On Sunday morning, December 19, 1993, in a special high council meeting, President F. Michael Watson put aside all regular agenda items and invited the members of the stake presidency and high council to share their thoughts and some favorite scriptures about either the Lord Jesus Christ or the Prophet Joseph Smith. In essence, the following represents a summary of the testimony I shared on that occasion. I was serving at the time as the stake executive secretary.
It is amazing how much buying and selling are a part of the celebration of Christmas in our culture. Indeed, the very health of our national economy is measured largely on how much we buy during the holiday season.
Interestingly, the holy scriptures employ monetary terminology in discussing the Atonement of Jesus Christ, the very heart and soul of our religion. Jesus came to “redeem” us, which means to “pay a price for” us. Peter speaks of the Lord’s people as being “a peculiar people” (1 Peter 2:9), which in the original Greek meant “a purchased people.”
I think often we do not appreciate the cost of the Savior’s gift, the price He paid for us, for as the scriptures affirm, we “are bought with a price” (1 Corinthians 6:20; 7:23; see also 2 Peter 2:1), the price being His own “precious blood” (1 Peter 1:19).
Jacob, the brother of Nephi, taught that “he cometh into the world that he may save all men if they will hearken unto his voice; for behold, he suffereth the pains of all men, yea, the pains of every living creature, both men, women, and children, who belong to the family of Adam” (2 Nephi 9:21). That appears to include everyone. If we could somehow remember all the pain and suffering and hurt we have ever experienced personally—mentally or physically or spiritually—and times that by the billions of people that now live or have ever lived on this planet, that might begin to give us an inkling of the price He paid for us. That is a lot of pain!
President John Taylor testified that “in a manner to us incomprehensible and inexplicable, he bore the weight of the sins of the whole world” (Mediation and Atonement, ch. 21). I don’t think we can begin to understand the magnitude of what He went through for us, although the revelations give us glimpses.
Mark records an interesting little detail, not mentioned by the other gospel writers, about the suffering Jesus faced in Gethsemane: “And he taketh with him Peter and James and John, and began to be sore amazed, and to be very heavy” (Mark 14:33). Sore amazed. The Greek renders this passage as “amazed, awestruck, astonished.” Here was the Savior of the world, knowing full well what He had to face, the cup He had to drink, and yet even He was amazed, awestruck, astonished at the weight of it all, of how terrible it was, of how exquisite it would be.
Some 1,800 years later He would talk of that experience: “Therefore, I command you to repent—repent, lest I smite you by the rod of my mouth, and by my wrath, and by my anger, and your sufferings be sore—how sore you know not, how exquisite you know not, how hard to bear you know not.
“For behold, I, God, have suffered these things for all, that they might not suffer if they would repent;
“But if they would not repent they must suffer even as I;
“Which suffering caused myself, even God, the greatest of all, to tremble because of pain, and to bleed at every pore, and to suffer both body and spirit—and would that I might not drink the bitter cup, and shrink—
“Nevertheless, glory be to the Father, and I partook and finished my preparations unto the children of men” (D&C 19:15–19).
That was the price He paid for us, just as similarly the Prophet Joseph Smith gave his life to seal his witness of the reality of the Father and the Son and all that they communicated through him as the Prophet of the Restoration, which “cost the best blood of the nineteenth century to bring them forth for the salvation of a ruined world” (D&C 135:6). There is mention again of the cost.
I am grateful beyond all ability to express for the price that has been paid—not only by the Prophet Joseph Smith, but by all the faithful Saints who have gone before in this dispensation who have made possible what we enjoy here today. I thank the Father and His beloved Son for Their priceless gift, the pearl of great price, that opens the gate to our everlasting salvation in Their presence.
Showing posts with label Jesus Christ. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Jesus Christ. Show all posts
Thursday, August 28, 2008
69. Seeing with an Eye of Faith
A talk I gave in the Bountiful Twentieth Ward at Michael’s missionary farewell on Sunday, August 30, 1992, before he began his mission to the Brazil Manaus Mission. Concerning the writing of the talk I recorded the following in my journal that same day: “Last Thursday about 4:30 in the morning I awoke with some thoughts running through my head about seeing with an eye of faith and felt the distinct impression that I was to get up right then, as opposed to waiting until a more reasonable hour, to look up some scriptures and start writing a talk for sacrament meeting. Between 4:30 and 6:30 that morning I wrote the following talk and was exhausted the rest of the day and the next day. After writing it, I didn't look at or even think about the talk until last night when I read it to Michael to see if it still sounded as good by the light of day as it did at 4:30 in the morning. It did, and I read it today in sacrament meeting, the first time I've ever read an entire talk in church. This is the talk. . . . Tonight as I was telling Claudia the circumstances of coming to write the talk, and the obvious inspiration involved, she was touched deeply by what I said about her efforts during the nineteen years Michael has been growing up and took it, I think rightly so, as evidence of the Lord's love and acceptance of her efforts. That’s a nice feeling to have.”
I am thrilled beyond measure that Michael has been called to Brazil, where I served twenty-plus years ago, to a land and among a people that I love dearly. I want all of you here today to know that it has been a great privilege and blessing in my life these past nineteen years to be honored to be the father of Michael Adam Cleverly. He is a covenant child, prayed here by his mother, who like Hannah of old promised him to the Lord and His service.
The Book of Mormon contains an imagery, an insight into faith that, as far as I can tell, is unique in all of our scriptures. In three places it refers to seeing “with an eye of faith.” As far as I can find, that phrase occurs nowhere else in the scriptures.
Alma, speaking to the Saints in Zarahemla, asked these penetrating questions, which are well for each of us to ask ourselves: “Do ye exercise faith in the redemption of him who created you? Do you look forward with an eye of faith, and view this mortal body raised in immortality, and this corruption raised in incorruption, to stand before God to be judged according to the deeds which have been done in the mortal body?” (Alma 5:15; emphasis added).
And then, about a decade later, this same Alma, preaching among what the record calls “the poor class of people” (Alma 32:2), compares the word to a seed and invites the people to experiment upon it, and says—“And thus, if ye will not nourish the word, looking forward with an eye of faith to the fruit thereof, ye can never pluck of the fruit of the tree of life” (Alma 32:40; emphasis added).
And finally, nearly five centuries later, as Moroni abridges the record of the Jaredites, he writes this inspired summary: “And there were many whose faith was so exceedingly strong, even before Christ came, who could not be kept from within the veil, but truly saw with their eyes the things which they had beheld with an eye of faith, and they were glad” (Ether 12:19; emphasis added).
Looking forward with an eye of faith. Seeing with their eyes the things which they had beheld with an eye of faith.
Let me give two simple illustrations of this principle: In the opening chapters of the Book of Mormon, we read how after traipsing through the desert for some eight years, Lehi and his and his often-less-than-enthusiastic family come to the borders of the sea (to a land, by the way, which they called Bountiful), and little brother Nephi is commanded to build a ship. Nephi knows nothing about building ships. Surviving in the desert, perhaps yes; but building ships, nothing. I don’t know about you, but if I were to build a ship and had that huge ocean staring me in the face, it would take a remarkable leap of faith to want to get in the thing after it was finished and worry about whether it was going to make it.
But Nephi doesn’t hesitate for a minute. Earlier he had seen a panoramic vision of the future of his people upon the promised land, and so he moves forward with what the Lord has commanded him. He has seen with an eye of faith. If his descendants are on the promised land, they apparently have to get there somehow, so he knows the ship won’t spring a leak fifty miles out from shore and everyone drown in the depths of the sea. He has seen with an eye of faith.
A second illustration: Nineteen years ago this Wednesday, Claudia lay in a hospital bed in Provo with her firstborn son in her arms, just hours old, counting his fingers and toes (as I suppose new mothers do), but even more importantly thinking ahead, among other things, to this very day. She was planning in her mind the future course of his life, envisioning his serving a mission, looking forward with an eye of faith. And so what does she spend the next nineteen years doing? The kinds of things the Lord’s prophets have told parents to do to get their sons ready and worthy to serve missions. She has acted in faith, seeing with her eyes the things which she had beheld with the eye of faith.
The Prophet Joseph Smith taught that faith was a principle of action and a principle of power. It is the Lord’s intent to save us. That’s what His work is all about. That’s what He’s promised to do. And He has sufficient power to do what He says He will do.
The only thing, as I understand it, that can prevent His saving us is our own selves, because He’s granted us our agency and we’re busy choosing every moment of our lives whether we want Him on the one hand or the things of the world on the other. We can’t have both. They’re mutually exclusive.
And that is another principal message of the Book of Mormon: we can set our hearts on the Lord, or we can set our hearts on the world and its riches and fine apparel and spacious buildings and the lusts of the flesh and on and on. But we can’t have both. We have to face one direction or the other.
Elder Boyd K. Packer, in an address some years ago to priesthood leaders, asked the question: “Which way do you face?” We can’t face both directions.
So, what do we see with our eye of faith? Do we envision, as Alma taught, “Can you imagine to yourselves that ye hear the voice of the Lord, saying unto you, in that day; Come unto me ye blessed, for behold, your works have been the works of righteousness upon the face of the earth?” (Alma 5:16).
Can we look forward with an eye of faith and imagine ourselves saved in the celestial kingdom of God? I suspect that if we can’t, we may not in fact be there. Because, if there is any message at all I get from the Book of Mormon, it’s that the Lord will give each one of us exactly what we desire.
And that brings us down to the precise reason Michael is going off to Brazil to preach the gospel. In the first section of the Doctrine and Covenants, the Lord says that “the weak things of the world shall come forth and break down the mighty and strong ones” (D&C 1:19), and He’s talking of course about missionaries just like Michael, and one of the reasons is “that faith also might increase in the earth” (D&C 1:21).
And the reason that the Lord wants faith to increase in the earth is so that more of His children will come unto Christ and be saved. Faith leads to repentance, and repentance leads to the ordinances of the gospel—starting with baptism—and that’s how a person comes unto Christ.
The doctrinal basis of missionary work is contained in the Savior’s statement to Nicodemus: “Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born of water and of the spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God” (John 3:5). The kingdom of God referred to here is the celestial kingdom.
Let me quote here from a talk Elder Dallin H. Oaks gave earlier this summer to new missionaries and mission presidents at the MTC:
“We do not preach and teach in order to ‘bring people into the Church’ or to increase the membership of the Church. We do not preach and teach just to persuade people to live better lives. We honor and appreciate the many ministers and others who are involved in the kind of ministry that makes bad men good and good men better. That is important, but we offer something more. You can qualify for the terrestrial kingdom instead of the telestial kingdom without the aid of this Church. We are concerned with a higher destination.
“The purpose of our missionary work is to help the children of God fulfill a condition prescribed by our Savior and Redeemer. We preach and teach in order to baptize the children of God so that they can be saved in the celestial kingdom instead of being damned in a lesser kingdom. We do missionary work in order to baptize. That is the doctrinal basis of missionary work” (“Baptism, the Atonement, and the Doctrinal Basis of Missionary Work,” MTC devotional message, June 23, 1992, 2).
Let me digress here for a moment. The eleventh chapter of 3 Nephi in the Book of Mormon records the initial message the resurrected Savior gave when appeared to the Nephites. Just think what the Nephites had been through: cataclysmic destructions had just rearranged the entire landscape (I think that was to get their attention), and now the Savior is there and speaking.
We don’t have the time today to read it, but 13 times in that eleventh chapter the Savior uses the word baptism. For 600 years the Nephites had been looking forward to this moment: their prophets taught about it in their conferences, the faithful Nephite parents had mentioned it in their family home evenings, and here He is (the very God of the universe), and He talks to them over and over and over about baptism:
“And whosoever believeth in me, and is baptized, the same shall be saved; and they are they who shall inherit the kingdom of God” (3 Nephi 11:33).
And so to continue quoting from Elder Oaks:
“Our preaching and teaching is unto baptism. . . . Our missionary work and our baptisms are designed to offer all mankind the means of overcoming what we call spiritual death.
“. . . Baptism is a requirement, but why? Why is it necessary to be baptized in this way and by one holding authority? I do not know. But what I do know is that the remission of sins is only made possible by the atoning sacrifice of our Savior, Jesus Christ, and that he has prescribed that condition, again and again. His sacrifice paid the price for my sins, and he has prescribed the conditions upon which I can be saved by his payment. That is reason enough for me.
“. . . As the prophets of this dispensation have told us, the missionaries’ purpose of being in the mission field ‘is to save souls, to baptize converts,’ which is to open the doors of the celestial kingdom to the sons and daughters of God.
“No one else can do this.
“Other churches cannot do it.
“Good Christian living cannot do it.
“Good faith, good desires, and good reasoning cannot do it.
“Only the priesthood of God can administer a baptism that will satisfy the divine decree that ‘Except a man be born of water and of the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God’ (John 3:5).
“The doctrinal basis of missionary work is the word of God, revealed in every age, that man cannot be saved in the celestial kingdom without the atoning sacrifice of Jesus Christ, and that the only way to lay claim to the merits of that atonement is to follow the command of its author: ‘Repent, and be baptized every one of you’ (Acts 2:38).” (“Baptism, the Atonement, and the Doctrinal Basis of Missionary Work,” MTC devotional message, June 23, 1992, 3, 8).
Now, let me conclude with this instruction from the Lord, given through the Prophet Joseph Smith in June 1829, nearly a year before the Church was organized: “And now, behold, I say unto you, that the thing which will be of the most worth unto you will be to declare repentance unto this people, that you may bring souls unto me, that you may rest with them in the kingdom of my Father” (D&C 15:6; 16:6).
That applies to all of us. And may that be our happy lot is my humble prayer. I want all of you here today to know, as I think you do, that I love the Lord Jesus Christ, I love His gospel, I love His servants, and I delight in His word. I close with just one verse of a hymn that I have come to love very much:
And when I think that God, his Son not sparing,
Sent him to die, I scarce can take it in,
That on the cross my burden gladly bearing
He bled and died to take away my sin,
Then sings my soul, my Savior God to thee,
How great thou art! How great thou art!
(Stuart K. Hine, Hymns [1985], 86)
In the name of Jesus Christ, amen.
I am thrilled beyond measure that Michael has been called to Brazil, where I served twenty-plus years ago, to a land and among a people that I love dearly. I want all of you here today to know that it has been a great privilege and blessing in my life these past nineteen years to be honored to be the father of Michael Adam Cleverly. He is a covenant child, prayed here by his mother, who like Hannah of old promised him to the Lord and His service.
The Book of Mormon contains an imagery, an insight into faith that, as far as I can tell, is unique in all of our scriptures. In three places it refers to seeing “with an eye of faith.” As far as I can find, that phrase occurs nowhere else in the scriptures.
Alma, speaking to the Saints in Zarahemla, asked these penetrating questions, which are well for each of us to ask ourselves: “Do ye exercise faith in the redemption of him who created you? Do you look forward with an eye of faith, and view this mortal body raised in immortality, and this corruption raised in incorruption, to stand before God to be judged according to the deeds which have been done in the mortal body?” (Alma 5:15; emphasis added).
And then, about a decade later, this same Alma, preaching among what the record calls “the poor class of people” (Alma 32:2), compares the word to a seed and invites the people to experiment upon it, and says—“And thus, if ye will not nourish the word, looking forward with an eye of faith to the fruit thereof, ye can never pluck of the fruit of the tree of life” (Alma 32:40; emphasis added).
And finally, nearly five centuries later, as Moroni abridges the record of the Jaredites, he writes this inspired summary: “And there were many whose faith was so exceedingly strong, even before Christ came, who could not be kept from within the veil, but truly saw with their eyes the things which they had beheld with an eye of faith, and they were glad” (Ether 12:19; emphasis added).
Looking forward with an eye of faith. Seeing with their eyes the things which they had beheld with an eye of faith.
Let me give two simple illustrations of this principle: In the opening chapters of the Book of Mormon, we read how after traipsing through the desert for some eight years, Lehi and his and his often-less-than-enthusiastic family come to the borders of the sea (to a land, by the way, which they called Bountiful), and little brother Nephi is commanded to build a ship. Nephi knows nothing about building ships. Surviving in the desert, perhaps yes; but building ships, nothing. I don’t know about you, but if I were to build a ship and had that huge ocean staring me in the face, it would take a remarkable leap of faith to want to get in the thing after it was finished and worry about whether it was going to make it.
But Nephi doesn’t hesitate for a minute. Earlier he had seen a panoramic vision of the future of his people upon the promised land, and so he moves forward with what the Lord has commanded him. He has seen with an eye of faith. If his descendants are on the promised land, they apparently have to get there somehow, so he knows the ship won’t spring a leak fifty miles out from shore and everyone drown in the depths of the sea. He has seen with an eye of faith.
A second illustration: Nineteen years ago this Wednesday, Claudia lay in a hospital bed in Provo with her firstborn son in her arms, just hours old, counting his fingers and toes (as I suppose new mothers do), but even more importantly thinking ahead, among other things, to this very day. She was planning in her mind the future course of his life, envisioning his serving a mission, looking forward with an eye of faith. And so what does she spend the next nineteen years doing? The kinds of things the Lord’s prophets have told parents to do to get their sons ready and worthy to serve missions. She has acted in faith, seeing with her eyes the things which she had beheld with the eye of faith.
The Prophet Joseph Smith taught that faith was a principle of action and a principle of power. It is the Lord’s intent to save us. That’s what His work is all about. That’s what He’s promised to do. And He has sufficient power to do what He says He will do.
The only thing, as I understand it, that can prevent His saving us is our own selves, because He’s granted us our agency and we’re busy choosing every moment of our lives whether we want Him on the one hand or the things of the world on the other. We can’t have both. They’re mutually exclusive.
And that is another principal message of the Book of Mormon: we can set our hearts on the Lord, or we can set our hearts on the world and its riches and fine apparel and spacious buildings and the lusts of the flesh and on and on. But we can’t have both. We have to face one direction or the other.
Elder Boyd K. Packer, in an address some years ago to priesthood leaders, asked the question: “Which way do you face?” We can’t face both directions.
So, what do we see with our eye of faith? Do we envision, as Alma taught, “Can you imagine to yourselves that ye hear the voice of the Lord, saying unto you, in that day; Come unto me ye blessed, for behold, your works have been the works of righteousness upon the face of the earth?” (Alma 5:16).
Can we look forward with an eye of faith and imagine ourselves saved in the celestial kingdom of God? I suspect that if we can’t, we may not in fact be there. Because, if there is any message at all I get from the Book of Mormon, it’s that the Lord will give each one of us exactly what we desire.
And that brings us down to the precise reason Michael is going off to Brazil to preach the gospel. In the first section of the Doctrine and Covenants, the Lord says that “the weak things of the world shall come forth and break down the mighty and strong ones” (D&C 1:19), and He’s talking of course about missionaries just like Michael, and one of the reasons is “that faith also might increase in the earth” (D&C 1:21).
And the reason that the Lord wants faith to increase in the earth is so that more of His children will come unto Christ and be saved. Faith leads to repentance, and repentance leads to the ordinances of the gospel—starting with baptism—and that’s how a person comes unto Christ.
The doctrinal basis of missionary work is contained in the Savior’s statement to Nicodemus: “Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born of water and of the spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God” (John 3:5). The kingdom of God referred to here is the celestial kingdom.
Let me quote here from a talk Elder Dallin H. Oaks gave earlier this summer to new missionaries and mission presidents at the MTC:
“We do not preach and teach in order to ‘bring people into the Church’ or to increase the membership of the Church. We do not preach and teach just to persuade people to live better lives. We honor and appreciate the many ministers and others who are involved in the kind of ministry that makes bad men good and good men better. That is important, but we offer something more. You can qualify for the terrestrial kingdom instead of the telestial kingdom without the aid of this Church. We are concerned with a higher destination.
“The purpose of our missionary work is to help the children of God fulfill a condition prescribed by our Savior and Redeemer. We preach and teach in order to baptize the children of God so that they can be saved in the celestial kingdom instead of being damned in a lesser kingdom. We do missionary work in order to baptize. That is the doctrinal basis of missionary work” (“Baptism, the Atonement, and the Doctrinal Basis of Missionary Work,” MTC devotional message, June 23, 1992, 2).
Let me digress here for a moment. The eleventh chapter of 3 Nephi in the Book of Mormon records the initial message the resurrected Savior gave when appeared to the Nephites. Just think what the Nephites had been through: cataclysmic destructions had just rearranged the entire landscape (I think that was to get their attention), and now the Savior is there and speaking.
We don’t have the time today to read it, but 13 times in that eleventh chapter the Savior uses the word baptism. For 600 years the Nephites had been looking forward to this moment: their prophets taught about it in their conferences, the faithful Nephite parents had mentioned it in their family home evenings, and here He is (the very God of the universe), and He talks to them over and over and over about baptism:
“And whosoever believeth in me, and is baptized, the same shall be saved; and they are they who shall inherit the kingdom of God” (3 Nephi 11:33).
And so to continue quoting from Elder Oaks:
“Our preaching and teaching is unto baptism. . . . Our missionary work and our baptisms are designed to offer all mankind the means of overcoming what we call spiritual death.
“. . . Baptism is a requirement, but why? Why is it necessary to be baptized in this way and by one holding authority? I do not know. But what I do know is that the remission of sins is only made possible by the atoning sacrifice of our Savior, Jesus Christ, and that he has prescribed that condition, again and again. His sacrifice paid the price for my sins, and he has prescribed the conditions upon which I can be saved by his payment. That is reason enough for me.
“. . . As the prophets of this dispensation have told us, the missionaries’ purpose of being in the mission field ‘is to save souls, to baptize converts,’ which is to open the doors of the celestial kingdom to the sons and daughters of God.
“No one else can do this.
“Other churches cannot do it.
“Good Christian living cannot do it.
“Good faith, good desires, and good reasoning cannot do it.
“Only the priesthood of God can administer a baptism that will satisfy the divine decree that ‘Except a man be born of water and of the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God’ (John 3:5).
“The doctrinal basis of missionary work is the word of God, revealed in every age, that man cannot be saved in the celestial kingdom without the atoning sacrifice of Jesus Christ, and that the only way to lay claim to the merits of that atonement is to follow the command of its author: ‘Repent, and be baptized every one of you’ (Acts 2:38).” (“Baptism, the Atonement, and the Doctrinal Basis of Missionary Work,” MTC devotional message, June 23, 1992, 3, 8).
Now, let me conclude with this instruction from the Lord, given through the Prophet Joseph Smith in June 1829, nearly a year before the Church was organized: “And now, behold, I say unto you, that the thing which will be of the most worth unto you will be to declare repentance unto this people, that you may bring souls unto me, that you may rest with them in the kingdom of my Father” (D&C 15:6; 16:6).
That applies to all of us. And may that be our happy lot is my humble prayer. I want all of you here today to know, as I think you do, that I love the Lord Jesus Christ, I love His gospel, I love His servants, and I delight in His word. I close with just one verse of a hymn that I have come to love very much:
And when I think that God, his Son not sparing,
Sent him to die, I scarce can take it in,
That on the cross my burden gladly bearing
He bled and died to take away my sin,
Then sings my soul, my Savior God to thee,
How great thou art! How great thou art!
(Stuart K. Hine, Hymns [1985], 86)
In the name of Jesus Christ, amen.
67. Because of Jesus, We Will Live Again
A short talk given by seven-year-old Eliza on Sunday morning, May 20, 1990, in the Primary of the Bountiful Twentieth Ward. The talk was printed in the May 21, 1990, Family Journal. Eliza at the time was just about to finish her Kindergarten year in school.
Last Monday my dad’s brother [Ray] died. I went to see him. It looked like he was asleep. His spirit went up to the spirit world. The spirit makes you run and jump and play.
Because of Jesus our spirits will come back. Each of us will die, and because of Jesus we will get resurrected.
I’m thankful for Jesus. In the name of Jesus Christ, amen.
Last Monday my dad’s brother [Ray] died. I went to see him. It looked like he was asleep. His spirit went up to the spirit world. The spirit makes you run and jump and play.
Because of Jesus our spirits will come back. Each of us will die, and because of Jesus we will get resurrected.
I’m thankful for Jesus. In the name of Jesus Christ, amen.
66. Easter
A talk given by eight-year-old Camilla in the Primary of the Bountiful Twentieth Ward on the morning of Easter Sunday, April 15, 1990. The talk was printed on the cover of the Family Journal on Monday, April 16, 1990. Camilla at the time was a second grader at Bountiful Elementary.
When Jesus was being crucified in Jerusalem, there were many things happening in America. There were floods and earthquakes and storms, and it was dark for three whole days. The people could not see the sun or light candles, and they were scared.
After three days the darkness was gone, and then they could see. They looked around and saw that many people had died.
Then they heard a voice. It was Heavenly Father. He said, “Behold my Beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased, in whom I have glorified my name—hear ye him” (3 Nephi 11:7).
And then they looked up and saw a bright light and saw a man coming down from the light. He said:
“Behold, I am Jesus Christ, whom the prophets testified shall come into the world.
“And behold, I am the light and the life of the world; and I have drunk out of that bitter cup which the Father hath given me, and have glorified the Father in taking upon me the sins of the world, in the which I have suffered the will of the Father in all things from the beginning” (3 Nephi 11:10–11).
He showed the people his hands and his feet. He taught them many things. And he blessed the children. It was a very happy time.
I know that Jesus lives and loves us and wants us to keep His commandments. In the name of Jesus Christ, amen.
When Jesus was being crucified in Jerusalem, there were many things happening in America. There were floods and earthquakes and storms, and it was dark for three whole days. The people could not see the sun or light candles, and they were scared.
After three days the darkness was gone, and then they could see. They looked around and saw that many people had died.
Then they heard a voice. It was Heavenly Father. He said, “Behold my Beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased, in whom I have glorified my name—hear ye him” (3 Nephi 11:7).
And then they looked up and saw a bright light and saw a man coming down from the light. He said:
“Behold, I am Jesus Christ, whom the prophets testified shall come into the world.
“And behold, I am the light and the life of the world; and I have drunk out of that bitter cup which the Father hath given me, and have glorified the Father in taking upon me the sins of the world, in the which I have suffered the will of the Father in all things from the beginning” (3 Nephi 11:10–11).
He showed the people his hands and his feet. He taught them many things. And he blessed the children. It was a very happy time.
I know that Jesus lives and loves us and wants us to keep His commandments. In the name of Jesus Christ, amen.
Saturday, August 23, 2008
65. Jesus
A talk by six-year-old Eliza Cleverly given on Sunday morning, December 3, 1989, in the Primary of the Bountiful Twentieth Ward, Bountiful Utah South Stake. During her talk she showed pictures from events in the life of the Savior. The same afternoon Eliza also bore her testimony in fast and testimony meeting. At the time she was in Kindergarten.
I’m going to talk about Jesus. The angels came to tell the shepherds the baby Jesus was born so they could come and worship Him.
Jesus was baptized in the Jordan River, and He wants us all to get baptized.
Here is Jesus teaching the people the gospel and telling them about the commandments.
Here is Jesus healing the blind.
Here is Jesus in a boat during the storm when He said, “Peace, be calm.”
Here is Jesus praying in the Garden before He got crucified.
Here is Jesus after He got resurrected, and Mary was the first one to see Him.
Jesus was showing His disciples His hands and His feet.
He took His disciples out of Jerusalem and told them to teach the gospel to all the people. He said, “I'll be back some day.”
Here’s Jesus coming back.
Jesus wants us to obey the commandments. Since it’s almost Christmas, I want you to always remember Jesus and when He was crucified for us. In the name of Jesus Christ, amen.
I’m going to talk about Jesus. The angels came to tell the shepherds the baby Jesus was born so they could come and worship Him.
Jesus was baptized in the Jordan River, and He wants us all to get baptized.
Here is Jesus teaching the people the gospel and telling them about the commandments.
Here is Jesus healing the blind.
Here is Jesus in a boat during the storm when He said, “Peace, be calm.”
Here is Jesus praying in the Garden before He got crucified.
Here is Jesus after He got resurrected, and Mary was the first one to see Him.
Jesus was showing His disciples His hands and His feet.
He took His disciples out of Jerusalem and told them to teach the gospel to all the people. He said, “I'll be back some day.”
Here’s Jesus coming back.
Jesus wants us to obey the commandments. Since it’s almost Christmas, I want you to always remember Jesus and when He was crucified for us. In the name of Jesus Christ, amen.
64. Atonement, Crucifixion, and Resurrection
An edited version of a talk I gave as a high councilor in the sacrament meeting of the Bountiful Twentieth Ward, Bountiful Utah South Stake, on Sunday, November 12, 1989. I had been called to serve on the high council in March 1987, after serving for about twenty months as second counselor in the bishopric of the Bountiful Twentieth Ward.
Today I want to speak to the young people who are here, those who do not yet know for themselves—independent of their parents or others—that Jesus was the Savior and that His gospel has been restored in our day and that this work is true. And I speak to any others who are still searching, still wondering, still trying to figure out what the gospel is all about. The rest of you can listen if you want.
By assignment, I have been asked to speak today on the atonement and crucifixion and resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ. That is an awesome responsibility.
The Prophet Joseph Smith once declared, “The fundamental principles of our religion are the testimony of the Apostles and Prophets, concerning Jesus Christ, that He died, was buried, and rose again the third day, and ascended into heaven; and all other things which pertain to our religion are only appendages to it” (Teachings, 121).
All other things which pertain to our religion are only appendages to it. All other things. These events—the Last Supper, the introduction of the sacrament, the Savior’s ordeal in the Garden of Gethsemane, the betrayal, the trial, the humiliation, the suffering, his hanging on the cross, his death and glorious resurrection—are the crowning events of Christ’s mortal ministry. They are at the center, the heart, the core of what our religion is all about.
Elder Bruce R. McConkie has said that “nothing in the entire plan of salvation compares in any way in importance with that most transcendent of all events, the atoning sacrifice of our Lord. It is the most important single thing that has ever occurred in the entire history of created things; it is the rock foundation upon which the gospel and all other things rest” (Mormon Doctrine [1966], 60; quoted by David B. Haight in Ensign, Nov. 1989, 60).
In 1935 the First Presidency of the Church—consisting then of Presidents Heber J. Grant, J. Reuben Clark, Jr., and David O. McKay—declared, “Two great truths must be accepted by mankind if they shall save themselves; first, that Jesus is the Christ, the Messiah, the Only Begotten, the very Son of God, whose atoning blood and resurrection save us from the physical and spiritual death brought to us by the Fall; and next, that God has again restored to the earth, in these last days, through the Prophet Joseph Smith, His holy Priesthood with the fulness of the everlasting gospel, for the salvation of all men on the earth. Without these truths man may not hope for the riches of the life hereafter” (Improvement Era, Apr. 1935, 194–95).
Hugh B. Brown, who for many years was a member of the Council of the Twelve and for some years a counselor in the First Presidency to President David O. McKay, had perhaps as profound an influence on my young life as any General Authority of that generation. I introduce my remarks today with a story that Elder Brown once told:
“I had a companion,” said Elder Brown, “a fellow officer, who was a very rich man, highly educated. He was a lawyer, had great power, was self-sufficient and he said to me as we often talked of religion (because he knew who I was), ‘There is nothing in life that I would not like to have that I cannot buy with money.’
“Shortly thereafter, he and I with two other officers were assigned to go to the city of Arras, France, which was under siege. It had been evacuated, and upon arrival there we thought there was no one in the city. We noted that the fire of the enemy was concentrated on the cathedral. We made our way to that cathedral and went in. There we found a little woman kneeling at the altar. We paused, respecting her devotion. Then shortly she arose, wrapped her little shawl around her frail shoulders, and came tottering down the aisle. The man among us who could speak better French said, ‘Are you in trouble?’
“She straightened her shoulders, pulled in her chin, and said, ‘No, I’m not in trouble. I was in trouble when I came in here, but I’ve left it at the altar.’
“‘And what was your trouble?’
“She said, ‘I received word this morning that my fifth son has given his life for France. Their father was first, and then one by one all of them have gone. But,’ straightening again, ‘I have no trouble; I’ve left it there because I believe in the im¬mortality of the soul. I believe that men will live again after death. I know that I shall meet my loved ones again.’
“When the little soul went out, there were tears in the eyes of the men who were there, and the one who had said to me that he could purchase anything with money turned to me and said, ‘You and I have seen men in battle display courage and valor that is admirable, but in all my life I have never seen anything to compare with the faith, the fortitude, and the courage of that little woman.’
“Then he said, ‘I would give all the money I have if I could have something of what she has.’”
I would give all the money I have if I could have something of what she has. A Book of Mormon king expressed the same thing in different words: “I will give away all my sins to know thee, and that I may be raised from the dead, and be saved at the last day” (Alma 22:18). And, of course, that is precisely what He does require—that we give away all our sins to know Him and to be saved at the last day.
In the Garden of Eden, Adam introduced death into the world—first, a temporal or physical death, the separation of our spirits from our bodies, and second, a spiritual death, which is a separation or an alienation of our spirits from God.
We are in a fallen state, the Book of Mormon teaches us, and without the Savior’s atoning sacrifice to lift us out of that fallen condition, we would be hopelessly, eternally lost. In and of ourselves, we could never overcome the effects of the temporal death or the spiritual death. When our bodies die and are placed in the grave, they would remain there forever, and there would never be a resurrection. And we would be banished eternally from the presence of our Heavenly Father, for no unclean thing can dwell in His presence, and all of us who have reached the age of accountability have sinned and have fallen short and have become unclean.
Elder Boyd K. Packer some years ago, in what he called the most important message he had ever delivered, spoke of the Atonement of Jesus Christ and how He stands as the Mediator between us in our sinful, fallen state and the demands of the eternal law of justice.
It is as though we, in our youthful foolishness, had contracted a great debt quite literally beyond our ability to repay. We knew someday the contract would fall due and we would have to pay, but that day seemed so distant, so far in the future, that we would worry about it later.
Well, as it always happens, the day of accounting arrived, and the contract was due. And our creditor arrived to demand payment. We could not pay; he insisted that we pay.
“Will you show me no mercy?” we pleaded.
“Ah, but mercy is always so one-sided,” he replied.
And there we stood facing each other, neither party wanting to give, our creditor demanding that which he claimed was justly his, we the debtor begging for mercy. It seemed that both could not be satisfied.
And then a Mediator steps forward. He says to the creditor, “I will pay you. It will be just. You can ask for no more.” And turning to us, the debtor, He says, “I will extend mercy to you, but on my own terms.”
And what are those terms? Simply stated, that we have faith in Him, that we repent of our sins, that we express a public willingness to humble ourselves and follow Him into the waters of baptism as a witness that we desire to take His name upon us and follow Him always, that we receive His Holy Spirit to purge out all the uncleanliness within us, that we endure in faith to the end of our lives.
A small price to pay on our part considering what it cost on His part.
Well, His atonement, worked out in the Garden of Gethsemane and on the cross, paid the price. He gave His life for us—for you, for me.
Some lines from one of the great hymns of Christianity, now in our hymnbook, express better than I ever could the overwhelming love and awe and wonder I feel:
And when I think that God, his Son not sparing,
Sent him to die, I scarce can take it in,
That on the cross my burden gladly bearing
He bled and died to take away my sin.
(Stuart K. Hine, Hymns [1985], 86)
Elder McConkie, in the April 1985 general conference, just days before his death delivered a powerful witness of the Lord Jesus Christ:
“His atonement is the most transcendent event that ever has or will ever occur from Creation’s dawn through all ages of a never-ending eternity.
“It is the supreme act of goodness and grace that only a God could perform. . . .
“As pertaining to Jesus Christ, I testify that he is the Son of the Living God and was crucified for the sins of the world. He is our Lord, our God, and our King. This I know of myself independent of any other person.
“I am one of his witnesses, and in a coming day I shall feel the nail marks in his hands and in his feet and shall wet his feet with my tears.
“But I shall not know any better then than I know now that he is God’s Almighty Son, that he is our Savior and Redeemer, and that salvation comes in and through his atoning blood and in no other way” (Ensign, May 1985, 11).
No one who heard Elder McConkie bear that powerful testimony will ever forget it. I have thought about that witness often since I heard it, and I have concluded I can say the same thing: I am one of His witnesses, and in a coming day I too shall wet His feet with my tears, and I shall not know any better then than I know now that He is God’s Almighty Son and that salvation comes in and through His atoning blood and in no other way. The Holy Ghost has revealed that knowledge to my soul.
“How do you prove spiritual truths?” asked Elder McConkie. “How do you prove the resurrection? How do you prove that the Father and the Son appeared to Joseph Smith? Or that any of the angelic ministrants came who gave him keys and powers and authorities as this was established? Well, as pertaining to Jesus’ day: If Jesus rose from the dead, he is the Son of God! If he is the Son of God, his gospel is true! If his gospel is true, men must believe and obey at their peril! They must accept his truths and be baptized and live the law, or they will be damned! Now what this comes down to is that if the apostles in that day had the power and ability to convince men that Jesus rose from the dead, then they had established the truth and divinity of the Work! And how do you prove the resurrection? As we are going to see, you prove it by testimony” (“The Life of Christ,” address given at the seminar for new mission presidents and wives, June 22, 1979, 2).
Then Elder McConkie proceeds to recount some of the scriptural witnesses of the Savior’s resurrection as recorded in the New Testament. The first was Mary Magdalene, the first mortal to see a resurrected person. She became the first witness of the resurrection. And then there were appearances to other women who had followed Him and to Peter, who was to be the president of the Church.
Later, in the afternoon of that first Easter day, the resurrected Lord appeared to two disciples on their way from Jerusalem to Emmaus, a village apparently seven or eight miles from Jerusalem, about the distance from Bountiful to Salt Lake City. As the two disciples walked along, a stranger joined them and asked them what they were talking about. What? Are you a stranger here? Don’t you know what’s going on? Don’t you listen to the news? (see Luke 24:18–21).
Then He said to them, “O fools, and slow of heart to believe all that the prophets have spoken” (Luke 24:25), and He proceeded for the next couple of hours as they walked along to unfold the ancient scriptures concerning Himself. As they arrived at Emmaus, Jesus made as though He would go on, but they insisted that He stop and eat with them. Abide with us, they said, ’tis eventide (see Luke 24:29). So He accepted their invitation, and as He was blessing and breaking the bread the eyes of their understanding were opened and they recognized the resurrected Jesus, and then He disappeared out of their sight.
“Did not our hearts burn within us?” they said to each other as they hurried back to Jerusalem to join an assembly of other disciples who were gathered together that first Easter evening. And as they brought the joyful tale that Jesus was indeed risen, the resurrected Lord appeared again and showed them his hands and his feet and ate in their presence.
There were various other appearances, some of which are recorded in the New Testament record and also in Third Nephi in the Book of Mormon—all affirming that Jesus was indeed the risen Lord, the resurrected Savior, the very Son of God, who died to save us from the temporal and spiritual death that had been introduced into the world.
There is one other witness I want to mention. Elder David B. Haight, in the recent general conference just a month ago, shared a deeply personal and sacred experience he had last spring when he was unconscious after he had had his heart attack. Elder Haight said:
“During the hours and days that followed, there was impressed again and again upon my mind the eternal mission and exalted position of the Son of Man. I witness to you that He is Jesus the Christ, the Son of God, Savior to all, Redeemer of all mankind, Bestower of infinite love, mercy, and forgiveness, the Light and Life of the world” (Ensign, Nov. 1989, 59).
He then told of the panoramic view he had of the Savior’s earthly ministry: His baptism, His teaching, His healing the sick and lame, the mock trial, His crucifixion, His resurrection and ascension.
“There followed,” Elder Haight continued, “scenes of His earthly ministry to my mind in impressive detail, confirming scriptural eye-witness accounts. I was being taught, and the eyes of my understanding were opened by the Holy Spirit of God so as to behold many things.
“The first scene was of the Savior and His Apostles in the upper chamber on the eve of His betrayal. Following the Passover supper, He instructed and prepared the sacrament of the Lord’s Supper for His dearest friends as a remembrance of His coming sacrifice. It was so impressively portrayed to me—the overwhelming love of the Savior for each. I witnessed His thoughtful concern for significant details—the washing of the dusty feet of each Apostle, His breaking and blessing of the loaf of dark bread and blessing of the wine, then His dreadful disclosure that one would betray Him.
“He explained Judas’s departure and told the others of the events soon to take place.
“. . . My soul was taught over and over again the events of the betrayal, the mock trial, the scourging of the flesh of even on of the Godhead. I witnessed his struggling up the hill in His weakened condition carrying the cross and His being stretched upon it as it lay on the ground, that the crude spikes could be driven with a mallet into His hands and wrists and feet to secure His body as it hung on the cross for public display.
“Crucifixion—the horrible and painful death which He suffered—was chosen from the beginning. By that excruciating death, He descended below all things, as is recorded, that through His resurrection He would ascend above all things” (Ensign, Nov. 1989, 60).
Well, my young friends, what does all this mean? What does it have to do us here and now? What does it have to do with the way we view the world and understand the gospel? and how we treat others? and the way we live our lives?
At the beginning I shared a story told by Hugh B. Brown. When I was 18 years old, a freshman at Brigham Young University, I had one of the pivotal experiences of my life. President Brown, then a counselor in the First Presidency, spoke that fall at the October 1967 general conference. It was in the priesthood session, and President Brown said:
“O Father, help these young men who are listening tonight, when they go home to get on their knees and commit themselves to thee; and then they may know, and I promise them that they may know, that with thy help they need not fear the future” (Improvement Era, Dec. 1967, 92).
I went home that night, back to my room, and knelt down and offered my life to the Savior and committed everything I had—my time, my talents, my means, my energies—to the Lord for the building of His kingdom. I placed my life on the altar, just as the little woman we mentioned at the beginning placed her burdens on the altar. I have not always lived up to that commitment, but I have tried, and every time I have tried the Lord has blessed me with added blessings and understanding and knowledge and revelation.
So I urge you to go and do likewise. Get on your knees and plead with Heavenly Father to let you know these things are true, that Jesus really was and is all that has been said and written about Him, and that He really did do for us what we’ve talked about here today. Commit your lives to Him and His cause. Give Him everything you have.
That’s one thing we can do as a result of knowing these things. What’s another? Father Lehi—and this is in conclusion—Father Lehi taught his son Jacob: “Wherefore, redemption cometh in and through the Holy Messiah; for he is full of grace and truth.
“Behold, he offereth himself a sacrifice for sin, to answer the ends of the law, unto all those who have a broken heart and a contrite spirit; and unto none else can the ends of the law be answered.
“Wherefore, how great the importance to make these things known unto the inhabitants of the earth . . .” (2 Nephi 2:6–8).
How great the importance to make these things known unto the inhabitants of the earth! We have to be missionaries. We have to share these truths with all of our Father’s other children. We have to go out in the world and tell these things to every living creature.
“. . . Wherefore, how great the importance to make these things known unto the inhabitants of the earth, that they may know that there is no flesh that can dwell in the presence of God, save it be through the merits, and mercy, and grace of the Holy Messiah, who layeth down his life according to the flesh, and taketh it again by the power of the Spirit, that he may bring to pass the resurrection of the dead, being the first that should rise.
“Wherefore, he is the firstfruits unto God, inasmuch as he shall make intercession for all the children of men; and they that believe in him shall be saved” (2 Nephi 2:8–9).
Today I want to speak to the young people who are here, those who do not yet know for themselves—independent of their parents or others—that Jesus was the Savior and that His gospel has been restored in our day and that this work is true. And I speak to any others who are still searching, still wondering, still trying to figure out what the gospel is all about. The rest of you can listen if you want.
By assignment, I have been asked to speak today on the atonement and crucifixion and resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ. That is an awesome responsibility.
The Prophet Joseph Smith once declared, “The fundamental principles of our religion are the testimony of the Apostles and Prophets, concerning Jesus Christ, that He died, was buried, and rose again the third day, and ascended into heaven; and all other things which pertain to our religion are only appendages to it” (Teachings, 121).
All other things which pertain to our religion are only appendages to it. All other things. These events—the Last Supper, the introduction of the sacrament, the Savior’s ordeal in the Garden of Gethsemane, the betrayal, the trial, the humiliation, the suffering, his hanging on the cross, his death and glorious resurrection—are the crowning events of Christ’s mortal ministry. They are at the center, the heart, the core of what our religion is all about.
Elder Bruce R. McConkie has said that “nothing in the entire plan of salvation compares in any way in importance with that most transcendent of all events, the atoning sacrifice of our Lord. It is the most important single thing that has ever occurred in the entire history of created things; it is the rock foundation upon which the gospel and all other things rest” (Mormon Doctrine [1966], 60; quoted by David B. Haight in Ensign, Nov. 1989, 60).
In 1935 the First Presidency of the Church—consisting then of Presidents Heber J. Grant, J. Reuben Clark, Jr., and David O. McKay—declared, “Two great truths must be accepted by mankind if they shall save themselves; first, that Jesus is the Christ, the Messiah, the Only Begotten, the very Son of God, whose atoning blood and resurrection save us from the physical and spiritual death brought to us by the Fall; and next, that God has again restored to the earth, in these last days, through the Prophet Joseph Smith, His holy Priesthood with the fulness of the everlasting gospel, for the salvation of all men on the earth. Without these truths man may not hope for the riches of the life hereafter” (Improvement Era, Apr. 1935, 194–95).
Hugh B. Brown, who for many years was a member of the Council of the Twelve and for some years a counselor in the First Presidency to President David O. McKay, had perhaps as profound an influence on my young life as any General Authority of that generation. I introduce my remarks today with a story that Elder Brown once told:
“I had a companion,” said Elder Brown, “a fellow officer, who was a very rich man, highly educated. He was a lawyer, had great power, was self-sufficient and he said to me as we often talked of religion (because he knew who I was), ‘There is nothing in life that I would not like to have that I cannot buy with money.’
“Shortly thereafter, he and I with two other officers were assigned to go to the city of Arras, France, which was under siege. It had been evacuated, and upon arrival there we thought there was no one in the city. We noted that the fire of the enemy was concentrated on the cathedral. We made our way to that cathedral and went in. There we found a little woman kneeling at the altar. We paused, respecting her devotion. Then shortly she arose, wrapped her little shawl around her frail shoulders, and came tottering down the aisle. The man among us who could speak better French said, ‘Are you in trouble?’
“She straightened her shoulders, pulled in her chin, and said, ‘No, I’m not in trouble. I was in trouble when I came in here, but I’ve left it at the altar.’
“‘And what was your trouble?’
“She said, ‘I received word this morning that my fifth son has given his life for France. Their father was first, and then one by one all of them have gone. But,’ straightening again, ‘I have no trouble; I’ve left it there because I believe in the im¬mortality of the soul. I believe that men will live again after death. I know that I shall meet my loved ones again.’
“When the little soul went out, there were tears in the eyes of the men who were there, and the one who had said to me that he could purchase anything with money turned to me and said, ‘You and I have seen men in battle display courage and valor that is admirable, but in all my life I have never seen anything to compare with the faith, the fortitude, and the courage of that little woman.’
“Then he said, ‘I would give all the money I have if I could have something of what she has.’”
I would give all the money I have if I could have something of what she has. A Book of Mormon king expressed the same thing in different words: “I will give away all my sins to know thee, and that I may be raised from the dead, and be saved at the last day” (Alma 22:18). And, of course, that is precisely what He does require—that we give away all our sins to know Him and to be saved at the last day.
In the Garden of Eden, Adam introduced death into the world—first, a temporal or physical death, the separation of our spirits from our bodies, and second, a spiritual death, which is a separation or an alienation of our spirits from God.
We are in a fallen state, the Book of Mormon teaches us, and without the Savior’s atoning sacrifice to lift us out of that fallen condition, we would be hopelessly, eternally lost. In and of ourselves, we could never overcome the effects of the temporal death or the spiritual death. When our bodies die and are placed in the grave, they would remain there forever, and there would never be a resurrection. And we would be banished eternally from the presence of our Heavenly Father, for no unclean thing can dwell in His presence, and all of us who have reached the age of accountability have sinned and have fallen short and have become unclean.
Elder Boyd K. Packer some years ago, in what he called the most important message he had ever delivered, spoke of the Atonement of Jesus Christ and how He stands as the Mediator between us in our sinful, fallen state and the demands of the eternal law of justice.
It is as though we, in our youthful foolishness, had contracted a great debt quite literally beyond our ability to repay. We knew someday the contract would fall due and we would have to pay, but that day seemed so distant, so far in the future, that we would worry about it later.
Well, as it always happens, the day of accounting arrived, and the contract was due. And our creditor arrived to demand payment. We could not pay; he insisted that we pay.
“Will you show me no mercy?” we pleaded.
“Ah, but mercy is always so one-sided,” he replied.
And there we stood facing each other, neither party wanting to give, our creditor demanding that which he claimed was justly his, we the debtor begging for mercy. It seemed that both could not be satisfied.
And then a Mediator steps forward. He says to the creditor, “I will pay you. It will be just. You can ask for no more.” And turning to us, the debtor, He says, “I will extend mercy to you, but on my own terms.”
And what are those terms? Simply stated, that we have faith in Him, that we repent of our sins, that we express a public willingness to humble ourselves and follow Him into the waters of baptism as a witness that we desire to take His name upon us and follow Him always, that we receive His Holy Spirit to purge out all the uncleanliness within us, that we endure in faith to the end of our lives.
A small price to pay on our part considering what it cost on His part.
Well, His atonement, worked out in the Garden of Gethsemane and on the cross, paid the price. He gave His life for us—for you, for me.
Some lines from one of the great hymns of Christianity, now in our hymnbook, express better than I ever could the overwhelming love and awe and wonder I feel:
And when I think that God, his Son not sparing,
Sent him to die, I scarce can take it in,
That on the cross my burden gladly bearing
He bled and died to take away my sin.
(Stuart K. Hine, Hymns [1985], 86)
Elder McConkie, in the April 1985 general conference, just days before his death delivered a powerful witness of the Lord Jesus Christ:
“His atonement is the most transcendent event that ever has or will ever occur from Creation’s dawn through all ages of a never-ending eternity.
“It is the supreme act of goodness and grace that only a God could perform. . . .
“As pertaining to Jesus Christ, I testify that he is the Son of the Living God and was crucified for the sins of the world. He is our Lord, our God, and our King. This I know of myself independent of any other person.
“I am one of his witnesses, and in a coming day I shall feel the nail marks in his hands and in his feet and shall wet his feet with my tears.
“But I shall not know any better then than I know now that he is God’s Almighty Son, that he is our Savior and Redeemer, and that salvation comes in and through his atoning blood and in no other way” (Ensign, May 1985, 11).
No one who heard Elder McConkie bear that powerful testimony will ever forget it. I have thought about that witness often since I heard it, and I have concluded I can say the same thing: I am one of His witnesses, and in a coming day I too shall wet His feet with my tears, and I shall not know any better then than I know now that He is God’s Almighty Son and that salvation comes in and through His atoning blood and in no other way. The Holy Ghost has revealed that knowledge to my soul.
“How do you prove spiritual truths?” asked Elder McConkie. “How do you prove the resurrection? How do you prove that the Father and the Son appeared to Joseph Smith? Or that any of the angelic ministrants came who gave him keys and powers and authorities as this was established? Well, as pertaining to Jesus’ day: If Jesus rose from the dead, he is the Son of God! If he is the Son of God, his gospel is true! If his gospel is true, men must believe and obey at their peril! They must accept his truths and be baptized and live the law, or they will be damned! Now what this comes down to is that if the apostles in that day had the power and ability to convince men that Jesus rose from the dead, then they had established the truth and divinity of the Work! And how do you prove the resurrection? As we are going to see, you prove it by testimony” (“The Life of Christ,” address given at the seminar for new mission presidents and wives, June 22, 1979, 2).
Then Elder McConkie proceeds to recount some of the scriptural witnesses of the Savior’s resurrection as recorded in the New Testament. The first was Mary Magdalene, the first mortal to see a resurrected person. She became the first witness of the resurrection. And then there were appearances to other women who had followed Him and to Peter, who was to be the president of the Church.
Later, in the afternoon of that first Easter day, the resurrected Lord appeared to two disciples on their way from Jerusalem to Emmaus, a village apparently seven or eight miles from Jerusalem, about the distance from Bountiful to Salt Lake City. As the two disciples walked along, a stranger joined them and asked them what they were talking about. What? Are you a stranger here? Don’t you know what’s going on? Don’t you listen to the news? (see Luke 24:18–21).
Then He said to them, “O fools, and slow of heart to believe all that the prophets have spoken” (Luke 24:25), and He proceeded for the next couple of hours as they walked along to unfold the ancient scriptures concerning Himself. As they arrived at Emmaus, Jesus made as though He would go on, but they insisted that He stop and eat with them. Abide with us, they said, ’tis eventide (see Luke 24:29). So He accepted their invitation, and as He was blessing and breaking the bread the eyes of their understanding were opened and they recognized the resurrected Jesus, and then He disappeared out of their sight.
“Did not our hearts burn within us?” they said to each other as they hurried back to Jerusalem to join an assembly of other disciples who were gathered together that first Easter evening. And as they brought the joyful tale that Jesus was indeed risen, the resurrected Lord appeared again and showed them his hands and his feet and ate in their presence.
There were various other appearances, some of which are recorded in the New Testament record and also in Third Nephi in the Book of Mormon—all affirming that Jesus was indeed the risen Lord, the resurrected Savior, the very Son of God, who died to save us from the temporal and spiritual death that had been introduced into the world.
There is one other witness I want to mention. Elder David B. Haight, in the recent general conference just a month ago, shared a deeply personal and sacred experience he had last spring when he was unconscious after he had had his heart attack. Elder Haight said:
“During the hours and days that followed, there was impressed again and again upon my mind the eternal mission and exalted position of the Son of Man. I witness to you that He is Jesus the Christ, the Son of God, Savior to all, Redeemer of all mankind, Bestower of infinite love, mercy, and forgiveness, the Light and Life of the world” (Ensign, Nov. 1989, 59).
He then told of the panoramic view he had of the Savior’s earthly ministry: His baptism, His teaching, His healing the sick and lame, the mock trial, His crucifixion, His resurrection and ascension.
“There followed,” Elder Haight continued, “scenes of His earthly ministry to my mind in impressive detail, confirming scriptural eye-witness accounts. I was being taught, and the eyes of my understanding were opened by the Holy Spirit of God so as to behold many things.
“The first scene was of the Savior and His Apostles in the upper chamber on the eve of His betrayal. Following the Passover supper, He instructed and prepared the sacrament of the Lord’s Supper for His dearest friends as a remembrance of His coming sacrifice. It was so impressively portrayed to me—the overwhelming love of the Savior for each. I witnessed His thoughtful concern for significant details—the washing of the dusty feet of each Apostle, His breaking and blessing of the loaf of dark bread and blessing of the wine, then His dreadful disclosure that one would betray Him.
“He explained Judas’s departure and told the others of the events soon to take place.
“. . . My soul was taught over and over again the events of the betrayal, the mock trial, the scourging of the flesh of even on of the Godhead. I witnessed his struggling up the hill in His weakened condition carrying the cross and His being stretched upon it as it lay on the ground, that the crude spikes could be driven with a mallet into His hands and wrists and feet to secure His body as it hung on the cross for public display.
“Crucifixion—the horrible and painful death which He suffered—was chosen from the beginning. By that excruciating death, He descended below all things, as is recorded, that through His resurrection He would ascend above all things” (Ensign, Nov. 1989, 60).
Well, my young friends, what does all this mean? What does it have to do us here and now? What does it have to do with the way we view the world and understand the gospel? and how we treat others? and the way we live our lives?
At the beginning I shared a story told by Hugh B. Brown. When I was 18 years old, a freshman at Brigham Young University, I had one of the pivotal experiences of my life. President Brown, then a counselor in the First Presidency, spoke that fall at the October 1967 general conference. It was in the priesthood session, and President Brown said:
“O Father, help these young men who are listening tonight, when they go home to get on their knees and commit themselves to thee; and then they may know, and I promise them that they may know, that with thy help they need not fear the future” (Improvement Era, Dec. 1967, 92).
I went home that night, back to my room, and knelt down and offered my life to the Savior and committed everything I had—my time, my talents, my means, my energies—to the Lord for the building of His kingdom. I placed my life on the altar, just as the little woman we mentioned at the beginning placed her burdens on the altar. I have not always lived up to that commitment, but I have tried, and every time I have tried the Lord has blessed me with added blessings and understanding and knowledge and revelation.
So I urge you to go and do likewise. Get on your knees and plead with Heavenly Father to let you know these things are true, that Jesus really was and is all that has been said and written about Him, and that He really did do for us what we’ve talked about here today. Commit your lives to Him and His cause. Give Him everything you have.
That’s one thing we can do as a result of knowing these things. What’s another? Father Lehi—and this is in conclusion—Father Lehi taught his son Jacob: “Wherefore, redemption cometh in and through the Holy Messiah; for he is full of grace and truth.
“Behold, he offereth himself a sacrifice for sin, to answer the ends of the law, unto all those who have a broken heart and a contrite spirit; and unto none else can the ends of the law be answered.
“Wherefore, how great the importance to make these things known unto the inhabitants of the earth . . .” (2 Nephi 2:6–8).
How great the importance to make these things known unto the inhabitants of the earth! We have to be missionaries. We have to share these truths with all of our Father’s other children. We have to go out in the world and tell these things to every living creature.
“. . . Wherefore, how great the importance to make these things known unto the inhabitants of the earth, that they may know that there is no flesh that can dwell in the presence of God, save it be through the merits, and mercy, and grace of the Holy Messiah, who layeth down his life according to the flesh, and taketh it again by the power of the Spirit, that he may bring to pass the resurrection of the dead, being the first that should rise.
“Wherefore, he is the firstfruits unto God, inasmuch as he shall make intercession for all the children of men; and they that believe in him shall be saved” (2 Nephi 2:8–9).
58. A Final Word
An article I wrote in Bountiful, Utah, in late December 1986 and published in the January 1987 issue of Die Lange Zeit. This message was based on a talk I gave on Sunday, December 28, 1986, in the final sacrament meeting of the year in the Bountiful Twentieth Ward, Bountiful Utah South Stake. I was serving at the time as the second counselor in the bishopric.
The Prophet Mormon spent fifty years of his adult life in reviewing, selecting, abridging, and summarizing a thousand years of Nephite records. It must have been a glorious experience. At the same time he witnessed the sad destruction of his people.
As he came to the closing moments of his own life, knowing that soon he would stand before his Maker to answer for the unique mission that had been his, what were the final thoughts running through his mind? What was the final message he wanted to leave as he closed his record? What would be the last thing he would choose to say to those of us who lived in our day?
Of all the things he might have chosen to write, his final message was a simple one:
“Therefore repent, and be baptized in the name of Jesus, and lay hold upon the gospel of Christ, which shall be set before you, not only in this record [the Book of Mormon] but also in the record which shall come unto the Gentiles from the Jews, which record [the Holy Bible] shall come from the Gentiles unto you.
“For behold, this [the Book of Mormon] is written for the intent that ye may believe that [the Bible]; and if ye believe that ye will believe this also; and if ye believe this ye will know concerning your fathers, and also the marvelous works which were wrought by the power of God among them.
“And ye will also know that ye are a remnant of the seed of Jacob; therefore ye are numbered among the people of the first covenant; and if it so be that ye believe in Christ, and are baptized, first with water, then with fire and with the Holy Ghost, following the example of our Savior, according to that which he hath commanded us, it shall be well with you in the day of judgment. Amen” (Mormon 7:8–10).
This brief closing message is in a nutshell the good news of the gospel of Jesus Christ: have faith in Christ, repent of our sins, be baptized, first with water and then with the Holy Ghost, and endure in faith to the end. If we do these things, it shall be well with us in the day of judgment. It is the very same message heralded by the angel at the first coming of Jesus: “I bring you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people” (Luke 2:10).
The Prophet Joseph Smith said it in another way: “The fundamental principles of our religion are the testimony of the Apostles and Prophets, concerning Jesus Christ, that He died, was buried, and rose again the third day, and ascended into heaven; and all other things which pertain to our religion are only appendages to it” (Teachings, 121).
On another occasion the Prophet declared: “And now, after the many testimonies which have been given of him, this is the testimony, last of all, which we give of him: That he lives!
“For we saw him, even on the right hand of God; and we heard the voice bearing record that he is the Only Begotten of the Father” (D&C 76:22–23).
Elder Bruce R. McConkie’s final testimony, borne less than two weeks before his death, was especially moving to any who heard it:
“As pertaining to Jesus Christ, I testify that he is the Son of the Living God and was crucified for the sins of the world. He is our Lord, our God, and our King. This I know of myself independent of any other person.
“I am one of his witnesses, and in a coming day I shall feel the nail marks in his hands and in his feet and shall wet his feet with my tears.
“But I shall not know any better then than I know now that he is God’s Almighty Son, that he is our Savior and Redeemer, and that salvation comes in and through his atoning blood and in no other way” (Ensign, May 1985, 11).
The Prophet Mormon spent fifty years of his adult life in reviewing, selecting, abridging, and summarizing a thousand years of Nephite records. It must have been a glorious experience. At the same time he witnessed the sad destruction of his people.
As he came to the closing moments of his own life, knowing that soon he would stand before his Maker to answer for the unique mission that had been his, what were the final thoughts running through his mind? What was the final message he wanted to leave as he closed his record? What would be the last thing he would choose to say to those of us who lived in our day?
Of all the things he might have chosen to write, his final message was a simple one:
“Therefore repent, and be baptized in the name of Jesus, and lay hold upon the gospel of Christ, which shall be set before you, not only in this record [the Book of Mormon] but also in the record which shall come unto the Gentiles from the Jews, which record [the Holy Bible] shall come from the Gentiles unto you.
“For behold, this [the Book of Mormon] is written for the intent that ye may believe that [the Bible]; and if ye believe that ye will believe this also; and if ye believe this ye will know concerning your fathers, and also the marvelous works which were wrought by the power of God among them.
“And ye will also know that ye are a remnant of the seed of Jacob; therefore ye are numbered among the people of the first covenant; and if it so be that ye believe in Christ, and are baptized, first with water, then with fire and with the Holy Ghost, following the example of our Savior, according to that which he hath commanded us, it shall be well with you in the day of judgment. Amen” (Mormon 7:8–10).
This brief closing message is in a nutshell the good news of the gospel of Jesus Christ: have faith in Christ, repent of our sins, be baptized, first with water and then with the Holy Ghost, and endure in faith to the end. If we do these things, it shall be well with us in the day of judgment. It is the very same message heralded by the angel at the first coming of Jesus: “I bring you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people” (Luke 2:10).
The Prophet Joseph Smith said it in another way: “The fundamental principles of our religion are the testimony of the Apostles and Prophets, concerning Jesus Christ, that He died, was buried, and rose again the third day, and ascended into heaven; and all other things which pertain to our religion are only appendages to it” (Teachings, 121).
On another occasion the Prophet declared: “And now, after the many testimonies which have been given of him, this is the testimony, last of all, which we give of him: That he lives!
“For we saw him, even on the right hand of God; and we heard the voice bearing record that he is the Only Begotten of the Father” (D&C 76:22–23).
Elder Bruce R. McConkie’s final testimony, borne less than two weeks before his death, was especially moving to any who heard it:
“As pertaining to Jesus Christ, I testify that he is the Son of the Living God and was crucified for the sins of the world. He is our Lord, our God, and our King. This I know of myself independent of any other person.
“I am one of his witnesses, and in a coming day I shall feel the nail marks in his hands and in his feet and shall wet his feet with my tears.
“But I shall not know any better then than I know now that he is God’s Almighty Son, that he is our Savior and Redeemer, and that salvation comes in and through his atoning blood and in no other way” (Ensign, May 1985, 11).
57. The Blessing of a Name
An edited version of a thought I gave in the weekly devotional of the Missionary Department on Tuesday morning, October 16, 1984, and later published in the November 1984 issue of the Family Journal. Our eighth child and sixth daughter, Mary Elizabeth Cleverly, had been born two weeks earlier on Monday, October 1, 1984. She was our final child.
The pattern in recent months in these devotional talks has been to give some background about ourselves. I was born the seventh of nine children, the next to last of my parents’ eight sons before their final child turned out to be a daughter. I was born in eastern Oregon and lived there until I was nine. Then we moved twenty or so miles eastward into Idaho, where I finished growing up in the Nampa area until I went away to BYU, a mission to Brazil, and back to BYU to graduate in English and Portuguese.
I met my wife on a blind date at BYU, and we have been living happily ever after since that time. And here we are eight children later.
And that brings us to what I wanted to talk about.
Since the birth of our eighth child two weeks ago, I have thought a lot about the importance of names. Interestingly, for the first time in our career as parents, we didn’t have a name ready for this new little one, so she was named by committee.
Over the years we have tried to give our children names that would give them something to live up to. In the book of Helaman in the Book of Mormon we read of how Helaman did a similar thing with two of his sons, Lehi and Nephi. Let me read just two verses from the fifth chapter:
“Behold, my sons, I desire that ye should remember to keep the commandments of God; and I would that ye should declare unto the people these words. Behold, I have given you the names of our first parents who came out of the land of Jerusalem; and this I have done that when you remember your names ye may remember them; and when ye remember them ye may remember their works; and when ye remember their works ye may know how that it is said, and also written, that they were good.
“Therefore, my sons, I would that ye should do that which is good, that it may be said of you, and also written, even as it has been said and written of them” (Helaman 5:6–7).
I suspect as we seek to obey the commandment the Lord has given us to honor our fathers and mothers we could do no better than to honor the names they have given us—whether our given names or the family names we bear.
President George Albert Smith, while he was President of the Church, told of an incident earlier in his life when he was quite ill and hovered for some weeks between life and death. He was down in St. George, where the climate was supposed to be more healthful for his particular condition.
While there he had a dream or vision, or perhaps even entered into the spirit world, where he met his grandfather, George A. Smith, whom he was named after. His grandfather was a very large man, and he approached George Albert Smith and asked him what he had done with his name.
President Smith was happy to report that he had nothing to bring shame or dishonor to that name. And it was a time of renewed resolve for him to make something of his life, which of course he did, including being called to preside over the Lord’s church.
There is another name that is very important to each of us. At the time of our baptism we covenanted with God that we would take upon us the name of Jesus Christ. We became His disciples. We were adopted as His sons and daughters. We were purchased by His blood. In the very finest sense of the word, we became Christians, followers of Christ, His children.
We read in the scriptures in several places that there is none other name by which we may be saved.
And just as Helaman told his two sons, Lehi and Nephi, we “should remember to keep the commandments of God.” As we seek to keep His commandments, as we seek to remember Him always (as we promise each week to do), as we seek to love Him and our fellowmen, as we seek to reverence Him, we will be remembering Him and honoring His name and becoming more like Him, which I pray each of us may do. In the name of Jesus Christ, amen.
The pattern in recent months in these devotional talks has been to give some background about ourselves. I was born the seventh of nine children, the next to last of my parents’ eight sons before their final child turned out to be a daughter. I was born in eastern Oregon and lived there until I was nine. Then we moved twenty or so miles eastward into Idaho, where I finished growing up in the Nampa area until I went away to BYU, a mission to Brazil, and back to BYU to graduate in English and Portuguese.
I met my wife on a blind date at BYU, and we have been living happily ever after since that time. And here we are eight children later.
And that brings us to what I wanted to talk about.
Since the birth of our eighth child two weeks ago, I have thought a lot about the importance of names. Interestingly, for the first time in our career as parents, we didn’t have a name ready for this new little one, so she was named by committee.
Over the years we have tried to give our children names that would give them something to live up to. In the book of Helaman in the Book of Mormon we read of how Helaman did a similar thing with two of his sons, Lehi and Nephi. Let me read just two verses from the fifth chapter:
“Behold, my sons, I desire that ye should remember to keep the commandments of God; and I would that ye should declare unto the people these words. Behold, I have given you the names of our first parents who came out of the land of Jerusalem; and this I have done that when you remember your names ye may remember them; and when ye remember them ye may remember their works; and when ye remember their works ye may know how that it is said, and also written, that they were good.
“Therefore, my sons, I would that ye should do that which is good, that it may be said of you, and also written, even as it has been said and written of them” (Helaman 5:6–7).
I suspect as we seek to obey the commandment the Lord has given us to honor our fathers and mothers we could do no better than to honor the names they have given us—whether our given names or the family names we bear.
President George Albert Smith, while he was President of the Church, told of an incident earlier in his life when he was quite ill and hovered for some weeks between life and death. He was down in St. George, where the climate was supposed to be more healthful for his particular condition.
While there he had a dream or vision, or perhaps even entered into the spirit world, where he met his grandfather, George A. Smith, whom he was named after. His grandfather was a very large man, and he approached George Albert Smith and asked him what he had done with his name.
President Smith was happy to report that he had nothing to bring shame or dishonor to that name. And it was a time of renewed resolve for him to make something of his life, which of course he did, including being called to preside over the Lord’s church.
There is another name that is very important to each of us. At the time of our baptism we covenanted with God that we would take upon us the name of Jesus Christ. We became His disciples. We were adopted as His sons and daughters. We were purchased by His blood. In the very finest sense of the word, we became Christians, followers of Christ, His children.
We read in the scriptures in several places that there is none other name by which we may be saved.
And just as Helaman told his two sons, Lehi and Nephi, we “should remember to keep the commandments of God.” As we seek to keep His commandments, as we seek to remember Him always (as we promise each week to do), as we seek to love Him and our fellowmen, as we seek to reverence Him, we will be remembering Him and honoring His name and becoming more like Him, which I pray each of us may do. In the name of Jesus Christ, amen.
56. Why Jesus Came Down to Earth
A talk given by seven-year-old Rachael Cleverly on Sunday, December 26, 1982, in the Primary of the Bountiful Twentieth Ward, Bountiful Utah South Stake. On Christmas night Claudia and I had asked the children, "Why was Jesus born?" They weren’t really sure. Rachael was excited by the answers and decided to talk about them the next afternoon in a talk she had been assigned to give in Primary. The talk was published complete with her original spelling in both the January 1983 issue of the Cleverly Newsletter and the January 1984 issue of Die Lange Zeit. Rachael at the time was a second grader at Bountiful Elementary.
Today I’m going to talk about why Jesus came down to earth.
OK, when we were still up in heven, our hevenly father said, “I know you want to be like me with a body. And I do to, but in order to do that, we’ll have to have a world, but you’ll make mistakes. So I’ll have to get someone to corect them.”
Jesus and Saten were the only ones who volintered. They both wanted to do that. Then Saten spoke up and said, “I’ll make sure no-one is bad.” Our hevenly father did not like his idea. Our hevenly father wants us to choose by our selfs.
Suddenly Jesus said, “I’ll do it your way. I won’t force them. I will let them choose, and give you all the credet.”
Saten was very mad at this point. Our hevenly father kicked Saten right out of heven, and a third of his followers. Saten is still mad. And he tries to make us do bad things.
But the real reasons why Jesus came are to show us an example, to teach us, to pay for our sins, and he died for us so we could live with him agin.
There are two kinds of deth, spirichle deth, and phisicle deth. Phisicle deth is when our spirit departs from our bodies. Spirichle deth is when we do rong, and we depart from God.
And I hope we won’t have spirichle deth, in the name of Jesus Christ, amen.
Today I’m going to talk about why Jesus came down to earth.
OK, when we were still up in heven, our hevenly father said, “I know you want to be like me with a body. And I do to, but in order to do that, we’ll have to have a world, but you’ll make mistakes. So I’ll have to get someone to corect them.”
Jesus and Saten were the only ones who volintered. They both wanted to do that. Then Saten spoke up and said, “I’ll make sure no-one is bad.” Our hevenly father did not like his idea. Our hevenly father wants us to choose by our selfs.
Suddenly Jesus said, “I’ll do it your way. I won’t force them. I will let them choose, and give you all the credet.”
Saten was very mad at this point. Our hevenly father kicked Saten right out of heven, and a third of his followers. Saten is still mad. And he tries to make us do bad things.
But the real reasons why Jesus came are to show us an example, to teach us, to pay for our sins, and he died for us so we could live with him agin.
There are two kinds of deth, spirichle deth, and phisicle deth. Phisicle deth is when our spirit departs from our bodies. Spirichle deth is when we do rong, and we depart from God.
And I hope we won’t have spirichle deth, in the name of Jesus Christ, amen.
Saturday, July 5, 2008
50. The Scriptures
A talk given by Rebecca Cleverly on Sunday, August 30, 1981, just four days after her seventh birthday, in the Primary of the Bountiful Twentieth Ward, Bountiful Utah South Stake. The talk was printed in the September 1981 issue of the Family Journal. At this time Rebecca was starting as a second grader at Bountiful Elementary.
Today I am going to talk about the scriptures. In our family we have a scripture reading contest. Each person who can read is supposed to read the scriptures every day. And when we read for ten days without skipping a day, we get a prize. But when we skip a day, we have to start all over again.
In our Church we have four scriptures—the Book of Mormon, the Bible, the Pearl of Great Price, and the Doctrine and Covenants.
Now I’m going to read you a story from the Bible about Jesus:
“And when Jesus departed thence, two blind men followed him, crying, and saying, Thou Son of David, have mercy on us.
“And when he was come into the house, the blind men came to him: and Jesus saith unto them, Believe ye that I am able to do this? They said unto him, Yea, Lord.
“Then touched he their eyes, saying, According to your faith be it unto you.
“And their eyes were opened” (Matthew 9:27–30).
I love to read the scriptures all by myself with no help. And I know that they are true. In the name of Jesus Christ, amen.
Today I am going to talk about the scriptures. In our family we have a scripture reading contest. Each person who can read is supposed to read the scriptures every day. And when we read for ten days without skipping a day, we get a prize. But when we skip a day, we have to start all over again.
In our Church we have four scriptures—the Book of Mormon, the Bible, the Pearl of Great Price, and the Doctrine and Covenants.
Now I’m going to read you a story from the Bible about Jesus:
“And when Jesus departed thence, two blind men followed him, crying, and saying, Thou Son of David, have mercy on us.
“And when he was come into the house, the blind men came to him: and Jesus saith unto them, Believe ye that I am able to do this? They said unto him, Yea, Lord.
“Then touched he their eyes, saying, According to your faith be it unto you.
“And their eyes were opened” (Matthew 9:27–30).
I love to read the scriptures all by myself with no help. And I know that they are true. In the name of Jesus Christ, amen.
Friday, July 4, 2008
47. The Song of the Righteous
A talk I gave on Sunday morning, April 26, 1981, on radio stations KISN–FM and KLUB–AM in Salt Lake City, Utah. The text of the address was later published in the May 1981 issue of the Family Journal and the June 1981 issue of the Cleverly Newsletter.
The Savior of mankind, that perfect Being Who is our example and teacher in all things, taught that “men ought always to pray” (Luke 18:1).
“And in those days” following His resurrection and ascension into heaven, “when the number of disciples was multiplied, . . . the twelve called the multitude of the disciples unto them, and said,” among other things, “we will give ourselves continually to prayer, and to the ministry of the word” (Acts 6:1–4).
When I was a boy I used to wonder about such instruction. How do you pray always? How do you give yourself continually to prayer when there is so much else to be doing in the day-to-day world of gaining an education, earning a living, caring for a family, and the myriads of other things with which we occupy ourselves?
As I searched for an answer, it became obvious from other scriptures that there were right ways and wrong ways of praying always:
“And when thou prayest,” the Savior said, “thou shalt not be as the hypocrites are: for they love to pray standing in the synagogues and in the corners of the streets, that they may be seen of men. Verily I say unto you, They have their reward.
“But thou, when thou prayest, enter into thy closet, and when thou hast shut thy door, pray to thy Father which is in secret; and thy Father which is in secret shall reward thee openly.
“But when ye pray, use not vain repetitions, as the heathen do: for they think that they shall be heard for their much speaking.
“Be not ye therefore like unto them” (Matthew 6:5–8).
I learned from this passage that “praying always” has little to do with vain repetitions or much speaking or a multiplicity of words. Indeed, the Savior used very few words to teach His disciples how to pray:
“After this manner therefore pray ye: Our Father which art in heaven, Hallowed be thy name.
“Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done in earth, as it is in heaven.
“Give us this day our daily bread.
“And forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors.
“And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil: For thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, for ever. Amen” (Matthew 6:9–13).
From this divine model of prayer, I think we learn that “praying always” has somewhat to do with our attitudes and our reverence for God and all that is sacred. It has to do with the way we live our lives.
But, from still other scriptures, I found that there are ways to keep our thoughts and hearts continually centered in Him who is “the author and finisher of our faith” (Hebrews 12:2). The Apostle Paul taught the Saints of his day “to be filled with the Spirit;
“Speaking to yourselves in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody in your heart to the Lord;
“Giving thanks always for all things unto God and the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ” (Ephesians 5:18–20).
And in another place: “Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly in all wisdom; teaching and admonishing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing with grace in your hearts to the Lord” (Colossians 3:16).
And the Lord Himself speaking: “For my soul delighteth in the song of the heart; yea, the song of the righteous is a prayer unto me, and it shall be answered with a blessing on their heads” (D&C 25:12).
So here we have a key, I think, to one way that we can pray always. The song of the righteous, by the Lord’s own definition, is a prayer unto God. We can speak to ourselves “in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody in [our] heart[s] to the Lord” (Ephesians 5:19).
Who of us is not moved, inspired, instructed, strengthened in our faith, brought closer to God by the great hymns of Christianity?
Some of the hymns and sacred songs remind us of our daily duty:
Have I done any good in the world today?
Have I helped anyone in need?
Have I cheered up the sad,
And made someone feel glad?
If not I have failed indeed.
And this one:
Do what is right; be faithful and fearless;
Onward, press onward, the goal is in sight;
Eyes that are wet now, ere long will be tearless;
Blessings await you in doing what’s right!
Other hymns remind us of important truths about the gospel, about ourselves, and about our relationship to God, such as in the ever-popular children’s song:
I am a child of God,
And he has sent me here,
Has given me an earthly home
With parents kind and dear.
Among my favorites, however, are those hymns that focus my thoughts on Jesus Christ, that bring me in closer communion with Him, that increase my appreciation for what He has done for me:
Redeemer of Israel,
Our only delight,
On whom for a blessing we call,
Our shadow by day,
And our pillar by night,
Our King, our Deliverer, our all!
Come, thou Fount of every blessing;
Tune my heart to sing thy grace;
Streams of mercy, never ceasing,
Call for songs of loudest praise.
Praise him for his mercy;
Praise him for his love;
For unnumbered blessings
Praise the Lord above.
Let our happy voices
Still the notes prolong;
One alone is worthy
Of our sweetest song.
Or what comfort from these marvelous promises:
The soul that on Jesus hath leaned for repose
I will not, I cannot, desert to his foes;
That soul, though all hell should endeavor to shake,
I’ll never, no never, no never forsake!
And these promises:
How gentle God’s commands!
How kind his precepts are!
Come, cast your burden on the Lord
And trust his constant care.
Beneath his watchful eye,
His saints securely dwell;
That hand which bears all nature up
Shall guard his children well.
Why should this anxious load
Press down your weary mind?
Haste to your heavenly Father’s throne,
And sweet refreshment find.
His goodness stands approved,
Unchanged from day to day;
I’ll drop my burden at his feet
And bear a song away.
Consider also the profound message and the simple beauty in the words of this great hymn:
How great the wisdom and the love
That filled the courts on high
And sent the Savior from above
To suffer, bleed, and die!
His precious blood he freely spilt;
His life he freely gave,
A sinless sacrifice for guilt,
A dying world to save.
By strict obedience Jesus won
The prize with glory rife:
“Thy will, O God, not mine be done,”
Adorned his mortal life.
He marked the path and led the way,
And every point defines
To light and life and endless day
Where God’s full presence shines.
How great, how glorious, how complete,
Redemption’s grand design,
Where justice, love, and mercy meet
In harmony divine!
There are many other great hymns. Let me conclude with just a final one—a hymn that is loved by many people:
And when I think that God, his Son not sparing,
Sent him to die, I scarce can take it in;
That on the cross, my burden gladly bearing,
He bled and died to take away my sin;
Then sings my soul, my Savior God to thee;
How great thou art, how great thou art!
When Christ shall come with shout of acclamation
And take me home, What joy shall fill my heart!
Then I shall bow in humble adoration
And there proclaim, my God, how great thou art!
Yes, the song of the righteous is a prayer unto God. We need not be musicians. We need not even know how to carry a tune particularly. But, as we go about our daily affairs, we can have the words in our minds, we can have the songs in our hearts and thus be found praying always.
May that be our happy lot, I pray in the name of Jesus Christ, amen.
The Savior of mankind, that perfect Being Who is our example and teacher in all things, taught that “men ought always to pray” (Luke 18:1).
“And in those days” following His resurrection and ascension into heaven, “when the number of disciples was multiplied, . . . the twelve called the multitude of the disciples unto them, and said,” among other things, “we will give ourselves continually to prayer, and to the ministry of the word” (Acts 6:1–4).
When I was a boy I used to wonder about such instruction. How do you pray always? How do you give yourself continually to prayer when there is so much else to be doing in the day-to-day world of gaining an education, earning a living, caring for a family, and the myriads of other things with which we occupy ourselves?
As I searched for an answer, it became obvious from other scriptures that there were right ways and wrong ways of praying always:
“And when thou prayest,” the Savior said, “thou shalt not be as the hypocrites are: for they love to pray standing in the synagogues and in the corners of the streets, that they may be seen of men. Verily I say unto you, They have their reward.
“But thou, when thou prayest, enter into thy closet, and when thou hast shut thy door, pray to thy Father which is in secret; and thy Father which is in secret shall reward thee openly.
“But when ye pray, use not vain repetitions, as the heathen do: for they think that they shall be heard for their much speaking.
“Be not ye therefore like unto them” (Matthew 6:5–8).
I learned from this passage that “praying always” has little to do with vain repetitions or much speaking or a multiplicity of words. Indeed, the Savior used very few words to teach His disciples how to pray:
“After this manner therefore pray ye: Our Father which art in heaven, Hallowed be thy name.
“Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done in earth, as it is in heaven.
“Give us this day our daily bread.
“And forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors.
“And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil: For thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, for ever. Amen” (Matthew 6:9–13).
From this divine model of prayer, I think we learn that “praying always” has somewhat to do with our attitudes and our reverence for God and all that is sacred. It has to do with the way we live our lives.
But, from still other scriptures, I found that there are ways to keep our thoughts and hearts continually centered in Him who is “the author and finisher of our faith” (Hebrews 12:2). The Apostle Paul taught the Saints of his day “to be filled with the Spirit;
“Speaking to yourselves in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody in your heart to the Lord;
“Giving thanks always for all things unto God and the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ” (Ephesians 5:18–20).
And in another place: “Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly in all wisdom; teaching and admonishing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing with grace in your hearts to the Lord” (Colossians 3:16).
And the Lord Himself speaking: “For my soul delighteth in the song of the heart; yea, the song of the righteous is a prayer unto me, and it shall be answered with a blessing on their heads” (D&C 25:12).
So here we have a key, I think, to one way that we can pray always. The song of the righteous, by the Lord’s own definition, is a prayer unto God. We can speak to ourselves “in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody in [our] heart[s] to the Lord” (Ephesians 5:19).
Who of us is not moved, inspired, instructed, strengthened in our faith, brought closer to God by the great hymns of Christianity?
Some of the hymns and sacred songs remind us of our daily duty:
Have I done any good in the world today?
Have I helped anyone in need?
Have I cheered up the sad,
And made someone feel glad?
If not I have failed indeed.
And this one:
Do what is right; be faithful and fearless;
Onward, press onward, the goal is in sight;
Eyes that are wet now, ere long will be tearless;
Blessings await you in doing what’s right!
Other hymns remind us of important truths about the gospel, about ourselves, and about our relationship to God, such as in the ever-popular children’s song:
I am a child of God,
And he has sent me here,
Has given me an earthly home
With parents kind and dear.
Among my favorites, however, are those hymns that focus my thoughts on Jesus Christ, that bring me in closer communion with Him, that increase my appreciation for what He has done for me:
Redeemer of Israel,
Our only delight,
On whom for a blessing we call,
Our shadow by day,
And our pillar by night,
Our King, our Deliverer, our all!
Come, thou Fount of every blessing;
Tune my heart to sing thy grace;
Streams of mercy, never ceasing,
Call for songs of loudest praise.
Praise him for his mercy;
Praise him for his love;
For unnumbered blessings
Praise the Lord above.
Let our happy voices
Still the notes prolong;
One alone is worthy
Of our sweetest song.
Or what comfort from these marvelous promises:
The soul that on Jesus hath leaned for repose
I will not, I cannot, desert to his foes;
That soul, though all hell should endeavor to shake,
I’ll never, no never, no never forsake!
And these promises:
How gentle God’s commands!
How kind his precepts are!
Come, cast your burden on the Lord
And trust his constant care.
Beneath his watchful eye,
His saints securely dwell;
That hand which bears all nature up
Shall guard his children well.
Why should this anxious load
Press down your weary mind?
Haste to your heavenly Father’s throne,
And sweet refreshment find.
His goodness stands approved,
Unchanged from day to day;
I’ll drop my burden at his feet
And bear a song away.
Consider also the profound message and the simple beauty in the words of this great hymn:
How great the wisdom and the love
That filled the courts on high
And sent the Savior from above
To suffer, bleed, and die!
His precious blood he freely spilt;
His life he freely gave,
A sinless sacrifice for guilt,
A dying world to save.
By strict obedience Jesus won
The prize with glory rife:
“Thy will, O God, not mine be done,”
Adorned his mortal life.
He marked the path and led the way,
And every point defines
To light and life and endless day
Where God’s full presence shines.
How great, how glorious, how complete,
Redemption’s grand design,
Where justice, love, and mercy meet
In harmony divine!
There are many other great hymns. Let me conclude with just a final one—a hymn that is loved by many people:
And when I think that God, his Son not sparing,
Sent him to die, I scarce can take it in;
That on the cross, my burden gladly bearing,
He bled and died to take away my sin;
Then sings my soul, my Savior God to thee;
How great thou art, how great thou art!
When Christ shall come with shout of acclamation
And take me home, What joy shall fill my heart!
Then I shall bow in humble adoration
And there proclaim, my God, how great thou art!
Yes, the song of the righteous is a prayer unto God. We need not be musicians. We need not even know how to carry a tune particularly. But, as we go about our daily affairs, we can have the words in our minds, we can have the songs in our hearts and thus be found praying always.
May that be our happy lot, I pray in the name of Jesus Christ, amen.
Saturday, April 19, 2008
32. Happiness, the Object of Our Existence
A bishopric message written on Monday, January 1, 2001, for publication in the January 2001 issue of the Bountiful Twentieth Ward Newsette.
“Happiness,” taught the Prophet Joseph Smith, “is the object and design of our existence; and will be the end thereof, if we pursue the path that leads to it” (History of the Church, 5:134).
All of us want to be happy. It is the way we were programmed. It is our nature and our inheritance if we seek it in the right ways and in the proper places. The path that leads to happiness, the Prophet continued, “is virtue, uprightness, faithfulness, holiness, and keeping all the commandments of God. . . . In obedience there is joy and peace unspotted” (History of the Church, 5:134).
At the dawn of this new year, I have no greater desire for you whom I love than the simple wish that you find true happiness, the peace and the joy that come as precious gifts from a loving Father to all the obedient. That desire is my invocation upon the year and my blessing upon you and your families, as I bear my witness that God lives, that He is our Father, that Jesus Christ is His Only Begotten Son, our Savior and Redeemer, and that Joseph Smith was and is His prophet, through whom the knowledge and power and authority were restored that allow us to come unto Christ and be perfected in Him.
May that be our happy lot during this new year and always.
“Happiness,” taught the Prophet Joseph Smith, “is the object and design of our existence; and will be the end thereof, if we pursue the path that leads to it” (History of the Church, 5:134).
All of us want to be happy. It is the way we were programmed. It is our nature and our inheritance if we seek it in the right ways and in the proper places. The path that leads to happiness, the Prophet continued, “is virtue, uprightness, faithfulness, holiness, and keeping all the commandments of God. . . . In obedience there is joy and peace unspotted” (History of the Church, 5:134).
At the dawn of this new year, I have no greater desire for you whom I love than the simple wish that you find true happiness, the peace and the joy that come as precious gifts from a loving Father to all the obedient. That desire is my invocation upon the year and my blessing upon you and your families, as I bear my witness that God lives, that He is our Father, that Jesus Christ is His Only Begotten Son, our Savior and Redeemer, and that Joseph Smith was and is His prophet, through whom the knowledge and power and authority were restored that allow us to come unto Christ and be perfected in Him.
May that be our happy lot during this new year and always.
31. Glad Tidings of Great Joy
A bishopric message written on November 28, 2000, for the December 2000 issue of the Bountiful Twentieth Ward Newsette.
Christmas. What a glorious time of year! A time when love and hope and light fill our darkened world for a brief moment. A season when generosity and good will and charity enlarge our souls just a little more.
And all this because a baby was born. In every age the glad tidings of great joy center in one pivotal truth: “the great and wonderful love made manifest by the Father and the Son in the coming of the Redeemer into the world” (D&C 138:3).
To the shepherds of ancient Judea: “I bring you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people. For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Saviour, which is Christ the Lord” (Luke 2:10–11).
To the prophets of ancient America: “I am come to declare unto you the glad tidings of great joy. . . . For behold, the time cometh . . . that with power, the Lord Omnipotent . . . shall come down from heaven” (Mosiah 3:3–5).
The witness of the resurrected Christ Himself: “This is the gospel [literally the good news, the glad tidings] which I have given you—that I came into the world to do the will of my Father” (3 Nephi 27:13).
And in our own day: “This is the gospel, the glad tidings, which the voice out of heaven bore record unto us—That he came into the world” (D&C 76:40–41).
Why? “To be crucified for the world, and to bear the sins of the world, and to sanctify the world, and to cleanse it from all unrighteousness; that through him all might be saved” (D&C 76:41–42). “That through his atonement, and by obedience to the principles of the gospel, mankind might be saved” (D&C 138:4). Good news indeed!
I close this message, my witness that Love Personified came into the world that first Christmas 2000 years ago, with a little Christmas poem I wrote some years ago:
He came,
The one bright perfect Light,
He came
To chase away the misted darkness of the night
And make my narrow pathway plain.
He died,
The sinless Son of God,
He died
To ransom me from sin's exacting, heavy rod,
And death, my death to set aside.
He lives,
The wondrous name of Love,
He lives
Who lifts my earth-stained soul, now cleansed, to home above,
And glory there forever gives.
Christmas. What a glorious time of year! A time when love and hope and light fill our darkened world for a brief moment. A season when generosity and good will and charity enlarge our souls just a little more.
And all this because a baby was born. In every age the glad tidings of great joy center in one pivotal truth: “the great and wonderful love made manifest by the Father and the Son in the coming of the Redeemer into the world” (D&C 138:3).
To the shepherds of ancient Judea: “I bring you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people. For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Saviour, which is Christ the Lord” (Luke 2:10–11).
To the prophets of ancient America: “I am come to declare unto you the glad tidings of great joy. . . . For behold, the time cometh . . . that with power, the Lord Omnipotent . . . shall come down from heaven” (Mosiah 3:3–5).
The witness of the resurrected Christ Himself: “This is the gospel [literally the good news, the glad tidings] which I have given you—that I came into the world to do the will of my Father” (3 Nephi 27:13).
And in our own day: “This is the gospel, the glad tidings, which the voice out of heaven bore record unto us—That he came into the world” (D&C 76:40–41).
Why? “To be crucified for the world, and to bear the sins of the world, and to sanctify the world, and to cleanse it from all unrighteousness; that through him all might be saved” (D&C 76:41–42). “That through his atonement, and by obedience to the principles of the gospel, mankind might be saved” (D&C 138:4). Good news indeed!
I close this message, my witness that Love Personified came into the world that first Christmas 2000 years ago, with a little Christmas poem I wrote some years ago:
He came,
The one bright perfect Light,
He came
To chase away the misted darkness of the night
And make my narrow pathway plain.
He died,
The sinless Son of God,
He died
To ransom me from sin's exacting, heavy rod,
And death, my death to set aside.
He lives,
The wondrous name of Love,
He lives
Who lifts my earth-stained soul, now cleansed, to home above,
And glory there forever gives.
30. Remember Him and Keep His Commandments
A pastoral message written on Friday, September 1, 2000, as the bishopric message for the September 2000 issue of the Bountiful Twentieth Ward Newsette.
Members of our family traveled this summer to parts of the Midwest and the East Coast. We marveled at the beauty and diversity of this vast country, a land we believe is “a land of promise, a land which is choice above all other lands” (2 Nephi 1:5). And we were reminded of the rich heritage we enjoy as American citizens and of the cost paid by those who went before us in founding our nation and defending our freedoms and bringing us to these mountain valleys we call home.
A warning issued to ancient Israel as they entered their promised land applies in principle to us in our day: “And it shall be, when the Lord thy God shall have brought thee into the land which he sware unto thy fathers, to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob, to give thee great and goodly cities, which thou buildedst not,
“And houses full of all good things, which thou filledst not, and wells digged, which thou diggedst not, vineyards and olive trees, which thou plantedst not; when thou shalt have eaten and be full;
“Then beware lest thou forget the Lord, which brought thee forth out of the land of Egypt, from the house of bondage” (Deuteronomy 6:10–12).
Each of us, through the atoning sacrifice of Jesus Christ, has been purchased out of bondage, has been redeemed out of slavery, and has been blessed with a multiplicity of blessings we neither earned nor deserve. We cannot afford to forget the Lord and what He has done for us.
“Thou shalt fear the Lord thy God, and serve him” (Deuteronomy 6:13) was the command anciently as the remedy for not for-getting the Lord, and it still applies in our day. A recurring theme of the Book of Mormon, which was written to our day, is that we remember the Lord and His divine deliverance. Each week as we partake of the emblems of His body and blood, we witness afresh and covenant anew to “always remember him and keep his commandments” (D&C 20:77).
“Let us hear the conclusion of the whole matter: Fear God, and keep his commandments: for this is the whole duty of man” (Ecclesiastes 12:13).
Members of our family traveled this summer to parts of the Midwest and the East Coast. We marveled at the beauty and diversity of this vast country, a land we believe is “a land of promise, a land which is choice above all other lands” (2 Nephi 1:5). And we were reminded of the rich heritage we enjoy as American citizens and of the cost paid by those who went before us in founding our nation and defending our freedoms and bringing us to these mountain valleys we call home.
A warning issued to ancient Israel as they entered their promised land applies in principle to us in our day: “And it shall be, when the Lord thy God shall have brought thee into the land which he sware unto thy fathers, to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob, to give thee great and goodly cities, which thou buildedst not,
“And houses full of all good things, which thou filledst not, and wells digged, which thou diggedst not, vineyards and olive trees, which thou plantedst not; when thou shalt have eaten and be full;
“Then beware lest thou forget the Lord, which brought thee forth out of the land of Egypt, from the house of bondage” (Deuteronomy 6:10–12).
Each of us, through the atoning sacrifice of Jesus Christ, has been purchased out of bondage, has been redeemed out of slavery, and has been blessed with a multiplicity of blessings we neither earned nor deserve. We cannot afford to forget the Lord and what He has done for us.
“Thou shalt fear the Lord thy God, and serve him” (Deuteronomy 6:13) was the command anciently as the remedy for not for-getting the Lord, and it still applies in our day. A recurring theme of the Book of Mormon, which was written to our day, is that we remember the Lord and His divine deliverance. Each week as we partake of the emblems of His body and blood, we witness afresh and covenant anew to “always remember him and keep his commandments” (D&C 20:77).
“Let us hear the conclusion of the whole matter: Fear God, and keep his commandments: for this is the whole duty of man” (Ecclesiastes 12:13).
29. Deliverance and Redemption
A pastoral message written on Tuesday, May 30, 2000, as the bishopric message for the June 2000 issue of the Bountiful Twentieth Ward Newsette. The same thought was also printed as “A Final Word” in the June 2000 issue of the Cleverly Newsletter. It was also posted on June 4, 2008, on the blogsite The Dawning of a Brighter Day.
When the Lord God brought our fathers, the children of Israel, out of Egypt into the promised land, He reminded them that He was giving them cities which they had not built, houses full of good things they had not filled, wells they had not dug, and vineyards they had not planted (see Deuteronomy 6:10–11). Sort of like us today at the dawn of the 21st century.
“Beware,” He cautions them, “lest thou forget the Lord, which brought thee forth out of the land of Egypt, from the house of bondage” (Deuteronomy 6:12).
“And thou shalt remember,” He says unto them later, “that thou wast a bondsman in the land of Egypt, and the Lord thy God redeemed thee” (Deuteronomy 15:15).
This pattern of remembrance runs throughout the scriptures: We are in bondage and the Lord delivers and redeems us. And we are to remember that deliverance and redemption.
Indeed, an important purpose of the scriptures is that “they have enlarged the memory of this people . . . and brought them to the knowledge of their God” (Alma 37:8).
We are enjoined in many places throughout the scriptures to remember the Lord our Redeemer and what He has done both for our fathers and for us. The word “remember,” in some form or another, appears 454 times in the scriptures.
The summer that spreads before us is strewn with opportunities to remember our past, to recall what the Lord has done for our fathers, to recount what blessings we enjoy at His hand.
This past Monday was Memorial Day, a day set aside to remember specifically those who sacrificed their lives in the defense of freedom and more generally all loved ones who have passed on to the other side.
In another ten days is Flag Day, a chance to remember the symbol of our God-given freedoms, a chance to reflect on the opportunities and responsibilities of living in this “sweet land of liberty” (Hymns, 339), “the land of the free and the home of the brave” (Hymns, 340). The Lord Himself referred to it as “a land which is choice above all the lands of the earth” (Ether 1:42).
Three weeks later, on the Fourth of July, we celebrate the birthday of our country and remember again that the Lord has particular designs for the destiny of this nation. He declared, “And for this purpose have I established the Constitution of this land, by the hands of wise men whom I have raised up unto this very purpose, and redeemed the land by the shedding of blood” (D&C 101:80).
And finally, we celebrate Pioneer Day, a wonderful commemoration of the great migration of our forebears to these western valleys. We remember their sacrifices, their devotion, their faith as they fulfilled the ancient prophecy that “the desert shall rejoice, and blossom as the rose” (Isaiah 35:1) as the Lord “set his hand again the second time to recover the remnant of his people” (Isaiah 11:11; 2 Nephi 21:11).
Deliverance and redemption. May each of us remember. And may each of us declare, as did the Psalmist anciently, “I will remember the works of the Lord: surely I will remember thy wonders of old” (Psalms 77:11).
When the Lord God brought our fathers, the children of Israel, out of Egypt into the promised land, He reminded them that He was giving them cities which they had not built, houses full of good things they had not filled, wells they had not dug, and vineyards they had not planted (see Deuteronomy 6:10–11). Sort of like us today at the dawn of the 21st century.
“Beware,” He cautions them, “lest thou forget the Lord, which brought thee forth out of the land of Egypt, from the house of bondage” (Deuteronomy 6:12).
“And thou shalt remember,” He says unto them later, “that thou wast a bondsman in the land of Egypt, and the Lord thy God redeemed thee” (Deuteronomy 15:15).
This pattern of remembrance runs throughout the scriptures: We are in bondage and the Lord delivers and redeems us. And we are to remember that deliverance and redemption.
Indeed, an important purpose of the scriptures is that “they have enlarged the memory of this people . . . and brought them to the knowledge of their God” (Alma 37:8).
We are enjoined in many places throughout the scriptures to remember the Lord our Redeemer and what He has done both for our fathers and for us. The word “remember,” in some form or another, appears 454 times in the scriptures.
The summer that spreads before us is strewn with opportunities to remember our past, to recall what the Lord has done for our fathers, to recount what blessings we enjoy at His hand.
This past Monday was Memorial Day, a day set aside to remember specifically those who sacrificed their lives in the defense of freedom and more generally all loved ones who have passed on to the other side.
In another ten days is Flag Day, a chance to remember the symbol of our God-given freedoms, a chance to reflect on the opportunities and responsibilities of living in this “sweet land of liberty” (Hymns, 339), “the land of the free and the home of the brave” (Hymns, 340). The Lord Himself referred to it as “a land which is choice above all the lands of the earth” (Ether 1:42).
Three weeks later, on the Fourth of July, we celebrate the birthday of our country and remember again that the Lord has particular designs for the destiny of this nation. He declared, “And for this purpose have I established the Constitution of this land, by the hands of wise men whom I have raised up unto this very purpose, and redeemed the land by the shedding of blood” (D&C 101:80).
And finally, we celebrate Pioneer Day, a wonderful commemoration of the great migration of our forebears to these western valleys. We remember their sacrifices, their devotion, their faith as they fulfilled the ancient prophecy that “the desert shall rejoice, and blossom as the rose” (Isaiah 35:1) as the Lord “set his hand again the second time to recover the remnant of his people” (Isaiah 11:11; 2 Nephi 21:11).
Deliverance and redemption. May each of us remember. And may each of us declare, as did the Psalmist anciently, “I will remember the works of the Lord: surely I will remember thy wonders of old” (Psalms 77:11).
28. Come unto Christ or Perish
A bishopric message that appeared in the March 2000 issue of the Bountiful Twentieth Ward Newsette.
“For we labor diligently to write,” wrote Nephi in the Book of Mormon, “to persuade our children, and also our brethren, to believe in Christ, and to be reconciled to God; for we know that it is by grace that we are saved, after all we can do. . . .
“And we talk of Christ, we rejoice in Christ, we preach of Christ, we prophesy of Christ, and we write according to our prophecies, that our children may know to what source they may look for a remission of their sins” (2 Nephi 25: 23, 26).
The Book of Mormon, which we are studying again this year in Sunday School, is drenched in Christ. It is, as President Ezra Taft Benson taught some years back, the keystone of our religion and therefore the keystone of our understanding of Christ, the keystone of our faith in Christ, the keystone of our testimony of Christ. There is no more powerful witness of Him and His goodness to be found anywhere.
The overriding message in the Book of Mormon, in my opinion, could be summarized in five simple words: Come unto Christ or perish.
We must come unto Him, give our whole souls unto Him, be reconciled to Him. “Yea, come unto Christ,” concluded Moroni at the very end of the record, “and be perfected in him, . . . 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” (Moroni 10:32).
My humble prayer is that each of us may do exactly that: Come unto Christ and be perfected in Him.
“For we labor diligently to write,” wrote Nephi in the Book of Mormon, “to persuade our children, and also our brethren, to believe in Christ, and to be reconciled to God; for we know that it is by grace that we are saved, after all we can do. . . .
“And we talk of Christ, we rejoice in Christ, we preach of Christ, we prophesy of Christ, and we write according to our prophecies, that our children may know to what source they may look for a remission of their sins” (2 Nephi 25: 23, 26).
The Book of Mormon, which we are studying again this year in Sunday School, is drenched in Christ. It is, as President Ezra Taft Benson taught some years back, the keystone of our religion and therefore the keystone of our understanding of Christ, the keystone of our faith in Christ, the keystone of our testimony of Christ. There is no more powerful witness of Him and His goodness to be found anywhere.
The overriding message in the Book of Mormon, in my opinion, could be summarized in five simple words: Come unto Christ or perish.
We must come unto Him, give our whole souls unto Him, be reconciled to Him. “Yea, come unto Christ,” concluded Moroni at the very end of the record, “and be perfected in him, . . . 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” (Moroni 10:32).
My humble prayer is that each of us may do exactly that: Come unto Christ and be perfected in Him.
Friday, April 18, 2008
25. Looking for the Good
A thought written on Monday evening, April 26, 1999, for publication in the May 1999 issue of the Bountiful Twentieth Ward Newsette. Henry Haurand served as a counselor in the stake presidency when F. Michael Watson was president of the Bountiful Utah South Stake. Later he served as president of the Frankfurt Germany Temple.
President Henry Haurand spoke in our sacrament meeting a little over a month ago. He shared tender feelings about the Savior, recounting some of the pivotal events from that final week of the Lord’s mortal life. He also mentioned some experiences from the three years he and Sister Haurand served in the Frankfurt Germany Temple.
In the late 1980s, before his call to serve in our stake presidency, President Haurand had been in Germany supervising construction of the Frankfurt Temple, little realizing that a decade later he would return there as temple president.
He once shared an experience he had in 1987 in the not-yet-completed temple: “President and Sister Carlos E. Asay visited the temple. As we were standing in the celestial room Elder Asay asked me if the workers could feel the spirit of the sacred work they were performing. I answered that I did not think so. It is my experience that when you go through the temple looking for things that are not completed yet, that still need to be cleaned up, you cannot feel the Spirit of the Lord. But when you look with your spiritual eyes and see how it will look when it is completed, then you can feel the Spirit. Elder Asay said this is an eternal principle. When you look for fault, you can not have the Spirit of the Lord, but when you look for the good, then you can.”
This principle, President Haurand observed, is true in marriage, with our children or friends, with our neighbors and coworkers. When we look for fault, we cannot have the Spirit of the Lord, but when we look for good, we can.
The Prophet Joseph Smith may have had this same principle in mind when he penned the thirteenth Article of Faith: “. . . If there is anything virtuous, lovely, or of good report or praiseworthy, we seek after these things” (emphasis added).
President Henry Haurand spoke in our sacrament meeting a little over a month ago. He shared tender feelings about the Savior, recounting some of the pivotal events from that final week of the Lord’s mortal life. He also mentioned some experiences from the three years he and Sister Haurand served in the Frankfurt Germany Temple.
In the late 1980s, before his call to serve in our stake presidency, President Haurand had been in Germany supervising construction of the Frankfurt Temple, little realizing that a decade later he would return there as temple president.
He once shared an experience he had in 1987 in the not-yet-completed temple: “President and Sister Carlos E. Asay visited the temple. As we were standing in the celestial room Elder Asay asked me if the workers could feel the spirit of the sacred work they were performing. I answered that I did not think so. It is my experience that when you go through the temple looking for things that are not completed yet, that still need to be cleaned up, you cannot feel the Spirit of the Lord. But when you look with your spiritual eyes and see how it will look when it is completed, then you can feel the Spirit. Elder Asay said this is an eternal principle. When you look for fault, you can not have the Spirit of the Lord, but when you look for the good, then you can.”
This principle, President Haurand observed, is true in marriage, with our children or friends, with our neighbors and coworkers. When we look for fault, we cannot have the Spirit of the Lord, but when we look for good, we can.
The Prophet Joseph Smith may have had this same principle in mind when he penned the thirteenth Article of Faith: “. . . If there is anything virtuous, lovely, or of good report or praiseworthy, we seek after these things” (emphasis added).
23. Confess His Hand in All Things
A bishopric message published in the November 1998 issue of the Bountiful Twentieth Ward Newsette.
In a few weeks we will celebrate another Thanksgiving. As we think about the Lord’s goodness to us, as we contemplate the abundance He has bestowed upon us, as we marvel at the blessings and opportunities that are ours, we have every reason, as the Psalmist has written, to “enter into his gates with thanksgiving, and into his courts with praise: be thankful unto him, and bless his name” (Psalm 100:4).
With this poetic invitation before us, we are reminded of the everlasting goodness of our God: “For the Lord is good; his mercy is everlasting; and his truth endureth to all generations” (Psalm 100:5).
Few things, however, bother Him more than the ingratitude of His children: “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” (D&C 59:21).
Rather, we are to do all “things with thanksgiving, with cheerful hearts and countenances” (D&C 59:15). And if we “do this, the fulness of the earth is [ours], . . . for the benefit and the use of man, both to please the eye and to gladden the heart; . . . to strengthen the body and to enliven the soul” (D&C 104:16, 18, 19).
“For the earth is full,” the Lord reminds us, “and there is enough and to spare; . . . therefore, if any man shall take of the abundance which I have made, and impart not his portion, according to the law of my gospel, unto the poor and the needy, he shall, with the wicked, lift up his eyes in hell, being in torment” (D&C 104:17–18).
The Lord is really quite serious about this matter of our sharing with others. Indeed, if we hope to retain a remission of our sins, we are required to “impart of [our] substance to the poor, every man according to that which he hath, such as feeding the hungry, clothing the naked, visiting the sick and administering to their relief, both spiritually and temporally” (Mosiah 4:26), as many among us do so very well.
At this season of the year, we thank you for the goodness of your lives. We thank you for being the kind of decent, Christian neighbors you are supposed to be. We thank you for all that you do to enrich and bless and lift those about you. May God grant you the joy and peace that come from having grateful hearts, from confessing His hand in all things, from sharing your substance with those less fortunate, and from keeping His commandments.
In a few weeks we will celebrate another Thanksgiving. As we think about the Lord’s goodness to us, as we contemplate the abundance He has bestowed upon us, as we marvel at the blessings and opportunities that are ours, we have every reason, as the Psalmist has written, to “enter into his gates with thanksgiving, and into his courts with praise: be thankful unto him, and bless his name” (Psalm 100:4).
With this poetic invitation before us, we are reminded of the everlasting goodness of our God: “For the Lord is good; his mercy is everlasting; and his truth endureth to all generations” (Psalm 100:5).
Few things, however, bother Him more than the ingratitude of His children: “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” (D&C 59:21).
Rather, we are to do all “things with thanksgiving, with cheerful hearts and countenances” (D&C 59:15). And if we “do this, the fulness of the earth is [ours], . . . for the benefit and the use of man, both to please the eye and to gladden the heart; . . . to strengthen the body and to enliven the soul” (D&C 104:16, 18, 19).
“For the earth is full,” the Lord reminds us, “and there is enough and to spare; . . . therefore, if any man shall take of the abundance which I have made, and impart not his portion, according to the law of my gospel, unto the poor and the needy, he shall, with the wicked, lift up his eyes in hell, being in torment” (D&C 104:17–18).
The Lord is really quite serious about this matter of our sharing with others. Indeed, if we hope to retain a remission of our sins, we are required to “impart of [our] substance to the poor, every man according to that which he hath, such as feeding the hungry, clothing the naked, visiting the sick and administering to their relief, both spiritually and temporally” (Mosiah 4:26), as many among us do so very well.
At this season of the year, we thank you for the goodness of your lives. We thank you for being the kind of decent, Christian neighbors you are supposed to be. We thank you for all that you do to enrich and bless and lift those about you. May God grant you the joy and peace that come from having grateful hearts, from confessing His hand in all things, from sharing your substance with those less fortunate, and from keeping His commandments.
21. All Things Bear Record
A bishopric message written on Monday and Tuesday, July 27–28, 1998, and published in the August 1998 issue of the Bountiful Twentieth Ward Newsette.
Summer is passing quickly—a little too quickly for those who enjoy the longer days and warmer temperatures. And yet the passing of the seasons, as the earth makes its annual orbit about the sun, reminds us that “all things denote there is a God; yea, even the earth, and all things that are upon the face of it, yea, and its motion, yea, and also all the planets which move in their regular form do witness that there is a Supreme Creator” (Alma 30:44).
The Savior, in His premortal role as the Lord Jehovah, declared that “all things are created and made to bear record of me, both things which are temporal, and things which are spiritual; things which are in the heavens above, and things which are on the earth, and things which are in the earth, and things which are under the earth, both above and beneath: all things bear record of me” (Moses 6:63). That doesn’t leave much out.
“Behold, my soul delighteth in proving unto my people the truth of the coming of Christ,” wrote the prophet Nephi, “and all things which have been given of God from the beginning of the world, unto man, are the typifying of him” (2 Nephi 11:4).
A later Nephi testified concurrently, “Ye have received all things, both things in heaven, and all things which are in the earth, as a witness that they are true” (Helaman 8:24).
Recently we celebrated Pioneer Day. Those of us who have traveled to other parts of this great country or even to distant parts of the earth know that there is much of beauty and goodness and opportunity across the face of the earth. Yet, we are privileged to live in a peaceful, blessed area that was preserved by the hand of God for His peculiar purposes.
This desert area, in fulfillment of ancient prophecy, has blossomed as a rose. Among other things, that should remind us ever and always that we are the Lord’s covenant people, the sheep of His pasture. It should remind us that the Lord God Almighty has set His hand again to gather scattered Israel and bring them home. It should remind us that He keeps His promises, all of them, and that nothing will ever fail of all His goodness toward us if we keep the covenants we have made with Him.
May we “with thanksgiving, with cheerful hearts and countenances” (D&C 59:15), always be found among “those who confess . . . his hand in all things, and obey . . . his commandments” (D&C 59:21).
Summer is passing quickly—a little too quickly for those who enjoy the longer days and warmer temperatures. And yet the passing of the seasons, as the earth makes its annual orbit about the sun, reminds us that “all things denote there is a God; yea, even the earth, and all things that are upon the face of it, yea, and its motion, yea, and also all the planets which move in their regular form do witness that there is a Supreme Creator” (Alma 30:44).
The Savior, in His premortal role as the Lord Jehovah, declared that “all things are created and made to bear record of me, both things which are temporal, and things which are spiritual; things which are in the heavens above, and things which are on the earth, and things which are in the earth, and things which are under the earth, both above and beneath: all things bear record of me” (Moses 6:63). That doesn’t leave much out.
“Behold, my soul delighteth in proving unto my people the truth of the coming of Christ,” wrote the prophet Nephi, “and all things which have been given of God from the beginning of the world, unto man, are the typifying of him” (2 Nephi 11:4).
A later Nephi testified concurrently, “Ye have received all things, both things in heaven, and all things which are in the earth, as a witness that they are true” (Helaman 8:24).
Recently we celebrated Pioneer Day. Those of us who have traveled to other parts of this great country or even to distant parts of the earth know that there is much of beauty and goodness and opportunity across the face of the earth. Yet, we are privileged to live in a peaceful, blessed area that was preserved by the hand of God for His peculiar purposes.
This desert area, in fulfillment of ancient prophecy, has blossomed as a rose. Among other things, that should remind us ever and always that we are the Lord’s covenant people, the sheep of His pasture. It should remind us that the Lord God Almighty has set His hand again to gather scattered Israel and bring them home. It should remind us that He keeps His promises, all of them, and that nothing will ever fail of all His goodness toward us if we keep the covenants we have made with Him.
May we “with thanksgiving, with cheerful hearts and countenances” (D&C 59:15), always be found among “those who confess . . . his hand in all things, and obey . . . his commandments” (D&C 59:21).
20. Springtime
A bishopric message written on Monday, April 27, 1998, and published in the May 1998 issue of the Bountiful Twentieth Ward Newsette.
Springtime. What a glorious time of year. A time of rebirth and renewal. A time of hope and promise. A time when the very earth bears record of Him who made it (see Moses 6:63; 2 Nephi 11:4 Alma 30:44; and Helaman 8:24).
Although in concert with the rest of the Christian world we celebrate the birth of the Lord Jesus at Christmas time, we believe from latter-day revelation that it really happened in the spring of the year, during that season when shepherds would be “abiding in the field, keeping watch over their flock by night” (Luke 2:8).
It was also in the spring of the year, at the season of Passover, when the Lamb of God worked out what Elder Neal A. Maxwell has called “the awful arithmetic of the atonement,” causing the Savior “to tremble because of pain, and to bleed at every pore, and to suffer both body and spirit” (D&C 19:18) that He might take upon Him the pains and the sicknesses and the infirmities and the sins of His people (see Alma 7:11–13).
It was also on an early spring morning, the first day of the week, when faithful women arrived at an empty tomb to become the first witnesses of His glorious resurrection.
And it was on the morning of a beautiful, clear day, early in the spring of 1820 that the boy Joseph walked into a grove of trees near his New York farmhouse and, in answer to his humble prayer, saw the Father and the Son in that glorious vision that opened the dispensation of the fulness of times.
These and a score of other springtime events associated with the gospel of Jesus Christ—such as the restoration of the priesthood in May 1829 and the organization of the Church in April 1830—all remind us of “the great and wonderful love made manifest by the Father and the Son in the coming of the Redeemer into the world; that through his atonement, and by obedience to the principles of the gospel, [we] might be saved” (D&C 138:3–4).
May God bless us, as we enjoy this season called spring, to remember always these evidences of His love.
Springtime. What a glorious time of year. A time of rebirth and renewal. A time of hope and promise. A time when the very earth bears record of Him who made it (see Moses 6:63; 2 Nephi 11:4 Alma 30:44; and Helaman 8:24).
Although in concert with the rest of the Christian world we celebrate the birth of the Lord Jesus at Christmas time, we believe from latter-day revelation that it really happened in the spring of the year, during that season when shepherds would be “abiding in the field, keeping watch over their flock by night” (Luke 2:8).
It was also in the spring of the year, at the season of Passover, when the Lamb of God worked out what Elder Neal A. Maxwell has called “the awful arithmetic of the atonement,” causing the Savior “to tremble because of pain, and to bleed at every pore, and to suffer both body and spirit” (D&C 19:18) that He might take upon Him the pains and the sicknesses and the infirmities and the sins of His people (see Alma 7:11–13).
It was also on an early spring morning, the first day of the week, when faithful women arrived at an empty tomb to become the first witnesses of His glorious resurrection.
And it was on the morning of a beautiful, clear day, early in the spring of 1820 that the boy Joseph walked into a grove of trees near his New York farmhouse and, in answer to his humble prayer, saw the Father and the Son in that glorious vision that opened the dispensation of the fulness of times.
These and a score of other springtime events associated with the gospel of Jesus Christ—such as the restoration of the priesthood in May 1829 and the organization of the Church in April 1830—all remind us of “the great and wonderful love made manifest by the Father and the Son in the coming of the Redeemer into the world; that through his atonement, and by obedience to the principles of the gospel, [we] might be saved” (D&C 138:3–4).
May God bless us, as we enjoy this season called spring, to remember always these evidences of His love.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
