as he did.

But Satan provides a service we all need. There must be opposition in all things, otherwise there is no existence. Satan provides the opposition to the plan of happiness promoted by Christ. Happiness must be chosen by each person for himself or herself. Happiness, to be real, cannot be imposed upon any person. Each person must knowingly and deliberately choose it for himself or herself. Thus Satan and his temptations are the necessary opposition which make human happiness possible. Choosing to follow the teachings of Jesus Christ in the face of pressure from Satan to do otherwise makes human happiness a crowning attainment.

Thus choosing Christ over Satan makes true human happiness an option and a wonderful reality available to every human being: male or female, old or young, educated or uneducated, poor or wealthy as to this world’s goods, sickly or healthy. To promote the cause of Christ in the earth is to live up to and then spread the Gospel of Jesus Christ and the New and Everlasting Covenant, which two things empower every person who embraces them to gain happiness in this world and eternal life in the world to come.

The Great Commandment

The centerpiece of the Gospel of Jesus Christ is the saving commandment: “Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all of thy heart, might, mind and strength, and in the name of Jesus Christ shalt thou serve him.” (D&C 59:5) The details as to how to begin to do this are found in the principles of the Restored Gospel: 1. Faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. Trust him and obey him. 2. Repentance: Change every act of one’s life which is not an act of faith in Christ to one of faith in Christ. 3. Baptism: Covenant with Christ by being baptized by one having authority to keep His commandments, to always remember Him, and to be willing to take His name upon us. 4. Laying on of hands for the Gift of the Holy Ghost: Being given the right to the constant companionship of the Holy Ghost and being commanded to receive that companionship, that we might then have the knowledge and power to keep all of the commandments of Christ. Then we must endure to the end, which is to stay in that covenant path until we have taken upon us the personal character, the characteristics, of Christ himself.

But the first principles are not the completion of the process of learning to love God with all of our heart, might, mind and strength. We also need the rest of the New and Everlasting Covenant to give us specific instruction, guidance and power to do the work of Christ in the earth. Baptism is the first of the ordinances of the New and Everlasting Covenant. The second is receiving the power to do the work of Christ in the earth by receiving the Priesthood of Melchizedek (the name Melchizedek being one of the names of Jesus Christ, for He is truly the king of righteousness). The third is to be given another most precious and eternal gift, the temple endowment. In the endowment, faithful servants of Christ are given the power and knowledge to be able to serve God with all of their heart, might, mind and strength. The fourth part of the New and Everlasting Covenant is to be sealed in the temple to the husband or wife of our choice, being given the opportunity to be servants of Christ as husband and wife and parents in this life, and to be parents again in eternity with the opportunity to share with those children all that Christ has given us in this life. There is no greater gift, in time or in eternity, than that offered to every human being in the New and Everlasting Covenant.

Heart, Might, Mind and Strength

To love God with all our heart means to be fully dedicated to righteousness. Righteousness is the antithesis of selfishness. Righteousness is giving and sacrificing what we ourselves already have to help others have more; to have more knowledge, more health, more of this world’s goods, more power, more faith in Jesus Christ. The word “righteous” means “upright”, fully square with the commandment of God to love our neighbor. It means to keep the commandments of Christ, for He is the God of Righteousness and only in Him can any human ever come to the fulness of righteousness. His commandments are each given to help us to love one another as He has loved us. To be righteous we must both fully obey Him and fully follow His example. In Him we live, and move and have our being, whether righteous or not. But when we add full faith in Christ to the magnificent opportunity to be an intelligent, powerful and free human being, we only then begin to fulfill our full opportunity to make this earthly existence a leap into an eternity of blessing others.

To love God with all of our might means to use all the power and influence we have to bless the children of God, all other human beings, and the earth which God has so graciously provided for our earthly probation. To be grateful for all other humans and for the plants, animals and earthly formations around us is the beginning of wisdom. To labor to enhance the existence of all other human beings and the plants, animals and earthly formations around us is the labor which fulfills and justifies our existence. To use all of our power and influence to promote the cause of Christ in the earth is the most noble and worthwhile way to love God with all of our might. And God makes more mighty those who use what might they have to begin with only for good.

To love God with all of our mind means to treasure truth, the knowledge of the way things really are, were, and will be. In a world where the opinions of men often supersede the real truth, it is most precious to have the gift of the Holy Ghost, which is the spirit of truth and by which we may know the truth of all things. But having the truth is the beginning, not the end of our labor. We must begin with truth because we must deal with situations the way they really are. But we are not in this world just to understand it: we are here to change it. Specifically we are here to turn a fallen world into a paradise, a heaven on earth. We have been given minds so that we can understand the present reality with all of its potentials, then plan and work to fulfill that potential which would be pleasing unto Jesus Christ. And, of course, whatever would please Christ will also please any true servant of Christ. As we love Christ with all of our mind, we plan, scheme, and execute to make Christ’s will be done on earth as it is in heaven.

To love God with all of our strength means first to recognize that our strength, our mortal tabernacle, is a loaner. We do not own it, but are guest in a magnificent organic machine built in the image of God Himself. He desires that we appreciate this great loan, and abide the rules he has laid down for the proper and effective use of this tabernacle. He wants us to eat for nourishment, not just for pleasure. He wants us to rest and sleep sufficiently and regularly, so that we may be effective in our labors. He wants us to be chaste, with pure minds that desire sexual fulfillment only in the manner in which He prescribes, the Holy Priesthood union of man and wife. He wants us to use our strength up, working mightily to bring to pass righteousness and blessing for all of His other children. He wants us to end this life fully spent, having given not only full strength, but also full heart, might and mind to the cause of Christ in the earth.

But We Are Free

But for the present, not everyone on earth is interested in the cause of Christ. Even some of those persons who know what the cause of Christ is want other ways of using up their mortality. This world offers a million different paths to fulfillment. Some prefer selfishness to unselfishness, letting others do their hard work instead of doing it themselves. Some prefer using their bodies for gluttony or drunkenness or other drug induced satisfactions. Some prefer profligacy to purity in their sexual lives. Many would much rather lord it over others than to be the servant of all. They may find pleasure in their misappropriations of their God-given gifts for a time. But they will never find happiness.

Happiness is that state of blessed satisfaction of knowing that we will never need to be sorry for what we do. It is the state where no one can rightfully accuse us of not having loved them. It is the state of knowing that we are right with and one with God and His purposes. It is that state where our trust in God is so complete that we fear nothing in this world except failing to love purely. It is the state that looks forward to an eternity of blessing others with great anticipation and satisfaction.

The purpose of this essay is to set forth a special understanding of the nature and processes of human learning considered in and LDS frame of reference. We begin with a review of the theology essential to this topic.

The Nature of Man.

Man is a dual being. He has a spirit body into which he was begotten by our Heavenly Father and Heavenly Mother. He has a physical body into which he was begotten by his earthly father and earthly mother. He received these two bodies that he might have the opportunity to learn to be like our heavenly parents.

The spirit body of man has two aspects important to note. One is the heart. The spiritual heart is the seat of the desires of a person, and from that heart come feelings and choices. The second aspect of the spiritual body is the mind. It is the business of the mind of man to perceive the world (to identify what is out there), to understand the world (to relate to things that are out there to each other), and to create options for action (different things the person can try in the attempt to fulfill the desires of the heart).

The physical part of man also has two main aspects important to note here. The first is the strength of the body. It is the movement of the body to act according to the choices of the heart in the paths or options created by the mind as translated to the physical body through the brain and nervous system of the physical body. One special part of this strength of the physical body is the power to beget children. The other main aspect of the physical nature of man is his might. Might is what a person influences or controls in the world outside of his body using words and his physical strength.

Man then has two natures, a spiritual one and a physical one. The essential aspects of these are his heart, his might, his mind, and his strength. The spiritual nature of man has a spiritual has a spiritual environment. In that environment, man’s spirit encounters the Spirit of the Lord, which entices him to do good; the spirit of Satan, which entices him to do evil; and the spiritual influence of other human spirits, which entice him to do good or evil, depending on whether the other human spirit has yielded to God or Satan. The physical nature of man has a physical environment. It contains other human physical bodies, plants, animals, the earth, and every other physical part of the universe which man can perceive.

Every man has a mortal life and a probation. The mortal life is the dwelling of his spirit body in his physical body for a short time. This sojourn entitles man to a physical body in the resurrection which he will enjoy to all eternity. The probation is a proving of each man’s spirit to see if, after being born into mortality, he will obey God or Satan. The purpose of God in creating man spiritually and physically is that each might learn to become a god himself if he so desires.

The Kinds of Learning.

The learning which qualifies a man to become a god is to learn to love and serve his God with all of his heart, might, mind and strength. Only thus can any person learn the ways of godliness. As a person loves his God, the knowledge and power of God flow to him that he might learn and enjoy ever good (godly) thing.

To be godly, the mind of man must learn to see the hand of God in all things. The mind must learn to separate truth from error and to use that truth in all thinking. The mind must learn to be creative and agile in perception, understanding and problem-solving. The tutelage for this learning is constant contact with another mind which is already godly, one’s God.

To be godly the heart of man must learn to choose the way of godliness above all else. It must learn to love with that pure love of Christ. It must learn to forget self and to abhor selfishness in the quest of helping others to be as happy as they can be, even at the price of sacrifice of one’s own goods. The tutelage for this learning is to bask continually in the warmth of God’s love, returning that love in choosing complete obedience to God and godly love for every neighbor.

To be godly, the strength of man must learn to be a servant, not master. The body must learn control, skill, and power in all of the ways of godliness. It must learn to enjoy the pleasures and blessings that a righteous man always encounters in the path of obeying his God, but never to seek those pleasures and benefits for their own sake. Through the purity of his heart and the power and clarity of his mind, the godly man will master every passion and skill, thus achieving a creative excellence in building, growing food, teaching and performing so that he completes successfully every mission, every task to which the Lord sets him. The tutelage for this learning is to enjoy the constant companionship of a god, the Holy Spirit, and to learn under God’s direction to do all things well in purity and righteousness.

To be godly, the might of man must also learn to be godly. In the spiritual and temporal stewardships of every servant of God will be beings, persons, who also must learn the ways of God. Those beings which must be acted upon by the steward will be so ordered that his home, his possessions, all of his property will assume a divine and celestial order. The temporal mission of a godly man is always to try to create celestial order. The temporal mission of a godly man is always to try to create celestial order in this telestial environment. The tutelage for that learning again is to learn all things in the constant companionship of a god, the Holy Ghost.

The sum of godly learning is to learn to love one’s God with all of one’s heart, might, mind and strength.

The Modes of Learning.

There are two principal modes of human learning. One we shall call the vertical mode. The other we shall call the horizontal mode.

The center of each mode of human learning is the self, the heart, might, mind and strength of each individual. Vertical learning is that the self reaches up and down from itself. It reaches up to spiritual influence. In reaching up, the heart and mind learn from and are shaped by the spiritual influences that surround the spirit being of man. The self reaches down through the body, the strength, and through one’s might, to gain first-handed experience of the existences and natures of the things that surround him in the physical world. Vertical learning is direct, personal interaction of the person, the self, with the spiritual and non-social physical environments in which one finds oneself.

Horizontal learning takes place when a person reaches out to other human beings and learns from the spiritual and physical influences which each other person has for him. We learn to feel, to think, to act, to speak, and to display our might rather readily from our fellow human beings. In fact it is usually easier to learn horizontally than it is vertically, because it usually takes less creativity (effort) of the self to do what others do than it does to learn from spiritual sources and from physical nature. Social rewards also influence this pattern. People who spend all their time in the presence of people usually are more responsive to social rewards and punishments which follow when we learn or do not learn to do as our human associates do. People who spend much time alone, struggling with spiritual forces and temporal problems, tend more to vertical learning and are less susceptible to social pressure.

Each mode of human learning, vertical and horizontal, has also two aspects which we must differentiate.

The two kinds of spirits, good and evil, make two different types of vertical learning. The influence of the Lord teaches man to know and love truth, excellence, righteousness, and love produces one kind of vertical learning. The influence of Satan teaches man to know and love lies, slovenliness, selfishness and hate, and produces a very different kind of vertical learning.

Every human being who is accountable is well acquainted with both of these options for vertical learning, but only those who are oriented towards vertical learning tend to be conscious of the drastic difference between the two options. Nature, or the downward aspect of vertical learning, is seen here to be a representation of the spiritual influence of God. People who spend a great deal of time out in natural surroundings will find the peaceful, wholesome influence of God there rather than the selfish, confining, fearful feeling engendered by the adversary, unless they have been taught by other people to see nature otherwise.

Horizontal learning is also a test of heart and mind. A person of a good heart and mind will gravitate to those persons who also teach and do what he has learned to be true from God and nature. A person of evil heart and mind will gravitate to those persons who teach the lies and wrong that aid and abet his selfish desires.

This double duality of vertical and horizontal learning separates out four kinds of persons. Since everyone must and does learn both vertically and horizontally, the four groups are created by the options which each person chooses for learning. Those whose vertical orientation is towards God and nature and whose horizontal orientation is to learn from and to compare notes with godly men and women, are the children of God, heirs to the celestial kingdom. Those who have a vertical orientation to God and nature, but who choose evil men and women for their horizontal learning are the honorable men of the earth who are blinded by the craftiness of men, heirs to the terrestrial kingdom. Those who have a Satanic, non-nature vertical orientation and a horizontal orientation to evil men and women are those who remain natural, carnal, sensual, and devilish, and are heirs to the telestial kingdom. Those who are horizontally oriented to desire to associate with good men and women, who use their words and deeds, but who apply and interpret those goodly words and deeds by vertical orientation to Satan, are the hypocrites. They will have no glory.

Premises:

1.   One of the most important things priesthood bearers do it to teach the Restored Gospel of Jesus Christ in homes:

• a.   To their own families.
• b.   To the families to which they are assigned as ministers.

2.   Quorum instruction should reflect a sense of the relative importance of the doctrines of the Restored Gospel.

3.   The more important a doctrine, the more frequently the doctrine should be taught, clearly and carefully bringing all to a unity of the faith, as much as this is possible.

Are these the twenty and five most important doctrines of the Restoration? If they are, they ought to be emphasized in Priesthood Quorum instruction.

1.   Our God is an exalted man and woman, our literal Heavenly Father and Mother.

2.   We humans are fallen children of Father and Mother.

3.   Because we are fallen, we are spiritually dead (the senses of our spiritual body are deadened, and thus we are cut off from the presence of Father and Mother). And we must die temporally.

4.   Father offers each of us release from that spiritual death.

5.   That offer is extended to each of us through Jesus Christ, the Only Begotten Son of God and the Messenger of Salvation.

6.   Jesus Christ came to earth and lived a sinless life, keeping every one of Father’s commandments.

7.   Being sinless, Jesus Christ could and did atone for our sins, that we might not be damned forever because of our sins.

8.   The release from spiritual death comes only through partaking fully of the New and Everlasting Covenant which was made possible by Jesus Christ.

9.   To enter the New and Everlasting Covenant, we must first learn of Christ, and because of the spiritual witness we receive, we must be willing to put our trust and faith in him.

10. We demonstrate our initial faith and trust in Jesus Christ by repenting of our sins and by making the covenant of baptism.

11. In the covenant of baptism, we promise three things:

• a.   That we are willing to take the name(s) of Christ upon us, now to become His child.
• b.   That we will always remember Him.
• c.   That we will keep every commandment He gives us.

12. If we meaningfully make the covenant of baptism under the hands of an authorized earthly administrator, then hands are laid upon our heads to confer the gift of the constant companionship of the Holy Ghost.

13. Having received the Holy Ghost, we may feast upon the words of Christ which He (the Holy Ghost) brings to us, so that we become faithful in all things.

14. Faith is to believe in Christ, to receive his words of instruction, and to obey each of those instructions as it comes.

15. Through our faith, we must press on, keeping every commandment, until we have become like our Savior and new father, Jesus Christ, in all things.

16. Faithful keeping of the commandments gives us a right to hope for the special blessings which are the rewards of the faithful children of Christ.

17. Faith and hope lead us to be able to receive a new heart from our Savior, a pure heart like His own. The name for this new heart is charity.

18. Without this charity, we are nothing. It is the great prize and goal of mortality. Possessing it, we can do any good thing.

19. With charity, we can receive and magnify the Holy Priesthood, the personal power of Jesus Christ to act in His stead, to accomplish the great priesthood works.

20. Using the Aaronic Priesthood, we can set our temporal stewardships in celestial order.

21. Using the Melchizedek Priesthood, we can set our spiritual stewardships into the celestial order in laboring to perfect the saints over whom we preside. (Especially our marriages and our families.)

22. Using the Melchizedek Priesthood, we can fulfill the missionary labors assigned to us, that every soul on earth might hear the glad tidings of the Restored Gospel.

23. Using the Melchizedek Priesthood we can fulfill our genealogy and temple work (that all might properly be sealed up, ready for eternity).

24. If we thus gain a new heart and fulfill our priesthood opportunities, our Savior will come to us and say, “Well done, thou good and faithful servant.”

25. Our Savior will then introduce us to the Father, and our spiritual death will have come to an end.

Philosophy or philosophizing have not played an important part in the development of LDS theology or culture. The reason for that is that personal revelation has been the main stem from which these things have blossomed and flowered. Individuals and cultures turn to philosophy when they are perplexed, and if they have no better means of resolving their perplexities. Indeed there is a sense in which philosophy is the human answer to the inadequacies of traditional religions.

Every religion has three aspects: a theology, or understanding of the way things are; a moral code, do’s and don’ts which are supposed to lead to living a life wisely; and ritual, by which the religion is celebrated and is taught to the rising generation. The failure of these three religious functions historically caused men to turn to and wax philosophical.

The failure of religion’s moral codes to produce happiness and success led men to develop ethics, an attempt to come to the do’s and don’ts of life by reason. The failure of theology to provide an adequate understanding of the world led to the development of physics and metaphysics. And the failure of ritual to improve the human situation led to the development of epistemology, the search for how we can know what is true and good.

In LDS thinking, morality is achieved by a combination of rules of morality which provide general guides, such as the ten commandments, but always supplemented by immediate personal revelation so that one might know exactly how to honor his father and mother in a specific situation. This powerful combination works so well that strong LDS people do little wondering about ethics. The canonized scriptures coupled with empirical and personal knowledge of the world plus the illumination of the Holy Spirit suffice for an LDS person to have a good grasp of physics and metaphysics, a grasp that lends great understanding and ability to predict the future, making metaphysics a needless enterprise. And the rituals of the religion, focusing on prayer and the ordinances of the Holy Priesthood, bring such a rich harvest of knowledge and power that a faithful LDS person spends little time wondering how to know.

This message is designed to be read in connection with the 58^th Chapter of Isaiah. Would you please turn to it? Your purpose in reading should be to answer the question: What is the law of the fast?

V 1–2: Note the reproach to Israel: They think they are trying to be righteous, yet they transgress.

V 3–5: Israel is puzzled: Why does their fasting produce no good results? The Lord answers that they fast to try to give themselves more pleasure, more success in this world, more power over their enemies. Those who fast for such reasons, even in sackcloth and ashes, fast in vain.

V 6–7: The Lord’s fast is to serve others. It is to relieve suffering, to liberate the captive, to rescue the oppressed. It is to feed the hungry, to clothe the naked, to be with one’s own kindred in the service of God.

V 8–9: To those who follow the Lord’s true fast comes the light and knowledge of God. Being filled with the spirit of God they enjoy physical and spiritual health according to their needs. The path of righteousness opens before them and the glory of the Lord accompanies their walk down that path.

V 10–11: For those who fast in the Lord’s way there are no unanswered prayers, because among the righteous there are no yokes or social or economic inequalities, there is no finger of scorn or vanity. As the servant of God ministers to the needy, the light of God floods in, driving away all sorrow, all darkness. Such and one who fasts in the Lord’s law shall redeem Zion, restore the ancient cities, heal the family bonds, make strait the way of righteousness to bless all who follow.

V 13–14: Our human problem is that we want what we want. The solution is to acknowledge that God is wiser than we are, and to seek His will in all things: not our pleasure, but His pleasure. Those who can muster that much intelligence will reap the blessings of God in their fulness, and this is the heritage of Israel.

What is the law of the fast? Is it not the Law of the Gospel applied to fasting?

To fast from food and water and physical pleasures is the beginning of a true fast. To go hungry is not true fasting. True fasting is to immerse oneself in prayer, uplifting our soul to God with all the being we can muster, then going forth and ministering to the needs of those who are less blessed than we are. We fast to show the Lord we love Him and His ways more than we love our own satisfactions.

Just to eat nothing is not true fasting. True fasting is to abstain from our own pleasures and to work with all of our heart, might, mind and strength through prayer to relieve suffering and misery in those around us and to establish the Kingdom of God and His righteousness forever.

Practical aspects of fasting:

1. We prepare our hearts and minds for fasting by mighty prayer, endeavoring to become fully subject to the Spirit of the Lord.
2. We prepare our minds for fasting by turning our thoughts to the things of the Spirit, trying to see all things in eternal perspective.
3. We prepare our bodies for fasting by drinking appropriate amounts of water.
4. We prepare our might for fasting by having our affairs in order so that they will not intrude into our prayer and meditation.
5.  When we break our fast, the goal should be to eat and drink just enough that we are able to maintain the level of spirituality gained during the fast.
6. We should show gratitude for the blessings Father gives us by paying a generous fast offering. (President Kimball said that if we could, we should pay in fast offerings ten times the amount we save by fasting. Some persons pay more than that.) Fast offerings should be paid monthly, for the needs of those who are assisted do not occur on an annual basis.
7. We should fast every regular Fast Sunday (unless we are among those who should not fast) and at other times as prompted by the Lord through His Holy Spirit.

Blessed is he or she who knows and walks in the way of the Lord. Fasting is part of that way.