28 May 2014
The Cause of Christ
The cause of Christ in the earth is the cause of human happiness. Humans are not happy under all circumstances. There are immutable laws of happiness built in to the nature of social existence. If implemented, these laws bring to each human being the maximum possible satisfaction for living a human life on this earth.
Jesus Christ, the Savior of mankind, has taught humans how to be happy from the beginning, from the time of Adam and Eve. He did this first as Jehovah, then as the mortal Joshua of Nazareth, now in the Greek form of His name, Jesus the Messiah or Jesus Christ. He teaches mankind how to avoid the lies and selfishness which lead to unhappiness and to find the true principles of the abundant life. He is the leader for happiness in this world and makes possible happiness in the next world for all who will receive that blessing.
Satan, a real and powerful person, is the unseen father of lies and selfishness in this world. His influence is felt by every human who is accountable. He opposes the work of Christ because he wants all of mankind to be miserable as he is. He rejected the plan of happiness for himself out of selfishness and now tries to get all humans to abandon their own personal happiness for selfishness as he did.
But Satan provides a service we all need. There must be opposition in all things, otherwise there is no existence. Satan provides the opposition to the plan of happiness promoted by Christ. Happiness must be chosen by each person for himself or herself. Happiness, to be real, cannot be imposed upon any person. Each person must knowingly and deliberately choose it for himself or herself. Thus Satan and his temptations are the necessary opposition which make human happiness possible. Choosing to follow the teachings of Jesus Christ in the face of pressure from Satan to do otherwise makes human happiness a crowning attainment.
Thus choosing Christ over Satan makes true human happiness an option and a wonderful reality available to every human being: male or female, old or young, educated or uneducated, poor or wealthy as to this world’s goods, sickly or healthy. To promote the cause of Christ in the earth is to live up to and then spread the Gospel of Jesus Christ and the New and Everlasting Covenant, which two things empower every person who embraces them to gain happiness in this world and eternal life in the world to come.
The Great Commandment
The centerpiece of the Gospel of Jesus Christ is the saving commandment: “Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all of thy heart, might, mind and strength, and in the name of Jesus Christ shalt thou serve him.” (D&C 59:5) The details as to how to begin to do this are found in the principles of the Restored Gospel: 1. Faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. Trust him and obey him. 2. Repentance: Change every act of one’s life which is not an act of faith in Christ to one of faith in Christ. 3. Baptism: Covenant with Christ by being baptized by one having authority to keep His commandments, to always remember Him, and to be willing to take His name upon us. 4. Laying on of hands for the Gift of the Holy Ghost: Being given the right to the constant companionship of the Holy Ghost and being commanded to receive that companionship, that we might then have the knowledge and power to keep all of the commandments of Christ. Then we must endure to the end, which is to stay in that covenant path until we have taken upon us the personal character, the characteristics, of Christ himself.
But the first principles are not the completion of the process of learning to love God with all of our heart, might, mind and strength. We also need the rest of the New and Everlasting Covenant to give us specific instruction, guidance and power to do the work of Christ in the earth. Baptism is the first of the ordinances of the New and Everlasting Covenant. The second is receiving the power to do the work of Christ in the earth by receiving the Priesthood of Melchizedek (the name Melchizedek being one of the names of Jesus Christ, for He is truly the king of righteousness). The third is to be given another most precious and eternal gift, the temple endowment. In the endowment, faithful servants of Christ are given the power and knowledge to be able to serve God with all of their heart, might, mind and strength. The fourth part of the New and Everlasting Covenant is to be sealed in the temple to the husband or wife of our choice, being given the opportunity to be servants of Christ as husband and wife and parents in this life, and to be parents again in eternity with the opportunity to share with those children all that Christ has given us in this life. There is no greater gift, in time or in eternity, than that offered to every human being in the New and Everlasting Covenant.
Heart, Might, Mind and Strength
To love God with all our heart means to be fully dedicated to righteousness. Righteousness is the antithesis of selfishness. Righteousness is giving and sacrificing what we ourselves already have to help others have more; to have more knowledge, more health, more of this world’s goods, more power, more faith in Jesus Christ. The word “righteous” means “upright”, fully square with the commandment of God to love our neighbor. It means to keep the commandments of Christ, for He is the God of Righteousness and only in Him can any human ever come to the fulness of righteousness. His commandments are each given to help us to love one another as He has loved us. To be righteous we must both fully obey Him and fully follow His example. In Him we live, and move and have our being, whether righteous or not. But when we add full faith in Christ to the magnificent opportunity to be an intelligent, powerful and free human being, we only then begin to fulfill our full opportunity to make this earthly existence a leap into an eternity of blessing others.
To love God with all of our might means to use all the power and influence we have to bless the children of God, all other human beings, and the earth which God has so graciously provided for our earthly probation. To be grateful for all other humans and for the plants, animals and earthly formations around us is the beginning of wisdom. To labor to enhance the existence of all other human beings and the plants, animals and earthly formations around us is the labor which fulfills and justifies our existence. To use all of our power and influence to promote the cause of Christ in the earth is the most noble and worthwhile way to love God with all of our might. And God makes more mighty those who use what might they have to begin with only for good.
To love God with all of our mind means to treasure truth, the knowledge of the way things really are, were, and will be. In a world where the opinions of men often supersede the real truth, it is most precious to have the gift of the Holy Ghost, which is the spirit of truth and by which we may know the truth of all things. But having the truth is the beginning, not the end of our labor. We must begin with truth because we must deal with situations the way they really are. But we are not in this world just to understand it: we are here to change it. Specifically we are here to turn a fallen world into a paradise, a heaven on earth. We have been given minds so that we can understand the present reality with all of its potentials, then plan and work to fulfill that potential which would be pleasing unto Jesus Christ. And, of course, whatever would please Christ will also please any true servant of Christ. As we love Christ with all of our mind, we plan, scheme, and execute to make Christ’s will be done on earth as it is in heaven.
To love God with all of our strength means first to recognize that our strength, our mortal tabernacle, is a loaner. We do not own it, but are guest in a magnificent organic machine built in the image of God Himself. He desires that we appreciate this great loan, and abide the rules he has laid down for the proper and effective use of this tabernacle. He wants us to eat for nourishment, not just for pleasure. He wants us to rest and sleep sufficiently and regularly, so that we may be effective in our labors. He wants us to be chaste, with pure minds that desire sexual fulfillment only in the manner in which He prescribes, the Holy Priesthood union of man and wife. He wants us to use our strength up, working mightily to bring to pass righteousness and blessing for all of His other children. He wants us to end this life fully spent, having given not only full strength, but also full heart, might and mind to the cause of Christ in the earth.
But We Are Free
But for the present, not everyone on earth is interested in the cause of Christ. Even some of those persons who know what the cause of Christ is want other ways of using up their mortality. This world offers a million different paths to fulfillment. Some prefer selfishness to unselfishness, letting others do their hard work instead of doing it themselves. Some prefer using their bodies for gluttony or drunkenness or other drug induced satisfactions. Some prefer profligacy to purity in their sexual lives. Many would much rather lord it over others than to be the servant of all. They may find pleasure in their misappropriations of their God-given gifts for a time. But they will never find happiness.
Happiness is that state of blessed satisfaction of knowing that we will never need to be sorry for what we do. It is the state where no one can rightfully accuse us of not having loved them. It is the state of knowing that we are right with and one with God and His purposes. It is that state where our trust in God is so complete that we fear nothing in this world except failing to love purely. It is the state that looks forward to an eternity of blessing others with great anticipation and satisfaction.