OF INFINITE WORTH

Our birth is but a sleep and a forgetting;

The Soul that rises with us, our life's Star,

Hath had elsewhere its' setting,

And cometh from afar:

Not in entire forgetfulness,

And not in utter nakedness,

But trailing clouds of glory do we come

From God, who is our home.

-William Wordsworth

Before we consented to a mortal probation which we are now experiencing, we know through scripture (Abraham 3:22-26, that we lived and were nurtured in love as spirit children of God. We know little of our existence as intelligences before our spiritual birth but we know enough to believe that we have always had the potential to rise to the state of godhood for this was always the plan, an eternal plan that has always existed and that is incomprehensible to our finite minds. We came with eagerness, having voted for and fought for the plan that would one day crown us with glory and eternal life; each one of us hopeful, each one of us capable, fully believing in a God whose work and whose glory is 'to bring to pass the immortality and eternal life of man' (Moses 1:39). If we had not been born into this life, we would have followed the charismatic 'liar from the beginning' (D&C 93:25) who succeeded with his charms to persuade a third of the Father's children to follow Him. But here we are in our mortal tabernacles having withstood the forces of evil and thus reserving the right to tread the path to eternal life that was promised to us all. 

It pains me greatly when I hear someone say "the Church is not for everyone" or when someone walks away from the truth declaring "it's not for me". How could the Church which contains the fullness of the Gospel of Jesus Christ not be for everyone when everyone chose it before this world began? How could salvation not be for everyone? The Gospel is universal and is meant for every child that belongs to the family of God. God is no respecter of persons, meaning He does not discriminate between His children declaring that godhood is only achievable by a handful of 'really smart kids'. He has never said to any of us 'you are just too dumb or too weak to get there'. He has never decreed that it is beyond any of us to reach the heights of His Kingdom of Glory. Why? Because He has provided the way.  To ensure even the weakest of us has a chance He has provided a Redemer for each one of His children without exception, irrespective of their race, colour, wealth, status, intelligence, background or outward appearance. Jesus did not die for just some of us and He did not die so we would receive the glory of the stars or the moon but the glory of the sun. Heavenly Father's plan is flawless and it is available to all. Nowhere can this be seen more plainly than in the early days of the Saviour's Church in the meridian of times. As we follow the missionary labours of the early Apostles, we learn that the Gospel was to be taken to all nations. Prior to Peter's vision in which he was commanded to take the Gospel to the Gentiles (Acts 10), the Jews had supposed that they were the chosen people and as such salvation was exclusive to them. What they failed to understand up to that point is that they were a 'chosen' people to bring salvation to the nations of the earth and that as the descendants of Abraham, through them, all nations of the earth would be blessed. If God had been a partial God and a respecter of persons He would have contained the Gospel for His 'flock of favourites', the House of Israel, and none else. 

With the restoration of the Gospel in our dispensation came the reinforced command to take the Gospel to all the nations of the earth. As in the meridian of times, persecution followed, for wherever the truth is preached, the opposing forces are at work. The adversary's objective is not so much to destroy the Church, but to destroy us. He desires to destroy us because He knows we are of infinite worth. He also is no respecter of persons knowing the seeds of glory were sown within each of us long ago. He works his work of destruction without discrimination succeeding in making some of us believe that we are 'just not celestial material'. If there was no price paid for us (1 Cor. 6:20) we would know we were of no worth but the payment has been made and the battle for the souls of men continues to this day. The opposing forces are real as can be seen through this early Church missionary experience:

"It is recorded that about daybreak Sunday, July 10, 1837, Elder Isaac Russell who had been selected to preach at the Obelisk in Preston marketplace that day, and who occupied the second story of the lodging of the elders in Wilford Street, went up to the third loft where Elders Hyde and Kimball were sleeping, and called upon them to pray for him, that he might be delivered from the evil spirits that were tormenting him to such a degree that he felt he could not live long unless he obtained relief. The story is a most interesting one, but one that chilled the blood of the elders. It is told as follows by Elder Kimball: 'I had been sleeping on the back of the bed. I immediately arose, slipped off at the foot of the bed, and passed around to where he [Elder Russell] was. Elder Hyde threw his feet out, and sat up in the bed, and we laid hands on him, I being mouth, and prayed that the Lord would have mercy on him, and rebuke the devil. While thus engaged, I was struck with great force by some invisible power, and fell senseless on the floor. The first thing I recollected was being supported by Elders Hyde and Richards who were praying for me, Elder Richards having followed Russell up to my room. Elders Hyde and Richards then assisted me to get on the bed, but my agony was so great I could not endure it, and I arise, bowed my knees and prayed. I then arose and sat upon the bed, when a vision was opened to our minds, and we could distinctly see the evil spirits, who foamed and gnashed their teeth at us. We gazed upon them about an hour and half (by Willard's watch). We were not looking towards the window, but towards the wall. Space appeared before us, and we saw the devils coming in legions, with their leaders, who came within a few feet of us. They came towards us like armies rushing to battle. They appeared to be men of full stature, possessing every form and feature of men in the flesh, who were angry and desperate; and I shall never forget the vindictive malignity depicted on their countenances as they looked me in the eye; and any attempt to paint the scene which then presented itself or portray their malice and enmity, would be vain. I perspired exceedingly, my clothes becoming as wet as if I had been taken out of the river. I felt excessive pain, and was in the greatest distress for some time. I cannot even look back on the scene without feelings of horror; yet by it I learned the power of the adversary, his enmity against the servants of God, and got some understanding of the invisible world. We distinctly heard these spirits talk and express their wrath and hellish designs against us. However, the Lord delivered us from them, and blessed us exceedingly that day'. Elder Hyde supplemented this description as follows: 'Every circumstance that occurred at that scene of devils is just as fresh in my recollection at this moment as it was at the moment of its occurrence, and will ever remain so. After you were overcome by them and had fallen, their awful rush upon me with knives, threats, imprecations and hellish grins, amply convinced me that they were no friends of mine. While you were apparently senseless and lifeless on the floor and upon the bed (after we had laid you there), I stood between you and the devils and fought them and contended with them face to face, until they began to diminish in number and to retreat from the room. The last imp that left turned around to me as he was going out and said, as if to apologize, and appease my determined opposition to them, 'I never said anything against you!' I replied to him thus: 'It matters not to me whether you have or have not; you are a liar from the beginning! In the name of Jesus Christ depart!' He immediately left, and the room was clear. That closed the scene of devils for the time'. - D.H.C. 2:503. "Life of Heber C. Kimball", pp 130-131)"

The evidence of our worth is irrefutable through the sacrifice of our Saviour Jesus Christ. No man would offer himself to ridicule, rejection, pain and sorrow for something that had no intrinsic value. No man would willingly die so that countless others who had no eternal potential would live without rhyme or reason. For our sake was this world created and for our sake was the sacrifice made. We will encounter many voices on our journey of life. Some will lift us to higher ground and some will tell us we are worthless, incapable and unloved. May we be strong enough to recognise the difference, may we reject the darkness in favour of the light and may we receive the wages of him who we list to obey (D&C 29:45).

"A man travelling through the country came to a large city, very rich and splendid; he looked at it and said to his guide: 
'This must be a very righteous people, for I can only see but one little devil in this great city'. 
The guide replied:
'You do not understand sir. This city is so perfectly given up to wickedness, corruption, degradation and abomination of every kind that it requires but one devil to keep them all in subjection.'
Travelling on a little further, he came to a rugged path and saw an old man trying to get up the hillside, surrounded by seven great, big, coarse looking devils.
'Why, says the traveler, 'this must be a tremendously wicked old man! Only see how many devils there are around him'.
'This' replied the guide, 'is the only righteous man in the country; and there are seven of the biggest devils trying to turn him out of his path, and they all cannot do it'.

- Chinese Fable-