Hey there, I'm Sister Stevenson. I've been on my mission here in
Florida for about 8 months, serving in this area for about 2. And today I'm
going to talk about the Gospel of Jesus Christ. So as missionaries there are
three main lessons that we teach: The Restoration, the Plan of Salvation, and
the Gospel of Jesus Christ. The what, the why, and the how of the gospel.
The Restoration is what makes us different. What we have, which
is the Priesthood, the Book of Mormon, the same exact organization that Christ
established in His ministry on the earth.
The Plan of Salvation is why we're here and why this message is
relevant at all. We know where we came from and where we want to go, which is
why we invite all to listen and learn.
So the Gospel of Jesus Christ is how we accomplish that. And
it's laid out pretty simply in the fourth Article of Faith. "We believe
that the first principles and ordinances of the Gospel are: first, Faith in the
Lord Jesus Christ; second, Repentance; third, Baptism by immersion for the
remission of sins; fourth, Laying on of hands for the gift of the Holy
Ghost."
First, when we teach this, though, we emphasize Christ. He is or
He should be the center of literally everything. Everything we teach, everything
we do, everything we are. It is because of Christ that any of these things even
matter. 2 Nephi 9 is an amazing chapter in the Book of Mormon that outlines how
awesome and necessary the Atonement of Jesus Christ is, and I'd love to read
the entire thing, but I'll just read some from it.
"Wherefore, it must needs be an infinite atonement--save it
should be an infinite atonement this corruption could not put on incorruption.
Wherefore, the first judgement which came upon man [or, the fall which
separated us from God] must needs have remained to an endless duration.
...
"O the wisdom of God, his mercy and grace! For behold, if
the flesh should rise no more our spirits must become subject to that angel who
fell from before the presence of the Eternal God, and became the devil, to rise
no more.
"And our spirits must have become like unto him, and we
become devils, angels to a devil, to be shut out from the presence of our God,
and to remain with the father of lies, in misery, like unto himself" (2 Nephi 9:7-9).
Terrifying. I love these verses though, because they highlight
the incredible contrast of the love and sacrifice of Christ for us. Verses21-22 state:
"And he cometh into the world that he may save all men if
they will hearken unto his voice; for behold, he suffered the pains of every
living creature, both men, women, and children, who belong to the family of
Adam.
"And he suffered this that the resurrection might pass upon
all men, that all might stand before him at the great and judgement day."
"The righteous, the saints of the Holy One of Israel, they
who have believed in the Holy One of Israel, they who have endured the crosses
of the world and despised the shame of it, they shall inherit the kingdom of
God, which was prepared for them from the foundation of the world, and their
joy shall be full forever."
So we have this amazing redemptive power that's offered to us
through Jesus Christ. But how do we access that? How do we make sure that we're
on the path that leads us to that mercy and grace talked about, and use the
Atonement in our own lives? That's what the Gospel of Jesus Christ is for.
That's why it's the how.
First, those scriptures talked about hearkening unto the voice
of the Savior, or believing in Him. So that first step, that first principle, is
faith in the Lord Jesus Christ.
On the most basic level, faith is belief. Believing in Christ,
believing that He is your Savior, trusting that those things are a fact.
Alma 32:21 says, "And now as I said concerning faith--faith
is not to have a perfect knowledge of things; therefore if ye have faith ye
hope for things which are not seen, which are true."
We also like to talk a lot about faith being an action word.
That we have to do something to make our faith alive and make it more than a
passive belief. Quite literally, faith is like a muscle that needs to be
exercised. And sometimes when you exercise physically, it hurts, and it's hard,
and you're left feeling sore. But it makes you stronger the next time. The same
with faith. Sometimes trusting in the Lord and His promises through our lives
and our trials is hard, and it hurts. But we're promised that that pain will be
taken away, and we'll be made stronger.
Faith is kind of like having an
exercise buddy to motivate you and help you accomplish your goals. Except your
exercise buddy is Jesus. And He's the best. And you know He wants to help you
be as strong as you possibly can be. That metaphor kind of got off track but you
get the idea.
So that faith leads us to want to access those blessings, to
want to come closer to our Savior and Father in Heaven. And that's repentance.
Everything that brings us closer to God is us repenting. We've had some
missionary meetings recently where the root words for the word repentance were
discussed. The Latin is like a negative thing. Penitence, punishment. The Greek
word is more like a change in yourself. The original Hebrew word means to turn
back. That's what repentance is, is turning back to God. Aligning our wills
with His, and trying our best to correct any things that would keep our course
from pointing straight to Him.
"By this ye may know if a man repenteth of his
sins--behold, he will confess them and forsake them."
My faaaavorite line in Preach My Gospel about repentance reads,
"Repentance includes forming a fresh view of God, ourselves, and the
world."
So repentance is just this amazing thing that shows us how
incredibly merciful God is, and also allows us to move on, forgive ourselves,
and become more.
Faith and repentance prepare us for the first ordinance of the
gospel, the covenant of baptism. Covenants are two-way contracts, and in gospel
terms, they're sacred promises between God and man. We promise to do things
that Heavenly Father has asked of us, and He promises blessings in return. He
wants so bad to give us those blessings, but our getting them is entirely
conditional on our choosing to follow the terms He has set.
"...and now, as ye are desirous to come into the fold of
God, and to be called his people, and are willing to bear one another's
burdens, that they may be light;
"Yea, and are willing to mourn with those that mourn; yea,
and comfort those that stand in need of comfort, and to stand as witnesses of
God at all times and in all things, and in all places that ye may be in, even
until death, that ye may be numbered with those of the first resurrection, that
ye may have eternal life—
"Now I say unto you, if this be the desire of your hearts,
what have you against being baptized in the name of the Lord, as a witness
before him that ye have entered into a covenant with him, that ye will serve
him and keep his commandments, that he may pour out his Spirit more abundantly
upon you?"
So we promise to take Christ's name upon us and stand as a
witness of Him always, to support our fellow men, to keep the commandments... And we
are promised an abundance of the Spirit. Also that we will be made entirely
clean; all mistakes or sins are washed away completely. And we get to renew
that commitment every week as we take the Sacrament, and receive again those
promised blessings from God, and we're told that we will "always have his
Spirit to be with [us]."
Which is so cool. After we're baptized by water, we get what the
scriptures call a baptism by fire, or of the Spirit. (I have a great visual for
this if any of y'all want to see it after church sometime.) In other words, the
gift of the Holy Ghost. We get one of the coolest gifts God could ever give us.
A constant guide and friend and help.
We can definitely feel the Spirit before this, which is how we
gain faith and desire to repent and be baptized in the first place. But this is
that promise of having it "more abundantly". As long as
we're living righteously we can have the Holy Ghost with us all the time. I think sometimes
we forget just how cool that is.
Moroni's promise at the end of the Book of Mormon is among the
most used scriptures by missionaries. Moroni 10:5 reads, "And by the power
of the Holy Ghost ye may know the truth of all things."
All. Things. The Holy Ghost can testify of the truth of
literally anything to us. He also warns us, directs us, and comforts us, which
is pretty important for this last piece of the Gospel of Jesus Christ, which
isn't mentioned in the fourth Article of Faith:
Enduring to the end. I have a rough time with this one
sometimes, since this is the step that I'll be stuck on indefinitely. Sometimes
I think of enduring as simply dragging along to the finish line. That's 100%
not what it is. I came across a quote from Elder Kevin W. Pearson of the
Seventy in the April 2015 General Conference:
"Enduring to the end is a hallmark of true discipleship and
is essential to eternal life. But when trials and challenges come our way, we
are often told to simply “hang in there.” Let me be clear: to “hang in there”
is not a principle of the gospel. Enduring to the end means constantly coming
unto Christ and being perfected in Him."
In simple terms, enduring to the end is just repeating those
previous steps. Developing and exercising faith, repenting, taking the
Sacrament to renew the covenants made at baptism, and following the guidance we
have from the Holy Ghost. It's faithfully following and consistently learning,
changing, and growing.
I can testify of this pattern of the gospel. That as we
continually exercise our faith, unto repentance, keep and renew our covenants,
and seek for the direction of the Holy Ghost, we will be given power and
strength to faithfully endure to the end. I have seen that power in my own
life. It's been an amazing gift to me, and it can and will change the life of
anyone who chooses to follow the gospel and allow it into their life. I can
testify of the love our Heavenly Father and our Savior Jesus Christ have for
each and every one of you individually. I feel that love for God's children
work through me daily as I try to teach people this soul-changing pattern of
living. They love you so much. They want to help you. And They will, as you keep
your covenants with them and continually seek to draw closer to Them. You will
feel of that power and that love.
In the name of Jesus Christ, amen.
