A SAFE HARBOUR

"I am convinced that no soul has ever been whipped into this mortal existence, that each one of us came willingly, cheerfully, and gladly; even though we might have known that we were to inherit a body that was crippled, maimed and deformed, still we were glad to come....

We know that it meant sorrow, pain, and ultimately, death, and yet we rejoiced in the prospect to come.

We saw beyond the valley of the shadow of death, with all of its pain, with all of its suffering, the grand vistas of the eternities, providing for man's eternal and endless progress, on, up and up, until we should attain unto what God is. Yet we knew that we could never ascend until we had descended and had been given a mortal tabernacle, and the union of the spirit and body had become an accomplished fact.

So by the attraction of it all we came gladly and willingly, for our eyes were not so much centered upon the sorrows and troubles of life as upon the grandness of that which lies beyond."

(Melvin J. Ballard, Sermons and Missionary Services of Melvin J. Ballard, p. 179)

A somewhat adequate similitude of the journey of this life would have to be the found in the early pioneers of this Church who trekked across the plains, mountains and rivers in an effort to arrive at a home that promised a valley of peace and liberty. It can be supposed that they too began their journey with enthusiasm and purpose, knowing that the home they sought was a quest that could not be left unconquered. So strong was their commitment to arrive at their destination that they risked all facing 'sickness, heat, fatigue, cold, fear, hunger, pain, doubt and even death'. So many of us look back at the pioneers and exclaim that we could never have endured what they did. Such extremes are unfamiliar to us for very few of us experience extreme physical hardships. Instead we bask in comparative prosperity of modern day living and technology which 'shower us with security, entertainment, instant gratification and convenience' (President Dieter F. Uchdorf, All Is Well, Ensign July 2015). However, equal to the physical hardships of the pioneers are the spiritual ones we of the final hour face today with many of us standing on thin ice trembling with gripping cold hoping to make it to the safety of the shore. Surely the pioneers are looking down on us exclaiming they could never endure the challenges and stress we live with each and every day. The pioneers acquired many attributes on their fated journey which kept their fires of courage burning but none sustained them like their trust in God for whom they sacrificed their all. It is this trust which brought success for no one but He could enable them to swim to the safety of the shore.

"Many today feel troubled and distressed; many feel that, at any moment, the ships of their lives could capsize or sink. It is to you who are looking for a safe harbour that I wish to speak today, you whose hearts are breaking, you who are worried or afraid, you who bear grief or the burdens of sin, you who feel no one is listening to your cries, you whose hearts are pleading, 'Master, carest thou not that I perish? To you I offer a few words of comfort and of counsel. Be assured that there is a safe harbour. Your Heavenly Father - who knows when even a sparrow falls - knows of your heartache and suffering. He loves you and wants the best for you. Never doubt this. While He allows all of us to make choices that may not always be for our own or even others' well-being, and while He does not always intervene in the course of events, He has promised the faithful peace even in their trials and tribulations." (Joseph B. Wirthlin, 'Finding a Safe Harbour', Ensign May 2000)

To whom will we liken God and where else will we find refuge from the raging storms but the Creator of the ends of the Earth? He who gives power to the faint, and to them who have no might, He increases strength. For we that wait upon the Lord will renew our strength; we shall mount up with wings as eagles; we shall run, and not be weary, and we shall walk, and not faint (Isaiah 40)...... He shall wipe all tears from our eyes (Revelations 21:4).....and encircle us in the arms of His love (D&C 6:20) for there is no end to His compassion, mercy and love and no end to His understanding. For 'He comprehendeth all things, and all things are before Him, and all things are round about Him; and He is above all things, and in all things, and is through all things, and is round about all things; and all things are by Him, and of Him, even God, forever and ever' (D&C 88:41). The promise is sure, if we draw near unto Him, He will draw near unto us; if we seek Him diligently, we shall find Him; if we ask, we shall receive; if we knock, it shall be opened unto us (D&C 88:63). Who else then can we trust and where else can we turn for peace but the Mighty God, The Everlasting Father, the Prince of Peace (Isaiah 9:6) for He alone has the might and power to calm the troubled seas so we can reach the shore. The sight of it should ever be before us, even as we are buffeted by the storms of life, for as we so long ago longed to ascend, we agreed to first descend; as we eagerly left, we promised to return. Armed with the power of God, the icy storms can never prevent our fingertips from feeling the edge of the shore.

"Hear, O ye heavens, and give ear, O earth, and rejoice ye inhabitants thereof, for the Lord is God and beside him there is no Savior. Great is his wisdom, marvelous are his ways, and the extent of his doings none can find out. His purposes fail not, neither are there any who can stay his hand. From eternity to eternity he is the same, and his years never fail. For thus saith the lord - I, the Lord, am merciful and gracious unto those who fear me, and delight to honor those who serve me in righteousness and in truth unto the end. Great shall be their reward and eternal shall be their glory" 

(D&C 76:1-6)

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-

THE HEART OF AN EAGLE

Seems that a certain man went through the forest looking for any kind of a bird of interest and he came upon a little baby eagle that had fallen out of his nest. He took it home and put it in a pen with the chickens and the turkeys and the ducks.

Several years later a naturalist came by his house and passing through the garden said:
"Sir, that's an eagle, not a chicken."
"Yes Sir, but I've trained it to be a chicken. It's no longer an eagle, it's a chicken even though it measures 15' from tip to tip of his wings."
"No" said the naturalist, "It's an eagle, it has a heart of an eagle and if you let me, I'll make it soar to the heights of the heavens."
"No" said the owner, "it's a chicken. It will never fly."
They agreed to test it.
The naturalist picked up the eagle and said:
"Eagle, thou doest belong to the sky and not to this earth. Stretch forth thy wings and fly."
The eagle turned this way and that and very nervously looked down and then jumped to be with his friends the chickens.
The owner said:
"I told you it was a chicken."
"No" said the naturalist, "it's an eagle, give it another chance tomorrow."

So the next day he took it to the top of the house and said:
"Eagle, thou art an eagle, stretch forth thy wings and fly."
But again the eagle seeing the chickens jumped down and fared with them.
The owner said again:
"I told you it was a chicken."
"No" said the naturalist, "it's an eagle, it has a heart of an eagle and if you give it another chance it will soar like an eagle".
The next morning he arose early and took the eagle outside the city away from the house to the foot of a great mountain.
The sun was just rising gilding the top of the mountain with gold and every crack was glistening with the joy of that beautiful morning. He picked up the eagle.
"Eagle, thou art an eagle, thou doest belong to the sky, not to the earth, stretch forth thy wings and fly."
The eagle looked and trembled as if new life was coming to it but it did not fly. The naturalist then made it look straight into the sun. 
Suddenly it stretched forth it's mighty wings and with the screech of an eagle, it flew."

- Author Unknown

The beginning of early Christianity was also the beginning of the Great Apostasy. Within mere 30 years following Christ's ascension into heaven, the profound and simple truths of the Gospel of Jesus Christ started to be blended with philosophies of men and eventually 'the wisdom of God was rejected as foolishness. The miracles of the Atonement, the Resurrection, and the ordinances were diluted and deleted. Men, blinded to the wisdom of God by their own intellectual conceit, added and subtracted at will from the truths revealed by God. Gradually and inevitably, these precious truths were changed, perverted, and lost. The simple was embellished, the holy corrupted, the truth falsified' (The Life and Teachings of Jesus and His Apostles, p. 229). Under the Saviour's admonition to take the Gospel to other nations, Paul and the Apostles took the Gospel beyond the walls of Jerusalem to dispersed Jews, then Samaritans and then the Gentiles, more specifically, the Mediterranean world ruled by the Roman Empire. The Gospel which they preached was grounded in the eyewitness testimony of Jesus for many had seen the Saviour following His resurrection, therefore, their testimony and message was not based on Christ's teachings only but more importantly, on their witness of His resurrection which left no room for speculation. This non-speculative nature of the Christian faith conflicted with the philosophical conjecture in the Mediterranean which was heavily under the Hellenic influence, meaning Greek philosophy. Where Jews sought signs, Greeks sought wisdom and it is the wisdom of men which they revered more than the simple truths of the Gospel. With time the Christian resistance to Greek philosophy broke down and the strange admixture of Christian truth with pagan philosophy and practice constituted the Great Apostasy (see The Life and Teachings of Jesus and His Apostles, p 233).

The tragedy of the Great Apostasy and the loss of simple truths of the Gospel cannot be over-stated. From about 100 A.D. until 1820, the children of men groped in darkness relying on the wisdom of men regarding their origin and destiny. Even today, despite the restoration of the truth, the world at large does not understand the meaning and purpose of life and looks to the wisdom of men, men who are 'ever learning and never able to come to the knowledge of the truth' (2 Timothy 3:7). This means many of us are confused not knowing who we truly are and what we can become. We cast our lot with men of the world who are as chickens pecking the group for gems of knowledge. We are looking down when we should be looking up. The tragedy of this is that the wisdom of men cannot elevate us above this telestial world. It teaches us to live here and now and gives no hope of anything better. The wisdom of men strives to keep us in the chicken coop not allowing us to believe that we are eagles meant for greater heights than this mortal sphere in this telestial world.

The restored Gospel of Jesus Christ teaches us of our divine nature. It teaches us that within each one of us are seeds of excellence, seeds of perfection, seeds of godhood. We are meant to soar to greater heights with our eyes fixed on the glory of the sun for the glory of the sun is also the glory of the "Son" by whom we receive the same glory unto ourselves. Let us be wise and not look to the philosophies of men but to the Son who disperses confusing doctrines and false teachings of men.We do not belong to the telestial realm with the chickens, pecking the crumbs of their wisdom. We are eagles who belong to the skies, reaching for the sun which reflects the glory of celestial kingdom, which is our eternal home. It is there we want to find rest, from all our burdens, from all our sorrows, from all our tears. We are meant for greatness to which only the Saviour can lift us. He is the one that gives might to our wings, He is the sun which shines brightly and guides us to our eternal home. He is the one who He gives power to those He loves and He loves those who would have Him be their God (1 Nephi 17:40).

"Hast thou not known? hast thou not heard, that the everlasting God, the Lord, the Creator of the ends of the earth, fainteth not, neither is weary? there is no fathoming of his understanding. He giveth power to the faint; and to them that have no might he increaseth strength. Even the youths shall faint and be weary, and the young men shall utterly fall: But they that wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings as eagles; they shall run and not be weary; and they shall walk, and not faint"

(Isaiah 40:28-31)

ON THE ROAD TO EMMAUS

"Did not our heart burn within us, while he talked with us by the way, and while he opened unto us the scriptures?"

(Luke 24:32)

Following His crucifixion, Christ showed himself numerous times to His apostles and other faithful disciples. Perhaps the most endearing and most relevant to us in this dispensation is His encounter with two of His disciples as they travelled to a village called Emmaus on the very day Jesus was resurrected (Luke 24:13). As they travelled they talked and they talked about Jesus and they sorrowed over His crucifixion and disappearance from the tomb where He was laid. Not fully understanding the scriptural prophecies of His life and resurrection and not expecting to see the risen Lord, they did not recognise Him as He drew near and questioned their sorrow. As in all other things that Jesus did, this occurrence had significance and meaning both to the apostles of old and to us as we reflect upon it in our day and age.

Expounding all things spoken of Him beginning with Moses and all the prophets, the Saviour opened the Apostles' understanding so they could see the hidden, obscured and veiled testimony of Him in the scriptures, and to prove to them that 'all things must be fulfilled, which were written' of Him (Luke 24:44). The prophetic Messianic testimony of the Saviour had indeed been hidden, obscured and veiled in ancient scripture by typifying His mission and ministry among men through many ways such as the lives of the prophets. The most obvious example of this would be Joseph of Egypt whose life very closely resembled the life of the Saviour. Nephi recorded that many plain and precious things would be lost and taken away from the Old Testament (1 Nephi 13:26-29). That which was not so plain, like the life of Christ, was preserved.  By opening the Apostles' understanding the Saviour was showing that the veil placed over the minds of the people was done away in Him (2 Cor 3:14), and only through Him because He is the light, the truth, the way.

Perhaps there existed a more subtle reason for the Saviour's way of teaching the two Apostles from the scriptures. As He departed from them, they marveled and reflected on their experience saying that their hearts burnt within them as the Saviour opened to them the scriptures. As the testimony of Christ unfolded to their view, the Spirit burned the truthfulness of His divinity into their soul. It must have been another way for Him to say, you cannot have me with you in body but in spirit you can have me with you always. So it is with us, we can feel Him, know of Him and learn to be like Him through the scriptures which testify of Him. Every time we open the scriptures we can have the Saviour with us. Whether in body or in spirit, it is the same. Every time we read of Him or hear of Him our hearts will burn within us:

"One day, two men were walking near Emmaus, a town not far from Jerusalem, and a man suddenly appeared by their side. They did not recognize him. After he left them, they said, 'Did not our hearts burn within us....?' (Luke 24:32). Luke tells us about that incident, after he had inquired of many people who had had some intimacy with Jesus.

I think that there are many in this congregation...who have had their hearts 'burn within them' as they have listened not only to the inspirational singing, but to the sublime testimonies and I hope as their hearts have burned within them, that they realized the message that went into their hearts. I hope that they have an inkling, at least, of the divine truth that they are sons of God, and that that burning within them was just a touch of harmony between them and the infinite...... (David O. Mckay in CR, Apr 1960, pp 121-122)"

Our hearts can burn with us every time we testify of His divinity, whenever we live His teachings and every time we serve in His name. We can take the road to Emmaus to assuage our thirsty souls, to bring light to our weary minds and to lighten each other's loads:

"Never was her teaching so dynamic nor its impact more everlasting as one Sunday morning when she sadly announced to us the passing of a classmate's mother. We had missed Billy that morning, but knew not the reason for his absence. The lesson featured the theme, 'It is more blessed to give than to receive'. Midway through the lesson, our teacher closed the manual and opened our eyes and our ears and our hearts to the glory of God. She asked, 'How much money do we have in our class party fund?' 

Depression days prompted a proud answer: 'Four dollars and seventy-five cents'.

Then ever so gently she suggested: 'Billy's family is hard-pressed and grief stricken. What would you think of the possibility of visiting the family members this morning and giving to them your fund?'

Ever shall I remember the tiny band walking those three city blocks, entering Billy's home, greeting him, his brother, sisters, and father. Noticeably absent was his mother. Always I shall treasure the tears which glistened in the eyes of all as the white envelope containing our precious party fund passed from the delicate hand of our teacher to the needy hand of a heartbroken father. We fairly skipped our way back to the chapel. Our hearts were lighter than they had ever been: our joy more full; our understanding more profound. A God-inspired teacher had taught her boys and girls an eternal lesson of divine truth: 'It is more blessed to give than to receive'.

Well could we have echoed the words of the disciples of the way to Emmaus: 'Did not our hearts burn within us.....while [she] opened to us the scriptures?' (Luke 24:32). 

(Thomas S. Monson in CR, Apr 1970, pp 99)

IN WHOM THERE IS HOPE

Awake and sing, ye that dwell in dust!

The stone is rolled away.

Shines from the opened tomb

The light of resurrection's day.

(Ted L. Gibbons)

Through His resurrection, the Saviour Jesus Christ, placed an indelible stamp of divine authority upon all His claims and teachings and thereby fulfilled all that was prophesied of Him (Luke 24:44-46). With His resurrection, the Atonement was complete. This Atonement was performed in three parts:

1. The sanctification of the Garden of Gethsemane;

2. The blood sacrifice of Calvary;

3. The victory over death through the Resurrection.

If there was no resurrection, the suffering of the Garden and Calvary would have been in vain for the suffering alone would not have brought about eternal life. If there was no sanctification in the Garden but there was only death and resurrection, all mankind would have been resurrected in corruption and sin, not fit to enter the Kingdom of God. By completing the act of Atonement through His victory over the grave, Christ not only conquered death for Himself and brought forth His own glorious resurrected body, but in so doing He also brought about a universal resurrection. What is universal, however, is also intensely personal. Consider the fact that Jesus chose to appear as a resurrected being to only one person first, Mary of Magdala, and not to a group of people. "After the other disciples left the empty tomb, 'Mary stood without at the sepulchre weeping.' Then, alone in the garden, she was the first mortal to encounter the risen Lord: 'Jesus saith unto her, Mary. She turned herself, and saith unto him Rabboni; which is to say, Master' (John 20:11,16). It is hard to overstate the significance of this moment to each of us, for each of the faithful followers of Christ will someday have this identical experience: Jesus will call each of us by name, we will meet Him face to face, and we will recognise Him as our Master. This is what is meant by Atonement, to come into the loving presence of the Lord, to have Him know us for our faithfulness, and to know Him for who He is. For this moment, the faithful Saint lives and gives everything" (Breck England, Lesson 27, He Is Not Here, For He Is Risen, Meridian Magazine). In that moment of private audience with the resurrected Christ, Mary must have understood the personal nature of the Atonement, that for her individually Christ had suffered, died and risen again, so that she could have eternal life.  

"Incline your ear, and come unto me: hear, and your soul shall live; and I will make an everlasting covenant with you, even the sure mercies of David." 

(Isaiah 55:3)

Nothing can help us understand better the 'resurrection for the one' than 'the sure mercies of David'. In his youth, King David, was a man after the Lord's own heart (1 Sam. 13:13-14). David loved the Lord and praised Him through his victories and led Israel in righteousness. In turn the Lord blessed him with a throne and kingdom of power and King David became the symbol of the future throne and kingdom of the Son of David. But David fell and adultery stained his soul and innocent blood dripped from his hands. In sincere remorse and tears he sought forgiveness, which, because of Uriah's murder, was not forthcoming. Despite his heart searing repentance David, with the wicked, will suffer the 'vengeance of eternal fire' until the fullness of time and be resurrected to the telestial glory at the end of the Millenium (D&C 76:105-6, 132:39). "In the doctrinal laws which guaranteed him [David] a resurrection and a lesser degree of eternal reward, are two great truths: (1) That the Holy One of Israel, the Holy one of God, the Son of David, would die and then be resurrected; and (2) that because he burst the bands of death and became the first-fruits of them that slept, all men also would be resurrected, both the righteous and the wicked, including saints who became sinners, as was the case with David the king. These two truths became known as and were called 'the sure mercies of David', meaning that David in his life and death and resurrection was singled out as the symbol to dramatize before the people that their Holy One would be resurrected and that all men would also come forth from the grave" (McConkie, The Promised Messiah, p 272). 

God had promised David that Jesus, the Messiah, would come from "the fruit of his loins" (Acts 2:30), meaning the Saviour would be David's direct descendant. The sublime beauty of this arrangement cannot be overlooked: Jesus brings salvation to the ancestor from whom He inherits a mortal body and is born of the "symbol of hope" to be "the hope". David knew and understood this when he wrote 'Therefore my heart is glad, and my glory rejoiceth: my flesh also shall rest in hope. For thou will not leave my soul in hell...' (Psalms 16:9-10). Isaiah also wrote about "the sure mercies of David" (Isaiah 55:3) which means the principle was known and taught in ancient Israel and Peter and Paul taught this truth in the meridian of time: "And as concerning that he raised him up from the dead, now no more to return to corruption, he said on this wise, I will give you the sure mercies of David" (Acts 13:22-37). Thus David is made the 'witness' and symbol of hope in the power of resurrection. Universally this means, that all will be saved from hell and death, unconditionally. This is salvation. Being saved in the Kingdom of God, however, to enjoy the fruits of exaltation is conditional and dependent on our worthiness.

We likewise, must cultivate this hope of resurrection that will bring us to eternal life. When Ammon recounted to his brethren how merciful God had been to them by snatching them from their 'awful, sinful and polluted state' and had brought them 'over that everlasting gulf of death and misery, even to the salvation of our souls' (Alma 26:17-20) he joyed in this knowledge to the point of exhaustion (Alma 27:17). The people of Ammon, once converted, forsaking their weapons of war and murder, were not afraid to die at the hands of their brethren the Lamanites because they 'never did look upon death with any degree of terror, for their hope and views of Christ and the resurrection; therefore, death was swallowed up to them by the victory of Christ over it' (Alma 27:28). Moroni spoke extensively of faith, hope and charity and said that you cannot have faith without hope: "And what is it that ye shall hope for? Behold I say unto you that ye shall have hope through the atonement of Christ and the power of his resurrection, to be raised unto life eternal, and this because of your faith in him according to the promise" (Moroni 7:41). What a glorious truth to have hope in when the world has no hope. When many refuse to glimpse life beyond the grave; when so many falsehoods are taught to the children of men; when false beliefs abound and there is no hope of eternal and continuing associations with those we love. But in Christ all this is made possible through the power of His glorious resurrection. In Him is our salvation, in Him is our faith, in Him is our hope.

Jesus remained on earth for 40 days following His resurrection to teach and instruct those He had placed in authority over His Church. Many were witnesses of His resurrection for He came to them, spoke to them, ate with them. Mary Magdalene who saw Him first; other women who came to anoint His body, Mary the mother of Joses, Salome, the mother of James and John, Joanna and others who were not named; two disciples on the road to Emmaus, Cleopas and another, possibly Luke, as he is who records the event (McConkie, The Promised Messiah, p 279); Peter and Thomas and the rest of the Apostles; Paul on the Damascus road (Acts 9:1-9); John as he suffered banishment on Patmos; 2,500 Nephites saw him, heard him and bore record 'every man for himself' (3 Nephi 17:35); and in our day He was seen by Joseph Smith and others, "not a few. Of some of these appearances we have record; others are sealed in secrecy in the hearts of the recipients'. All this is scarcely the beginning of His resurrected ministry among men. Every faithful member of His Church - The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints - has power, through righteousness, to see His face and become a special witness of His holy name in this personal sense, while he or she yet dwells in mortality (D&C 67:10-14; 93:1; 107:18-19)"  (McConkie, The Promised Messiah, p 281). The Saviour desires to encircle us in the arms of His love, to hold us close, to receive us into His bosom, and when we forsake our sins He has promised "the veil shall be rent and you shall see me and know that I am" (D&C 67:10). Each one of us can be a witness of His resurrected glory as we journey towards our own immortality through Him who has rescued us from the sting of death and won the victory over the grave.

"The ever-enlarging ocean of true believers will continue to increase until the knowledge of God shall cover the earth 'as the waters cover the sea' (Isa 11:9), until all men know, as this disciple knows, that Jesus is Lord of all, and that He rose from the dead, as all men shall. There is no fact of revealed religion more surely established than the fact of resurrection. And there is no Messianic utterance more certainly known than that the great Jehovah, Israel's Deliverer and Saviour, is the Messiah who came and who has now risen from the grave" (McConkie, The Promised Messiah, p. 283).

"The Light, the Life, the Way"

"I am with you always, even unto the end of the world" (Matt 28:20)

IN WHOM THERE IS JOY

Surely he has borne our griefs, and carried our sorrows,

He was wounded for our transgressions,

He was bruised for our iniquities,

The chastisement of our peace was laid upon him.

With his stripes we are healed.

The Lord has laid on him the iniquities of us all,

He is brought as a lamb to slaughter.

(Isaiah 53)

Enduring the unspeakable suffering of Gethsemane, exhausted and bathed in blood and sweat from the agony, betrayed by one and forsaken by the rest who loved Him (Matt 26:56), Jesus was arrested as a thief in the night and forced to walk to Caiaphas' Palace, to the Antonia Fortress, to Herod's palace, and back to Antonia Fortress. In the process he had been without food for twelve hours, slapped, beaten with fists, palms and rods and mocked and scourged. Treated like the basest of criminals and betrayed for the price of a slave yet innocent of all the charges they could bring against Him, He subjected Himself to the cruelest and most unjust of all trials and deaths, for the greater good of all who in the realms above had chosen Him to pay the ransom for their souls and to bring them to life eternal.  

Accused unjustly for blasphemy during an illegal nightly court held by the Sanhedrin, Jesus was taken to Pilate, the Roman procurator who had the power to sanction death, the power which the Sanhedrin, the highest Jewish court of justice and the supreme legislative council at Jerusalem, did not possess. The Sanhedrin condemned Jesus to death for blasphemy but knowing that blasphemy would bear no weight with the Roman law, they accused Him of treason against the Roman State saying He claimed He was the King of the Jews, unwilling to pay tribute to Caesar. Not being able to find any fault in Jesus (Luke 23:4) and attempting to pass the judgment of death onto Herod and the Jewish people with no success, Pilate violated his own best instincts and indulged his hypocrisy by condemning Jesus to death. Pilate feared the Jewish people because of many minor acts of violence, extortion and cruelty which the Jews held against him. 'He realised that his tenure was insecure, and he dreaded exposure. Such wrongs had he wrought that when he would have done good, he was deterred through cowardly fear of the accusing past' (Talmage, Jesus the Christ, pp 648-649). Making it clear to this man of hypocrisy that it is not really within his power to save or take away His life, the Saviour just about exonerated him from His imminent death by telling him: "To this end was I born, and for this cause came I into the world" (John 18:37). 

"Reproach [had] broken [his] heart; and [he was] full of heaviness: and [he] looked for some to take pity, but there was none; and for comforters, but [he] found none."

(Psalm 69:20)

"Stripped, He was raised on the cross with a mocking sign over His head: 'JESUS OF NAZARETH THE KING OF THE JEWS'. As He hung in anguish, the rulers and people gaped and cursed and condemned Him, taunting: 'He saved others; let him save himself' (Luke 23:35). Through the anguish, He had only loving words. To His mother, Mary, who must have felt the pangs of near-death in her own body, it was concern that she be cared for. To the thief who would repent, He gave hope. At noon the heavens grew black for three hours, as if the universe itself were weeping for the agony of the Creator. In that time all the infinite agonies and merciless pains of Gethsemane returned, and His Father's spirit itself withdrew that the victory might be His. At the ninth hour, 3:00 pm, 'Jesus cried with a loud voice, saying....My God, my God, why has thou forsaken me? (Matt 27:46). In that eerie mid-afternoon darkness, someone ran and filled a sponge with vinegar. Having received the vinegar, Jesus said: 'Father, it is finished, thy will is done' (JST Matt 27:54). As He died, the veil of the temple was rent, and the earth quaked and rocks were rent as if to say with a nearby centurion, 'Truly this man was the son of God' (Mark 15:39). (Scot and Maurine Proctor, Lesson 26, To This End Was I Born, Meridian Magazine)

We may ask ourselves why the suffering in the Garden of Gethsemane alone did not suffice as the Atonement for the sins of mankind? Why all this emphasis on the shedding of blood? Why is the Atonement incomplete without it? Why do we need to dwell with such emphasis, and so repetitively, on Christ's death and the manner in which it was executed? The reason is startling and compelling: "Where salvation is concerned, we are dealing with life and death; we are born into mortality so that we may have the privilege of dying and coming forth in immortality. In our search for salvation, we are dealing with mortal life and the natural death; we are dealing with immortality and eternal life; we are seeking to learn how mortality becomes immortality, and how men, having bowed to the natural death, can yet come forth and gain eternal life. To crystallize in our minds and to dramatize before our eyes what is involved in all this, the Lord has chosen blood as the symbol of both life and death" (McConkie, The Promised Messiah, p. 259).  It was never the flesh of the sacrificial animals that was required for mortal men to understand the infinite sacrifice that would bring life eternal, but the blood. Because life is in the blood (Lev 17:14), blood is the element and symbol of life, thus the necessity for the blood atonement, for as the shedding of man's blood brings death, the shedding of Christ's blood brings life. Thus the blood atonement becomes the symbol of eternal life.

It was through the agony of Gethsemane and the blood Atonement of Calvary that the Saviour could offer freedom and eternal life to those who languished in spirit prison following His crucifixion. With what joyful hope they must have received word that they could be freed from the prison of death, of hell and of endless torment now that the sacrifice was complete. That they would, through repentence and acceptance of His gospel be 'free from the sorrow of sin, free from the chains of hell, free from that spiritual death which is to be dead as pertaining to the things of righteousness - all this is part of the glorious doctrine of salvation for the dead, and it includes the fact that our Lord ministered personally to the spirits in prison' (McConkie, The Promised Messiah, p 240).  It was of these captives that Zechariah prophesied when he spoke of 'prisoners of hope', that the Lord their God would save them 'by the blood of thy covenant', meaning the gospel covenant, which would only have effect through the shedding of the blood of Christ (Zech. 9:11,12). With what gratitude those in spirit prison must have bowed before Him knowing the atoning blood had been spilt, the mercy extended, the justice satisfied. 

And what of us who had not yet been born, who were valiant in our testimonies of Jesus? Could we have been been with the departed spirits of the just who had rejoiced to hear of the accomplished sacrifice and had gathered to welcome the triumphant Saviour back into their midst? If we shouted for joy at the time of creation (Job 38:6,7), we must have shouted for joy at the time of redemption: "And there were gathered together in one place an innumerable company of the spirits of the just, who had been faithful in the testimony of Jesus while they lived in mortality; And who had offered sacrifice in the similitude of the great sacrifice of the Son of God, and had suffered tribulation in their Redeemer's name. All these had departed the mortal life, firm in the hope of a glorious resurrection, through the grace of God the Father and his Only Begotten Son, Jesus Christ. I beheld that they were filled with the joy and gladness, and were rejoicing together because the day of their deliverance was at hand (D&C 138:12-15). How joyous we must have been knowing that godhood which we so valiantly fought for was now within our reach. For if the chosen Saviour had overcome the world, the power would be ours to do likewise. And so 'trailing clouds of glory' we each took our turn, with eagerness and joy, coming to a fallen world to work out our salvation through the grace of Him who has paved the way, Immanuel, The Lord of Hosts, The Lord of Glory, Eternal King, Wonderful, Counselor, The Mighty God, The Everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace.

"Let the earth break forth into singing. Let the dead speak forth anthems of eternal praise to the King Immanuel........Let the mountains shout for joy, and all ye valleys cry aloud; and all ye seas and dry lands tell the wonders of your Eternal King! And ye rivers, and brooks, and rills, flow down with gladness.. Let the woods and all the threes of the field praise the Lord; and ye solid rocks weep for joy! And let the sun, moon, and the morning stars sing together, and let all the sons of God shout for joy! And let the eternal creations declare his name forever and ever!" 

(D&C 128:22)

TO HEAL THE BROKEN HEARTED - PART 2

There is an article in the September 1980 issue of the Newsweek magazine entitled "What Mormons Believe". The author of this article had read several books of Mormon theology but rather than do a book review, it was his aim to report how members of the Church interpret their doctrine.  His findings led him to report that Mormons believe that 'men are born free of sin and earn their way to godhood by the proper exercise of free will, rather than through the grace of Jesus Christ. Thus Jesus' suffering and death in the Mormon view were brotherly acts of compassion, but they do not atone for the sins of others' (Bruce C. Hafen, The Broken Heart, p 2). In other words, what this reporter discovered is the members' lack of understanding of the Atonement and what it can do for them. It would seem that we place more emphasis on our own feeble efforts and largely overlook God's grace when it comes to working out our salvation. Whenever there is disbelief expressed by members of the Church in their ability to 'make it' there is a sure belief that we are meant to gain eternal life on our own merit rather than through the power of God's grace given to us through the Atonement of Jesus Christ.

The Church has placed a lot of emphasis on the Atonement in recent years and the leaders have taught this important doctrine extensively. Even though we might never fully understand it in this life, it is hoped that most of the Church membership by now at least believe what the Atonement professes it can do because if we don't, this life stands as an insurmountable mountain to climb: "Our understanding of the Atonement is hardly a shield against sorrow; rather, it is a rich source of strength to deal productively with the disappointments and heartbreaks that form the deliberate fabric of mortal life. The gospel was given us to heal our pain, not to prevent it. Having noted these reasons for caution, however, I sense that an increasing number of deeply committed Church members are weighed down beyond the breaking point with discouragement about their personal lives. When we habitually understate the meaning of the Atonement, we take more serious risks than simply leaving one another without comforting reassurances - for some may simply drop out of the race, worn out and beaten down with the harsh and untrue belief that they are just not celestial material (Bruce C. Hafen, The Broken Heart, p 5)." Anyone who drops out of the race because they believe that they can't make it does not understand how the Atonement works and how to make it active in their lives. It is practically a sin to say 'I can't make it' for when we do so we negate the Saviour's suffering on our behalf.

The Atonement of Jesus Christ was not only designed for our spiritual purification but to also endow us with power to overcome, to fix, to change and to endure. This is grace. Grace is power. It is not a magic wand that will on judgment day miraculously compensate for everything we fell short of in our mortal lives. It is, however, a consistent source of aid available to us, during our life's journey, to overcome the world and fashion of ourselves what we are meant to become. It is the combined force of our action and the Saviour's power that grants us salvation, not our merit alone or the Saviour's infallible mercy alone. The Saviour was blessed with power to 'tread the winepress alone' and to atone for every sin and mortal distress known to man. This is important for us to know because those who accept the saving ordinances of the gospel have access to this power, with which the Saviour could overcome the suffering of all mankind, to overcome our own. We have the right to this access by virtue of becoming His sons and His daughters. When we are born into this world, we inherit physical attributes of our mortal father. When we are born spiritually in the waters of baptism and proceed to live the gospel, we inherit attributes of our spiritual Father who is Jesus Christ. This means that through the grace available to us we can think as He does, act as He does, endure as He does. This is what Alma meant when he said: "And now behold, I ask of you, my brethren of the Church, have ye spiritually been born of God? Have ye received His image in your countenances? I say unto you, can you look up, having the image of God engraven upon your countenances?" (Alma 5:14,19). When we become as He is, we become powerful, powerful enough to overcome, powerful enough to endure, powerful enough to succeed.

How did the Saviour become so powerful during the moment of His greatest suffering? The scriptures record that as He suffered, He prayed. But not just any prayer. When ordinary prayer was not enough and his agony intensified, He prayed 'more earnestly' (Luke 22:44) suggesting this was not a prayer of words but a prayer of faith. If He believed that His supplication to the Father would go unnoticed He would have ceased praying but the scriptures record that as His agony increased, so did His prayer. As He prayed earnestly through faith, the power increased to endure the agony which extracted drops of blood from every pore. It was because of this power that He was able to say 'thy will be done'. He didn't want to suffer. He pleaded with the Father, if there was another way, to take the bitter cup from Him so that He did not have to drink it but the commitment had been made long ago and the price had to be paid. And so He did what was the hardest of all things for Him to do. That's power. Subjecting Himself to the agony of Gethsemane and overcoming the sting of death was the Saviour's crowning glory.

We can access the power of the Atonement through the prayer of faith in Jesus Christ. When Alma prayed for deliverance from prison cords which held him and Amulek bound, he didn't pray just an ordinary prayer but he prayed that the cords be loosed 'according to our faith which is in Christ' (Alma 14:26). When he blessed Zeezrom with the intent to heal him, he prayed for him to be healed 'according to his faith which is in Christ' (Alma 15:10). If we are to access Christ's power, we must do so by affirming our faith in Him with the words of our prayer, during our prayer and not just at its' conclusion. Speaking the name of Jesus Christ carries with it immense power and affirms to the Father that we have faith in His Son and His Atonement. The Saviour Himself has said 'whatsoever things ye shall ask the Father in my name shall be given unto you' (3 Nephi 27:28) and 'whatsoever thing ye shall ask in faith, believing ye shall receive in the name of Christ, ye shall receive it' (Enos 1:15).

We possess the greatest tool known to man for the perfection of our souls. In our acceptance of Jesus Christ as our personal Saviour we have been granted access to immense power to conquer all things including suffering that comes from consequences of this mortal probation, even the decisions we make pertaining to our spiritual and temporal lives. So much depended on the Saviour's acceptance of the task given Him, not only did His eternal destiny hang in balance but ours also. Imagine being responsible for billions of people. Imagine allowing destruction of all these people in your care. Satan had already led away a third of the Father's children. Imagine if the Saviour backed down in His hour of agony and allowed the rest us to fall into Satan's hands. It could never be because all would have been wasted including this earth which He has created for the perfection of our mortal experience. As we stood in line in the Garden of Gethsemane with the burden of our mortality upon us we understood the price that was paid for our eternal souls. With bated breath we hoped against all hope that Christ would not shrink back from exquisite agony and leave us unransomed and lost. It was in that precise moment of His submission to the Father's will that we understood just how much we are worth. The price was paid, the slate would be wiped clean, the tears of our sorrows wiped away, perfection will be within reach and then life eternal in the realms of our heavenly home. The plan conceived before the world was, at once became the plan achieved. This is grace. This is the path to exaltation, this is the reality that dispels all doubt in human breast telling us we cannot do it.

"For ye are bought with a price..........I have graven thee upon the palms of my hands"

(1 Cor 6:20, Isa 49:16)