THE SORROWING HEART

We live in a fallen world. A world of pain, suffering, grief, sorrow and many other negative emotions and maladies of the mind and heart. It is for this purpose we were sent here, to experience and master the world of opposites; that in our experience with sorrow we might know joy. This world was made for the perfection of our experience; to shape, mould and perfect us that we might have joy in this life and the fullness of joy throughout our eternal existence. Without knowing mortality, we would never have known this fullness but would have languished in innocence and imperfection for eternity. It was therefore imperative that we became agents of our own fate whereby we could choose the outcome of our eternal station. In the process of choosing between right and wrong that would lead us to this outcome, is a necessary teaching tool known as sorrow. This sorrow is born from our inclination to indulge the natural man and is meant to lead us back from wayward paths to the path of accountability, purpose and wisdom. 

The sorrow spoken of here falls into two categories: the sorrow of the world and 'godly sorrow'. It is important for us to understand the distinction between the two because one can keep us trapped in misery while the other can grant us emotional and spiritual freedom. When we choose to be in the world and have no regard for God's laws, we are prone to experience worldly sorrow. The world is trapped in this type of sorrow which offers no peace and no redemption. When the Nephite civilization began it's demise into total destruction, many of them lamented the state they were in which gave Mormon great hopes that their sorrow would lead them to repentance. In this, Mormon was greatly disappointed because he records: "But behold this my joy was vain, for their sorrowing was not unto repentance, because of the goodness of God; but it was rather the sorrowing of the damned, because the Lord would not always suffer them to take happiness in sin" (Mormon 2:13). In other words, the Nephites sorrowed because they could not have it both ways; they could not live in sin and at the same time be happy. And herein is found one of Satan's biggest lies; that we are free to do whatever we want. Freedom of the heart, however, does not come with 'whatever we want'. Very often 'whatever we want' comes with sorrow. Today, in our attempt to prove that we are free to choose, we have surrounded ourselves by the sorrow of the world: lives devastated by drugs, cruelty, abusive behaviour, greed, selfishness, corruption, immorality, deceit and much more. Those who are of the world experience sorrow for their reckless behaviour when they are shocked into it by the consequences of their actions or when they are found out. 

Unlike worldly sorrow, godly sorrow leads to repentance and freedom. A truly repentant person will experience sorrow not only because of the cost of sin to themselves but also because they offended God. They can see clearly they have put in jeopardy the salvation of their soul, they come to regret their actions and their sorrowing results in a broken heart. This is godly sorrow. This sorrow brings about grieving that teaches us accountability and grows in us a desire to abstain from further sinning. Desisting the sin is simply not enough to effect true repentance because it does not bring about a change of heart. Merely desisting without godly sorrow means it is just a matter of time before we go back to the sin which has had us in its grip. When we experience godly sorrow, we show sincerity in our intentions to forsake the sin. This painful 'payment' acts as a perfect deterrent in the repentance process.

God's love for us is always there but when we are living a sinful life we distance ourselves from that love. Catastrophically, we also distance ourselves from our chance of salvation and ultimate exaltation. Repentance is perhaps the greatest proof of God's mercy towards His children. Not wanting to leave us in the fallen world forever He has provided the way for us to be reconciled to Him and be once more worthy of His presence. Repentance is crucial for this reconciliation. No unclean thing can enter the kingdom of God (3 Nephi 27:19) because God Himself is clean, pure and perfect therefore He cannot receive us into His presence if we are unclean and tainted by sin. But uncleanliness can be eradicated for those 'who have washed their garments in [Christ's] blood, because of their faith, and the repentance of all their sins, and their faithfulness unto the end' (3 Nephi 27:19). 

The path to reconciliation with God is in Christ. He is the healing in our wings and the path back to freedom and spiritual security. Because of Him we need not suffer the sorrow of the world but the sorrow that will bring us back to God. This is the sorrow that is worth the pain because it is momentary as opposed to the sorrow of the world that is never ending. "The delightful promise of the Gospel to those who 'sorrow after a godly sort' (2 Cor. 7:11) is complete forgiveness and reconciliation to God. There is a power in the Atonement of Christ that makes the repentant soul new again: "Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new. And all things are of God, who hath reconciled us to himself by Jesus Christ" (2 Cor. 5:17-18). This dream of a new life, a new start, a new chance is made reality in the Atonement of Christ." (Breck England, NT Lesson 35, Be Ye Reconciled to God)

A bird 

Once broken

Can never fly,

They say,

Quite so high

Again.

Perhaps.

But as for me,

Now desperately

In need of mending,

I have a healer

Who would restore

These foolish wings

Without a scar.

I will lie quiet

Beneath His touch.

I will listen

As He whispers,

"Rise, and fall no more"

And then -

Then I shall

Soar.

- Carol Lynn Pearson

A LOVE SO PURE

"Charity suffereth long, and is kind; charity envieth not; charity vaunteth not itself, is not puffed up, doth not behave itself unseemly, seeketh not her own, is not easily provoked, thinketh no evil; rejoiceth not in iniquity, but rejoiceth in the truth; beareth all things, believeth all things, hopeth all things, endureth all things."  

(1 Corinthians 13:7)

In Paul's attempt to bring the Corinthian saints closer to Christ and His character which He hoped they would emulate, he delivered the most poetic and inspiring discourse on the attribute of charity, a quality without which according to Paul we are nothing.  Understanding the nature of charity makes sense of this statement. It is crucial that we know and understand what charity is not to fully understand what it truly is. Charity is not acts of kindness for Paul states that even giving all our possessions to the poor is possible without possessing charity. He goes on to say that it is possible to even speak with the tongue of angels and prophesy without charity and no doubt do many things which would make us appear good to others and which could be acts born from selfish and wrongful desires. Likewise, long suffering, absence of envy, lack of pride, good behaviour, righteousness, faith, hope and rejoicing in truth that Paul also speaks of are not really charity but rather products of it and evidences that a person possesses this quality.  Charity therefore is an outward expression of the inner state of our hearts. Rather than alms or deeds, charity is the motive, the pure motive which prompts or inspires the acts of good will.

Moroni teaches us that charity is the pure love of Christ (Moroni 7:47) without which we cannot become like the Saviour. Why the emphasis on 'pure'? Why not just 'the love of Christ' which inspires men to do good? Christ's love is pure because it is free of any ulterior motives or hidden agendas. Christ's only desire is to bring each one of us to His own station of perfection, glory, power and dominion (Larry Keeler, I Do Always Those Things That Please Him, p 2). When He said 'here am I, send me' (Abraham 3:27) He asked for nothing but glory for the Father, unlike Lucifer who wanted the glory for himself; and when He said 'for behold this is my work and my glory - to bring to pass the immortality and eternal life of man' (Moses 1:39), He meant that He had no wish to elevate Himself through this work, but that His love was the only motivation for offering us salvation. It is this selflessness and presence of pure love that enabled the Saviour of all mankind to submit His will to the Father in His greatest agony. It is this pure love of Christ that would likewise enable us to lift another to salvation, to extend brotherly love through selfless acts of kindness, to do good and serve others in all things and in all places.

Christ's entire mortal life exemplified the pure love He has for all of us, especially those of us who through acceptance of His eternal sacrifice would become His spiritually begotten children, to share His rightful inheritance in the Kingdom of the Eternal Father. The evidence of His love is with us today in the form of ordinances which have been instituted for the salvation of all mankind. A closer look at the three most prominent can teach us to recognise the gift of love in the rest:

• Baptism: Through accepting the ordinance of baptism, we 're-enact the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ and are ensured a place in His Kingdom. Jesus Christ, the only person who ever lived who did not have to die, chose to die as an act of charity for us because in doing so He conquered death for each of us and ensured our resurrection' (Breck England, NT Lesson 34, Keep the Ordinance As I Delivered Them). Death of a loved one can teaches us that the Saviour's gift of resurrection is a profound act of love, a gift that re-unites families and restores each of us to life and immortality. 

• Sacrament:  Each Sunday we have the privilege of taking the sacrament in remembrance of the ultimate and supreme act of love the Saviour had gifted to each of us for He 'so loved the world that He gave His own life that as many as believed might become the sons of God' (D&C 34:3). We learn from Paul that one of the evidences of charity is 'long suffering'. Surely the Lord Jesus had suffered the longest of us all by experiencing exquisite pain for our sins. Paul also says that those who have charity 'bear all things' and 'endure all things'. Is it not true that Jesus bore our griefs and endured all our sorrows? The ordinance of the sacrament helps us to reflect on these fruits of charity, to marvel at the love so pure that would enable even God to bleed at every pore. 

• Sealing:  It is through the sealing power of marriage that we gain the greatest gift of all, the gift of eternal life, meaning we are exalted to live with God in family units. "The sealing ordinance represents our Saviour's ultimate act of charity, for through this ordinance we are sealed up to eternal life as co-heir with Him and a co-partaker of 'all that the Father hath' (John 16:15). It is His supreme charity because He literally gives it all; He can give each of us no more than all that He has. If you receive the sealing ordinance and remain faithful, He promises that you 'shall receive your exaltation, that where I am ye shall be also' (D&C 132:23) (Breck England, NT Lesson 34, Keep The Ordinances, As I Delivered Them)

The purpose of the ordinances of the Gospel is not only to advance us in our progression to godhood but to draw us closer to the Saviour and to become like Him. It is our duty to grasp the concept of charity, or the pure love He has for us so that we can emulate that love in our own lives towards others. If we do not grasp the Saviour's love we go unchanged and unaffected and fail to become as He is. If we do not become like Him, we cannot share the inheritance with Him in celestial worlds on high. Lest we be overcome with the magnitude of this charge, we need to know that we cannot acquire or develop the pure love of Christ of our own selves. The pure love of Christ is a gift to all who show obedience and faithfulness as His disciples. After all we can do, by the grace of God, we qualify to receive this love as a gift 'bestowed upon all who are true followers of his Son, Jesus Christ' (Moroni 7:48). It is to our everlasting advantage to 'pray unto the Father with all the energy of heart, that we may be filled with this love.....that when he shall appear we shall be like him...' (Moroni 7:48)

We cannot become pure, powerful or perfect relying on our efforts alone. When Paul wrote to the Corinthian saints, he acknowledged that he was the least of the apostles and not worthy to be called such because he persecuted the church of God but he also acknowledged that he had become as good as the great work he performed by exclaiming 'by the grace of God I am what I am' (1 Cor 15:9,10). He alone, whom we worship and accept as our personal Saviour, can make of us what we should be. By yielding our hearts to Him and striving to obey Him in all things, we too can possess a love so pure and so divine that we will be granted the purity of character worthy of God's presence and all that is His. May we strive to be recipients of the greatest love of all and may we bless each other's lives with its' power now and forever. May we reach across boundaries, limits and fears and shrink not from love which will lead us to salvation and to that place where we will at last, once more, once again and forever, see the face of God.

A TOKEN OF LOVE

"I spoke at my granddaughter's baptism in July. My assigned topic was the Holy Ghost. I told her that I have a picture of her with her sister on my computer wallpaper. 'Every time I turn on the computer, she is there with you', I said. 'If she could be with you all the time in your life, would she help you choose the right?' This 8 year old was pretty sure she would. I asked the same questions about her mom and dad. She thought that if one or both of them could be with her all the time, she would be able to make pretty good decisions because someone would always be there who knew more than she did to help her. I even asked about President Hinckley. This little girl thought that he would help her with her decisions too. But she agreed with me that he might be too busy to follow her around 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. 'But if he could, you would always know the best thing to do, wouldn't you?', I asked. She was pretty sure that was true. Then I asked her what it would be like to have a member of the Godhead with her all the time. We then read 2 Nephi 32:5: 

'For behold, again I say unto you that if ye will enter in by the way, and receive the Holy Ghost, it will show unto you all things what ye should do' (2 Nephi 32:5)

I am amazed at this - that God would give all of his covenanting children continuous access to a being who knows everything..........."         (Ted L. Gibbons, NT Lesson 32, "Live in the Spirit")


The gift of the Holy Ghost is second to the Atonement as a token of God's great love for us. It is also one of the blessings most often taken for granted. Very few of us reflect daily or even occasionally on the gift of love that this third member of the Godhead is. When the Father sent us out into the world to find ourselves, He did so making sure we didn't go without a connection to home. There are several things that make Christ's Church stand apart from other religions but none as powerful and useful to us in our daily lives as the gift of the Holy Ghost. Having this gift can be akin to walking with and talking to God face to face on daily basis. There are three major benefits of having the gift of the Holy Ghost that are worthy of mention:

1. At the time of baptism, the sanctifying power of the Holy Ghost makes us clean from any sin that we had up to then committed. This sanctifying power can be renewed every time we partake of the sacrament with a broken heart and a contrite spirit. If we live worthy of the companionship of the Holy Ghost on a continual basis and 'walk in the spirit' as Apostle Paul taught, we will have the power to subdue 'the natural man' (Galatians 5:16). Not subduing the natural man means living after the manner of the flesh, the fruits of which are 'adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lasciviousness, idolatry, hatred, variance, emulations, wrath, strife, seditions, heresies, envyings, murders, drunkenness, revellings and such like' (Galatians 5:19-21). However, the fruits of living after the manner of the Spirit are 'love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness, temperance' (Galatians 5:22-25). We need the sanctifying power of the Holy Ghost if we are to ultimately qualify for God's presence for 'no unclean thing can enter into His kingdom' (3 Nephi 27:19). This sanctification is available to all who accept Jesus Christ as their Saviour and make covenants to live His Gospel. Where His Atonement absolves us from sin, the Holy Ghost purifies us from it.

2. One of the main roles of the Holy Ghost is to endow members of the Church with spiritual gifts. Every member of the Church receives them following baptism. In the early Church they were immediately manifest mainly through speaking in tongues and prophesying (Acts 19:5,6). Spiritual gifts are often called 'fruits of the Spirit' and they are one of the greatest tools we have for developing traits we lack and need to have, not only for our benefit but most importantly for the benefit of the Church for it is for this purpose they are given. Joseph Smith said on one occasion that the Church would be dead without the gifts of the spirit. He compared it to being invited to a feast [Church] and sitting at the table not partaking of the foods laden before you. The gifts of the spirit are many and varied. It is our responsibility to seek them and develop them. They are, however, not only to be used for the building of the Kingdom but for our individual journey to perfection. It is through possession of these gifts that we can overcome weaknesses and imperfections and thus progress to a more Christlike character (on more information regarding this please refer to my blog post entitled "On Spiritual Gifts and Weaknesses", October 2013).

3. Paul taught the Galatian saints to 'stand fast therefore in the liberty wherewith Christ hath made us free, and be not entangled again with the yoke of bondage' (Galatians 5:1). The yoke of bondage that Paul referred to was the ritualism inherent in the law of Moses which had become a way of life for the Jews and which caused 'spirituality to wither almost to death in the hearts of the people. When a member of the Church is given to ritualism, or even living the gospel by habit or tradition, the purity of intent that is required to live the gospel at its highest is most often lost. Such ceremonialism had become a yoke of bondage for the Jews'.........When habit or tradition governs the behaviour of a member of the Church, he or she has lost the liberty of living the gospel with pure intent. The gospel becomes a burden to be carried rather than a means of liberating the soul. In such a person, the fire of the Holy Ghost has little place. Without that fire, the natural man begins to take over what it has lost when the recipient was first converted to the gospel' (Bruce Satterfield, NT Lesson 32 'Live In the Spirit', Meridian Magazine). Living by the Spirit ensures that our motives for Church activity and Gospel living are strong and pure and not habitual and bereft of real intent.

With so much unrest, fear, doubt and insecurity in our world today, we cannot afford to live without the guidance and influence of the Holy Ghost. It is the daily connection we have with the powers of heaven, a connection we sorely need. Several years after the Prophet Joseph Smith was martyred, he appeared to President Brigham Young and shared this timeless counsel: "Tell the people to be humble and faithful and [be] sure to keep the spirit of the Lord and it will lead them right. Be careful and not turn away the small, still voice; it will teach [you what] to do and where to go; it will yield the fruits of the kingdom. Tell the brethren to keep their hearts open to conviction so that when the Holy Ghost comes to them; their hearts will be ready to receive it. They can tell the spirit of the Lord from all other spirits. It will whisper peace and joy to their souls, and it will take malice, hatred, envying, strife, and all evil from their hearts; and their whole desire will be to do good, bring forth righteousness, and build up the kingdom of God. Tell the brethren if they will follow the Spirit of the Lord they will go right" (Joseph Smith, Teachings:Joseph Smith, p 98)

We not only need the Holy Ghost for guidance but also for personal edification of our body, spirit and intellect: "The Holy Ghost.....quickens all the intellectual faculties, increases, enlarges, expands and purifies all the natural passions and affections, and adepts them by the gift of wisdom to their lawful use. It inspires virtue, kindness, goodness, tenderness, gentleness and charity. It develops beauty of person, form and features. It tends to health, vigor, animation, and social feeling. It develops and invigorates all the faculties of the physical and intellectual mind. It strengthens, invigorates and gives tone to the nerves. In short, it is, as it were, marrow to the bone, joy to the heart, light to the eyes, music to the ears, and life to the whole being" (Parley P. Pratt, Key to the Science of Theology, 9th ed. [1965] p. 101). Indeed we can say that the Holy Ghost is a life force we cannot live without. It therefore behooves us to live so that we would be worthy of its' companionship constantly. Keeping ourselves unspotted from the world and hungering after righteousness ensures that we form a partnership with this member of the Godhead who has been relegated to be our lifeline in mortality. 

When Jesus told His apostles that He would shortly be crucified for the sins of the world, they sorrowed because He would no longer be with them but He in return offered immense hope: "It is expedient for you that I go away: for if I go not away, the Comforter will not come unto you; but if I depart, I will send him unto you" (John 16:7). With this statement, the Saviour was saying "you will have me with you always". For us, nearly 2,000 years after the fact, this should have more meaning than to the apostles of old. They had known Him personally, walked and talked with Him every day, heard His words, felt His touch, were no doubt embraced by His arms and kissed with a holy kiss. We of the 21st century, have experienced none of these personal moments with the Savior in our mortality. There is one, however, whom the Saviour has sent in His stead so that we too can feel His personal love, feel the power of His spirit and be convinced of the reality of His existence; the one who has the power to remind us of our heavenly home, to keep us on the strait and narrow, to let us know that we are not forgotten. He will comfort us in times of sorrow, teach us what we need to know and strengthen us with Atonement's power. He is the conduit through which all heavenly connection comes. All this so we can return to inherit eternal life in the realms above. Such is the power and might of the member of the Godhood we call The Holy Ghost, The Comforter, The Spirit of Truth, the token of our Father's love.

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)