ENDURANCE THROUGH PERSECUTION

 

I have arrived to Section 136 of Doctrine and Covenants. The Prophet Joseph has been martyred and Brigham Young is preparing the saints to travel west. His edict for the organisation of the Camp of Israel starts with something startling: the companies were to be organised for the journey with 'a covenant and promise to keep the commandments and statues of the Lord...and this shall be our covenant - that we will walk in all the ordinances of the Lord' (D&C 136:2,4). After this, came the instructions for the temporal organisation of the Camp. Bear in mind, these people had been through intense persecution for years and their leader has just been murdered...yet at the forefront of their arduous journey ahead is the covenant of obedience. This shows the heart of Brigham Young. Was the endurance of the pioneer saints due to their covenant with Him who strengthens the weak and mends broken hearted? I would say a resounding YES.

When Alma Senior baptised one of his first converts, Helam, at the waters of Mormon, he took the baptismal covenant to the next level. He said: 'Helam, I baptise thee....as a testimony that ye have entered into a covenant to serve him until you are dead..' (Mosiah 18:13). Not, until you decide to no longer follow Him, but your whole life. I imagine this is the fervor of the covenant that the early pioneers covenanted with. They would not forsake Him at all cost....to the end of their lives.

This brings me to reflect on my own reservoir of strength and wonder if I will be able to honour my covenant of obedience to the end, despite the persecution I might yet need to face.....and my friends there is yet to be a persecution. How much will be asked of us and will we all remain strong or will some of us crumble under the pressure?

Now more than ever we need to look up. Never before has there been a greater need for us to sow seeds of love for the God who has suffered for it all. Never before has there been a greater need for us to strengthen the bond with Him that will last even in the threat of death. Considering He has given us His all, we would be wise to give Him back OUR all....because when the storm comes He will be the only one to steady us. He who has endured everything, is everything.

Who is like unto Thee, O Lord,

Among the gods?

Who shelters Thine own

In the depths of Thy heart;

Who reveals the strength

Of Thy holy arm,

To protect the weak

And the broken hearted;

Who sorrows for the lost

And pays the price of

The crucible cost.

• Cathryne Allen

(Art: Liz Lemon Swindle)

TO OBEY UNTIL DEATH

I am constantly amazed at the way the Book of Mormon clarifies the doctrines of Christ and it amazes me equally how often we miss these clarifications. One ordinance in the Church that often gets misunderstood is baptism. I, like many others no doubt, have partaken the sacrament each Sunday with the idea that I if I do so I will walk away from the chapel 'clean' as on the day of my baptism. I don't know that this is entirely true or false but it is the idea I have lived with for the past 40 years.

The New Testament teaches us that baptism is important but the reasons why are quite vague. The idea of purification by baptism as suggested in Acts 22:15-16 stands more as a symbol than a reason, probably because we associate water with cleanliness. The act of baptismal cleanliness is not due to immersion but the purifying power of the Holy Ghost for the redemption of sins, which follows (2 Nephi 31:17). Paul also symbolises baptism with burial and resurrection in Romans 6:4. Whether Paul's references to baptism on these occasions were recorded accurately and in their entirety or whether they were references in passing is not clear. All we get from him however, is that it is important to be baptised. Jesus told John that He needed to be baptised "to fulfill all righteousness" (Matthew 3:15, 2 Nephi 31:5). Where does righteousness spring from? From obedience. Book of Mormon is clear on this fact: baptism's first and foremost objective is to make a covenant of obedience with God.  If the act of baptising was to wash away sins, Jesus being without sin would not need to be baptised. The obvious reaction to this is: He was baptised to be an example to us. But an example of what? This is where the Book of Mormon excels in clarification. Nephi makes it clear that Jesus' willingness to 'fulfill all righteousness'  was not to exemplify washing away of sin but to make a covenant of obedience (2 Nephi 31:6,7). In other words, at the time of His baptism, Jesus was making a covenant with the Father that He would be obedient and in the process making the example for us to do the same. And indeed the renewal of this covenant is what we hear in our sacramental prayers every Sunday (Moroni 4,5).

When Alma who had fled from King Noah with a small band of followers preached to them the covenant of obedience by the waters of Mormon, the people were so overcome with joy that they comitted to baptism there and then (Mosiah 18:10,11). Alma's first baptism was a man called Helam. His words to him took the baptismal covenant to a new level. He said: Helam, I baptise thee, having authority from the Almighty God, as a testimony that ye have entered into a covenant to serve him until you are dead...." (Mosiah 18:13). This is serious stuff. Especially considering that anciently covenants were not broken even at the point of death. 

Nehi makes it clear that enduring to the end is an essential component of baptism, one on which the whole concept of salvation hangs (2 Nephi 31:16). But there is another reason. Nephi says we must endure "in following the example of the Son' (2 Nephi 31:16). The Saviour endured to the end in every sense of the word. Not just to the end of His life, but to the end of His 'death'. You will recall that His suffering began in the Garden of Gethsemane where His mental anguish caused Him to bleed 'at every pore' (D&C 19:18). This suffering returned to Him when He was upon the cross enduring the physical break down of His body. Did He have the power to come down from the cross? Absolutely. But He chose to endure to the end, when all the mankind was redeemed and every soul accounted for, when He could say "it is finished' (JST Matthew 27:54, John 19:30). His death was His moment of choice. All things endured, all things suffered. Obedience made possible. Until death.