LeGrand L. Baker

Category: Restored Gospel

  • Notes on having a testimony of the Restored Gospel of Jesus Christ

    1. A testimony of the gospel is a matter of heart more than mind. The mind must be involved to form a content of ideas, but the acceptance or certification of those ideas is a function of the heart. It is our hearts that are being tested and proved, not our minds. This is important because whatever a normal human being does stems from the desires of the heart. The mind furnishes alternatives for the heart to consider, but the heart is the ruler. Thus we always do what we want to do. Wants are of the heart.
    2. Thus testimony of the gospel, or the absence thereof, is a spiritual matter, not basically an intellectual one. The heart entertains spirits, and the mind entertains ideas. There are two spirits, the Holy Spirit and the unholy spirit. The Holy Spirit testifies of truth, but the unholy spirit tells us that whatever we want to believe is true and whatever we want to do is the good thing to do. The unholy spirit is the influence of Satan. The unholy spirit tells us humans that there is no such thing as Satan, and those who like the unholy spirit agree, and say that Satan is not real. So having a testimony of the Restored Gospel depends on how much we are influenced by either or both of those two spirits.
    3. Then there is desire. Some people do not want to have a testimony, no matter what. Sometimes this stems from their ancestors belonging to another church. Sometimes it stems from a desire not to be in the minority. Sometimes it stems from specifically wishing to break one or more of the commandments. Those who are hungry to know the truth and to live it will eventually find a testimony and will live by it.
    4. And there is selfishness or a lack thereof. Those who are intent on doing their own will and in obtaining the pleasure or worldly rewards that are dear to them will not seek nor often find a testimony. But those who enjoy ministering to the needs of others and heavily invest in doing so will eventually find their way to the Restored Gospel and its ordinances because there one finds the power to bless others maximally.

    My most precious possession is my testimony that Jesus is the Christ and that the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is the only true and living church on the face of this earth. My personal testimony rests on three pillars. First, I can pray and get answers to my prayers. I do not get answers always or about every matter, but I get enough that I am completely sold on prayer to the Father in the name of Jesus Christ. The second pillar of my testimony is the Book of Mormon. As I read and study it, I receive revelation that quickens my understanding and often shows me the path I must follow to do good. The third pillar of my testimony is the power of the Holy Priesthood as I see it exercised by those in authority and also by others and by myself.

    One strong component of my testimony is an awareness of the existence and power of Satan. I find I must struggle with his temptations every day, almost every minute. It is as if I were walking on the top of a wall where there is a path just wide enough to walk comfortably. But there are ropes attached to my arms and legs which someone uses to pull me to one side or the other to try to topple me from the wall. I find that by paying very careful attention to what I am doing, I can resist the tugs when they come. If I do not resist, then I am pulled off the wall. Only by arduous effort can I then get back on the wall (the arduous effort is sincere repentance and then partaking of the sacrament). It is my firm belief that the many persons who do not believe in the existence of Satan and his power to tempt us have no real defense against his power.

    Every normal adult has a testimony of something. But those who have a testimony that Jesus is the Christ and how to come unto him are very specially blessed.

    May each of you be blessed.

    C. C. Riddle

  • New Names and the New Covenant

    Chauncey C. Riddle

    I ask for an interest in your faith and prayers. I tremble a little bit because as I say things it’s impossible to say everything and I find I miss saying important things. For instance, in relation to forgiving: somebody just brought to my attention that I didn’t say they have to trespass against us personally before we can extend mercy to them. I can’t be merciful to somebody when they trespass against you. Oh I can help in a way. If they defraud you l can pay you, the defrauded and in a sense I can help you. But that isn’t really mercy. The Savior can do that because he is perfect, he has no sins of his own. So the important place we apply mercy is when people trespass against us, and then we forgive them.

    Well, let’s reconstruct the total picture of what we’re trying to do here. I’m trying to talk about the great law, which is to love the Lord our God, who is Jesus Christ, with all of our heart, might, mind, and strength. I equate that with faith in Jesus Christ. Faith in Christ is simply to love him with all of our heart, might, mind, and strength. And everything in the gospel; all the principles, all the laws, all the ordinances are designed to focus into that point, to bring us to full faith in Jesus Christ.

    Now there are two main stems or aspects that comprise faith in Jesus Christ, as I understand it. One is repentance. The other is service. Repentance is getting our lives in order. It is rebuilding our character and our nature. Through obedience, through sacrifice, through consecration so that we can then learn to be just and merciful. In other words to love purely. So that when we go to serve we will be serving in the pure love of Christ. We are not doing our will. We’re not shedding forth our light. We are showing forth his light and truth in all that we do. Then repentance makes us a conduit. A perfected conduit for the light of Christ. Then as we go forth to serve, that is to say to love our neighbor, as Christ loves us, then we are simply reflecting his light that he loves us with, through ourselves to our neighbor, that their life might be blessed by Jesus Christ even as we are blessed by Jesus Christ.

    And we have talked about blessing others, which is service in the stewardship that we have, and how the priesthood is the thing that enables us to fulfill those stewardships, when they are stewardships over people. Today our discussion concerns the New and Everlasting Covenant.  It is the New and Everlasting Covenant that puts all of repentance together. The things we have been talking about are not things we can do by our own will. What we do is choose to reflect the light and truth of Jesus Christ perfectly out into the world. To love our neighbor as Christ loves us. We can want to do that but we have  no power to do that on our own even if we understand it and choose it. We have to be empowered and the empowering comes in the New and Everlasting Covenant. That empowering is part of salvation.

    Salvation comes through power. To as many as believe in him, Jesus Christ gives the power to become his sons and daughters. And his sons and daughters are his jewels. His jewels are the ones that are perfected and polished and reflect his light. Without changing it, without loss, they simply reflect his light becoming selfless as he is. He reflects the Father’s light. And if we reflect his light then we will be passing on that which is perfect and godly and good.

    And so today I would like to review the New and Everlasting Covenant as the vehicle by which we accomplish all of these things. Let’s review the old covenant first just by way of background. In the council in heaven the first covenant was announced.

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

    Now that’s the first covenant. That’s the law of justice or the covenant of justice.

    “They who keep their first estate shall not have glory in the same kingdom with those who keep their first estate (be added upon.)” That is to say they will have the chance to go to the second estate. “They who keep not their first estate shall not have glory in the same kingdom with those who keep their second estate. And they who keep their second estate”, that is to say, who do everything they’re told without fail in their mortal probation, “shall have glory added upon their heads for ever and ever.” Abr. 3:26

    But as we have pointed out, none of us keeps that first covenant . We all break it, except Jesus Christ. He claimed his blessings through that covenant. And of course, if no one had claimed blessing through that covenant there would be no one to be a Savior. And thus the New and Everlasting Covenant or the second covenant could not even exist. And so there is another covenant which comes in the mercy and grace of God. We read a little bit about this in Moses, Chapter 6. This is Enoch speaking to the people, he said that, “because Adam fell we are. By his fall came death,” spiritual death. “We are made partakers of misery and woe.” That partaking of misery and woe was necessary. And also necessary was that we understand the evil, the misery, and the woe. Because without understanding that we would not have the freedom to choose the good. The fall brought to us the knowledge of good and evil.

    Under the first covenant, if we had chosen the good unerringly all during our lives we would satisfy the covenant. But we don’t do that so there has to be a way that we can still be saved after having chosen evil.

    “Satan hath come among the children of men, and tempteth them to worship him; and men have become carnal, sensual, and devilish, they are shut out from the presence of God.”

    Moses 6:49

    And only by one of these covenants can we ever come back to the presence of God.

    “But God hath made known unto our fathers that all men must repent. And he called upon our father Adam by his own voice saying: I am God; I made the world and men before they were in the flesh. And he said unto him: If thou wilt turn unto me, and hearken unto my voice, and believe and repent of all thy transgressions”, of having chosen evil, “and be baptized, even in water, in the name of my Only Begotten Son, who is full of grace and truth, which is Jesus Christ, the only name which shall be given under heaven, whereby salvation shall come unto the children of men, ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost, ask in all things In his name, and whatsoever ye shall ask, it shall be given you.”  Moses 6: 50-52

    The main thing that we need to ask for is for the ability to stop choosing evil and start choosing only the good. Because the second law requires of us in the end to do what the first law requires. What the first covenant requires is to choose good without fail, without erring. But we get to err  under the second law, that is to say it is possible for us to have sinned and then learn to obey God in all things and still be saved because of the Savior’s atonement.

    “And our father Adam spoke unto the Lord, and said: , why is it that man must repent and be baptized in water? And the Lord said unto Adam: Behold I have forgiven thee thy transgression in the Garden of Eden. Hence came the saying abroad among the people. that the Son of God hath atoned for original guilt, wherein the sins of the parents cannot be answered upon the heads of the children … And the Lord spake unto Adam, saying: Inasmuch as thy children are conceived in sin”, that is to say they are conceived into a sinful situation, “even so when they begin to grow up, sin conceiveth in their hearts, and they taste the bitter that they may know to prize the good. And it is given unto them to know good from evil.”  Moses 6: 53-55

    No human being comes into this world and is of normal mentality except he has full command of good and evil. He may not know the gospel of Jesus Christ but he knows good and evil. He knows good by the light of Christ, and evil by the temptations of Satan. And thus each man is an agent unto himself …

    “. . . and I have given you another law and commandment.” Moses 6: 56

    And this other law is the New and Everlasting Covenant. This marvelous, wonderful gift of mercy from God whereby we may repent and learn to serve, that is to say, to choose good without sinning, without erring, and thus be established in an eternal path of righteousness.

    “. . . all men everywhere must repent, or they can in no wise inherit the kingdom of God, for no unclean thing can dwell there.”  Moses 6:57

    There has to be a way to get clean.

    “For in the language of Adam, Man of Holiness is his name, and the name of his Only Begotten is the Son of Man, even Jesus Christ, a righteous Judge, who shall come in the meridian of time. . teach these things freely to your children saying: that by reason of transgression cometh the fall , which fall bringeth death, and inasmuch as ye were born Into the world by water, and blood and the spirit, which I have made, and so become of dust a living soul, even so ye must be born again”, spiritual “into the kingdom of heaven, of water and of the Spirit and be cleansed by blood. even the blood of mine Only Begotten; that ye might be sanctified from all sin, and enjoy the words of eternal life in this world, and eternal life In the world to come, even Immortal glory; For by the water ye keep the commandment”, the commandment to repent and be baptized, “by the Spirit ye are justified”, you are taught to be just and righteous. In other words to be both just and merciful. “And by the blood ye are sanctified.”  Moses 6:57-60

    The blood of Christ enables us to work out our salvation so that our sins are all made up for by Christ. The suffering and the sacrifice are taken care of so that our record can stand as if we had never sinned, though we have. But the Savior acts as our buffer, our advocate, our Savior in that he saves us from the eternal consequences of those sins.

    Now, let’s review the parts of the new and everlasting covenant. First we are called upon to repent and be baptized. To repent is to turn our hearts to Jesus Christ, to declare ourselves against evil and for good, and to recognize in Christ the only hope we have for achieving good and relinquishing all evil. And so we choose to make the covenant with him.  And the covenant of baptism is first of all that we will take upon ourselves his name. Secondly, that we will keep every commandment that he gives us. And thirdly, that we will always remember him. He tells us that always remembering him is the key to always having his spirit to be with us. And having his spirit to be with us brings us the knowledge and the power to choose only good, and thus to be worthy of our Father who himself has chosen only good, and is the epitome himself of all goodness.

    If we make that covenant honestly and honorably, then hands are laid upon our head and we are given the right to the constant companionship of the Holy Ghost. And that is the pearl of great price as I understand it. Because without that we cannot fulfill the righteousness of Christ. That is what teaches us and empowers us with righteousness or justice. By the spirit we are justified. The Holy Ghost becomes our personal tutor to lift our minds to the vision of what it means to be perfect in Christ, to be just, to be kindly, to love with perfect love and thus to serve in the manner in which Christ serves. And so we receive the Holy Ghost.

    If we then obey the instruction (the commandments) we are given to receive the Holy Ghost, and we receive it into our lives and we treasure him as our constant companion by yielding to him constantly, yielding to those enticings of the Holy Spirit, which entice us constantly to righteousness.  We can only do that by softening our hearts and letting ourselves be led as a little child in the way of Christ. After learning to follow the Holy Ghost, then comes the time where there is another new and everlasting covenant, another part of this whole covenant. Which is to receive the priesthood of God.

    Now we are beginning to go into the service of others using thew power of God. The Aaronic priesthood, of course is a temporary priesthood, a temporal priesthood. It is receiving the Melchizedek Priesthood that is the really significant event. But both are important. As we receive the Melchizedek Priesthood, we enter into the oath and covenant of the priesthood. The oath and the covenant of the priesthood are part of this empowering. We make certain promises to the Lord.  He makes the oath, we make the covenant. We are not  to make oaths, because until we’re perfect we can’t guarantee that we will fulfill the oaths. But we can covenant, we can make promises to do the best we can to obey as we are told. So we covenant that we will use this priesthood to bless others as our Father directs us. He promises us if we will use this priesthood to bless and go on to receive the fullness of this priesthood then we will receive from him all that he has. We will share all that Christ has been given. Let’s read some of the words of  Section 84 of the Doctrine and Covenants. The whole first part of this section is a description of the oath and covenant of the priesthood.  Verse 20,

    “Therefore in the ordinances of the gospel of Jesus Christ the power of godliness is manifest.”

    This is the purpose of the ordinances which constitute the New and Everlasting Covenant is to deliver to us the power of godliness. Which is simply the power to be good. God is good, that’s what the word “God” means. And the power of godliness is the power to be good without error, fully good, wholly good.

    “. . . without the ordinances thereof, and the authority of the priesthood, the power of godliness is not manifest unto men in the flesh; For without this no man can see the face of God, even the Father, and live.”

    We can’t become good enough to stand in the presence of the Father and enjoy his eternal presence except through Jesus Christ who cleanses us from doing evil through repentance and from the consequences of having done evil through the Atonement.

    “Now this Moses plainly taught to the children of Israel in the wilderness. and he sought diligently to sanctify his people that they might behold the face of God”

    Sanctification has to do with our sins. Until our debts of justice, where we have sinned, are made up, he can’t stand us in is presence. He can’t stand anyone who has hurt someone else and doesn’t care. If we care there is a way to make up for it, to get the persons we have offended compensated and the record clean. That way is through Christ. But if we don’t care enough to make sure that everybody whom we’ve hurt is recompensed through Christ, then we don’t belong in his presence. The children of Israel in the wilderness hardened their hearts and they could not endure his presence. In other words they said, “The way is to straight for us. We still want to choose evil.There are some things that we desire to do that are not good.”  The Lord in his wrath (for his anger was kindled against them) swore that they should not enter into his rest. Which is his presence:

    “Therefore, the Lord in his wrath. for his anger was kindled against them, swore that they should no enter into his rest while in the wilderness, which rest is the fullness of his glory. Therefore, he took Moses out of their mist and the holy priesthood also;” D&C 84:24-25

    That is to say, he took from them the Melchizedek Priesthood. “The lesser priesthood continued”, with them “which priesthood holdeth the keys of the ministering of angels and the preparatory gospel.” D&C 84:26  This that they never-the-less might have some portion of good and righteousness that would help them to be prepared to receive the fullness again when the time was right. So the lesser power continued with them until John the Baptist:

    “Which gospel is the gospel of repentance and of baptism and the remission of sins, and the law of carnal commandments, which the Lord in his wrath caused to continue with the house of Aaron among the children of Israel until John, who God raised up being filled with the Holy Ghost from his mother’s womb. For he was baptized while he was yet In his childhood and was ordained by the angel of God at the time he was eight days old unto this power, to overthrow the kingdom of the Jews”. D&C 84:27

    To do good by the power of the Aaronic Priesthood is a preparation for doing greater good through the power of the Melchizedek Priesthood.  Having received the priesthood, it is then necessary for the recipients to make an acceptable offering unto the Lord through the powers of that priesthood:

    “Therefore as I said concerning the sons of Moses, for the sons of Moses and also the sons of Aaron shall offer an acceptable offering unto that sacrifice in the house of the Lord, which house shall be built unto the Lord in this generation upon the consecrated spot as I have appointed. And the sons of Moses and of Aaron shall be filled with the glory of the Lord, upon mount Zion in the Lord’s house, whose sons are ye; and also many whom I have called and sent forth to build up my church. For whoso is faithful unto the obtaining of these two priesthoods of which I have spoken and the magnifying their calling are sanctified by the spirit unto the renewing of their bodies.”

    D&C 84: 31-33

    They are made holy by obedience to the Holy Spirit. And:

    “They become the sons of Moses and of Aaron and the seed of Abraham, and the church and kingdom, and elect of God. And also all they who receive this priesthood receive me saith the Lord; For he that receiveth my servants receiveth me; And he that receiveth me receiveth my Father; And he that receiveth my Father receiveth my Father’s kingdom; Therefore all that my Father hath shall be given him. And this is according to the oath and covenant which belongeth to the priesthood. Therefore, all those who receive the priesthood, receive this oath and covenant of my Father, which he cannot break, neither can it be moved. But whoso breaketh this covenant after he hath received it, and altogether turneth therefrom shall not have forgiveness of sins in this world nor in the world to come.” D&C 84: 34-41

    Those who turn away altogether are, of course,  the sons of perdition.

    And I now give you a commandment, to beware concerning yourselves, to give diligent heed to the words of eternal life. For ye shall live by every word that proceedeth forth out of the mouth of God. For the word of the Lord is truth, and whatsoever is truth is light, and whatsoever is light is Spirit, even the spirit of Jesus Christ. And the spirit giveth light to every man that cometh Into the world; and the spirit enlighteth every man through the world that hearkeneth to the voice of the spirit. And everyone that hearkeneth to the voice of the spirit cometh unto God. Even the Father. And the Father teacheth him of the covenant which he has renewed and confirmed upon you, which is confirmed upon you for your sakes, and not for your sakes only, but for the sake of the whole world.”  D&C 84: 43-48

    If all we needed to do was to be saved ourselves, of course we would just need to repent, in a sense. But repentance involves the service. We can’t fully repent and we can’t fully have faith in Christ without turning and helping the rest of the world be saved also.

    “And the whole world lieth in sin and groaneth under darkness and under the bondage of sin.” D&C 84:49

    And thus it is our mission, if we want to be saved, is to help save others, to love our neighbor and to share with them the opportunity of salvation, even as the Savior has loved us and has given us the opportunity to be saved.

    Now we need to talk about names. Why these interesting names? The sons of Moses and of Aaron, the seed of Abraham, the house of Israel, the priesthood of Melchizedek. Now, we are given a key in the Doctrine and Covenants. We know the true name of the Melchizedek priesthood is not “the Melchizedek Priesthood.” We know the true name of the priesthood is “The Holy Priesthood after the order of the Son of God.” In other words, it is the priesthood of Jesus Christ. But it was given the name Melchizedek because Melchizedek was a great High priest in ancient times and used that priesthood so effectively (more effectively than anyone in the ancient world) to serve his fellow men and to bring them to Christ, that they too might be saved. That’s the purpose of the priesthood.

    Now let’s look at the name Melchizedek. `Melki‘ means “king of,” `Zedek‘ means righteousness. The name means “king of righteousness.” Now why was the name Melchizedek given to the priesthood of God? Let me give you my interpretation. Please do not believe this unless you have better evidence than my evidence. But may I give you this as a hypothesis. My understanding is that Melchizedek is another of the names of Christ. He is the king of righteousness, there is no other king of righteousness. He is the sole fountain of righteousness on this earth. And if any person seeks to have righteousness they must come unto Jesus Christ and make their personal peace with him. He is the keeper of the gate of righteousness. He employs no servant there. And if we wish to have it we must deal with him. How did it happen that Melchizedek the man got that name? Well my guess is, that what the Savior is pleased to do is to put his own names upon his faithful servants. And thus everybody who comes to Christ is likely to get a new name. And the new name will be one of Christ’s names. I believe that “Melchizedek” is one of the names of Christ.

    For instance, there was a man named Abram and when he became faithful he received a new name. What’s his new name? Abraham. What does Abraham mean? The AB is pronounced av in Hebrew. Av means Father. Ra means many. Am means people. Father of many people, father of many children. Who is the real father of all these children. The real father is the Savior. He’s the one who’s the father. He’s the creator of every human being on earth. Not the spirit body but the physical tabernacle. And he’s the one that enables each one to be reborn to righteousness. I think Abraham is one of the Son’s names, one of the Savior’s names. What was the first thing we promised in taking the new and everlasting covenant? To take upon ourselves the name of Christ. How many names does he have? At least four hundred that we have in the scriptures. And I suspect that when we get it all figured out that there will be a lot more than that.

    Now, what are we to do? Christ’s purpose is to share everything he has with us. And as we acquire the attributes and blessings that he has acquired for our selves, we progressively take upon ourselves his name. Or we might say, his names, as we become like Him.

    About three years ago Elder Dallin Oaks gave a talk in conference. He talked about the sacrament and what we promise to do there. At first I couldn’t understand what he was saying. But as I studied this material out it finally dawned on me what he was saying. I commend that talk to you. Go back and read it. You’ll find it to be very instructive, very enlightening. It pointed me to this understanding of taking upon us the name of Christ.     Let’s look at some of the other names. The name Enoch, means initiated or begun. What do we associate Enoch with? I associate him with law of consecration. When we get established or initiated or have begun in that law, we are taking upon ourselves the name Enoch. I understand the name Enoch to be a name of Jesus Christ which he gave to his faithful servant Enoch.

    Consider the name David,  and the throne of David. The throne of David is Christ’s throne. It speaks in the scriptures of David in the last days and my understanding that means our Savior. The word `David’ means “loving.” He is the God of love. And his throne is the throne of grace and love. If you and I ever hope to fulfill the full love of Jesus Christ we will perhaps want to enjoy the throne of David. The throne of David is a place of service to others, where the welfare of others is put ahead of our own. Now true, the man King David had some problems. But the word David is still a good name.

    The word `Moses’. What does the word `Moses’ mean? Who are the `sons of Moses?’ The word `Moses’ in the Egyptian means simply “the son.” Son, who is the son? We know who the son is. The word Moses is simply one of the Savior’s designations. The Hebrew meaning for Mosha, which is the Hebrew equivalent for the Egyptian Moses, means “rescued”. And we can see why that would be. He was rescued from the bulrushes. But there’s a little twist to that in the Egyptian. The name `Isaiah,’ “God has saved.” The name `Israel,’ “he will rule as God.” If you know what the blessings of Israel are and you hope to share them, when you rule as God you will take upon yourself the name Israel. That means you will rule under Christ, who is, as I understand it, the real Israel. And a man named Jacob was given that name as his new name because it was the name of his father Jesus Christ. Think about it and pray about it. If you have a new name you might wonder what it means. You might want to find out. Because I think you will find out that somehow it represents the Savior to you. And it’s something he would like you either to become or to be which he has rewarded you with already, in your path to perfection.

    Let us now turn to Section 132 and read a few words about the New and Everlasting Covenant. Verse 2:

    “Behold, and lo, I am the Lord thy God, and will answer thee as touching this matter.”

    The matter of course is many wives and concubines. But many of these comments apply to the whole of the new and everlasting covenant. Therefore are pertinent to us.

    “Prepare thy heart to receive and obey the instructions which I am about to give unto you; for all those who have this law revealed to them must obey the same.” D&C 132:3

    In other words. it’s better not have known the Lord than to know him and then defy him.

    “For behold I reveal unto you a new and an everlasting covenant and if ye abide not that covenant, then ye are damned.”  D&C 132:4

    You’re stopped in your progress.

    “For no one can reject this covenant and be permitted to enter into my glory.” D&C 132:4

    There is no other way.

    “For all who will have a blessing at my hands shall abide the law which was appointed for that blessing and the conditions thereof, as were instituted from, before the foundation of the world.” D&C 132:5

    We need to quote another scripture here in this connection.

    “There is a law upon which all blessings are predicated and when we receive any blessing it is by obedience to that law …” D&C  130:20

    I understand this scripture to say that there is one law upon which all blessings are predicated. Not many laws, but only one law by which to receive blessing from God . When you talk about celestial things, it is the law of the gospel, not the laws of the gospel. Now, what’s that one law? The one law, as I understand it, is faith in Jesus Christ. Which translated in other words means to love Jesus Christ who is the Lord our God, with all of our heart, might, mind, and strength. Now, if we receive any blessing we get it only through that law by coming to full faith in Christ. Which means to partake of the fullness of the new and everlasting covenant. Because only in that covenant is there power to become fully just and merciful, to come to that fullness of love which is Christ, in which we are trying to emulate him. And these conditions were pointed and instituted from before the foundations of the world.

    “And as pertaining to the new and everlasting covenant, it was instituted for the fullness of my glory; and he that receiveth a fullness thereof must and shall abide the law, or he shall be damned.”

    Everyone who is not exalted is damned. We have our choice, no one is exalted except they want it and want it enough to give up all their sins and become a little child In the hands of Christ and do all things that he would have them do, to live by every word that proceeds forth out of his mouth.

    “Verily I say unto you, the conditions of this law are these: all covenants, contracts, bonds, obligations, oaths, vows, performances, connections, associations, expectations …” D&C 132:7

    Anything that is done in this world, that is not entered into and sealed by the Holy Spirit of promise, which comes in connection with the new and everlasting covenant.

    “… of him who is anointed, both as well for time and for all eternity and that too most holy, by revelation and commandment through the medium of mine anointed, whom I have appointed on earth to hold this power on the earth. And I have appointed my servant Joseph, to hold this power in the last days and there is never but one on the earth at a time on whom this power and the keys of this priesthood are conferred.” D&C 132:7

    Who has it today? President Ezra Taft Benson.

    “Are of no efficacy, virtue, or force in and alter the resurrection from the dead.” D&C 132:7

    The new and everlasting covenant is the only power that goes through death and resurrection. In other words, it’s the only thing that makes anything everlasting or eternal, that’s why it’s called for one thing the new and everlasting covenant.

    “All contracts that are not made unto this end have an end when men are dead. My house is a house of order saith the Lord and not a house of confusion. Will I accept of an offering, saith the Lord, that is not made in my name? Or will I receive at your hands that which I have not appointed? And will I appoint unto you accept by law? Even as I and my Father ordained you before the world was? I am the Lord thy God. I have given you this commandment, no man shall come unto the Father but by me or by my word, which is my law.”  D&C 132: 7-10

    To have faith in Christ is to fulfill the law.

    “Everything that is in the world, whether it be ordained of man or thrones, or principalities, or powers of things that whatsoever that they may be, that are not by me or by my word, saith the Lord shall be thrown down and not remain after men are dead. Nor in nor after the resurrection, saith the Lord your God.” D&C 132:13

    No marriage connection, no parent- child relationship, nothing of that will stand except it is confirmed, and hallowed, and made eternal, through the New and Everlasting Covenant.

    “Whatsoever things are made are by me and whatsoever things are not by me shall be shaken and destroyed.” D&C 132:14

    The thing that amazes me is how great a thing the Savior is trying to give to us. He’s trying to share with us all that he has, which is the power to govern and control and be a steward over the universe. And there’s nothing greater. But we must do it in his way, through covenant, through his power, under his Spirit, in his love and his mercy. So, we can’t say we haven’t been told.

    Now, I rejoice with you in these things. This is marvelous, this is life. And to have an opportunity to know these things is the key to everything else. In heart, might, mind, and strength there is an order. The psychological order is mind, heart, strength, and might. That’s the order in which we must deal with things in the world. We first must understand them and then we must take them into our hearts and then we must reflect them in our bodies through our actions and that will then reflect any effect we have In the world. Now there are other orders given but that’s the order we have to do it. That’s the reason were talking about these things.

    It’s important to remember that there are different kinds of minds. We’ll take just a little side trip here for just a minute and talk about the kinds of minds. There’s a mind or shall we say a person that corresponds to each of the four things: heart, might, mind, and strength. A person who’s center focus is the heart, I call a Hebrew. And Abraham Is the epitome of the Hebrew. He could not stand that anyone should suffer. He was willing to risk his own life to help others. The Savior, of course, is the same. He is the epitome of all good things. Abraham is a good example.He as a mortal human was born and raised out of the church. He found the gospel and so loved the Savior that he became known as “the friend of God.” Because he was all heart. He couldn’t stand that anyone should suffer and he wanted to help them whenever he could.

    Now there is another kind of person, who is a mind person. The mind person glories in understanding and they want to figure everything out and know everything. Now that’s good except if you don’t have a heart. If you emphasis the mind and the figuring of it all out and you don’t have the heart to go and do it, the mind is relatively worthless. That’s what I call a Greek mind.

    Now there’s the Trojan person. The Trojan person is one who thinks that the body is everything. They’re really interested in health. They really like the Word of Wisdom. They really emphasis that. They like the physical culture. They like things like Yoga, because it’s training the body, giving them power, strength. They like beauty, they like clothing, they glory in the trappings of the world. Considering a Trojan person, there’s nothing wrong with those things in their place. But if  you don’t have a good heart heart and a good mind to go with it, you don’t have very much.

    And then there’s the Roman person who glories in might. They want power in this world above all else. They want to rule and reign. They want to get people to do what they want them to do. Sometimes, of course, they say they are doing it for the benefit of the people they’re reigning over. They are their brother’s keeper. And they’re going to make sure their brother is kept just the way he wants them kept.

    Now I say this because as we talk about these things, there’s a danger. The danger is that we will slip into the Greek person, who is  ever learning, understanding the principles, but never coming to the knowledge of the truth. And the knowledge of the truth is Jesus Christ. To know him is to be him, to be as he is. And if we learn all of these things and don’t do something it’ s a damnation to us. And I say it because I tend to be Greek and I know it.  I’ve got to be transformed into a Hebrew, to be like Abraham, to be like my Savior. Otherwise all of this is a waste.

    May I say again in conclusion. Please don’t believe a word I’ve said. I’ve shared with you the best that my heart and mind can produce. But I am a man and I`m still struggling with my own salvation. And I would commend to you the true and living God who does hear and answers prayers, who will enlighten every single one of us on these things if we will just go to him and pray about them and try to implement them the best we can in our lives. And if we will do that, he is gracious, he is good, he will answer us. Revelation is the life blood of this kingdom. It is the rock on which we must stand, each one of us personally and individually. And if we do, then we will have no regrets. That’s wisdom.

    We have five minutes for questions, it. you would like to ask a question.

    (question) Why does it require a sinless person to atone for someone else’s sins?

    Because it if they weren’t sinless they would have to atone for their own sins. (follow-up unheard) My understanding is no, that when we have sinned — I don’t know what else I can say, in other words I can’t explain it fully. But that’s a good question we should both ask. So let’s ask it and get the answer, because there are answers.

    (question) The meaning of the name of Noah?

    Noah means quiet, rest. And of course where is there rest but in the Lord. He is the prince of peace. He is the author of all real rest. His rest is the glory of his presence.

    (question) Adam?

    The word Adam means man.

    (question) I know a lot of us feel so overwhelmed and so impressed by the things you say but are limited in our ability to catch all your thoughts. And I can’t find any books, is there anything available?  (Bro. Riddle hold up the scriptures) laughing she responds, I guess I was put in my place.

    I didn’t mean to insult you but I simply hope you realize that anything written by an ordinary man is not scripture. That would be a strictly secondary source. These (the scriptures) are the only primary sources we have. I need to enlarge that just a little bit. What are primary sources? The primary sources of scripture that we have are: the words of the prophets, of which these are part. These written scriptures, these are the canonized scriptures. The un-canonized scriptures are the other words of the prophets. The most important single piece of written scripture that we have that I know anything about is the temple ceremony. And my guess is, that if we really want to understand the ways of the Lord, we will go to the temple and study that ceremony until we understand it backwards and forwards. It is the most complicated, most beautiful puzzle I have ever seen and the most worthwhile thing to figure out. And if you and I can figure out what every word means in that ceremony we will have the greatest treasure there is, I think. That is the jewel that we think of.  The canonized scripture is preliminary to the temple in what it’s trying to deliver to us. And there are things beyond that of course. For eye hath not seen nor ear heard that has entered into heart of man the good things that God has to give those that love him. So, we are rich, we have so much already, that if we will just take that which we have and concentrate on it. We don’t need all the commentaries in the world. Sometimes the worst thing you can do is go read a commentary on the scripture and get your mind lost by a half-truth which keeps you from seeing what’s really in the scriptures. So that’s why I say, please don’t believe what I say, because I’ve talked to enough people who have heard me to know that some of them have been blocked by some of the things I’ve said and I’m sorry. But I share in the sense that maybe something I have said will cause you to get on your knees and pray about something. And in that situation, that is where the real good comes, that’s where the real pure stuff comes to us, and on this revelation from God we can base our lives and our salvation.

    (question) Sariah?

    Sariah was named Sarah, I think it means “princess.” And that’s fitting because if truly we serve under our Father, the king, we are truly princes and princess. In other words we are apprentice kings and queens.

  • Principles I

    Chauncey C. Riddle

    I emphasize again, as I did yesterday, that what I am saying is my idea. I have tried to study and put together the gospel in my mind. In preparing these lectures this year I’ve learned some things I’ve never thought before. So I have to apologize for some things I’ve said in the past. I hope each of you will take what I say with a grain of salt, test it for yourself. But we’re engaged in a wonderful enterprise, that of discerning the mind and will of our God. That I think is the most important thing we need to do, because that is the key to every other good thing. Let’s now turn to the principles of the gospel and talk about them.

    The Gospel of Jesus Christ is the good news of salvation sent to the natural man. The central principle of the Gospel of Jesus Christ is faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. All other principle are facets or appendages of this faith. That is to say, anything else you can mention is somehow an aspect of faith in Jesus Christ. That is to say, every other good thing. This principle is sometimes called the law of the gospel, singular.

    We talk about laws sometimes, but when we speak of laws usually we’re speaking on a terrestrial level. When we’re talking about the pure celestial law it is singular, there’s only one law. That law is to put our faith and trust in the Lord Jesus Christ. Without living by this principle, it is impossible to please God. Whatsoever is not of this principle, that is to say, whatever act, whatever we do that is not an act of faith in Christ is sin.

    This faith is the unique access to righteousness in this world. Jesus Christ is the fountain of all righteousness. We must go to that fountain and drink of the waters of life to have any access to righteousness. So, to have faith in Christ, is first to hear him. Faith comes by hearing of the word. Until we receive a message from him and this means a personal revelation. Now the message may be occasioned by the words of a human being or by the print in a book or by some other occasion but the message itself always comes by spiritual means as revealed through the power of the Holy Ghost.

    So, the first thing that we must do, the prerequisite, the thing that makes faith possible is to first hear his voice.

    Secondly we must love and believe him. It’s possible to hear and obey without being faithful. The devils do that but they don’t love and believe him. They obey because they know they have to. So the thing that makes the difference between mere obedience and faith is that we love him who gives us this righteousness and we believe him, we believe what he says.

    Then thirdly we obey him. Now when this is done with our hearts, that is to say when we our faithful with our hearts we love him. When we love him with our mind, when we are faithful with our mind we believe him. When we our faithful with our body, our strength, then we obey him. When we’re faithful with our might, that is to say all that we own and control, that is consecration. Faith is not whole and perfect until it is a love of God a love of Christ in particular with all of one’s heart, might, mind, and strength. As I see it then, the first great commandment and the law of the gospel are identical. They are the same thing said in different words in different ways. And they tie together beautifully, they map one another.

    So we must hear him to know what he wants us to do. We must believe that his instruction is life and righteousness in order to support him fully. We must love him in order to have the motivation, the willpower to overcome selfishness and to make the sacrifices necessary to be faithful. We must obey to bring to pass his will on earth, even as the Father’s will is done in heaven. The opposite of this faith is selfishness which is a synonym for sin. And for one who knows what he is doing selfishness and faithlessness are also insanity. That is to say, a person who is unfaithful knowing the possibilities of faith in Christ really doesn’t have all his marbles.

    Now I say that advisedly, recognizing, I suppose I may include you with me when I say I know I have been deliberately unfaithful and I look back and I see in my own life that is insanity. It’s crazy not to be faithful to the Savior. Sometimes we think that making sacrifices are going to hurt us so terribly that we’ll never recover. But we serve a good master and the sacrifices we make merely reap down to greater blessings on our head. We have a hard time sacrificing, because when we sacrifice our blessings are doubled than when we started with, in the long run. The short run, the short run is the test of our faith. And we must be willing to make the sacrifices to show that we love him.

  • The Creation of the Earth and the Probation of Man

    Chauncey C. Riddle

    We will talk about the creation of the earth and of the world as a setting for the probation of man. This earth was set up as the perfect place for man’s probation. Into this setting, now comes the gospel of Jesus Christ with its message of hope, life, and salvation. The Gospel of Jesus Christ is the good news of life. Life being the greatest kind of living.

    There are three kinds of life Father is trying to give us: He is trying to give us a certain duration and quality of physical life. He is trying to give us life in connection with righteousness. He is trying to give us life in connection with posterity. Now, any person who has all three of those who has a celestial, immortal body, who has become righteous and has the right and the opportunity to have posterity eternally. He has the fullness of eternal life or it’s called eternal lives. So, that’s what the Father is trying to give us through the gospel. He’s trying to give us salvation.

    The Prophet Joseph said that salvation was to be put beyond the power of our enemies. Who is our enemy? My understanding is that Satan is not our enemy, he’s not our friend either. He’s just there to do his job. My understanding is that our enemy is ourselves. And that what we need to do is to get rid of our selfishness. And if we can ever manage to do that, that is salvation. Because that’s the enemy we need to fear, is our own selfishness. When the Savior came among the Jews, they wanted to be saved but they had a different definition of salvation. Their definition of salvation was to smash the Roman Armies so they could become an independent political kingdom. His definition of salvation was to help them stop being selfish. And that they did not want. They wanted him to smash the Roman Armies and they rejected him as the Messiah because he had the audacity to tell them he was the Messiah and yet would do nothing about the Romans. Well the Savior had the Romans there for a special reason, that was part of the plan. It was his idea but most of the Jews’ nation did not see the idea and therefore missed the opportunity for life and salvation.

    The natural man is given this opportunity not because all of them will want it. All of them will want pieces of it. All of them will get immortality for instance but not all will have eternal lives in the full sense.

    The gospel itself is a short message. It consists of perhaps ten ideas which can be said in one breath if you have a good lung capacity. The gospel is compatible with all truth, indeed it embraces all truth and light in the universe. But it itself is a very limited short message. It is basically the message a person has to know to be ready worthy meaningfully baptized. So we are gong to review these ten ideas now. We’re not going to give them in the one breath, we’re going to expand on each one a little bit.

    First, Jesus Christ is the Son of God the Father. That’s the first thing we have to know. This is the Gospel of Jesus Christ. So the first thing we have to know is who Jesus Christ is. He is the Son of God. And that simply means, he was not a God at first but became a God, thus he is called the Son of God. Having become a God he has inherited all that the Father has. And that’s important because he extends that same opportunity to you and to me. He was Jehovah, the God of the Old Testament who’s name means, “will be.” He is the God who would be, that is to say, who was to come, on the earth. He was the God who would be born of Mary in the land of Jerusalem of the seed of Abraham, of the seed of David. But also he is literally the only begotten Son of God the Father in the flesh. He has this divine heritage and the natural mortal heritage. He had blood in his veins but he had sufficient of the divine heritage he could have lived for ever, not needing to die. And because he was the son of God and had the presence of his Father with him at all times and was perfectly obedient to his Father, he did not sin.

    He came into the world to do his Father’s will and to do nothing but his Father’s will. He did this completely and perfectly. His Father’s will was, that he should first lead this sinless life and then give up this perfect and potentially unending mortal life that he might ransom the souls and bodies of all mankind.

    Second, the Father’s will was that he be lifted up upon the cross, that is to say the main reason the Savior came to the earth was to atone for our sins. He didn’t apparently do anything else that was, for instance somebody else could have set up a church and taught the gospel. That wasn’t essential to his mission though he did those things. What was essential was that he do the two things; that he live a sinless life so that he could atone for our sins and then atone for our sins.

    The cross is the symbolic symbol of his working out the atonement. So having lived this sinless life because of his divine heritage he was able to personally, voluntarily take upon himself and suffer the debt of justice due for each and every sin that had been committed or would be committed by any human being on this earth. Again this is something that boggles the mind because this necessities that every sin (The Father is so omniscient that every sin that had been committed was carefully cataloged) every sin that was being committed was carefully cataloged, every sin that would be committed was carefully cataloged already when the Savior wrought his atonement.

    So there was something known about your life and my life, every lie that we ever tell was already known back when the Savior did his atonement. Does that mean we are free? Well, stop and think about how we are free. The thing that is important to us is that we must recognize that when we sin, we sin of our own choice. That is to say, after we know the gospel and have the Spirit as our companion. If we then sin deliberately then we are deliberate adding to the Savior’s burden, that is say it was known back then that we would deliberately know we were sinning against him and adding to his atonement. So even that’s known. So we have to be careful that we do not crucify him afresh. Shed his blood again by our own deliberate sins. That’s the thing that is very hard to get forgiveness for. It’s much easier to receive forgiveness for a sin that’s not known, that is to say when we don’t know what we’re doing. Whenever a person does the right thing, there’s a measure of blessing that goes out to everybody whom he effects.

    Happy, smiling, full of the Spirit, he affects everybody that passes by. This is fun to watch in New York City where the contrast is so obvious. You walk down the street and here comes somebody who is a saint. It’s as there was a light extending out about eight or ten feet and it’s so special to see that. To see the missionaries standing on a street corner and sometimes that light will be around them. It’s so special, so precious in that situation. Well, that’s the nature of our lives, we were sent into the earth to radiate a certain amount of blessing and happiness and good to others. Now anything short of that possible radiation happens because we disobey God. That shortness is the measure of our sin. So if we either shorten that blessing or replace it with evil, that is to say we spread an evil influence. That’s the measure of the sin of our lives. And the debt of justice is, somebody has to make up for all of that.

    God put everybody on earth intending, that is to say, when things are right everybody is radiating this good. So everybody is getting so much radiation of good from others that their life is completely happy. Now, if we were to live in Zion we would see that kind of situation. Everybody would be so happy and so blessed, there would be no sickness, no depression, no schizophrenia, no problems. Everybody would be so busy doing what they’re supposed to do to serve the Father that everybody would be in a constant state of joy. I said it wasn’t a state. Everybody would have joy and be in a constant state of happiness. And that is the heritage of all human beings to live in that kind of a state.

    Whenever any human being defies the commandments of God he shortens someone else in receiving that happiness. That is sin. And justice is, that person has to account for having shorted his fellow beings. I hope that makes sense. So, whenever we sin we cause others to suffer. And the measure of our lives is the amount of suffering we have caused. And we have to account for all the suffering. It is expected that as children of God with this wonderful heritage we would not cause suffering. But when we deliberately go against God and cause suffering then we have to pay for it. We have been set free but to be free also means that we must also be accountable. Now, what did the Savior do? He came into the earth and took the sum total of all this suffering that ever had been caused, that was being caused, that ever would be caused on the earth and suffered for all that pain in one twenty-four hour period.

    Now you and I can’t imagine how much suffering we’ve caused with our own lives. We can think back a little bit about how others have caused us to suffer through their sins. And we have some sense then of how we have caused others to suffer. But you sum that up for all human beings over all time, it’s an impossible thing for us to imagine. But it is such a great weight of suffering no human being can even understand it, let alone suffer it.

    But the Savior, being a God, could both understand it and suffer it, every last particle. It’s no wonder he asked the Father if it be possible that the cup might pass from him. He was in intense pain. Had he had the privilege of spreading that pain out over a thousand years, that would have been a little easier to bare. But he had to do it all in that one twenty-four hour period. That was his cup. That’s why he was born. For that hour he came into the world and lived a sinless life. So that then he could suffer that suffering. Why did he suffer that suffering? So that then he could forgive us. Because you and I if we’re not forgiven can never go back to the Father. The Father being a perfect being cannot look upon sin with the least degree of allowance. So anybody who has sinned and has not made up for it can’t ever be in his presence again. And you and I can’t make up for our sins. Because there is another part to sinning besides the suffering.

    The suffering has to be paid for but then the recompense has to be paid back to the person we sinned against. So that their life is as though we had never sinned against them. How do you go back and make all the reparations? Our sins go on through time, think how much suffering and evil it brings into the world with those acts. We’re responsible for this and until those wrongs are set right and suffered for and all the wrong that was set in motion by that is set right, the thing is not whole.

    Now the Savior’s mission is to make that whole thing whole. So he has to atone for the sins of and then set everything right. He has to restore everybody to that happiness that they would have had if nobody sinned against them. Which of course only a God can do. You and I can’t do that, that is to say, we can try to make recompense for our sins but we really can’t begin. We just begin, we can’t really do it. Without the Savior it would be hopeless for us to account for our sins. So we need that atonement, we desperately need his help. We should be so grateful to him for the fact that he was willing to come and suffer and not only that but make up for all the sins that we committed. Make it up to the people we hurt.

    Thirdly. He allows us to be taken out of hell, out of the power of Satan when we die.

    Fourthly. He enables us to be resurrected. Now accomplishing those four things is a mighty work. That’s the work of the Savior’s atonement. So he performed his work perfectly so that everyone of us can have blessings that are possible. This is why it is the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Because he is the one who is the way. He provided the opening of the door that makes it possible to get back to the Father. The door is himself, his suffering and we must go through him to get back to the Father.

    Fifthly. It is our Gather’s will that after the Savior had paid the debt and made salvation possible for every human being that every human being be required to stand before the Savior to account for the opportunity that each has to repent of his sins. So the judgment comes.

    There is a way for each human being to prepare for the judgment:

    1. To put one’s faith, one’s trust in Jesus Christ. We have to yield ourselves to him as the Savior to be saved. Salvation comes through him and through him only. All our needs for light and truth or light and salvation are met through him.
    2. Repentance under the direction of the Holy Spirit. That is to say through faith in Jesus Christ. Each of us must undertake to go through our heart, our mind, our strength, and our might and set in order all these things according to the truth and light which the Savior sends to us.
    3. Enter the covenant
    4. Receive the Holy Ghost
    5. Endure to the end. Life eternal
    6. Promise to match the warning

    The gospel of Jesus Christ is simply that program that teaches us how to love God with all our heart, might, mind, and strength. It’s one thing to know that that’s the great commandment, it’s another thing to be able to do it. And the only way to be able to do it is to receive knowledge and power through Jesus Christ.

  • How to Stay on the Straight and Narrow

    Chauncey C. Riddle

    It is my purpose tonight to paint a picture for you. The picture is one with which you’re all very familiar: I propose to talk about the gospel. I hope to say something that will crystalize it in a special way. It’s not my intent to say anything new and startling.

    I believe that the Savior was sent into the earth to be the key for the solution for every problem. It does not matter what the problem is. It seems to me as I read the scriptures and as I listen to the Brethren, the key to the solution to every problem—every personal, human problem–Is to come unto Christ and be perfected in Him and partake of His goodness.

    President Hinckley says that the purpose of the Church is to relieve human suffering. Well, we humans suffer a lot of things. One of the principle things we suffer is the deprivation of much of the good that is our heritage. Of course, through the gospel we may attain this heritage. Our potential, our heritage, is to be as our Father in Heaven–to be as He is, to enjoy all that He has, to be as much as He Is.

    But we have been cut off from that potential by the fall of Adam, which fall was necessary because there was no way we could get to that potential without the fall. And so the fall comes as that kindly disposition to remove us from His presence, that we might choose our way back into His presence and into His blessings rather than having it somehow be automatic.

    Thus, the way back to Father is a way of covenants, and there are two covenants. First there is the old covenant. The old covenant is described in Abraham Chapter 3. Basically the old covenant says, “You must do everything that God commands, and if you do everything God commands, then you will receive the fullness of the blessings. But, of course, if you happen to slip in any particular, that means you’re irretrievably damned forever.” Now that’s a pretty severe covenant. This is the covenant of justice, and Father represents justice. But Father also represents mercy. And so He sent His Son, knowing that we could not keep that first covenant. He sent His Son with another covenant. And this is the new covenant, or the New and Everlasting Covenant. In the new covenant, we have the privilege of slipping if we should call that a privilege. We can slip and still inherit. But the basic requirement is the same. The requirement is that through repentance we still live up to every commandment that God gives. That is to say, there is nothing short of attaining total perfection that will suffice. We must enter into the way, and become as the Father and as the Son.

    You are aware that in the world there are different theories of salvation. The Catholic and Protestant theories of salvation are approximately the same. They differ in some details, but basically what they say is, “Here we have this poor, depraved, blighted human being and we will take this human being and if certain things happen, then we’ll take this bucket of whitewash and pour it over him and pretend that he’s clean and we will set him up in heaven where he will dwell forever after, worshipping God.” That is a bit different from the LDS version.

    The LDS version is that there is no bucket of whitewash. What we have to do is to take the bull by the horns and using the gifts of God, work out a new being for ourselves–a new character. God is not going to excuse us in anything. That is to say, if we don’t measure up to what he is, then we simply cannot inherit. He gives us all the tools, and then we have to take these tools and build a new self. So we are saved by grace, which is the tools. But we’re only saved by doing all that we can do with them. And so as we receive these tools, these blessings, these gifts, these opportunities and seize upon them, then we must enter into the way. And “the way” means we are becoming like Christ. Until we have obtained everything that He possesses and is, we have not come to the end. Of course, we have promised to endure to the end. Thus we have the New and Everlasting Covenant which consists of a series of discrete steps which lead us to come unto the fullness of the measure of the stature of Christ.

    There is a scripture pertinent to this topic: Moroni 10. I didn’t discover this scripture until a couple of years ago; it’s amazing, and it was there all the time. It finally hit me and I’m so grateful to realize that it means the Father’s plan. Moroni 10:24-25:

    “Now I speak to all the ends of the earth, that if the day cometh that the power and gifts of God shall be done away among you, it shall be because of unbelief. And woe be unto the children of men if this be the case for there shall be none among you that doeth good, no not one for if there be one among you that doeth good, he shall work by the power and gifts of God. “

    Now to me, that says something really plain. It says, “Here we are in this world, having a choice between good and evil. That’s why Adam fell so we would have that choice. And every decision we make is a choice between good and evil. We’re not usually aware of that, but if we work at it, we can become aware of it. Most people would think that most of the decisions they make are just sideways, they are not good or evil they are just somehow in there. But my understanding is that every decision is a choice between good and evil and that we can only choose good and do good by the gifts and power of God. And if we refuse the gifts and power of God, then by default we do evil. This of course, is why so much evil is done in the world, some deliberate, some not deliberate.

    But evil is simply that which is not up to the celestial standard. It’s not up to what Father would have His children do.

    There are all kinds of degrees of evil. My understanding is that there are not lots of degrees of good -but that there are many degrees of evil. There can be a little bit of evil and there can be a great evil. But if we do good–do real good–then we do it because we have come to Christ and in Him we have found some good gift and we take this gift and apply it in our lives.

    So, for instance, supposing I have grown up in a home where honesty is not valued, and I find it expedient to lie from time to time. What have I got to do? I’ve got to treasure the Spirit of the Lord so much that I will implore the Father through Christ that He will give me the Spirit of honesty; that He will prick my conscious whenever I tell a lie. Then I must use that prick, that gift, and force myself by the nape of the neck (so to speak) if necessary to stop lying. And when I finally get that habit of being honest firmly ingrained in myself so that I have knee-jerk honesty, then I have to that degree obtained a new character. And that is the process by which we are saved, as I understand, by acquiring every good habit.

    We go through our lives, habit by habit, idea by idea, deed by deed, and we reject the evil. Which is to say, we repent of the evil things we have done and the evil things that we are and replace them with good, line upon line, precept upon precept, habit upon habit, idea upon idea, feeling upon feeling, becoming more and more like Christ, culminating finally in the full character of the Savior. And so Moroni says in this same Chapter, verse 32: “Yea, come unto Christ and be perfected in Him, deny yourselves of all ungodliness, and if you deny yourselves of all ungodliness, and love God with all your might, mind, and strength, then is His grace sufficient for you. That by His grace, ye may be perfect in Christ. And if by the grace of God you are perfect in Christ, you can in nowise deny the power of God.”

    So the goal is to become as the Savior, which means to become absolutely pure in heart, to be entirely enlightened in our minds, which is to have a fullness of truth even as He does, to be renewed in the flesh and receive a celestial body eventually, and finally, to gain all power in heaven and earth, which is to be almighty, even as He is. This is a specific sequence: heart, mind, strength, and might and that’s the order in which we must be saved. We don’t begin with might, though that is where a lot of people would like to begin. They want to be almighty to start with and believe that the rest of the things will work out. Of course, that would make monsters out of us. So, Father starts at the other end and has prescribed that the first thing, the most fundamental thing we must do is become pure in heart. Our heart is our desires, and when our desires are pure, then we can be trusted with anything and everything.

    The question in this life is not, “Are you forgiven of your sins?” because everybody in every kingdom of glory will be forgiven of sins. The question is, “How much can you be trusted?” What kind of assignments could you receive and carry through in the way that the Savior would? That is the true measure of our being. And so as we focus on obtaining the character of Christ, that is the straight and narrow way. To step by step replace the evil in ourselves with good until we have come to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ.

    The thing that is absolutely necessary in this life is to gain the pure heart. We don’t have to do all of the rest in this life, for there will be much to do when we get on the other side. But one thing that is necessary for those who do have the covenant, the New and Everlasting Covenant, is to get the pure heart. Now the mind can wait, the body can wait, the might can wait–but the pure heart can’t wait. The scriptural name for the pure heart is charity. And if we have charity, then we are (will be) possessors of all things. If we don’t have charity, we are still nothing. The scriptures are very plain about that. Until we get the gift of charity, we simply can’t be trusted.

    So that is the absolute fundamental that we must strive for in this world. In this world we build houses, we raise families, we subdue the earth. The purpose of all those things is that in the process, we might build for ourselves a new character, a new personality, a new person, a new being in the image of Christ. But there are obstacles.

    Satan is not our main enemy. Oh he is an enemy, that’s true. He’s not interested in our turning to good at all, but he’s not our real problem. The real problem is simply ourself. If we can overcome ourselves, Satan offers no further barrier to us. The real problem is just our own heart. The evil desires within our own heart are the enemy we each have to conquer. Thus, it doesn’t matter whether we’re born rich or poor, male or female, black or white, bond or free–the human problem is all the same. The problem is, can you work out a new heart Can you become so pure that you have no ill will toward any human being. Your heart needs to be full of love for the Father and the Son and for all other beings, much so that you can be trusted to do the right thing in any circumstance in which you’ll be found. That is the goal.

    But there are some things that get in our way; pride, for instance. We live in a very prideful world. President Benson has labeled this as the great enemy. Pride is enmity toward God. Pride sums up all the problems. We’ll enumerate some others but they are all simply species of pride. Pride says, “I will do it my way.” Pride says, “I don’t need to be told what to do. I don’t need help. I don’t need a time-table. I don’t need to make promises. I will do it my way.” Pride is self-sufficiency. Pride is saying, “I’m good enough as I am. I will find my own way home. I like myself the way I am.”

    One of the principle things the world would have us say to ourselves these days is, “You’re really wonderful the way you are.” The world would have us build ourselves up in our own esteem. I don’t wish to speak too much on that thing, but it is interesting that so many people in the church have picked up on that false idea which is quite contrary to the teachings of the Book of Mormon. The Book of Mormon is plain. Whenever people draw close to the Savior and have their eyes opened and see what they are, they realize they are nothing. Whereas the world would say, “Esteem yourself. Build yourself up in your own eyes. Don’t have a bad self-image.”

    Book of Mormon says, “Realize that you’re nothing.” That’s quite a different philosophy. My understanding is that the way up in the New and Everlasting Covenant is down. That is to say down on our knees, down in the depths of humility, down until we are completely humble before the Savior and ready to do anything and everything he instructs us to do, ready to make any sacrifice, ready to pay any price, ready to work however hard is necessary to do what only he knows what we should do to achieve that goal of the new character that we must have.

    Then there’s procrastination: “Oh, I’ll do it when I get around to it.” We don’t have forever. One of the doctrines that is interesting in the church is the doctrine of eternal progression. As far as I can tell, there’s no scriptural base for this whatsoever. Now there is a correct doctrine of eternal increase, but eternal progression is usually taught in a non-scriptural way. We have to be wary of that.

    The way it’s often taught as I hear, is that you can go on progressing and repenting forever. If you don’t happen to make it before you die, that’s all right, you may just go on and do it in the next world. Now there is some truth to that idea in the sense that people who have not had the new and everlasting covenant can repent in the next world and obtain exaltation. My understanding is that those who have had the opportunity in this world and have understood what they’ve had and have a measure of the fullness of time, they have to accomplish certain things now. It would seem to me that if we really understood the gospel and really believed, we would make our absolute number one priority before we eat or drink or sleep or do anything else any day, to search out the Savior and get His instructions for that day that by nightfall we might be one day closer to the end of becoming as He is. It’s so easy to let a day go past filled with our own dreams and expectations and workings and machinations and quite ignore Him and the gifts that He would give us to work out this salvation. But we don’t have forever. Procrastination is a great enemy.

    And there is perverseness. There’s some who say, “I really don’t think God has anything to offer me. I really don’t want to go to the celestial kingdom.” Well, that’s interesting because those who say that really don’t have any idea what they’re turning down. That is really a measure of arrogance to turn down something we know not what it is and say, “Well, what I have now is good enough for me.” That is arrogating to ourselves the role of a God (which we are not) and thus is another species of pride.

    Then there is pleasure. Some of us have the temptation to live for pleasure and justify ourselves because it feels good. Just because it feels good doesn’t mean it is good. Whatever we do has to be right with Father and with the Son.

    Then there is prominence. Some people love prominence more than righteousness because it’s so fun to look down on other people. They’ve done studies to show that people would rather have less in total amount as long as they can look down on somebody who has less than they do. We have this human, terrible need to look down on somebody. And the place that I became so well acquainted with this was in grammar school, grade school. I don’t know how it is in your life but it was in grade school when my social life was at its worst. The grade school children were meaner and nastier than any group that I’ve ever been with the rest of my life. How did they get that way? Well, I suppose they learned it from their parents, though I don’t know. But I suppose there is an awful lot of latent anger in the population that comes out on children and children reflect that rather honestly. By the time they get to high school they’ve learned to mask some of it. But my, we have a job to do because that idea of looking down on somebody is so prominent.

    And finally, there is power. Some people just like to move and shake things. They love that exhilarating feeling of being in control. They love a motorcycle because it feels so good to race against the wind, to have all that power at your command. Sometimes the power kills them, but they would rather die happy, having power, than to be righteous.

    But all of this boils down to pride, and pride is the great enemy. Pride is, again, enmity toward God. The word enmity is interesting. An enemy is one whom we don’t love. Enmity toward God is simply not loving him. If we love him, then we search him out, search out his commandments, keep the commandments. That’s how we show our love for God. Pride is saying, I don’t need God, I can do it quite well by myself, thank you.

    Then there is the problem of getting on the path and staying there. We get on the path through baptism. As I study the baptismal covenant, I’ve become convinced that it is the primary and most important covenant that we make. I believe it’s more important than any of the others because it encompasses all of the others.

    Let us recount the promises we make in the covenant of baptism. We promise first of all that we will be willing to take upon ourselves the name of Christ. That doesn’t mean we are doing so, but that we will do so. We do it partly in baptism. The words “name of Christ” are code words. That is a code phrase for the fullness of the New and Everlasting Covenant. What that says then is that we’re willing to go to the end in the New and Everlasting Covenant. What a promise to make! My honest suspicion is that not many people understand what they are doing when they get baptized.

    Secondly, we promise that we will always remember him. We will always remember that he is our lodestar. He is the one to whom we turn for everything, to rely alone on his merits, and that we will always remember that we are his children, his servants, and are beholden to him for every good thing.

    Thirdly we promise that we will keep every command that he has given us. Now that is a reflection of the old covenant. In the old covenant, the question was: would we keep every commandment that the Lord God would give to us? So the new covenant contains the old covenant, but with a provision that if we have broken it, it may be possible to be restored through repentance and the atonement of Christ and receive the fullness of the blessings anyway, as long as we do endure to the end and prove that we are trustworthy. If we don’t endure to the end and don’t prove we are trustworthy of course, then there can be for us no such thing as celestial salvation.

    If we make those promises sincerely, then we receive the Holy Ghost, which comes to us and is supposed to be a constant companion. The Holy Ghost will constantly give us the guidance, the enlightenment, the gifts that we need to do good and to be good in order to transform our character into that measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ.

    Later we may receive the priesthood, which is the opportunity to administer to others blessings of Christ. And then we may receive the endowment. The endowment is the second stage of receiving the Melchizedek priesthood. And in the endowment we are given further special gifts. The word endowment means gift. But the gifts of the endowment are great treasures that a person must have to successfully negotiate certain callings and opportunities in the kingdom. For instance, missionary work. Now, the blessings are there, they are pronounced upon our heads in the endowment. They are not ours just because they are pronounced upon our heads any more than the gift of the Holy Ghost is ours just because hands have been laid upon our head. We have to specifically pray for and gain each of those blessings. The question to you is: Could you name them? Do you know what they are? Do you remember them? Have you learned enough from the endowment ceremony that you could (in your prayers) enumerate the blessings that we have been promised and request them? The question then is, have we claimed those blessings and are we using them to pursue the straight and narrow way and to fulfill the priesthood assignments that we all have?

    Then there is temple sealing or marriage. The order of Godhood is an order of marriage. God is first of all a husband and father and a wife and mother. These callings are the greatest callings in the universe. And if we turn our time to other things and do not succeed as husband and father, wife and mother, everything else is really quite beside the point. These are the things that we must do to endure to the end. These are our prime and first responsibilities. So temple sealing brings us a new set of gifts and powers of God. Can you enumerate them? Have you claimed them for your own? Because without the gifts and powers of God, it’s impossible to do good. The scripture says if man is offered a gift and he won’t receive it, what is the point? He cannot be helped. That may be the situation in which some Latter- day Saints find themselves.

    Well now, let’s get to the point, how do you stay on the straight and narrow? Let’s draw a graph of our life on earth and what we are doing here. Let’s call this birth. This is death. Now we’re going to show the pattern of people who are in the church. We won’t go into the pattern for non-members, for that is a little different. There is a theoretical line from birth to death which goes straight from one to the other and consists of a series of discreet steps. Each of the steps is the receiving and the keeping of a commandment from Father through the Son. So if we were to enter at birth and keep every commandment that God gives us until the moment of our death, that would of course keep the first covenant, Fathers’ covenant of justice. It’s important that that covenant exists even though none of us can keep it, because that’s the covenant by which we are all saved. That’s the covenant the Savior had to live so that he could perform the atonement so that the New and Everlasting Covenant could exist for our sake. So we cannot do away with the old covenant. The Savior gained his exaltation through it. We get ours through him. What he now does is to enable us to come at it a little bit differently. We have to get to the same place and the same worthiness, but it’s a much easier route than the route that he took to get there. So the life of most normal Latter-day Saints goes all right until we get to the age of accountability and then we wander off the path.

    Why do we wander off the path? Because we start willfully disobeying the commandments of God. Now as we do that – every time we break a commandment of God, a little sin or a great sin – we incur a debt. I ask you these questions:

    “Riddle: What’s wrong with sin? Why does the Father abhor sin?”

    Now there are good answers to those questions and there are bad answers, so be careful which one you give.

    “Student response: Because if you want to be perfect, you can’t sin.”

    True, but you didn’t answer the question. Why does the Father not like us to sin? What you said is true, but … Why? That’s the question I’m asking.

    “Riddle: Why can no sinful thing enter into the kingdom of God?”

    “Student response: Because that’s the law.”

    “Riddle: There’s got to be a better answer than that.”

    “Student response: Anything that’s not perfect will deteriorate over time.”

    “Riddle: That’s true.”

    “Student: So, over eternity, it will self-destruct.”

    “Riddle: But now the question I’m asking is the question behind that. Why is sin of that sort, of that nature?”

    “Many students respond: It is hard.”

    “Riddle: That’s very true. Let me tell you my answer. These are all good answers. Don’t mistake me. But, you see, I think there’s another answer that is necessary for this case. The debt that we incur is, of course, the debt of sin. And the debt of sin is the fact that whenever we sin, we inflict injury upon other people. Now, you see, what is our goal? To see if we can be trusted. Anybody who is willing to inflict injury upon other people cannot be trusted. And so, the burden of sin is the fact that we have all these wounds that we’ve done to other people.”

    There’s a myth floating around the world that there are private sins, that there are things you can do that don’t affect anybody besides you. You see, whatever we do, we become that. And whenever I think an evil thought, I curse everybody around me. Because then I’m not what I’m supposed to be. We are all supposed to be radiators. Each of us is sent into this world to radiate good after the measure of Christ. That’s why we were created. Now, if we take that good and, instead, radiate evil, we’re cutting other people off from their blessings; we’re cursing them. So every time we keep a commandment of God, we’re blessing somebody, probably many people. Every time we break a commandment of God, we’re cursing them, and Father does not take it kindly when one of His children curses another of His children. He cannot stand that. He cannot look upon sin with the least degree of allowance. And, therefore, if that burden is on us, you see, He has to cut us off from His spirit and relegate us to worldliness.

    Well, most of us follow this pattern. We sin. Then, sometime or other, the Spirit gets through to us, something jars us. We wake up and realize we are not on the straight and narrow anymore. Then the Spirit comes to us and we recognize it. The spirit says, “You must repent.” Suppose we were baptized at age 8. We start to sin before we’re 8, of course, and that’s why we need to be baptized when we’re 8. What usually happens to us is a little sin here and then a return to the line at baptism and then a departure again.

    Now there is an ordinance we can perform to get the Spirit back when we have sinned if we are truly sorry for what we have done and are willing to repent. What is that ordinance? – the Sacrament. We take the Sacrament, we honestly renew our covenants of baptism, the Spirit comes to us and puts us back on the line and we start to march again. We march along keeping those commandments of God. Now one of the things to remember is that we are born spiritually small. The goal is to become a giant in the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ. Every time we keep a commandment, we grow. Every time we break a commandment, we shrink. If you spend half your time breaking the commandments and half your time living the commandments, what happens to you in this world? You haven’t gone anywhere; you just maintain the status quo.

    Now, can a person who has only maintained the status quo be trusted? I don’t think so. And so there has to be something more than this. Most of us go along for a while and say, “Hey, you know, I’ve been keeping the commandments. I’ve been doing so well, I’ve got so many blessings, I’m doing so much good for other people, I think I deserve a vacation. I’m going to do what I want to for a little bit.” So they go off the straight and narrow path again and start incurring this debt of sin. Then they start getting the results of that and realize they’ve lost the gifts of the Sprit and they’re on their own and not doing very much good anymore. And so to get the Spirit back and they take the sacrament again and they get back on the straight and narrow path. They go along for a little ways and decide they’re going to be their own man again and they start wandering off. They do more sin, then repent–and thus the pattern repeats itself week after week through life for many people.

    One other factor that takes place as we go along here, supposing we’ve got a little growth, is that as long as we’re sinning we carry this tremendous burden of sin with us. It’s just strapped to our backs. It’s pretty hard to do very much or be very agile or accomplish very much good with that strapped to our backs. When we partake of the covenant, of course, and renew our covenants, the sins are forgiven and the burden is taken off our backs. But the next time we sin, what happens to that burden? The old burdens all come back and we then again carry the burden for every sin we’ve committed in our life. Now that’s a hard doctrine. A lot of people don’t believe it. The scriptures are very plain. D & C 82:7. If we sin the old sins come back upon us and we are then responsible for them. When we sin, you see, what are we doing? When we sin, we are saying: “I reject my covenant with Christ. I become responsible for myself.” Then there is no Atonement for my sins anymore and I have the whole burden back on me. The only way I can get rid of that again is to perform some ordinance, such as partake of the sacrament, and get the Savior to accept the burden of my sins again.

    “SR: There’s a problem with your analogy here. The sacrament doesn’t bring you back to the straight and narrow line unless your original baptism is truly efficacious.”

    Riddle: Oh, agreed.

    “SR: If the baptism has not been effective, and I am of the opinion that most Latter-day Saints are basically suspended between the law and the spirit of baptism, then by the same token, their partaking of the sacrament doesn’t do a thing until they go back and complete the original ordinance.”

    “Riddle: I’m making a different assumption. I’m making the assumption that it did work and that they did get the spirit and they were forgiven of their sins. Now, you see, in the case you’re talking about that’s a person who is a member of the Church but it’s never taken. I heard President Joseph Fielding Smith say one time that he believed about one-half the members of the church were in that category.”

    “SR: If what you’re saying is so, I cannot conceive that if a person has had an effective baptism, they don’t just wander off the straight and narrow path like that.”

    “Riddle: Oh, they were never on it. If you have had an effective baptism, then you can be on the straight and narrow. Until you have had an effective baptism you cannot get on the straight and narrow.”

    “SR: Doesn’t that effective baptism change the individual ….?”

    “R: No, that’s why I’m telling the story, because the two are not the same. What you have brought about is that you have emphasized the problem: What does the Lord think when he looks at a person who every week goes off and sins and then takes the sacrament and gets forgiven and then goes and sins again and takes the sacrament?  Is that building trustworthiness? No, and yet is that not the pattern of many people who are members of the Church? Now the point of the whole discussion is this: It is important to stay on the straight and narrow. To be trusted we have to show the Lord  that for some point in time to the end we would stay on the straight and narrow and not deviate. We must show Him that we love him enough that we’ll make all the sacrifices necessary to keep his commandments.”

    Now, a person who has done that when they get to this point the Savior takes them by the hand and takes them to the Father and says, “Father, this is my child, he/she learned to keep the covenant. He/she kept all the commandments. From this point to this point in their life they were able to abhor sin and I have forgiven them of all their transgressions before that time, and therefore, would you please accept them into your presence and share with them all that you have.” And Father is happy to do that, He’s more than willing. That’s why He lives, to do that.

    But, you see what some people want to do is to have a different pattern. They want to get over here close to death and all of a sudden jump up here and be on the path. Why doesn’t that work? That’s called deathbed repentance, and why is that impossible? Why doesn’t it work?

    “SR: No work. No track record.”

    “Riddle: Exactly, there’s no track record of trustworthiness. Being sorry for your sins is not enough to get a track record of trustworthiness. So that just doesn’t fly, and people who do that, you see, are not much better off than the people who don’t get baptized. They probably are a little better off, but that still doesn’t suffice.”

    Now what has to happen? At some point in our life we have to get so tired of this pattern of sinning and being forgiven and sinning and being forgiven that we finally get worried about it and we go to the Lord and we say, “I have tried living the Gospel, I can’t do it. I need help.” If we honestly have done everything we can to keep the covenants, to keep all the commandments and have been unable, which all of us are, then, if the time is right, we can apply to the Savior for a new heart. We say to him: “I can’t do it. The me that now exists cannot be saved, I can see that. Would you make me a new creature and give me a new heart.”

    This is a special thing that happens to people who have been through all the ordinances and have tried with all their might to do everything they can to keep their covenants. At a certain time the Spirit will prompt them to pray that prayer. They will pray it and the Savior will grant them that blessing. This is what happened to the people of King Benjamin. He was sent to give them that special sermon in the first few chapters of Mosiah because they had apparently done that. They, as a group were then ready to be able to apply to the Lord for a new heart. The scripture manifests that they did apply and they got it. What did they say when they got it? They said, “We have the Holy Ghost. Were it necessary we could prophesy all things.” When a person gets that (the new heart) they can be trusted and have a fullness of the Spirit. They can have any spiritual gift they need and any power they need because they will not do anything that is contrary to the will of the Lord. They have then proven that they can be trusted.

    Now, our proof that we can be trusted apparently has two phases. The phase before we get the new heart is that we must do all that we can do with the gifts of the Holy Spirit. Step one is getting the Holy Ghost in the first place and then living by it. Step two is getting the new heart. Now, getting the new heart is called in the scriptures purification and the scriptures call it having”charity” when we get that pure heart. (In response: Yes, you have to go to a point where you can stand it, be worthy of it.) The scriptures claim it’s the most difficult thing in the world to do, and, yet, everybody can do it. Not all of us can become the world’s greatest violin player, but everyone can be saved. The Savior’s grace is so great that he can make it possible for every individual to become as He is. I think that’s a wonderful thing.

    “Q: Two questions: First, what you’re saying is when having your calling and election made sure …?”

    “Riddle: Well, if you have this gift of charity, the pure heart, then you have real hope of having your calling and election made sure. The other question?”

    “Q: A gentleman asked if you would respond to his question saying President Smith quoted half the members of the Church – what was the specific …?”

    “Riddle: They had been baptized but had not been born of the Spirit. I conduct the baptisms in our stake, and it’s interesting to me how many times I hear little children told, “”Now that you’ve come up out of the waters of baptism, your sins are washed away.”” As far as I can tell, that’s an absolutely false doctrine. Water doesn’t wash away any sins, ever. It’s the blood of Christ that takes away sins and the occasion for that remission is when a person receives the baptism of fire and the Holy Ghost. Water is for the remission of sins, just like a marriage license is for getting married. But you aren’t married just because you have got the license. You have to go through the ceremony itself.”

    “Q: The baptism with fire comes a lot later usually?”

    “Riddle: No, it’s supposed to come right then. The baptism of fire and the Holy Ghost is supposed to come in conjunction with the baptism of water. But in real practice it doesn’t and didn’t for me I’m sure. I didn’t have any idea of what it was.”

    “Q: I’ve heard that the Atonement covers those sins that are done before we’re 8, but …”

    “Riddle: That’s right. The Atonement covers those that are done before we’re 8 if we die without baptism.”

    “Q: Well, why aren’t we taught better to be prepared at 8?”

    “Riddle: Well, whose responsibility is it? It is the parent’s responsibility. Why don’t the parents teach their children? I don’t know. It’s different for every parent, I guess.

    “Q: My parents taught me, but what I’m saying is I didn’t feel the witness of the Spirit.”

    “Riddle: This Sister’s comment is that at age 8, she didn’t feel this great event take place. My answer to that is simply that the gospel system is so wonderful that it can pick us up and take us from that point forward whenever we wake up to this thing. So it doesn’t matter if we’re 24 or 48 when we finally realize what the covenant of baptism is about. If we then make the covenant with full purpose of heart, then our spiritual life can finally begin. I think it’s true that there are a lot of people that don’t make the connections when they’re 8; there are a few that do. I have interviewed a couple of kids that I thought were really ready for baptism, but most are not. You tell them the words, but it doesn’t sink in. Now, if the parents start telling them the words at age 1, by the time they’re 8 they really understand. Little children are given the Spirit to understand those things. If the parents start to tell them the words the day before the baptism, not much happens.”

    “Q: I’ve heard that we should not take the Sacrament unless we have repented …”

    “Riddle: Have you listened to the prayer?”

    “Q: Yes, it’s a covenant that we’ll continue on with our baptismal covenant, but”

    “Riddle: Well, let me just express my opinion. The Sacrament is a renewal of the covenant of baptism, and truly the Sacrament doesn’t take away our sins. It’s the Atonement that takes away our sins. But it’s a way of making promises to Father again and to the Savior so that the Atonement can become effective in our lives. And I think there is a definite connection between the Sacrament and the forgiveness of our sins because the prayer says so, does it not? So I don’t know what your source is on that. Let me be clear about what I’m saying. I’m painting a picture for you. It is obvious the picture that I’m painting is not the same as your picture exactly. It is not intended to be. I don’t pretend that mine’s true and yours is not true. I’m a painter; I’m not a photographer. I can’t take a snapshot of the gospel the way it really is. I just have to portray it in words the best I understand it. Now my hope is that I have captured something that will cause you to want to look more closely into the gospel, maybe to repaint your own painting, not because of what I say but because you go back to the Lord and back to the Spirit and back to the scriptures and to the brethren and find out from them what you should think. Don’t take me as an authority; I’m not here to be an authority. I’m here simply to stimulate your mind to think certain thoughts and ask certain questions, and if you ask the questions I’m happy. I don’t care what the answer you come up with is. That is between you and the Savior. But I think it’s important that we raise the questions; that’s my job. And that is what we are to do in the Church for one another is to encourage each other, to ask the right questions, and then go to the right source for the answers. And the right source for every question is the Father through the name of our Savior.”

    “Q: I’ve heard you in a class before at BYU and so I know that you know quite a bit about this, and so I would ask that the main motivation we have in looking at what the prophets have said about freedom in the press is that the principles of the gospel can be applied to the political question that you’re approaching. In other words, our commandments provide a system which we obey, and as we depart from that path we become captive to various forces. Then there comes a point where only Jesus Christ can save us from that captivity. There’s a time of appropriation, for example, that we have to adhere to that path very strongly and show the Lord that there is a group of people that will adhere to these principles of freedom, both politically and religiously, and then He can come and deliver those people and essentially usher in a Zion society. That is, in my estimation, the equivalent of a calling and election made sure. In other words, the question is this: you painted out this gospel scenario, and the question I would like to ask is “”Could you tie that into the political arena and the questions that are raised there and our responsibilities as members of the Church in that area?”

    “Riddle: My understanding is that what I’ve painted is the picture for the individual. You ask what does the group do? You can’t save the group without saving the individuals. So I would say, if you want to do something good for your country, become a servant of Christ, and then through his gifts and powers you will know what good things should be done civically and politically. Now, it is not possible, I understand, to have a good civil government without having good people. And so, this is fundamental to every good thing in the world. If you “”want to have good science, or good art, or good education, you first remake the person in the image of Christ and the other will follow. So I believe that the big gap in our preparation for the future is this individual work. And that while we need to be civically active and do all that we can, the more important thing is to come to Christ and be perfected in Him so that when we do have opportunity to act civically, we will promote good and not evil. Does that make sense?”

    “Q: Yeah, except I think that you can look at it this way, that is the first coming of Jesus Christ had to do with this type of thing, the gospel as individual redemption, an individual departs from the path of righteousness and needs be redeemed, and that there is a judgment, the law of justice that has to be fulfilled and Christ’s Atonement pays that price. His Second Coming, though, I see as being a very political salvation, saving a group of people, saving a nation that needs salvation. And so I see that there are essentially two arenas, both of which we need to be righteous per se, in other words, it’s not. . You say that if we are righteous within a gospel framework then our righteousness in a government frame would automatically follow and I don’t necessarily see that connection because I see a lot of really good people who I think have the gospel down, but yet are able to ignore what the prophet has said and are not fulfilling their political responsibilities.”

    “Riddle: What makes you think they’re good then?”

    “Q: I don’t think they are.”

    “Riddle: My opinion on that is simply this: when the Savior came the first time, the Jews were angry with Him because He would not smite the Romans. They wanted a political kingdom, the Messiah they thought was a king. He came offering to forgive them of their sins, they didn’t want forgiveness of their sins, they wanted freedom. I think the situation is really not much different this time. The Savior comes first offering forgiveness of sins individually. If we will accept that and go with it, He will give us the freedom politically. But if we reject the personal freedom, the other freedom really doesn’t have much meaning. My belief is that there’s not that much difference between the First and Second Comings. This is not a time of greater political activity than there was then. There was some then, and those Jews who were faithful in that time – not just Jews but anyone who was faithful – received their reward. For some of them it was a temporary reward as well as a spiritual one, for some it was only spiritual because they had to die. I think some of us today are going to have to die. But the important thing is, do we preserve our souls in the process? Now, we have a kingdom to bear off, we have a freedom to preserve, a national integrity to preserve, but again you see, if we don’t have the righteousness to go to the Lord to get from Him the instructions as to how to do that, we’re likely to wind up as persons who are vehemently pursuing a skewed cause.”

    “Q: Let me state it this way: If our end goal is to become kings and queens, priests and priestesses.”

    “Riddle: Yes, but that must be as becoming a humble child of Christ.”

    “Q: But in Luke it says kings or queens which I see as being a government responsibility increases in being a religion directed by the responsibility, so how can we become kings and queens in God’s kingdom if we just do not understand His government and seek to establish that upon the earth? A response to this question or perhaps this statement that Christ came the first time, having been convicted – they were looking for a political Messiah so they crucified Him. And then the gospel was taken from the Jews, marking His rejection religiously and then was taken to the Gentiles. And in the Latter Days, the Gentiles I think are expecting a religious Messiah and are going to reject Christ politically, and it’s going to be that rejection that is going to then be the result of the gospel going from the Gentiles to the House of Israel. And only those who understand Christ politically – His government – are the ones who are going to be a part of His House of Israel Kingdom.”

    “Riddle: It sounds to me as if you might be getting close to that dangerous point of saying that the political is more important than the spiritual. I hope you aren’t saying that. Because I surely don’t believe that.”

    “Q: What I’m saying though, is just that the political is much more important than just one of the responsibilities we need to do. I see it as being a major portion of our responsibilities here today.”

    “Riddle: Well, I don’t fight that. But you see, if we don’t lay the foundation, in being a servant of Christ, then we’re likely to be one of these persons who gets off the track. I’m sure you are aware that Utah County spawns more apostate LDS churches than any other county on earth. We’re also probably the strongest LDS county on earth. And so, right here in the heart of the Church is where both the good and the evil fight it out. And we have to be careful that we don’t let ourselves get twisted or taken off the path in any way. I frankly see some people who get so enamored of some side issues, like polygamy, like the United Order, sometimes even political things, that they forget the main point which is to come unto Christ and be perfected in Him. And they think they’re going to come unto Christ and be perfected in Him by doing these other things first, but I think that’s a mistake. I think we must come unto Christ first and be perfected in Him so that we can do all these other things in His grace, in His goodness, in His power, and in His way, and that’s the message for us. Whatever we are: if we’re a father, that’s how you be a good father; if you’re a city councilman, that’s how you be a good city councilman; if you’re a public school teacher, that’s how you be a good public school teacher; if you’re a farmer, that’s how you be a good farmer. I think whatever our lot in life is – as citizens, as parents, as professional people – it all depends on whether we come unto Christ and do what we do in the measure of His glory. So, I don’t think I’m really opposing what you say.”

    “Q: I think all things are spiritual. . in talking about politics, if you have government, you know everything is spiritual and so if you talk about individual, it applies to”

    First – spiritual, second – temporal D & C 29:31.

    “Q: Also, If it is temporal it isn’t spiritual and anything spiritual isn’t temporal as well. They’re all tied together.”

    “Riddle: Agreed.”

    “Q: I stand just to add my witness to yours Chauncey, that the gospel is a sweet, essential process that we need to understand which we can by studying the scriptures, by listening to the prophet and by seeking the Holy Ghost to guide us in our lives, to bring us closer to Christ. I’ve appreciated your presentation. It’s fulfilled a good purpose and I’m a little concerned when we start wanting to have some technical questions. I hope we can conclude now with your testimony rather than answering technical questions. My fear is, if I may express it openly, that the doctrine you preach is hard, very difficult for people to humble themselves, and to truly know the Lord and to say, “”I need your help, I’m weak, I’ve made a lot of mistakes, I don’t want to do it anymore, please help.”” And I think that’s the direction you’ve pointed us. And I don’t want to be distracted with further technical questions if they could be handled privately with you and those who might have them afterwards. I’ve appreciated your marvelous message. And I add my witness that those principles are true.”

    “Riddle: Thank you Brother Wardle. (clapping) I would like to say again, please don’t believe what I’ve said. Do ask Father about the things that I have talked about. I think they’re very important. This is a wonderful kingdom. I am grateful to be a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints and to be acquainted with the restoration of the gospel because I know that the power is here. There is power in this priesthood. There are gifts of the spirit. There is hope in Christ and in Christ comes every good thing and I bear that testimony in the name of Jesus Christ, Amen.”

  • The Second Coming

    Dr. Chauncey C. Riddle

    Brothers and sisters, as I approach this subject of the second coming of the Savior, I fully recognize the import.  I further recognize that I am not an authority on this subject.  I would wish that we could compare a few notes, a few ideas. I wish that you might accept from me a few hypotheses, that you not be constrained to believe the things that I say that are false, but that you would, of course, accept the things that I say that are true.  But I hope that we can have a meeting of the minds.  And to that end I ask an interest in your faith and prayers that what is said might be edifying this evening.

    First of all, I would like to explicate the meaning of the term, “Second Coming.”  I think it very important to realize that the terms “First Coming” (though this isn’t used frequently) and the term “Second Coming” have a very special relationship to the concept of “world.”  The “world” in scriptural terms means “the wicked people who are on the face of the earth.”  Another way to say this is that these are the people who essentially receive their instructions from Satan.  They are children of the devil.  Not all of them are willing servants to the devil, but they nevertheless are under his power and therefore subject to him.

    We know that the Savior has been on the earth from time to time from the beginning of time.  He was a personal acquaintance of our father Adam.  Every truly righteous man who has ever lived on the face of the earth has enjoyed the presence and the companionship of Jesus Christ.  Now I say this simply because of the promises made in the scriptures; that every person who will live the gospel of Jesus Christ fully will have this opportunity of the companionship.  Let me refer you simply to the words recorded by John in the 14th chapter as explained by the prophet Joseph Smith:

    14. If ye love me, keep my commandments.

    15. And I will pray the Father and He shall give you another Comforter, that he may abide with you forever. 

    16.  Even the Spirit of truth; whom the world cannot receive, because it seeth him not, neither knoweth him: but ye know him; for he dwelleth with you, and shall be in you.

    I will not leave you comfortless: I will come to you. (John 14: 15-18)

    The Prophet Joseph Smith has explained that the Second Comforter is no more nor less than the personal presence of Jesus Christ to bless the life of a person who has shown that he loves the Lord; who has shown this by keeping the commandments.

    He that hath my commandments, and keepeth them, he it is that loveth me: and he that loveth me shall be loved of my Father, and I will love him, and will manifest myself to him.  (John 14:21)

    He goes on to explain that He and His Father will come and take up their abode with righteous people.  We know that individuals have received this from time to time.  Whole cities have received this blessing and opportunity.  The city and people of Enoch walked and talked with Jesus Christ and knew Him as a personal acquaintance.  And therefore when we talk about the “first coming” and the “second coming,” we are not talking about the Savior coming simply to men, we are talking about the relationship the Savior has to the world.  Notice that he said, “Even the Spirit of truth; whom the world cannot receive..”  The world does not receive the Savior as the Spirit of truth.  It did receive him as an impostor first of all.

    The first coming, then, was the coming of the Lord to the world.  The Savior came into the world that he might be subject to the world.  Or, in other words, subject to evil men.  Or, in other words, subject to Satan to a degree.  Not that he would submit to the temptations Satan would put upon him; but that he would suffer and eventually would give his life.  He came into the world to be judged of the world.  And the world passed judgment upon him and condemned him to death.  He who was perfect, who committed no sin, whose life was one perfect record of shedding blessing and hope and help to mankind was condemned by the world to death.

    The second coming of the Savior is the second coming to the world.  But as the first time, the Savior was judged of the world, now he comes to judge the world.  As he was put to death of the world, so this time he puts the world to death.  In other words, the second coming of the Savior is the end of the world.  Every person who is yet a servant of Satan when the Savior comes will be burned with consuming fire.  They will not be privileged to remain upon the earth.  Now this seems a little harsh in a way.  But it really isn’t when we stop to consider the fact that every person who is burned by this fire will have had the fullness of the gospel of Jesus Christ taught to him, will have had an opportunity to partake of the New and Everlasting Covenant of the Gospel; or, if he didn’t wish that, at least to acknowledge that Jesus Christ is good, that he is the God of this earth.  All persons who steadfastly reject this leadership in any degree, who persist in murdering and killing and robbing, lying, and whoremongering; who persist in bringing evil into the world under the influence of Satan; who will not change their ways even in the face of the testimony of the Holy Spirit–these are the people who will be swept off the earth.  And this, in a sense, is not an evil thing.  It is the kindness of the Lord, for they are given a chance to go to a place where they may pay for their sins, that they may come forth at a future time and receive glory at his hand.

    All things that the Lord does, as I understand it, are for the benefit of man.  And if we can look upon it this way: he thrust no one down to hell except somehow they shall benefit from it, you might say.  We might think of exceptions to that.  But I think the general rule would certainly stand.

    So the second coming of the Savior, then, is the second coming of the Savior to the world.  Now, of course, this definition does away with certain problems.  Some people wonder if the coming to Adam-ondi-Ahman is the second coming.  Or the coming in the temple is the second coming.  As I would understand it clearly these are not the second coming.  These are simply part of the many manifestations of the Lord to his children.  He comes to those who are his children and blesses them.  But they are not  the world.  The second coming will be a coming in power and glory with all the holy angels with the Lord Jesus Christ.  Every eye shall see, every person on the earth shall know.  There will be no denying that Jesus Christ has come when he comes in his second coming.  He will not come in the desert or in the secret places.  He will come very publicly.  As the Savior explained to his disciples, as the morning comes out of the east when the sun comes up, its very difficult to suppose that anybody could not perceive this happening, a person who has eyes.  So will this coming of the Son of Man be.  It will be as the sun coming up in the morning.  It will be that plain to everyone upon the earth.  So the Savior will come to finish his work; to put the world to an end,  that he might then institute a peaceful millennial reign–a time of happiness, a time of rejoicing, a time of rest when those of the earth who will receive Jesus Christ will begin to receive the fruits of their labors in fullness, to enjoy happiness and peace which they have so longed for.

    Now let’s talk about the conditions which will precede the second coming of the Savior.  There are a number of approaches that could be made to this subject.  In casting about for the proper approach to make, or at least the approach I thought I would make, I decided not to pursue a specific prophecy of the events that precede the second coming.  I think you will find this fairly well taken care of in many places.  I don’t think you want to believe everything you read.  But on the other hand, there is fairly ready access to much of this information.  To my mind the thing that is more important to me even than the chronology of the events is to understand rather clearly the type of problems that we’re going to be faced with between now and then.  It is my own personal expectation that the second coming of the Savior will occur sometime in the near future.  I would say sometime in the next 50 years.  Of course that is a pure guess.  I don’t know.

    As I’ve said to many of you before, I don’t think anybody knows the hour and the day.  The scriptures say that clearly.  But I would believe that as the time draws nigh, every true latter day saint will know the week and the month if not the hour and the day.  Because the signs will be there.  But the signs and the events aren’t the important thing, I think.  The important thing is what do you and I have to do to be able to survive.  I take it that the essence of surviving this time and arriving at the point of the second coming in such a condition that we shall be pleased to have it happen consists principally in doing one thing: disassociating ourselves from the world.  Because remember it’s the world that is going to come to an end.  And the further we can get away from the world, the more unlike the world we can become in the direction of becoming like the Savior, the better our preparation for his coming will be.    Remember Paul said there are a lot of things we don’t know about the second coming, but we do know this: that when he comes we shall be like him.  Those who have endured in the gospel of Jesus Christ will be like him.  And the Savior will draw all those unto him who have honored him enough to desire to become like him.  And they will be blessed with a fullness of his blessings.  To be made equal in power, might, and dominion with their Savior, their Lord, their leader.

    But let’s review some of these conditions that will obtain now before the second coming of the Savior.  First I would like to talk about political conditions.  As a basis for this, I would like to refer you to Ether chapter 8.  Remember the book of Ether was written at what date?  Somewhere around 420 A.D.  The book of Ether is Moroni’s abridgment of the plates that were found during the time of King Mosiah.  They were translated by King Mosiah for his people.  And in the last, as he was very near the time of his own death, Moroni felt it expedient to abridge this record and give us this record.  Clearly he was not writing to the Nephites.  Why did he write this?  For us.  And so with almost all of the Book of Mormon.  It wasn’t written for people of that time.  Because Mormon and Moroni who wrote the bulk of it were the last of their people.  They wrote for us today.  Let’s see what they have to say about certain political conditions that will exist in our own time.

    And it came to pass that they formed a secret combination, even as they of old; which combination is most abominable and wicked above all, in the sight of God.

    For the Lord worketh not in secret combinations, neither doth he will that man should shed blood, but in all things hath he forbidden it, from the beginning of man.

    This secret combination is the combination to murder and get gain; to support one another in wickedness and not tell about it.  This is the basis of this secret combination.

    And now I, Moroni, do not write the manner of their oaths and combinations, for it hath been made known unto me that they are had among all people, and they are had among the Lamanites.

    And they have caused the destruction of this people of whom I am now speaking, and also the destruction of the people of Nephi.

    And whatsoever nation shall uphold such secret combination to get power and gain, until they shall spread over the nation,  behold, they shall be destroyed; for the Lord will not suffer that the blood of his saints, which shall be shed by them, shall always cry unto him from the ground for vengeance upon them and yet he avenge them not.

    Wherefore, O ye Gentiles, it is wisdom in God that these things should be shown unto you, that thereby ye may repent of your sins…

    What is he suspecting us of?  Secrecy combinations in our midst.  Why do ye suppose he would suspect us of these things?  Because he was shown in vision us.  He saw our day, our activities, our problems, and most of the things that he and his father put into the Book of Mormon were specifically designed to help you and me prepare for our own times.

    …and suffer not that these murderous combinations shall get above you, which are built up to get power and gain–and the work, yea, even the work of destruction come upon you, yea, even the sword of the justice of the Eternal God shall fall upon you, to your overthrow and destruction if you shall suffer these things to be.

    Wherefore, the Lord commandeth you, when ye shall see these things come among you that ye shall awake to a sense of your awful situation…

    How can you know about it if it is a secrecy combination?  How can you see these things come among you?  How do you do it?  They don’t go around broadcasting.  How can you tell when secrecy combinations come among you?  There is only one way to know and that is to discern it spiritually.  If you look back in the Book of Mormon record.  Remember Nephi when he was talking with the people?  This is the Nephi just before the coming of the Savior.  Roughly about the time of Samuel the Lamanite.  How did he know that the judge had been murdered by his brother who sought the judgment seat?  By the spirit.  And he was able to tell the people how they could find out that this was true.  And this is how we must know these things.  In other words, if we depend on the evidence we get in our newspapers, do you think we’ll ever know the truth about these things?  Obviously not. We have to be smarter than that.

    …because this secrecy combination which shall be among you; or wo be unto it, because of the blood of them who have been slain; for they cry from the dust for vengeance upon it, and also upon those who built it up.

    For it cometh to pass that whoso buildeth it up seeketh to overthrow the freedom of all lands, nations, and countries…

    Have you ever heard of a program to overthrow the freedom of all nations and lands and countries?  Do you think you out to be wary of this program?  Is it anything to be worry about?  Well if you believe Moroni and Mormon it is.  You’ll be told by many people of your own society its nothing to be concerned about.  But who do you want to believe?  I think that’s a fair question.  Do you want to believe them or do you want to believe the Lord?

    …and it bringeth to pass the destruction of all people, for it is built up by the devil, who is the father of all lies; even that same liar who beguiled our first parents, yea, even that same liar who caused man to commit murder from the beginning; who hath hardened the hearts of men that they have murdered the prophets and stoned and cast them out from the beginning. (Ether 8:19-23)

    If a righteous man were to come among the people and start talking about these secret combinations, what do you suppose would happen to him?  Well, he’d get stoned, so to speak, wouldn’t he?  Well, isn’t it interesting the things that we see going on?  As you read the newspapers, you do discover a few things.  I’ll just leave it to you.  Was it just chance that President Kennedy was assassinated?  Can you believe that it was chance?  Was this just some crackpot?  Do you see any significance in the fact that this man had lived in Russia, been trained by the Russians in exactly the sort of thing he did.  Does that mean anything?  Well, it can mean something only if you’re spiritually perceptive.

    The point I’m trying to make is this:  I think it’s obvious that this system is operative among us.  The enemy has been clearly defined by latter-day prophecy.  What is the anti-Christ?  Communism.  Who is the personification of Satan on the earth?  Kruschev.  How do you know?  If you can’t do anything else, believe one who said it.  Who said it?  A man named David O’ McKay.  Now that ought to be important, don’t you think,  to every latter-day saint?  And yet the thing that bothers me is I see so many people who are latter-day saints saying, “after all, these people are just a little bit misguided.  There’s nothing to worry about.  Let’s fellowship them and embrace them and all will be well.”  Haven’t you heard people say that?

    If there is a program going on to subvert the freedoms of people; if you see that millions and millions of people have been swallowed up by tyranny, by this same program; I think it would behoove us to become spiritually alive and not be duped by the propaganda that tells us this is just agrarian reform.  This is one of the realities of our day.  I personally think one of the most urgent practical necessities for every latter-day saint to work on is politics.  Because the church cannot survive without political freedom.  And if we as latter-day saints don’t do something about it, we’re going to find ourselves in pretty bad circumstances.  Well, let’s pass on.  We don’t want to spend all night on that.  I hope you realize, I’m just taking a pot shot of each of these.  But that’s about all we can do considering the circumstances.

    Ecclesiastical conditions.  What’s going to happen in the last days regarding ecclesiastical conditions?  Well, the answer’s been given to us very plainly.  For this I will refer you to 1 Nephi 14.  In the beginning of chapter 14, Nephi says:

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

    What time is this talking about?  Now.  The time of the restoration of the gospel of Jesus Christ among the Gentiles.

    And harden not their hearts against the Lamb of God, they shall be numbered among the seed of thy father (they shall be with the House of Israel)…

    And that great pit, which hath been digged for them by that great and abominable church…

    This should be a warning of what?  There’s an ecclesiastical danger to look out for too.  There’s going to be a pit digged for all righteous persons by the church of Satan in the last days.

    …which was founded by the devil and his children, that he might lead away the souls of men down to hell–yea, that great pit which hath been digged for the destruction of men shall be filled by those who digged it.

    Well, this is somewhat comforting.  At least we don’t have to worry too much because it will not succeed.  But we need to recognize the danger anyway.  Because many are going to be associated with the fall of this organization and will fill the pit.

    …this is according to the captivity of the devil, and also according to the justice of God…

    The angel said, “thou hast beheld that if the Gentiles repent it shall be well with them; and thou also knowest concerning the covenants of the Lord unto the house of Israel…wo be unto the Gentiles if it so be that they harden their hearts against the Lamb of God.

    For the time cometh, saith the Lamb of God, that I will work a great and a marvelous work among the children of men; a work which shall be everlasting, either on the one hand or on the other–either to the convincing of them unto peace and life eternal, or unto the deliverance of them to the hardness of their hearts and the blindness of their minds unto their being brought down into captivity, and also into destruction, both temporally and spiritually, according to the captivity of the devil, of which I have spoken.

    And it came to pass that he said unto me: rememberest thou the covenants of the Father unto the house of Israel?  I said unto him, Yea.  And it came to pass that he said unto me:  Look, and behold that great and abominable church, which is the mother of abominations, whose founder is the devil.

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

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

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

    We know that there is going to be some very drastic church activity.  What is the program of the Lord in these last days?  What’s he going to restore?  What’s he going to restore in these last days?  All things.  And what’s he going to gather them into?  Into one.  Right?  What do you suppose the adversary is going to do?  He’s going to do about the same thing.  He’s going to restore all the wickedness that ever was upon the face of the earth.  He’s going to gather it together.  Why?  To get more strength.  Because he cannot combat the work of the Lord without that strength.  And as the work of the Lord becomes unified and strong, he’s got to unify his forces.  It’s my understanding that before the end comes, which is obviously not yet, there will be only two church organizations upon the face of this earth.  I mean by that, two specific churches.  And if you read the newspapers, you’ll see this coming to pass daily.  Well, that’s going to be interesting.  And this is intimately connected with the political situation.  I don’t think you can disengage the two.  And therefore we need to be wise in assessing what churches are doing.  Because this will have profound political impact wherever these things take place.  We need to be wary of this because the dominions of the church will always be small and the people of the church will be greatly persecuted by the church of Satan.  So, if we’re wary and ready for this, we’ll be able to at least know what is coming, what’s happening.  The enemy won’t be able to sneak up on us.

    What about social conditions?  Again, I think that we can look to a certain thing that happened in the Book of Mormon to get our key to the social conditions of our time.  It’s my understanding that the events which immediately preceded the coming of the Savior to the Nephites are in a sense a paradigm or a type of the events which will precede the Savior’s second coming.  So let’s read a few words from the 6th chapter of 3 Nephi wherein these events are chronicled.

    And now it came to pass in the twenty and ninth year (this is after the birth of the Savior, immediately before the coming of the Savior to the Nephites) there began to be some disputings among the people; and some were lifted up unto pride and boastings because of their exceeding great riches, yea, even unto great persecutions.

    For there were many merchants in the land, and also many lawyers, and many officers.

    And the people began to be distinguished by ranks, according to their riches and their chances for learning; yea, some were ignorant because of their poverty, and others did receive great learning because of their riches.

    Some were lifted up in pride, and others were exceedingly humble; some did return railing for railing, while others would receive railing and persecution and all manner of afflictions, and would not turn and revile again, but were humble and penitent before God.

    And thus there became a great inequality in all the land, insomuch that the church began to be broken up, yea, insomuch that in the thirtieth year the church was broken up in all the land save it were among a few of the Lamanites who were converted unto the true faith; and they would not depart from it, for they were firm, and steadfast, and immovable, willing with all diligence to keep the commandments of the Lord. (3 Nephi 6: 10-14)

    Jumping over to chapter seven.  We are told how these people, through the conspiracies that took place which we’ve already talked about, overthrew the government of their land.

    Now behold, I will show unto you that they did not establish a king over the land; but in this same year, yea, the thirtieth year, they did destroy upon the judgment-seat, yea, did murder the chief judge of the land.

    And the people were divided one against another; and they did separate one from another into tribes, every man according to his family and his kindred and friends; and thus they did destroy the government of the land.

    And every tribe did appoint a chief or a leader over them; and thus they became tribes and leaders of tribes.

    And the regulations of the government were destroyed, because of the secret combinations of the friends and kindreds of those who murdered the prophets.

    And they did cause a great contention in the land, insomuch that the more righteous part of the people had nearly all become wicked; yea, there were but few righteous men among them. (3 Nephi 7: 1-3; 6-7)

    Now we know these socials conditions will exist.  We know that the government of the United States is going to fall, as all civil governments will before the second coming.  If you’re dependent on the government now, that would be a good thing to know, wouldn’t it?

    We know that the order of society is going to break down.  There will be much wickedness.  There will be few righteous people, in the sense of being completely righteous, when the end comes.  We get a little different approach to this in 3 Nephi chapter 29.  The Lord tells in the first part of the chapter, through Mormon:

    And when ye shall see these sayings coming forth among you, then ye need not any longer spurn at the doings of the Lord, for the sword of his justice is in his right hand; and behold, at that day, if ye shall spurn at his doings he will cause that it shall soon overtake you.

    Wo unto him that spurneth at the doings of the Lord; yea, wo, unto him that shall deny the Christ and his works!

    Yea, wo unto him that shall deny the revelations of the Lord, and that shall say the Lord no longer worketh by revelation, or by prophecy, or by gifts, or by tongues, or by healings, or by the power of the Holy Ghost.

    Yea, and wo unto him that shall say at that day, to get gain, that there can be no miracle wrought by Jesus Christ; for he that doeth this shall become like unto the son of perdition, for whom there was no mercy, according to the word of Christ! (3 Nephi 29: 4-7)

    Now down to chapter 30:

    Hearken, O ye Gentiles, and hear the words of Jesus Christ, the Son of the living God, which he hath commanded me that I should speak concerning you, for, behold he commandeth me that I should write, saying:

    Turn, all ye Gentiles, from your wicked ways; and repent of your evil doings, of your lyings and of your secret abominations, and your idolatries, and of your murders, and your priestcrafts, and your envyings, and your strifes, and from all your wickedness and abominations, and come unto me, and be baptized in my name, that ye may receive a remission of your sins, and be filled with the Holy Ghost, that ye may be numbered with my people who are of the house of Israel (3 Nephi 30: 1-2).

    A good many of us in the church have come unto the Savior and been baptized.  But the question is: Have we relinquished these things of the world?  Are we materialistic in our society?  Do we set ourselves above one another in pride?  Do we share with one another?  Have we love in our hearts for all men?  Do we enjoy the gifts of the spirit so that we are mighty in doing the works of God?  I think we’ll have to say that as a people we’re making only a beginning.  We’re not doing too well in this regard.

    There is a great deal of evil in the church.  As a church, we’re not doing a very good job of living the 10 commandments, let alone living the celestial requirements of the gospel of Jesus Christ.  So this is another of the factors that we’ve got to face.  The pressure isn’t going to get any easier.  The pressure is going to get worse.  If you are aware of what’s going on, I think you will agree with me, I hope you will, at least I hope so because if I’m wrong, somebody’s crazy.  I see a rising tide of sensuality in our nation.  Do you not?  A rising tide of materialism.  A rising tide of irresponsibility.  A hate of work; work being the source of all good things for human beings.  As these things come upon us, we live in a devolving society.  A society which is successful because of its technological advantages, but which is becoming so rotten morally, it’s going to topple one of these days.

    If you have read the prophecies concerning the United States, you know that this country is going to be racked from one end to the other by bloodshed, by pestilence, by famine, by war, by fire, by scourges; it isn’t going to be a very pretty sight.  And this because of the fact that we are not very righteous as a people, as a nation.  The Lord will not suffer wicked people to dwell forever in the promised land.  And the time of judgment is coming.

    Briefly, let’s say a word about economic conditions.  For all of his faults, you have to give Marx credit for one thing:  Economics is about the dearest thing to most people’s hearts.  And therefore it is a very important controlling factor in history.  There’s no question about it.  You cannot say that all men are controlled by economic factors.  If men were simply materialistic machines, as Marx thought they were, then he would be right.  But they are not.  Men do have spirits and intelligences.  There is a power of godliness which transforms men’s lives and lifts them above the materialistic level.  But most men are governed by material circumstances and considerations.  They make their decisions in terms of how much money it’s going to afford them, or cost them, so forth.  So, the way to control people is to control their economics.  Government has become the business of taking over the economics of a people because this is the way to effectively handle the situation.  You don’t have to pass anti-trust laws when you can control the steel companies just by cutting off their contracts.  Very simple.  So we see that all governments on the earth are moving more and more into complete control of the economics of their people.  Because this is the way to control society.  Because most men are economic creatures.  This has been seen by the prophets.  Let’s read a few words from the book of Revelations where John predicts what’s going to happen in the last days.

    Chapter 13.  Speaking of the great and abominable church, John points out that the great and abominable church is going to be taken over by another organization.  And this organization is going to have the force to cause that as many as would not worship the great and abominable church would be killed.  Which is a pretty good explanation as to how there are only going to be only two churches in the end.  It couldn’t come about by any means except force.  But then this organization that also causes everybody to join this church is also going to cause all, both small and great, rich and poor, free and bond, to receive a mark in their right hand or in their foreheads.  And no man might buy or sell save he had the mark, or the name of the beast, or the number of his name.  What does that tell you?  Well, I think you can read in that, can’t you, that the economic situation is going to be completely controlled by this force, by this organization.  That eventually we will see the time when the economics of the world will be completely sewed up by this power, and no man can oppose it if he wish to engage in commerce, if he wishes to make a profit.  So if our considerations are material, the only one thing to do is to give in and get the mark and you can do business.  So the time is coming when every person is going to have to choose, I think, between certain material prosperities and his independence.  In other words, between material rewards and righteousness.  That’s what it boils down to.  Enough of that.

    Let’s go on to the signs of the times.  Section 45 of the Doctrine and Covenants gives us enough of a communication of this.  Beginning with verse 30:

    And in that generation shall the times of the Gentiles be fulfilled.

    When the Gentiles have had their chance, then their time is fulfilled, and we’re going to see these signs.

    And there shall be men standing in that generation, that shall not pass until they shall see an overflowing scourge; for a desolating sickness shall cover the land.

    But my disciples shall stand in holy places, and shall not be moved; but among the wicked, men shall lift up their voices and curse God and die.

    And there shall be earthquakes also in divers places, and many desolations; yet men will harden their hearts against me, and they will take up the sword, one against another, and they will kill one another.

    And when the light shall begin to break forth, it shall be with them like unto a parable which I will show you.

    Ye look and behold the fig trees, and ye see them with your eyes, and ye say when they begin to shoot forth, and their leaves are yet tender, that summer in now nigh at hand;

    Even so it shall be in that day when they shall see all these things, then shall they know that the hour is nigh.

    When you see earthquakes, and wars and rumors of wars, pestilence, famine.  When you see flies coming upon the face of the earth, to lay their eggs that maggots devour the flesh of man.  Hail stones come forth to destroy the crops of the earth.  Desolating sickness come to cause thousands and thousands to die.  These are all very specific things prophesied by the scriptures as signs of the times.

    And it shall come to pass that he that feareth me shall be looking forth for the great day of the Lord to come, even for the signs of the coming of the Son of Man.

    This is one of the measures of our faithfulness.

    And they shall see signs and wonders, for they shall be shown forth in the heavens above, and in the earth beneath.

    And they shall behold blood, and fire, and vapors of smoke.

    And before the day of the Lord shall come, the sun shall be darkened, and the moon be turned into blood, and the stars fall from heaven.

    And the remnant shall be gathered unto this place.

    Which of course refers to the gathering of the righteous to the New Jerusalem or to Jerusalem in the last days.  Apparently the remnant of the Jews will be gathered to Jerusalem and the remnant of everybody else will be gathered to the New Jerusalem.  Well, so much for the signs of the times.

    I suppose you’ve gathered by this time that what I’m trying to do is paint for you a picture that is fairly pessimistic.  Now, why am I doing this?  Simply because I’m firmly convinced that the future is something to be pessimistic about.  It’s going to get an awful lot worse before it gets better.  And that you and I happen to live, I think,  very near the end of the times of peace and prosperity and happiness and usual circumstances.  I think that we are going to see the time in the very near future when much of this is destroyed because of these political, ecclesiastical, and social, and economic problems that I’ve been talking about.  Well let’s go on and talk about the second coming now.

    The bright ray of hope in the whole business is the second coming.  It doesn’t matter how bad it’s going to get, all this evil is going to come to an end.  There will be a time when it shall be done away.  And that’s the wonderful thing we can look forward to with hope.  The saints will be vindicated.  Those who have suffered for righteousness sake will receive a reward and will know that things are well.

    Now one of the great blessings the Lord has given us is a chronology of the day of the second coming.  We get an hour by hour sequence of the events of that day.  I would like to go through that sequence now because I think it’s very helpful.  There’s no point in any latter-day saint being surprised at anything that happens on the day of the second coming because it’s all here pretty much in black and white.  Let’s begin with section 88 of the Doctrine and Covenants, verse 87:

    87.  For not many days hence and the earth will tremble and reel to and fro as a drunken man; and the sun shall hide his face, and shall refuse to give light; and the moon shall be bathed in blood; and the stars shall become exceedingly angry, and shall cast themselves down as a fig that falleth from off a fig-tree.

    88.  And after your testimony cometh wrath and indignation upon the people.

    This will be after the time that the missionaries have swept the earth to gather out the righteous for the last time.  Then those that remain having rejected the word of God will begin to reap the consequences.

    89.  For after your testimony cometh the testimony of earthquakes, that shall cause groanings in the midst of her, and men shall fall upon the ground and shall not be able to stand.

    90.  And also cometh the testimony of the voice of thunderings, and the voice of lightnings, and the voice of tempests, and the voice of the waves of the sea, heaving themselves beyond their bounds.

    91.  And all things shall be in commotion; and surely, men’s hearts shall fail them; for fear shall come upon all people.

    Except whom?  Except those that know what’s going on.  They won’t be afraid because they know what’s coming next and there’s nothing really to be afraid of.

    92.  And angels shall fly through the midst of heaven, crying with a loud voice, sounding the trump of God, saying: Prepare ye, prepare ye, O inhabitants of the earth; for the judgment of our God has come; (this is the first day of judgment which comes upon all men)  Behold, and lo, the Bridegroom cometh; go ye out to meet him.

    Now when he says, “go ye out to meet him,” there will be two specific actions that will take place.  Those that have repented will go out and wish to see this great spectacle.  What about those who haven’t repented?  The scripture says that they will go to the rocks and the caves and will try and get the mountains to hide them.  Of course it won’t work.

    94.  And another angel shall should his trump, saying: That great church, the mother of abominations, that made all nations drink of the wine of the wrath of her fornication, (that fornication is not a pretty word, but it’s an important key to the history of this organization. It has sold itself, so watch out) that persecuteth the saints of God, that shed their blood–she who sitteth upon many waters, and upon the islands of the sea–behold, she is the tares of the earth…

    You see the world will have been separated into two groups by this time.  The great and abominable church will have been the world.  I didn’t say that very clearly.  And the saints will be the rest of the people.  And the world will be destroyed.  But the world is the same thing as those who have finally associated themselves with the great and abominable church in the end.  And so she will be burned.  She is the tares of the earth.

    ..she is bound in bundles; her bands are made strong, no man can loose them; therefore, she is ready to be burned.  And he shall sound his trump both long and loud, and all nations shall hear it.

    95. And there shall be silence in heaven for the space of half an hour (I guess this is no point in speculating, but I presume we’ll all be doing a lot of meditating in this half hour); and immediately after shall the curtain of heaven be unfolded after it is rolled up…

    If you had a scroll here and you suddenly unfolded it, this will be what it will look like to look up into the heavens because the veil will be parted, just like it were the unrolling of a scroll.  And we will look up and see the spirit world surrounding the earth, which has been hidden from the eyes of men for these six thousand years since the fall.

    …and the face of the Lord shall be unveiled.

    96.  And the saints that are upon the earth, who are alive, shall be quickened and be caught up to meet him.

    97.  And they who have slept in their graves shall come forth, for their graves shall be opened; and they also shall be caught up to meet him in the midst of the pillar of heaven.

    Now while the Saints are being caught up.  Every righteous person will be caught up.  Every dead righteous person will be resurrected and caught up.  While this is going on, we’re given the transcript of what the rest of the people will be saying as they stand and look up into heaven.  For this, let’s go to section 133.  Beginning with verse 46.  This is what the people who stay on the earth who are watching this will say:

    46.  And it shall be said: Who is this that cometh down from God in heaven with dyed garments; yea, from the regions which are not known, (what are these regions that are not known?  The spirit world that suddenly becomes visible.) clothed in his glorious apparel, traveling in the greatness of his strength?

    47.  And he shall say: I am he who spake in righteousness, mighty to save.

    48.  And the Lord shall be red in his apparel, and his garments like him that treadeth in the wine-vat.

    50.  And his voice shall be heard: I have trodden the winepress alone, and have brought judgment upon all people; and none were with me.

    What was the winepress?  The fierceness of the wrath of almighty God.  Which was what?  His atonement which he performed by himself.  No one was with him.

    51.  And I have trampled them in my fury and I did tread upon them in mine anger, and their blood have I sprinkled upon my garments, and stained all my raiment; for this was the day of vengeance which was in my heart.

    Again that sounds a little harsh.  But remember, these are people who have deliberately fostered evil.  Who have deliberately rejected the Savior and righteousness and kindness, who have sought to bring upon their fellowmen all kinds of misery, torment, tyranny.  And so the Lord takes vengeance upon them after they’ve had a chance to repent.  But there’s a happy note too.

    52.  And now the year of my redeemed is come; and they shall mention the loving kindness of their Lord, and all that He has bestowed upon them according to his goodness, and according to his loving kindness, forever and ever.

    This is the day of the blessing of the Saints and they receive their eternal inheritances.  Now let’s go now to section 45 of the Doctrine & Covenants where we get a record of what’s going to be said as he actually comes down and touches the earth.  Where will he touch?  The Mount of Olives at Jerusalem.  Immediately prior to the coming, there will be a tremendous earthquake and the Mount of Olives will split in twain and there will be a valley created into which a remnant of the Jews who are alive shall run to save their lives from the enemies that will be pressing upon them.  And at that point, they will meet the Savior.  So we read beginning with verse 47 of section 45.

    47.  Then shall the arm of the Lord fall upon the nations.

    48.  And then shall the Lord set his foot upon this mount, and it shall cleave in twain, and the earth shall tremble, and reel to and fro, and the heavens also shall shake.

    49.  And the Lord shall utter his voice, and all the ends of the earth shall hear it; and the nations of the earth shall mourn, and they that have laughed shall see their folly.

    50.   And calamity shall cover the mocker, and the scorner shall be consumed; and they that have watched for iniquity shall be hewn down and cast into the fire.

    What’s a person that watches for iniquity?  These are the people who read the newspaper and get a secret delight out of seeing stories about evil.  A person who loves righteousness detests newspaper accounts of other people’s evil deeds.  Don’t they?  But people who delight to read of evil deeds in a sense are evil.  And when they get the chance and think they won’t be caught, they will be evil too.  And these are they who will be destroyed.

    51.  And then shall the Jews look upon me and say: What are these wounds in thine hands and in thy feet?

    52.  Then shall they know that I am the Lord; for I will say unto them: These wounds are the wounds with which I was wounded in the house of my friends.  I am he who was lifted up.  I am Jesus who was crucified.  I am the Son of God.

    53.  And then shall they weep because of their iniquities; then shall they lament because they persecuted their king.

    And I presume that this weeping and lamentation of the Jews will in a sense be a vicarious weeping and lamentation for the steadfast rejection of the Savior which the Jews have made, lo these thousands of years.

    Let’s go back now to section 88 where the story goes on.

    At the time of the second coming, we have the occasion known as the morning of the first resurrection.  This is not the beginning of the first resurrection.  The first resurrection began at the resurrection of the Savior, he being the first fruits.  And all of the righteous who died before the resurrection of the Savior were resurrected with him.  So millions of people probably have been resurrected even before the second coming.  But nevertheless every person worthy of the celestial kingdom apparently who has not been resurrected will be resurrected at the time of the second coming.

    98. They are Christ’s, the first fruits, they who shall descend with him first, and they who are on the earth and in their graves, who are first caught up to meet him; and all this by the voice of        the sounding of the trump of the angel of God.

    When the resurrection of the celestial persons is complete, then we have the resurrection of the terrestrial persons as recorded in the next verse.

    99.  And after this another angel shall sound, which is the second trump; and then cometh the redemption of those who are Christ’s at his coming; who have received their part in that prison which is prepared for them, that they might receive the gospel, and be judged according to men in the flesh.

    These people have accepted the gospel of Jesus Christ in the spirit world and are now resurrected to a terrestrial glory, being forgiven of their sins through the atonement of Christ and being privileged to come forth at this time to receive their inheritances.

    100.  And another trump shall sound, which is the third trump; and then come the spirits of men who are to be judged, and are found under condemnation.

    These are the telestial spirits.  They cannot yet be resurrected because they are filthy.  And if they were resurrected now they would have to be cast off with the devil and his angels for eternity.  So in his mercy the Lord judges them and gives them a chance to go pay for their sins.  And this is what the scriptures mean when they say “being thrust down to hell.”

    These people are judged at this time, are thrust down to hell, and suffer for their sins because they would not accept the atonement of Christ through repentance and baptism.  Well, through repentance.  We don’t know what the requirements are for the terrestrial kingdom.  But these get the chance to go to hell and make their payment.  And at the end of the millennium, having made their payment, they will be privileged to come forth in the second resurrection and receive the glory of the telestial kingdom.  The telestial kingdom is not hell.  But they must go through hell to get to the telestial kingdom.  These are the rest of the dead and they live not again until the thousand years are ended.  Neither till the end of the earth.  They come back again to the presence of the Savior at the end of the millennium to be judged in the final judgment.  This judgment on the first judgment of the millennium is only a temporary judgment or an assignment for them to pay their penalties so that they can receive a better final judgment.

    102.  And another trump shall sound, which is the fourth trump, saying: There are found among those who are to remain until that great and last day, even the end, who shall remain filthy still.

    Some of these, even though they go away to suffer, are not profited by their suffering.  These are the sons of perdition.  And they shall remain filthy still and at the end of the millennium they shall be cast into outer darkness which is the second death.  Then we go on with the rest of the events of the day.

    103.  And another trump shall sound, which is the fifth trump, which is the fifth angel (this is the same angel who had the everlasting gospel to preach to all nations, kindreds, tongues, and people, and he will say at this time) who committeth the everlasting gospel–flying through the midst of heaven, unto all nations, kindreds, tongues, and people.

    104.  And this shall be the sound of his trump, saying to all people, both in heaven and in earth, and that are under the earth–for every ear shall hear it, and every knee shall bow, and every tongue shall confess, while they hear the sound of the trump, saying: Fear God, and give glory to him who sitteth upon the throne forever and ever; for the hour of his judgment is come.

    Now it said back there they were to be judged.  Now the time of judgment comes.  Every person who is resurrected, of course, receives his judgment on that day.  Because we are resurrected to the specific glory that is ours for the rest of eternity.  If we go to the celestial kingdom, we get a celestial body.  If we go to the terrestrial kingdom, we get a terrestrial body.  And so forth.

    105.  And again, another angel shall sound his trump, which is the sixth angel, saying:  She is fallen who made all nations drink of the wine of the wrath of her fornication; she is fallen, is fallen!

    Who’s this?  The great and abominable church.  If you’ll notice, the affairs of the great and abominable church are intimately connected with the gathering of Israel, the events of the last days, with the day of the second coming.  It’s something that we ought to pay very particular attention to because it’s important.

    106.  And again, another angel shall sound his trump, which is the seventh angel, saying: It is finished; it is finished!  The Lamb of God hath overcome and trodden the wine-press alone, even the wine-press of the fierceness of the wrath of Almighty God.

    107.  And then shall the angels be crowned with the glory of his might, and the saints shall be filled with his glory, and receive their inheritance and be made equal with him.

    The blessings of eternity shall be bestowed upon those who have endured to the end in righteousness.  They shall be made equal with Jesus Christ.

    108.  And then shall the first angel again sound his trump in the ears of all living, and reveal the secret acts of men, and the mighty works of God in the first thousand years.

    After the righteous receive their blessings then everybody else receives their judgment.  And how does it take place?  Well, two things are told to everybody.  This is made a public thing.  All the secret acts of men are made public and also the works of God in striving to bring these people to repentance.  So that everyone will know that the judgments of God are just.  And the judgments of God will be passed upon these people.

    109.  And then shall the second angel sound his trump, and reveal the secret acts of men, and the thoughts and intents of their hearts, and the mighty works of God in the second thousand years. 110.  And so on, until the seventh angel shall sound his trump; and he shall stand forth upon the land and upon the sea, and swear in the name of him who sitteth upon the throne that there shall be time no longer;

    No more watches.  No more clocks.  Is that what it means?  No more time?  No.  The time of the world is over.  Satan’s time is gone.  Wickedness is past.  The time for repentance is past. There will still be time after the manner of clocks, but not after the manner of the ability to do evil.  Time shall be no longer   …and Satan shall be bound, that old serpent, who is called the devil, and shall not be loosed for the space of a thousand years.

    Then he shall be loosed and so forth.  Well, this pretty well completes the chronicle of the events of the day of the second coming.

    Well, why did I go through all this?  I hoped to contrast that with the pessimistic picture of the intervening time.  This is a wonderful thing to look forward to.  So let’s contrast.  If we are depressed because of the events intervening, let’s also be joyed because of the wonderful blessings of the day of the second coming.  Well, now let’s turn to what we can do about these situations and prepare.

    First of all, political.  We have received instructions as to what to do politically.  I would like to read them to you.  Let me read you the words of President McKay in the October conference 1962.  He has said these same sorts of things many times.  He talks about international communism and its attempt to destroy us and our freedoms.  He contrasts with this the gospel of Jesus Christ and its program.  And the two have nothing in common.  If you find something that has something in common with communism–and I hope I’m not speaking in too veiled a manner–you find something that is opposed to the gospel of Jesus Christ.  Because the two are antithetical.  Jesus always sought the welfare of the individual.  And individuals grouped and laboring for the mutual welfare of the whole in conformity with the principles of the gospel, constitute the kingdom of God.  It isn’t the welfare of the individual that is sought by communism or its allies.  It’s the welfare theoretically of the state actually of the group who rule the state.  Is this not so?  Does Castro live like his people?  No, no he doesn’t live like the proletariat.  He proclaims to champion the proletariat, but isn’t it interesting how these great champions of the proletariat never live like them?  They’re always content to live in luxury while their people are the ones that suffer.  He goes on to say: “Force and compulsion will never establish the ideal society.”  Should this affect your politics?  This can come only by a transformation within the individual.  By no external force or power.

    Only through a life redeemed from sin and brought in harmony with the divine will.  Instead of selfishness, men must be willing to dedicate their ability, their possessions, their lives if necessary, their fortunes and their sacred honor to the alleviation of the ills of mankind.  Hate must be supplanted by sympathy and forbearance.  Peace and true prosperity can come only by conforming our lives to the law of love.  The law of the principles of the gospel of Jesus Christ.

    A mere appreciation of the social ethics of Jesus is not sufficient.  I hope you recognize what this means.  There are many within the church who want to teach only the social ethics of Jesus.  But the transformation of men’s hearts does not come by social ethics.  It comes by the power of the priesthood and the gift of the holy ghost.  That’s the only way it can come.  As men are willing to accept that power within into their lives.  Then they can be transformed.  But not by any law, not by any idea, not by any social ethic.

    In these days of uncertainty and unrest, liberty-loving people’s greatest responsibility and paramount duty is to preserve and proclaim the freedom of the individual, his relationship to deity, and the necessity of obedience to the principles of the gospel of Jesus Christ.  Only thus will mankind find peace and happiness.

    We find ourselves now immersed in a great political campaign in America for the purpose of selecting candidates for office in local, state, and national positions.  We urge you as citizens to participate in this great democratic process in accordance with your honest political convictions.  However, above all else, strive to support good and conscientious candidates of either party who  are aware of the great dangers inherent in communism and who are truly dedicated to the constitution in the tradition of our founding fathers.

    That’s pretty explicit isn’t it?  If you know what the tradition of our founding fathers was, it isn’t what the constitution is being interpreted as today.

    They should also pledge their sincere fealty to our way of liberty.  A liberty which aims at the preservation both of personal and property rights.  Study the issues, analyze the candidates on these grounds, and then exercise your franchise as free men and women.  Never be found guilty of exchanging your birthright for a mess of pottage.

    Well that’s pretty plain, isn’t it?  Should we be in doubt as to what we ought to do politically?  The people cry for leadership and guidance.  But when the leader speaks, do the people follow?  Not always.  I’d be willing to wager with you (although I’m not a betting man).  Go to any sizable group in the church and see if they know what President McKay has said about what people ought to do politically.  I would wager that you can’t find 5% that know of these words.  Try it.  I’ve tried it many, many times.  People don’t know what President McKay says.  They don’t pay any attention to it.  This is one of our biggest problems.  We do not listen to our prophets.  He said things very explicit.  Why don’t people hear this?  A lot of them don’t want to hear it in the first place.  That binds you if you listen to what he says there.  You can’t just vote any old way, you’ve got to vote a certain way.  You’ve got to vote the way the Lord tells you to in accordance with certain guidelines.  And that’s more particular than a lot of people want to be.

    Well, what can we do in the church?  It’s not our purpose to fight the great and abominable church.  The thing we must do is to build up the Church of Jesus Christ.  To establish Zion.  What is Zion?  Zion is a people who are pure in heart.  A people who live together in love and in righteousness.  And then ought to consume a good share of our effort.  It doesn’t matter what program we’re engaged in in the church, the end result is supposed to be love and kindness, good feeling with one another, working together as redeemed servants of Jesus Christ for the upbuilding of his kingdom.  If we’re accomplishing anything else, we’ve missed the point.  The only way we can stand the onslaught of the great and abominable church is to have power because it has power.  And the only power that’s sufficient is the power of the priesthood.  And only when we get the power of the priesthood so that we can command the elements, so that we can command disease, can we withstand the pressure that is going to be put upon us in these last days.  The Lord will not leave righteous people helpless.  Sometimes it’s true, they have to suffer and die as witnesses.  But not the body.  This is only the few that have to suffer and die as witnesses.

    The group of his people are going to be preserved and preserved in proportion to their righteousness.  But we can have power only as we honor the power and the source of that power.  We have great missionary work to do.  We ought to be anxiously engaged in spreading the word of the gospel.  Every member a missionary.  How?  By example.  What did President McKay say to do last conference?  He said: Every one of you go out and radiate the gospel of Jesus Christ.  Make sure that everybody in your environment feels the power of the goodness of the gospel.  And they see that this is something that does transform the lives of people.  People don’t just join the church and go to a lot of meetings.  They get changed.  They become righteous.  They become nice to be around.  They get rid of their bad habits.  That’s what we’re supposed to be doing, isn’t it?

    And genealogy and temple work.  This is a day of peace.  There is no better time to do our genealogy  work than right now.  When the overflowing scourge comes, are we going to be able to go to Salt Lake City and work in the library?  Of course not.  If we know what’s going on, we’ll get busy right now.  This is the most fruitful time we’re going to have.  We don’t know how long it’s going to continue.  But we must work on it.

    What can we do socially?  The Lord has set his people to be a light unto all men.  To encourage all men everywhere to be righteous.  We’re not just supposed to say, “Well, we’ll work with the members of the church.  We have a responsibility to encourage all men of whatever religious belief to live up to the principles they believe in.  And we can help them.  We can stimulate it.  Lots of people get into politics and become evil men because nobody will support them.  The only way they can operate is to make deals with the opposition.  Good men won’t come to their aid.  And we crucify a lot of good men by this process.  Well, do we have any political integrity ourselves?  Enough to support good men in doing good things?  Or do we insist that we get the pork barrel while they economize with everybody else?  Well, we have to be very honest with ourselves.  If we build the kingdom of God, we’re going to build principles of righteousness.  We’re going to preserve the constitution of the United States.  Let me read you just a few words from President J. Rueben Clark.

    “I am an American because I believe in a government of laws and not of men.  And in a national allegiance to high principle and lofty ideal instead of to a personal sovereign.  (I hope you recognize that what he believes in is being done away with.)  I am an American because I believe in a government with three distinct separate branches, each mutually independent of the other, with no power of delegation or appropriation of rights or powers by any one of them or from any other.  I am an American because I believe that government must derive its just powers from the consent of the governed.  And branches of government and officers shall have such powers such as shall be given them by the people.”

    I didn’t mean to get back to politics.  But are you aware that it doesn’t matter too much anymore what Congress passes as a law.  What runs the country is executive order and not law.

    Very specific laws were created governing what should be done in relation to Cuba.  By executive order, the government ignored every one of those laws passed by the people of the United States.  Who runs the country?  The executive branch.  Not the legislative branch.  And it does what it wants to do and not what the people want it to do.  In fact, it deliberately withholds from the people the opportunity of knowing what’s going on and deliberately falsifies the record to promote its ends.  We better watch out.

    I’m an American because I believe in the greatest possible measure of self-government.  Some people say the less government the better.  That’s an awful fallacy.  You have to have government.  If people will not govern themselves, they must be governed to avoid chaos.  But I think he states it correctly here.  I believe in the greatest possible measure of self-government because I believe in a federal system of government which keeps local affairs in the hands of governments.  I am an American because I believe in a Bill of Rights which places wholly beyond the reach of lawful government certain matters affecting life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.  Specifically the right of freedom of conscience and worship, the right of free speech and of free press.  The right peaceably to assemble and petition government.  The right to gain and hold property without molestation except by due process of law.  And he goes on with a lot of other things.  I commend to you as a good book, Stand Fast by the Constitution.  If you haven’t read it, I think it ought to be a first order of business.  Well, socially we’ve got to rise above the ways of the world by building the kingdom of God by establishing Zion.

    Economically, the pattern is given by the Savior in section 78 of the Doctrine and Covenants.  It’s his will that his church not go down when governments fall.  That it not be trapped by the activities of the great and abominable church or the organization that takes over that church and restricts and restrains commerce.  The goal of the Lord is to help us to enter into another order of righteousness called the order of Enoch or the law of consecration.  Which is basically not a material, but a spiritual covenant.  He says in verse 11:

    11.  Wherefore, a commandment I give unto you, to prepare and organize yourselves by a bond or everlasting covenant that cannot be broken.

    13.  Behold, this is the preparation wherewith I prepare you, and the foundation, and the ensample which I give unto you, whereby you may accomplish the commandments which are given you.

    14.  That through my providence, notwithstanding the tribulation which shall descend upon you, that the church may stand independent above all other creatures beneath the celestial world.

    It’s impossible to become independent.  But we do want to be independent of the world and dependent only upon the Lord.  This is the economic program of the church.  The beginnings of it are the welfare program, our tithing, our fast offering, our building fund.  But we’ve got to be awfully astute because this again is mixed up with politics.  The political powers that be aren’t going to be very happy when we start to get independent economically.  Why?  Because then they can’t control us.  And they will want to control us.  So they’re going to turn the screws economically and we’re going to have to watch out.  Why do the Brethren say to get out of debt?  Because the easiest way for someone to control you is to get you good and far in debt and then through some circumstance fix it so you can’t pay your debts which is possible, isn’t it?  Do you know how they did it to the Mormons in Nevada in 1856?  They didn’t like the Mormons.  They  were prospering down in the Moapa Valley so they turned the screws on them by demanding that they pay all their taxes in gold pieces.  They didn’t have any gold so they had to leave.  They came in and possessed theirs lands and took everything away from them.  Well, that’s crafty isn’t it?  It pays for us to be intelligent too.  But intelligent sufficient that we do not cause ourselves and our posterity to suffer.  It pays for us to become economically strong and independent so that our enemies do not have power over us.  Are you aware the Brethren have counseled us there is only one good reason for going into personal debt?  What is it?  To buy a home.  I think that if we keep that counsel we are going to be better off as a people.  And they tell us to get out of debt as fast as we can.  Financial bondage leads to spiritual bondage if we aren’t careful.  So we need to watch out.  There’s a very real area for us to work on.

    What’s another aspect of this independence?  Do you have a year’s supply?  This has been the standing order of the church for how many years?  At least 28 that I know about.  You know what Brigham Young used to tell the people?  What was the standing order in Brigham Young’s day?  Four or five years supply.  You see, we’ve backed up now.  What do the Brethren plead with us to do today?  1 year.  But how many of us have done it?  Do you think you could find 10% of the people of this church who could sustain themselves for a year if everything were cut  off?  No.  Do you think you can find 10% of the people of this church who are faithful to the Lord Jesus Christ.  No.  This is one of the tokens, isn’t it?  If a person really believes in Jesus Christ and the servant of Jesus Christ says, “get a year’s supply of food and clothing,” don’t you think that person would do it?  Wouldn’t he not buy a new car this year and get that year’s supply in.  Why sure he would.  But nobody does it to speak of.  Why?  Because we don’t believe in Jesus Christ, frankly.  Oh, yes, we believe that he exists, don’t mistake me.  We believe that he is up in the heavens somewhere and he’s a very nice person.  But we don’t believe that he is the sole source of our salvation.  We don’t believe that we have to do everything he says.  And this is what we come to in this last item.

    The only salvation for men is to put their trust in the Lord Jesus Christ and to do as he says.  Remember the parable of the tree of life in the Book of Mormon.  The mists of darkness grow thick, and the thicker they get, the more imperative it is to recognize what is going on in the total picture.  All these events that I’ve talked about are the mists of darkness.  The only latter-day saints who are going to survive these mists and not fall off into that filthy water.  What was that filthy water that was going alongside that straight and narrow path?  It was a representation of the depths of hell.  And in the mists of darkness, if you don’t hang on to the iron rod, where do you wander?  You wander off and plop into the filthy water.  The only hope we have to endure these last days and not become subject to Satan, I believe, is to become subject to Jesus Christ.  To become independent of every creature beneath the celestial world.  The church is a celestial organization.  It is that organization designed and implemented by the Lord Jesus Christ to save every soul that wants to be saved from the world.  But if we love the world, of course we don’t want to be saved from it.

    But this is the test.  Do we love the material advantages the world has to offer or do we love righteousness more?  That’s essentially the choice that we’re making in these last days.  The world chooses material advantage.  Welfare.  Those who are righteous chose suffering in a sense but righteousness.  They chose to do good for the fellow man and they are willing to suffer materially.  They’re willing to be poor if necessary to promote righteousness.  They’re willing to  sacrifice for their principles.  They’re willing to go out and buy their year’s supply.  Now, mind you, I’m not talking to students.  It’s not necessary for a student, I would believe, to have a year supply.  But I think every head of a household ought to have it.  Everybody who is responsible for feeding other people ought to have it.  Wouldn’t that be a good thing?  How can we account ourselves as just and wise stewards before the Lord if we have not provided for those that are dependent upon us.  If we leave them subject to the mercies of evil people in our society.  That isn’t very good stewardship is it?

    Well, this is where personal righteousness comes in.  The Lord tells us, “Be ye clean that bear the vessels of the Lord.”  Let’s make sure that we have clean hands and a pure heart.  I would hope brothers and sisters that we can do as we are commanded to do in the Doctrine and Covenants.  Let’s read a few verses here from section 88.  The Lord gives us very specific instructions as to how to prepare for these last days:

    123.  See that ye love one another; cease to be covetous; learn to impart one to another as the gospel requires.

    124.  Cease to be idle; cease to be unclean; cease to find fault one with another; cease to sleep longer than is needful; retire to thy bed early, that ye may not be weary; arise early, that your bodies and your minds may be invigorated.

    125.  And above all things, clothe yourselves with the bond of charity, as with a mantle, which is the bond of perfectness and peace.

    126.  Pray always, that ye may not faint, until I come.  Behold, and lo, I will come quickly, and receive you unto myself.  Amen.

    Brothers and sisters, it is my hope and prayer that we can rally together and serve the Lord Jesus Christ.  We have a long way to go and the obstacles are formidable.  Its my testimony that the Lord  is equal to every obstacle that you and I face and that you and I, under the direction of the Lord, can meet and successfully overcome the challenges of these last days.  We can separate ourselves from the world and from worldliness.  We can be ready for the Savior in his second coming.  I think one way to say how to be ready for the second coming is this:

    The only way to prepare for the second coming is to accept the first coming.  To accept the fact that Jesus Christ came and lived a perfect life.  That he wrought an atonement for all men.  He descended below all things and now has risen above all things and will come to judge all things.  I pray that we will study the life of our Savior and his teachings and his commandments.  That we might accept his first coming and that we will obey the voice of his servants that we might be prepared for his second coming.  I say this in the name of Jesus Christ.  Amen.

  • The Creation and the Gospel

    To me the theology of the LDS Church is the most important body of knowledge in the world.  If I were a musician, I would write music about it and perform that music.  If I were a painter, I would paint it.  I’m neither of those, I’m a philosopher so I have to talk about it.  Talking about it is a special privilege.  This is not supposed to be anything new.  It’s like hearing Beethoven’s Fifth over again or something.  But hopefully through sharing ideas we can accomplish something good.  Now I’m going to talk for approximately fifty minutes, then there will be a few minutes for questions.

    The subject for today is first of all the creation, then the gospel.  One further word of introduction:  What I’m thinking is my personal picture.  My hope and intent is, that it is not incorrect. But necessarily it will reflect my personality, my understanding, my knowledge.  If it doesn’t square exactly with yours, I hope you will forgive me.  The process we’re all engaged in is that we will all come to a unity of faith.  I’m over here, you’re over there. But if we will all move toward the center we will meet some day and see eye to eye on all these matters.  And it is such an occasion as this that might perhaps help us come a little closer together. So, let’s begin.

    The universe is made of intelligences.  I understand that intelligences are material and all matter is intelligences.  Some material and intelligences are finer, some courser.  Creation was the process of organization, or, in other words, reorganization of these intelligences.  Apparently the word create does not mean to make out of nothing.  It means to change the form of, to organize.  Some intelligences are organized to act, others are organized to be acted upon.  The fundamental choice for action is whether to act righteously or selfishly.  Righteousness is to so act that one promotes as much as possible the happiness of all beings one affects by ones actions.  Now let’s try that again because that’s fundamental.  Righteousness, as I understand it, is to act in such a way that you benefit everybody you effect as much as possible by what ever you do.  Now that’s a tall order to do that.

    Righteousness it seems to me, is the alternative to selfishness.  Selfishness is to choose to act to promote our own personal welfare without regard to the concerns of others.  In righteousness each intelligence seeks the interest of his neighbor.  And this is the only possible basis for living together in harmony eternally.  My guess is that righteousness is a principle that’s built into the very structure of existence.  It is not something that’s arbitrary at all.  It’s the way things have to be to be harmonious when you deal with people who are your equals and you live with them eternally.  It seems to me the only basis that will make eternal harmony and happiness possible is this principle of each person having his neighbor’s interest instead of his own.  Righteousness I take is the pivotal concept of all correct theology.  It is the independent variable of the whole system, in a way.  Everything depends on and relates to this concept of righteousness.  God is a god of righteousness, that’s why he is God.  Righteousness does not come from him, he is God because he himself yields to and obeys the necessities of righteousness.  So the fullness and perfection of righteousness is God.  And that fullness and perfection is found only in God.

    As is there but one righteousness so there is but one God.  That one God (capital G) is made up of many intelligences who have obtained pure righteousness.  They too are gods (small g.)  So there’s no contradiction as far as I can see in saying that we have three gods in our Godhead; the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost.  And they are one God.  They are one in the sense that they are absolutely united.  They are united in the priesthood structure that so unites them that they act as if they were a single entity.  They act perfectly, unerringly for the welfare and happiness of all individuals, that is to say they act in righteousness.  My understanding is that righteousness is the source of God’s power because God is a God of righteousness.  Most of the intelligences are delighted to associate with God and to serve him, to obey him, and to keep his commandments.  That’s not true of everything however.  So, the universe consists then of three things as I understand it:  The universe consists of God, the kingdoms of God (which are many. We know of a Celestial Kingdom, and a Terrestrial Kingdom, and a Telestial Kingdom, and a kingdom without glory or any light.)  And then there are those who resist God.  Those three things, as I understand it exhaust the universe.  “There are Gods many and Lords many,” as Paul said.  But to us there are three that are especially important; our Heavenly Father, his son Jesus Christ, and the Holy Ghost.  These three are one God, infinite and eternal.  They are perfectly righteous, that is to say they never act selfishly.  Because they are omniscient they know how to be righteous. Because they are omnipotent and have all power to do all things that can be done they can act righteously.  So our God is sufficient to righteousness.  Righteousness, I take it, is the most difficult thing to achieve in the universe.  It is the supreme achievement.  It is the order of the universe that makes dwelling in the universe a happy thing to do.  We should be very grateful for the goodness of our God for his perfection and for the power, knowledge, and righteousness of our God.

    Now the key to theology, according to Parley P. Pratt, and I think this is profound insight, is that men are the children of the Gods.  Literally, of the race, of the seed, physically begotten of the Gods.  Literally the same flesh and bone.  And thus are heirs to Godliness.  The heirs of Godliness, of course means, heirs to righteousness.  Each human being is invited by the gospel of Jesus Christ to become a god, with a small g.  To become part of God, with a capital G.  To join in the eternal work of God, eternally.  The Savior prayed his disciples might become one with him, even as he was one with the Father.  That also meant all that they would bring would become one with them.  This is the grand design.  The design is that every soul born on this earth should have the invitation to claim their rightful heritage.  Which is, to grow up in righteousness unto the fullness of it.  But since righteousness is a thing that is done by will power.  That is to say, cannot be done by any creature which apparently is acted upon.  Righteousness is a thing which can be achieved only by intelligences which are organized to act.  Therefore man had to be set free.  Otherwise he could not have obtained righteousness.

    This earth was recently created.  That is to say, reorganized to be the habitation of Adam and Eve.  The creation was personally supervised by the Father.  Our Savior was and is the executor of this creation.  The creation, as I understand it, is still going on actually and will continue into the future.  The spiritual creation was finished before the physical creation began.  But the physical creation has gone on since that time.  Apparently the spiritual creation may have started as recently as fifteen thousand years ago,  was completed in seven days, and the physical creation has been going on. We don’t know exactly how long. But we know there have been about six thousand years of the earth’s continuation or existence since the fall.  The gap in our knowledge is how long before the beginning of creation, of the creation of the earth for Adam’s habitation and the time of the fall.  It could have been a long long time, but we don’t know what the time period is, at least I don’t have the answer to what that might be.

    The important thing about the creation of this earth (there are two things that are important.)  First, that all things physical have there counterpart to that which is spiritual.  Spiritual was created first then the physical follows along and is done in the same form and image as the spiritual.  That is important because it is the spiritual that controls and governs the physical.  The thing that I think is avoided in this whole process of understanding creation is the superstition that the world has fallen into to suppose that this creation was natural.  That is to say, that somehow it proceeded by itself, by chance.  We are told the creation story over and over again.  And I think the purpose of that is that it will finally sink into us that this was not a natural process.  This was a process that was carefully directed by the Father, executed by the Son in very great detail and I suppose in full detail.  They looked at it and saw that it was good.  They created it just the way they want to to fulfill the work of righteousness.  Being perfect creatures then, their creation was perfectly suited for its task.

    The fall of Adam marks the creation of the world.  The creation of the earth and the creation of the world are two different things.  The earth is the physical globe on which we live.  A world is an extensive place of existence and action.  This world is the place for the creation of righteousness.  It had to be set up so that it would be maximumly designed to allow the sons and daughter of God to become righteous, or in other words, to become Gods.  To become one with the Father to become one with God.  So the fall of Adam was the process by which the world was created.  This world was also created by the Son under the direction of the Father.

    Satan and one third of the hosts of heavenly intelligences chose selfishness over righteousness in the pre-mortal war in heaven.  Because of that they were damned at that point, that is to say their growth in righteousness and in light.  Light being wisdom and truth being knowledge was stopped at that time.  And though they had considerable light and truth and some knowledge of righteousness their growth ceased and they were cast down to this earth.  So when the world was created they were here ready to do their part.  The factors necessary for the creation of the world were:

    one, there needed to be Gods present to create and to control and to teach of righteousness.

    Two, there needed to be  Satan to provide an intense opposition to God and to righteousness.

    Three, there needed to be an earth suitable for the habitation of man.

    Four, the children of God needed to be here, innocent and ignorant ready to be proved.  So, Adam and Eve the children of the God’s were placed on earth in the garden of Eden.  Innocent; that is to say, having no sin to their charge and ignorant; having forgotten everything they knew and not knowing good and evil.

    They had Celestial bodies, that is to say, they had spirit matter flowing in there veins.  Our Father instructed them to care for the garden but not to eat of the fruit of the knowledge of good and evil, lest they die.  Now that one little bit of commandment was the only real agency they had.  They knew they may partake of the tree of knowledge of good and evil but they knew they should not and they knew the consequence of disobeying.  That was the only particular in which they were really free.  Satan convinced Eve that she would be better off knowing good and evil than obeying Father.  And Eve convinced Adam also to disobey and as promised, they died spiritually that very day.  But they did become as the Gods, knowing good and evil.  Speaking of Eve convincing Adam that knowing good and evil rather that obeying father, I ponder about that one because she was right.  It’s a good thing she did it but how do we justify that?  I guess we can’t.  Well, what we know is this, our Father set up this situation so that Adam and Eve would fall.  I think he had the thing tilted so much that they couldn’t help themselves, they had to fall.  But my understanding is that he wanted them to fall of their own free will.  Had he thrust them out of his presence and said to them, “All right now you go away so that you can be out of my sight and be proved.”  Then in justice he would of had to have brought them back.  So when they of their own free will and choice go out of his sight and create the conditions of the fall then they of their own free will and choice have to fight their way back.  Now he provided the door by which they could come back.  But had he simply gathered everybody back, it wouldn’t be quit the same thing as I understand it.  So, Eve did a wonderful thing, even though she transgressed the commandment of the Father.  And Adam was smart enough to go along with her.  I’m glad he was that smart.  Well, anyway they did die spiritually and that set in motion all the things that were necessary for the creation of the world.

    So, to know good and evil is to have the eyes of one’s understanding opened.  To see then in every choice a person makes there is the opportunity to pursue righteousness on the one hand by obeying God, or to pursue selfishness on the other hand by doing anything other than the will of God.  Now, not everybody’s eyes are opened to the same degree.  Some people only see that choice in some things. The more a person’s eyes are opened, that is to say, the more they understand what goes on.  They come to see that there is a right and a wrong to every action.  And the more they are enlarged to righteousness, through the help of God, eventually they will come to the point where they will be able to discern exactly in every case between righteousness and selfishness and their eyes are fully opened.

    Having obeyed Satan rather than God, Adam and Eve became subject to Satan.  Satan was given power over their bodies to cause disease and death.  But only as the Father allowed such, that is to say, he has to go get permission whenever he wants to take somebody’s life.  The story of Job is the pattern for that.  Satan was given power to tempt Adam and his children to entice them away from that righteousness which comes only through obedience to God.

    Satan’s temptation to us is to self righteousness.  To suppose that we of ourselves know better than God.  This is a temptation to man because sometimes his own desires and lusts cause him to want to disobey God.  So the real question is, will we obey our own lusts or will we obey the Father?  We are assured in the scriptures that Satan’s only power over us is to confirm us in our own lusts.  That is to say, if we don’t want something evil, there is no way that Satan can tempt us with that.  I’m sure we have all had the experience of being in the presence of great evil and not be tempted by it in the least.  On the other hand, being in the presence of evil and we’re greatly tempted by it.  I’m indebted to Dan Ludlow for one point that I hadn’t picked up on till last year.  And that is, that it is not the body that lusts, it’s the spirit.  And when we lust after something evil, it’s not because our body wants it, our body does not like to over-eat, for instance.  Or to do a number of other things that are wrong.  It’s our spirit that wants that.  And the cure is not in the body, the cure is in the spirit.  The cure is in our hearts which are part of our spirit.  Until we get our hearts straightened out we can’t solve this problem we have, say of over-eating or whatever it is.

    I think that is a very important insight to realize that by, for instance age or aging will not cure our problems.  Cause though the body ages, the spirit doesn’t.  And if a young man leads off doing things that are evil when he gets older it’s because he doesn’t want to.  That is to say unless his spirit has changed, he may have stopped doing it because he can’t, but he still wants to, is what I’m trying to say.  And I think that we need to be so careful that we don’t suppose there’s some natural process that leads through aging or something that doesn’t take any will power on our part that gets rid of this selfishness out of us.

    My understanding is, that getting rid of the selfishness is something that you and I have to do by taking ourselves in hand and recreating ourselves.  God gives us the power to do it but he cannot do it, he will not do it.  He insists that we take full charge.  He supervises, he instructs, he guides, he gives the power but we’re the ones that have to do it.

    This world is then the place designated by God where he would send his children to see if they would love him and his righteousness more than they would love themselves and their own selfish desires.  Each would be given the light of Christ by which to know good and the companionship of evil spirits by which to be enticed to follow selfish desires.  Now we would have selfish desires if it were not for Satan.  What Satan does, is he loads the situation so that it compress the time necessary to have probation.  It probably would take a lot longer if we were just left without Satan to tempt us.  We would still want to be selfish.  But Satan is here to put pressure on the situation so that we can get it over with.  And that’s a blessing.  Especially for those who choose evil, they get it over with.

    So, each mortal is given a limited time and space to love and to act to show what he or see really desires.  And the situation in which we are placed is where righteousness is only a hope and appealing and selfishness is an ever-present opportunity.  Now, it seems that it’s almost loaded against righteousness.  Selfishness seems to win most of the time.  But my guess is, is that it’s very much like a class.  Now when a teacher grades a class, you can skew it to make the examinations very very hard.  So that you stretch out the A students and get a variation amongst them.  Or you can make the test very easy and all the A students bunch up at the top and you spread out everyone else.  Well, my guess is that this earth is designed to make it very very difficult.  So that we wouldn’t get that spread at the top.  That is to say, so that it would be very clear who qualifies for exaltation.

    I think the key to this world is that this world was not created to create Telestial spirits, (although it produces a lot of them) or Terrestrial spirits.  It was not created to produce people who just barely make it to the Celestial Kingdom.  But it’s set up to be so difficult that you clearly qualify for exaltation (which is the top one third of the Celestial Kingdom) if you make it, now that’s my guess. And I suppose that’s why it’s a great benefit to live on the most evil of all creations that Our Heavenly Father and the Savior have ever created.  Because it’s the most evil situation, we have the most opportunity to show our love for righteousness.  Because there’s no end to the evil we can turn away from and help to overcome in the world.  It’s virtually an unlimited opportunity.

    The world ends when God sees the purposes of this mortality are either finished or are being thwarted.  As the world ended in the flood, the purposes were being thwarted.  This world will end twice again.  When the Savior comes again, (the beginning of the millennium) and at the end of the millennium.  This world is essentially the kingdom of Satan on earth.  The kingdom of Satan on earth was created by Adam’s disobedience.  Satan gained power then over man that there might be a world.

    The natural man is the fall of man. The ordinary human creature who is without God and Christ in the world.  This person is an enemy to God, meaning that he does not love God.  He may not love God because he has never had the opportunity.  Or he may not do so out of choice.  It’s hard for us to judge. We don’t know who really has had the full opportunity or who hasn’t (although we can sometimes tell and the person themselves know.)  This natural man is sustained in life and thought and deeds continually by the power of God. And the light of Christ witness to him of good and evil, right and wrong.  This natural man sins because he can not help but break the laws of God.  He struggles to survive and make his way in the world by intelligence and brute strength.  Usually he thinks there is no hope for the world as a whole.  So he just tries to get a piece of satisfaction for himself, ere he meets that unwanted fate of death.  Death holds variously imagined terrors for him.  The righteous do not fear death.  The natural man fears death.  The natural man is carnal, in that he recognizes only physical evidence as the basis for knowledge.  He is sensual, in that he principally seeks for pleasure to bring him satisfaction.  He is devilish, in that by either not knowing or by  rejecting God he backs himself in the arms and power of Satan. Even though he may not believe in Satan, he nevertheless is captive to Satan and does Satan’s will.  And unless he’s is very rich his physical life is likely to be brutish and short.  Not a very pleasant situation but nevertheless a good situation.

    So, to summarize the conditions of the world:

    (1) God is in charge.  He controls and governs all things and witnesses of righteousness to all men.  Men are sufficiently instructed to know the difference between right and wrong and we will be judged on the basis of that knowledge.

    (2) Satan is present with power over man as God gives him permission.  He tempts men to do their own thing and to disobey God thereby.  Hoping to enlarge his eternal kingdom of followers.  He pretends to be the God of this world.  He’s not.  But he claims that.

    (3) Man has become spiritually dead.  Telestial, mortal he understands good and evil and is subject now to his own will.  He could not be subject to his own will until he clearly understood good and evil.  And the more he understands good and evil in more things, the more he is subject to his own will.  Then if he uses his will to choose righteousness, he grows and grows in the stature of righteousness, until eventually he can obtain the stature of Christ.  If he chooses selfishness he has the privilege of growing in that until he can obtain the stature of Satan.  In a sense become more powerful than Satan, having a body.

    (4) The earth itself is fallen and telestial.  A place of opposition and work, but a place of order and beauty.  My conclusion about this whole matter is, that we live in a perfect earth and a perfect world.  I say that because it’s has been designed and created by a perfect being.  There’s no way to improve it.  Now don’t mistake me, it is possible for men to repent and to improve themselves but the situation cannot be improved upon.  It would not be good to remove Satan from this situation.  It would not be good to remove wars and diseases and terrors and all kinds of things from the earth.  Even though you and I are supposed to work against those things.  But if somehow we could reach out and remove all sickness and diseases form the earth, would that be a good thing?  No, if that were a good thing God would do it.  But he doesn’t do it because it’s good for men to have sickness.  Why?  Because it reminds them of their weakness and mortality and their fallibility.  Sickness brings people to their knees many times.  And were it not for sickness they would not resolve to compensate.  Sickness brings them to reflection, it brings them new understanding, it brings them to repentance.  And thus the work of God goes on.

    Everything that happens on this earth, my testimony is, that God’s hand is in everything.  And he doesn’t let happen a single thing he doesn’t want to happen.  He doesn’t cause everything to happen but if he doesn’t want it to happen he prevents it from happening.  Now you and I cause much of what happens because our wills are part of this world.  We help create the world too.  We help it to be worldly when we disobey God.  We help push it towards the direction of righteousness when we obey God.  So we’re part of this too.  But God can eliminate our power to affect the world at any moment simply by taking us or by taking our power away.  Giving us a stroke or something so we can’t talk, can’t act.  He has very careful control over what you and I do.

    So, it’s interesting to contemplate that whenever an evil man acts, he’s acting by the power of God in a sense.  God gave Hitler the power to kill all those Jews.  He didn’t particularly want Hitler to do it.  Hitler had to have the opportunity to do that and a number of other people had to have the opportunity to stand by and watch him so they could prove themselves.  Some people fought against him, they proved themselves.  Some people suffered and died and they proved themselves.  Some people suffered and died and became more righteous in the process and gained a great blessing out of it.  Some people suffered and died angrily, they lost in the process.  But the whole thing, as I understand it, is calculated to be the perfect situation for the probation for the souls of man.

    So, there is a passage of scripture that is marvelous and pertinent to what we have talked about today and I’d like to read a few verse here.  II Nephi chapter two.  That chapter is so profound.  Father Lehi on his death bed after all the things he had said to his children.  When he was trying that one last time to say something important to Laman and Lemuel and the sons of Ismael and their wives. He went back to the story we just talked about and tried to emphasis to them the situation.  So let’s begin with verse fourteen,

    “Now my sons I speak unto you these things for your profit and learning; there is a God.”

    See they had been maintaining there wasn’t one.  How could they do that, when they had seen angels, when they had seen the power of God?  Well, they very conveniently dismissed all of those evidences because they didn’t want them.  They wanted to think that everything was just natural so they could get everything they wanted by their own strength.  So that’s the way they tried to operate.

    “He hath created all things, both the heavens and the earth, and all things that in them are, both things to act and things to be acted upon.  And to bring about his eternal purposes in the end of man, after he had created our first parents, and the beasts of the field and the fowls of the air, and in fine all things which are created, it must needs be that there was an opposition to the tree of life; the one being sweet and the other bitter.”

    The word existence itself means opposition.  Exist means to stand out, to be opposed, to be different from something.  It’s difference that makes existence.  So there had to be a difference between the tree of life and the tree of knowledge of good and evil.  There had to be a difference between God and Satan.  There has to be a difference between a good man and a bad man.

    “Wherefore, the Lord God gave unto man that he should act for himself.  Wherefore, man could not act for himself save it should be that he was enticed by the one or the other.”

    Now, the great lesson we learn about this, is that we are free.  Even now if we are adult human beings and know the gospel of Jesus Christ, whatever we are is what we want to be.  That is to say, we have chosen ourselves into our present state.  We can also choose ourselves out of this present state if we wish to repent, by making different choices than we have in the past.  As we make choices we change our habits which changes our character which changes us.  We have the power to change ourselves.  The leopard can change his spots in this case.  We are children of God and he has given us this heritage of the power to change ourselves.  We are free, we won’t be able to blame a single soul for anything that happened in our lives as to why we became what we became when it’s all.

    “And I, Lehi, according to the things which I have read, must needs suppose that an angel of God, according to that which is written, had fallen from heaven; wherefore, he became a devil, having sought that which was evil before God.  And because he had fallen from heaven, and had become miserable forever, he sought also the misery of all mankind.”

    He wanted them to be damned as he was damned.

    “Wherefore, he said unto Eve, yea, even that old serpent, who is the devil, who is the father of all lies, wherefore he said: Partake of the forbidden fruit, and ye shall not die, but ye shall be as God, knowing good and evil.”

    Part truth, part lie.  Part truth in the sense that they would know good and evil and they would be as God in one sense.  But there are sure a lot of other ways to be as God.  That didn’t make them like God.  That just gave them one little piece of being like God.  After Adam and Eve had partaken of the forbidden fruit they were driven out of the Garden of Eden to till the earth and they brought forth children, yea, even all the family of the earth.  Adam, (the word Adam means man.)  I was interested to find that the word Eve in Hebrew is (hava), which means living, which might bring some connections for you.  And they brought forth family, yea, even the children of the earth.

    “And the days of the children of men were prolonged, according to the will of God, that they might repent while in the flesh; wherefore, their state became a state of probation, and their time was lengthened, according to the commandments which the Lord God gave unto the children of men.  For he gave commandment that all men must repent; for he showed unto all men that they that they were lost, because of the transgression of their parents.”

    Lost? In what sense?  They were lost from the presence of God.  The fall of Adam caused all of us to be fallen.  That is to say, to be spiritually dead, to be out of the presence of the Father, into the world where we would have the opportunity to choose our way back to life.

    “And now, behold, if Adam had not transgressed he would not have fallen, but he would have remained in the garden of Eden.  And all things which were created must have remained in the same state in which they were after they were created; and they must have remained forever, and had no end.”

    That was an eternal kingdom, a Celestial Kingdom, a perfect kingdom that would have endured forever, but pointlessly.

    “And they would have had no children; wherefore they would have remained in a state of innocence, having no joy, for they knew no misery; doing no good, for they knew no sin.”

    So this fallen world then is better that that paradise was, in fact much better.  Because now we’re not innocent but can become again so.  We can have joy, we can have children, we can do good.

    “…all things have been done in the wisdom of him who knoweth all things.  Adam fell that men might be; and men are, that they might have joy.”

    Do you know what joy is?  My guess is, that it is not happiness.

    “And the Messiah cometh in the fullness of time, that he may redeem the children of men from the fall.  And because that they are redeemed from the fall they have become free forever, knowing good from evil; to act for themselves and not to be acted upon, save it be by the punishment of the law at the great and last day, according to the commandments which God hath given.”

    Now he comes to the very point.

    “Wherefore, men are free according to the flesh;”

    In other words, as I read what he is saying, is that we are free from our own flesh, through the gospel, through the Savior.  We need not be creatures of our flesh.  The gospel gives us the power to start telling our flesh what to do, rather than it telling us what to do.  And we can become free of all the physical, social, and environmental pressures that work upon our flesh that try to get us to conform to this world.  We can then give our allegence to the Savior and become a new creature.

    “… 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.  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…”

    So the dividing line between righteousness and selfishness then simply comes down to spirit and flesh.  If we become spiritual and yield to the Father and to the spirit, then we go in direction of righteousness.  But if we stay carnal and yield to the flesh, then we go in the direction of selfishness.  Well we’ve come to that time when we have a moment for questions.

    question – (unheard)

    “And not choose eternal death, according to the will of the flesh and the evil which is therein.”  Satan’s only access to us is through our flesh.  He can not get at our spirit but he can affect our bodies.  So the avenue of his temptation is through the flesh.  But it isn’t the flesh itself that wants it.  Now  you and I, if we don’t want that thing, it’s no temptation at all, as I said.  It’s the spirit that decides whether it’s a temptation or not.  There’s somethings in my life, I hate to mention anything that I’ve stopped being tempt by … but nevertheless I’ve checked on this since then (probably referring to the Dan Ludlow statement).  It’s our spirit, if we’re gluttonous, it’s because our spirit craves satisfaction through gluttony. …  I thought so too until he said that.  And when he said that I was about half asleep, and when he said it, it was like someone had hit me with a sledge hammer.  The spirit shook me and said, here’s something we need to learn.  And I’ve thought about it for this whole year, year and a half, and I’ve come firmly to the conclusion that that is a correct insight.  And that what we have to do, is to see that we have control.  We don’t have control over the influences that come to our body but we do have control  over our spirit and how it reacts to the body.  That’s where our point of control is.  And how we’re going to get rid of these temptations is by stealing our spirit.

    Now, you’ve all, I’m sure had the experience of being busily engaged in a project that was so intense and so interesting and so much fun or so important that hours go by and you don’t even notice the fact that meals times have gone past and the usual messages that come to the body don’t even get through.  Now that I think is one of the clues to the fact, that because the spirit is busily engaged the body doesn’t have that much power over it.  And I think the clue to righteousness is to get the body so busily engaged in the work of the Lord, that we tell our body when it’s suppose to rest, and when it’s suppose to eat and drink so that we can do the works of righteousness.  And we never assume the subject to it’s whims and desires.  I admit, that’s a tuff one.  Don’t believe me and don’t believe Dan Ludlow.  But I commend to you to work on that.  To think about it.

    question – (unheard)

    Intelligence is us.  The spiritual body and the physical body are tabernacles.  They’re instruments of the self, the real self is the intelligence, apparently.  Now apparently the spirit body has been welded into that intelligence and is part of the self now.  In the resurrection, this physical tabernacle will be welded into the spirit body and we will be all one being and that will be our being, never again to be divided.  But not so now.  We are very loosely attached to our bodies right now.  Apparently all you have to do is unzip it and away it goes.  And that’s the sensation some people say they have when they die, just like there being unzipped.

    question – something about transformation from a Celestial body to a telestial body.

    My understanding is that that transformation took place with the ingesting of the fruit of the tree of knowledge of good and evil.  It probably wasn’t just that ingesting but that probably was the occasion.  It was something that the Father did to them to change them into mortality so that they could die and that they would have this blood in their veins then that would allow their lives to be very temporary.  You are aware maybe, that scientists have discovered that there is this clock in living cells.  They will divide so many times and then they cease to divide no matter what you do to them.  You can freeze them and they will stop dividing, and then you thaw them they go on dividing till they get to that number and stop and die.  There is a time appointed for the death of man.  Our life is genetically controlled and genes are very important to the body we have.  Have you ever stopped to realize, it’s possible that you and I have in our bodies genetic material that once was part of the body of Adam and Eve.  Physically we are linked to them by that process.  And if that’s true, then we have in our bodies material that physically was in the body of God, because we are the children of Gods.  And you see, part of our salvation is to get this flesh transformed and renewed.  But that depends on our righteousness.  Just as the fall depended upon disobedience and unrighteousness.

  • Why We Are Here

    Because we are blessed with knowing the Restored Gospel of Jesus Christ, we understand that there are five basic irreducible purposes of our mortal existence. Only the first is absolutely essential. To fulfill the others makes a fullness of blessing. The five are as follows:

    1. To gain a mortal tabernacle for our spirit. This is the necessary prelude to immortal life in a tabernacle of flesh and bone, which is the heritage of all human beings.
    2. To develop a Christ-like character. To learn to act righteously, responding to the spiritual influences from the Savior and learning not to be controlled by the physical forces around us is our goal. Every human situation is rich with opportunity to learn to be honest, true, chaste, benevolent and to do good to all men. Either sex, any race, any age, any educational level, any economic level, affords an almost overwhelming opportunity to add good habit to good habit, correct preference to correct preference, true idea of Christ to guide him or her in this quest for perfect character. But one cannot finish the task except one receives the fullness of the Restored Gospel and the ordinances of the new and everlasting covenant.
    3. To relieve suffering. The world is full of sorrow and suffering because of the sins of men. But that sorrow and suffering becomes an opportunity to those who have learned the unselfishness of the Savior. With heart, might, mind, and strength, they labor to feed the hungry, to clothe the naked, to heal the sick, to comfort the tormented, to assure the bereaved, to plead for the unjustly accused, to teach the unlearned. All of this is done under the Savior’s direction, never by using their own or any other man’s wisdom. Their goal is to be sure that they product more good in this world than that which they consume, and that they share their surplus.
    4. To pass on the seed. To marry in the Lord’s covenant and to bring the souls of men and women to this world is the fourth task. To forebear having children by artificial means subverts both character and the plan. “Children are an heritage of the Lord. Blessed is he who has his quiver full.”
    5. To pass on the gospel. To bring up our children in the nurture of the Lord, transmitting the faith which is precious above all other ideas or messages in this world, constitutes the fifth great opportunity. We are not limited to sharing with our children, but sharing our faith fully with them is essential.

    When our lives are finished, only these things will be important for eternity:

    1. We gained a mortal tabernacle, and therefore can be resurrected to immortality, becoming just and true in all things.
    2. We gained a Christ-like character, and therefore can be trusted with the same glory the Savior has.
    3. We relieved suffering. We showed that as with our Master, we lived to serve and to help, not to “lord” it over anyone.
    4. We sacrificed to bring others into mortality and therefore we can be trusted to continue to bear souls in eternity.

  • Revelation

    Encyclopedia of Mormonism
    See this page in the original 1992 publication.
    http://eom.byu.edu/index.php/Revelation

    Author: Riddle, Chauncey C.

    Receiving personal revelation is a vital and distinctive part of the LDS religious experience. Response to personal revelation is seen as the basis for true faith in Christ, and the strength of the Church consists of that faithful response by members to their own personal revelations. The purpose of both revelation and the response of faith is to assist the children of men to come to Christ and learn to love one another with that same pure love with which Christ loves them.

    TYPES OF REVELATION. A dispensation of the gospel of Jesus Christ is a series of personal revelations from God. These revelations may be direct manifestations from God, as in the following typical cases:

    1. theophanies (seeing God face-to-face), as in the first vision of the Prophet Joseph Smith, which came at the beginning of the present dispensation (JS-H 1:15-20)

    2. revealed knowledge from the Father that Jesus is “the Christ, the Son of the living God” (Matt. 16:13-17; see also Spirit of Prophecy)

    3. visitations of angelic persons, such as the appearance of the angel Moroni to Joseph Smith (JS-H 1:30-32)

    4. revelations through the Urim and Thummim, by which means Joseph Smith translated the book of mormon

    5. open visions, as when Joseph Smith and Sidney Rigdon were shown the kingdoms of the hereafter (see Doctrine and Covenants: Section 76)

    6. physically hearing the voice of God, as is recorded in 3 Nephi 11

    7. receiving the still, small voice of the Holy Spirit, as in the experience of Elijah (1 Kgs. 19);

    8. receiving the gifts of the spirit (D&C 46)

    9. having a burning in the bosom as an indication of the will of God, as in the explanation given to Oliver Cowdery (D&C 9:8)

    10. dreams (1 Ne. 8:2-32)

    11. manifestations of the Light of Christ, by which all men know good from evil (Alma 12:31-32; D&C 84:46-48).

    Such direct manifestations of the mind and will of God are known as gifts and are contrasted with signs. Gifts always have a spiritual component, even when they have a physical aspect. Signs are physical manifestations of the power of God and are a form of revelation from God, though they may be counterfeited and misinterpreted. Signs may show that God is at work, but spiritual gifts are required to know how one should respond.

    REVELATION TO THE CHURCH. In every dispensation, God appoints his prophet to guide his people. The prophet’s purpose is not to be an intermediary between God and others, though a prophet must often do so. His purpose is, rather, to assist others to receive from God the personal revelation that he, the prophet, has taught God’s truth, which will show the way to Christ.

    The prophet as head of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and all other persons who preside in the Church, including General Authorities, stake presidents, bishops, general presidencies, and parents, may receive revelation for the benefit of those over whom they preside. These revelations can be passed on to the membership of the Church through conference and other talks and in personal counsel. But each individual is entitled to know by personal revelation that these messages given through presiding authorities are truly from the Savior himself. President Brigham Young expressed concern that the Latter-day Saints would “have so much confidence in their leaders” that they would “settle down in a state of blind self-security,” abandoning the responsibility to obtain their own revelation: “Let every man and woman know, by the whispering of the Spirit of God to themselves, whether their leaders are walking in the path the Lord dictates, or not” (JD 9:150).

    Presiding quorums in the Church are entitled to revelation for the Church on matters of doctrine, policies, programs, callings, and disciplinary actions, as each might be appropriate to a given quorum. Decisions of these quorums are to be made only by the personal, individual revelation of God to each member of that quorum. “And every decision made by either of these quorums must be by the unanimous voice of the same; that is, every member in each quorum must be agreed to its decisions, in order to make their decisions of the same power or validity one with the other” (D&C 107:27).

    The scriptures contain the inspired writings of God’s appointed prophets and are provided to others for their edification (D&C 68:2-4). By this means, people have received the inspired words recorded in the Old and New Testaments. Through revelation, the Prophet Joseph Smith translated the Book of Mormon (see Book of Mormon Translation By Joseph Smith) and received those things set forth in the Doctrine and Covenants and the Pearl of Great Price. Latter-day Saints anticipate that more prophetic scripture will yet be revealed and that scripture written by past prophets but now lost to the world will be restored (2 Ne. 29:11-14; D&C 27:6; see also Scriptures: Forthcoming Scripture). The true meaning of all scripture is to be revealed by the power of the Holy Ghost to the individual reader or hearer (2 Pet. 1:20; D&C 50:17-24).

    PERSONAL REVELATION. After baptism and confirmation, each member has the right, when worthy, to the constant companionship of the Holy Ghost (see Gift of the Holy Ghost). Through that companionship all the gifts of the Spirit are revealed to faithful individuals, who accomplish their mortal works in righteousness through the gifts and power of God revealed to and through them (Moro. 10:25). The challenges of living by personal revelation include (1) distinguishing revelation from God through his Holy Spirit from personal thoughts and desires, and from the influences of Satan (see Devils); (2) following the teachings and directions of the living prophet of God; and (3) living by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God (Matt. 4:4; John 3:5-8; D&C 50:13-24;98:11-13; Deut. 8:3).

    In modern societies, the idea of divine revelation is widely discounted for many reasons, including the violent acts that some have perpetrated while claiming divine direction. But God has made it known through the restoration of the gospel that revelation is available to all who seek it and that failure to seek spiritual guidance and direction is itself a mistake and a form of wishful thinking. Humans have eternal spirits, and each person experiences the supernatural influences that work upon his or her own spirit. Better than to ignore the spiritual side of oneself is to study one’s personal spiritual experiences until they make sense. Those who acknowledge spiritual experiences are called the “honest in heart,” and they are candidates for the revealed riches of godliness (D&C 8:1;97:8).

    The fundamental revelation from God is the knowledge of good through the Light of Christ (John 1:9). The prophet Lehi taught his children that because of the choices made by Adam and Eve, their descendants receive supernatural knowledge of both good and evil, making a choice between the two necessary in fulfillment of the purpose of earth life. After mortality God returns to each human being eternally the good or evil each chose in life (Alma 41:1-5; 2 Ne. 2:27).

    But before any final judgment, each person will be taught the gospel of Jesus Christ by the power of the Holy Spirit. This gospel is the good news that the Son of God will assist all persons to stop doing evil and will save them from the consequences of all the evil they have done if they will believe in him and repent. Acting to accept this revelation constitutes faith in Jesus Christ, which, if it continues, may bring additional revelation from God: more instruction; the gifts of the Spirit; the knowledge imparted through saving ordinances of the new and everlasting covenant; angelic visitations; visions; the revelation to know God himself face to face; and finally, the revelation to be given the fulness of godhood, to be made joint-heirs with Christ (D&C 121:29).

    The LDS concept of individual revelation as fundamental to all human experience helps explain other distinctive LDS teachings. The key to making the proper distinction between supernatural revelation and its counterfeit is that fundamental knowledge of good and evil. Individuals must experiment, being as honest in heart and mind as they can, until they can see clearly what is good and what is evil. Those who learn to distinguish good from evil in this life can then distinguish the good spirit from the evil spirit. They then can distinguish the true gospel of Jesus Christ from its counterfeits, the true path of righteousness from the byways of covenant breaking and bending, and the true and living God from the image of God produced by their own wishful thinking (Moro. 7:5-19).

    Joseph Smith taught the Saints how to recognize and receive revelation: A person may profit by noticing the first intimation of the spirit of revelation; for instance, when you feel pure intelligence flowing into you, it may give you sudden strokes of ideas, so that by noticing it, you may find it fulfilled the same day or soon; (i.e.) those things that were presented unto your minds by the Spirit of God, will come to pass; and thus by learning the Spirit of God and understanding it, you may grow into the principle of revelation, until you become perfect in Christ Jesus [TPJS, p. 151].

    To learn to communicate with others by the gifts of that Holy Spirit makes it possible for one to be a prophet or prophetess of God. Latter-day Saints believe that through divine revelation every child of Christ may, and should, become a prophet or a prophetess to his or her own divinely appointed stewardship (Num. 11:29), holding fast to that which is good and rejecting that which is evil (1 Thes. 5:19-21).

    Thus, the human problem is not to get revelation, but to understand the revelation one receives, to respond only to that which is good, and to minister only that which is good. The servants of Christ are counseled to look to him and to him only for light and truth. They are told not to take counsel from any human being or to hearken to any person unless he or she speaks by the power of the Holy Spirit. Truth, light, righteous power, and salvation come from above, from God himself, through divine revelation, and not from human beings or from below (2 Ne. 28:30-31).

  • Code Language in the Book of Mormon

    Chauncey C. Riddle

    Brigham Young University

    (c) 1992 Chauncey C. Riddle

    Caveat: This paper has been created to demonstrate that the Book of Mormon is a text worthy of careful pondering and solemn thought. No reader should take anything said herein as Gospel truth. What is said is an invitation to every person to turn to the Book of Mormon and through prayer and meditation about what is contained therein to establish a living link with heaven through the person al manifestations of the Holy Spirit. It is what the Holy Spirit teaches an individual as the person ponders the text that is the important thing about the book of Mormon. Commentaries on the text, such as the following paper, do more harm than good if someone believes them without further inquiring of Father in the name of Jesus Christ as to exactly what he or she should believe about such matters. Now to the commentary.

    The title of this work is a bit misleading. All human mother tongues are code languages. To become an adult in any culture is to learn well the language of that culture. This involves being able to interpret to oneself the meanings of various other persons who use the same coding and to express meaning to them. This is always done within a cultural worldview and a common physical environment which provide limiting and enabling parameters for “meaning” something using a given language. So all of the language of the Book of Mormon is code language.

    The actual import of the title is to point out that there are special codes or usages in the Book of Mormon which are not culturally transparent to the user of ordinary English (whatever ordinary English might be taken to be). These codings are not those of the sort of “King James style” of English which Joseph Smith employed in translating the text. This paper will focus on four major kinds of hidden meaning which the ordinary contemporary reader of the Book of Mormon might miss even though he or she might be fluent in King James as well as contemporary English usage.

    The stated purposes of the Book of Mormon, given on the title page are: “To show unto the remnant of the house of Israel what great things the Lord hath done for their fathers; and that they might know the covenants of the Lord, that they are not cast off forever — And also to the convincing of the Jew and Gentile that Jesus is the Christ, the Eternal God, manifesting himself unto all nations.” These purposes are achieved in a narrative that is primarily a historical record of a people interspersed with commentary, sermons and admonitions, scriptural quotations, and allegorical allusions.

    The four major kinds of hidden meanings with which we shall concern ourselves in this paper are as follows: 1. Obscure usages. 2. Technical usages. 3. Metaphorical/allegorical usages. 4. Double entendres.

    1. Example of text having obscure meaning: Jacob’s mark.

    An obscure meaning is the usage of ordinary words of language in such a way that the reader has to puzzle out what the author means by a given coding. For instance, in Jacob 4:14 we read: But behold, the Jews were a stiff-necked people; and despised the words of plainness, and sought for things that they could not understand, Wherefore, because of their blindness, which came by looking beyond the mark, they must needs fall; for God hath taken his plainness from them, and delivered unto them many things which they cannot understand,because they desired it. And because they desired it God hath done it, that they may stumble. The question arises, what is the mark? A good deal of speculation about this topic is observed in LDS scriptural discussions. But the issue is interesting, because Jacob has taken pains to lay a ground work for his remark, which groundwork, if ignored, leads the reader of the Book of Mormon into the same trap as he describes for the ancient Jews: the modern reader can also easily look beyond the mark by misinterpreting “the mark.”

    The context of Jacob’s allusion to the mark is a discussion of Christ. In the preceding verse 4 Jacob mentions that he and others took the pains to make a record on metal plates so that their children would not lose that most precious of all knowledge, and understanding of Christ and his mission. He mentions that they (those who wrote upon the plates) worshipped in the name of Christ and kept the law of Moses because it pointed to Christ. In verse six he points out that the message of Christ has not been lost on them; through their knowledge of Christ, they have obtained a hope in Christ, and their unshaken faith has enabled them to do great miracles. But notwithstanding the greatness of those miracles, they knew their weaknesses, and they knew that only in the grace of Christ could they do those things. In verse eight, Jacob extols the world of Christ, the Lord, his mysteries and his mighty works. In verse eleven, he asks all his readers to be reconciled to Father through the Atonement of Christ. In verse twelve he asks why not attain to a perfect knowledge of Christ? In verse thirteen he points out that we can attain this knowledge through the Holy Spirit, and that all the prophets have testified of these things.

    Then, in verse fourteen, he speaks of the mark. With that preceding context could the mark reasonable be anything or anybody but Christ himself? Jacob seems to be saying that our life has one point and one point only: to come unto Christ, to be redeemed, saved, and reconciled to Father. To pursue any other goal is to miss the mark or the point of living a mortal life.

    The Jews missed the mark by seeking after knowledge of distant things. They seemed to have delighted in mysteries and metaphysics. Their quest to align themselves with a recondite and mythological truth was a way of ever laboring and never coming to the goal. They seemed not to realize that the point of life is to become a little child in establishing a very personal relationship with the most important person, Christ, and that through becoming his child they could gain all other good things as well, including truth. Jacob seems to be saying that not to see that the mark, the goal of human life held highest by the scriptures, is to know Christ face to face in mortality, is to look beyond the mark in any time and age.

    2. Example of a term in technical usage: Innocent blood.

    Technical usage in a language is opposed to common-sense usage. Common-sense usage is a fuzzy, family relationship type of meaning where the purpose is to approximate, not to be precise. When there is a need to be precise in order not to be misunderstood, technical language is introduced. Technical language has an essence, a specifiable and precise core content of meaning, which common-sense language does not have.

    A good example of coding which represents technical usage is found in the Book of Mormon usage of the phrase “innocent blood.” After preaching his second witnessing to the wicked King Noah and his court, Abinadi warns the king that though he is willing to die, should the king choose to kill him the king will shed innocent blood. (Mosiah 17:10) Examination of the scriptures shows that the word “innocent” means having no sin to one’s charge. Thus we read in the Doctrine and Covenants: “Every spirit of man was innocent in the beginning; and God having redeemed men from the fall, men became again, in their infant state, innocent before God.” (D&C 93:38) I take this to mean that though every spirit was innocent in the beginning, having no sin to its charge. Being born under the curse of the fall of Adam would have caused little children born into this life to be under the curse of sin were it not that the Savior prepared a redemption from the fall and thus every person is innocent or guilty according to his or her own sins and not because of Adam’s transgression.

    But being innocent, either not having sinned or having been forgiven of one’s sins, does not of itself create the technical matter know as “innocent blood.” The repentant people of Ammonihah were burned by the wicked inhabitants of that city. Alma notes that in burning them the people of Ammonihah were bringing upon themselves the “blood of the innocent.” Those who burned others were guilty of murder, and would have to answer for that. But there is no suggestion that they were shedding innocent blood.

    It is in D&C 132 that the key is given to know how and why Abinadi’s blood was innocent blood whereas the blood of the repentant women and children of Ammonihah was the blood of the innocent. The phrase is used repeatedly which says: “if ye abide in my covenant and commit no murder whereby to shed innocent blood.” (D&C 132:19) This introduces the idea that the shedding of innocent blood pertains to the New and Everlasting Covenant and to it only. A later verse then clarifies the matter. “The blasphemy against the Holy Ghost, which shall not be forgiven in the world nor out of the world, is in that ye commit murder wherein ye shed innocent blood, and assent unto my death, after ye have received my new and everlasting covenant, saith the Lord God.” (D&C 132:27)

    The sum of the matter is then that innocent blood is the blood of Christ or his personal priesthood representative who has been sent to other covenant servants of Christ. Abinadi was sent by God to call Noah and his courtiers to repentance. In slaying him, they in effect slew the Savior himself, and that after having partaken of the New and Everlasting Covenant and pretending to administer and to teach it. For this there can be no forgiveness of sins, either in this world or the next. The case of the wicked people of Ammonihah was different. They had explicitly rejected the New and Everlasting Covenant and were not bound by it. The murders they committed were indeed laid to their charge, but they were not charged with deliberate murder of the Savior. There is murder, and then there is murder whereby one sheds innocent blood.

    In another passage of the Book of Mormon, the father of King Lamoni uses the term innocent blood mistakenly. Ammon has just warned the old king that should he slay his son, he would be killing an innocent man, for Lamoni had repented and had been forgiven of his sins. The old king replies: “I know that if I should slay my son I should shed innocent blood; for it is thou that has sought to destroy him.” This usage is understandable, but does not qualify as a technical usage of the term innocent blood, for the king had not yet received the New and everlasting Covenant, nor did his son preside over him in priesthood authority. Therefore had the old king killed his son he also would have been shedding the blood of the innocent.

    3. Example of metaphorical/allegorical meaning: Alma’s tree of life.

    The Book of Mormon contains a significant number of references to plants and trees, used in a metaphorical sense to represent persons. One of these references is puzzling because no interpretation is given as it was by Nephi telling his brothers about father Lehi’s tree of life vision. The reference in question is Alma’s reference to another tree of life in Alma 32. The question is, who is the person represented by the tree of life? Is it God as the tree of life, as it was in Lehi’s vision? Or is it some other person? Again, close reading of the text provides our clues for interpretation.

    In Alma 32:28 the word is compared to a see, and is specifically identified as the Spirit of the Lord. A message from the Lord is received through the spirit and is to be planted in the heart of the hearer. The test that the seed is good is that it swells, sprouts and begins to grow. (Verse 30) By that the hearer may know that the seed is good. Further confirmation of the goodness of the seed comes in the fact that the soul also begins to expand, the understanding is enlightened and the mind doth begin to expand.(Verse 34) Alma says that it is the hearer’s heart and mind which are growing and expanding. So, what is the tree?

    Alma further warns the hearer that the tree must be nourished with great care, lest the sun come and scorch it because it has no root. He tells us that we do this by not laying aside our faith, but by continuing to exercise our faith. (Verse 36) But if one nourishes the tree with faith unto great diligence, the tree will take root and will be a tree springing up unto everlasting life. (Verse 41) Alma concludes by saying that “Because of your diligence and your faith and your patience with the word in nourishing it, that it may take root in you, behold, by and by ye shall pluck the fruit thereof, which is most precious, which is sweet above all that is sweet, and which is white above all that is white, yea, and pure above all that is pure; and ye shall feast upon this fruit until ye are filled, even that ye hunger not, neither shall ye thirst.”(Verse 42)

    Now it seems plain that the hearer is the tree of life. It was in his heart that the seed was planted, being the spirit of the Lord. It is he that is transformed in heart and mind, swelling and expanding as the seed grows. It is he that must continue to nourish the seed by continuing in faith to hearken to the spirit of the Lord. And it is his own self that is the tree of life, bringing forth the pure fruit of Christ in the deeds of pure love done for others.

    One might be confused by Alma’s wording that the hearer himself feasts upon this fruit, thinking that perhaps the tree might be another person by whom the hearer is blessed. But that does not fit the analogy. It is not in another’s heart that the seed is planted, nor is it another person’s heart and mind which swell and expand. Indeed, the hearer becomes the tree of life, for the only way to attain everlasting life is to be a tree of life, doing good for others in the pure love of Christ. Then indeed one never hungers nor thirsts again, for one has then the most satisfying opportunity in the universe, that of doing all that is possible in righteousness to bless others.

    The final clincher to this is the factor of testimony, of knowledge, which was the purpose of Alma’s rehearsing this allegory. The original purpose was to know “whether the word be in the Son of God, or whether there shall be no Christ.” (Alma 34:5) Alma has been explaining to the Zoramites how to know if what they were preaching of Christ were indeed the true word of God. Alma tells them that the way to know for sure is to plant the seed, the word of God as it came to them by the Spirit of the Lord, that they might know for themselves. The swelling and sprouting would tell them that the seed was live and good; but only when the tree was mature could they know exactly what that seed would lead to. Only when one lives the Gospel of Jesus Christ to the end and produces the fruits of love and peace himself or herself does that person know for sure that this is the seed which is pure above all that is pure and produces a fruit that is white above all that is white. “By their fruits shall ye know them.” The person who does the will of God unto producing that fruit knows the truth of the Gospel in a way that one who is only blessed by the love of God through the labors of others can never know.

    4. Examples of double entendre.

    The double entendre type we are concerned with here is language use where there is a plain, straight-forward and legitimate ordinary interpretation of a language usage which is underlayed by a second, more significant but abstruse meaning. Punning is another type of double entendre with which we are not here concerned.

    a. “Prosper in the land.”

    The Book of Mormon abounds in references to the fact that if the children of Lehi keep the commandments of God they will prosper in their land of promise. (1 Nephi 4:14) The obvious and straight forward meaning is that they will do well as to the things of this world in the land which is choice above all other lands, which land abounds in natural resources. And the children of Lehi certainly did prosper in this land of promise. They produces abundance in flocks and herds, grain and fruit, gold and other metals, until they were rich as to the things of this world.

    The second and more significant meaning of prosper is uncovered by reflection on the negative reward which is the complement of the prospering. “Inasmuch as ye shall keep my commandments ye shall prosper in the land; but inasmuch as ye will not keep my commandments ye shall be cut off from my presence.” (2 Nephi 1:20) This passage reveals that the cursing for not keeping the commandments of the Lord is to not have the opportunity to enter into his rest, which is the fullness of his glory. (D&C 84:24) Jacob says: “Wherefore we labored diligently among our people, that we might persuade them to come unto Christ, and partake of the goodness of God, that they might enter into his rest, lest by any means he should swear in his wrath they should not enter in, as in the provocation in the days of temptation while the children of Israel were in the wilderness.” (Jacob 1:7) To keep the commandments of God is the only way to come unto Christ. And the reward for that is to be with Christ, to enjoy the glory of his presence. But those who will not keep the commandments cut themselves off from that strait and narrow path which leads to his presence and cannot enjoy that presence in mortality.

    The meaning of the phrase “land of promise” figures in this double meaning. A land of promise is a special place where one goes to meet the Lord, which is to prosper in the land. The Savior told his disciples in Jerusalem: “After I am risen, I will go before you unto Galilee.” Why should the disciples go to Galilee? Because there they would meet the Savior. Likewise, when the Savior gives anyone a promised land, he goes before them to that land. That land is then the place where they can and will meet the Savior, if in that land they keep his commandments. Abraham was given a promised land, and there kept the commandments and knew the Lord face to face. (Genesis 12:1-3; 17:1) Moses tried to get the children of Israel to keep the commandments so that they could prosper in the land, but they would not. (D&C 84:19-25) And among the Nephites, many kept the commandments and were thus prospered. (Alma 13:10-13)

    b. The seed of Abraham.

    In 1 Nephi 22:8-9 we read: And after our seed is scattered the Lord God will proceed to do a marvelous work among the Gentiles, which shall be of great worth unto our seed; wherefore it is likened unto their being nourished by the Gentiles and being carried in their arms and upon their shoulders. and it shall be of great worth unto the Gentiles; and not only unto the Gentiles but unto all the house of Israel, unto the making known of the covenants of the Father of heaven unto Abraham, saying: In the seed shall all the kindreds of the earth be blessed. The question arises: What does the text mean in alluding to the seed of Abraham?

    The surface meaning of seed is plain in the passage mentioned. Nephi speaks of the children of his brothers and himself as “our seed,” a common usage in the Old Testament and Book of Mormon, So the plain interpretation of the seed of Abraham is his physical posterity. Through the children of Abraham will all nations eventually be blessed.

    The deeper meaning of this usage relates to the fact that “Abraham” is the new name given unto Abram. Abraham had a son named Ishmael when he was as yet Abram. Will all the nations of the earth be blessed through Ishmael? It appears not, though great blessings are given to Ishmael and his seed: And as for Ishmael, I have heard thee: Behold, I have blessed him, and will make him fruitful, and will multiply him exceedingly; twelve princes shall he beget, and I will make him a great nation. (Genesis 17:20) But the greater blessings were reserved to Isaac, who was conceived and born after Abram’s name was changed to Abraham: Sarah thy wife shall bear thee a son indeed; and thou shalt call his name Isaac: and I will establish my covenant with him for an everlasting covenant, and with his seed after him. (Genesis 17:19)

    Now the question is, Are all of the children of Isaac the seed of Abraham through which the nations of the earth will be blessed? Again the answer seems to be “No”. The matter is explained in the Book of Abraham: My name is Jehovah, and I know the end from the beginning; therefore my hand shall be over thee. And I will make of thee a great nation, and I will bless thee above measure, and make thy name great among all nations, and thou shalt be a blessing unto thy seed after thee, that in their hands they shall bear this ministry and Priesthood unto all nations; And I will bless them through thy name; for as many as receive this Gospel shall be called after thy name, and shall be accounted thy seed, and shall rise up and bless thee, as their father; And I will bless them that bless thee; and curse them that curse thee; and in thee (that is, thy Priesthood) and in thy seed (that is, thy Priesthood) for I give unto thee a promise that this right shall continue in thee, and in thy seed after thee (that is to say, the literal seed, or the seed of the body) shall all the families of the earth be blessed, even with the blessings of the Gospel, which are the blessings of salvation, even of life eternal. (Abraham 2:8-11)

    Now it is plain from this passage that the blessings which Abraham’s seed give to the nations come through the holy priesthood. It is true that the seed of Abraham according to the flesh have first rights to the priesthood because of the righteousness of Abraham, but they will receive the priesthood only upon their own righteousness. If they come into the New and Everlasting and receive the holy priesthood, then indeed they can and will be ministers of the blessings of Jehovah to all nations. But if they will not come into the covenant, they will be replaced by Gentiles who are not the literal seed of Abraham’s body, but who are adopted unto Abraham, and thus counted as his seed in the priesthood, in their acceptance of the New and Everlasting Covenant.

    But the matter does not rest, even there. The new name which Abram received, Abraham, literally means “father of many people.” While it is true that Abram/Abraham is the father of many people, the title Abraham is rightfully the name of the great Jehovah, the true father of many people. In putting the name Abraham upon Abram, Jehovah (that is to say, Christ) is putting his own name upon his faithful servant. thus the seed of Abraham, speaking of that portion of his seed who will bless the nations, is actually a designation of the children of Christ. The blessing that is given to the nations is that the children of Christ invite all others to become the children of Christ, and administer that opportunity through the holy priesthood which has been put upon them by Christ. But the Savior chooses to honor his faithful servant Abram by putting upon Abram his own name, his own covenant, his own priesthood,m and by calling his own seed the seed of Abraham.

    c. The house of Israel.

    One of the most common references in the Book of Mormon is Israel and the house of Israel. The surface meaning of the name “Israel” is that it is a reference to Jacob, the son of Isaac, the grandson of Abraham, and the father of the twelve tribes. A principal concern of the writers of the Book of Mormon is what has happened, what was happening and what would happen to the house of Israel, and particularly to their won family, a branch of the house of Israel, In general, Israel is important as a people in the history of the world because it is through Israel that the blessing of all nations by the seed of Abraham will be administered.

    The tie to the seed of Abraham gives us a clue to the deeper, more important meaning of the name Israel. First we know that the name is again a new name given to one who was a faithful servant of Jehovah. As a new name, it is given of Jehovah, or Christ, as a reward, and to signify a new relationship of the recipient to Christ. If we look at the name “Israel” etymologically, we see that it is purported to come from two roots. One of the roots means, mighty, a prince, one who rules. The other root is the Hebrew name for God. The standard references tell us that the name Israel mans “he will rule as God,” or “he rules as God.”

    Now it is plain that he who rules or will rule as God is Jehovah, himself, or Jesus Christ. The new name for Jacob is also a name of God himself, even as was Abram’s new name. The conclusion is that the house of Israel is the house or family of Jehovah, the house of Christ. The children of Israel are thus of two kinds: the seed of the flesh, the literal descendants of Jacob; and the children of the new and everlasting covenant, who are the children of men who have come unto Christ and have become his sons and daughters, his seed. Thus does Abinadi explain: When his soul has been made an offering for sin, he shall see his seed. And now what say ye? Who shall be his seed? Behold I say unto you, that whosoever has heard the words of the prophets, yea, all the holy prophets who have prophesied concerning the coming of the Lord–I say unto you, that all those who have harkened unto their words and believed that the Lord would redeem his people, and have looked forward to that day for a remission of their sins, I say unto you, that these are his seed, or they are the heirs of the kingdom of God. (Mosiah 15:10-11_

    Now we might push the matter a bit further. Pointing, or the designation of vowels in the Hebrew language and script is a rather late invention. For this reason, we can call into question the pointing that is given to the name “Israel.” Without pointing we can see that the roots can be taken to be yasher and El. Israel could thus mean the just God, the righteous God. Pushing it a bit further, it could be Ja, the prince of God. Ja is the shortened version of what we call “Jehovah” or “jahvah”. These interpretations give meaning to the statement that every prophet who has prophesied since the beginning has testified of Christ. Perhaps the testimonies did not use the name “Christ,” but every prophet has used one of the names of Christ, one of which is Israel.

    d. The name of God.

    In reading the Book of Mormon we encounter passages such as the following: Behold, my soul abhorreth sin, and my heart delighteth in righteousness; and I will praise the holy name of my god.(2 Nephi 9:49)

    Behold, my beloved brethren, remember the words of your God; pray unto him continually by day, and give thanks unto his holy name by night. (2 Nephi 9:52)

    Behold, they will crucify him; and after he is laid in a sepulchre for the space of three days he shall rise from the dead, with healing in his wings; and all those who believe on his name shall be saved in the kingdom of God. Wherefore, my soul delighteth to prophesy concerning him, for I have seen his day, and my heart doth magnify his holy name. (2 Nephi 25:13)

    And under this head ye are made free, and there is no other head whereby ye can be made free. There is no other name given whereby salvation cometh; therefore, I would that ye should take upon you the name of Christ, all you that have entered into the covenant with God that ye should be obedient unto the end of your lives. (Mosiah 5:8)

    After this manner therefore pray ye: Our Father who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name. (3 Nephi 13:9)

    . . . that they are willing to take upon them the name of thy Son, and always remember him, and keep the commandments which he hath given them, that they may always have his spirit to be with them. (Moroni 4:3)

    Careful inspection of those passages reveals that something unusual is going on. The surface meaning of praising the name of God and taking that name upon us is to praise the words “Jesus Christ” and being known as servants of Jesus Christ. The surface meaning is good and true. But it is plain that there is more. For salvation comes by this name. Being know by the name of Christ does not bring salvation; so there must be something more.

    That something more, the deeper level of interpretations, is alluded to in other scriptures:
    And the Lord spake unto Moses, saying, Speak unto Aaron and unto his sons, saying, On this wise shall ye bless the children of Israel, saying unto them, The Lord bless thee, and keep thee: The Lord make his face shine upon thee, and be gracious unto thee: The Lord lift up his countenance upon thee, and give thee peace. And they shall put my name upon the children of Israel; and I will bless them. (Numbers 6:22-27)

    Ye shall utterly destroy all the places, wherein the nations which ye shall possess served their gods, upon the high mountains and upon the hills, and under every green tree: And ye shall overthrow their altars, and break down their pillars, and burn their groves with fire; and ye shall hew down the graven images of their gods, and destroy the names of them out of that place. Ye shall not do so unto the Lord your God. But unto the place which the Lord your God shall choose out of all your tribes to put his name there, even unto his habitation shall ye see, and thither shall ye come. (Deuteronomy 12:2-5)

    And when thy days by fulfilled, and thou shalt sleep with thy father, I will set up they seed after thee, which shall proceed out of thy bowels, and I will establish his kingdom. He shall build an house for my name, and I will establish the throne of his kingdom forever. (II Samuel 7:12-13)

    I am the first and the last; I am he who liveth, I am he who was slain; I am your advocate with the Father . . . Let the hearts of your brethren rejoice, and let the hearts of all my people rejoice, who have, with their might, built this house to my name. For behold, I have accepted this house, and my name shall be here; and I will manifest myself to my people in mercy in this house. (D&C 110:4-7)

    These references show us that indeed there is something more referred to than the bare mention of the name of Jesus Christ. What seems to be alluded to by the words “the name of the Lord” is the ordinances of salvation, specifically the temple ordinances. To take upon ourselves the name of the Lord is to take the covenants of the Lord upon us. In ancient times this apparently was the ordinance of the Law of Moses as fulfilled in the temple. In the latter-days this is to receive all the ordinances of his holy house.

    So when the prophets say: Blessed be the name of the Lord: that saying has a double meaning. Indeed blessed is the sacred name of Jesus Christ. But also blessed be the ordinances of salvation by which we by further degrees take more and more of the name of Jesus christ upon ourselves.

    The importance of this double entendre may be seen when one uses the name of the Lord to do his work. If one has taken little of the name of the Lord upon himself, he probably has little power to cast out devils or to bless. But if one has fully received the ordinances, both in the sense of having made the covenants and having honored them, then when one acts in the name of the Lord, he acts in great power unto fulfilling the works that the Savior would have him do.

    So “the name of the Lord” has a precious double meaning. It is both a literal designation of the name by which we know our God, but is also in most places also a representation of the power and authority from God which we may receive in the ordinances of the holy temple. Hopefully we will not take the name of the Lord in vain.

    f. Amen.

    The final item in this discussion of double entendres is a concern with the word “Amen.” The surface meaning is the one usually given, the “So be it” of the tradition or the idea of an ending. The Book of Mormon is replete with instances of the use of the word. In most places where it is used it comes at the end of a commentary, a sermon, or a doctrinal discourse. In each of those settings the surface meaning is appropriate and useful.

    It is my hypothesis that the underlying meaning is that the word designates one of the special names of Jesus Christ. Each usage of it therefore might also be interpreted to say “in the name of Jesus Christ.” There is only one place in all of the scriptures where such an underlying meaning seems inappropriate, and that is in the discussion of the priesthood in D&C 121:37. Let us now recount some evidences for this hypothesis of underlying meaning.

    In Revelation 3:14 we read: “These things saith the Amen, the faithful and true witness, the beginning of the creation of God; I know thy works . . .” This plainly is a reference to the Savior, the Firstborn.

    In the New Testament there are over seventy references where the Savior uses the construction “amen lego” in the Greek. These are translated in the English version to say “verily, I”, but that is an interpretation as much as it is a translation. It is my opinion that the correct interpretation is to see that the Savior is saying “Amen, I say unto you” or “I, Amen, say unto you.” No one else uses that construction in the New Testament. If it meanly only “verily, I say unto you” it seems likely that it would have been used by the apostles as well.

    One of the special names of the Savior as designated in latter-day scripture is the name Ahman. “Wherefore, do the things which I have commanded you, saith your Redeemer, even the Son Ahman.” (D&C 78:20)” Again we read: “And let the higher part of the inner court be dedicated uno me for the school of mine apostles, saith Son Ahman; or in other words Alphus; or, in other words, Omegus; even Jesus Christ your Lord.” (D&C 95:17) Ahman is an appropriate vocalization of the Amen of the greek or Hebrew. Ahman is the vocalization given for the word in at least one Hebrew concordance.

    The word “amen” in its unpointed Hebrew form means just or righteous, a very appropriate name for the Savior. The Egyptians took that name for their god Ammon.

    Finally, we note that in giving the manner of prayer both to the Jews and to the Nephites the Savior specified that a prayer should end in the word “Amen.” On the theory that he would not have given his faithful followers a deficient pattern, we see another reason for seeing that the word “Amen” is a name of Jesus Christ. To say “Amen” at the conclusion of a prayer, either as mouth or as hearer could thus be to affirm our own witness that the order of the prayer was correct; that the prayer was inspired of God and thus is appropriately closed in the name of Jesus Christ. While it certainly is true that no one can mean by a word in a prayer anything but what is in their own heart and mind, it is also plain to see that for those who understand the possibility, they could be saying at the conclusion of their prayer: “I say this prayer in that special name of Jesus Christ which is Amen.”

    5. Conclusion

    If the work of this paper has been done well, the conclusion should be obvious at this point. The conclusion I draw is that the code language of the Book of Mormon points toward Jesus Christ. It points to him so many ways that one has no trouble seeing that what the Nephites said of themselves is true: “For we labor diligently to write, to persuade our children, and also our brethren, to believe in Christ, and to be reconciled to God; for we know that it is by grace that we are saved after all we can do . . . And we talk of Christ, we rejoice in Christ, we prophesy of Christ, and we write according to our prophecies, that our children may know to what source they may look for a remission of their sins.” (2 Nephi 25:22-26)

    Our Savior has several hundred names, some of which have figured prominently in this discussion. Many of his names are code words in the scriptures. It is as though it was known from the beginning that men would not properly use and would try to lose the name of God, so his name was spread out among many names to that his names would never be entirely lost. Some names were never pronounced, and thus became unknown in their true form, as in Jehovah as a representation of the tetregrammaton. Some were made common words of the vocabulary, such as Amen. Some were given to others so that they would not go out of use, such as Abraham, Israel, and Melchizedek. All of this so that the trace of the true Savior would not become lost among the children of Israel, try as they might to avoid it.

    Understanding these code usages also gives understanding to the words of Jacob: “We have written these things that they may know that we knew of Christ, and we had a hope of his glory many hundred years before his coming; and not only we ourselves had a hope of his glory, but also all the holy prophets which were before us. Behold, they believed in Christ and worshipped the Father in his name, and also we worship the Father in his name.” And may the day soon come when all mankind will worship the Father in his name.