Author: Chauncey Riddle

Written in 2010

The Large and Spacious Building

Lehi and Nephi were both blessed with visions in which they saw a large and spacious building: “and it stood as it were in the air, high above the earth.” (1 Nephi 8:26) But this building was not alone. It stood in juxtaposition and opposition to another image, the tree of life. The point of the vision of these two images was that people have a choice. They may strive to obtain the tree of life, whose fruit represents the love of God, or they may try to gain entrance into the large and spacious building which represents the pride of the world. The attaining of either goal is not assured in the visions, for many are lost in the quest. What is assured is the freedom to choose which one to try to attain. The tree of life is attained only by assiduously clinging to the iron rod, which represents the word of God and leads one along the narrow path which leads one to eternal life, which is to know the full love of God. The large and spacious building is attained by following a broad path which leads through very dangerous territory. Both ways are obscured by the mists of darkness, which represent the temptations of Satan. The mists of darkness are not a hindrance to those who seek the tree of life, for they need but cling to the iron rod. But the mists of darkness distress many in the broad path, and as they seek the large and spacious building, they are drowned in the depths of the water they encounter or are lost in strange roads. (See 1 Nephi 8:32)

Some noteworthy items about the image of the large and spacious building are the following:

1.   The large and spacious building has no foundation, for it is high in the air. No foundation suggests that the pride of the world is based solely upon human imagination and has no warrant in reality.

2.   The building is filled with many people, old and young, male and female. Pride is possible for everyone.

3.   The people in the building are dressed in very fine attire. This suggests the very basis for pride is having something special, not available to everyone. Clothing is the only distinguishing element mentioned, but is an obvious one for human beings, and is representative of other bases of pride such as wealth, power, fame, prowess, intelligence, etc.

4.   The people in the large and spacious building point the finger of scorn at those who worship Christ. In their self-appointed self-sufficiency, they mock those who humble themselves before the Savior and serve others.

The way to both the tree of life and to the large and spacious building passes by filthy waters, which represent the depths of hell. Some who seek the tree of life forget that they must hold fast to the iron rod lest they leave the narrow path and fall into forbidden ways. Pride causes a person to let go of the iron rod, and that pride destroys them just as it destroys those who seek and obtain the large and spacious building. Many who seek to be proud deliberately break the commandments of God to find some worldly advantage, such as wealth or power, and sell themselves to Satan in the process, assuring their tenancy in the depths of hell as a guest of their master, the father of all lies and of worldly pride.

Thus the images represent our human opportunity, either to choose the way of life and the tree of life, or to choose the way of worldly pride and spiritual death. Let us contrast these two goals, the love of God and the pride of the world. The basic contrast is that of being an appreciative child of God on the one hand, and taking glory in the achievements of men on the other hand.

Those of the world who are rich tend to think that they came by those riches because they deserve them, either because of their own cleverness or the astuteness of someone who cares for them. In any case, they are proud to be rich and disdain those who are poor. The servants of Christ, on the other hand, know that any riches they might have are a gift from God. They see their riches as a stewardship, and their responsibility in that stewardship is to share their wealth intelligently and spiritually with others as God directs. They refrain from making a show of riches, preferring to appear like their brethren and sisters of lesser substance. In that modesty and generosity they find that which they seek: the love of god, which then shines through them to bless their less blessed brothers and sisters.

Those of the world who are good-looking or are strong and healthy tend to think that these blessings are due to good fortune or chance, or perhaps to the fact that they are rich and can buy help to attain good looks and a special physique. They tend to see their bodies as their own, as a resource to be prized and a way to show that they are better than those less gifted. The servants of Christ on the other hand know that the physical body they inhabit is not their own but is a “loaner,” a gift from God to see how well they can care for this temporary body and to see if they will give the glory to God for any special physical blessing they enjoy, such as good looks, physical strength, stamina and health. They again see these blessings as stewardship in which they are given these blessings both to pass them on to their posterity and to be able to labor with and in behalf of others to share the physical burdens of their neighbors.

Those of the world who are intelligent or learned see these things as very fortunate assets which enable them to distinguish themselves, to be set above others by titles and distinctions, by vestments and pomp, by notoriety and fame, which show how much better they are than most of their fellowmen. The servants of Christ see being intelligent or learned as God-given assets by which they are able to reach out to their fellow-men and enable them also to be intelligent and learned, that they all might serve God and their fellow-men more effectively in the pure love of Christ.

Perhaps the ultimate and most devastating source of worldly pride is the supposition that one has a corner on “the truth” while others wallow in misinformation. This is especially true about those who think they have a corner on religious truth, the truth about God. This worldly pride is the impetus for persecution, for war, for despising others and for many varieties of inhuman treatment of other human beings. The servants of Christ know that their testimonies of Christ and of His true Church and of His true doctrines are something personal to themselves and cannot be given to anyone else. It is true that a servant of Christ may bear his testimony to another person, but will do so in all humility, knowing that only the Holy Ghost can vouchsafe a true testimony of Christ to anyone. He knows that a testimony of Christ is a precious thing, and tries to share his testimony with others, knowing however that it is up to his hearers to desire and receive a personal testimony of the truth for themselves. Meanwhile, the true servant of Christ shows by his actions of service to his fellow humans that he really does believe in Christ and in His message.

We turn now from consideration of the large and spacious building to the revelations about the great and abominable church found in the Book of Mormon.

The Great and Abominable Church

Any discussion of the great and abominable church is fraught with the danger of being deadly wrong. Many persons have opined as to what that church is in the real world, and I will here add another opinion. It seems that the course of wisdom is to let each person discover and identify for himself or herself just what the Lord wants him or her to think is the great and abominable church.

We note that to say that church is “great” is to say that it is large. To say that it is “abominable” is to say that it has departed from the revelations of God. “Ab” is the Latin word meaning from or away from. The word “omen” is a word which means disclosure or revelation. Putting the two together we get “ab-omen,” which means away from or not according to the revelation, meaning here the revelations of the true and living God. So that which is “abominable” is something other than that which God has ordained. We thus see that many things in this world are abominable, most of which are not also “great.” But this particular “great and abominable” has taken on a life of its own because of the mention it receives in both the Book of Mormon and the Bible.

Nephi is introduced to this bit of prophecy/history about the great and abominable church by references to the Bible which he saw would be in the hands of the Gentiles who would come to Lehi’s promised land, the Americas, to inherit it. Nephi sees that these Gentiles had been in captivity, but have been delivered from that bondage by the power of God. He sees that they prosper in this land given to Lehi, and that they overcome the remnant of the seed of Lehi whom they encounter on this continent. He also sees that they carry a book, which book is the Bible.

The angel who explains the vision to Nephi tells him that the book he sees came from the Jews and contains the covenants which God made with the House of Israel, and it also contains many prophecies. It is like the record which Lehi has on the plates of brass, except this book does not have as many records as do the plates of brass. Because of the covenants found in this book, the Bible, it is of great worth to the Gentiles.

The angelic messenger explains to Nephi that the record or book which the Gentiles have once contained the fulness of the Gospel of Jesus Christ in the testimonies of the twelve apostles of Christ. The book went forth in purity unto the Gentiles, containing the truth from God. But after the book went forth from the Jews to the Gentiles, a great and abominable church was founded which took control of this record from the Jews and removed from the book many parts which were plain and precious. After these plain and precious parts were removed from the Bible, that book went forth to all other nations of the Gentiles.

And while the Gentiles were and are greatly blessed by the truths still contained in this book, the Bible, Nephi was shown that they would also stumble exceedingly because of the loss of the plain and precious parts which had been removed from it. In their stumbling because of not having the full picture of the Gospel of Christ, Satan had advantage over the Gentiles and gains power among them. Part of that power has been the inability of the Gentiles to agree on fundamental aspects of salvation through Jesus Christ.

Lacking the fulness of the Gospel of Christ, the Gentiles do stumble, but also are very blessed by what truth they do know. Nephi is shown that God will not leave the Gentiles on this promised land forever in blindness. God will bless these Gentiles with a new revelation of the fulness of the Gospel of Christ, restoring those plain and precious parts which were removed by the great and abominable church. This restoration will take place through the instrumentality of the seed of Lehi. For God will cause the righteous children of Lehi to keep a record of his dealings with them. This record will contain a fulness of the Gospel of Christ, and will be revealed to the Gentiles in the latter days of the earth to further bless the Gentiles and also to bless anyone who will receive that record, believe in Christ, and become faithful to Christ. Not only will this record from the children of Lehi come forth, but other records also, and all these records will bless mankind with truth and with accurate instruction as to how to have full faith in Jesus Christ.

Identifying the Great and Abominable Church in the world today.

As you are probably aware, identifying the Great and Abominable Church is a task fraught with difficulty and risk. For a review of many of the hypotheses of identification already put forth in this dispensation, I refer you to Michael Ash, who has the article entitled “Is Roman Catholicism the Great and Abominable Church,” in which he reviews many of the conjectures which have been put forth by members and authorities of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints as to its identity (1). I will spend my time here reasoning for a new interpretation, a new conjecture as to what the great and abominable church was and is, and I ask you to select for yourself the hypothesis which seems best to you.

My conclusion: The great and abominable church of the devil is the institution known by some in the world today as Humanism. Humanism is the belief that there is no God or spiritual realm in the universe, that humans are the highest form of intelligent existence, and that the smartest humans ought to be the leaders and rulers in human society. Humanism is the worship of human intelligence.

The first challenge and question about this hypothesis is the question, Is Humanism a religion and a church? I would assert that it is indeed a religion and even may be said to have a church. A religion is a pattern of belief and action. Every adult human being has a pattern of belief and action, and thus has a religion. Humanism is a pattern of belief and action.

The great and abominable may also be said to be a church. As a church, it has the following aspects of churches. A) It has a theology. That theology identifies the god of Humanism as human intelligence, has a specific epistemology (science), has a specific salvation (delivery from menial work, want, ignorance, and pain). In this theology or metaphysics, there is no supernatural, no spiritual realm, no gods, angels or spirits, and when humans die that is the end of their existence. B) Humanism has a priesthood. The priesthood is defined by those Humanists who have advanced college degrees, honorary or earned. That priesthood has its own vestments in the robes, caps and tassels of academia. Admission to that priesthood is gained by satisfying the requirements for advanced degrees at some accredited university. C) Humanism has its own rituals. The rituals are “scripture study,” which is poring over the works of the great masters; examinations, the proving that one knows and understands the theology and the works of the masters, and the admission task, the writing of one’s own contribution to the theology. The ordinance of conferring of degrees is the token that one has “arrived” in this religion and is ready to be a contributor in this religion. D) This church of Humanism has its own form of excommunication. When a person egregiously violates the tenets of this religion, they often are vigorously attacked by other members in good standing and are denied the benefits of worthy members, which are tenure, grants, and publication in the journals of prestige. E) Humanism has its own moral code, which is to defy the moral scruples of traditional religions, especially Christian religions, and to give allegiance only to those modalities of action which produce great science, great art, or great social accomplishment, the latter especially in the realm of politics. In the realm of sexual morality, there are no crimes between consenting adults. Humanism is clearly a religion and may also be denominated as a church.

It may sound as if I am equating Humanism with academia. I am not. But academe is used by Humanism to promote its cause, and some of the participants in the realm of academia are devotees of the religion of Humanism.

Correlation with key scriptures of the Book of Mormon:

Let us now turn to Nephi’s account of the great and abominable church in the Book of Mormon to see how this hypothesis fits with some key passages.

24 And the angel of the Lord said unto me: Thou hast beheld that the book proceeded forth from the mouth of a Jew; and when it proceeded forth from the mouth of a Jew it contained the fulness of the gospel of the Lord, of whom the twelve apostles bear record; and they bear record according to the truth which is in the Lamb of God.

25 Wherefore, these things go forth from the Jews in purity unto the Gentiles, according to the truth which is in God.

26 And after they go forth by the hand of the twelve apostles of the Lamb, from the Jews unto the Gentiles, thou seest the formation of that great and abominable church, which is most abominable above all other churches; for behold, they have taken away from the gospel of the Lamb many parts which are plain and most precious; and also many covenants of the Lord have they taken away.

27 And all this have they done that they might pervert the right ways of the Lord, that they might blind the eyes and harden the hearts of the children of men. (1 Nephi 13:24–27)

This passage shows us that the great and abominable church was formed about the second century A.D., for that is when the New Testament passed from the hands of the twelve apostles of Jesus Christ into the hands of others. I maintain that there was a concerted effort on the part of persons of humanist persuasion to emasculate this new religion which Christ had restored to the earth by changing the scriptures in a humanist direction. These changes were made possible by the loss of the authority of the Holy Priesthood, for after the departure of John the Beloved there was no longer a legal administrator with the keys of the priesthood to prevent the changes. Christianity was captured by humanist influence, and the following changes were made, among others:

The temple ordinances were taken away.

Baptism was changed from a covenant made by a consenting agent and done by immersion to a sprinkling given to a little child.

Personal morality in keeping the Ten Commandments and the celestial injunctions of the Sermon on the Mount were changed to emphasize orthodoxy in believing and teaching only the doctrines approved by the “authorities.” The importance of a faithful, pure life was changed to emphasis on supporting “the faith” intellectually.

Repentance, the actual turning from evil action to obeying the commandments of God, was changed to penance, the paying for sins.

Reality was changed from being the physical world in which we live and move to being an intellectual realm of ideas.

The nature of God was changed from personal beings of flesh and bone to a spirit, and from three persons, the Father, the Son and the Holy Ghost, into a single essence which could not be known or defined.

The structure of the church was changed from a first presidency of three, a quorum of twelve apostles, and of the seventy, all holding the Melchizedek Priesthood, to a hierarchy of bishops, which is an office of the Aaronic Priesthood.

Interpretation of scripture was no longer to be one by each individual in accordance with the gift of the Holy Ghost, but was to be made only by those properly educated in humanism, who would make pronouncements to be accepted and believed by the lay members of the church.

These changes did not take place all at once, but the ground was laid for each of them in the second century. These are some of the plain and precious parts of the work of Jesus Christ which were changed and eliminated by the great and abominable church.

It is important to note here that the so-called “Christian” churches of today were all formed after the changes listed above were made by those of the great and abominable church, and thus all of the Christian churches of today were and are heirs to all of the problems and deficits created in the second century. (The exception being the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.)

Nephi also tells us that the true and full Gospel of Jesus Christ will be restored in the latter days, and all who accept that restoration will be able to avoid that great pit which the great and abominable church will prepare to destroy all mankind:

1 AND it shall come to pass, that if the Gentiles shall hearken unto the Lamb of God in that day that he shall manifest himself unto them in word, and also in power, in very deed, unto the taking away of their stumbling blocks— …

3 And that great pit, which hath been digged for them by that great and abominable church, which was founded by the devil and his children, that he might lead away the souls of men down to hell—yea, that great pit which hath been digged for the destruction of men shall be filled by those who digged it, unto their utter destruction, saith the Lamb of God; not the destruction of the soul, save it be the casting of it into that hell which hath no end.

4 For behold, this is according to the captivity of the devil, and also according to the justice of God, upon all those who will work wickedness and abominations before him. (1 Nephi 14:1, 3–4)

I submit to you that the great pit which the great and abominable church digs for mankind is hell and the subjection to Satan which humanism engenders. By poisoning the minds of people against spirituality and against the existence of God and pretending that there is no such thing as sin, those who promote the great and abominable church hope to prevent any human being from accepting the Restored Gospel of Jesus Christ in these last days. By encouraging people to sin, they entice them onto that slippery slope of breaking God’s commandments which leads straight into hell. Those who dig this pit will fall into it themselves. As they convince themselves and some others that there is no God and no sin and no salvation and break the commandments of God at will, they will find themselves in hell at the final day.

Some members of the great and abominable church may be better off than the leaders of that church. Some persons whom the leaders convince to be humanist in this world will be able to be converted to Christ in the spirit world after they leave this mortality, will accept the atonement of Christ, and will be spared the punishments of hell and will inherit the terrestrial kingdom. But those leaders of the great and abominable church who knowingly pretend that there is no God and that there is no need to repent will fall into the pit of hell and they need to pay for their own sins, the very pit into which they tried to lure all mankind.

Nephi gives an interesting analysis of the latter days when he relates what the angel told him:

10 And he said unto me: Behold there are save two churches only; the one is the church of the Lamb of God, and the other is the church of the devil; wherefore, whoso belongeth not to the church of the Lamb of God belongeth to that great church, which is the mother of abominations; and she is the whore of all the earth.

11 And it came to pass that I looked and beheld the whore of all the earth, and she sat upon many waters; and she had dominion over all the earth, among all nations, kindreds, tongues, and people.

12 And it came to pass that I beheld the church of the Lamb of God, and its numbers were few, because of the wickedness and abominations of the whore who sat upon many waters; nevertheless, I beheld that the church of the Lamb, who were the saints of God, were also upon all the face of the earth; and their dominions upon the face of the earth were small, because of the wickedness of the great whore whom I saw. (1 Nephi 14:10–12)

We will examine the four principal aspects of this scriptural prophecy:

1.   The idea that there will be only two churches in the last days.

2.   The idea that the church of Satan will be the whore of all the earth.

3.   The idea that the church of Satan sits upon many waters, among all peoples.

4.   The idea that the church of Jesus Christ will be relatively few in number, but scattered upon all the earth.

Aspect 1. Nephi is here seeing the earth in the last days. At the end there will be only two churches in existence: the great and abominable church of the devil and the restored Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. This is to say that every person will either find themselves a member of the true church of Jesus Christ, or they will be in a social situation which is ruled over by the great and abominable church of Satan. There will be no middle ground. To put the matter another way, every person on earth who is accountable will have to make a decision as to where to put his or her trust in the living God who speaks to them through the Holy Spirit, or they will put their trust in persons of humanist persuasion who do not acknowledge the real existence of God and the necessity to obey God.

It is important to note that the great and abominable church is not a church in the ordinary sense. It is a meta-church. It is the organization and philosophy which in these latter days will come to govern all churches as well as governments and educational institutions which are not governed by faithful covenant servants of Jesus Christ. The very purpose of the founding of the great and abominable church in the first place was to thwart the salvation of souls in the New and Everlasting Covenant. That covenant is the only means by which any human being has any opportunity to inhabit the celestial kingdom or to gain exaltation in the world to come. So at the last day there will be only two churches: the church of those who put their trust in the Lord Jesus Christ through the Everlasting Covenant, and all other organizations and peoples who trust in the arm of flesh.

It is also noteworthy that membership in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints does not save anyone. There are members of the church who have partaken of the New and Everlasting Covenant, but who do not put their trust in Christ. Rather, they trust in the arm of flesh, the intelligence of man, either their own intelligence or that of some other human being or group of human beings, and thus they actually belong to the great and abominable church of the devil.

For a scriptural classic example of the kind of thinking which characterizes those who put their trust in the arm of flesh see Isaiah 10:14–16 for a description of the king of Assyria who glories in his own strength, in his own prudence and astuteness, in the arm of flesh. This application of the arm of flesh to spoiling others is only one way to apply the arm of flesh. That arm of flesh may also be applied to attempt to help others, to rescue nations and civilizations, to try to create “heaven on earth.” This leads us to see that the division between the true church of Jesus Christ and the great and abominable church is not a question of goals or ends. Some very sincere Humanists in this world are also trying to help to save mankind. The difference is in the means. The crucial factor which separates the righteous from the wicked is that the righteous put their trust in Christ and humbly obey Him, carrying out His program for the salvation of mankind, whereas the wicked put their trust in their own wisdom to solve all the problems of mankind. It is noteworthy that the word “wicked” comes from the Anglo-Saxon word “wikke,” which means witch, one who is in league with the devil. The wicked persons of this world include those who think they are very astute in trusting in the wisdom and abilities and strength of human beings and in rejecting the living Christ.

One significant gospel truth is that no human being is alone. Every one of us is accompanied at all moments by the spirit of Christ or the spirit of Satan, and if we do not hearken to the voice of Christ, we automatically back ourselves into the arms of Satan and serve him. Our personal astuteness trying to be independent of Christ turns out simply to be taking delight in following the whisperings of the adversary, Satan, as we learn in the Pearl of Great Price:

3 Wherefore, because that Satan rebelled against me, and sought to destroy the agency of man, which I, the Lord God, had given him, and also, that I should give unto him mine own power; by the power of mine Only Begotten, I caused that he should be cast down;

4 And he became Satan, yea, even the devil, the father of all lies, to deceive and to blind men, and to lead them captive at his will, even as many as would not hearken unto my voice. (Pearl of Great Price Moses 4:3–4)

Thus it is in the last days that there will be only two churches, because there will be only two kinds of people: the righteous who hearken to the voice of Christ through the Holy Spirit, and the wicked who listen instead to the enticings of Satan. The Doctrine and Covenants spells out this division very clearly:

54 And until that hour there will be foolish virgins among the wise; and at that hour cometh an entire separation of the righteous and the wicked; and in that day will I send mine angels to pluck out the wicked and cast them into unquenchable fire. (Doctrine and Covenants Section 63:54)

The scriptures also clearly describe what it takes to be among the righteous:

56 And at that day, when I shall come in my glory, shall the parable be fulfilled which I spake concerning the ten virgins.

57 For they that are wise and have received the truth, and have taken the Holy Spirit for their guide, and have not been deceived—verily I say unto you, they shall not be hewn down and cast into the fire, but shall abide the day.

58 And the earth shall be given unto them for an inheritance; and they shall multiply and wax strong, and their children shall grow up without sin unto salvation. (Doctrine and Covenants Section 45:56–58)

Aspect 2. The great and abominable church is the whore of all the earth because those who belong to it take the blessings God has given them and use them for their own personal gain and pleasure, neither acknowledging the source of those blessings nor using them for what they were intended.

God blesses men so that they, being empowered, can bless each other. But an evil person will take those God-given blessings and powers and use them selfishly, and to oppress their neighbors. God would have all men love him and thus get their bearings on what life is all about, then he would have them love their neighbors, which is to be more concerned about the needs of our neighbors than about our own needs. A true servant of Christ knows that because he is faithful to Christ, our Master will see that his own personal needs are taken care of and that he can focus on ministering to the needs of his fellow beings without special concern for the meeting of his own needs. Satan encourages the opposite tack. Satan teaches each human being to be selfish, to be concerned first, foremost and always about meeting his or her own personal needs and desires, taking advantage of an ill-using other human beings without second thoughts or remorse. This device of Satan is prostitution: the taking of a God-given gift and using it only for personal gain. The great and abominable church propounds the idea of “me first,” and thus entices all human beings to participate as part of the whore of all the earth. And we must mention that all of this supports and abets actual sexual prostitution in all of its forms.

Aspect 3. The great and abominable church sits upon many waters, among all kindreds, tongues, and peoples. If there is anything pervasive in this world, it is the influence of Satan. That influence is widespread by design, the design of the Father when this world was created and Adam was induced to partake of the forbidden fruit and to fall from his celestial origins. Satan has a mission allowed by God: to be among every people, enticing every soul to be selfish and to prostitute his or her God-given gifts. Satan does his work very well, making sure that every accountable human being has the full opportunity to be devilishly selfish. Humanism is one of his prime instruments to do this, but only one of them. But Father also makes sure that every one of his accountable children has an opposing opportunity, for He gives each the light of Christ so that each will know that it is not necessary to be selfish and to prostitute one’s God-given gifts. That gift of the light of Christ will not enable a person to make up for past mistakes, but it does give each the opportunity to choose to be unselfish and to do good things. To make up for past mistakes, a person must be taught the Gospel of Jesus Christ and partake of the atonement of Christ through the ordinances of the Gospel. But until they are taught the Gospel of Christ, they are helpless and cannot be saved from their past sins or be completely saved from sinning in the present.

The present burden of teaching everyone in this world the Restored Gospel of Jesus Christ rests upon the Latter-day Saints. This work is not done until every soul hears the Restored Gospel and thus has the opportunity to accept Christ and the redeeming power of Christ through the ordinances. Thus it is expedient that the Church of Jesus Christ also be upon the earth, so that the work of giving each person an alternative to the great and abominable church will be complete, that God might be fair to each person and give each person the opportunity to choose not to be part of that great and abominable church at His coming.

Aspect 4. The members of the true Church of Christ, the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints will be few in number in the last days compared with the adherents of the great and abominable church of the devil. The fewness is a testimony to the power of Satan to mislead human beings. But this fewness is also a measure of the greatness of what Father is trying to do for His human children. Father desires to exalt, to make as He Himself is, as many of His human children as He can. The opportunities of exaltation are so great, and the responsibilities of exaltation are so heavy that Father cannot give that blessing to any but the most valiant of His children. Only those who can be full of righteous love and never buckle under the pressure to sin for any reason can be trusted with His full priesthood and the powers of exaltation. Apparently among those of Father’s children who inhabit this earth there are but few who could stand to be exalted. And thus the number of the true servants of Christ will be small when Christ comes in the Second Coming.

It is obvious that not every participant in the great and abominable church of Satan is equally wicked. Some are simply unable to keep the commandments of Christ under Satan’s unrelenting pressure to be selfish. Those participants in the great and abominable church who willingly delight in breaking the ten commandments to consume others in their lusts will be burned at the Second Coming and will eventually be inhabitants of the Telestial Kingdom. Those who willingly and knowingly defy the Father and Christ to promote the work of Satan will also be burned up at the Second Coming. They are the sons of perdition, those who know Christ and reject Him, preferring the leadership of Satan. They will be rewarded with being subject to Satan for the rest of eternity, in outer darkness, even as they chose. But those who are basically good people and go along with the great and abominable church because they are deceived will be spared the burning at the Second Coming and will eventually be inhabitants of the terrestrial kingdom.

Another particular prophecy of Nephi about the great and abominable church is of special importance to us who are Latter-day Saints:

13 And it came to pass that I beheld that the great mother of abominations did gather together multitudes upon the face of all the earth, among all the nations of the Gentiles, to fight against the Lamb of God.

14 And it came to pass that I, Nephi, beheld the power of the Lamb of God, that it descended upon the saints of the church of the Lamb, and upon the covenant people of the Lord, who were scattered upon all the face of the earth; and they were armed with righteousness and with the power of God in great glory.

15 And it came to pass that I beheld that the wrath of God was poured out upon that great and abominable church, insomuch that there were wars and rumors of wars among all the nations and kindreds of the earth. (Book of Mormon 1 Nephi 14:13–15)

We learn from this scripture that the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and its members will come under direct attack by the organized forces of the great and abominable church in the last days. This attack will probably not be military at first, though it might well culminate in a military attack towards the end, just before the Second Coming of the Savior. It seems likely that the attack will begin as a challenge to the moral standards of the Savior’s church. Such things as abortion, gay rights, and laws governing obscenity will be and are initial points of focus and confrontation. The elimination of tax deductions for some charitable organizations will likely be another. The teaching of organic evolution as a “proved fact” in preference to all other possibilities is already in place. Soviet style incarceration of persons who are “religious” on grounds that they are mentally incompetent is a real possibility. One main tactic will be the pointing of the finger of scorn at those who abide Judeo-Christian moral standards.

Nephi gives us a good description of the challenges of the latter days:

12 Because of pride, and because of false teachers, and false doctrine, their churches have become corrupted, and their churches are lifted up; because of pride they are puffed up.

13 They rob the poor because of their fine sanctuaries; they rob the poor because of their fine clothing; and they persecute the meek and poor in heart, because in their pride they are puffed up.

14 They wear stiff necks and high heads; yea, and because of pride, and wickedness, and abominations, and whoredoms, they have all gone astray save it be a few, who are the humble followers of Christ; nevertheless, they are led, that in many instances they do err because they are taught by the precepts of men.

15 O the wise, and the learned, and the rich, that are puffed up on the pride of their hearts, and all those who preach false doctrines, and all those who commit whoredoms, and pervert the right way of the Lord, wo, wo, wo be unto them, saith the Lord God Almighty, for they shall be thrust down to hell!

16 Wo unto them that turn aside the just for a thing of naught and revile against that which is good, and say that it is of no worth! For the day shall come that the Lord God will speedily visit the inhabitants of the earth; and in that day that they are fully ripe in iniquity they shall perish. (Book of Mormon 2 Nephi 28:12–16)

This scene of wickedness which Nephi describes will be and is the result of the work of Satan to destroy the saints of God, and doubtless will be the kind of result which the forces of the great and abominable church of Satan desire to achieve, for the goal is to bring all human beings, especially those who belong to the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, down into the pit of hell where he, Satan, can rule over them.

But Satan and the great and abominable church which he promotes will not be entirely successful in destroying the work of Christ. The valiant servants of Christ will proclaim the Restored Gospel of Jesus Christ to the ends of the earth, to every nation, kindred, tongue and people, that every soul who desires to be rescued from the power of Satan will know how to be so rescued and how to do what is necessary to be rescued. The work of Christ will triumph over all the work of the adversary until it is finished, as declared the Prophet Joseph Smith:

22 Brethren, shall we not go on in so great a cause? Go forward and not backward. Courage, brethren; and on, on to the victory! Let your hearts rejoice, and be exceedingly glad. Let the earth break forth into singing. Let the dead speak forth anthems of eternal praise to the King Immanuel, who hath ordained, before the world was, that which would enable us to redeem them out of their prison; for the prisoners shall go free.

23 Let the mountains shout for joy, and all ye valleys cry aloud; and all ye seas and dry lands tell the wonders of your Eternal King! And ye rivers, and brooks, and rills, flow down with gladness. Let the woods and all the trees of the field praise the Lord; and ye solid rocks weep for joy! And let the sun, moon and the morning stars sing together, and let all the sons of God shout for joy! And let the eternal creations declare his name forever and ever! And again I say, how glorious is the voice we hear from heaven, proclaiming in our ears, glory, and salvation, and honor, and immortality, and eternal life; kingdoms, principalities, and powers! (Doctrine and Covenants 128:22–23)

It is heartening to have the assurance that the work of the adversary will not triumph in the end, but that the love of Christ will reach out and eventually save all but the Sons of Perdition from the eternal pit into which Satan tries to draw all men.

One final point from Nephi’s description of the great and abominable church: He says:

15 And it came to pass that I beheld that the wrath of God was poured out upon that great and abominable church, insomuch that there were wars and rumors of wars among all the nations and kindreds of the earth.

16 And as there began to be wars and rumors of wars among all the nations which belonged to the mother of abominations, the angel spake unto me, saying: Behold, the wrath of God is upon the mother of harlots; and behold, thou seest all these things—

17 And when the day cometh that the wrath of God is poured out upon the mother of harlots, which is the great and abominable church of all the earth, whose founder is the devil, then, at that day, the work of the Father shall commence, in preparing the way for the fulfilling of his covenants, which he hath made to his people who are of the house of Israel. (Book of Mormon 1 Nephi 14:15–17)

When war is poured out upon all the nations of the earth, which is the wrath of God upon the mother of harlots, that great and abominable church, the work of the Father will commence in restoring all the house of Israel. The question is, is that time of commencement past, present or future for us in our time? My answer is that it is all three. The work of the Father began with the Reformation, which made possible the founding of a free nation, the United States of America. The formation of the United States made it possible for the restoration of the full Gospel of Jesus Christ and its ordinances. The kingdom of Christ has been growing and prospering for one hundred and eighty years now, offering rescue to captive souls through the Atonement. Both of those events came in times of wars and rumors of wars. But the climax of this great work of Christ in restoring Israel is yet to come. For it will involve the restoration of the Ten Tribes, the establishment of Zion on this the American continent, and the restoration of all the works of scripture written by the prophets of God in every dispensation. My guess is that the climax of this restoration will come like a great burst of fireworks very close to the time of the actual second coming of the Savior to the earth in the clouds of glory to bless all the peoples of the earth. And doubtless this climax will come in a time of war.

Conclusions

One conclusion is that the great and spacious building which Lehi and Nephi saw is one manifestation of the great and abominable church. It seems to me that they are not identical, for not every participant in the work of the great and abominable church lives in finery. I do assume that participants in the work of the great and abominable church desire to live in finery and to have the honors of men, but it is obvious that all do not succeed. Those who do not succeed in attaining the large and spacious building while serving Satan are lost in strange roads and are swallowed up in the depths of the filthy waters which Lehi and Nephi saw, which filthy waters are the depths of hell. And the depths of hell are also the eventual destination for all persons found in the large and spacious building. It is just that those of the large and spacious building get a day of worldly glory in riches, power and honors before they make their descent into the pit at their mortal death.

It is also important to note that the house of Israel is scattered among all the nations, and these persons are influenced by the great and abominable church wherever they are. There are people of good will, of the house of Israel and also not of Israel, who would unite with the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints if only they knew about it. Satan has done his work well to keep many from knowing about true salvation. I refer you to D&C Section 123:7–14.

I also conclude that the great and abominable church is a specific organization of men and women, but is semi-secret. It works behind the scenes in every government, business, institution of learning, social enterprise and church to promote moral relativity, confusion about the truth of the human situation, falsification of history and the reports of current events, etc., all in the attempt to confuse the people of this world about the truth of Jesus Christ and his salvation and to shame those who are attracted to the Savior and try to become His disciples. It works through educational systems, in businesses, in churches, in the arts, and in politics. It is everywhere.

Please note that there are four groups of people who relate to these matters. There are the faithful servants of Christ who have taken the Holy Spirit for their guide who inherit the celestial kingdom; these will be caught up to meet the Savior at His Second Coming. There are the honorable men of the earth who have been deceived into sinning by the craftiness of men and the workings of the great and abominable church in these last days, who will receive Christ in the spirit world and who will inherit the terrestrial kingdom; these remain alive on the earth at the Second Coming. There are those who take personal delight and pleasure in breaking the commandments of God and accept the teachings of the great and abominable church because they think I justifies them. They will be burned up at the Second Coming and will inherit the telestial kingdom after they have paid for their sins in hell. And there are those who partake of the New and Everlasting Covenant and then knowingly turn and serve Satan and promote his great and abominable church; these are the sons of perdition who remain in the pit forever. These are also burned at the Second Coming when the Savior begins the cleansing of the earth in his temple.

The beauty of it all is that because Christ does His work so well, and because Satan does his work so well, especially through the instrumentality of the great and abominable church, each of us is free to choose eternal life through Jesus Christ or eternal damnation through following Satan. We each control our own personal destiny. And a loving Father has made it all so.

Endnotes

1.   www.mormonfortress.com, go to About Mike, under Bibliography find the work by the given title: “Is Roman Catholicism the Great and Abominable Church.”

2.   For further information about Humanism, see the following:

• The Philosophy of Humanism, Corliss Lamont (1902–1995), New York, Continuum Publications, 1990, ISBN0804463794.
• Encyclopedia Britannica, 15^th Edition, Chicago, 2010. The article Humanism discusses mostly the literary humanism of the Renaissance. Almost nothing about 20^th century humanism.
• Encyclopedia Americana, Danbury, CT, 2006. The article Humanism focuses on literary humanism.
• Wikipedia article Humanism. This article gives a good historic overview of the use of the word “humanism” and the principal applications today. Links are provided to Humanist Manifesto I (1933), Humanist Manifesto II (1973), A Secular Humanist Declaration (1980), Amsterdam Declaration (2002), and Humanist Manifesto III (2003). Each of these latter works are worth reading to enlarge one’s understanding of Humanism.
• For a comparison of the basic ideas of Humanism contrasted with the Restored Gospel of Jesus Christ, see my book Think Independently, Chauncey C. Riddle.

21 September 2009

Thesis: The most important thing and the most precious thing in the universe is a celestial family, consisting of a faithful husband and a faithful wife and faithful children united in the bonds of the New and Everlasting Covenant.

Antithesis: The thing Satan hates most is a faithful celestial family created through the New and Everlasting Covenant.

1.   Jesus Christ (Jehovah) was chosen by our Heavenly Father to make the New and Everlasting Covenant possible through His Atonement, and to be the leader of the faithful.

Satan chose himself to try to destroy knowledge of and participation in the New and Everlasting Covenant, acceptance of the Atonement, and faith in Jesus Christ.

2.   Our Savior, Jesus Christ, commends us to be honest.

Satan entices all to lie at every turn.

3.   Our Savior commends to us to be true to our word and keep our covenants and contracts.

Satan entices all to do whatever seems advantageous at the moment.

4.   Our Savior commends each of us to be absolutely chaste, to limit sexual relations to marriage.

Satan entices all to make sexual release a pastime, to be engaged in whenever and wherever, even with animals.

5.   Our Savior commends to each of His servants to have good will to all men.

Satan entices all to hate everyone else.

6.   Our Savior commends His servants to be strong in pursuing righteousness.

Satan entices all to be strong in pursuing selfishness.

7.   Our Savior commends His servants to do good to all men, even to their enemies.

Satan entices all to take advantage of all others whenever possible.

8.   Our Savior commends His servants to multiply and fill up the earth.

Satan entices all to commit abortion, infanticide, use contraceptives, groan at large families, and belittle those who have large families.

9.   Our Savior commends to all His servants to be frugal in consumption, generous in charity. Satan entices all to consume all possible and at the expense of others.

10. Our Savior commends to His servants to be modest in dress.

Satan entices all to be immodest unto nudity, and women to show their cleavage whenever possible.

11. Our Savior commends His servants to eat moderately, and only healthy foods.

Satan entices all to gorge themselves on artificial sweets, fats, empty calories and drugs.

12. Our Savior commends His servants to carry their own weight economically.

Satan entices all to want everything for nothing.

13. Our Savior commends His servants to be married in the only true way, in the New and Everlasting Covenant.

Satan entices all to despise temple marriage, to despise marriage, to encourage homosexuality and homosexual marriage, anything but the true marriage.

We sealers do not create celestial families. We have the sealing power to open the door to parents and children to unite in the bonds of pure love. The sealing which we do comes from our having been designated to stand in the place of Jesus Christ himself. But even our Savior cannot create a celestial family. He also can only open the door (the gate to the celestial kingdom) and invite human beings to enter that gate and pursue the path. The grace of Christ makes entering the gate and continuing on the strait and narrow way unto the goal of eternal life and eternal lives possible. But only each individual soul, by exerting all of his heart, might, mind and strength to receive the grace of Christ can make that journey and be transformed by the grace of Christ from a natural man, a servant of Satan, into a just person made perfect. He who will not thus exert himself cannot inherit.

Only as each person recognizes the enormous task it is to defy Satan and keep the promises we have made under the New and Everlasting Covenant, and then throws himself or herself into the battle with all heart, might, mind and strength, enduring to the end through faith in Jesus Christ, can anyone overcome the world, which is to triumph over the temptations of Satan and be able to withstand the weight of glory which each human being is generously offered through the New and Everlasting Covenant.

17 August 2009

Topic: Exit strategy: How to leave this world as intelligently as possible.

(Definition of “this world:” This fallen state where Satan controls most of what goes on.)

Main goal: To be “unworldly.” To love God with all of our heart, might, mind and strength. (D&C 59:5)

(Definitions: Heart is our desires. Might is all we own or have power over. Mind is what we think and believe. Strength is our physical body and its powers.)

Heart:

1. Want and pray of only that which is good before God. (D&C 88:65)
2. Live by every word that proceeds forth from the mouth of God. (Matthew 4:4)
3. Add to our faith, virtue … (2 Peter 1:4–8)
4. Forgive others any and all trespasses we have suffered. (D&C 64:10)
5. Repent of every evil desire. (Mosiah 16:12)
6. See the good in everything and everybody, and pass over the evil unless we are assigned to remedy the evil. (Articles of Faith 13)

Might:

1. Possess only that which we need. (D&C 82:17)
2. Have all that we need in place, in order, our stewardship ready to present to the Savior. (D&C 107:84, 128:24)
3. Minister to the widows and orphans, keep ourselves unspotted from the world. (James 1:27)
4. Use our power to support good causes in this world. (D&C 58:27)
5. Complete all legal arrangements for the handing on of our estate.
6. Restore four-fold to anyone and everyone we have defrauded. (Luke 19:8)

Mind:

1. Don’t believe anything not attested to by the Holy Spirit. Get rid of every false idea. Do believe all that is attested by the Holy Spirit. (Moroni 10:5)
2. Seek to understand all the ways of the Lord. (Deuteronomy 10:12)

Strength:

1. Eat for nutrition, not just for taste. (D&C 89:10–21)
2. Exercise/work hard enough to perspire and breathe hard every day (except Sunday). (Mosiah 13:17–18)

It is impossible to be saved in ignorance. (D&C 131:5–6)

Seek the face of the Lord always, that in patience we may possess our own souls. (D&C 101:35–37) If we don’t possess our souls, who does?

Remember: To be prepared for death is not the goal. The goal is to be prepared for disability.

Questions:

1. Is chastity a matter of heart, might, mind or strength?
2. How can we leave this world a better place for our having lived in it?

Exit strategy checklist:

1. Have I put my heart, might, mind and strength in order, ready to depart this world?
2. Do I have a will or trust with power of attorney for health and estate?
3. Have I paid all my legitimate debts?
4. Have I put all my property in order, ready to present my stewardship to the Savior?
5. Have I restored fourfold to anyone whom I have defrauded?
6. Have I apologized to all whom I have wounded?
7. Have I established an eternal bond of love with my spouse?
8. Have I taught my children the Restored Gospel of Jesus Christ?
9. Have I witnessed of the truthfulness of the Restored Gospel to all my neighbors?

6 March 2009

Thesis: The first principles and ordinances of the Restored Gospel form a tight unity which is a beauty to behold.

Latter-day Saints are familiar with the first principles and ordinances but are not always aware of the tight interconnections among them. To show those interconnections, each will be defined, then a discussion of each will follow. The definitions:

• 1.   Faith in the Lord Jesus Christ: Belief and trust in Jesus Christ unto willing and grateful obedience to the commandments He gives us.
• 2.   Repentance: Replacing all acts of non-faith in Jesus Christ with acts of faith in Jesus Christ.
• 3.   Baptism: Promising by covenant to gain and live full faith in Jesus Christ.
• 4.   Laying on of hands for the gift of the Holy Ghost: Being given the power to gain full faith in Jesus Christ by the Holy Ghost.
• 5.   Enduring to the end: Actually attaining full faith in Jesus Christ, culminating in charity and loving God with all of our heart, might, mind and strength.

1.   Faith in the Lord Jesus Christ: Belief and trust in Jesus Christ unto willing and grateful obedience to the commandments He gives us.

Everyone in this world lives by faith in someone or something. That is because no human has enough sure knowledge to live by anything but faith. So the question then becomes, in what or whom should an intelligent person have faith? The world is full of candidates for this special allegiance, and many use the name of Christ. But it is not just the name of Christ in which we must have faith, but rather in Him. We make that faith real not just by believing but by keeping His commandments.

Our obedience to Christ must be willingly given. The purpose of our choosing is to form and build our character. Only by exercising our character in choice and action can we build that character.

Mere obedience is not enough. The devils obey Christ, but not willingly. We distinguish ourselves from the devils by giving our obedience willingly, even gratefully. We are grateful for the opportunity to do a real good for someone else made possible by our faith in Jesus Christ.

There are three sources of His commandments for those of us who are Latter-day Saints. The first is the scriptures, the four standard works. It is our opportunity to study them intently to discern what our Savior would have us do, then do those things. The second is the instructions given to us by those who preside over us in the priesthood authority of the Church: The First Presidency and Quorum of the Twelve, our stake president, and our bishop. To pay special attention to their advice and counsel in general conference, stake conference, ward conference, and ward meetings is our second opportunity to show faith in Jesus Christ. The third opportunity is to hearken to the promptings of the Holy Spirit which we personally receive. When we have a particular problem to solve as to what to do, we may draw upon those three resources to know what our Savior would have us do. If we are diligent in seeking out the counsel from all three sources, we are very likely to know what our Savior would have us do, and thus be able to exercise faith in Him.

If in trying to be faithful we have used those three sources and are still in doubt as to what to do, and if further prayer and fasting do not help us to receive the answer we need, we must then act on our own, but carefully within the limits and boundaries given to us in our previous revelations as to the mind and will of the Lord from those three sources. For instance, if we think possibly, we must lie or steal to solve some problem, we know those things are clearly outside the boundaries of the counsel we have received, and thus should not be given a second thought. If we remember that all we do should be for the intent to bring glory to the name of Jesus Christ, just that will be a great help to us in making our decisions.

When the humble seeker after good is told of Jesus Christ and what He has done for them, the Holy Spirit bears witness that the message is true. Having previously received and honored the Light of Christ in choosing between good and evil, the seeker after the good recognizes the Holy Ghost as being also good, like the Light of Christ. Thus knowing that the spirit which brings that witness is a good spirit, such a one will accept the witness. Accepting that witness, one may then begin to put one’s trust in Christ by beginning to obey His commandments. The first commandment of the Savior to anyone is to repent.

2.   Repentance: Replacing all acts of non-faith in Jesus Christ with acts of faith in Jesus Christ.

Repentance is the opportunity for each person to take charge of his or her life by becoming conscious of the reason for acting in each decision made. With each choice we can and should ask: Is this what my Savior, Jesus Christ, would have me do? As we begin to replace acts we know are not in accordance with His will with those that are clearly in obedience to Him, we have begun the process of truly repenting of our sins.

It is important to remember that there are counterfeit varieties of repentance. Perdition repentance is to recognize that an act is evil, in opposition to the instructions of Christ, and to do it anyway. Any covenant servant of Jesus Christ who continues in that path will wind up in perdition. When one is conscious of having done an act in opposition to the instructions of Christ and simply says “I’m sorry” without changing the action in the future, we have the telestial version of repentance. If the person continues in that path, they will wind up in the telestial kingdom eventually. If the person recognizes that he is doing wrong, makes a change he thinks is better, and is willing to make restitution for the wrong done, the person is among the honorable men and women of the earth and if he or she continues in that path only, will inherit the terrestrial kingdom. Only if the person consciously puts his or her trust in Jesus Christ and valiantly manages to obey His instructions and commandments does the person begin to qualify for a celestial reward. But most of us find ourselves working up through that progression. Hopefully we will all get to full and real repentance.

One of the first fruits of repentance is acceptance of baptism.

3.   Baptism: Promising by covenant to gain and live full faith in Jesus Christ.

As we allow ourselves to be immersed in the waters of baptism by one having true priesthood authority, we are making three promises to the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost: 1) That we are willing to take the name of Jesus Christ upon ourselves. 2) That we will keep all of the commandments He gives us. 3) That we will always remember Him.

We begin the process of taking the name of Christ upon us in baptism itself, whereby we are known disciples of Christ, those who are learning His ways and trying to be like Him. With every deed of faith we continue to witness for Jesus being the Christ. As we take upon ourselves the priesthood of God and administer blessings to others in our callings and opportunities, we further receive His name and glorify it. In receiving our temple endowments we receive more of the name of Christ upon us. And when we are sealed as couples in the temple in holy matrimony, we receive the final installment of His name. As our life of faithful service then unfolds, our faithful acts bring continuing glory to the name of Jesus Christ as others see our good works and glorify God.

By promising to keep all of the commandments our Savior gives us, we dedicate our lives to the service of our fellow beings in His behalf. Our labor will then be a ministry of bringing hope to the forlorn, succor to the needy, instruction to the ignorant, kindness to those ill-used by others, and above all reassurance that there is a God who cares deeply about each one of them. Our life dedication is then to tread the pathway of turning evil situations (things not as good as they could and should be) into good situations (things that are as good as they should and could be). To comfort a mourner, to feed the hungry, to clothe the naked, to give employment to the unemployed: these sorts of challenges will become our daily path and accomplishments.

By remembering Him always, we dedicate ourselves to the path of faith and repentance, always seeking His will and the carrying our of His will in every act. By this constant remembrance we neutralize the temptations of the adversary who tries to get us to forget who we are and what we are supposed to be doing. By striving consciously always to remember Him, we prevent ourselves from being diverted into the meaningless and subversive pastimes of our culture. Every hour of every day becomes a challenge to be humbly met and gratefully overcome as we press steadily along the path of faith in Jesus Christ.

Baptism by water is but half a baptism, and must be followed by the baptism of the spirit through the laying on of hands.

4.   Laying on of hands for the gift of the Holy Ghost: Being given the power to gain full faith in Jesus Christ.

The gift of the Holy Ghost is the right to the constant companionship of that special being. Everyone who is confirmed a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints has this gift. But not everyone has the constant companionship of that being. That right to have the companionship is but an option, and we can exercise that option by praying intently for the actual companionship of the Holy Spirit and by carefully treasuring and obeying any whispering we receive from that holy companion. The more humble and obedient we are, the more we will enjoy specific promptings from that companion. The more proud and rebellious we are, the less we will feel His presence and help. We get to try it both ways to see which way pleases us more. For, having come this far, we are agents unto ourselves, and will enjoy whatever measure of faith in Jesus Christ or faith in anything or anyone else that our heart desires.

As we begin to enjoy that constant companionship, we also become aware that the power of the evil spirit to tempt and try us begins to increase. The more mighty we become in the Holy Spirit, the greater will be our temptations from the evil spirit. And this is by design. For our Father knows that we must remain free to grow into the stature of Jesus Christ. Only in strength of freedom can we come to be what Jesus is and do what He does, which is our goal. It is as if we are standing on the middle of a teeter-totter. On one end is the Holy Ghost, and on the other end is Satan. As long as the weight of the two is equally balanced, we in the middle are free to control the teeter-totter. So as the power of the Holy Ghost grows in our life, so does the power of Satan grow to tempt us even more strongly. Thus the greatest saint has the capability of becoming the greatest sinner. But the opposite is not true. If we yield to Satan and do his will (which is the temptation to do our own will instead of the will of the Savior), the power of the Holy Ghost subsides. The more we pursue selfishness over faithful obedience to Christ, the less of the companionship of the Holy Ghost we enjoy, until at last we are left in the arms of Satan to be just as fully selfish as we care to be.

The constant struggle of a Latter-day Saint is thus discernment. We must discern and distinguish the promptings of the Holy Ghost from the temptations of Satan with sure clarity and understanding. To mistake the one for the other could mean physical or spiritual death in extreme cases. The beauty of the situation is that we get a lot of practice in instances where it is not a matter of life or death, and by careful attention we can learn to discern clearly and correctly between what the Lord desires us to do and what our own carnal or worldly desires might be. It is good to know that Satan cannot tempt us with everything. He can only tempt us with our own desires. As our hearts become purer and purer through careful discipleship and obedience to Christ, the less power Satan has to tempt us. Our goal is to become impervious to temptation to evil, even as our Master was during His earthly ministry.

If we master the temptation to do evil in this world, we will have no need to continue the struggle after we leave this mortal probation. We will have established our character, which is our armor, and never again will we struggle with temptation to think, feel, desire, or do evil to all eternity. Our sure course will be only to bless others, even as Father, the Sons, and the Holy Ghost.

Baptism of the spirit is the beginning, but the goal is to endure to the end.

5.   Enduring to the end: Actually attaining full faith in Jesus Christ, culminating in charity and loving God with all of our heart, might, mind and strength, even as Christ does.

Enduring to the end is to complete what we set out to do in baptism, to gain full faith in Jesus Christ. When we have full faith we will rely alone upon the merits of Jesus Christ, and the Holy Spirit will show us all things that we should do. And we will do them.

Our goal of attaining full faith in Jesus Christ is to attain a perfectness of the pure love of God, which is charity, through the hope and faith which our assiduous keeping of the commandments has made possible. Having that charity, we then are reliable saints on whom the Lord can place any assignment or burden, and He will know that we will fulfill all that He desires of us. For charity never faileth, and those who have it are not thwarted. The full power of God is with them in what they do, and nothing on earth or in hell can withstand them. The gates of hell are no obstacle to them as they invade it to rescue souls, even as they overcome all obstacles on earth to establish Zion and to welcome the Lord into His pavilion to dwell with and bless His saints.

To say that we have charity is to say that we have learned to keep the first and great commandment: we love God with all of our heart, might, mind and strength. We are wholly dedicated and fully consecrated to His work, and His work succeeds in spite of all that hell can do to break loose and try to hinder the work. The powers of hell become the tempering factor which prove and verify that the faith of the saints is whole and holy, complete and full. Then His saints enter into His rest, which is the glory of the presence of God. They are just men and women made perfect in the cause of Christ and receive the eternal reward of following in the footsteps of Christ to bless other souls unto all eternity.

Conclusion: The first principles and ordinances of the Restored Gospel of Jesus Christ are indeed a unified package which can and will lead all mankind unto all things pertaining to life and salvation.

January 21, 2006
In the Saturday Evening Session
of Stake Conference for the
Oak Hills Stake of Provo, Utah

Dear Brothers and Sisters:

Sister Riddle and I are glad to be home and to make our continuing contribution to the work of the Savior here.

What is the work of the Savior? It is to sanctify His people, his sons and daughters, so that He can bring them into His presence and introduce them to Father. This Sanctification is necessary, because the Fall of Adam has made the nature of all human beings evil continually. Each of us will remain in that condition as natural men unless we take the advice of King Benjamin: “For the natural man is an enemy to God, and has been from the fall of Adam, and will be, forever and ever, unless he yields to the enticings of the Holy Spirit, and putteth off the natural man and becometh a saint through the atonement of Christ the Lord, and becometh as a child, submissive, meek, humble, patient, full of love, willing to submit to all things which the Lord seeth fit to inflict upon him, even as a child doth submit to his father.” (Mosiah 3:19)

A saint is one who is sanctified. To be sanctified is a dual process. It is both to be forgiven of our sins and to change our nature, our character, so that we no longer sin. Our Savior suffered for us so that we could be forgiven of our sins, but we ourselves must also suffer to overcome the natural man in us that caused us to sin in the first place. Nephi described this process as going through the mists of darkness, which are the temptations of Satan, hand-over-hand along the iron rod, which is the word of God, until we have overcome our temptations and arrive at the tree of life. If our travel through the mists has been truly full of faith in Christ, we will have repented of our character flaws, we will have been forgiven of our sins, and will partake of the fruit of the tree of life, which is to receive the full love from God into our lives.

The message of God to man in all ages is the same as that He gave to ancient Israel, through Moses, after they came out of Egypt: “Now therefore, if ye will obey my voice indeed, and keep my covenant, then ye shall be a peculiar treasure unto me above all people: for all the earth is mine: And ye shall be unto me a kingdom of priests, and an holy nation.” (Exodus 19:5–6) Again he said: “For I am the LORD that bringeth you up out of the land of Egypt, to be your God: ye shall therefore be holy, for I am holy.” (Leviticus 11:45)

Let us note that the words “holy” and “sanctified” have essentially the same meaning. “Holy” is the Anglo Saxon translation of the Latin sanctus. Sanctus has the same root as saint, one who has become holy, and the word “sanctified” signifies the process of having become holy or pure. The Anglo Saxon “holy” is a variation of the word “wholly,” which means complete or fully given to something. When our Savior said: “Be ye therefore perfect” he was saying, “Be ye therefore holy,” which is essentially the same as saying “Sanctify yourselves.”

So our task is to sanctify ourselves. This is another way of saying that we should come unto Christ and be perfected in Him, which is the theme of this stake conference. The question is: How is this to be done? How can we who are getting older do it before we all leave this mortal sphere? With a bit of temerity I offer a suggestion of the four steps each of us can take to sanctify ourselves, to become pure before the Lord and be able to endure His presence.

Step 1. Go back to the basics. Do what the Savior did with the children of Israel in the wilderness when they rejected the Gospel of Jesus Christ. He gave them the Ten Commandments.

To build upon the Ten Commandments is to build one’s house upon the Rock of Christ. He it is that gave the Ten Commandments, and without them, no attempt to live a higher law can succeed.

Let us now review those commandments (Exodus 20:3–17):

1. Thou shalt have no other gods before me. This is the preparation for having an eye single to the glory of God.
2. Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image: Thou shalt not bow down thyself to them, nor serve them. This commandment is the preparation for serving God in spirit and in truth.
3. Thou shalt not take the name of the LORD thy God in vain. Not taking the name of the Lord in vain is the preparation for using His name with correct authority as in priesthood ordinances and in receiving His name in the temple endowment.
4. Remember the sabbath day, to keep it holy. This commandment is the beginning of consecration, wherein we give all to the Lord, not just one day.
5. Honor thy father and thy mother. Honoring father and mother is the foundation for the great work of Elijah of binding up the generations of mankind back to Adam through the sealing power of the Holy Priesthood.
6. Thou shalt not kill. This is the preparation for seeing all life as God-given, therefore very precious, and the basis for the celestial activity of filling the earth with posterity.
7. Thou shalt not commit adultery. This commandment is the recognition of the sacredness of sexual relations with our spouse, and an absolutely necessary antecedent to receiving a continuation of the seed forever.
8. Thou shalt not steal. This commandment is the basis for the celestial recognition that all things belong to God, including our own bodies, a necessary preparation for celestial stewardship.
9. Thou shalt not bear false witness against thy neighbor. This commandment is the basis for the celestial injunction to avoid every idle word, to say only what the Lord would have us say.
10. Thou shalt not covet. This commandment enables us to remember to be content with what God has given us, a necessary preliminary for receiving all that the Father has and to use all we have in doing good for others under His direction.

As Paul so clearly says, the law of Moses was a schoolmaster to bring us to Christ, that through Him and His sacrifice, we might add our own new sacrifice and obtain the greater blessings.

Step 2. The context for the new sacrifice was the New and Everlasting Covenant, beginning with the baptism as offered by John the Baptist, adding the bestowal of the Gift of the Holy Ghost which our Savior brought through His own priesthood, and going on to the exalting requirements of the Sermon on the Mount. Using the more clear and complete account of that sermon as found in the Book of Mormon (3 Nephi 12), we read: “¹ Blessed are ye if ye shall give heed unto the words of these twelve whom I have chosen from among you to minister unto you, and to be your servants; and unto them I have given power that they may baptize you with water; and after that ye are baptized with water, behold, I will baptize you with fire and with the Holy Ghost; therefore blessed are ye if ye shall believe in me and be baptized, after that ye have seen me and know that I am.” Baptism of water and of fire brings to each of us the blessing of the great and last sacrifice of Jesus Christ: His atonement. If we have the broken heart and the contrite spirit, our own new sacrifice, we avail ourselves of His sacrifice and attain a true forgiveness of our sins, not just a symbolic forgiveness as under the Law of Moses. Being truly forgiven, we now have the power to progress, change, and learn under the tutelage of the Holy Spirit, being able to make actual changes in our character and nature with the Lord’s divine assistance.

“³ Yea, blessed are the poor in spirit who come unto me, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.” Those who find themselves lacking the Holy Spirit will become rich in that spirit if they will come unto Christ and be born again.

“⁴ And again, blessed are all they that mourn, for they shall be comforted.” Blessed will be all who are sorry for their past sins, brokenhearted about them, who come unto Him in baptism, for they shall receive that greatest of all comforts, the Comforter Himself, to be their constant companion.

“⁵ And blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth.” The meek are those who truly have a contrite spirit, who are willing to listen to and obey the whisperings of the Holy Spirit.

“⁶ And blessed are all they who do hunger and thirst after righteousness, for they shall be filled with the Holy Ghost.” Our Savior here gives us the great key to salvation: we must want it, as strongly as we want food and drink when we are starving. If we realize our fallen nature, admit that evil besets us continually, and desperately want to do good in place of evil, we make the best preparation possible for treasuring the Holy Spirit when it comes to us.

“⁷ Blessed are the merciful, for they shall obtain mercy.” One of the indispensable marks of a true servant of Jesus Christ is that he or she forgives all others their trespasses. If we know that we are absolutely beholden to our Savior for forgiveness of our trespasses, and we understand that He cannot and will not forgive us until we forgive others, we will readily forgive others, and be merciful to them, so that we can obtain that merciful forgiveness for ourselves. Only in that state of forgiveness can we grow rapidly in the nurture of Christ to become like Him in heart, might, mind and strength.

“⁸ Blessed are all the pure in heart, for they shall see God.” This tells us that great, hopeful truth that when we have changed our character under the influence of the Holy Ghost and have become as much like our Savior as we can, He will then give us a new, pure heart. We then will no longer have any disposition to do evil, and the temptations of Satan will be as ineffective on us as they were on our Savior during His mortal ministry. In that state of purity we can then stand that greatest of all blessings, to be redeemed back into the presence of God and see Him, knowing Him even as he knows us. This is eternal life, to know our Savior, and to have Him introduce us to the Father. This is the highest possible culmination of human effort, and the reason for which each of us was born into mortality: to overcome the flesh and the world and to be brought back into the presence of those who love us most.

We need to go through the Sermon on the Mount as we would a checklist, pondering each statement of the Master to discern clearly what are the next steps we must take in our repentance, so that the temptations of the adversary might be as ineffective on us as they are on Him.

Let us turn now to the third thing we can do to come to Christ and be perfected in Him.

Step 3. Step three is to receive the full benefit of the blessings of the temple. As we begin the endowment, we first receive our washings and anointings, which part to me is the heart of the endowment. In this initial step, we receive all of the background blessings requisite to serve as kings and priests, queens and priestesses to the Most High. Each promise is precious and literally out of this world. Like the gift of the Holy Ghost given at the time of our confirmation, this ordinance does not literally give us the blessings, but rather the right to claim the blessings. We claim these blessings by our faith, repentance, and humble asking for each blessing, then treasuring and using each blessing so that we can retain them.

Next we need to fix in our minds and hearts an absolute determination to obey the instructions and commandments of God to us in every detail. We must be so firm in our minds, and our hearts must be so set on pleasing Father and His righteousness, that nothing can successfully tempt us to disobey Him. After their transgression, Adam and Eve did learn to obey God in all things. They came unto Christ, and were perfected in Him, and were redeemed from the Fall even in their mortal state. And we can be redeemed also if we will follow them and become completely obedient to God, in our repentance, even as they were.

And with Adam and Eve, we must also learn to sacrifice. To sacrifice is to give up or go without something of value. To sacrifice to obey God lets Him know where our values are, where our hearts are taking us and will take us. When we keep the sabbath day holy, we attend our church meetings and do the work of the kingdom, and we give up going to the movies, or shopping, or attending athletic events, or hunting or fishing. We give up the things that would please us in other circumstances in order to please God and to show Him that we really do hunger and thirst after His righteousness.

When we are dedicated and delivered to obedience and sacrifice, we are then ready to fully live the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Then and only then can we offer true faith in Jesus Christ, profound repentance that changes our hearts, minds and actions, and can fully receive the Holy Ghost by the laying on of the hands of those who have the true authority to bestow it. The Restored Gospel of Jesus Christ can become the rule and the law of our lives only when firmly embedded in a context of humility that enables full obedience, and suffering that enables sufficient sacrifice. How precious and powerful is the Gospel law when toyed with by one who has not laid the foundation upon which to build the sturdy house. Whatever house we build, sturdy or flimsy, it will be the house we dwell in for eternity. For that house is our character, our own habits of doing good or of doing evil, or of some mixture. Those who are committed to full obedience and the sacrifice of everything of this world, perhaps even their own lives, are prepared through fully living the Restored Gospel of Jesus Christ to build that character which will house the work of pure love and service to all eternity.

With the firmness of heart and mind that enables us to live the Gospel of Jesus Christ, we must pay special attention to the gifts which God has given us, particularly to the gift of a physical body which has the power of procreation. It is tempting to look at the plants and animals of the earth which procreate so faithfully and to take procreation as something entirely common, natural, and casual. But procreation and the personal relations which enable it in human beings must never be taken as common, natural and casual for those who are made in the image of God Himself. You and I are literal children of God, gods in embryo, potential heirs of all that is good and godly in the universe. You and I were begotten in the spirit by parents who recognized their procreation as a task most holy, of the essence of their holy work to bless others, to share in all of their powers and blessings. God will have a people who are sexually pure, who accept and love Him, and who will not sell their birthright for that mess of pottage which is illicit physical pleasure. He does not ask us to give up the opportunity of sexual relations, but he pleads with us to have our pleasure only within bounds, only with the one He has appointed unto each of us through holy matrimony to cooperate with in procreation. Is this too much to ask of those with whom He is trying to share all His powers for eternity? Certainly not. And this requirement turns out to be one of the great keys to the possession of all things.

Those who will be and are sexually pure are then ready to give all things to God for His use in blessing His other children. Giving all things to Him is another key to the possession of all things. If we are willing to give all things we hand our power over to God for His use. He will be willing to give all things in His power for our use to do the work of righteousness for eternity. This is the great opportunity of consecration. To consecrate is to set something aside as holy, to dedicate it to the work of Christ, to bless His children in the time present in this world, and to continue that consecration to all eternity. We consecrate all that we possess or control to that same end.

A Latter-day Saint armed with demonstrated obedience, willingness to sacrifice all things of this world, living the Restored Gospel of Jesus Christ, sexually pure and fully consecrated, is ready to receive the greatest blessings eternity has to offer: the blessings of celestial marriage in the holy temple wrought be the power of God Himself. This calling to the patriarchal order of eternity is the preparation for living in eternity in family kingdoms, exactly as does our Father in Heaven. If a couple have laid an adequate, secure foundation for this step in keeping the ten commandments, profiting from the Sermon on the Mount, enjoying faithfulness to the blessings and promises of the endowment, they stand on path to exaltation. That path leads them to learn to be a good husband and wife, good father and mother, even as they have learned hitherto to be good children to a perfect Father in Heaven and to an imperfect mortal father and mother.

I need to say a word to all of you who are single at this point. Being single is not of itself a barrier to exaltation and the great blessings Father is trying to give to all of us through Jesus Christ. Being single is also an opportunity to benefit from the blessings of the Ten Commandments, The Sermon on the Mount and the Temple Endowment. If you live each day in obedience to all that you know and understand of the ways of Christ, role acting with Him as if He were your spouse, striving in all things to become pure, selfless, full of love for all, abounding in good works, the time you spend single is also efficacious for you in coming unto Christ and being perfected in Him. If you will use each day of mortality as a delightful challenge and opportunity to prove your faith in Christ and your willingness to be a good spouse: cooperative, humble, prayerful, cheerful and full of love, you will also gain the character which will enable you to live with a divinely appointed spouse in the due time of the Lord. Remember that the greatest weapon of Satan on the faithful is despair. If you will count your blessings instead of your trials and frustrations, you will not be stopped from growing in the nurture of the Lord and becoming ready to receive all your promised blessings at Hi hand. God is good, He is fair. He will not shorten anyone’s blessings in eternity because of the circumstances of time over which they had no control. Trust in Him, grow in Him, come unto Christ and be perfected in Him and you will find that your eventual blessings will surpass your fondest hopes.

Now we come to Step 4, the capstone and polishing of our coming unto Christ and being perfected in Him. I commend to you Moroni Chapter 7, which is the great sermon of Mormon on faith, hope and charity. If we will carefully review chapter 7 frequently, and are able to assure ourselves as we do this that we are acting with all of our being in true faith in Jesus Christ, in true hope in Jesus Christ, and in the pure love of Jesus Christ, then indeed have we put it all together and have come unto Christ.

If we think we have true faith, hope and charity, there is a proof in the pudding. If we have those things we will love God with all of our heart, might, mind and strength, and will love our neighbor as ourselves. Having fulfilled the two great commandments, there is a reward. Our Savior will give us a new heart, which is pure. And when we have a pure heart, he will reveal Himself to us, and we will be redeemed from the Fall. “Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God.”

Why would anyone want a pure heart and to be redeemed from the Fall? Because then our efforts to do good will have no impediment. If there is anything that will perfect our marriage, draw our children close to us and to the Lord, enable us to succeed in our church callings, and to confront every challenge the world offers us, it is having a pure heart and a pure love, to do what our Savior would do if He were in our place. This is coming unto Christ and being perfected in Him.

It is my prayer that each of us will take our God-given opportunity of coming unto Christ and being perfected in Him to our hearts, and do it, that we will have no regret when this mortal life is over. In the name of Jesus Christ, Amen.

24 April 2004 – Oak Hills Stake

My Brethren: I count it a great blessing to have the opportunity to speak to you about missionary work. I wish to ask and answer four questions:

1. What is a mission?
2. Why serve a mission?
3. What kind of mission?
4. How to prepare for a mission?

Number 1. A mission is being sent to serve. In this church, we do not call ourselves on missions. Rather, we are sent by priesthood authority, which means that our call comes from the Lord Himself through His appointed servants. The nice thing about this arrangement is that when the Lord calls someone, He also makes it possible for them to succeed on their mission: according to our faith, He endows us with the blessings we need to be successful.

A mission is always a sending to someone, some human being or group of human beings. Yes, we serve the Lord on a mission, but our specific call is to serve His children. We need to have exactly in mind who it is that we are sent to. A father and mother are missionaries, called and set apart in their temple sealing, sent to serve their children. A husband is sent to serve his wife. A wife is sent to serve her husband. A temple worker is sent to serve the patrons of the temple. The patrons of the temple are sent to serve those who have passed on to the spirit world. Proselyting missionaries are sent specifically to the honest in heart in the area in which they serve. Since they don’t know at first who is honest in heart, they must treat all persons they meet as if they were honest in heart and let the persons decide for themselves if they are honest or not. A missionary on any mission is the Lord’s hand reaching out to someone to offer them the spiritual riches of eternity through Jesus Christ.

Number 2. Why serve a mission? Perhaps you have also noticed what the authorities of the Church are saying: The world is getting more worldly, that is to say, more Satanic, and it will get worse before it gets better. What can you or I do about the rising tide of selfishness, of lying, of pornography, or licentiousness, of wickedness in high places, of political chicanery, of endemic disease, of the terrible treatment of women in many cultures, etc. There are many things any of us can do to try to fight against these evils, and the good people of this world are doing many of them. But there is one best thing to do in any culture, in any circumstance: Invite people to come to Christ and be perfected in Him. To be sent on a mission, at home or abroad, to extend this invitation is what the world and all of its problems need most.

When the Savior was on earth the crushing power of the Roman empire was keenly felt by the Jews, and the corruptness of the Jewish leaders was keenly felt by the common people. The Savior did not directly try to change either of these things. His solution was to reach out to individuals, with love, to get them to repent so that He could bless them in their individual misery through their faith in him.

The world has little changed since the time of the Savior on earth. Evil still has great sway over every people on earth. Their salvation is not in economic reform, political savvy, equal opportunity, more education, welfare plans, miracle cures or better looks. The answer is the same as it has been since Adam: Because of the Fall, men are carnal, sensual and devilish and will be forever unless they come unto Christ and be renewed in Him unto the likeness of our Savior himself. This is true salvation. Remember: Every nation on earth will fail before Christ comes, including our own. Every work of man will crumble and be brought to naught. The only thing that will survive is a soul purified in Christ through receiving and living by the ordinances of the Restored Gospel. So if you want to help anyone, or be of help in this dying world, be on the team whose work will survive the fire. We go on missions to have an eternal impact on the problems of this world by saving the people of this world from the worldliness of this world, even as our Master did.

Number 3. What kind of mission can we serve? It is important to remember that every calling in the church is a mission. We are sent by authority to someone to bring them to Christ and to be perfected in Him, be it as a bishop, a ministering brother, a quorum president, a Sunday School teacher, a volunteer at Deseret Industries, or a full-time missionary. But there are special blessings and opportunities that accrue to a full-time missionary, for they have special suasion with the Lord. Worried about your family? Serve a full-time mission. A sister I know in this stake was serving a full-time mission with her husband when serious trouble came to their family. She prayed earnestly for help. The Lord gave her a specific reply: “You take care of my children, and I will take care of yours.” She stopped worrying about her own family and concentrated on the work of her mission and the problems at home were taken care of.

What kinds of full-time missions are there? We could probably name ten or twenty kinds in just thinking about it. Some are foreign missions, some are done from home. My sister-in-law could not leave home because of medical problems, but she and our brother-in-law served a very effective and useful full-time mission without ever leaving home. If the desire is there, a way can be found to serve for most people.

Number 4. How to prepare for a full-time mission? The preparation is what everyone should be doing all of the time: Be ready, be prepared. There are four things which might happen to any one of us and they all require exactly the same preparation: 1) The Savior could come in the Second Coming. 2) We could die and go on to eternity. 3) We could become totally incapacitated. 4) We could be sent on a full-time mission. The preparation for each of these is to repent of our sins, set our house in order, make sure we have borne our testimony to those to whom we have been sent, and be ready to serve the Lord with all of our heart, might, mind and strength.

How long does it take to repent? Some of us try to stretch it out over a lifetime or more. That is not the true spirit of repentance. True repentance is always in a hurry. When we figure out that our sins always inflict injury on those whom we love, we become anxious to repent as fast as possible. Alma the younger did it in three days. Of course, he was unconscious and thus could give it his full attention. Each of us needs to ask ourselves: What can I do to want to repent badly enough to get the job done now?

How do we set our house in order? We get our debts paid, we unclutter, we set our estate in order so that our survivors will have a simple task of handling our estate, we simplify and strengthen everything necessary in our lives. This is not just the way to go on a mission, but the way to live. One thing difficult sometimes is to set our health in order. If we are keeping the commandments and are eating for nutrition and not for pleasure, the Lord will solve our health problems through priesthood blessings if he wants us to serve a mission for him.

How do we bear our testimony to those of our family, our stewardship? Mostly by trying. My wife and I tried very hard to teach all of our children the Gospel as they were growing up. Everyone should do that, and that is part of bearing our testimony to our children. But in my old age I now see that there are some important messages I did not teach with sufficient pointedness. I now need to repent of that before we go on our mission to Mexico City. May I mention three things I now see that I missed on:

I want my children to know that our Savior is the center of their lives, whether they realize it or not, or want it or not. In Him we live, move, breathe, think and have the power to act. If we do a good thing, it will be because we have gotten our errand from Him and using His power, we act. If we do an evil thing it will be because we have taken counsel from Satan, but still act by the power of Jesus Christ, who has given us our agency. If they are beautiful, or rich, or smart, or talented, each of these things is a gift from Christ and we must be most humble about being the recipient of such. Since we live and act in the power of Christ, the only intelligent thing we can do is to come unto Him and be perfected in Him so that we will not be sorrowful when He asks us at the bar of judgment what we did with His gifts.

Secondly, I want my children to know that they are daily at war with Satan. They cannot feel, think, or act without Satan tempting them to deny Christ and break His commandments. All they have to do to let Satan win is to relax and “do what comes naturally.” For the natural man is an enemy to God, and always will be, unless he comes to Christ as a little child and repents of ever giving in to Satan. No one can get away from Satan’s influence in this world. The only thing we can do is to face up to that influence and stare it down by heeding only the voice of the Holy Spirit, which is the voice of Christ. I taught my children about Satan, but I did not emphasize sufficiently the black-and-whiteness of the situation nor the tremendous loss it is to give in to selfishness in any degree, at any time, in any situation.

Thirdly, I would teach my sons better about the holiness of the opportunity to have women in their lives and that they should and must treat every woman with great, I emphasize, Great respect. As a man, each of them has a mission to be deferential to all women, those that keep the commandments of God and those that don’t. One of the greatest evils of this world is the almost universal bad treatment of women by men in almost every culture. This fact is just another testimony to the great power of Satan in this world. When they marry, they must do everything in their power to lead their wife to Christ, and with her to be perfected in Him. If they will treat their wife with this great respect in Christ-like love, they will do for their children the greatest thing they can do.

Brethren, enjoy your mission from the Lord. He is the greatest, and you will be great and do great work if you will only love him instead of yourself and do his work in power and the glory of the Holy Spirit. In the name of Jesus Christ, Amen.

Oak Hills 2nd Ward
23 February 2003

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

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

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

Let us remember King Benjamin’s insight: The natural man is an enemy to God and has been since the fall of Adam and ever will be [selfish] unless he putteth off the natural man through the atonement of Christ and becomes as a little child: meek, submissive, humble, patient, full of love, willing to submit to all things the Lord sees fit to inflict upon him. (Mosiah 2:19) We will do this by doing as Mormon enjoins: “Wherefore, my beloved brethren, pray unto the Father with all the energy of heart, that ye may be filled with this love which he hath bestowed upon all who are true followers of his Son, Jesus Christ; that ye may become the sons of God; that when he shall appear we shall be like him, for we shall see him as he is; that we may have this hope; that we may be purified even as he is pure. Amen.” (Moroni 7:48)

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

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