"The Chain That Binds"

The past several weeks, I have been reading Andrew C. Skinner’s book on Temple Worship and re-reading the Sermons and Missionary Services of Melvin J. Ballard who served as an apostle of the Lord in the early twentieth century. It was because of this recent study that Elder M. Russell Ballard’s remarks given in Logan, Utah and reported in the February 19, 2011 issue of the Church News caught my attention in particular.

Speaking concerning the Prophet Joseph Smith’s lineage, Elder M. Russell Ballard quoted from an 1859 statement made by then President Brigham Young: “It was decreed in the councils of eternity, long before the foundations of the earth were laid, that [Joseph Smith] should be the man, in the last dispensation of this world, to bring forth the word of God to the people and receive the fullness of the keys and power of the Priesthood of the Son of God. The Lord had His eye upon him, and upon his father, and upon his father’s father, and upon their progenitors clear back to Abraham, and from Abraham to the flood, from the flood to Enoch and from Enoch to Adam. He has watched that family and that blood as it has circulated from its fountain to the birth of that man. He was foreordained in eternity to preside over this last dispensation.”

This last dispensation is the Dispensation of the Fulness of Times. It is upon this dispensation that all of the righteous Saints of former times have waited. For it is now that all that has ever been revealed to the prophets of God since the days of Adam has been restored for the benefit of all of God’s children, believers and not, from the beginning. In conjunction with this purpose, Joseph Smith taught: “The Bible says, ‘I will send you Elijah the prophet before the coming of the great and dreadful day of the Lord; and he shall turn the heart of the fathers to the children, and the heart of the children to the fathers, lest I come and smite the earth with a curse.’ Now, the word turn here should be translated bind, or seal. But what is the object of this important mission? or how is it to be fulfilled? The keys are to be delivered, the spirit of Elijah is to come, the Gospel to be established, the Saints of God gathered, Zion built up, and the Saints to come up as saviors on Mount Zion. But how are they to become saviors on Mount Zion? By building their temples, erecting their baptismal fonts, and going forth and receiving all the ordinances, baptisms, confirmations, washings, anointings, ordinations, and sealing powers upon their heads, in behalf of all their progenitors who are dead, and redeem them that they may come forth in the first resurrection and be exalted to thrones of glory with them; and herein is the chain that binds [emphasis added] the hearts of the fathers to the children, and the children to the fathers, which fulfills the mission of Elijah” (Teachings, 330).

We are obligated to seek out our kindred dead and see to it that their temple ordinances are accomplished, for without them, we cannot be saved in the Kingdom of Heaven. In an 1842 epistle, the Prophet Joseph Smith elaborated upon this thought as follows: “And now, my dearly beloved brethren and sisters, let me assure you that these are principles in relation to the dead and the living that cannot be lightly passed over, as pertaining to our salvation. For their salvation is necessary and essential to our salvation, as Paul says concerning the fathers--that they without us cannot be made perfect [Hebrews 11:40]--neither can we without our dead be made perfect” (Doctrine and Covenants 128:15).

Speaking of our obligation to be involved in genealogy and temple endeavors, Elder Melvin J. Ballard taught that “We are limited to do the work for our own direct line, and that is right and proper, because out of the branch of the House of Israel, the lineage through which we came, will be found those who are receivers of this gospel. They were faithful before they were born. They will be found faithfully responding. Not all of our progenitors will be worthy, [but] . . . the majority of them will be waiting for you. I declare to you that there are those in the spirit world of your ancestors who died during the dark ages, whose blood is in your veins, who had not the knowledge of the truth, that would have responded, would have been as willing and obedient as you are. And yet they never had the privilege” (Sermons, 229).

From Elder Ballard’s remarks, we may glean two things of great importance. First, those of the dead who are numbered among the Lord’s sheep will respond to the promptings of the Holy Ghost and accept the gospel message when it is taught to them. Thus they will come to enjoy eternal life with their brothers and sisters living in this generation who are or were numbered among the Saints of God, and who performed the required saving ordinances for their ancestors in the Lord’s temples. Second, it should be evident that our birth into this world did not happen through happenstance. We were born into this world in time and space according to a determined plan. The affirmation of these points follows.

Elder Melvin J. Ballard continues: “Why is it that sometimes only one of a city or household receives the gospel? It was made known to me that it is because of the righteous dead who had received the gospel in the spirit world exercising themselves, and in answer to their prayers elders of the Church were sent to the homes of their posterity that the gospel might be taught to them, and through their righteousness they might be privileged to have a descendant in the flesh do the work for their dead kindred. I want to say to you that it is with greater intensity that the hearts of the fathers and mothers in the spirit world are turned to their children than that our hearts are turned to them” (Sermons, 249).

This is “the chain that binds” one worthy generation to the next establishing a patriarchal position for every worthy soul in an unbroken line back to our very first parents, Adam and Eve.

"The Terrible Questions"

The title of this writing is the title of a talk that Brother Hugh Nibley delivered in 1988 in Riverton, Utah. His remarks on that occasion are to be found today in the volume of his collected works entitled, Temple and Cosmos. Possibly what is written here will be of sufficient motivation that some will seek out this enlightening address.

The central figure in Brother Nibley’s discussion is First Clement, a young Roman, who would become “very probably the first of the apostolic Fathers” (342). He was literally almost driven insane by the “terrible questions” that swirled around in his mind, and to which he could not find answers. That was until he stumbled upon a missionary, a Jew, from the center of Christianity in that day preaching at a street meeting in Rome. Barnabas was that missionary. Barnabas’ personal witness of the divinity of the Lord caught Clement’s attention, and he wanted to know more. In time, Clement followed Barnabas to the Levant where he attended a Church conference and was introduced to Peter. The President of the High Priesthood himself answered Clement’s terrible questions.

So what are the “terrible questions”? Clement had more than just the three I will repeat here. In Clement’s words, they are: First, “whether there would be a life for me after death or whether I wouldn’t be anything at all afterward”? (343) Second, “I wondered . . . if I didn’t exist before I was born--pre-mortal existence”? (343) Third, “or if there won’t be any recollection of this life after death, and the boundlessness of time will consign everything to oblivion and silence, so that we not only will not exist, but also that which we were, will not be held in memory”? (344) Very simply, Clement wanted to know from whence we come?, why are we here on this earth?, and what awaits us when we die?

These are the “terrible questions” because with the exception of one church and one church only the theologians and philosophers of the world are at a loss to answer them in spite of these questions’ paramount importance and relevance. Thus for the vast majority of the world’s inhabitants, they find no proper answers to these questions, and so like the young Clement, they are left to live an existence fraught with mental and spiritual consternation. However, God in His mercy has made the answers to these questions available again to His children through revelations to His prophets living in this dispensation of the gospel who do and have presided over The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

Now, who will recognize these important truths for what they are when they hear or read them? Those who are living their lives in such a manner that the Holy Ghost may touch their heart and bear witness to them of the truthfulness of these things. If this is not the case, these truths, the things of God, will appear foolish to them, and given their unbelief they will reject them. What should be disturbing is that this state of hard heartedness may come upon even those who at one time were numbered among the Saints of God. Membership in the true Church is not a guarantee against failure. A desire to remain close to the things of God coupled with daily prayer and regular scripture study are necessary to keep the temptations of the evil one at bay.

In the years immediately preceding the visitation of the resurrected Savior to His people living in the Americas, the Church itself was rent apart by the dissension among themselves. The cause of these troubles is reported as follows: “Now the cause of this iniquity of the people was this--Satan had great power, unto the stirring up of the people to do all manner of iniquity, and to the puffing them up with pride, tempting them to seek for power, and authority, and riches, and the vain things of the world” (3 Nephi 6:15).

“Perhaps the two most sought-after and well-rewarded badges of excellence in our culture are knowledge and wealth, but the Book of Mormon prophet Jacob warned us that ‘the wise, and the learned, and they that are rich, who are puffed up because of their learning, and their wisdom, and their riches--yea, they are they whom [Christ] despiseth; and save they shall cast these things away, and consider themselves fools before God, and come down in the depths of humility, he will not open unto them’ (2 Nephi 9:42)” (Eugene England, “The Trouble with Excellence,” Why the Church is as True As the Gospel, 69-70).

It is quite understandable that those who lack an understanding of life’s purposes and its role in the eternal scope of God’s plan for His spirit children to be attracted to and be enamored with the things of this world namely, the accumulation of wealth, power, position, and secular learning. Now while these things are in and of themselves not evil, the natural tendency is for those who seek these things in abundance to be overtaken with pride. Therein is the evil. For the prideful heart is not one that is humble, and humility is a prerequisite to an understanding of the things of God.

Our Sacrament Meetings

Outside of a temple, the most regularly held and sacred meeting members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints attend is our weekly sacrament meeting. Indeed, this is a meeting we are commanded to attend. “And that thou mayest more fully keep thyself unspotted from the world, thou shalt go to the house of prayer and offer up thy sacraments upon my holy day” (Doctrine and Covenants 59:9). There we have the opportunity to partake of the sacrament. If we have properly prepared ourselves to participate in this ordinance, we may thereby renew the covenants that we made with our Father in Heaven at the time we were baptized and confirmed. Given its sacred nature, our participation in this service should be marked by reverent worship. Assuming that almost everything we do regularly might be improved upon, the purpose of this writing is to suggest several things we as members may do to improve the reverence of our sacrament meetings and thus our opportunity to enjoy a spiritual experience while there.

Some members of the Church are becoming lazy when they verbally make reference to this meeting. Even from the pulpit, we find some thinking that a single word title is sufficient. For example, “We will meet with so and so right after sacrament.” Our sacrament meetings should be referred to as such in all contexts.

These meetings commence with an invocation and are concluded with a benediction. These prayers as with all of our prayers are directed to our Father in Heaven and are properly concluded in the name of Jesus Christ, Amen. When praying to the Father, we should use the appropriate “prayer language.” New members of the Church should be taught proper prayer language. Those of us who have been members for many years should use proper prayer language without exception. The reason for using the forms thee, thou, thine, and thy in the English language is often misunderstood. There are those who mistakenly believe that these forms are the formal voice of the language when in fact they are not. They are the familiar voice. A brief consideration of the German language may be instructive here. In German, both voices are used actively on a daily basis. The familiar voice is used when speaking with family members, close friends, and the Deity. The formal voice is used upon all other occasions. In English, we use the familiar voice when speaking to God and the formal voice on all other occasions whether speaking to friends or strangers. A careful reading of the prayers used to bless the bread and water during the sacrament service should be helpful in illustrating the appropriate use of prayer language (D&C 20:77 and 79).

Individually, we should use our right hand for ordinance purposes on all occasions. During the sacrament service, we should partake of the bread and the water with our right hand. Trays bearing these emblems should be passed by those officiating in this ordinance with their right hand. When participating in a “laying on of the hands” ordinance, if too many participants make it necessary that only one hand per individual may be used, the right hand should be used. When we are called upon to participate in actions of “common consent,” we should raise our right hand.

How otherwise may we better demonstrate reverence while attending our sacrament meetings? By doing those things that will lift our participation there above what we might do and say in a common assembly of our fellow citizens. Proper dress does not include the wearing of jeans and sports shirts. More dressy attire is called for including shirt, tie, and coat for the brethren. Coats may be optional in very warm weather. Sisters are encouraged to wear skirts rather than pants. Chewing gum simply is inappropriate for all attending this meeting. Referring to one another as “you guys” may in some cases be appropriate on the street, but such a reference is not appropriate in the context of our associations in a church setting. There, we should refer to one another as “brothers” and “sisters.” While in the chapel, our conversations should be reverent in both volume and subject matter.

Given the sacred purpose for attending sacrament meeting, appropriate preparation and reverent participation are necessary in order to fully benefit from the opportunities that are offered there.

The Gathering to Ohio

The persecution that Joseph Smith experienced after the appearance of the Father and the Son to him intensified after he received the plates from Moroni and began the translation of the Book of Mormon. The continuing persecution became so unrelenting after the organization of the Church in April of 1830, that it seriously hampered the necessary development of the Lord’s Kingdom on earth. To avoid some of the obstacles the evil one was throwing up in the Church’s way, a major change in approach was necessary. The Saints were commanded to migrate from their various locations mostly in New York State to what was then the western State of Ohio. As they gathered there, they would be strengthened through their increased numbers and for a time be somewhat freer of the opposition’s persecution.

While in Fayette, New York in December 1830, the Prophet received the revelation commanding the Saints to gather to Ohio. “And again, a commandment I give unto the church, that it is expedient in me that they should assemble together at the Ohio, against the time that my servant Oliver Cowdery shall return” from his mission to the Lamanites (Doctrine and Covenants 37:3). On the second day of the following month while Joseph Smith was still in Fayette, the Lord explained His reasons for directing them to gather in the West. “And that ye might escape the power of the enemy, and be gathered unto me a righteous people, without spot and blameless--Wherefore, for this cause I gave unto you the commandment that ye should go to the Ohio; and there I will give unto you my law; and there you shall be endowed with power from on high; And from thence, whosoever I will shall go forth among all nations, and it shall be told them what they shall do; for I have a great work laid up in store, for Israel shall be saved, and I will lead them whithersoever I will, and no power shall stay my hand” (D&C 38:31-33).

The five reasons given by the Lord for this westward move are important for our consideration. First, He desired that His Saints be freer of the “power of the enemy” than they had been. Second, there was strength to be gained from increased numbers allowing them a greater opportunity to live the gospel and thereby be more highly blessed both individually and collectively. Third, the Lord would there reveal His “law,” and the Saints’ obedience thereto would bring them additional blessings. Fourth, the Saints were to “be endowed with power from on high.” And lastly, from their new settlements in Ohio, missionaries would be sent out into the world to begin the real gathering of Israel.

Between December 1830 and February 9, 1831, a sufficient number of faithful Saints had migrated to Ohio including the Prophet, and so the Lord saw fit to reveal “the law of the Church” as promised. We know this revelation as Section 42 of the D&C. Quite simply, this section reveals the rules or laws by which the Saints were to live and be governed.

The endowment that the Lord had promised would not be given until the Saints had made proper preparations including the building of a temple. The word endowment is generally used in cases where the recipient of the gift will view it as being of considerable value and importance. The temple endowment is such a gift, and anyone may receive it from their Father in Heaven if they will but keep His commandments. Recognizing also that the “mysteries” of God’s Kingdom are those things of which we learn and in which we participate in the Lord’s house, the following pronouncement is better understood: “Seek not for riches but for wisdom, and behold, the mysteries of God shall be unfolded unto you, and then shall you be made rich. Behold, he that hath eternal life is rich” (D&C 6:7).

The full temple endowment was given to the early Saints of this dispensation in at least two stages. A portion of what we call the initiatory ordinances today was revealed and given to worthy members following the dedication of the temple in Kirtland. However, these initial ordinances were sufficient to provide “the power from on high” necessary for them to succeed in their mission to begin the gathering of Israel. The dedicatory prayer was offered by Joseph Smith on March 27, 1836, and it confirmed the commission they had received earlier namely, to initiate the gathering of Israel. “And we ask thee, Holy Father, that thy servants may go forth from this house armed with thy power, and that thy name may be upon them, and thy glory be round about them, and thine angels have charge over them; And from this place they may bear exceedingly great and glorious tidings, in truth, unto the ends of the earth, that they may know that this is thy work, and that thou hast put forth thy hand, to fulfill that which thou hast spoken by the mouths of the prophets, concerning the last days” (D&C 109:22-23).

As is the case today, the early missionaries received their temple endowment before leaving home for their various fields of missionary labor. Blessed with this additional “power from on high,” the work of the gathering of Israel in the last days commenced. Given that these activities of preparation and missionary work continue in our day, the blessings pronounced in verses twenty-two and twenty-three of Section 109 should be interpreted as they apply now. For all living endowed members are “in the world,” and we may carry with us the light and power we receive in a temple for our own benefit as well as the benefit of our families and all others both members and non-members with whom we associate. I know this promised blessing to be true from my personal experience. We are to be a light unto the world and not hide our light under a “bushel” (Matthew 5:15).

The remainder of the priesthood keys necessary for the accomplishment of the Church’s mission in this dispensation namely, preparing for the Savior’s triumphal return in the last days, were restored to the earth and bestowed upon the Prophet Joseph Smith and Oliver Cowdery in the temple at Kirtland on April 3, 1836 by the hands of the Old Testament prophets Moses, Elias, and Elijah.

"The Word"

“In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. The same was in the beginning with God. All things were made by him; and without him was not any thing made that was made. In him was life; and the life was the light of men. And the light shineth in darkness; and the darkness comprehended it not. There was a man sent from God, whose name was John. The same came for a witness, to bear witness of the Light, that all men through him might believe. He was not that Light, but was sent to bear witness of that Light. That was the true Light, which lighteth every man that cometh into the world. He was in the world, and the world was made by him, and the world knew him not” (John 1:1-10).

Earlier this year as we started our course of study on the New Testament, these verses quite certainly were considered. In your respective classes, who was given credit for initially referring to Jesus Christ as being “the Word” and in addition for bearing witness of His ante-mortal Godship? A thoughtful reading of the first chapter of the Gospel of John should cause the reader to question if much reported there was experienced firsthand by the writer, John the Apostle, the Beloved, the Revelator, himself. The cause for concern relates to the manner in which the Savior’s baptism is reported. For the writer of this gospel most certainly was not present for this event, yet his words make it appear as if he had been.

In the spirit of giving credit where credit is due, we ought to recognize that the symbolic representation of the Lord as being “the Word” was the creation of John the Baptist and not John, the author of the fourth Gospel. If we are aware that John apparently had access to the writings of John the Baptist, then the first chapter of John’s Gospel becomes quite understandable. The only hurdle in this line of reasoning concerns the existence of the Baptist’s writings.

In light of these issues, Section 93 of the Doctrine and Covenants is very instructive. This revelation was given to Joseph Smith in May 1833. After bearing witness of himself, the Lord told the Prophet that “John saw and bore record of the fulness of my glory, and the fulness of John’s record is hereafter to be revealed” (6). The Lord then quotes from the writings of John the Baptist in verses seven through seventeen. In verse eighteen, we are promised that if we are faithful we “shall receive the fulness of the record of John” at a later date. Given that we have the relevant writings of the Apostle John including his Gospel, three epistles, and the Book of Revelation, the record we await in the Lord’s good time given the subject matter He quoted therefrom is that of the Baptist.

The Lord considered the following verses important: “I saw his glory, that he was in the beginning, before the world was; Therefore, in the beginning the Word was, for he was the Word, even the messenger of salvation--The light and the Redeemer of the world; the Spirit of truth, who came into the world, because the world was made by him, and in him was the life of men and the light of men. The worlds were made by him; men were made by him; all things were made by him, and through him, and of him. . . .” (See verses 7-17). What was the Lord’s intended purpose in quoting the Baptist’s words?

In verse nineteen, we find the answer. Here, the Lord reaffirms a fundamental truth concerning the salvation of men. To the Prophet Joseph Smith He said, “I give unto you these sayings that you may understand and know how to worship, and know what you worship, that you may come unto the Father in my name, and in due time receive of his fulness.”

If we have any hope of obtaining eternal life, the life that Elohim’s lives, and thus one day to become as our parents in heaven are, we must know who it is that we worship, and we must know how we are to worship. If we are mistaken on these points, our worship will bring us to an unintended end. We have the Lord’s testimony on this point.

The Deprivations of Israel

Across the Church, we have just finished a year’s course of study on the Old Testament, but I sense some confusion exists among not just a few members as to the role of the priesthood and the nature of the temple ordinances as they existed in Israel in what we refer to as the dispensation of Moses. This comment should not be viewed as a criticism of those who taught that course of study but rather should be seen as a logical result of our tendency to often avoid what appear to be seemingly unnecessary details.

When Israel was invited to settle in Egypt at the time of Jacob and his twelve sons, the Melchizedek Priesthood was operational among the people. During their many years of captivity, they began to lose their grasp on the blessings of that priesthood through increasing disobedience to the Lord’s commandments. This was the state of things as Moses led the children of Israel out of Egypt and into the wilderness.

Now a series of verses in the Doctrine and Covenants, Section 84 become very relevant. Speaking of the Melchizedek Priesthood, the Lord reveals that “this greater priesthood administereth the gospel and holdeth the key of the mysteries of the kingdom, even the key of the knowledge of God. Therefore, in the ordinances thereof, the power of godliness is manifest. And without the ordinances thereof, and the authority of the priesthood, the power of godliness is not manifest unto men in the flesh; For without this no man can see the face of God, even the Father, and live” (19-22). In the next verse, we learn that Moses “plainly taught” this truth “to the children of Israel in the wilderness, and sought diligently to sanctify his people that they might behold the face of God” (23). Very clearly at that time, the Melchizedek Priesthood still had a presence among them.

However as we well understand, while Moses was on Mount Sinai receiving further instructions from the Lord concerning Israel’s future relative to the higher priesthood, the people with Aaron’s consent fashioned a golden calf and commenced to worship it. As a result of their unfaithfulness, the Melchizedek Priesthood began to recede from their midst until it was held only by the prophets in Israel until the coming of Christ’s ministry. “But they hardened their hearts and could not endure his presence; therefore, the Lord in his wrath, for his anger was kindled against them, swore that they should not enter into his rest while in the wilderness, which rest is the fulness of his glory. Therefore, he took Moses out of their midst, and the Holy Priesthood also; And the lesser priesthood continued, which priesthood holdeth the key of the ministering of angels and the preparatory gospel; Which gospel is the gospel of repentance and of baptism, and the remission of sins, and the law of carnal commandments, which the Lord in his wrath caused to continue with the house of Aaron among the children of Israel until John, whom God raised up, being filled with the Holy Ghost from his mother’s womb” (24-27).

Until Moses was translated, he alone held the keys necessary to administer Israel by means of the Melchizedek Priesthood even though Aaron had been ordained the High Priest in the Aaronic Priesthood and as such held the keys of that priesthood. The greater priesthood is always superior to the lesser one when the keys of presidency in the greater are present. However, with Moses out of their midst, the keys of presidency that Aaron held as the High Priest within the Aaronic Priesthood gave him the authority and the responsibility to administer in Israel. From that day until the time of Christ’s ministry upon the earth, the Melchizedek Priesthood would be manifest among the children of Israel residing in the lands of the East in the workings of the prophets only. However, they did not hold the keys of presidency in that ministry, and thus they were not able to establish a Melchizedek Priesthood organization within Israel. That is what the Lord meant when He said that Moses was taken “out of their midst, and the Holy Priesthood also” (25).

Under the auspices of the Aaronic Priesthood, Israel was truly deprived of the blessings which flow from the workings of the Melchizedek Priesthood. For many of those camped at the base of Mount Sinai, they would live long enough to sense their real loss having experienced something of both worlds. For by means of the carnal commandments they were now to follow and the carnal ordinances that were then administered in their behalf, salvation was not possible. They were in possession of only a preparatory gospel, not a gospel with the power to save. In their temples, the Holy Ghost had no role. The Light of Christ was the Spirit that ministered there. For dispensations of the Holy Ghost are possible only by those who hold the greater priesthood. Perhaps needless to say in light of this, the ordinances performed in their temples were not those required for consideration of eternal life. Israel was no longer in possession of even the basic saving ordinances, for God “swore that they should not enter into his rest while in the wilderness, which rest is the fulness of his glory” (24).

How different were the circumstances of those led away from Jerusalem by the Prophet Lehi. They were in possession of the greater priesthood and not the lesser. They taught and practiced the saving ordinances of baptism and confirmation whereby they had the right to be guided, inspired, and comforted by the Holy Ghost. They organized themselves and administered the Melchizedek Priesthood according to the revealed plan of their day namely, the patriarchal order. Apparently, they were in possession of the saving ordinances necessary for exaltation. If not, why did Jacob teach over four hundred years before the birth of the Savior the following: “O then, my beloved brethren, repent ye, and enter in at the strait gate, and continue in the way which is narrow, until ye shall obtain eternal life” (Jacob 6:11). The concept of and the requirements for eternal life were well known to the people of Nephi as is attested to by the many references to the same in the Book of Mormon.

Our False Gods

While reading Brother Hugh Nibley’s talk entitled, “One Eternal Round,” I came across the following passage: “The gulf between Adam’s golden age and our own becomes narrow at those times when the gospel is restored, but presently starts to broaden as the Saints begin to drift away toward the normal human condition. Nephi found this to be a law of nature. In ancient times, apostasy never came by renouncing the gospel but always by corrupting it. No one renounces it today, and so we have the strange paradox of people stoutly proclaiming beliefs and ideals that they have no intention of putting into practice” (Temple and Cosmos, 395). To illustrate this point, Brother Nibley enumerates eight “beliefs and ideals” that he suggests are being ignored in our day. One of these is that “a great and inspired bicentennial message by one we called our prophet was instantly swept under the rug” (Ibid., 396).

Naturally, this comment caught my attention, and I proceeded to the endnotes to determine the source of his concern. As soon as I read the title, I remembered having read the message but initially could remember none of its particulars: “The False Gods We Worship” by President Spencer W. Kimball, Ensign, June 1976. Hopefully, this writing will be sufficient motivation that others will review this message thoughtfully.

President Kimball reminds us that we are blessed to reside on this beautiful earth whereon there is much that is good and beautiful, and it naturally follows that the Lord “expects righteousness and obedience to his commandments in return.” This is no more than an illustration of the “general principle that where much is given, much is expected” (Luke 12:48). However, at the same time we should not attempt to ignore the great wickedness that is all around us. The Brethren now as with prophets since the days of Adam “constantly cry out against that which is intolerable in the sight of the Lord: against pollution of mind, body, and our surroundings; against vulgarity, stealing, lying, pride, and blasphemy; against fornication, adultery, homosexuality, and all other abuses of the sacred power to create; against murder and all that is like unto it; against all manner of desecration.” “That such a cry should be necessary among a people so blessed is amazing to me. And that such things should be found even among the Saints to some degree is scarcely believable.”

The root cause for the Saints in particular to fail in their pursuit of the things of God is “idolatry” according to President Kimball. “Sadly, we find that to be shown the way is not necessarily to walk in it, and many have not been able to continue in faith.” “Few men have ever knowingly and deliberately chosen to reject God and his blessings. Rather, we learn from the scriptures that because the exercise of faith has always appeared to be more difficult than relying on things more immediately at hand, carnal man has tended to transfer his trust in God to material things.”

Particularly in the United States, the Lord has blessed us with “unequalled” prosperity and expects that we will use these riches in order to accomplish our earthly mission. However, the reality is that “many people spend most of their time working in the service of a self-image that includes sufficient money, stocks, bonds, investments portfolios, property, credit cards, furnishings, automobiles, and the like to guarantee carnal security throughout, it is hoped, a long and happy life. Forgotten is the fact that our assignment is to use these many resources in our families and quorums to build up the kingdom of God.” The result is that many members refuse to accept callings in or make appropriate contributions to the building up of the Lord’s Kingdom because they are too busy gathering and/or enjoying the material things of this world.

But this is not all. “We are a warlike people, easily distracted from our assignment of preparing for the coming of the Lord. When enemies rise up, we commit vast resources to the fabrication of gods of stone and steel--ships, planes, missiles, fortifications--and depend on them for protection and deliverance. When threatened, we become antienemy instead of pro-kingdom of God; we train a man in the art of war and call him a patriot, thus, in the manner of Satan’s counterfeit of true patriotism, perverting the Savior’s teaching: ‘Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you, and persecute you’” (Matthew 5:44).

President Kimball concludes his message with this suggestion: “We believe that the way for each person and each family to prepare as the Lord has directed is to begin to exercise greater faith, to repent, and to enter into the work of his kingdom on earth, which is The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. It may seem a little difficult at first, but when a person begins to catch a vision of the true work, when he begins to see something of eternity in its true perspective, the blessings begin to far outweigh the cost of leaving ‘the world’ behind.”

A final thought comes from Brother Bruce Satterfield. Writing concerning the manner in which Peter, Andrew, James, and John immediately and completely gave up the means whereby they had earned their livelihoods and in some cases even their families in order to accept the Lord’s calling to serve Him, Brother Satterfield concludes: “The message of the calling of the disciples is that the cost of discipleship demands that we give up whatever is required by God and whatever holds us back from full dedication to the kingdom” (Bruce Satterfield, Supplementary materials for New Testament Lesson 4, “Prepare Ye the Way of the Lord”).