LeGrand L. Baker

Category: Ensign

  • The Way Up is First to Go Down – (A Commentary of the Fall of Adam) – (Article rejected by editors of The Ensign)

    By Chauncey C. Riddle

                Before mortality, we lived as spirit children of our Heavenly Father and Mother in another place. We learned much and had important work to do with them. But we knew we could not inherit the fullness of their glory unless we did two things. First, we needed to have a physical body; second, we needed to continue to develop a character which would help us control that fleshly tabernacle and use it only for good.

                In a pre-mortal council our Heavenly Father proposed a plan wherein each of us would receive a body of flesh and bone which we could learn to control and use for good. We learned that there must be opposition to good as well as good, leaving us free to choose our own way. Each of us would be responsible to continue to build a noble character for ourselves while in our bodies.

                Our brother Lucifer proposed that he personally could assure the shaping of everyone’s character and lead them all back to glory, for which action he wanted eternal leadership over us.

                However, our oldest brother encouraged us to accept our Father’s plan, wherein every soul would be free to become like God if he or she so chose. No one of us would be forced to become anything we did not want to become. Most of us chose the plan to become free, responsible for our own eternal destiny. Those who did not accept the Father’s plan were denied further progress.

                Our Father appointed our eldest brother, Jesus Christ, to be his executive officer, the model, the pattern in fulfilling the plan. Under his direction, the earth was created and other things made ready for our mortal probation.

                Following God’s plan, Adam and Eve, our first earthly parents, were placed on the earth into a paradise, a terrestrial glory. Their fleshly tabernacles were immortal, and they spoke with God.

                But in order to fulfill conditions for the earthly probation of all of us, Adam and Eve’s bodies had to be changed so that they and their offspring could suffer, die, and then be resurrected. It was also important that each of us be born into mortal tabernacles so that our time here would be temporary.

    The Fall

                A significant part of our Father’s plan was for Adam and Eve to fall from their immortal condition to a mortal one better suited to probation. It would be better for them to fall voluntarily; then they could choose voluntarily to be redeemed from the fall or not. Had the Fall been involuntary, redemption from the Fall would need to be automatic for God to be just.

                The plan for the Fall was carried out. Lucifer—Satan, was allowed into the paradise to tempt Adam and Eve with the knowledge of good and evil, so that they could choose for themselves to fall. Thinking that he was thwarting our Father’s plan, Lucifer tempted Adam and Eve, who disobeyed the Father and reaped the consequential Fall that was so necessary.

                Adam and Eve had been promised that if they disobeyed Father they would die, and they did. Their spirit bodies became dead to the spirit world. They could no longer see with their spiritual eyes nor hear with their spiritual ears. Their immortal tabernacles became mortal.

                When Adam fell, all nature fell with him. The earth was no longer a paradise. Animals and plants also fell, becoming subject to death. The earth fell from its place nigh unto Father’s throne and received appointment of its present times and seasons.

                The contrast between before and after the Fall is clearer when we understand agency. Agency exists only when three things are together: 1) An intelligent being who can act and is not merely acted upon, 2) knowledge of alternatives, and 3) ability to carry out a choice. Agency is thus a matter of degree:  As knowledge and power increase, so does agency. When one has all knowledge and all power, then one has a fullness of agency.

                Adam and Eve in the Garden were intelligent beings. They doubtless had considerable power since they were spiritually alive and all things were subject unto them. But they had little knowledge of alternatives. They only knew one wrong thing to do:  their agency consisted in choosing whether or not to partake of the forbidden fruit. They did disobey, died spiritually, and became subject to Satan. After the Fall, being subject to the temptations of Satan, they had much opportunity to choose evil. But being cut off from God, knew little about how to do good. Being spiritually dead they probably suffered a loss of power. They had little agency, but enough, in the Garden. They had little agency in the world after the Fall, until the voice of the Lord came to them.

                The Lord told Adam and Eve how to do good. They obeyed these commandments because it was their desire and was within their power to do so. As they obeyed, they were given more knowledge. As they acted obediently, they were given more power to act. In this process they learned the Gospel of Jesus Christ which brings to men the full knowledge and ability to do good. This message taught them how to have the countenance, the heart, the mind, the character of the Savior. They received first the Holy Ghost and then the holy priesthood, which opened to them the power of God. By accepting the gospel and exercising the power of the priesthood in righteousness, Adam and Eve grew in knowledge and power until they personally were redeemed from the Fall. For them the plan was now nearly fulfilled. Having achieved the purpose of mortality, they needed only to die and be resurrected with an immortal, celestial body to inherit all things.

                For Adam and Eve, then, the way up to exaltation began by first going down through the Fall. Far from decrying the Fall, we should be eternally grateful for our noble first parents who were willing to fulfill the plan. Though they were fallen, they humbled themselves yet further by putting their trust in the Savior. Thereby they rose again, and for them the Fall was overcome.

    The Atonement

                But Adam and Eve could not have risen from the Fall without help. They needed and accepted the gospel of Jesus Christ. The gospel is not a do-it-yourself formula. It requires a dependency called “faith in Jesus Christ.” Trusting in Jesus Christ, they were redeemed from the effects of the Fall.

                The Savior teaches us how to live righteously and offers forgiveness for sins if we repent. Because of this, we can be resurrected to immortal glory after our mortal probation is over.

                A person who loves righteousness comes to hate sinning, to tremble at the very thought of it. When he learns through the gospel that the Savior can lead him out of sin into doing only that which blesses others, he rejoices. As his understanding grows, he realizes that the Savior is the fountain of all righteousness; no other guidance can unerringly lead a person to do right. This guidance is delivered either through one who presides in priesthood authority in the Savior’s church, or through the Holy Spirit in personal revelation. However that instruction comes, it is confirmed to us by the Holy Spirit. When we are receptive, we know that the word of the Lord is good. When we are faithful, we experience the good fruits of faith in Christ and we know we are on the right path to return to Father.

                A second gift of the Savior to mankind was his suffering for our sins. Every human sin causes a certain amount of suffering. The justice of our Father demands that when one person causes suffering in another person, the one who caused the suffering must himself suffer an equivalent amount. Therefore, each adult in the world who has sinned has a certain debt of suffering to do to pay for having caused others to suffer. If we could each just do our own quotient of suffering, that would help. But that would not enable anyone to become exalted as our Heavenly Father and Mother are. Becoming celestial involves learning to live without sinning, made possible by the Savior’s first gift—his influence and example. But then we must also have no former sin charged against us, for the Father cannot look upon sin with the least degree of allowance. Our Savior made our total forgiveness possible by suffering in Gethsemane and on the cross. The Savior will intercede at the bar of justice in our behalf if we are righteous because he suffered for us and our debt of sinning has been paid by him.

                A third gift of our Savior is resurrection. Because of the heritage of immortality from God the Father, who was Christ’s literal and biological Father, the Savior did not have to die. Because of the heritage from his mortal mother, Mary, he could die. Thus he would die only if he so chose. He sacrificed his mortal life so that each of us might live again as resurrected beings.

                The plan of salvation would not be complete without agency. Some of us use agency for good. All of us use it for evil sometime in our lives. Our evil affects others, causing distress. That distress is not our divine heritage as children of God, but that suffering is our mortal lot. Should another’s misuse of agency cause us to lose eternal blessings? A just God would not allow that.

                Being just, being infinite in power, and knowing all things, our Savior sees that no one suffers eternally for anyone else’s misdeeds. He stops the chains for cause and effect that would condemn the children of apostates as well as the parents, and guarantees that those children will have a full chance to hear the gospel. He further turns all the suffering inflicted on a righteous person into an opportunity for blessings. Should we suffer calumny because of our faith, and should we bear it patiently and humbly, replacing the tendency for malice with the Savior’s pure love, we are rewarded an hundredfold.

                How we ought to rejoice at these gifts from our Savior! Understanding them should make us anxious to serve and bless one another. That understanding should help us to love and serve Christ with all of our heart, might, mind and strength.

                The Savior’s suffering and his sacrifice are usually spoken of as the Atonement. Surely his entire divine ministry was part of it. In the Creation he prepared the earth for man’s habitation and then made possible the Fall. He governed the earth and sent the sweet whispering of his Holy Spirit to guide the earth’s inhabitants away from sin. He lived a perfect mortal life so that he could suffer for us. He sacrificed the opportunity to minister in the flesh indefinitely and thus made possible our living again. He intercedes for us and bestows the blessings of the Father upon all of us.

                The Savior submitted himself as a little child unto his Father, descending into depths of humility to do his Father’s will. He descended below all things on earth that he might rise above and become Lord and Savior of all. He descended to take upon himself the sins of mankind though he personally had no sin. He descended into death, that he might triumph in the resurrection of all. For Adam, the way up was first down. Even so for our Savior.

    Our Mortality

                You and I are born into this world having forgotten everything. We struggle to activate and to control our new tabernacle of flesh and bone. As we begin to grow, the consequences of mortality begin to appear. Though he cannot tempt us as children, Satan can begin to exact his toll even before we are born. His power of disease can afflict us in our mother’s womb. Disease, accident, and death can track us relentlessly each day of our lives, taking what toll they can, until we reach the grave. Though we need to understand these powers which afflict us, we need not fear them. They may destroy our tabernacle of flesh, but the tabernacle is not “us.” It is expendable.

                Our spirit is not expendable. Knowing this, the adversary pursues it vigorously. He uses accountable humans who are under his influence already to affect even the youngest of us. The proper heritage of a newborn child is to be enveloped in the protective strength  and warmth of parents’ arms and to feel the compassion of their Christlike love. Anything less than this fosters fearfulness and uncertainty to the degree which it departs from that proper heritage. Parents or other attendants who have not yet remade their own character in the image of the Savior cannot help but begin the process of emotional harm to the infant.

                Harm is the heritage of most children. The effects of the Fall are with each one. As harmful influences accumulate with time, each of us learns about and finally commits sin. By sinning, we fully reap the spiritual death of the Fall and its consequences.

                But our heritage also includes an opportunity to hear the Gospel of Jesus Christ before we are judged. It tells us that we all are children of God, precious to God. We learn that we can become righteous by putting our trust in Jesus Christ. If we hunger to become righteous, put our trust in the Savior, replace sin with obedience, make the covenant of baptism, receive the Holy Ghost as our companion and guide, and endure to the end, we are promised that we shall live again spiritually with our Father and Mother.

                This message is attested in our hearts by the Holy Spirit. We hear the testimony of men, but we have better evidence for its truthfulness through the Spirit. We are not condemned for needing assurance, but are encouraged to try this new way of thinking and acting. As we begin to exercise but a particle of faith, the blessings and evidences flood upon us. Building on them with righteousness, we soon find ourselves built upon a rock. We know that this is the way of God, for we feel the love of righteousness swell within us.

                We cannot partake of this grand design, however, if we are proud. If we claim that we have no sin or that we need no instruction, we remain subject to this world. But if we become humble, pleading for help from our Heavenly Father, help will abound. We may need to renounce much that we once thought good. We will need to admit that we have sinned. As we reject the ways and ideas of the world, we are caught into a newness of life that brings us new ideas, hopes, sentiments, countenance, and strength of mind, body, and spirit. We begin to acquire that divine character which we were sent here to forge.

                And forge we must. We must be tempered on the anvil. As the blows of temptation, persecution, ridicule, illness, deprivation, and sorrow rain upon us, and as we bear each patiently, we are tempered and molded in the divine pattern. We know that no blow or force can separate us from the love of God. The Holy Spirit quietly assures us that all things work to the good of those who love the Lord and our own experience proves that to be so.

                And thus the pattern is complete. The way to ascend is first to descend into humility to do the Father’s will; then he can and will lift us up. Adam and Eve brought about the Fall from their comfortable paradise so that the Father’s plan could begin. They humbled themselves after the Fall to do God’s will, and thus were redeemed from the Fall. Our Savior subjected himself to our Father’s will from the beginning, and through humility he enabled the Father to exalt him and thus made possible our exaltation. It remains for each of us to also do the Savior’s will in humility. Then the Father’s plan to bless each of us will be fulfilled because we each went down to go up.

  • Korihor: The Arguments of Apostasy

    BY CHAUNCEY C. RIDDLE

    Korihor:
    Korihor appears out of nowhere, as it were, in the Nephite record. His entire story is contained in Alma 30, where he suddenly appears in the land of Zarahemla, preaching “unto the people against the prophecies which had been spoken by the prophets, concerning the coming of Christ.” (Alma 30:6.) What we know of his background is mostly from inference, but his arguments show that he was an educated man, in sophistry if not in the scriptures. But we know from his own final admission that Korihor once had a testimony: “I also knew that there was a God. But behold, the devil hath deceived me. … And I have taught his words; and I taught them because they were pleasing unto the carnal mind, … insomuch that I verily believed that they were true.” (Alma 30:52–53.) Thus Korihor’s life teaches us that having the truths of the gospel and being a covenant servant of Christ are in nowise guarantees of salvation. We are also reminded that the most powerful opposition to the work of the Savior on this earth comes from those who know the truth and then deliberately turn from it and seek to destroy others.

    Korihor took what might be called a philosophical approach to destroying faith in our Savior, an approach remarkably similar to that taken by many persons today in semiphilosophical attempts to “relieve” believers of what they are pleased to call their “naivete.” His arguments could not hurt those whose belief was born of genuine spiritual experience, but they were powerfully effective among those weak in the faith whose belief had not yet gone beyond words. An analysis of those arguments helps us to see how we can be strong in the faith in Christ. Let us select three of his arguments as examples.

    We begin with Korihor’s argument for naturalistic empiricism (the belief that it is possible to know all truth through the senses—by experience and observation):

    “Behold, these things which ye call prophecies, which ye say are handed down by holy prophets, behold, they are foolish traditions of your fathers.

    “How do ye know of their surety? Behold, ye cannot know of things which ye do not see; therefore ye cannot know that there shall be a Christ.” (Alma 30:14–15.)

    Now it is plain that empiricism has value. It is good for us to observe our surroundings carefully and to appreciate our sensations. How else would we walk or drive an automobile? Without sensation, how could we know beauty or communicate with friends and loved ones or appreciate the marvelous handiwork of the creations of our God? Sense experience is indeed a valuable part of this life; the error comes in supposing that it is the only way of knowing what we know.

    What can our senses tell us about justice or mercy or the future? Nothing. Indeed, it works the other way. Only when we have acquired by some nonempirical means the concepts of justice and mercy, or an idea about some future event—only then can we recognize the significance of our sensory experiences relating to justice and mercy or the fulfillment of prophecy.

    None of the more important questions we ask can be solved or answered by depending solely on sensation. Is there a God? Is man immortal? Is it good to be honest? What should I do next in my life? The answers to each and all of these more important questions must come by faith. Every man answers these questions and makes the great decisions of his life on the basis of his belief in and acceptance of someone or something he cannot see. No man knows by his senses that each man has a spirit separate from his physical body, but some have a testimony of that fact gained by faith.

    The answer to Korihor is plain and simple: Our initial acceptance of Christ is not empirical, for we do not see him. But we have received into our lives a Holy Spirit that teaches us to understand the scriptures about Christ and to believe that he lives. We do not pretend that this is yet knowledge. It is faith. We believe in Christ without having seen him because we trust this Holy Spirit that has taught us so many good things. Korihor might by his argument be able to confuse someone who had never had revelation, but his contention is only a pathetic childishness to those who enjoy the companionship of the Holy Ghost.

    A second argument used by Korihor might be called his humanism. In concert with the other humanists of the world, he insists that achievement and success come by human means, such as physical strength, skill, and reason:

    “And many more such things did he say unto them, telling them that there could be no atonement made for the sins of men, but every man fared in this life according to the management of the creature; therefore every man prospered according to his genius, and that every man conquered according to his strength.” (Alma 30:17.)

    Korihor would have us believe, like some authors of modern “success” books, that the solutions to our problems lie in sharp thinking and realistic approaches to life. But such persons define success in terms of wealth, social status, political power, and the glutting of the senses; and, as the servants of Christ know, if selfish attainments are one’s goal, the world is so constructed that one can indeed ignore the Savior and attain. But Korihor and his fellow humanists think that they are masterfully doing it on their own, not realizing that those who succeed at the expense of faith and love are on a down escalator and are being carefully guided, encouraged, aided, and comforted by their unseen mentor Satan. Their glorying in their own strength and accomplishments is a tribute to the cleverness of Satan, that devil who greases the sluiceway of sin.

    Conversely, those who have accepted the gospel see that real success in this world is overcoming selfishness and turning one’s strength to righteousness, to blessing others. They know full well that this kind of success is an uphill, strained effort into the very teeth of the forces that make sin so easy. They know that it is not by any human means that one can overcome the world. After all we can do by human power, we are still nothing. It is only when the grace of God touches our lives that we can overcome evil and enact the precious mercies of righteousness. There can be no boasting, no pretension that anything human prospers us. The glory is all given unto God by those who are more than armchair servants of the Master.

    The humanist argument is very persuasive to many because it is flattering. We do not naturally like to believe that without Him we can do nothing. Thus part of Satan’s entourage includes those who know the gospel is true but who insist they really don’t need much help except for a pointer or two and a little assistance in being resurrected. The servant of Christ is not persuaded, however. Long pleading with the Lord has stripped him of all humanistic pride.

    A third argument used by Korihor is that of relativism: “… and whatsoever a man did was no crime.” (Alma 30:17.) A fuller statement of this attack by Korihor is as follows: Since (he claims) there is no god and men do not live after death, and since (he claims) all so-called “laws” and “commandments” are but social conveniences to give power to priests, the only important thing in life is to do what you want to do—if you can get away with it. How modern Korihor sounds! But the argument is timeless, as old as sin itself.

    There are, of course, many versions of relativism (one would hardly expect relativism to be absolute). One version encourages enjoyment of the Church social organization without getting uptight about theology or religious commandments.

    Another kind of relativism says that the commandments are great but open to broad private interpretation. A third acknowledges that there are commandments, but allows indulgence in sin since “nobody’s perfect.” A fourth version says that the commandments were okay when they were given, but they have become superfluous in our enlightened age. A fifth kind of relativism, that used by Korihor, says that the commandments were bad from the first; they are inhibitions on the soul of man that actually prevent him from ever achieving happiness. A sixth type, also used by Korihor, says that since one act is indifferent from another, it doesn’t matter what we do.

    The great power of all relativistic approaches is that they allow the individual to judge his own actions. This is why almost any of the approaches strikes a responsive, sympathetic chord in all other relativists. Korihor found many who were pleased with his relativism, even though they may have rejected much else of what he said. “And thus he did preach unto them, leading away the hearts of many, causing them to lift up their heads in their wickedness.” (Alma 30:18.)

    In stark contrast to the virtually infinite number of personal choices available in the broad way of relativism is the way of the Savior. That strait and narrow way is to do as he did: not to seek our own will, but to do the will of Him who sent us. It is to obey him in all things, obeying his word, which is his law, as it is freshly written in our hearts from revelation to revelation. It is to rely solely upon his merits, counting him as the only fountain of righteousness. It is being willing to die for his sake, crucifying the old person with worldly wants and desires in order to be born again “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.)

    Thus the gospel teaches a way that is absolute—absolute in that the formula for righteousness is always the same for every person and for every time and circumstance: take the name of Christ, always remember him, keep all of the commandments that he gives unto us. There is no other way to righteousness, for whatsoever is not of faith in Christ is sin.

    Now it is little wonder that Korihor found much success in commending relativism to the members of the church in his time. For while the Church is true, the members of the Church here on earth have not yet overcome the world, although most are still trying. For many, the effort is hard, the price too great. Whether they leave the Church or not, they abandon the narrow way and settle for some variety of relativism.

    But there is one thing relativism can never do, even within the Church. One who subscribes to any of the versions of relativism just listed will never (unless he repents) be brought to those sacrifices that will prepare his soul to spend an eternity in blessing others. Relativism can never purify heart and mind, or transform body and countenance into the image of the Savior.

    Thanks be to our God that there is a way, strait and narrow though it be, to learn to love with a pure love! But the price is great. We must place all of our heart, might, mind, and strength at his disposal—always. We must count as dross and expendable everything of this world, including our own lives. This does not mean to deny life, but to live fully, enjoying the companionship of the Holy Ghost, working in a crescendo of works of love that will take us without faltering through the veil to results only understood in eternity.

    Korihor was not unique to Book of Mormon times. His counterparts have always been with the Church, and they will now but increase in flattery and fury until the end of the world. What will prevent us from succumbing to their sophistries? The following are offered as a time-tested prescription against apostasy.

    1. Hunger and thirst after righteousness. Blessed are they who do so, “for they shall be filled with the Holy Ghost.” (3 Ne. 12:6.) Righteousness is to bless others, to minister to their needs, both temporal and spiritual. The great enemy of righteousness is not only evil; plain old-fashioned evil fools few. A more subtle and therefore more dangerous enemy is self-righteousness, supposing that what pleases us will be good for others.

    Perhaps the great divider between the seekers of righteousness and the self-righteous is that those who hunger and thirst after true righteousness cannot rest until satisfaction and happiness come to those whom they strive to help. They hurt when others hurt. The self-righteous are often deed-conscious rather than people-conscious. They seem to glory in forms and traditions, formulas and standards. They cast alms to the poor without loving them or stopping to discern what the real problem might be.

    Those who seek true righteousness quickly learn one thing—their own impotence. They find they are not knowledgeable enough, nor wise enough, nor powerful enough to bless others as their hearts desire. Their hunger for righteousness has prepared them for the gospel, and when they hear its good news they leap at the opportunity to make the covenant to love the Savior and to receive his Spirit to be with them.

    2. Learn to live by the Holy Spirit. The Spirit teaches us the truth of the gospel. But it is another thing to learn to live by the Holy Spirit. The difference is like hearing a violin concert expertly performed and acknowledging its merit, then personally mastering the violin to be able to play as expertly ourselves.

    This mastery is a matter of constant, faithful application of our will power. There are no quantum leaps to righteousness, only the slow adding of line to line, precept to precept, grace upon grace. In this remaking of our lives, every improper thought, every bad habit, every evil desire must sooner or later be evaluated against the glory of our Savior. We, not he, must make each painful choice to prove all things, then to hold fast to that which is good.

    How many experiments and experiences are necessary? Only enough to enable us to give our selves, to yield our hearts unto the Savior; enough experiments to know the voice of the Savior beyond any shadow of doubt; enough experiences of obedience to learn to love with pure love and to continue therein.

    3. Support priesthood authority. Those who have learned to walk in the Spirit also rejoice in the opportunity to sustain their priesthood-appointed leaders with faith and prayers. They know by the repeated testimony of the Spirit that The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is the kingdom of God on the earth and that those who serve over them in the callings of the priesthood are appointed and sustained by the Savior. As servants of the Savior, they, too, sustain.

    Because they sustain they become the united power and strength that the Church organization brings to the work of righteousness in the world. They sustain in love even as they hope to be sustained. They always sustain in faith and righteousness, receiving instruction from the Savior and obeying him in all things.

    4. Build the kingdom. Living in righteousness makes possible the establishment of Zion on earth again. What careful priesthood labor there must be to bring the gathered remnants to see eye to eye, having one mind and one heart, dwelling in righteousness with no poor among them! Then the kingdoms of this world will be constrained to admit that this is indeed the kingdom of God and his Christ, for the inhabitants will love one another, even as Christ loves them. Those who support have the joy of seeing the prophecies fulfilled before their very eyes.

    He or she who has a shoulder to the wheel, who honors and trusts the driver of the wagon, who knows he is doing the right thing in the right cause is not taken in by the glitter of apostasy. But what of those not so mature in the work of the Lord? Is there any guaranteed way to prevent apostasy of the newborn or the weak and infirm? The honest answer is no. The love and patience of those who are mature will shelter some of them for a time. But ultimately there is no outside shelter—the only, effective shelter is a personal faith, a personal testimony. In every generation Korihor takes his toll of those who will not get themselves founded on the Rock.

    [illustration] Korihor demanded a sign; so Alma said to him, “In the name of God, ye shall be struck dumb, that ye shall no more have utterance.” (Alma 30:49.) (Illustrated by Ted Henninger.)

    Chauncey C. Riddle, an assistant academic vice-president over graduate studies and curriculum at Brigham Young University, serves as a high councilor in the BYU Ninth Stake and as a Sunday School teacher in the Orem Sixteenth Ward, Orem Utah Sharon Stake.

  • Trusted with Great Knowledge

    Chauncey C. Riddle, “Trusted with Great Knowledge,” Ensign, Feb. 1977, page 86

    Morality is another term for faithfulness. To be moral in the restored gospel is to obey the Savior in all things. Why obey him in all things? Because he is a God of righteousness. He does not command by whim, but only by that which is righteous according to a standard that coexists with him.

    I understand righteousness is to bless others. Only in Christ do men know how to bless others and only from him can they receive the power to bless others sufficient to the needs of mankind, for the Savior is the sole fountain of righteousness. Those who hunger and thirst after righteousness are his sheep. They hearken to his voice and come unto him, that they might fill them with the Holy Ghost.

    Those who obey his commandments are thus moral. Being moral, they can then be trusted with great knowledge, for they will not abuse it. They will only use it to further the cause of righteousness in the earth.

    Chauncey C. Riddle
    Dean of the Graduate School
    Brigham Young University

  • Father to Son: A Dialogue on Priesthood

    Ensign, April, 1976

    By Chauncey C. Riddle

    Son. Dad, the bishop talked with me this morning about receiving the Melchizedek Priesthood. He said that one of the things I should do is talk to you about what it really means to have the priesthood.

    Father. I’m grateful the bishop gave you that assignment, Paul, because priesthood is very special to me. We have discussed the priesthood many times before, so where would you like to begin? Do you have some special questions?

    Son. Let’s pretend I have never heard about priesthood before. Could I ask you some basic questions to help me see the whole picture at once?

    Father. Fire away.

    Son. First of all, what is it?

    Father. Simply stated, priesthood is the delegated power and authority to represent Jesus Christ.

    Son. But why Jesus? Why don’t we represent our Father in heaven?

    Father. Are you thinking about the fact that all human beings are children of God the Father?

    Son. Yes. And so is Jesus.

    Father. That is true, but there is something different about our Savior. He was our eldest brother when we lived with our Heavenly Father. Then he was given a very special assignment. He was chosen by the Father to organize this earth, to people it with others of the Father’s children, to govern it, and to bless, through the atonement, each person who would come here. The rest of us didn’t get that assignment; it was a stewardship given to one person only.

    Son. You don’t mean that he has to do all those things all by himself!

    Father. No, indeed. He has many who help him, and that is precisely where priesthood comes in. But the Savior is the head. He is the one to whom the Father has given total responsibility for this earth and all things that pertain to it. The Father so loved us that he sent Jesus to create this world, then sent him into this world to suffer and die that he might save us.

    Son. But why was Jesus chosen to be that one, the Savior?

    Father. I’m sure I don’t know all the reasons, but one I do believe: I think the Father chose Jesus to represent him because of the great and pure love that Jesus had in the premortal existence. Jesus loved the Father and obeyed him in all things. But he also had a pure love for others, for us. Because Jesus’ love was pure, with no shred of selfishness or self-seeking in it, the Father knew he could trust Jesus to be solely responsible for this earth.

    Son. Didn’t anyone else have that pure love?

    Father. My guess is that there were others. But the Father’s house is a house of order. He appointed one only to be the head. When he, the Father, speaks to men, he has only one thing to say to them at first. He says to men, “This is my beloved son. Hear him.” (Joseph Smith 2:17; see also, e.g., Matt. 3:17, 17:5.) Those who keep that commandment can receive all blessings on earth and in heaven through him, through Jesus Christ. Thus the Savior has become the great High Priest, the only source of the blessings of the Father for this earth. When we receive the priesthood it is the Savior’s authority we receive. That’s why it is called “The Holy Priesthood, after the Order of the Son of God.” (See D&C 107:3)

    Son. I can see why there should be only one person to represent the Father. But I’m still worried about all the other people who also had, or have, great love for the Father and for others. What happens to them?

    Father. I believe that many of those who also have that pure love are the noble and great ones that father Abraham mentioned. The Savior makes them his rulers on earth. (See Abr. 3:22-23.)

    Son. That’s kind of hard to believe when you look at some rulers during the different dispensations of time.

    Father. Indeed, if you look at most temporal rulers. The scriptures aren’t talking about kings, generals, and presidents, however. The Savior’s rulers are those who he appoints to transmit the blessings of eternity to their fellowmen. They are the bearers of his priesthood.

    Son. You are saying that the Savior chooses out of the people of this earth certain ones of those who have pure love and gives them his priesthood so they can bless others? That sounds good, but I have a hard time relating that idea to what I see in the Church. I see some good people who have the priesthood. But I also see some others who don’t seem to have much love for anybody, let alone pure love.

    Father. ‘Tis high to be a judge, Paul. But I agree with you. We can’t honestly say that everyone who has been ordained to the priesthood is what he ought to be.

    Son. The way you are describing it, it sounds as if a person would have to be perfect to exercise the Savior’s priesthood fully.

    Father. Scary though it sounds, that is very near to the truth as I understand it. When the Savior was telling his disciple in Judea about what is expected of us, they began to despair and asked, “Who, then, can be saved?” His answer is the only hope; he told them that with man, such perfection is impossible, but that with God all good things are possible. (See Matt. 19:23-26.) Does that answer make sense to you?

    Son. I guess that means men can’t be perfect unless God helps them.

    Father. Right! That is part of what the scriptures mean when they say we are saved by grace — but only after we do all we can. (See 2 Ne. 25:23.)

    Son. I hate to be pessimistic, but I still can’t believe that most of the people I know in the priesthood have a perfect love.

    Father. Paul, the thing that is remarkable is not that some people don’t have that perfect love: the miracle is that some do. It helps if we separate beginnings and endings.

    The beginning is that no human being as he is naturally upon the earth is smart enough or good enough to represent the Savior perfectly and show forth the pure love in blessing others. So there needs to be a process of enlarging and purifying someone who is to represent the Savior.

    The beginning of that process is accepting the gospel; we must confess our weakness and covenant with the Savior in baptism to take upon us his name, to remember him always, and to obey all the instructions he gives to us. Those are the promises you priests repeat every time you consecrate the bread in the administration of the sacrament.

    Son. Yes, I remember those ideas. But are promises enough?

    Father. Not enough, but the necessary beginning. When we make those promises at baptism we are then given the blessing of having, and the commandment to receive, the Holy Ghost.

    Son. When we are confirmed?

    Father. Right. The privilege of having the Holy Ghost is one of the most marvelous things any person can have, for that influence teaches us how to begin to think and feel as the Savior does, and brings us instruction from the Savior. You remember that John the Baptist baptized with water. But he knew that the baptism of fire and the Holy Ghost that the Savior would bring was so much greater that he felt he was not worthy to untie the Savior’s shoes. It is the transforming power of the Holy Ghost that helps us to change so that we can be worthy and honorable bearers of the holy priesthood.

    Son. How does the Aaronic Priesthood fit into this?

    Father. Just as John came baptizing with water to prepare disciples whom the Savior could then baptize with the Holy Ghost, so the Aaronic Priesthood is given as a preparation for receiving the Melchizedek Priesthood. You learned as a deacon to pass the sacrament and to collect fast offering. As a teacher you began home teaching. As a priest you have been privileged to consecrate the emblems of the sacrament and to begin missionary work and perform baptism. All this time you have worked with the bishop in projects around the chapel, on the welfare farm, and in helping people in the ward. Now which of the fellows your age are being given the Melchizedek Priesthood?

    Son. Right now it’s the ones who have done a good job as priests.

    Father. Sure. If a young man has learned to be diligent, faithful, and obedient in temporal matters, that is a marvelous preparation to become a minister in spiritual matters. When he goes on his mission at age nineteen he is already a veteran in the service of our Savior. The attitudes and habits that a faithful priest has are his foundation for all of the callings of the higher priesthood. If he has learned to work under the authority of the priesthood in the Church and to live by the promptings of the Holy Spirit, then he is ready to do the work of love. Make no mistake, Paul: whether you serve as a missionary, as a worker in the Church organization, or as a husband and father, your real success in these priesthood callings will be measured by the depth and purity of your selfless love and concern for others.

    Son. Are you saying that it’s difficult to show your love for others if you have never learned to be orderly and efficient in temporal things?

    Father. I am indeed. A missionary who is lazy or unkempt or disobedient has a hard time convincing people that the restored gospel is something special. An elders quorum president who never keeps track of anything has a difficult time motivating anyone to excel. A husband who won’t work hard to provide for his family or who thinks first of his own pleasure is surely not going to lead his family to the Savior.

    Son. I can see how all these things as functions of the Aaronic Priesthood are good. But there’s got to be more to it than that.

    Father. And there is. We have been talking only about the foundation of pure love. We must add to that foundation great knowledge, skill, wisdom, and the ability to understand people and their needs. These things are all gifts of the Spirit. Those who repent of their sins and who then hunger and thirst to bless others are filled with the Holy Ghost. Then those gifts begin to flow to them.

    Let’s look at a precious scripture, Paul. Could you turn to Doctrine and Covenants 121? The part from verse 34 to the end is so important that I think every bearer of the priesthood would do well to commit it to memory, word perfect, and repeat it to himself often.

    Notice verses 34 and 40. We are told that many are called but few are chosen — and why? Verse 35 tells us we must not be turned aside by desires for things of the world or the honors of men. Our objective in the priesthood should be to serve and to bless.

    Verse 36 shows us that we cannot use the priesthood except by the powers of heaven; specifically I understand that to mean that we must have the Holy Spirit with us to exercise the priesthood. It says further that we can’t have the powers and gifts of the Spirit unless we are living righteously.

    Verse 37 tells us that if we let the things of the world turn us aside, the Holy Spirit will withdraw from us, and when it is gone, our power in the priesthood is gone. We must be honest, true, chaste, benevolent — all the good things — to use the priesthood power properly and righteously.

    Verse 38 recounts how people who won’t repent are disappointed in their priesthood opportunities. Then they turn and fight the priesthood.

    Verse 39 witnesses that most people who receive the priesthood try to use it by force and domination instead of out of purity and love.

    Now I hope you see that verse 40 answers the question you had about brethren of the priesthood who don’t seem to manifest much love. They have been given the opportunity to repent and do the works of love, but most people who are ordained to the priesthood — as it says here, “called” — do not rise to the occasion. Thus, few are chosen; few will have that priesthood eternally.

    You see, we don’t accept the gospel and come into the Savior’s church because we are perfect, but rather that we may become perfect. We don’t receive the priesthood because we are like the Savior, but so that through doing his work, we may grow to be as he is. In his great love he labors with us, helping us grow step by step, calling by calling in the kingdom. I’m sure he sorrows when those who bear his priesthood turn away and value the things of the world more than eternal life.

    Now do you see why I said that there is a difference between beginnings and endings? All of us are unworthy in the beginning, but some grow to be worthy of it in the end.

    Son. Dad, I want to serve the Savior and to bless others. What can I do to be sure that I won’t turn away?

    Father. The best that I know, Paul, is to plead with the Lord every day for help, then to hold fast to the iron rod. (See 1 Ne. 15:23-25.) I suppose the biggest temptation we have is just to let go of the rod, to take a vacation from righteousness. I think it helps to focus on the positive side. If we keep in mind what we can do and should do, that makes Satan’s temptations less alluring. Notice Doctrine and Covenants 121, verses 41 and 42. We are to use our priesthood “by persuasions, by long-suffering, by gentleness and meekness, by love unfeigned; by kindness and pure knowledge.” If we looked at ourselves in the mirror every morning and let those words pass through our minds, perhaps we would become like Nephi of old and tremble at the very thought of sinning.

    Son. Isn’t it discouraging, thinking how good we have to be?

    Father. It could be. And I get discouraged sometimes. But I am spurred on by things I can hope for. Hand me that Inspired Version of the Bible, Paul. Notice here in Genesis 14 what it says about Melchizedek and the priesthood. If we are willing to press on, we are promised that when we are faithful and it is right to do so, we will be able to divide seas, to break mountains, to break every band, to stand in the presence of God. I long to be able to heal the sick, to bless those who mourn, to lead Mother and all of you children to the Savior. I long to live in a Zion where the Savior will rule personally and all will know him. But I know that these good things can be only as we learn to exercise the holy priesthood in the full power of righteousness. Then we can fulfill the promises of the Lord in that beautiful passage in Mosiah 8: “Thus God has provided a means that man, through faith, might work mighty miracles; therefore he becometh a great benefit to his fellow beings.” (Verse 18.)

    Son. I hope we can do it, Dad.

    Father. We can if we stick together and reinforce each other, Paul. The greatest thing in my life has been the unfolding of the understanding I have of the goodness of the Savior to us. Most of that has come since I received the priesthood and began to serve in the Church. I’m so thankful for the special people who have stood at the crossroads of my life and taught me of the love of the Savior.

    Son. Who were they?

    Father. There were several, but let me mention three in particular.

    One was my deacons quorum adviser. He taught us deacons much about the gospel. I can still see him sitting on the little chairs of the Junior Sunday School room, with tears streaming down his face as he told us about the atonement and how the Savior loved the Father and us enough to be perfect.

    Another was the stake high councilor who worked with me when I was a struggling student and elders quorum president. He taught me to love the words of the prophets and to know how to live by the Spirit. He was also the stake patriarch. He gave me a blessing that has strengthened and guided me ever since.

    The third person has had the most profound effect of all That person is your mother, Paul. When we were married in the temple we were babes in the woods. We often laugh now at how naive and innocent of understanding we were. But we began to grow together. We read the scriptures together. We worked in the Church together. We suffered and we scrimped and saved together. Sometimes we were hard on each other because we were afraid. But one of the great blessings of my life has been your mother’s love for me, Paul. That has given me courage and strength and has taught me what love is truly all about.

    The people who have helped me have shown me that we need each other. My guess is that we can become like the Savior only by working together so that we grow together in his likeness.

    Son. I hope I can work with people who love the Lord.

    Father. The most precious opportunity you will have to do that will be in your marriage, Paul. All of the functions and purposes of marriage and family are connected inseparably with the operations and authority of the holy priesthood. If you do what you know you should, you and your wife will build an eternal priesthood kingdom in which to bless your own posterity forever.

    I hope you will seek out one of our Father’s daughters who is strong in the faith and is willing to grow in spirituality. Your temple marriage will give you a priesthood opportunity as big and as wide as eternity. If you and your wife can learn to love each other and your children purely and selflessly in the gospel bonds, you will come to know that joy for which man was created.

    Son. Dad, I’m grateful for this understanding.

    Father. If you can stand one more idea, Paul, please consider this: The people who you will be called to serve on your mission or in the Church already exist. Your wife is somewhere, known or unknown to you now. The children you will have already exist, somewhere. I think the important things are to love and bless all of these people now. Don’t wait until you are called or married. If you can love them now, you will keep yourself clean and you will be striving to grow in love for the Savior, in spirituality, and in righteousness. Then when your callings come, you will be ready to bless, to love with a pure love. Would you turn to the fifteenth chapter of John and read verses 5 through 12?

    Son.

    “I am the vine, ye are the branches: He that abideth in me, and I in him, the same bringeth forth much fruit: for without me ye can do nothing.

    If a man abide not in me, he is cast forth as a branch, and is withered; and men gather them, and cast them into the fire, and they are burned.

    If ye abide in me, and my words abide in you, ye shall ask what ye will, and it shall be done unto you.

    Herein is my Father glorified, that ye bear much fruit; so shall ye be my disciples.

    As the Father hath loved me, so have I loved you: continue ye in my love.

    If ye keep my commandments, ye shall abide in my love; even as I have kept my Father’s commandments, and abide in his love.

    These things have I spoken unto you, that my joy might remain in you, and that your joy might be full.

    This is my commandment, That ye love one another, as I have loved you.”

    [photos] Photography by Eldon Linschoten

    Chauncey C. Riddle, professor of philosophy and dean of the Graduate School at Brigham Young University, serves as a Sunday School teacher in the Orem 16th Ward, Orem Utah Sharon Stake. 

  • Obstacles to Prayer

    Five sobering examples from the scriptures show what could block our prayers. For Saul, the obstacle was disobedience.

    Chauncey C. Riddle, “Obstacles to Prayer,” Ensign, Jan 1976, 27

    First and last, true religion is a personal relationship with our Savior, Jesus Christ. Prayer is the key to establishing that relationship. As one prays obediently, he learns to know and to treasure the things of the Spirit. The fruit of that relationship is righteousness, doing good for one’s fellowmen as the Holy Spirit guides one. The basic sequence of events in the conversion of an ordinary man into a righteous man is: (1) He hears the gospel and is touched by the Holy Spirit. (2) The Holy Spirit teaches him how to pray. (3) As he prays the Holy Spirit guides him in purifying his life through faith in Jesus Christ, repentance, baptism, and the laying on of hands for the receiving of the right to the constant companionship of the Holy Ghost. (4) Now being in the narrow way, he prays even more effectively under the influence of the Holy Spirit and endures to the end of becoming like the Savior: full of righteousness.

    In the sequence listed above it is not just prayer that counts; it is effective prayer. Prayer is effective when one receives the guidance and gifts of the Spirit of the Lord. Some persons know how to pray but cannot; others know not how. The net effect is that they all are blocked from spiritual growth. But it is something about themselves that blocks that growth. The glad tidings of the gospel are the information we need to know to change ourselves to be able to pray effectively.

    Though this world wallows in the misery of spiritual death, no individual needs to remain like the world. Because the fulness of the gospel of Jesus Christ has been restored, accompanied by divine priesthood authority and the true church of Jesus Christ, the way is open to every person to learn effective prayer and thus to come unto the Master and to do his works. The gospel is a formula for success. No person who accepts and lives it will fail to overcome the world and its misery.

    In the scriptures we find record of persons who were not, at least for a time, successful. They were not, at those times, living the gospel and thus were cut off from the manifestations of the Spirit. Through repentance, each could have offered effective prayer and would then have received the help he needed. These examples are given to us in the scriptures that we may profit from their experience with obstacles to effective prayer. Hopefully we will not need to repeat those experiences. Let us examine the stories of King Saul, Laman and Lemuel, King Noah, Peter, and Saul of Tarsus.

    1. Disobedience. In a time of great distress and trial for the house of Israel, the Lord chose Saul of the tribe of Benjamin to be their king. Anointed under the hand of Samuel, the prophet, Saul also received instruction from the Lord through Samuel. In his obedience he had great success. But then he grew great in his own sight and felt he no longer needed to obey.

    During this time, the Lord instructed Saul to go to Amalek and utterly destroy it because of their persistent wickedness, slaying “man and woman, infant and suckling, ox and sheep, camel and ass.” (Please read 1 Sam. 15:1–5.) Saul’s obedience was only partial, was self-serving: he spared Agag, king of the Amalekites, and the best of the Amalekite sheep and oxen. When Samuel discovered this, Saul rationalized that the livestock were to be used for sacrifice for the Lord.

    “And Samuel said, Hath the Lord as great delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices, as in obeying the voice of the Lord? Behold, to obey is better than sacrifice, and to hearken than the fat of rams.

    “For rebellion is as the sin of witchcraft, and stubbornness is as iniquity and idolatry. Because thou hast rejected the word of the Lord, he hath also rejected thee from being king. …

    “And as Samuel turned about to go away, [Saul] laid hold upon the skirt of his mantle, and it rent.

    “And Samuel said unto him, The Lord hath rent the kingdom of Israel from thee this day, and hath given it to a neighbour of thine, that is better than thou.” (1 Sam. 15:22–23, 27–28.)

    The story of King Saul stands as a solemn warning to all of us. If the time ever comes that we think we can better serve God by following our own wisdom than we can by following the direction of the Lord through his Holy Spirit and through his holy prophets, we have apostatized. If we thus reject the Lord, we have broken the slender thread of communication. Our prayers cannot then be effective.

    We might speculate as to what caused King Saul to disobey. Was it pride? Was it fear of the people? Was it carelessness or thoughtlessness? Whatever the cause the result was the same: Saul no longer feared God. The purpose of prayer is to gain the knowledge and strength to do the will of God. Disobedience makes of prayer a mockery in us, even as it did for Saul.

    2. Hardness of heart. Laman and Lemuel were born to the same goodly parents that blessed Nephi with great knowledge of spiritual things. But whereas Nephi received those teachings in humility and faith, Laman and Lemuel rejected the words of their father as the imaginations of an unrealistic man. In his obedience, Nephi went on to receive great revelations and knowledge of his own. But in their hardness of heart, Laman and Lemuel were barely affected even by the visitation of an angel.

    Again we are caused to wonder why these older brothers were so obstinate, spiritually speaking. Were they incapable of exercising faith? Or were they able only to respect things that were natural? Regardless of the cause of their problems, the moral for us is clear: If we are to be men and women of God we must prize and cultivate the tender feelings of our hearts. The first intimations of revelation from the Holy Spirit are feelings in our heart—feelings of good and bad, feelings of sympathy for suffering, feelings of longing for spiritual insight. To ignore or to quash these feelings is hardheartedness. Those who demand that everything be decided in terms of physical things are thus hardhearted. They cannot learn to pray and to be guided by the Holy Spirit because they reject it when it tries to get through to them.

    Had Laman and Lemuel realized that it was not Lehi and Nephi that they were rejecting, but rather, that they were denying their own hearts, perhaps they could have repented. Perhaps they could then have experimented with those feelings to see if the gospel promises are true. They could have examined the scriptures, being led by their own hearts to understanding. But they did not. They rejected themselves as being intelligent enough to grasp spiritual things by denying their hearts the opportunity to feel.

    He who learns to pray truly and effectively is never a person who is hardhearted. In all humility he turns inward, cultivates those feelings of his heart, that still, small voice. In these things, unseen to anyone but himself, he comes to true prayer, to spirituality, to pure love, to eternal life.

    3. Selfishness. King Noah was the son of a good father who taught him correctly. But Noah sought only to enjoy the material things of life at the expense of others. Unlike his righteous father, King Noah did not labor to support himself, but taxed his people of one-fifth of their possessions to build many elegant buildings for himself and to support his many wives and concubines. Through his personal indulgence and selfish example, King Noah weakened his people both spiritually and temporally. This proved to be their downfall, even though they were warned of the consequences of their actions by the prophet Abinadi. (Please read Mosiah 12.)

    Another name for selfishness is carnal security. People who overvalue the things of the physical order have to have more and more goods and pleasures to stay satisfied. This kind of appetite cannot be satisfied except through oppression: getting someone else to do the work to provide material abundance. It is a curious paradox that people who live for material pleasures generally detest work and try to find a slave to do it for them, whereas people who treasure the things of the spirit learn to love work and they work hard to produce material blessings for others.

    The point of all this is that selfishness and glorying in carnal security cut one off from the Holy Spirit so that he cannot pray effectively. True prayer leads to righteousness; but righteousness is achieved only in sacrifice. The last thing the selfish person wants is sacrifice, so he naturally does not pray very successfully.

    4. Weakness. The story of Peter, the great chief of the Master’s apostles, is instructive in that Peter’s wavering shows us an important pitfall to avoid. On the night of his betrayal, the Savior warned Peter of this weakness when he said Peter would thrice deny his knowledge of the Savior before sunrise. True to the prophecy, Peter did deny his relationship with Jesus, but immediately repented of his actions when he realized what he had done. (See Luke 22:31–34, 54–62.)

    Before we condemn Peter for denying that he knew the Savior, let us remember two things: he did not yet have the constant companionship of the Holy Spirit, and when he did receive that great gift, he was never after in that predicament. But he did waver before he received that gift. He did not yet fully realize that all things work together for the good of those who love the Lord, and that therefore there is nothing to fear. He did not yet fully understand the love his Lord and Savior had for him. Later he, as Paul, fully understood:

    “For I am persuaded, that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come,

    “Nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature, shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.” (Rom. 8:38–39.)

    Many of us, weak in the spirit, do waver. Weakness stifles the impulse to pray; worse, it works against our obedience when we have prayed. To serve the Lord well one must have confidence and daring. But the true confidence is born of the companionship of the Comforter. True daring is trust in the Lord, knowing that there is a narrow path to success through any difficulty if only we can love and serve him with all our hearts, mights, minds, and strength.

    5. False traditions. Saul of Tarsus was zealous in his religion. But his religion, once of God, had been adulterated by the false traditions of men. Those false traditions kept him from listening to his own conscience until the Lord chastized him. (See Acts 9:3–6.)

    The traditions of the Pharisees had led Saul far astray. False ideas from any apparent source, are the work of the father of lies, who would captivate us all in error and darkness. But into this dark world there comes a ray of glorious light, the Holy Spirit bearing witness of Jesus Christ and the Father and leading all who accept them into all truth. The traditions of men of the world are always fraught with debilitating error. But there is one truth that righteous men always pass on to others who will listen: men should put their trust in God, not in the arm of flesh. The traditions of men have one possible righteous purpose: to point each soul to a personal relationship with God. That personal relationship is achieved in true prayer.

    The happy part of these five stories of failure from the scriptures is that two of them were preludes to success. Peter and Saul were not hardened and destroyed by their disastrous experiences. They were humble enough to learn the lessons involved, to turn to the Lord, to become mighty in his work. King Saul, Laman and Lemuel, and King Noah had that same opportunity at one time. If they had been genuinely sorry, they could have gone before the Lord in repentance and in mighty prayer to seek a newness of life in him.

    You and I, perhaps also having had disastrous experiences, have the same choice. We can humble ourselves and learn to be like the Lord by yielding to the enticings of his Holy Spirit. Or we can continue in the ways of King Saul, Laman and Lemuel, or King Noah. The size of our kingdom matters not. The least of us can be disobedient like Saul, hardhearted like Laman and Lemuel, selfish like Noah, or we can repent and become mighty instruments for good as did Peter and Paul.

    If we repent, it will be through mighty prayer. That grand opportunity is no less effective today than it was for Father Adam, for Noah, for John the Beloved, for Joseph Smith. If we would have our prayers be as effective as those of President Spencer W. Kimball, we must learn to pray as he and all the holy prophets do.

    We have not been sent into the world to fail. We have been sent to fulfill the prophecies and to lay hold of every good thing, through faith and mighty prayer, for “the effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much.” (James 5:16.)

    [illustrations] Illustrated by Michael Clane Graves

    Dr. Chauncey C. Riddle is a professor of philosophy and dean of the graduate school at Brigham Young University. He teaches Sunday School in the Orem 16th Ward, Orem Utah Sharon Stake.

  • Letter to Michael

    BY CHAUNCEY C. RIDDLE

    September 1975, Ensign, p. 79-84

    Persecution—the word probably makes you think of Rome and Liberty Jail, but what does it mean in the 20th century?

    Dear Michael,

    Thanks for your letter; it was good to hear that things are going well with you. You said you wonder about persecution. May I give you my thinking on that topic? First, some background.

    I believe that the first and foremost thing for us to remember is that our beloved Master is in charge. In him we live and move and have our being. He has placed controls on the course of the heavens, the forces and events of nature, the course of nations, and the life of every human being. He grants each of us on this earth enough agency to show our true nature, but never enough to destroy his own purposes. Because men have agency, there is evil. But that evil always has bounds. Two passages from Paul delight my soul as they drive this point home:

    “And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God.”

    “For I am persuaded that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come,

    “Nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature, shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.” (Rom. 8:28, 38–39.)

    The acknowledgement that the Savior’s work is only to bless and that his hand is in all things is the foundation of faith. When this eternal perspective is surely planted in our souls by the ministrations of the Holy Spirit, we can have that hope, born of faith, which “maketh an anchor to the souls of men, which would make them sure and steadfast, always abounding in good works.” (Ether 12:4.) We all need that security. Persecution brings insecurity to those who are weak and ungrounded. But the faithful can look on persecution with equanimity, knowing that their security is spiritual. No persecution can rob them of anything essential.

    That, of course, raises the question as to what is essential. I count as essential the opportunity to be obedient to my Savior, to have the covenants and the priesthood, to have my dear wife and our wonderful children in eternity. I count as nonessential my job, my reputation, my home, my farm, my friends, my health, my life. Now don’t mistake me. I enjoy and desire all of those things. But if I ever had to choose between my enjoyment of them in this world and partaking of the Savior’s love through the Spirit, I would not hesitate. The Lord has so blessed me and answered my prayers that I trust his promise of the blessings of the next world as being far greater than any temporary enjoyment of this world.

    I can hear you say, “Brave words. What about deeds?” I know that it is what one does under stress that really counts. But I also know I can’t guarantee anything about the future. As I look at some of my friends who seem to have thrown in the towel and to have given themselves over to Satan, I can only say, “There, but for the grace of God, go I.” My hope is in that grace. God being willing, I will meet the tests. All I am sure of is that at this moment I have a burning desire to do all that the Savior would have me do. I hunger to bring souls unto him, that they may share my joy in the sweetness of the companionship of his Spirit and in the opportunity to bless others.

    But on to persecution!

    The word persecute itself means “to pursue.” Thus persecution is pursuit to do harm. Its opposite is to bless, to help. Its contrary is to live and let live. Though this subject does not readily yield itself to neat subdivision, some broad types are obvious. We could mention physical, social, and intellectual persecution.

    Last Sunday I saw again the film And Should We Die. That brought vividly to mind the importance of being spiritually ready for physical persecution. Raphael Monroy and his companion Vicente Morales were ready to meet death for their testimony, senseless and fortuitous though the circumstances might have been. President Bentley was able to lead the people of the colony in their narrow escape through fasting and prayer. But while we all hope to escape, we know not all will. Raphael and Vicente had to join the Prophet Joseph, his brother Hyrum, Parley P. Pratt, the Savior, John the Baptist, Abinadi, Abel, and countless others in the death of deliberate persecution. In view of the burning and bombing and the hateful murders of our own time, it may be that some of us or some of the rising generation must face death for our Master. Whether we, as individuals, will face it or not is not the point. I think the point is, we must be ready.

    Now if each of us had several days to decide whether or not to die for the Savior, most of us would do well. But is not the real test what we would do under immediate attack? I remember the words of Joseph F. Smith at a campfire in California when challenged by horsemen intent on killing Mormons. I hope I can always reply in his spirit when he was asked if he were a Mormon: “Yes, siree; dyed in the wool; true blue, through and through.” (Joseph F. Smith, Gospel Doctrine, Deseret Book Co., 1939 ed., p. 518.) Many of us might not mind dying gloriously, with much fanfare and publicity. But die for chastity when accosted on a freeway? Die for honesty in a prison camp? Die for belief in God at the hands of a mob? If our testimony means enough to us that we prepare each morning either to live for the Savior or to die for him that day, we will always be prepared.

    But perhaps we will not be murdered; just robbed, looted, burned, driven. Kirtland, Independence, Far West, Nauvoo should always be in our minds. Those persecutions are our heritage; we must again be ready should they need to become our legacy. The Lectures on Faith make it clear where we must stand: “An actual knowledge to any person, that the course of life which he pursues is according to the will of God, is essentially necessary to enable him to have that confidence in God without which no person can obtain eternal life. It was this that enabled the ancient saints to endure all their afflictions and persecutions, and to take joyfully the spoiling of their goods, knowing (not believing merely) that they had a more enduring substance.

    “Having the assurance that they were pursuing a course which was agreeable to the will of God, they were enabled to take, not only the spoiling of their goods, and the wasting of their substance, joyfully, but also to suffer death in its most horrid forms; knowing (not merely believing) that when this earthly house of their tabernacle was dissolved, they had a building of God, a house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens.” (Lectures on Faith, p. 57.)

    Only that faith nurtured in the privacy of peace will weather turmoil of trial.

    When I think of social persecution, two classic examples come to mind. One is the story of a Welsh family, beautifully told in the article entitled “Persecution, 1924” in the January 1975 Ensign. That remarkable father led his family ten miles to church over mountain and dale, through rain and mud when necessary. And when confrontation was the right thing to do, he had the courage to do it. Persecution for his family was the hammer and anvil by which they all acquired that temper which makes saints out of faint hearts and well-wishers.

    The other example is connected with the controversy over the laws of the Utah Territory and federal law in the last century. I honor the memory of George Reynolds, who, loyal both to his people and to his government, stood trial and suffered imprisonment so that the laws could be clarified. This man, secretary to four First Presidencies, General Authority, legislator, businessman, and editor, willingly absorbed the attack of the enemies of the Church so that others might not need to suffer in that way. Then to cap it off, he used his time in prison to produce our concordance to the Book of Mormon. Perhaps you know the brief account of his life and sufferings found in the preface to that work. (A Complete Concordance to the Book of Mormon, Salt Lake City, 1900, pp. 3–4.)

    Recent commendation of the Church and some of its members is a pleasant change for our peculiar people. The changed climate has helped us to bear testimony, to gain the ear of some who otherwise would not have heard. But while we rejoice in that change we must remember that it is not universal. Throughout the world there is yet ostracism, discrimination, defamation, and harassment. What a challenge both to be humble under praise and steady under persecution, not really knowing which will come next! Our path is to be constant, in season and out of season, bearing our witness as the Spirit directs, come what may. When I think of the “come what may,” I am comforted by the saying of Elder Boyd K. Packer: “The truth doesn’t make enemies; it uncovers them.” We are sent to perform a task that includes the uncovering of enemies along with the joy of finding the lost sheep of our Master. If we fear his enemies, we are not likely to find his sheep.

    Bad as physical and social persecution can be, I think that intellectual persecution is the most devastating. The former are by nature opposition from outside, and as such they may actually serve to strengthen the Church. But the intellectual attack also works within the Church. It divides and dilutes us when it comes from members. Let me give you two examples of ideas for which we are persecuted at various times and places.

    The first is personal revelation. To me, one of the great glories of the Restoration is the promise “that every man might speak in the name of God the Lord, even the Savior of the world.” (D&C 1:20.) Personal revelation makes every man a prophet, every woman a prophetess, to know the voice of the Lord and to bear witness of him, not needing to depend upon the arm of flesh. Oh, how personal revelation pulls down intellectual tyranny, priestcraft, and private interpretation of scripture! How it assuages the confused mind, the aching heart, the yearning soul! How it builds faith in our Lord, hope for eternity! How it clothes all with a mantle of charity, the pure love of Christ!

    Forgive me; I know I don’t need to sing the praises of personal communication with the Savior to you. But I can’t help being excited when I ponder all the blessings that come to mankind by it. Perhaps its strength is the very reason why it becomes a focus for persecution.

    I once heard a professor boast that he had broken more priests, rabbis, and Bible readers than anyone else in the business. With that boast he warned any who wished to continue to believe in revelation to depart. I stayed. Then he lowered the boom and went through all the reasons why belief in revelation was irrational. He showed how the people who claimed revelation were inconsistent, both within their own individual writings and among themselves. He pointed out the great abuses that religion had wrought in the world, from inquisitions to caste systems to human sacrifice. He mocked the Bible, pointing out what he took to be obvious internal contradictions. Then he went on to show how everything good in human progress had consisted in rejection of religious belief in favor of scientific, empirical evidence.

    Well, frankly I was devastated by that onslaught. There I was, a graduate student, well schooled in Latter-day Saint theology, happily Mormon all my life, a defender of the faith and successful sufferer under physical and social persecution—but devastated. He had made me realize that I did not have a personal testimony of revelation. All I had was an intellectual awareness of what others said about our religion. That realization shook me, for I realized fully that I might have been wrong.

    During the next few weeks I went through an experience for which I can think of only one word as a representation: hell. I was assailed by doubt, by fear, by loneliness; I began to wonder if I were sane. Through this time I kept two promises I had made: I continued to go to Church, and I continued to read ten pages in the scriptures each night; but those things became an agony to me. And I prayed. Oh, how I prayed to know for myself if there were such a thing as personal revelation.

    Then—thanks to our good Master—it came. I began to feel something special in my breast. I began to recognize certain ideas that appeared in my mind as being different from my own thoughts. These new ideas told me how to interpret passages of scripture, how to understand things formerly incomprehensible to me, even to know the future. But I could tell the difference. Here was the iron rod. I had hold of it. The restored gospel was true!

    Since then I have had stumblings. I have been burned, and through those negative experiences I have learned two things: first, without Him I am nothing, and second, I must be ever so careful not to be confused as to who it is that is speaking. Now a full quarter-century has passed. That slender thread of personal revelation has brought me to everything I now hold dear. It has brought a flood of knowledge and understanding—and a glimpse of how far yet to go. I now know that there is power in the priesthood and that the Lord Jesus Christ is indeed the leader of this Church. Now as I see it touching the lives of others, my heart overflows with gratitude to the Lord for this pearl of great price that each of us can have. My greatest sorrow, except for my own sins, is that some whom I know cannot seem to get it. But I have hope for them. Looking back I know that I must have had much personal revelation before that trial. The problem was that I had not become acute in recognizing it.

    So personal revelation becomes a great watershed, in the Church and out. Those who have it are drawn into a unity of faith. Many of those who don’t have it think those who do are deluded or demented. I suspect some fear that it might really exist—so they persecute those who teach and proclaim its reality. They don’t want it for fear they might have to give up some sin. And they don’t want anyone else to have it, for that too convicts them of sin.

    So we are persecuted for personal revelation in a world that prides itself on “hard” evidence, on objectivity, on the strength of consensus. As a philosopher of knowledge, I can only shake my head. For now I know and can prove that there is no such thing as evidence apart from a matrix of presuppositions, that objectivity is at best consensus, and that consensus is often but a public relations job. Every scientific system begins with unproved postulates. Every person founds his life on articles of faith. But what a blessing to be able to ground faith on a rock—on personal daily revelation from our Savior.

    I promise to be more brief on the next idea. We are also persecuted for our belief in uniqueness, for the idea that there is but one true church, one true priesthood, one narrow path to salvation, one chosen people, one fountain for all righteousness. Many people of my acquaintance are willing to see good in the Church, especially as a social system. But to claim that no one except Mormons can become celestial raises hackles. It does not fit with this permissive, egalitarian, ecumenical age. It is taken to be a sign of snobbery, of racism, of hypocrisy, of almost anything bad. One of the reasons my soul so hungers and yearns to see the full establishment of Zion is that we won’t have to say anything about uniqueness then. We will just be content to be unique. How unique it would be if we could get at least half of the Church to be of one heart and one mind, to dwell in righteousness and have no poor among us. I think that we would then see the fulfillment of that promise and challenge: “That the kingdoms of this world may be constrained to acknowledge that the kingdom of Zion is in very deed the kingdom of our God and his Christ.” (D&C 105:32.)

    Meanwhile, we are subject to persecution for our claim to be the true church and are dismissed with others who make the same claim. Is it possible that we deserve persecution on this point? If we claim to be the one and can’t show we are significantly better, perhaps we have earned trouble. Oh for Zion!

    Two more observations on persecution.

    The first concerns the story of Stephen in Acts 6 and 7. I reread it recently and was forcefully impressed with an idea. Stephen has always come across to me as a good and gentle man, well suited to minister to widows’ needs, “full of the Holy Ghost,” a powerful servant of Christ. But it has always struck me that he spoke to the Sanhedrin rather forthrightly, surely provocatively. His speech would hardly win any Dale Carnegie awards. I have wondered: Did he have a martyr complex? Was he deliberately trying to die?

    My feeling now is that he enjoyed life as much as you or I and was doubtless very happy because of the good he was able to do for others. But he had a mission to perform. For some reason the Sanhedrin needed another witness of the great tragedy in which they were principals. The promised Messiah had come and had fulfilled all things while they, who desired to be his servants but would not recognize him, carefully engineered his death. Tragic flaw, damning fate, indeed. His own rejected him as would have done no other nation or people. Could Stephen have supposed that he could convert them when the Savior himself had failed?

    But Stephen was true to his mission. He bore testimony of Christ and of their sin. The flood of hate and anger that carried him outside the walls to die, stone by stone, was the necessary consequence of his commission. He sealed his testimony (and probably their reward) with blood. The moral I draw from this story is that we should not be needlessly offensive in this world; we should never seek to be persecuted; we should seek to fill our personal missions, wending our way among the hate and persecutions that will come, but never trying to offend. But should our commission call us to an unsavory task, where we cannot help but offend, then we should bear the task off manfully, yet with great humility, with a firm grasp on the iron rod. I honor Stephen for his great example.

    My second thought relates to Saul and Paul, also of Acts. Saul persecuted the Saints with great zeal and ability. Then the Lord’s mercy allowed him to repent to become Paul, and he was persecuted by the Jews and others even as he had persecuted. I think all of us should see ourselves in this story. We should ask ourselves: “Am I yet Saul, or am I now Paul?Am I still persecuting the saints and the Savior, or have I repented of my sins to serve and suffer for the Lord? Do I persecute others in my zeal to do God a favor (as if he needed my hate or scorn to further his cause), or do I humbly and patiently submit to all things that my God seeth fit to inflict upon me, even as a child doth submit to his father?”

    My final point concerns again our personal relationship with the Savior. He who knows all things and has created all things has also taken upon himself the suffering required to atone for all sins. When we try to imagine all of the pain resulting from our own sins, our imagination staggers. When we try to imagine the suffering caused by the sins of every human being who has ever lived or will live on earth, it transcends our capacity for comprehension. Yet that is what the Savior took upon himself when he drank of the bitter cup to satisfy the demands of the Father’s justice. In his infinite love and concern for us, he bore the burden of our own sins for us, that we need not suffer and atone personally for our sins. The qualification is, of course, that we repent and become sinless as he is. As long as we go on sinning, there is no way we can be forgiven.

    You and I, because we know the gospel is true and because we want to stop sinning, have covenanted with our Savior to obey him in all things. Our obedience brings us to righteousness: we are able to bless others. But suppose that knowing what we do, we choose not to obey his commandments. That would be deliberate sin. We who know better, who know how to do better and be better, would be hurting those around us deliberately, because we would be choosing not to do better. Knowing how to bless our loved ones, we would be persecuting them should we sin. Worse yet, because we have been forgiven of our past sins through the blood of Christ, we would also be persecuting him. Matthew 25 haunts my understanding: “Inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of these my brethren, ye have done it unto me.” (Matt. 25:40.)

    Now I admit that this is an unusual approach to the idea of persecution. Usually we think about others persecuting us. We need to think especially about the possibility of our own persecution of others, for it is the latter, not the former, that truly destroys us. This approach makes our choice simple: to sin or not to sin, which is to persecute or not to persecute. To choose not to persecute is to choose to repent, to live the gospel, to love others with that same pure love with which our Savior loves us. It is to choose to be willing to be persecuted, but to suffer death before we would persecute. Our Master has shown the way by his complete obedience to his Father and in giving up his own life. How grateful am I to know that he is the Way, the Truth, and the Life!

    Michael, you have been kind to wade through all of this. I inflict this on you only in the hope that our souls will so hunger after Him whom we love that we will make every sacrifice necessary to become as he is. That is the greatest thing we can do about persecution. Remember the words of the Prophet Joseph Smith:

    “Let us here observe, that a religion that does not require the sacrifice of all things never has power sufficient to produce the faith necessary unto life and salvation; for, from the first existence of man, the faith necessary unto the enjoyment of life and salvation never could be obtained without the sacrifice of all earthly things. It was through this sacrifice, and this only, that God has ordained that men should enjoy eternal life; and it is through the medium of the sacrifice of all earthly things that men do actually know that they are doing the things that are well pleasing in the sight of God. When a man has offered in sacrifice all that he has for the truth’s sake, not even withholding his life, and believing before God that he has been called to make this sacrifice because he seeks to do his will, he does know, most assuredly, that God does and will accept his sacrifice and offering, and that he has not, nor will not seek his face in vain. Under these circumstances, then, he can obtain the faith necessary for him to lay hold on eternal life.” (Lectures on Faith, p. 58.)

    [photo] BYU Motion Picture Department

    Dr. Chauncey C. Riddle is a professor of philosophy and dean of the graduate school at Brigham Young University. He teaches Sunday School in the Orem 16th Ward, Orem Utah Sharon Stake.

  • Prayer

    THE ENSIGN, MARCH 1975

    BY CHAUNCEY C. RIDDLE

    Praying is more than “saying prayers.” True prayer is an experience that takes place under the guidance of the Holy Spirit.

    One fundamental distinction between the saint and what the scriptures call the “natural man” is in their use of prayer. The natural man may say prayers, but it is not a spiritual experience for him. He is only reacting to his physical environment as he has been instructed or as he finds prudent. Praying, as distinct from merely saying prayers, has a spiritual dimension. The transformation from a natural man to a saint is marked by the ability to recognize and to respond to spiritual environment.

    The person who is learning to be a saint must learn about the nature of God and man and the world, about the gospel and the Church of Jesus Christ. He must learn to control himself in faith, repentance, fasting, and mighty prayer, and in using the Holy Spirit as his guide. Finally, he must successfully use the understanding he has to bring to pass much righteousness. He then has something of infinite worth: the ability to do good in this world. As an intelligent man could not expect to step into a modern jet aircraft and fly it successfully without much learning and training, so such a man would not think that he could pray successfully without even greater preparation for that more difficult task.

    What is the Purpose of Prayer?

    We live in a universe of order. Law governs and controls all things, both physical, and spiritual. This is another way of saying that there is a regularity of causes and effects apparent everywhere. One application of this principle is that all things act (effects) in relation to their environment (causes). Some things are acted upon; they simply react in a regular way to what is happening in the environment. Water solidifies when the surroundings are cold, boils away when they are hot, and flows freely when the surroundings are at a medium temperature.

    Some people suppose that man is like water, only responding to his natural environment. They observe that men buy what is advertised, shun that which is disgraced, cleave unto that which is pleasurable. These people predict successfully what most men will do by assessing their physical environment. They can do this because the natural man is not free. He is acted upon like water. Since most men are natural, the accuracy of such predictions runs high.

    But, thanks to God, no natural man need remain natural. Though he must respond to his environment under the law of cause and effect, all men who have heard the gospel of Jesus Christ preached with the power of the Holy Ghost have a choice of environments. Having heard, they then can choose between reacting to their physical environment, as does the natural man, or they can react to the spiritual environment of which the gospel makes them aware. As long as the Holy Spirit labors with them, they can choose to respond to either one. This is the agency, the freedom of man: to choose to be natural, governed by the physical environment and their own flesh, or to be spiritual, governed by their own spirit as it yields to the Holy Spirit.

    “Wherefore, men are free according to the flesh; and all things are given them which are expedient unto man.  And they are free to choose liberty and eternal life, through the great Mediator of all men, or to choose captivity and death, according to the captivity and power of the devil; for he seeketh that all men might be miserable like unto himself.

    “And now, my sons, I would that ye should look to the great Mediator, and hearken unto his great commandments; and be faithful unto his words, and choose eternal life, according to the will of his Holy Spirit;

    “And not choose eternal death, according to the will of the flesh and the evil which is therein, which giveth the spirit of the devil power to captivate, to bring you down to hell, that he may reign over you in his own kingdom.” (2 Nephi 2:27-29.)

    Prayer is turning to the spiritual. It is seeking the will and the power of God through the Holy Spirit in order to yield to the spiritual order of reality. It is the key to the companionship of the Holy Spirit. Having that companionship, one need not lapse into the control of the lusts of the flesh and the pressures of the world. It is choosing to be part of the pressures of the world. It is choosing to be part of the realm where God reigns, where his will is done. It is a rejection of the opinions and wisdom of men who know not God. It is the beginning of salvation. Oh how great the goodness of our God, who prepares a way for us to escape from the deadly and desultory causes of the natural, fallen world!

    Prayer is communion with the Almighty. He who finds himself aghast at the evil order of this world will likely seek something better. As he prays he discovers that the power of God reaches down into this fallen realm with a sweet, peaceful, assuring, and comforting influence that gives witness of truth, hope for a better world, and power to withstand evil. Without the opportunity to pray and to receive those precious gifts from the Holy Spirit, man would not be free. He would indeed be the trapped, damned animal he is thought to be by those who do not know God.

    “And now, my beloved brethren, I perceive that ye ponder still in your hearts; and it grieveth me that I must speak concerning this thing.  For if ye would hearken unto the Spirit which teacheth a man to pray ye would know that ye must pray; for the evil spirit teacheth not a man to pray, but teacheth him that he must not pray.

    “But behold, I say unto you that ye must pray always, and not faint; that ye must not perform any thing unto the Lord save in the first place ye shall pray unto the Father in the name of Christ, that he will consecrate thy performance unto thee, that thy performance may be for the welfare of thy soul.” (2 Nephi 32:8-9.)

    How to Pray

    When a person “says prayers” he is doing something stimulated by his physical environment. He is repeating words and phrases appropriate to some time or circumstance such as mealtime or the beginning of a meeting. Saying prayers is not a bad thing to do. But it is insufficient.

    True prayer begins with a yearning in the soul of man, a reaching out for spiritual contact with God. True prayer grows in strength and efficacy as the Holy Spirit enlivens and guides the yearning soul. The ultimate of true prayer comes as a man is able to submit himself completely to the Lord God whom he has come to love; then what he prays for and how he prays are given to him by the Holy Spirit. This prayer is the obedient response of a little child who, with wonder, awe, and gratitude, worships the true and living God. Of himself, the child of God doesn’t know what to ask for. But through spiritual insight he sees the hand of his Father in all things. His bosom swells with gratitude as he glimpses the wondrous work of holiness. As he is given, he asks for those things which are good in the sight of his God and gives praise and thanks in the same manner. The theme of all is the phrase used by the Savior:

    “Thy will, not mine, be done.”

    “And if ye are purified and cleansed from all sin, ye shall ask whatsoever you will in the name of Jesus and it shall be done.

    “But know this, it shall be given you what you shall ask; and as ye are appointed to the head, the spirits shall be subject unto you.” (D&C 50:29,30.)

    It may seem strange that in certain prayers one might simply repeat what he is given to say by the Holy Spirit unless one realizes that true prayer is worship. Its essence is a feeling of the heart. The measure of a prayer is the intensity and the depth of that feeling. Does one hunger to do good in this world? Does that feeling wholly fill his soul? Is he oblivious to everything else but the fact that he is in the presence of his beloved Master? Does he cry out from anguish at the realization of his own nothingness contrasts with the goodness of God? Does he receive the Holy Spirit as a consuming fire to burn out the dross within, almost unto the consuming of his flesh? If these things take place, the child of God is achieving and experiencing what the scriptures call “mighty prayer.” While it is true that this may not happen every day or even often, what poverty of soul entraps one who has never felt the fire of mighty prayer! Having achieved full worship even once would color and heighten every prayer thereafter, for the remainder on one’s life.

    To pray, then, one must understand the nature and attributes of God. He must receive of the Holy Spirit and worship in spirit and truth. The more he can deliver himself, body and spirit, to what the Spirit shows him is good, the more humble is his prayer. The more he can focus all that he is and has, the more mighty that worship.

    Small wonder that prayer at its greatest is private and individual, an thing done with the door shut. How strange to think of being seen by men at the same time as being honored by God. No wonder the life of a faithful saint is a constant communion with the Master, no matter what else is happening.

    “Behold, I went to hunt beasts in the forests; and the words which I had often heard my father speak concerning eternal life, and the joy of the saints, sunk deep into my heart.

    “And my soul hungered; and I kneeled down before my Maker, and I cried unto him in mighty prayer and supplication for mine own soul; and all the day long did I cry unto him; yea, and when the night came I did still raise my voice high that it reached the heavens. (Enos 3-4.)

    Meditation

    The helpmate of mighty prayer is meditation. In meditating, one tries to minimize his involvements with the physical world for a time in order to concentrate on something inner, on ideas and feelings. As a person prays sincerely with the Holy Spirit as his guide, that Spirit will bring to him many thoughts and feelings. This is part of the process of revelation. To take full advantage of this revelation, one would do well to mull over the matter under consideration, piecing together what one already knows with the new insights received.

    It is one thing to have a revelation. It is quite another to understand and obey. Understanding comes in the process of careful, prayerful reflections of meditation upon what one has received. To pray is often like asking for food and then being blessed with a sumptuous meal. What would you think of a person who, when thus honored, merely took a sniff, then put the meal on a shelf and left it? Though greatly blessed, he would not be nourished.

    So it may be with those who pray and do not meditate. They may have much but may be little edified.

    Meditation cannot be taught, because it is something personal and private; it is the venturing of the soul into the unknown. But it can be learned by anyone who has the courage to think for himself. A likely initiation to meditation is to ponder the scriptures, the words of the living and the dead prophets of God. Banish all commentaries for a moment: forget hearsay teaching. What does the Lord actually say? What does the Spirit whisper as to how this passage or that doctrine should be understood? Where two scriptures appear at first reading to be contrary, what is the real intent of each?

    That soul who has bravely ventured into the sea of scriptural interpretation, who humbly seeks the guidance of the Holy Spirit and rejects the opinions of men, soon makes a marvelous discovery. In the midst of the tumult of human interpretation there is a rock! He cannot see it, for it is spiritual, but he can plant his feet firmly upon it. Then the winds and waves of opinion can beat upon him from any direction. He is no longer tossed to and fro by every wind and wave, but rests firmly on that rock, and on his own two feet. He now has a foundation for salvation. He has found the rock of revelation from the Savior.

    In mulling and pondering the scriptures, our venturer has found the Holy Spirit to be an able and willing guide as well as a comfort and a bulwark. Flashes of insight come. Now he sees how God is both just and merciful. He rejoices to learn how God can govern and control all things yet man can be free. He is overcome as he glimpses what the Savior has done for him. Now, having his own light from eternity, he is a new person, a little child born again in the image of the Master.

    Having learned to think, to meditate upon the scriptures, the venturer is now prepared to meditate upon the spiritual gifts that come in connection with his own prayers. Now mighty prayer is so rich an experience that he can hardly contain it. Ideas, hopes, and feelings tumble into his mind, then are carefully fit together under spiritual guidance, into the fabric of his new life. They become part of his robe of righteousness as he prepares to meet the Bridegroom.

    He who learns to meditate on the things of the Holy Spirit need never suffer the rebuke that came to Oliver Cowdery:

    “Behold, you have not understood; you have supposed that I would give it unto you, when you took no thought save it was to ask me.

    “But, behold, I say unto you, that you must study it out in your mind; then you must ask me if it be right, and if it is right I will cause that your bosom shall burn within you; therefore, you shall feel that it is right.

    “But if it be not right you shall have no such feelings, but you shall have a stupor of thought that shall cause you to forget the thing which is wrong; therefore, you cannot write that which is sacred save it be given you from me.

    “Now, if you have known this you could have translated; nevertheless, it is not expedient that you should translate now.

    “Behold, it was expedient when you commenced; but you feared, and the time is past, and it is not expedient now.” (D&C 9:7-11.)

    Consultation

    As a spiritual experience and an access to spiritual life, prayer is like anything of great power is: when misapplied the harm possible is equal to or greater than the good that can be gained from it when correctly applied. The possibility exists in prayer that Satan, who also is a spiritual being and who also delights to give people “revelation,” may attempt to pawn off his own influence as a substitute for the ministrations of the Holy Spirit. The past is full of examples of these devious actions of the adversary beginning with Adam and Eve and extending down to his latest attempts on our own spiritual lives.

    When people pray, and especially when they try to make prayer a spiritual experience, Satan stands ready to counterfeit. Some telltale evidences of his influence are feelings that we should give in to the desired of our flesh, that we should do something contrary to the teachings of the scriptures, that we should do things that will bring us the honors of men or the rewards of this world. But the real test is not that simple, for there are occasions when the Lord would have us do something different from what others have been commanded to do, or he may lead us to have the honors of men and rewards of this world. We must be sure that it is the Lord that whispers to us.

    One learns to discern the voice of the Spirit through experience. In following spiritual guidance, one can learn surly to tell the difference between the enticings of the Holy Spirit and the temptations of the adversary. To be sure in discerning that difference is perhaps the most essential feature of the transformation of the natural man into the saint. Only then can one show in his life that full and heart-felt faith which is the only means of pleasing God.

    It is the heritage of every child in the stakes of Zion to learn from his father and mother how to recognize and live by the still, small voice of the Spirit, thus to know how to worship in mighty prayer. As the children of Zion come to know the voice of the Lord, then can they unite in those mighty prayers that are part of bearing off the Kingdom in triumph.

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

    “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.

    “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. (D&C 45:56-58.)

    The Fruit

    Another great form of worship of God is the consequence of true prayer. True and mighty prayer ought to lead above all to the doing of righteous deeds. As we pray and partake of the power and true order of heaven, we then should seek to translate the spiritual gifts we have received into the physical actions of our lives. Righteousness is blessing others. Our Master, Jesus Christ, is the fountain of all righteousness. As we humbly pray in his name we are filled with wisdom, with his compassion, with his concern for the poor and the needy with his concern for those who sit in darkness. Being filled with his love, we then go and do those things which we have been shown. In so doing, his pure love becomes our pure love for others.

    “Therefore may God grant unto you, my brethren, that ye may begin to exercise your faith unto repentance, that ye begin to call upon his holy name, that he would have mercy upon you;

    “Yea, cry unto him for mercy; for he is mighty to save.

    “Yea, humble yourselves, and continue in prayer unto him.

    “Cry unto him when ye are in your fields, yea, over all your flocks.

    “Cry unto him in your houses, yea, over all your household, both morning, mid-day, and evening.

    “Yea, cry unto him against the power of your enemies.

    “Yea, cry unto him against the devil, who is an enemy to all righteousness.

    “Cry unto him over the crops of your fields, that ye may prosper in them.

    “Cry over the flocks of your fields, that they may increase.

    “But this is not all; ye must pour out your souls in your closets, and your secret places, and in your wilderness.

    “Yea, and when you do not cry unto the Lord, let your hearts be full, drawn out in prayer unto him continually for your welfare, and also for the welfare of those who are around you.

    “And now behold, my beloved brethren, I say unto you, do not suppose that this is all; for after ye have done all these things, if ye turn away the needy, and the naked, and visit not the sick and afflicted, and impart of your substance, if ye have, to those who stand in need–I say unto you, if ye do not any of these things, behold, your prayer is vain, and availeth you nothing, and ye are as hypocrites who do deny the faith.” (Alma 34:17-28.)

    Dr. Chauncey C. Riddle, professor of philosophy and dean of the Graduate School at Brigham Young University, serves as Sunday School teacher in Orem 16th Ward, Orem Utah Sharon Stake.

  • Becoming a Disciple

    Ensign, September 1974

    By Chauncey C. Riddle

    If we are serious about following Jesus, we must question all that we previously have been and accepted.

    The New Testament account of our Savior’s mortal ministry is a rich treasury of knowledge concerning what one must do to be saved. One insight we may gain concerns what one must do to he a disciple of the Master.

    The word disciple comes from the Latin “discipulus,” a learner. A disciple of Christ is one who is learning to be like Christ–learning to think, to feel, and to act as he does. To be a true disciple, to fulfill that learning task, is the most demanding regimen known to man. No other discipline compares with it in either requirements or rewards. It involves the total transformation of a person from the state of the natural man to that of the saint, one who loves the Lord and serves with all of his heart, might, mind, and strength.

    As part of his instruction to his disciples in judea, the Savior took pains to explain his own ministry, a ministry that was the pattern for all of them and for us. One thing that the Father required of our Savior was the suffering and sacrifice of the Atonement. Matthew records:

    “From that time forth began Jesus to shew unto his disciples, how that he must go unto Jerusalem, and suffer many things of the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be killed, and be raised again the third day.” (Matt. 16:21.)

    Peter, not understanding that only in these difficult things could Jesus fulfill the will of the Father and make universal salvation possible, remonstrated:

    “Then Peter took him, and began to rebuke him, saying, Be it far from thee, Lord: this shall not be [done] unto thee.” (Matt. 16:22.)

    The Savior then administered a severe rebuke to Peter:

    “But he turned and said unto Peter, Get thee behind me, Satan: thou art an offence unto me: for thou savourest not the things that be of God, but those that be of men.” Matt. 16:23.)

    In calling Peter “Satan.” the Savior suggests the plight of all men. Until we savor (understand) the things of God, we are found to be behind the adversary’s programs! But when we learn the glorious truths of the gospel we can get behind Jesus Christ and his work and abandon Satan.

    Within that historical setting is one of the great revelatory insights into the ways of godliness given by the Master. Perceiving Peter’s ignorance and that of the others present, he proceeded to instruct them in the essence of discipleship:

    “Then said Jesus unto his disciples, If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross and follow me.

    “And now for a man to take up his cross, is to deny himself all ungodliness, and every worldly lust, and keep my commandments.

    “Break not any commandments for to save your lives; for whosoever will save his life in this world, shall lose it in the world to come.

    “And whosoever will lose his life in this world, for my sake, shall find it in the world to come.

    “Therefore, forsake the world, and save your souls….. (Matt. 16:25-29, Inspired Version.)”

    If we take up our own cross we truly become disciples. From the above we learn that discipleship begins with self-denial. Our lives are much like forested land that must be cultivated. Before the word of the Lord can bear fruit in our lives, we must first clear the ground of all that grows wild or naturally. What grows naturally in our lives are the things of the world. As any person comes to spiritual self-consciousness, he will realize that his mind, his desires, his habits, his manners, and his politics have all been shaped by the people in his physical environment. What he hitherto thought to be himself he now sees as the encrustations of the world upon his true self, the newly awakened spirit within. His true self delights in being touched by the Holy Spirit with the witness of the divinity of Jesus Christ and of the urgency of faith and repentance. He finds that to believe in Christ is one thing, but to deliver one’s soul unto Christ as a faithful, obedient servant is quite another thing. That delivery must begin by becoming as a little child.

    To be born again as a little child is to question all that we have formerly been and accepted, and to see the world with different eyes, heart, and mind. As a little child, we walk through the forest with one hand in that of the Holy Spirit and the other in that of the living prophets of God.

    Our mentors, the prophets and the Holy Spirit, literally turn the old world some of us have known topsy-turvy. In that process we are thrilled to see things freshly, as they really are.

    With their help the scriptures become pure, the word of God; the interpolations, the omissions, and interpretations of men no longer cause us to stumble. We learn the joy of seeing the complete harmony between the teachings of the ancient prophets found in canonized scriptures, the teachings of living prophets found in canonized scriptures, the sweet whisperings of the Holy Spirit. To that harmony the promises of God and the necessities of true faith come alive to us, and with hope and faith we begin to become spiritually alive.

    With the help of our new friends, the prophets and the Holy Spirit, we can see in our culture that which is truly virtuous, lovely, of good report, and praise-worthy. These things we treasure and delight in. We are also now able to see what is petty, selfish, and evil in our culture. Carefully we dissociate ourselves from those things, grateful to see plainly that those things we once enjoyed were actually part of our misery.

    Our new friends help us to review what we have learned about the ideas of men. We gladly respond when we see now that some men have taught truth, sometimes against great odds; but we now perceive the absurdity of some of the world’s most cherished theories. As we see anew, the chains of darkness and the lies of Satan become plain to us, and we slip off those chains, thrilled with the freedom and mobility we now have.

    A new perspective, that of eternity, is taught to us by our mentor friends. We now glimpse why it is that family relationships are paramount, why no other success can compensate for failure in our homes. We see why force and compulsion can never be the means of establishing a great and good society. We see that doing good for others is the important thing in life, not just seeking knowledge. We see that the point of repentance is learning to live righteously, so that we can be trusted with the powers of gods. We no longer worry about just being forgiven; we strive to overcome the world.

    Perhaps the greatest thing we learn from living prophets and from the Holy Spirit is the importance of doing the best we know at all times. They show us that what we will really be sorry for later is not having done what we plainly know we should have done.

    With thankful heart the disciple of Christ thus learns the ways and ideas of the world, to be taught anew in all things by God. But even in this his preparation is not complete: he must next cleanse himself of worldly lust. To eliminate the influence of the world is a difficult thing. But to gain mastery over his own desires is another, even more difficult task. It is like hauling off all the rocks and thoroughly tilling the soil once the forest of his mind has been cleared of false ideas.

    What are the rocks of lust in our lives? One is the desire to eat too much, to eat the wrong things, and to eat when we should not. Another is the inability to get to bed on time, to get up on time, or to be where we are supposed to be on time. Rocks of lust are the habits of being absorbed in television or reading when we should be working with our family or doing our home teaching. They are hunger for a new car when the old one would serve as well or better; the desire to have it known to everyone when we have done some good deed; the need to retaliate when someone has hurt us. They are anger, selfishness, loud laughter, and self-indulgence. They are the powers of Satan exercised on us through our own flesh. We can be rid of these things only by yielding to the enticings of the Holy Spirit.

    Then our spirit conquers our own flesh and the flesh becomes a servant instead of the master of our lives.

    Having cleared our forest of worldliness and having tilled the soil of our souls to a state of ready obedience to the Lord, we are then able to receive the word of God as the pure seed; we are ready to keep the Lord’s commandments.

    The first commandment is to love the Lord:

    “Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind, and with all thy strength                                (Mark 12:30.)”

    In nothing can one show forth love for God more surely than in making and keeping the baptismal covenant. Therein we promise that we will take Jesus Christ’s name upon us (to stand as a witness of him at all times and in all places), that we will always remember him (never forgetting that we are to rely solely upon his merits), and that we will keep the commandments he has given us: “If ye love me, keep my commandments.”(John 14:15.)

    It is thus that the crowning act of repentance is to make the covenant of baptism. As Christ laid down his life for us, so we voluntarily put to death our old worldly, lustful self and bury It in the waters of baptism. As the Savior rose from the dead, so we rise up out of the water as little children of our new Father and Savior, to a beginning of eternal life. Without this death, burial, and newness, we cannot fully show that we love him.

    In baptism we gain the privilege of the gift of the Holy Ghost. Only as we live under the influence of that gift can any mortal person love the Lord with all his heart, might, mind, and strength. Only as we continue under the influence of that gift can one keep every commandment.

    Above all the other commandments we might receive as we strive to keep the first and great commandment is the second, the admonition to love one another. The world, not understanding the things of God fancies that the second commandment can be kept when one has not honored the first commandment. But those who understand remember the Savior saying:

    “A new commandment l give unto you, That ye love one another; as l have loved you, that ye also love one another. By this shall all men know that ye are my disciples, if ye have love one to another.” (John 13:34-35.)

    To love as Christ loves is to have charity, the pure love of Christ. Pure love is a gift of the Holy Spirit reserved for those who love the Lord enough to covenant with him in baptism and wlj.i receive his spirit to be with them:

    “Jesus saith unto him, I am the way the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me.” (John 14:6.)

    The way of Christ is the way of love. It is to visit the widows and the fatherless in their afflictions; it is to feed the hungry, to clothe the naked, to visit those in prison, to liberate the captive. But it is to do all this in the Lord’s way, not walking in the ways of the world or following the vain imaginations of our heart as to what is good for others. Pure love is of the Father. Saith our Master:

    “I can of mine own self do nothing . . . because I seek not mine own will, but the will of the Father which hath sent me.” (John 5:30.) “l am the vine, ye are the branches: He that abideth in me, and l in him, the same bringeth forth much fruit: for without me ye can do nothing.” (John 15:5.)

    Are we the disciples of Jesus Christ? Are we learning of his ways, of his discipline? Arc we doing as he commanded? Do we know we have to overcome the world? No man is saved in ignorance of that knowledge. To gauge our progress we might ask ourselves three questions:

    “Have I denied myself all ungodliness?”

    “Have l denied myself every worldly lust?”

    “Do I keep every commandment the Savior gives me?”

    The future of a person who can give an honest affirmative answer to each of these questions is not in doubt. The rest of us should remember that the Lord is mighty to save. Though we cannot overcome the world on our own merits, his are quite sufficient. If we are learning, then we are disciples. May we learn well and be disciples indeed.

    Then, instead of the natural forest of worldliness that smothers out all else in our lives, we shall have created a Garden of Eden. As the earth will be renewed and receive its paradisiacal glory, even so must each individual disciple renew his own personal life in the glory of our God.

    [illustrations] Discipleship begins by becoming as a little child and being born again.

    [illustration] Becoming a disciple, we perceive the absurdity of some of the world’s most cherished theories. The chains of darkness, the lies of Satan, become pain to us. We slip off those chains, thrilled with the freedom and mobility we now have.

    [photo] Becoming a disciple, we yield to the enticings of the Holy Spirit, haul away all the rocks of lust, break habits of being absorbed in television or reading when we should be working with our family or doing our home teaching.

    [photo] Becoming a disciple, we learn a new perspective of eternity, we glimpse why it is that family relationships are paramount, why no other success can compensate for failure in our homes, why force and compulsion can never establish a great society.

    Dr. Chauncey Riddle is a professor of philosophy and dean of the Graduate School at Brigham Young University. He teaches Sunday School in Orem 16th Ward, Orem Utah Sharon West Stake.