I speak to all who love truth. If you are among them, please hear me out. If you are not, this writing doesn’t matter.
Know that first and foremost I am a disciple of Jesus Christ. I count my testimony of Him to be my most prized possession.
My testimony of the truthfulness of the Restored Gospel of Jesus Christ and of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints has many facets, among which are:
1) the Gospel,
2) the Church and the Holy Priesthood,
3) the Book of Mormon,
4) the New and Everlasting Covenant,
5) the existence and power of Satan,
6) Joseph Smith as a prophet of God, and
7) the natural world around us.
I will here discuss each of these facets individually.
The Restored Gospel of Jesus Christ is what Jesus Christ taught in his earthly ministry and is called the Plan of Salvation, the Plan of Happiness. It was known by Adam, the first man, and will be known by all of Adam’s descendants before they are judged by God and assigned to (choose) an eternal kingdom.
The Restored Gospel is a plan that takes account of eternity. Eternity is time that goes forever back before this mortal experience and forever after this mortal experience. The existence of eternity and of the gods who control all things in eternity is an essential piece of information to understand human life and its purpose. The key idea is that every human being has been in existence from all eternity, and is a child of those gods who control the universe and that after this life we mortal human beings will live forever in whatever condition we choose in our mortal probation. The purpose of the gods in creating us (giving our eternal intelligences spiritual bodies, then physical bodies) was to give mortal men and women the opportunity to become gods themselves or to attain to any lesser degree of happiness and power to do good they desire. The great news of the Restoration is that each human being is free to become and is becoming whatever he or she chooses to be. Each human being chooses to be whatever whatever he or she chooses to do here and now in mortality.
How do I know all this is true? I have had these ideas confirmed to me time after time by the Holy Spirit. To believe the Holy Spirit is an act of faith in Jesus Christ. I cannot share that witness of the Holy Spirit with you, my reader, but you can obtain the same surety for yourself. If a person wanted physical proof of immortality of human beings it could come by seeing and conversing with a resurrected being or a spirit who has departed from this mortality. I personally know persons who have had such an experience. One such experience was the visit my dear wife, Bertha Allred Riddle, had from her grandmother, Ruth Longson Allred. Grandma Ruth brought a message about her first child, which child BAR had never heard about but who needed to be included in the genealogical record she was preparing. I consider my witness from the Holy Ghost to be as sure as the experiences of those who have seen persons from the next life. For me this same surety attaches to all of the ideas in this testimony.
The Restored Gospel of Jesus Christ is absolutely fair to every human being. Every person, born into any age, culture, epoch or condition is given by God a full opportunity (sooner or later) to know the truth about Jesus Christ and how to become like Him before he or she is judged. The great glory of the Restored Gospel is that every human can change, can become like Christ, to gain His full personal attributes of character. This means all of His power, all of His knowledge, but especially all of His righteousness, and then share with Him the blessing of others just as He did in His mortality. He lives to bless others, and did this before as Jehovah and does it now as Almighty God. The main thing He as Savior can and will save us from is from ourselves, from being the weak and flawed persons we all now are. Christ offers this salvation to every human being who is willing to trust and obey Him. And he saves everyone from physical death in the resurrection whether or not they trust and obey Him.
The Restored Gospel of Jesus Christ is self-consistent and is fully articulated. There is an answer to every seeming problem in the Gospel and everything fits with everything else. One of the great pleasures in learning and living the true Gospel of Jesus Christ is to see an apparent inconsistency, then to pursue the problem until an answer to the problem is received through the Holy Spirit. This has happened to me time and again. That is why I am willing to assert that the Gospel is self-consistent and fully articulated.
The Restored Gospel of Jesus Christ is rational. For instance, every law that God gives to man has a reason behind it. Sin is not sin just because God says it is. Sin is the transgression or breaking of any commandment God has given. Such breaking is sin because every law, every commandment, positive or negative, is designed to create a society in which every person can have all power and knowledge and yet live in perfect harmony and pure love for every other person and creature of that society. Every law God gives us is to perfect our character so that we may live peaceably in an eternal society of like persons, a celestial kingdom. That kingdom is celestial because each inhabitant constrains himself or herself not to hurt or diminish any other being there, but rather works to enlarge the blessings and happiness of each other being. This is the work of the gods, to enlarge the blessings and happiness of every other creature they affect.
My summary of the Restored Gospel of Jesus Christ:
- There are gods, who are perfected former human beings, who preside over this universe with the purpose of begetting children and blessing each of them with the opportunity to become gods themselves. But no child of God is forced to become a god. Each may choose and enjoy any lesser degree of blessing.
- The Gods have sent one of their own to this earth, to create, populate, and to save all this creation unto eternal blessings. The name of this God is Jesus Christ.
- All human beings are offered the opportunity to gain the character and powers of this god, Jesus Christ, but no one is forced to accept or do anything. Humans are set free by Christ to become whatever they want to become for the rest of eternity.
- Those human beings who actually do attain the character of Christ do so by submitting themselves to a strict discipline which is prescribed and administered by Christ. This discipline, if followed, makes a person a disciple of Christ. It consists of five basic steps:
First: Put your whole trust in Christ and his merits, learning to obey Him in all things. This is called “Faith in Jesus Christ”. Everyone lives by faith in something. The challenge is to trust nothing and no one except Jesus Christ Himself.
Second: Deliberately and carefully change your every personal act and habit to conform with the pattern of life set forth by Christ. This is called “Repentance.” The challenge is to become so acutely aware of each choice, thought, feeling and action that we bring everything we are and do into the pattern established by Christ. This is difficult, but every human being is given the opportunity to do it and the ability to do it either in this life or in the spirit world that follows mortality (but not both; everyone gets one full opportunity to choose his or her course for the rest of eternity).
Third: Formally commit to becoming as Christ is in character and action by making a special covenant or contract.
This covenant is called “baptism,” and must be administered by one who has the legal authority from Christ Himself to represent Christ.
In this covenant the covenantor makes three promises:
First promise: To be willing to take upon themselves the name of Jesus Christ. To take his name begins by being identified to the world (all other people) as a disciple of of Christ, and concludes by receiving the name of Christ in His Holy Temple.
Second promise: To remember Him always, which is to make one’s life a continual mental conversation with Christ, seeking to understand all things by His light and striving to do in every situation what He would have us do.
Third promise: To obey every instruction or commandment He gives, so that one’s life comes into total conformance with the will of Christ.
Fourth: Have the laying on of hands by authorized servants of Christ and be given the Gift of the Holy Ghost, then actually accept and receive the Holy Ghost as one’s constant companion. Only by fulfilling this fourth step can one actually complete the first, second and third steps of becoming a disciple of Christ.
Fifth: Through humility and obedience, maintain the constant presence of the Holy Ghost in one’s life unto attaining the stature of Christ, His character becoming our character, then enduring in that pattern until one is taken into the next world by physical death.
This five step process is more demanding that becoming a great musician or a great mathematician. No one can do it by simply taking thought or simply wanting to do it. In other words, it cannot be done by human means. It can be done by any and every human being by accepting the gifts of God and continuing in that receptive, humble mode unto the end of mortal life. Each human has an individual path to this salvation through accepting and living by the gifts of God, which are His graces. We are saved from our weakness and sinning only by the grace of God. But we receive this grace only by doing all we can do to accept and live by that grace.
The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is the only true and living church upon the earth today. It is true because it is the only church that has the true priesthood authority from God. It is presided over and governed by that priesthood authority. I know this priesthood authority is true and real because I hold that priesthood and have seen its power to perform miracles and to bless the lives of God’s children. I know that it is operative only under the guidance of the Holy Spirit, which is the guidance and power from God. I know personally many of those who preside over me in this priesthood: my bishop, my stake president, and many of the General Authorities. Some of the General Authorities have been students in my classes at Brigham Young University. I know these men to be called of God as their words and acts are attested to me as good and appropriate by the Holy Spirit, which happens constantly. I see the works of the Church and they fit exactly what I would expect if Jesus Christ is the head of this Church, which He is. The Church reaches out to every human being on earth to share with them the wonderful news of the Restored Gospel of Jesus Christ. It reaches out to allay suffering among the poor and the needy. It encourages everyone to be honest, true, chaste, benevolent, and to do good to all men. It promotes the learning of every good and useful thing. It promotes the sharing of all good things. It will eventually produce a Zion society where every person will be a true disciple of Christ (fully righteous, but not self-righteous) and no person will be poor. (I hope that Zion will come very soon.)
This Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints was established in these latter days to prepare the human inhabitants of this earth for the Second Coming of Jesus Christ. There are two main parts of that preparatory work:
The first great task of Christ’s church is the preaching of the Restored Gospel of Jesus Christ to every human being on earth who is accountable. This is done so that every accountable human being can make an informed choice as to whether to be burned (killed) at the Second Coming or to become righteous enough to be saved alive. The threshold of righteousness necessary to be saved alive at the Second Coming is to accept Jesus Christ at the God of this earth and to at least live by the Ten Commandments which he has given mankind. Every person who breaks any one or more of the Ten Commandments and will not repent will be burned as unfit to live in the new world that will be presided over by the personal presence of Jesus Christ in the Millenium. Thus will there come peace on earth for a thousand years.
The second great task of Christ’s church is to establish a Zion. A Zion is a people who not only live the Ten Commandments but who also abide the Law of the Celestial Kingdom, which is Faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. This is a people who have learned to love God with all of their heart, might, mind and strength, and who love their neighbor instead of themselves. They have done these two things by accepting and living the whole Restored Gospel of Jesus Christ. They are the ones who have to see to it that the Restored Gospel is offered to every accountable human being. They have wards and stakes that fully implement the work of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. They man the Holy Temples of Christ in patience and love for all. The do their genealogical research because they love their ancestors, and do the ordinance work for them in the Holy Temples. They do not need police or prisons because they are all law abiding. They do not need armies or navies or an air force, because they have power in their priesthood to protect themselves from evil doers, and which they will need both before the Millenium and again at the end of the Millenium when evil again comes to power. They spend the Millenium teaching those newly born to be disciples of Christ and doing the work for all of their kindred dead, all the while enjoying the paradisiacal glory of a redeemed earth and people. Then after the final great battle in which evil is overcome for the final time, the earth will die and be resurrected as a celestial kingdom, the eternal abode of all who have learned to love Christ with all of their heart, might, mind and strength.
The Book of Mormon is truly what it purports to be: a record of the ancient inhabitants of the American continents written by prophets of God to teach Israel and the world about Jesus Christ and how to be saved through Him. I know the book is true because the Holy Ghost testifies to me of its truthfulness and importance every time I read it (the promise of Moroni 10:4-6 really does work!). I see that the book is marvelously internally consistent. There is only one explanation of the origin of the book which fits the known historical facts: It was translated from ancient plates by the power of God by a man (Joseph Smith, Jr.) who had almost no schooling but was called and empowered by God to bring the work forth. The Book of Mormon is a great complement to and support of the Holy Bible which the world knows so well. The Bible witnesses the coming forth of the Book of Mormon, even as the Book of Mormon testifies of the truth and importance of the Bible. The Book of Mormon has many earmarks of having been translated from records written by Hebrew speaking people, such as the phrasing and word order, the frequent use of “and it came to pass,” chiasmus, etc.
My belief is that there is abundant physical evidence which proves the historical authenticity of the Book of Mormon. One day that evidence will be brought forth so that everyone could prove the Book of Mormon to be a true record without revelation. My guess is that the physical evidence is being suppressed by the authorities of the Church and by the Savior so that the Book of Mormon can do its true work: To be a spiritual sifting mechanism, to make an entire separation between the righteous and the wicked in preparation for the Second Coming of Christ.
The Book of Mormon truly is the keystone of the religion of the Latter-day Saints. Because it is true, Joseph Smith, Jr., was and is a prophet of the true and living God, Jesus Christ. And therefore the Church Joseph Smith restored is the true Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. As the prophet Joseph said, you and I can become closer to Christ and better be His disciple by abiding the teachings of this book than by abiding the teachings of any other book. The Book of Mormon truly is the most important book in this world.
The New and Everlasting Covenant is the crown jewel of the Restoration of the Gospel and the Church of Jesus Christ. This covenant clearly marks out the strait and narrow path which leads to exaltation in the celestial kingdom by helping each person become remade as a person, a new creature in the image of Jesus Christ. This new creature can inherit all that Christ is and has, even as Christ has inherited all that the Father is and has. This remaking is delivered by the total earnest efforts of the individual (all we can do) supported and enabled by the saving power of Jesus Christ (grace). That saving power came to Christ by his living a perfect life in mortality in this earthlife, fulfilling the New and Everlasting Covenant himself and then performing his Atonement for the sins and weaknesses of all mankind (making possible the grace of God). The New and Everlasting Covenant consists of the following parts:
Baptism: The individual agent person promises to be willing to take upon himself or herself the name of Christ, to always remember Him, and to keep the commandments He has given them. This is done by accepting immersion in water (baptism) by one having true authority.
Confirmation: After baptism, the Savior has his authorized servants bestow upon the baptized person the Gift of the Holy Ghost by the laying on of hands. This gift is the right to the constant companionship of the Holy Spirit, which is the pearl of great price spoken of in the Bible. That pearl is so important that a person who understands its importance would give all he or she possesses to obtain it. It is so valuable because only under the tutelage of the Holy Ghost can one continue to the end of the strait and narrow path, which end is the stature or character of Christ and the eternal life that character makes it possible to receive and tolerate.
Ordination to the priesthood of Melchizedek: As those who have authority to bestow this priesthood do so, the worthy recipient shares the power to preach the Gospel of Jesus Christ, to bind a witness upon his hearers, to administer the ordinances of the Gospel, and to bless others in the capacity of a called administrator in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.
Temple endowment: Every person receiving the endowment (the word means “gift”) receives the promise of blessings which lead to exaltation in eternity, accompanied by instruction, obligations and precautions which the person must carefully observe to claim those blessings. Those who carefully fulfill those obligations are fulfilling the measure of Christ (see Ephesians 4:11-13). Only as they attain the measure of Christ himself, His character, can they stand to receive the blessings which God the Father and Christ are attempting to share with them.
Temple sealing: A man and a woman who mutually agree to be complete servants of Christ and do His works are married and sealed by the authority of the Holy Priesthood to form an eternal family. This family is instructed to bring posterity into this mortal world with the promise that that posterity will be an eternal family to them if they are faithful. This family institution by those partaking of the measure of the stature of Christ is the essence of exaltation and godhood. That is why the family unit is so sacred. And that is why the adversary of Christ, who is Satan, tries in every way he can to destroy the family as an institution, to destroy the chastity and righteousness which make an eternal family possible, and to get LDS families to have as few children as possible.
This series of ordinances: Baptism, Confirmation, Ordination, Endowment and Temple sealing constitute the fulness of the New and Everlasting Covenant which true disciples of Christ enjoy. And let us not forget the precious ordinance of the Holy Sacrament which members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints can use each week to renew each part of their New and Everlasting Covenant with the Father, the Son and the Holy Ghost.
The existence and power of Satan: I believe that no person can fully appreciate the power and greatness of Jesus Christ and his Father unless they also have a testimony of the existence and power of Satan on this earth. Satan has the following principal ploys to keep human beings from inheriting their potential as children of God. He assures mortals that:
There is no God, no spiritual existence, no Satan, no afterlife.
No such thing as right and wrong.
No difference between good and evil.
It is all right to go against one’s conscience.
That they should fully indulge their physical appetites and do “all that comes naturally.”
For those who believe in God, that a little sinning won’t really hurt anything.
For those who are covenant servants of God, that they should relax, not be valiant.
For faithful members of the Church of Jesus Christ that they should find fault with their leaders.
This is by no means an exhaustive list.
Joseph Smith, Jr. is God’s prophet of this dispensation: I marvel at what Joseph Smith had to endure while he brought forth the last dispensation of the fulness of times. The scriptures he gave us, the understanding he gave us, the keys he shared with us are all most precious. I have some unanswered questions about him, but the greatness of the revelations he brought forth, attested and interpreted by the Holy Spirit, convince me that he was and is a prophet of God. I am content to wait upon the Lord for further revelations to answer my questions about him.
The order and beauty of the natural world: The earth upon which we live is a marvel of order, complexity and beneficence as the habitation of mankind, and a perfect environment for the probation of each person. I believe this is the best of all possible worlds. Father gives us this earthly experience so that we can prove to Him that we can be good stewards and use the potential of this earth to provide the necessities of a good mortal life for every human being. One of the great false theories of uninspired men is to pretend that the natural world is the result of blind chance operating in a strictly physical universe. That hypothesis is insanity to my way of thinking. That false hypothesis is dear to many hearts because if there is no God, then there is no judgment and we humans can do as we please in mortality and then cease to exist.
Please remember two things as a framework in which to view my testimony. First, everyone on earth is a blood descendant of righteous persons who knew and accepted the fulness of the Gospel of Jesus Christ I have tried here to portray. Why do now so many persons on earth not know the Gospel of Jesus Christ? Because they are also descended from persons who knew and rejected the Gospel of Jesus Christ, preferring to be social, worldly, carnal, sensual and devilish. But this was part of God’s design to give each of his children a real choice. That choice is not dictated by their genes and thus not by their ancestors. It is a matter of freeing the intelligence/spirit within each human physical tabernacle to choose for itself, regardless of ancestry. The second point is like unto the first. Every human being who lives on this earth will eventually hear and have the opportunity to accept and live by the Gospel of Jesus Christ and become an heir of all that God is and has. The fact that the world is fulled with lies and half-truths is no different today than it was in the time of Adam. The smoke screen of mis-information is physical and affects everyone. This is by design, so that no one will accept the Gospel of Jesus Christ by reason of their physical environment. Each must rely solely on his or her spiritual instincts. This is designed to set the intelligence/spirit free to be itself. Thus no human being is compelled to accept Jesus Christ either by heredity or environment. Each truly is free to be and become what the intelligence/spirit within wants to be and become.
I rejoice in being free. I glory in this freedom and hope to make the most of it. I know there is a God because I have had many revelations from Him as to specific answers to my questions and needs. I believe that if I were to deny what I know, I would be a son of perdition. I will not fight against Christ. I love Him and support His cause on earth. I am willing to do whatever it takes to learn to bless others as Christ does, to join him in this blessing of others to all eternity.
This is my testimony and testament.
Chauncey Cazier Riddle 3 January 2017