Author: Chauncey Riddle

S. Grandfather, would you have some time to talk with me before Fast Meeting?

G. Sara, there is nothing I’d rather do than talk with you. What shall we discuss?

S. Tell me about fasting, Grandfather. I know some of the usual things that are said about it, but I want to know what it means to you. I know that you have fasted often.

G. Very well. Let’s begin with those “usual things.” Foundations may be very ordinary, but they are very important. Tell me what fasting is to you, Sara.

S. Fasting is to go without food or water.

G. How is that different than going hungry?

S. Mother has taught us that there are two special things that make fasting. First, we must choose for ourselves not to eat or drink, and second, we should begin and end our fast with prayer. She always reminds us to go say a special prayer before we break our fast.

G. Now tell me why you fast.

S. I mostly fast on Fast Sunday. I do it then because everybody is supposed to.

G. Who is “everybody?”

S. Well, I mean members of the church.

G. Everybody in the church is supposed to fast?

S. I guess I really mean everyone who can. I know that sick people and little children don’t need to fast. I remember that when Mother was expecting, Daddy would caution her not to fast unless it was right. Sometimes she didn’t, but most of the time she did. She said she was so grateful to Heavenly Father and our Savior that she wanted to fast to thank them. I have even seen her fasting when she was nursing. I asked her about that. She laughed and said that she became very thirsty and that sometimes the baby had less milk, but that it was well worth it.

G. You have been taught some very important things about fasting. Are there other times or situations when people should not fast?

S. Yes, I think so. A long time ago Mother wanted an answer to a question she had. She fasted often. She became very weak, and the doctor said she was anemic. Daddy talked with her about it many times, and finally she stopped. Daddy said we should not fast unless the Savior tells us to. He said we are supposed to do what pleases Jesus, and that fasting when the Savior doesn’t tell us to is a waste. He called it a trap. He said Satan could get extra power over us if we go hungry and weaken our bodies when we have not been told to do so by the Holy Spirit. He read to us how the Savior fasted for forty days because he was led out into the wilderness by the Spirit to be with God.

G. That is a true principle, Sara. I too have found that fasting must not only be voluntary, but that it must be right to do it. The only way I know to be sure it is right is to feel the prompting of the Spirit. When we received the news that you were born and that you and your Mother were both alright, I was prompted to fast for joy, for the blessing that our Heavenly Father had seen you and your Mother through a very difficult pregnancy. I rejoiced too, for the faith and the sacrifice of both of your parents. Did you know that your parents greatly desired to have you, Sara?

S. Yes, I feel their love. It has given me a warm feeling all of my life whenever I have thought about being wanted. Sometimes when I fast, I especially thank Heavenly Father for that. But Grandfather, tell me about the things I don’t already know.

G. Such as …

S. What does the word “fast” mean? Is it related to the fast of fast and slow?

G. I think not. I understand the word fast to mean “firm,” as when a ship is made fast to the dock or as when something is glued, it holds fast. We also speak of a color being fast, meaning that it won’t wash out.

S. That sounds as if “fast” means “attached.”

G. Yes, that’s a fair synonym.

S. But I don’t see how that applies to the fast when we don’t eat.

G. Let’s try and analogy. Suppose you wish to take a walk and do so. What are you then doing?

S. I guess you mean I would be walking.

G. Correct! Now let us suppose you wish to become firmly attached to the Savior. Since he is not here, we cannot hold him fast as Mary sought to do in the garden. What does he send to us in his place?

S. He sends the Holy Spirit to be with us until he comes.

G. Right. Now can you think of a way you could hold fast to the Holy Spirit?

S. No, I can’t. Isn’t that why spirits are called spirits? Because we can’t touch them?

G. That’s one reason. But there are other ways to be firmly attached to a spirit other than touching.

S. Grandfather, are you serious?

G. Yes, my dear. I’m trying to help you to think some new thoughts. Do you remember the tree of life vision which father Lehi and his son Nephi shared?

S. Yes. I especially remember the mists of darkness and the building where everyone was pointing fingers at the righteous.

G. What did those mists of darkness represent?

S. I think they were like the temptations of Satan.

G. And how did the righteous keep from wandering away from the path that led to the tree?

S. They had to hold to the iron rod. Aren’t we a long way from fasting now?

G. We are getting very close. What should one do to not lose the iron rod?

S. Hold onto it.

G. How should you hold onto it?

S. Hold it fast—do you mean that fasting is holding fast?

G. That’s where we have been going. Remember you said that taking a walk involves walking? So to hold fast to the iron rod involves …

S. … fasting, Grandfather. I’ve never heard the word used like that before.

G. You may not again soon, either. But sometimes to shed light on something we need to try new lights. Now do you remember what the iron rod stands for?

S. Yes. I always remember because we sing the song so much: “The iron rod is the word of God.”

G. What is the word of God?

S. The scriptures?

G. In a manner of speaking, yes. But let us be more particular. As we open the Book of Mormon and look at a page, what do you see?

S. I see a lot of words from I Nephi, chapter one.

G. Are they the words of God?

S. Certainly. I know the Book of Mormon is true!

G. Now look at this Spanish edition. We will turn to the same chapter. Now what do you see?

S. I see Spanish words.

G. Are these the word of God?

S. Yes, they must be. It is the same book.

G. But they look quite different. How can they be the same book?

S. Grandfather, the words are different, but the meaning is the same. That’s why it is the same book.

G. Now Sara, think carefully before you answer. Which is the word of God: The English words, the Spanish words, or the meaning they both have?

S. I think it would have to be the meaning.

G. And how does one learn the meaning of any scripture, in any language?

S. By praying to receive the Holy Ghost so that we can understand what God meant us to understand.

G. Can you think of a scripture that supports that idea?

S. Yes. Peter said that scripture is not to be interpreted privately, but by the same spirit by which it was given, the Holy Spirit.

G. What then is the true meaning of the iron rod?

S. It is still the word of God. But I see now that it is the message and not the symbols.

G. And again, how do we get the message?

S. From the Holy Spirit. I see. It is the whisperings of the spirit which are the iron rod.

G. How then does one hold fast to them?

S. By listening carefully and by remembering what we are told.

G. And one more thing.

S. To do what we are told to do?

G. To listen to the Holy Spirit, to believe, to remember, to obey—these are the things that please God. These are what faith in Jesus Christ consists of, for the Holy Spirit brings us the words of Christ.

S. Now please put it all together for me, Grandfather, to see if I really understand.

G. Fasting is in part abstaining from food and drink that we might better hear, believe, remember and obey the words of Christ. This is how we can stay in that narrow way that leads to eternal life.

S. Yes. I think I understand that now. Let me say it in other words. Fasting is the process of becoming firm and fast in the word of God?

G. That is correct.

S. But why is abstaining from eating and drinking so helpful?

G. Because, as Paul says, the flesh wars against the spirit. Satan works on us through our mortal tabernacles. He tempts us to eat, to drink, to sleep, in ways and times and places that are not good for us. The more he can get us to give in to the desires of our bodies, the more control he has over us and the more evil he can get us to do.

S. Is that why the word of wisdom is so important?

G. Indeed. The word of wisdom gives us a chance to declare obedience to the Savior through the spirit, or we can choose to relax into the arms of Satan by yielding to social pressures and body desires.

S. So we abstain that we might be more sensitive to the Holy Spirit and to make it easier to obey?

G. True. It is very difficult to receive and to discern the Holy Spirit in administering to the sick when one has a full stomach. When we fast, the spirit seems to come much more readily, and in greater power. The Savior once chided his disciples for not being able to cast out devils. He told them that “this kind goeth not out but by prayer and fasting.” (Matt 17:21)

S. I think I have experienced some of the same thing in partaking of the sacrament. I know that it is a real joy to partake when fasting. But I have felt sometimes that the Holy Spirit is offended when I partake just after having eaten a big Sunday meal. The result just isn’t the same.

G. That is good discernment on your part, Sara. I believe that we need to be sensitive to the Spirit at all times. Then we will often receive instruction as to what and how much to eat or drink, when to retire, when to rise in the morning, when to work, when to pray, when to play. I remember several times when I felt I should not eat breakfast, and then not eat lunch,—then to receive a call late in the afternoon to administer to someone. What a joy it was to be spiritually thus prepared to give a blessing.

S. Grandfather, you mentioned that abstinence is only part of fasting. What else is part of this idea of being firm in the way of the Lord?

G. There are three precious passages of scripture which enlarge the idea of fasting to my mind, Sara. Would you turn first to Matthew 6:16–18 and read it aloud.

S. “Moreover when ye fast, be not, as the hypocrites, of a sad countenance: for they disfigure their faces, that they may appear unto men to fast. Verily I say unto you, they have their reward. But thou, when thou fastest, anoint thine head, and wash thy face; That thou appear not unto men to fast, but unto thy Father which is in secret: and thy Father, which seeth in secret, shall reward thee openly.”

What do you make of that, Grandfather?

G. At one time men “disfigured their faces” or donned sackcloth and ashes to call public attention to the fact that they were fasting. This gave them sort of a “public piety,” which was its own reward. I see the Savior’s statement as an indication that fasting is something to be done quietly, as it were in secret. If something is to show, let it be the good works that come from the increased spirituality and humility of true fasting.

S. This is the “let your light so shine …” idea?

G. Yes. If our fasting produces greater righteousness in us, then men will take hope in the cause of righteousness in this world, and will be thus encouraged to glorify God. True fasting in secret helps the cause of Christ in the earth, whereas the false fasting for show calls attention only to ourselves.

S. Are there other things that clearly separate true fasting from wrong fasting?

G. One simple test is to see what a person does when he breaks his fast. If he then gorges himself with food or deliberately breaks the commandments in any other way, he shows that his fasting was not very spiritual; he mostly just went hungry.

S. Doesn’t that happen to most people? A true fast must be a very difficult thing.

G. I understand why it is so hard because I have “just gone hungry” many times. It is the “natural” thing to do. The more we can learn to be spiritual and obedient, the more we will be like the Savior, and the less we will give in to the flesh and be “natural.” Servants of the Savior are supposed to be different from people who do not know him.

S. What is another test of true fasting?

G. Another test is found in the second precious scripture I want us to go over. Would you please read Isaiah 58:3–7.

S. “Wherefore have we fasted, say they, and thou seest not? Wherefore have we afflicted our soul, and thou takest no knowledge? Behold, in the day of your fast ye find pleasure, and exact all your labours. Behold, ye fast for strife and debate, and to smite with the fist of wickedness: ye shall not fast as ye do this day, to make your voice to be heard on high. Is it such a fast that I have chosen? A day for a man to afflict his soul? Is it to bow down his head as a bulrush, and to spread sackcloth and ashes under him? Wilt thou call this a fast, and an acceptable day to the Lord? Is not this the fast that I have chosen? To loose the bands of wickedness, to unto the heavy burdens, and to let the oppressed go free, and that ye break every yoke? Is it not to deal thy bread to the hungry, and that thou bring the poor that are cast out to thy house? When thou seest the naked, that thou cover him; and that thou hid not thyself from thine own flesh?”

G. Like the first test, this one we can best use on ourselves. The question is, why do we fast? Do we fast to solve our own problems, to gain the success we desire, to make money, to take advantage of someone? The Lord plainly says that the fast he wishes us to undertake is to do his will, his pleasure. He wants us to feed the poor, to comfort the bereaved, and to free souls from wicked powers.

S. What does it mean when it says, “and that thou hide not thyself from thine own flesh?”

G. You have heard the saying, “Charity starts at home.” Those of our own flesh are our own family members. Righteousness would have us be much with our family, teaching and sharing the gospel, ministering to their needs. I believe that the special spirituality many mothers have is because they do not hide themselves from their own flesh. Instead of leaving home to work or socialize, they spend most of their time at home creating a haven of love, warmth and order.

S. I’m thankful that Mother has done that. I haven’t always appreciated the sacrifices she has made to be a full-time mother.

G. Can you see that this kind of righteousness, this kind of obedience to the Savior is part and parcel of fasting?

S. I see that fasting is to become firm and strong in obedience to the Savior, and that going hungry to get help to break the commandments is kind of like a bad joke.

G. It isn’t a bit funny. Let’s turn now to the third scripture. This one is Doctrine and Covenants 59:7–14. Would you please?

S. “Thou shalt thank the Lord thy God in all things. Thou shalt offer a sacrifice unto the Lord thy God in righteousness, even that of a broken heart and a contrite spirit. And that thou mayest more fully keep thyself unspotted from the world, thou shalt go to the house of prayer and offer up thy sacraments upon my holy day; For verily this is a day appointed unto you to rest from your labors, and to pay thy devotions unto the Most High; Nevertheless thy vows shall be offered up in righteousness on all days and at all times; But remember that on this, the Lord’s day, thou shalt offer thine oblations and thy sacraments unto the Most High, confessing thy sins unto thy brethren, and before the Lord. And on this day thou shalt do none other thing, only let thy food be prepared with singleness of heart that they fasting may be perfect, or, in other words, that thy joy may be full. Verily, this is fasting and prayer, or in other words, rejoicing and prayer.”

G. This passage tells me that fasting is perfect, or complete, only when it includes joy and rejoicing. We know that wickedness never was happiness. We also know that it is keeping the commandments of the Savior that leads to happiness.

S. So if we engage in a true fast, we abstain in secret and this brings us closer to the Holy Spirit; then being close to the Spirit helps us to obey the Savior, which brings joy in righteousness into our lives. Is that a correct picture?

G. This is the true fast in a nutshell, as I understand it, Sara. When men do this, enduring to the end, they become as the righteous angels, about whom Moroni says:

For behold, they are subject unto him [Christ], to minister according to the word of his command, showing themselves unto them of strong faith and a firm mind in every form of godliness. (Moroni 7:30)

S. Grandfather, I think that our Heavenly Father has given us a beautiful and plain path to follow.

G. And if we follow, “eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, nor hath entered into the heart of man” the rich blessings and opportunities of those who trust in our Savior and stay themselves upon him. We get a glimpse of this in the Isaiah passage. Would you read verses 8 through 12?

S. “Then shall thy light break forth as the morning, and thine health shall spring forth speedily: and thy righteousness shall go before thee; the glory of the Lord shall be thy rearward. Then shalt thou call, and the Lord shall answer; thou shalt cry, and he shall say, Here I am. If thou take away from the midst of thee the yoke, the putting forth of the finger, and speaking vanity; And if thou draw out thy soul to the hungry, and satisfy the afflicted soul; then shall thy light rise in obscurity, and thy darkness be as the noonday: And the Lord shall guide thee continually, and satisfy thy soul in drought, and make fat thy bones: and thou shalt be like a watered garden, and like a spring of water, whose waters fail not. And they that shall be of thee shall build the old waste places: thou shalt raise up the foundations of many generations; and thou shalt be called, The repairer of the breach, The restorer of paths to dwell in.” (Isaiah 58:8–12)

S: Thank you, grandfather, for opening my eyes to the greatness and beauty and power of fasting.

Man, though a child of God, is estranged from God. His is estranged because of the Fall of Adam, which caused mankind to become unlike God. Salvation is the process of becoming like God so that when we again see God, we can endure His presence. Those who refuse to change to become like God will shrink from Him when they come again into His presence.

The nature of God is that He is righteous; that is to say He is the fullness of pure love. Fallen man, being subject to Satan through the flesh, cannot love purely, cannot be fully righteous. Those who reject salvation and thus do not become pure are embarrassed to stand in the presence of pure beings, so they seek other, more comfortable habitations in the lower kingdoms.

The Gospel of Jesus Christ is then the missionary message to all the world of the need to learn to love purely and how to gain that ability. The priesthood is the authority to preach the gospel message and to administer the ordinances. The ordinances are the occasions whereby the power of godliness is transmitted to men, that they may become able to love purely. No man has that power of himself and so it is by grace that we are saved. The Church is the brooder where the flock is warmed, protected and instructed so that each person may progress fully through the steps of salvation.

The prophets are the priesthood leaders of the Church. They are men who have progressed on the path of salvation and can assist others to do so. They have the authority and power of God and know how to do what they are assisting others to do.

Why have prophets? Does one really need to follow the prophets? One does not need to accept and follow God’s prophets if he is content with himself the way he is. But any person who hungers to be righteous, to love purely, must accept the prophets and their instructions and the ordinances they administer to be saved. There is no other way.

To accept the prophets is to accept our God, Jesus Christ and His program of salvation and righteousness. To reject the prophets is to disassociate with them and to reject Jesus Christ and the opportunity to attain to pure love.

One way of showing the essence of the agency of man is to say that man is free to choose on the one hand to reject God, His prophets and salvation, and on the other hand to accept God and through God’s prophets become godly. The choice we make and how soon and how fast we pursue salvation is the measure of our love and concern for someone besides ourselves.

Who is my brother’s keeper?

My father, of course.

When the Lord came to Cain and asked of Abel’s whereabouts, Cain made what should have been a perfectly legitimate counter-inquiry. In asking, “Am I my brother’s keeper?” he was essentially saying, “Abel is not under my stewardship, so why call me to account concerning him?” But it was the Lord’s question and not Cain’s retort which was appropriate. Though not appointed to be Abel’s keeper, Cain had seized unrighteous dominion, presumptuously acting as Abel’s keeper in taking his life.

What is a keeper, anyway? A keeper is a master, one who has power and authority over someone or something. In Gospel terms, keepers are stewards; those who preside over a divinely appointed jurisdiction. To be a righteous keeper is perhaps the most demanding opportunity which eternity affords. One must first overcome the world through full acceptance of the Savior, submitting to His will in all things as He submits to the Father; but one must also take upon himself the authority and obligations of the Holy Priesthood and exercise righteous dominion therein. Anyone who presides in the Kingdom of God is a keeper or steward: Fathers and mothers, ministering brothers and sisters, quorum and group leaders, Bishoprics, Stake Presidencies, General Authorities, and the Lord himself.

What then am I?

I am my brother’s brother, not his keeper. It is my opportunity to love him, to share his burdens, to encourage, to support. But it is not my right to command him to repent, to harrow up his soul in regard to his sins, to tell or suggest what he ought to do; all these things belong to my brother’s keepers—our father, his bishop, etc.

Oh, what a world of good things can I do for and with my brother without presuming to be his keeper, his Lord and Master! If I can thrill to be his brother and love him and support him as I should, we will both be better sons of our father, better servants of the Lord.

Few notions have wrought as much havoc in the history of mankind as the misplaced suggestion that I ought to be my brother’s keeper. Under this banner have paraded all manner of tyranny, oppression, restraint, burning at the stake, meddling, etc. Almost every tyrant has seen himself as the great benefactor of his people, delivering them from their waywardness, rewarding with life or death, wealth or poverty, as he sees fit. Professors tend to see themselves as custodians of the truth, and as such, proper keepers of the minds of their students, administering rewards and punishments according to their own good pleasure. Professional people of all sorts see themselves as benevolent keepers of people’s bodies, sanity, tastes, culture—the list exhausts most every human activity. And some of these people are not above the use of force to inflict life or death, wealth or poverty, truth, health, sanity, culture, etc., on their “less gifted” brothers.

But there is a God and Father of us all. He only and those whom He appoints to stand in His stead have any right to be our keepers. Let us then be better brothers by ceasing to be usurpatious keepers. Let us reject tyranny in every guise and serve Him only whose right it is to reign. And only as we acknowledge and faithfully serve our common Father can we ever truly act as brothers and let peace come on earth.

There are three basic human states of euphoria (good feeling):

1. Pleasure, which is physical
2. Happiness, which is mental
3. Joy, which is spiritual

Pleasure and joy are passive; they are things that happen to us. Happiness is active, it is something we consciously and deliberately choose to do.

The opposite of pleasure is pain. Pleasure becomes pain when too intense, and some mild pains are pleasurable. The opposite of happiness is depression (dread), which is a form of fear. The opposite of joy is remorse (bitterness).

Happiness is a mental attitude. Its primary foundational component is gratitude, and it thrives on one’s appreciation for one’s situation.

Happiness does not depend upon pleasure, on what one possesses, where one lives, or how one is treated by others.

Happiness is a rejoicing in one’s blessings and opportunities. Happiness is mental health.

Happiness increases physical health. Depression and fear decrease physical health.

The Restored Gospel of Jesus Christ can help one be happy, but a person can be happy not knowing it. If a person knows the Restored Gospel and refuses to be happy, their state is worse. In the Gospel framework, happiness is a gratitude for the Father, Son and Holy Ghost and all they do for us. Not to be grateful upon knowing the Gospel of Jesus Christ makes things worse.

Some things to do which increase happiness:

1. Never give offense, never be offended by anyone.
2. When depression tempts, count your blessings.
3. Be as a little child before conscience, doing its bidding. But do not listen to the evil spirit.
4. Spend each day working hard to do good, including physical labor.
5. Remain humble. Pride and selfishness are the enemy.
6. Keep the commandments.

We learn from the scriptures that in the hereafter there are three kingdoms of glory where all serve Jesus Christ in eternity and one kingdom not of glory where Satan reigns supreme. The following is my understanding of the differences between these four kingdoms:

The Celestial Kingdom is governed by our Heavenly Father, and all who are there are there because they want to be there and to do what Celestial beings do: They minister to others, blessing them in the name of and by the power of Jesus Christ with the magnitude of the light of the sun.

The Terrestrial Kingdom is governed by Jesus Christ, and all who are there serve Christ. They were the honorable mean and women of the earth during their mortality, carefully keeping all of the Ten Commandments. They also serve others in the name of and by the power of Jesus Christ with the magnitude of the light of the moon.

The Telestial Kingdom is governed by the Holy Ghost, and all who are there serve others in the name and power of Jesus Christ, with magnitude of the light of the stars. These are they who broke the Ten Commandments in their mortality but afterward repented of having done so.

The Kingdom of no glory is presided over by Satan. These are they who delight in and do only hurt and destroy others, having learned to do those things in mortality by seeking the destruction of others using the power and influence of Satan.

Everyone in a kingdom of glory is happy and is satisfied with their situation. Everyone in the kingdom not of glory is unhappy and is never satisfied with their situation and accomplishments.

And everyone in every kingdom is exactly where they themselves chose to be. (See D&C 76)

The leaders of the Jews were infuriated.

To think that one would even claim to be the Messiah and turn his back on their problems was too much for them. And for him to be gaining wide-spread support among the peasants added insult to injury. The Messiah would come to save and exalt his chosen people; to let some imposter change that glorious image in the people’s minds would be an unforgivable dereliction of duty. They were bound by their solemn responsibilities of leadership to put this pretender from Nazareth to death.

Thus it was that the rulers of the Jews plotted to destroy Jesus, the Christ, the Savior of mankind. With due rational justification, while dead to the Holy Spirit, they recounted his blasphemy.

1. He recognized and countenanced the military occupation of Judea by Rome. It is one thing for the children of Abraham to have to have been vanquished militarily. As a matter of prudence one does not spit upon his captor when a sword is at one’s throat. But to teach that the subject people should pay their taxes honestly and willingly, and to blithely disregard the political plight of the chosen people, was an abandonment of heritage wholly unconscionable.
2. He said nothing against the national traitor, Herod, that jackal who collaborated with Rome, whose power rested solely in the presence of the legions. Even John, who baptized at Jordan, had had the courage to speak boldly against this family, this blotch on the national escutcheon. The most that said Jesus could muster was to call him a fox.
3. He spoke slightingly of the Law of Moses. The backbone of Judaism, the meticulous observation of the prescriptive details of the Torah, was said by him to be insufficient to save anyone. Dilution of the absolute allegiance to Moses that gave them their national unity threatened to give Rome and the Herodians even greater power over their people. This was not only blasphemous but traitorous.
4. He personally attacked the rulers of the Jews. In calling them whited sepulchers and in instructing his followers not to do as the rulers did, he threatened to destroy the fabric of their society. How could they survive and fulfill their role as the chosen people if the common people lost their respect for their leaders?
5. He was dividing the people. His doctrines were not only heretical but successful, for the people acclaimed him whenever he taught in the temple. The people, unlearned and easily swayed as they were, even threatened to destroy the processes of governance, and the guards could not take Jesus captive while the throngs were there. Even did they give him a triumphal entry into Jerusalem! His extremism bade well to destroy the Jews as a people.

So it was that the rulers of the Jews moved to rid their society of this Jesus. Because he ignored what they thought to be the real problems of their times and threatened to destroy what little success they saw themselves as having, it seemed only a matter of prudence and integrity to execute him.

Execution was difficult because they lacked legal power to do so. Their dilemma was that they needed to convince and please both the Roman governor, who had the power to execute, and their own people, whose continuing support they needed for the preservation of Judaism and passive resistance to Rome. The issue they picked was weak and almost failed. They accused Jesus of saying that he was the Son of God. This charge, both trumped up and true, was to convince the populace that for all of his goodness and popularity, he was a blasphemer. Being steeped in the Law of Moses, the people knew that no matter how they felt about it, a blasphemer must die.

The cause nearly failed, since both Pilate and Herod saw it was empty. Only the “righteous indignation” of the people saved the day. Long schooled in obeying their leaders, the people rose in wrath to sustain the charge leveled by those who ought to know, and cried out for the blood of the accused.

So the Son of God was taken, humiliated, crucified and slain in that low point of human social interaction.

It would be fatuous thus to review those well-known events of history were it not for the remarkable parallels in our own society today. The perspective of historical insight shows that the shadows of the cross darken our day as much as that one. First a word of explanation as to what this author thinks to be the mission of Jesus Christ.

The Savior came into a world that was sundered. Since the Fall of Adam, Satan had ruled the world, controlling every man to some degree and most men rather completely. The penultimate triumph of Satan would be to climax a life of misery and spiritual darkness with physical death. He ruled over the bodies of men, the god of the ungodly.

The Savior, though creator of the heavens and the earth and all things therein, came into this earth as the God of the spirits of men. Man, as a dual being, found himself part of two realms, and was enticed by two masters. This duality was the source of man’s freedom, and its essence. Man was free to reject either god in favor of the other. That rejection could not be complete for he would yet have to answer to each: to Satan in physical death, and to the Savior in a final judgment. But man could ignore and disobey one or the other sufficiently to establish a clear allegiance.

The mission of the Savior was then to invade the domain temporarily granted to Satan, the earth, and to do his work both in the flesh and in the spirit by influencing men’s spirits. He came with a body not subject to Satan, so that he needed not to die, but one having mortal attributes so that he could voluntarily give his body to the desires of the god of this world in temporal death. He came in the flesh to do work of the flesh. His principal work of the flesh was to resist Satan in every way, not submitting to any temptation—ever. This enabled him to wrest from Satan the keys of the flesh, thus to break the bands of death and make possible a post-death resurrection to glory in a realm where Satan’s power is banished forever.

But the Savior came also in the power of the Spirit to do works of the Spirit. He came to entice the spirit of each human being to choose the cause of righteousness, to love mercy and to walk uprightly upon the earth. That mission is a success insofar as any man begins to deny the lusts of the flesh and to channel the power of his heart, might, mind and strength into the cause of righteousness through submitting to the enticing of the Holy Spirit. Thus in the service of God, he relieves himself step by step from the dominion of the adversary. When that dominion has been broken, when allegiance to Christ has clearly and firmly been established, then the last claim of Satan loses any power it might have had. Death is no longer feared in any sense; rather is it seen as an honor by which one might walk in the footsteps of the Savior. This mission of our Savior to lead men to eternal life, to righteousness, is a mission for which he himself did not need flesh. Indeed, he carried out that mission to the spirits of men on earth through his Holy Spirit thousands of years before he came in the flesh, and has continued to do so since his ascension, though not with us in the flesh.

The point of all this is that the Savior’s mission was and is not to cure the problems of the fleshly or material aspect of man’s existence until the problems of his spirit are solved. This is in no way a blithe disregard of or unconcern for the physical problems of men. It is rather a full recognition that solving the spiritual problems of man makes possible the solution to every physical problem, whereas solving all the physical problems of any man or all mankind as a whole does nothing for solving the spiritual problems. Rather evincing a callous disregard for evil, our God strives to work out a permanent and eternal solution to that evil by turning men’s hearts and minds to truth and to the joy of righteousness.

The Jews rejection of Jesus was thus rather apt. He was, at that point, relatively unconcerned about the domination of Judea by Rome. His mission was to teach and show them how not to be of the world. He did say little about Herod, recognizing that unless men repent and serve God they will be ruled over by one evil man or another. He did value something more than the Law of Moses—the true Gospel of Jesus Christ which Moses had taught the children of Israel in hope, but which Moses sadly withdrew and gave the lesser, the Law of Moses, to his people in despair. The Savior did attack the leaders of the Jews, the blind guides of the blind, for the time had come to cease following them and to turn to the newly established kingdom among them. And he did divide the people, turning some to the paths of righteousness while others were confirmed in their captivity to their own flesh and to Satan.

The Jews rejected Jesus because he was not a king of this world, whereas the salvation they wanted was very much of this world. Their Messiah would be a god of power, of vengeance, of military victory and social stability. Naturally, he who sought first to rid men’s minds and hearts of greed, of dishonesty, of covetousness, of hardness, would seem to be an imposter. And quite naturally they destroyed him whom they saw not only as an impediment to their own social aims, but also as a very positive pain to their consciences.

Which brings to mind the present moment.

Not only was Jesus rejected in the day of his earthly ministry. He was also rejected by most persons both before and since that time. He is rejected today by two kinds of people: those who don’t understand his cause and those who do.

It is of course the great majority of rejectors who know of him but do not understand his cause. Many are the frames of mind of misunderstanding, but they have in common a missing of one or more of the following salients: 1) Since man is an eternal being, saving the part that is eternal (the spirit) is more important than saving the part that is temporal (his present mortal body); 2) the spirit of man is not saved by temporal means, but only by spiritual operations; 3) since men are agents, each can be saved only when he himself applies that agency with determined effort; 4) the process of saving men spiritually is a matter of helping each person to become free from the dominating power of his or her own flesh and also free from the dominating power of the natural social environment; 5) salvation of the spirit of man is attainable only as each voluntarily yields to the enticing of the Holy Spirit and gives himself wholly to be a servant of Jesus Christ. 6) Temporal salvation is an eternal blessing only to those who have become wholly servants of Jesus Christ. It is important to show the pertinence of each of these points.

1. Since man is an eternal being, saving the part that is eternal (the spirit) is more important than saving the part that is temporal (his present mortal body). The body of a man is both temporal and temporary, the tabernacle of the spirit of a man. The body is not the person; it is the spirit entity which is the personage. The physical body is a foil for the spirit, a thing to be conquered and controlled, and is ultimately expendable.

The goal of life in the Gospel of Jesus Christ is to achieve nobility of character, to be remade in the image of the Savior. A person’s character is a “natural” thing, a function of education and acculturation of the body, until a person is set free by the Gospel message and the witness of the Holy Spirit. The Gospel and the Holy Spirit give the spirit within the body a chance to assert itself and to be dominant over the body. The person may or may not change his character when free. But at least the spirit then may or may not change his character as a son or daughter of the Savior. The ultimate test that the person is free and has become like the Savior is that he is ready and willing to lay down the mortal body in death in any time, place or manner which the Savior prescribes. Thus, saving the spirit of man in attaining Christ-like character is important, whereas saving the body temporally may prove to be an insurmountable barrier to saving the spirit. “For whosoever will save his life shall lose it.” (Matt. 16:25)

2. The spirit of a man is not saved by temporal means, but only by spiritual operations.

The body of man is not of itself evil, but evil works upon the spirits of men through their bodies. The body is thus a source of evil, of distraction, of temptation, and is the only access Satan has by which to conquer mortals.

The eyes, ears and other senses of a man flood his mind with data about the world. React he must, and most reaction is that of habit acquired through acculturation. But the data from the world does not provide any clear evidence as to what is right and wrong, what leads to happiness and what to unhappiness. We often imagine as humans that we can look back and see clearly what we “ought to have done.” But that perception is the omniscience of never-never land, the irresponsible wishing for the fulfillment of desire. How do we know that had we made different choices in the past, that all other factors would have been as they appeared to be, and that we would have gained success? We do not. And neither do we know what is wise for the future by natural means.

The point is that the body of man does not have enough information to act wisely, to maximize decisions. Lacking that definitive rational ability, the mind lapses into the clutch of desire. Men do what they want to do, not what they think rationally is best, since there is no rational process to devise the “best.” Desire is doctored with evidence and presented as justification, but the more the claim for rationality, the more hypocritical the stance.

The mind of man is thus a neutral force in his rational approach to life. He yields either to the desires of his flesh, or he yields to the enticing of the Holy Spirit. There is no temporal, physical means by which a man can guide himself to righteousness or by which he can be guided to righteousness. If he will not hearken to the Holy Spirit, he cannot be saved or bettered.

The Holy Spirit is a spirit in order that it might be an unseen influence to work upon the spirits of men. It may indeed affect the bodies of men, but the work of turning men to righteousness is an operation on the spirit of man.

3. Since men are agents, each can be saved only when he applies his agency with determined effort.

It is common in the world today to suppose that men are but machines. A machine has no freedom, no agency. Man is seen to be an accident of nature, controlled by natural forces, soon to be swept into oblivion by the onward rush of natural processes. This belief is correlated with a monistic view of man which denies the existence of a spirit within each man.

The problem is, how do you demonstrate that man has a spirit so that we can even begin to discuss meaningfully the possibility of agency? The monistic threat of modern science is so powerful and persuasive that it seems to have won the issue. Social theory and practice everywhere lapse into the naturalistic contradiction. (The contradiction is that leaders who believe men are not free strive to control the environments and lives of others for one purpose or another without admitting to be unfree themselves.) The strength of the scientific postulate of monism is not that the point of monism has been proved or demonstrated. Neither monism or spiritual dualism can be proved or demonstrated scientifically. The strength of the position reacts with the obvious technical success of applied science in our culture.

The strength of the Gospel position of spiritual dualism rests upon success, also. For inasmuch as an individual believes in that dualism and lives the Gospel of Jesus Christ, his life is crowned with success, and eventually he is given sure knowledge of spiritual existence. But the knowledge does not come to convince him that the Gospel is true. Rather it comes as a reward for faithful acceptance of dualism as part of the Gospel as taught by the Holy Spirit.

Those who live the Gospel have ample testimony that man is an agent. Since man is free, only by his own choice and exertion does anything significant happen. The prize in the Gospel of Jesus Christ is sufficiently great that only by great personal exertion can we overcome the world and gain that prize.

4. The process of saving men spiritually is a matter of helping each person to become free from the dominating power of his or her own flesh and also free from the dominating power of the natural social environment.

The process that saves a man is yielding to the enticing of the Holy Spirit, and putting off the natural man and becoming a saint through the atonement of Christ, thus becoming a child of Christ. As his child then, being “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)

By definition, the natural man is without God and Christ in the world, and is subject to the desires of the flesh and the pressure to conform exerted by the social environment. A person cannot become free from these influences unless given an independent alternative. That alternative is the Holy Spirit working upon the spirit being of a person.

5. Salvation of the spirit of man is attainable only as each voluntarily yields to the enticings of the Holy Spirit and gives himself wholly to be a servant of Jesus Christ.

It is the Holy Spirit that sets man free. It can give each person an alternative to subjection to their own flesh. Thus man became free according to the flesh. (2 Nephi 2:26–29)

Men need not only to be free from the flesh, but to be free to do the work of righteousness, free to know the future, free to perfect their characters, free to control the elements, free to know the gods. These positive freedoms cannot be gained in any natural way. They can be only come to man as the gift of one who has them, of a god of righteousness, perfection, omniscience, omnipotence, of a god one with all the other gods. Such are the attributes of Jesus Christ, our God. As we yield to his enticings which come through his Holy Spirit and are obedient to his word, which is his law, we are able to qualify to receive his graces, his gifts. If we submit ourselves wholly to him, we can become holy persons, perfect even as he is perfect. This is the salvation of the spirit of man.

6. Temporal salvation is an eternal blessing only to those who have become wholly servants of Jesus Christ.

The natural man thinks he is well-off when his carnal desires and social wants are satisfied. He is likely to give credit to his religion as at least a partial cause of these beneficences. Thus he is lulled into carnal security, and the devil leads him carefully away down to hell. (2 Nephi 28:21)

But when men are in physical want and socially unfulfilled, they know something is wrong with their lives, and they are generally more amenable than the sated to a change of religion. But being undiscerning, they may readily exchange the frying pan for the fire, as the people of Cuba and Chile have so amply demonstrated.

Some men have another hunger, an intense desire for righteousness. Whatever their material circumstances, be they rich or poor, accepted or unaccepted, they feel a desperate need to serve a god of righteousness, to bless others. That hunger tells them that something is indeed wrong with their lives, and they are very amenable to a change of religion if only they can find one that satisfies that hunger. When they finally encounter the Gospel of Jesus Christ and the Holy Spirit, they hunger no more.

Thus, temporal salvation does not help men to become righteous. If they are not righteous, they will misuse their opportunities and be worse off in an eternal sense. But lack of temporal salvation may at least jar many to examine alternative ways of life. It was the poor and the down-trodden who readily received Jesus of Nazareth. But some of them wanted only their bellies sated; Jesus would not be king for them. He reserved his reign of grace for those who hungered and thirsted after righteousness.

Temporal salvation is a blessing indeed to servants of Christ. Having their real hunger, for righteousness, already satisfied, they are able to be free with their material substance, to give temporal salvation to others as the Lord directs them. They will not only give temporal salvation, but will also be familiar with all, imparting freely of their testimony and radiating the Holy Spirit. Thus, temporal means become an eternal blessing to the true servants of Jesus Christ.

Now the sum of these six points is this: They build a framework in which the work of Jesus Christ as the Savior of mankind has great and overpowering significance. Far from being unconcerned with the welfare of his children, Christ has been and is doing all that is divinely possible for the salvation of his children.

There are those, of course, who understand all of this, more or less, but who reject the cause of Christ anyway. They are they who do not hunger after righteousness. They want the satisfaction of the flesh and social dominion. And they will have their eternal reward. But they will not enjoy it.

“And the Lord called his people Zion, because they were of one heart and one mind, and there was no poor among them.” Moses 7:18

Church

• Eliminate false doctrines, teach the strait and narrow way.
• Assist every person to gain a testimony.
• Listen and obey the Lord’s mouthpieces.
• Every person know and fulfill his duty; strengthen the stakes.

Missionary work

• Preach the gospel to every nation, kindred, tongue, people and person.

Intellectual

• Eliminate the conflict of science vs. religion by putting all human activity in a framework of spiritual values and realities.

Educational

• Thorough grounding in physical and mental skills.
• Development of Independence and creativity of thought.

Civic

• Unite for political action.
• Learn to submit to ecclesiastical authority.

Social

•  Separate ourselves from the wicked.
•  Learn who the good and honorable men are in every nation.

Economic

• Faithfulness in tithes, offerings, etc.; year’s supply.
• Learn to consecrate, that there be no poor.
• Group independence from all worldly connections.

Cultural

• Creation of indigenous and social patterns which foster saintliness.

Technological

• Proficiency in agriculture, communication, transportation, logistics and building.
• Ownership and control of our own industry.

Personal Righteousness

• Each person to live by the Spirit.
• Each person to act in the pure love of Christ.
• Each person to rejoice in the joy of godly service.

One trouble man has is vision clouded with untruth, false values, incorrect anticipations. To see clearly is a great blessing.

There are times that overwhelm one and are accompanied by increased clarity of vision, surety of judgment, correctness of anticipation. Such times are serious illness (of the self), grave unexpected danger, crushing defeat, the loss of one’s spouse, when one is subject to scathing criticism or denunciation.

Correspondingly there are times when one’s vision is most cloudy: when one is full of food, drowsy and completely comfortable, when all has been going exceptionally well, when one has just been very successful, completed a great coup, when all around one sing his praises.

Times of clarity can be created deliberately by the following means: working at the most important thing one knows to do until one is in pain and great fatigue, ready to drop; completing a mission or calling for the Lord where one has had to sacrifice until it truly hurts; giving away all of one’s possessions.

Times of clarity are so precious that they should be sought assiduously and treasured greatly.

Unit 1: Good and Evil

The Gem:

The most important ability is the power to discern the difference between the good spirit and the evil spirit. This ability makes agency possible. To identify each correctly in every moment is the full development of this ability.

The Setting:

1. Every human being is a spirit temporarily housed in flesh and bone. The real person is the spirit, not the flesh and bone. D&C 88:15, D&C 101:36–38
2. Each human adult spirit is subject to two powerful spiritual influences: The influence of God, which only entices to do good, and the influence of Satan, which only entices to do evil. Moroni 7:5–17
3. The two spirits of good and evil do not come labeled. Each person must label for himself. Isaiah 5:20–23
4. A person can sharpen the ability to discern between the good and the evil spirit by careful attention and practice. D&C 50:9–34
5. Those who follow the good spirit are led to righteousness. Those who follow the evil spirit are led to selfishness. 2 Nephi 2:28–29
6. The main reason human beings are on earth is to learn, each by his or her own experience, to discern good from evil and then to act according to his or her desires. 2 Nephi 2:25–27
7. A person’s discernment of God and good can be no stronger or sharper than his or her discernment of Satan and evil. 2 Nephi 2:11–13

Unit 2: Agency

The Gem:

Human agency is the power to understand the difference between good and evil, to be able then to choose to do good or evil, and the power to carry out the choice made. Only deliberately and carefully using this human agency can any human being be saved from the flaws in his or her own eternal character.

The Setting:

1. Agency needs three components: Knowledge, ability to choose, ability to act. The more a person has of each of these, the more agency he or she has. Father has full agency because he has a perfect understanding of good and evil and all truth, he is fully free to choose as he desires, and has all power that exists to carry out his choices. Only the gods are fully free. 1 Peter 1:14, D&C 58:28, 93:26–31
2. Human agency is a gift from God. Not all humans have it, and it may be increased or diminished by God. D&C 29:35
3. When Adam was first placed in the Garden of Eden, he had little understanding of the difference between good and evil, and therefore had little agency. Adam did know that it was good to obey Father, and wanted to do so. 2 Nephi 2:15–16
4. When Adam disobeyed Father by partaking of the fruit of the tree of knowledge of good and evil, his understanding of good and evil was greatly increased. Thus was his agency increased. D&C 29:39
5. Human agency is a perfect test of the heart of the person, the “heart” meaning the basic nature of the character of the spirit within the human body. It is not a test of mind, because the mind seldom knows enough to make a rational decision, and with limited information (all humans have limited information) a seemingly rational choice can easily be wrong. Gen 6:5, 29:41, Numb 15:39, Proverbs 23:7
6. When a person chooses and does evil, it is because the evil is more to the liking of the heart of the eternal spirit than the good alternative presented. Thus each human is drawn to do evil by his or her own evil desires (lusts), and drawn to do good by his or her own desires for good. Alma 41:5–6, James 1:13–14
7. What a person thinks about fondly is the principal battleground between good and evil in the human soul. If one daydreams about satisfying one’s own desires, evil is winning. If one daydreams about how to relieve the suffering of others or how to bring souls to Christ, good is winning. Agency is the power to choose between daydreams, and daydreams (including thinking and planning) are the basis of action.
8. Planning and doing good always involves sacrifice on the part of the doer. But the good sacrifice is always a means to relieve suffering or to bring souls to Christ. Satan also tempts people to sacrifice, but not to relieve suffering or to bring souls to Christ. Evil sacrifice seeks some personal reward.
9. The most beautiful part of human agency is that when a human spirit finds itself conflicted, having evil desires but not liking to have those desires, if the person knows the true Gospel of Jesus Christ, he or she can apply for a new heart (a new eternal character). Mosiah 4:2
10. The gift of a new, pure heart (to become a new and different person) is the most precious of all of God’s gifts, because it makes all other eternal blessings possible. Mosiah 5:2–3
11. Thus, the greatest human use of agency is to choose to die in Jesus Christ and become a new person. Gal 5:24, Romans 12:1
12. If the person does not know the true Gospel of Jesus Christ, he or she is not yet fully an agent. But every human who attains the age and state of accountability has enough agency to fulfill his or her mortal mission. Those who do not have full agency in mortality are assured of gaining it in the world of spirits, and will there have the full opportunity to be saved from themselves and from their sins. D&C 138:31–34

Unit 3: All Things Good

The Gem: “We will prove them herewith, to see if they will do all things whatsoever the Lord their God shall command them.” Abraham 3:25

The Setting:

1. All that is good comes from God. Moroni 7:13
2. If there is anything virtuous, lovely, of good report or praiseworthy, we seek after these things. A of F:13
3. The light of Christ is the spirit of excellence. Wherever one sees excellence, one is seeing Christ working in nature or through men. D&C 88:12–13
4. The work of God is constructive. The work of the adversary is destructive. 2 Nephi 26:23
5. Where you see the drive to make men free, that is of God. Where you see tightening control of men by men, that is of Satan. D&C 98:5
6. When we do good, we choose God as our father. When we do evil, we choose Satan as our father. John 8:44
7. Every person has a personal profile of preferences for good or evil. The profile can be changed, but it can be changed only in mortality for those who have the fullness of the gospel. Alma 34:33–34
8. At the end of every mortal life of an agent, it will be very plain as to how much the person has obeyed God or has obeyed Satan. Alma 42:27–28
9. The following are some of the contrasts in the decisions we must make between good and evil.
   • Cleanliness and order vs. dirty and messy.
   • Hard work vs. lazy refusal to do work.
   • Polishing and perfecting vs. marring and destroying.
   • Arising early vs. staying up late at night.
   • Word of wisdom eating vs. tea, coffee, liquor and tobacco, etc.
   • Welcoming children vs. infanticide: abortion, some forms of birth control, exposure of newborns, etc.
   • Sexual fidelity in marriage vs. fornication, adultery, self-abuse, homosexual action, etc.
   • Careful, clear enunciation vs. slurred, sloppy speech.
   • Careful planning vs. self-indulgent daydreaming.
   • Punctuality vs. habitual lateness.
   • Seeking to share with others vs. seeking more for oneself.
   • Speaking the truth in soberness vs. speaking lies.
   • Saving part of your income vs. spending more than your income.
   • Taking counsel from God vs. taking counsel from fear or from Satan.
   • Carefully controlled eating vs. overeating and concentrating on sweets and/or drugs.
   • Covenant keeping vs. covenant breaking.
   • Dependability vs. being undependable.
   • Pure knowledge vs. ignorance or lies.
   • Pure love vs. fear, anger and vengeance.
   • Gratitude vs. feeling sorry for oneself.
   • Humility vs. feeling superior to someone else.
   • Commending others vs. criticizing others.
   • Instructing others vs. condemning others.
10. King Benjamin: We cannot list all the ways to do evil, but if we will seek and follow the good spirit, we will always do good. Mosiah 4:29–30
11. Good us always blessing others or preparing to do so. Evil is always selfishly using others to benefit oneself. Matthew 5:43–44

Unit 4: Faith in Jesus Christ

The Gem: Faith in Jesus Christ is the priceless gift of the gods to men which enables men to become gods. It is the deliberate acceptance of divine power to replace evil with good in our lives done through Jesus Christ.

The Setting:

1. Evil I anything that is not as good as it could and should be. Matt 6:34
2. Good is that which builds and blesses in the way that God would do so. 2 Nephi 26:23–24
3. The person who sees no evil in his life sees no need for or merit in faith in Jesus Christ. The rich and the learned and the powerful seldom see the need for Christ in their lives. 2 Nephi 28:19–21
4. Persons who are aware of the choices between good and evil and who are uncomfortable with their own pattern of choices welcome the opportunity to be made pure through Jesus Christ. When these souls hear the message of the Gospel of Jesus Christ, they recognize the spirit that has encouraged and assisted them to do good in the past (which is the light of Christ). Romans 2:14–15
5. Because they are already in tune with the light of Christ, it is a possible (if not easy) step receive the testimony of the Holy Spirit, which feels the same as does the light of Christ. John 10:24–28
6. If one will pray with real intent, one will come to know by the Holy Spirit that Jesus is the Christ, that Joseph Smith is and was his prophet of this dispensation, and that the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is the only true and living church on the earth. Moroni 10:4–5
7. When the answer to their prayer comes to one who seeks righteousness, it will be in the same mode as their previous spiritual encouragement to do good, but now with greater focus and clarity. They will see the need to be baptized by true authority and to receive the Holy Ghost through the laying on of hands. Acts 2:37–40
8. As they follow the whisperings of the Holy Ghost, are baptized and receive the gift of the Holy Ghost and do the good they are encouraged and enabled to do, they are now exercising true faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. James 2:14–17
9. This faith enables them to replace the evil in their own spiritual hearts with good, until they come to have pure hearts. Mosiah 3:19
10. As they continue in the path of faith, nothing wavering, their faith becomes stronger and stronger until they can do all things in Christ. D&C 50:23–24
11. The end of the path of faith is to come to the point where they can love with a pure love and bless others even as Christ himself does. Eph 4:11–13
12. Without faith it is impossible to please god. Heb 11:5 Every human soul will eventually come to have faith in Jesus Christ, but for some their faith will not endure. D&C 76:110–112

Unit 5: Repentance

The Gem: Repentance is the engine which makes possible the perfecting of a human soul. It is faith in the Lord Jesus Christ that powers this engine.

The Setting:

1. To repent is to replace evil with good in one’s life: habits, feelings, desires, actions and words. Gospel repentance is hard work, and ultimately consumes all of our heart, might, mind and strength. D&C 4
2. There are at least four levels of repentance:
   • Perdition repentance: Pretending to repent while deliberately continuing to do evil.
   • Telestial repentance: Saying one is sorry.
   • Terrestrial repentance: Recognize and confess the sin, stop doing it, and make restitution. Restitution is one for one.
   • Celestial repentance: Replace evil acts with the good acts directed by the Holy Spirit as acts of faith in Jesus Christ. This may include fulfilling the steps of terrestrial repentance, but goes much further. For instance, restitution is four-fold. D&C 124:71
3. To the Greek mind, mind is what is important. Their word for repentance is metanoeia, which means to change the mind.
4. The Romans were people of action. Their word for repentance, pentere, is the ancestor of our English word repentance, and means to turn, to act differently.
5. The Hebrew emphasis is on the heart. When the heart changes, that is the real repentance. But the mind and actions must also change with the heart. If the mind or actions change without the heart, repentance is always shallow and ultimately ineffective.
6. The outward signs of repentance are confession and stopping the sin. D&C 58:43
7. The goal of gospel repentance is to replace every habit and action of heart, might, mind and strength with that which is the habit and action and character of Christ himself. To attain this goal is to endure to the end. Eph 4:11–14
8. The first fruit of true faith in Jesus Christ is repentance, and the first fruit of true repentance is baptism in the New and Everlasting Covenant. Moroni 8:25
9. Real gospel repentance is to stop sinning, that is to say, to stop hurting others and replace hurting with blessing. It is done by obeying every word that proceeds forth from the mouth of God. D&C 84:43–45
10. Another name for repentance is adequation, to become an adequate successful performer in a particular task. A person needs to learn much about physics, about techniques, about laws and about standards and to change much personally to become a successful pilot of airplanes. Likewise a person needs to learn much and become much to be a successful surgeon. And so for any demanding task. Another name for adequation is good education. A disciple is a learner.
11. Repentance in the gospel of Jesus Christ is on-the-job training as disciples of Christ to become successful builders of universes and successful good parents to many persons, to become kings and priest, queens and priestesses, forever. Rev 5:9–10

Unit 6: Two Baptisms

The Gem: To be born again of water and of the Holy Spirit is the unique access to a fullness of life as a son or daughter of Jesus Christ and an heir to all he is and has. John 10:10, Romans 8:16–17

The Setting:

1. To be born again is to be changed, to become a new creature in Christ, with a different heart, might, mind, and strength. 2 Cor 5:17
2. This change is wrought by power, and can only be accomplished when one is baptized by real authority and makes the changes offered. D&C 20:73
3. Baptism by water is for the later remission of sins. It is a necessary prerequisite for remission, but does not wash away any sins. The baptism of the Spirit (fire) is what remits sins. 2 Nephi 31:17
4. To properly accept baptism, one must make three promises:
   • We are willing to take upon ourselves the name of the Son, Jesus Christ. D&C 20:75
   • We will always remember him.
   • We will keep the commandments which he has given us.
5. There are four unmistakable marks of one who has truly been born of the water and the Spirit:
   • They are humble, and they are kind to everyone, including their enemies and those who injure them. D&C 112:10, 3 Nephi 12:44
   • They forgive all trespasses of the past and only look forward (exception: those in priesthood authority who must judge people for their church membership). D&C 64: 10
   • They keep every commandment of God that they know about, striving always to be doing what they should be doing. John 14:15
   • They are happy because they love and serve everyone and everything around them and try to help others to be happy. 2 Nephi 5:27
6. Baptism is a New and Everlasting Covenant. It is new because it replaces the original covenant given to Adam and Eve when they were placed in the Garden of Eden. It is everlasting because it is made possible through the Atonement of Jesus Christ, He whose name is Everlasting. Abraham 3:22–25, Moses 6:56–60

Unit 7: Enduring to the End

The Gem: Faith, repentance, and being born again of the water and of the spirit are means, not ends. They are means to enduring to the end, which is to become like Christ and a joint-heir with Christ.

The Setting:

1. To endure to the end may be described in a number of ways. The following are different scriptural ways of doing so. There are other ways of describing the process, but the following will suffice to show the pattern:
   • To have a fullness of faith. Ether 12:19–20
   • To fully repent of all of one’s sins. Mosiah 27:24–26
   • To grow to maturity in the newness of life after having been born again. That maturity is to attain the fullness of the stature of the character and nature of Jesus Christ himself. Eph 4:11–13
   • To receive eternal life. 2 Nephi 31:20
   • To see the face of the Savior in mortality. D&C 101:36–38
   • To partake of the fruit of the tree of life, which is the love of God. 1 Nephi 11:21–23
   • To become pure in heart. 3 Nephi 12:8
   • To overcome the world. D&C 76:50–70
   • To receive and exercise a fullness of the holy priesthood. D&C 84:33–48
   • To have one’s calling and election made sure. D&C 131:5–6
2. There is an important penalty for not enduring to the end. 3 Nephi 27: 10–12, 16–17
3. How is it done (enduring to the end)? By trying hard to do so. Abraham 1:2; Matt. 13:45–46; 2 Nephi 31:13–21
4. Are there other clues? Yes.
   • Live outside yourself in love. (David O. McKay)
   • Beware of pride, the great enemy of righteousness. (Ezra Taft Benson)
5. Enduring to the end can only be done in the New and Everlasting Covenant. So in addition to being born of the water and of the spirit, one needs the temple ordinances. Here are four other clues to fulfill the temple covenants:
   • Be constantly seeking to bless the lives of others.
   • Do all things for the glory of God.
   • Serve with all of your heart, might, mind and strength.
   • Do all this working together in love with your husband or wife.
6. Perhaps the best way to summarize enduring to the end is to become pure in heart, which is to be given a new heart by our Savior. This new heart enables us to love with the pure love of Christ. But know this, that when one tries hard to attain this love, Satan begins to work overtime on us. He is given the opportunity to try us to see if we really want to become pure. Another scriptural account as to how to endure to the end is found in Moroni 7, the whole chapter.

Unit 8: The Book of Mormon

The Gem: The Book of Mormon is the most important book in the world.

The Setting:

1. The Book of Mormon is the Lord making bare his holy arm in the eyes of all the nations. Isaiah 52:7–10
2. The Book of Mormon is a special invitation to every person in this world to prepare for the judgments which are to come, both in the flesh and after we are dead. 2 Nephi 9:44–46
3. The Book of Mormon will bring a person closer to God than any other book if they will follow its teachings. Book of Mormon: Introduction 6. Its purpose is to enable us (every human being) to come to Christ and be perfected in him. Moroni 10:30–33
4. It contains the fulness of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. D&C 20:8–11
5. It is a unique history of two civilizations on the American continents. B of M: Title page.
6. It is a book of prophecy. Many of its prophecies have already been fulfilled since 1830, and many more are in the process of being fulfilled. E.g., 3 Nephi 21:11–22
7. It gives the plainest insights into the struggle in this world between good and evil of any book.
8. It is an affront to every person who is comfortable with the doings and ways of the worldly persons of this world.
9. It is a solid piece of physical evidence to the truthfulness of the Restored Gospel of Jesus Christ, to the mission of the Prophet Joseph Smith, and to the fact that the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is the only true church upon the earth today.
10. The philosophical insights of the Book of Mormon are as profound as those of any other work in the world. E.g., 2 Nephi 2.
11. The Book of Mormon fulfills Biblical prophecy. Ezekiel 37:16–23.
12. The Book of Mormon is a test of our faith. When the Lamanite descendants of Lehi are sufficiently faithful, they will receive the fullness of the Nephite record. 3 Nephi 26:7–11. When we “Gentiles” are sufficiently faithful, we will receive the fullness of the Jaredite record. Ether 4:1–13

President Gordon B. Hinckley has asked that each member of the church read or re-read the Book of Mormon between now and the end of year 2005. I urge each of you to do so if you are not already in the process. There are promises of great blessing attached to this request by him. Even those who do not believe it is a divine book would be blessed by reading it as he has suggested. We here are reading at the rate of four pages per day and are at the end of 1 Nephi.

Autobiographical note: I first began reading the Book of Mormon when I was eight years old and my parents lived at Furnace Creek Ranch in Death Valley. I could not understand it very well and did not read far, but I felt a wonderful spirit as I read it. I think I read it all the way through for the first time when I was a freshman at BYU, eight years later, and thoroughly enjoyed it. When I came to BYU as a faculty member, another instructor asked me to teach his Book of Mormon Class on 2 Nephi 2 because he had to be out of town. I tried, but could not understand that chapter. Since then I have taught the Book of Mormon at least 50 times in evening school at BYU and at least that many times in day classes.

I know the Book of Mormon is the work of God because I have had a multitude of spiritual witnesses to its truth and answers to questions as I have studied it. It holds together internally and is consistent with all external evidence. It is a marvelous source of spiritual insight and counsel. I fully agree with the critics of Joseph Smith in this specific point: No uneducated youth such as he could have written it. It is the work of God. CCR

Unit 9: Priesthood

The Gem: Priesthood is the power and authority to act for God in blessing God’s children in all of the universe.

The Setting:

1. To hold the holy priesthood is to become the servant of those whom we are assigned to bless. Many confuse their role and suppose that priesthood gives them the right to be Lord and Master. Matthew 23:11
2. God could do all of his blessing by himself. He does not need help. He lets mortals represent him so that those mortals can learn to be as he is: Full of love and blessing. It is we mortals who hold the holy priesthood who need help. We need to learn to serve and minister in all humility, but correctly and powerfully, as did our Savior in his mortal and post-mortal ministries on the earth. John 14:12
3. There are two parts to priesthood: The power to do a work for God, and the authority to use that power in particular times and places. The power is called “office” in the priesthood; the authority to use that power is called “keys” or “calling.” For instance, when a bishop is called to preside over a ward, he must first be ordained to be a high priest (if he is not already) and then be ordained to be a bishop. These are the office or power he needs to have. He is then set apart as bishop of a particular ward; this is his authority or keys to act as a bishop to serve and bless a particular group of people. D&C 84:109
4. Besides power and authority, it is also necessary to have the immediate guidance of the Holy Ghost to know what to do and say in exercising the priesthood. When a man operates correctly in his office, using his proper keys, and acts under the influence of the Holy Ghost, he then truly represents God in the lives of the people to whom he is sent. D&C 68:2–4
5. If a man presumes on his office and calling (keys) and exercises unrighteous dominion by not following the instructions of the Holy Ghost, he loses the companionship of the Holy Ghost and loses his effective power in the priesthood. D&C 121:34–37
6. One of the greatest things the priesthood can do is administer the New and Everlasting Covenant to worthy individuals. These ordinances give each person a personal path by which to enter into the presence of our Savior, even while in mortality. The priesthood has no power to achieve that goal for any individual. Only the person who has received all of these ordinances can achieve that great blessing for himself or herself by keeping his or her covenants. D&C 76:50–54
7. The greatest organizational accomplishment of the priesthood on this earth is when enough persons are enticed and enabled to live the whole Gospel of Jesus Christ through the New and Everlasting Covenant that many individuals do come back into the presence of the Savior (and thus are redeemed) and become a Zion, people who are pure in heart, are of one mind, dwell in righteousness and have no poor among them. Moses 7:17–19

Melchizedek was a great high priest who established a Zion in his days. Because he was so successful, the higher priesthood is now called after his name. D&C 107:2–4

• When a man who has the New and Everlasting Covenant shows God that he will do his duty in the priesthood, that he consecrates all to the kingdom, that he would rather die than sin and will not sin, that he will not seek his own will but seeks only to do Father’s will, and shows that he will do all this through time, he enters into a new phase of life. He is now part of the Church of the Firstborn, and has power in his priesthood to do anything that can be done and needs to be done. He enjoys the very power of God to work mighty miracles. Genesis 14:30–31, Joseph Smith Translation, LDS Scriptures p. 797
• God does all he does through his priesthood power: he speaks and it is done. He creates and destroys, blesses and curses. But all of God’s cursings are actually blessings to bring souls to repentance, and God suffers with each person whom he causes to suffer. If we humans are in the New and Everlasting Covenant, we are apprentice gods and can learn to act the way he does. If we succeed, we can inherit all. 2 Nephi 26:24, D&C 132:19–20

Personal note: Priesthood blessings have been an important part of our lives. When I had polio, I was given a blessing by our stake presidency and had a remarkable recovery. (My mother’s cousin, Carol Nelson Spratt, and a good friend of ours from New York, James McConkie, brother to Bruce R. McConkie, got polio about the same time and both of them died). When the telephone pole fell on Robert, his lungs were filling with blood and he was dying; Dr. Nephi Kezerian administered to him and immediately he was better. When we were living in the new Ryedale house, I became so sick from flu that I was sure I was going to die: a good friend, West Belnap, administered to me and I was up and going within an hour. At 11:46 I was suffering great pain and felt I could not go on; Lael Woodbury gave me a blessing, and the pain immediately was gone. I have received so many great blessings in the priesthood power, and have been participant in so many blessings to others, that I cannot deny the great power that is in the priesthood. One later example was the setting-apart blessings that we received from our stake president just before we departed for Mexico City. He gave us important blessings and promises, which Elizabeth wrote down at the time and which we review frequently. Almost all of those specific blessings have been fully fulfilled since we came, and we trust and believe that the others will come to pass in their due time.

Women who have been endowed in the temple also have priesthood and can minister in that power as directed by the Holy Spirit.

I know that there is great power in this priesthood, for which I am eternally grateful. The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is the true church and kingdom of Jesus Christ on the earth. CCR

Unit 10: Procreation

The Gem: Father shares two of his great powers with his children on earth. The first is priesthood. The second is the power to have children. He is very concerned that we use both of these powers under the strict rules he has given for their use.

1. There are interesting parallels between these two great godly powers:
   • All mankind are offered both powers by Father and both are essential to become like Father.
   • Satan’s main aim is to get men to deny or to abuse both of these powers, thus to keep men and women from becoming like Father and being exalted.
   • The two powers go together. The greatest use of priesthood power for mortals is to turn that earthly family into an eternal family.
   • Priesthood is fulfilled only in the divinely sanctioned and directed union of a man and a woman. No man can have a fullness of priesthood without a priestess/wife at his side. Every man who achieves a fullness of priesthood does so because his wife administers certain parts of it to him through her priesthood.
   • Procreation is fulfilled only in a priesthood sanctioned union of a man and a woman. The fullness of procreation is partially fulfilled by bringing children into the New and Everlasting Covenant on earth, and is fully fulfilled by bringing children into the eternal family in the hereafter.
   • The key to receiving the fullness of both powers is righteousness. Righteousness is obeying the laws and rules that govern the happy, cooperative interactions of persons who have all knowledge and all power. He or she who does not ache and yearn for righteousness can never have a fullness of priesthood power or of procreative power.
   • The eternal key to both the power of the priesthood and the power of procreation is for a husband and wife to honor and love each other with a pure love in the full power of righteousness. Then they bless their children and all others around them through their righteousness.
   • To do well with the limited power of priesthood we now have in mortality and the limited power of procreation we have now in mortality is the preparation for being made a ruler over many kingdoms in the hereafter.
   • Both procreation and priesthood need permission and commission for their use. Temple sealing is the permission and commission to procreate, to use the power of sexuality, just as calling and setting apart are the permission and commission to use the power of the priesthood in acting as a bishop.
   • Jesus Christ makes these things [a fulness of righteousness, priesthood power, and procreation] possible for each and every human being because of his own achievement in having and using these three things. His Atonement is the great priestly sacrifice that brings each of us, as his children, the New and Everlasting Covenant through which each of us can learn to make our own priestly sacrifice to bless our children.
2. Eternal Marriage (sealing in the Holy Temple) allows the creation of the greatest social institution, the eternal family. Every uniting of a man and a woman is an attempt to obtain some of the blessings of the eternal family, but until this uniting is done in the Lord’s way, the fulness of the blessings cannot be realized. Some of the challenges of this uniting are:
   • Temple sealing gives permission to create an eternal family, but does not of itself, create an eternal family.
   • The sealed man and woman cannot fully unite with each other until each first becomes a true disciple of Christ, and one with him.
   • As a sealed man and woman pray, fast, and strive against the temptations of Satan together, they lay the foundation of the unity that makes possible an eternal marriage.
   • The great test of the unity of a couple is in teaching the children they bring into this world the Gospel of Jesus Christ and how to live it (two different but related things).
   • The greatest teaching is by example, but careful informing of the mind and heart of each child by precept are also essential parts of teaching the Gospel of Jesus Christ. This informing is fulfilled by each child using the opportunities and clues given by the parents.
   • The most demanding task in the universe is achieving a unity of righteousness of a husband and wife, then bringing their children into that unity using the Holy Priesthood and the power of love. Only gods can fully do this. Trying to do this with all of our heart, might, mind and strength is the preparation for exaltation. Exaltation is finally achieving the full ability to do so, then to spend the rest of eternity doing it. This is the great plan of happiness.

Biographical note: When we married, we had high hopes of doing everything right, but were babes in the woods. We had no idea how deficient we were in the things of righteousness. We went through many of the motions which we did understand. We prayed, we read the scriptures, we were faithful to our covenants, we brought children into the world and tried to teach them the Gospel of Jesus Christ. But as we look back, we can now see some of our significant failures:

1. We did not see early on the absolute necessity of total repentance of every sin as a prerequisite for successful marriage and successful parenting. We were so self-righteous and proud that we did not know how many faults we had. Thankfully, we now see more clearly.
2. We did not see that only in our complete personal repentance could we come to a full unity as husband and wife, and that that full unity as husband and wife with the Lord is the prerequisite for full and successful teaching of the gospel to our children.
3. We taught the gospel to our children mostly in group situations. It is not bad to teach that way (in family prayer, in family scripture reading, in family meetings, going to church together, etc.). What we did not then see was the absolute necessity of adding one-on-one review of all the fundamentals of living the gospel with each child. We knew about the concept of personal priesthood interview, but thought of it as mostly a way to function in the church, not seeing it as the core of teaching the gospel to each of our own children.
4. Having gained the above three insights, we now see that even as Father in Heaven has not given up on us, we must not give up on any of our children. Even as we have come to see more clearly the truth and beauty of the Restored Gospel in our advanced age, we need to allow each of our children to come to that same blessing. We love each of our children, but our love is still imperfect. But we know that Father loves each of our children with a perfect love, and that our shortcomings will not prevent any of them from coming to a fullness of their eternal blessings if they want them. We must and will strive to do our part.