As I speak to you this afternoon, I invite you to consider the various contexts in which we use the phrase "being true and faithful" in our gospel experience. It is used in the scriptures. It is used in our sacred hymns, as we have just sung. For those of you who have been to the temple, you recognize that it has a place in the endowment.
Today I want to explore with you the doctrine of what it means to be true and faithful. After exploring that doctrine, I would like us to consider a practical approach to applying it in our lives - what can "we" do to be true and faithful? And, finally, I would like to review the promises that are ours if we are successful in our quest. Let's begin by reading in Revelations 19:11, 16.
"And I saw heaven opened, and behold a white horse; and he that sat upon him was called Faithful and True, and in righteousness he doth judge and make war.
And he hath on his vesture and on his thigh a name written, KING OF KINGS, AND LORD OF LORDS."[1]
Jesus Christ - King of Kings and Lord of Lords - then, is called true and faithful by John the Revelator. He is the embodiment or the exemplar of what it means to be true and faithful.
Now, let's consider the definition of the adjective "TRUE." There is an especially meaningful definition of this word "true" in the Greek dictionary, where it expresses the meaning of the word "alethinos." Please pay special attention to this definition:
"That which has not only the name and the resemblance, but the real nature - corresponding to the name in every respect, corresponding to the idea signified by the name."
As I read that definition, it seems to me that the person who wrote it could, perhaps, have been reading in the Book of Mormon, where Mosiah asks us about having the Savior's image engraven in our countenance? We will revisit this definition several times this afternoon.
As the background for this doctrinal discussion, let us travel back together in our minds' eye to the pre-existence - to a time when Heavenly Father asked: "Whom shall I send?" As spirit children of celestial parents, we had come to the point at which we had to anticipate a period of mortal separation from our Heavenly Parents and from our lives as they had been in their presence. We were excited for the opportunity to experience mortality and we shouted for joy when it was explained to us.
To Heavenly Father's question, "Whom shall I send?" two diametrically opposite plans were proposed. One was a plan of compulsion and the other was a plan based on the principles of agency and personal choice. It was at that moment when there began to be "opposition" in all things - good and evil, light and darkness, truth and lies, joy and sorrow, pleasure and pain. It is true that we had agency, but until that moment, there had never been "opposition" - not until Lucifer chose to openly oppose Christ and his plan. And, from the moment in which God made the decision to send His beloved son, Jesus Christ, to be our Savior and Redeemer, rejecting Lucifer's plan of compulsion and self glorification, the following sequence of events began to unfold for the rest of us:
1 -
We learned that Jesus Christ, has never done anything that He has not already seen His Father do. In John 5:19, we read:
"Then answered Jesus and said unto them, Verily, verily, I say unto you, The Son can do nothing of Himself, but what He seeth the Father do: for what things soever He (the Father) doeth, these also doeth the Son likewise."[2]
Jesus, who is True and Faithful, defers to His Father and gives Him all glory and honor for everything that He does. He willingly submits to the will of His Father.
"And the Father and I are one. I am in the Father and the Father in me; and inasmuch as ye have received me, ye are in me and I in you."[3]
In this verse, we learn that there is a three-way, symbiotic relationship in which God the Father, Jesus Christ, and we are all interconnected through the gospel plan, through our spiritual DNA, and through our divine potential. This is in part what it means when the scriptures tell us that we have the capacity to become joint heirs with Christ to "all that the Father hath." It also applies to the scriptural declaration by God that his work and his glory are to bring to pass our immortality and our eternal life, which is to say that he strives to help us live the life that he now lives.
Having focused first on the meaning of "true," we can begin to understand what it means to be faithful when we read in Section 93 of the Doctrine and Covenants, verses 19 and 20:
"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. For if you keep my commandments you shall receive of his fulness, and be glorified in me as I am in the Father; therefore, I say unto you, you shall receive grace for grace." [4]
2 -
Another truth that we learned in the pre-existence was that, when our brothers and sisters - fully one third of them - exercised their agency poorly and rebelled against Christ's Plan of Happiness - in making that choice, they lost the opportunity to ever gain a body, to progress any further, and they, with Satan, were cast out of heaven. In that act of rebellion, they became the instruments through which we are tempted and tried while here on the earth. They are our opposition. Their purpose is to spread darkness, lies, infidelity, fear and persecution. And they are happiest when they can thwart or frustrate anything related to Jesus' plan of happiness.
You and I participated actively in the war caused by Satan's rebellion. By doing that, we "kept our first estate" and it was then that, for the first time, we took upon ourselves the name of Jesus Christ. In that war, the sides were clearly identified and we experienced what it means to have "opposition in all things." Our standard or banner was one of truth, light, faithfulness, humility and doing the will of our Heavenly Father. The captain of our host was Jesus Christ - whose name is "True and Faithful," as we read in the Book of Revelations. Remember how John the Revelator described him as riding on a white horse and waging war?
The standard or banner of the opposition was - and still is - one of lies, darkness, infidelity, pride, sin, and selfishness. We learn that Satan - their captain - is the "father of all lies;"[5] that he loves darkness and is an enemy to the light. In Section 82 of the Doctrine and Covenants, verse 5, we read:
"Watch, for the adversary spreadeth his dominions, and darkness reigneth."[6]
In 3 Nephi 27:27 the Savior poses this question, which pertains to the expectations that he has for each of us during mortality:
"Therefore, what manner of men (and women) ought ye to be? Verily, I say unto you, even as I am."[7]
This admonition, to become "like" the Savior, is not a metaphor. It is the pattern by which we measure the success of our efforts in this, our second estate. Satan would have you believe that it is not something to be taken literally - because if he can convince you that Jesus Christ is just too perfect; if he can convince you that you can never become that good; if he can convince you that, for you, "close enough is good enough," he can cause you to lower your standards and to accept something less than the Savior would have you be. Do not fall for this deception!
3 -
In the pre-existence, when we took upon ourselves for the first time the name of Jesus Christ, we learned that our central mission in mortality would be twofold - first, to take upon ourselves the name of Jesus Christ again here in mortality and, second, to acquire His attributes as we prepare to become joint heirs with him to all that the Father hath.
In the 88th section of the Doctrine & Covenants, verses 6 and 11, we read:
"He (Jesus Christ) that ascended up on high, as also he descended below all things, in that he comprehendeth all things, that he might be in all and through all things, the light of truth; And the light which shineth, which giveth you light, is through him who enlighteneth your eyes, which is the same light that quickeneth your understandings;"[8]
Have you noticed how often the attributes of light and truth appear together in the scriptures?
"I am the way, the truth, and the life."[9]
"And behold, I am the light and the life of the world."[10]
Light and truth are inseparable. Actually, light and truth are synonymous. They are fundamental elements that are always in balance - especially as they reflect the divine attributes of Jesus Christ.
My wife, Joyce, is a master gardener. She loves plants and her gardens are places of beauty. Those of you who know her know that she loves beautiful flowers and fruits and vegetables. Each year, in the fall, she carefully brings inside the house a selection of flowers that she protects and nourishes through the winter so that they can be propagated into next year's foundation plantings.
Last winter she brought several large geraniums inside to care for them. We placed one of these plants by our patio door, where it could receive as much light as possible. Within just a few hours, the leaves of this geranium began to turn toward the light. Over the course of the winter months, the side of the plant that received more light grew lush and healthy, while the side that faced away from the light did not thrive nearly as well. Scripturally, you might say that it did not "abound."
Why? Remember in Doctrine and Covenants 88:13? Christ is the light that is in all things, which giveth life to all things.
You and I are just like that geranium. We seek the light because it gives us life. We turn to it and are "quickened" by it. To "be quickened" means that we thrive and grow in its presence. It was important for us to regularly turn the geranium so that the entire plant thrived and was quickened by the light. Might I suggest that, in our own self-evaluations, we consider what areas of our lives need more light and seek diligently through repentance, study, prayer and spiritual activity to gain the light that we need to abound.
Again, I caution you: do not be deceived by the adversary. This light is not a metaphor. It is real. To the extent that you and I embrace the light - which light proceedeth forth from the presence of God - and are warmed by its rays, two things happen to us. First, we take in light ourselves and become more like Jesus Christ, and, second, we have our intelligence "quickened." "And the light which shineth, which giveth you light, is through him who enlighteneth your eyes, which is the same light that quickeneth your understandings." To have your "understanding quickened by the light of Christ" is one of the reasons why your choice to attend BYU-Idaho was so important. The Lord's university is a place from which light emanates because his spirit is here. You are here to take in as much light and truth as you possibly can. Light and truth abound here, if you are open to them.
Five years ago, Elder James E. Faust told the following story: "I recently recalled a historic meeting in Jerusalem about 17 years ago. (Which would have been in 1988.) It was regarding the lease for the land on which the Brigham Young University's Jerusalem Center for Near Eastern Studies was later built. Before this lease could be signed, President Ezra Taft Benson and Elder Jeffrey R. Holland, then president of Brigham Young University, agreed with the Israeli government on behalf of the Church and the university not to proselyte in Israel. You might wonder why we agreed not to proselyte. We were required to do so in order to get the building permit to build that magnificent building which stands in the historic city of Jerusalem. To our knowledge the Church and BYU have scrupulously and honorably kept that nonproselyting commitment. After the lease had been signed, one of our friends (I believe that it was Teddy Kolleck, Mayor of Jerusalem) insightfully remarked, 'Oh, we know that you are not going to proselyte, but what are you going to do about the light that is in their eyes?' He was referring to our students who were studying in Israel."[11]
Look closely at one another. If you could see what your bishops see, or your stake presidents see, or what anyone who holds the keys of ecclesiastical stewardship sees, you too would discern the light of Christ that is growing within you through the Holy Ghost. As members of the Church, we have been given the special gift of the Holy Ghost to help us to both discern and accumulate light. People who are not members of the Church can discern the light within you, as did this friend of the Church in Jersualem - even though they may not be able to correctly identify its source or its meaning. It is real. It is something to be sought after diligently. When you have it, or begin to have it, it is something to cherish and to protect with all of your soul.
Paul Harvey, a famous news commentator, visited one of our Church school campuses some years ago. Following that visit, he observed:
"Each ... young face mirrored a sort of ... sublime assurance. These days many young eyes are prematurely old from countless compromises with conscience. But [these young people] have that enviable headstart which derives from discipline, dedication, and consecration." [12]
To be faithful, then, is to be obedient and diligent in keeping the commandments of God. Consider that the word "faithful" means "full of faith." Elder Bruce R. MConkie, in Mormon Doctrine, teaches us that:
"Faith is a gift of God, bestowed as a reward for personal righteousness. It is always given when righteousness is present, and the greater the measure of obedience (that we demonstrate) to God's laws, the greater will be the endowment of faith (that is bestowed.)"[13]
So, let us briefly review the points of the doctrine of being true and faithful:
- Jesus Christ is known by the name "True and Faithful."
- He is the exemplar of what it means to be true and faithful.
- Part of the Plan of Happiness for you and for me is that we are commanded to become "even as He is."
- That commandment is not symbolic or metaphorical. It is a very real expectation and a very realistic possibility as we progress.
- The War in Heaven was a direct result of opposition that originated with Lucifer or Satan. Opposition in all things came about because of his rebellion.
- Light and truth are synonyms. Christ is the epitome of light and truth.
- At the opposite end of the spectrum, Satan is the prince of darkness, lies and infidelity
- As we seek to become like the Savior, we receive light and truth and those two attributes have the capacity to grow in us until we are full of light and truth. They even remain with us through the veil.
One of the problems that we face as we work out our salvation and seek to become more like the Savior is the tendency to view our mortal probationary period as somehow disconnected from the rest of eternity. In that regard, President Brigham Young provides the following counsel:
"There is no life more precious than the present life which we enjoy; there is no life that is worth any more to us than this life is. It may be said that an eternal life is worth more. We are in eternity, and all that we have to do is to take the road that lead into the eternal lives. Eternal life is an inherent quality of the creature, and nothing but sin can put a termination to it."[14]
In this life, then, we learn and grow, line upon line and precept upon precept.
Lest we become discouraged with the size and difficulty of becoming like Christ, He knew that in our "becoming" we would sometimes - perhaps even "often" fall short and make a mistake. He knew that would happen, so he provided prayer as a means for us to reconnect with him and seek his help. He provided repentance as a means of making mid-course corrections, and he provided the Holy Ghost as a constant guide and companion to coach and advise us along the way.
In a devotional address in 2002, Brother Dennis L. Largey, Associate Professor of Ancient Scripture at BYU, explained the relationship between faithfulness and obedience:
"When light is diminished in our lives, motivation toward spiritual things also diminishes to one degree or another. We are less exact in our commandment keeping and less dedicated to activities such as home teaching, Church attendance, temple attendance, scripture reading, and prayer--the very things that intensify light in our lives. With insufficient light we are more susceptible to temptation, and like a plant without the nourishment of the light of the sun, without the nourishment of the light of the Son of God, we can also weaken and shrivel and eventually die spiritually."[15]
Many of you have that same light in your countenances. Having it is a living testimony that you are worthy and that you are taking in truth and light and becoming like the Savior. You might say that you are becoming like him "line upon line" and "lumen upon lumen."
I would like to focus this afternoon on two gospel principles adherence to which will increase our capacity to be true and faithful.
The first is being submissive.
King Mosiah taught:
"For the natural man is an enemy to God, and has been from the fall of Adam, and will be, forever and ever, unless he yields to the enticings of the Holy Spirit, and putteth off the natural man and becometh a saint through the atonement of Christ the Lord, and becometh as a child, submissive, meek, humble, patient, full of love, willing to submit to all things which the Lord seeth fit to inflict upon him, even as a child doth submit to his father." [16]
To illustrate this principle, let me share with you the words of President Henry B. Eyring on this subject from April Conference 2006:" Like you, I have felt what King Benjamin meant when he said that we could become like a little child before God. I have prayed, as you have, to know what to do when choices that I faced would have eternal consequences. Over many years I have seen a recurring pattern in the times when the answers to such a prayer have come most clearly.
Once, for instance, I prayed through the night to know what I was to choose to do in the morning. I knew that no other choice could have had a greater effect on the lives of others and on my own. I knew what choice looked most comfortable to me. I knew what outcome I wanted. But I could not see the future. I could not see which choice would lead to which outcome. So the risk of being wrong seemed too great to me.
I prayed, but for hours there seemed to be no answer. Just before dawn, a feeling came over me. More than at any time since I had been a child, I felt like one. My heart and my mind seemed to grow very quiet. There was a peace in that inner stillness.
Somewhat to my surprise, I found myself praying, "Heavenly Father, it doesn't matter what I want. I don't care anymore what I want. I only want that Thy will be done. That is all that I want. Please tell me what to do."
In that moment I felt as quiet inside as I had ever felt. And the message came, and I was sure who it was from. It was clear what I was to do. I received no promise of the outcome. There was only the assurance that I was a child who had been told what path led to whatever He wanted for me.
I learned from that experience and countless repetitions that the description of the Holy Ghost as a still, small voice is real....Only when my heart has been still and quiet, in submission like a little child, has the Spirit been clearly audible to my heart and mind."[17] Christ taught: Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth. When we talk about being joint heirs with Christ and inheriting "all that the Father hath," we should remember that what we are inheriting is the Celestial Kingdom, or the life that our Heavenly Father now has. This earth, once it is celestialized, is our destiny. It is our Celestial Kingdom.
The second principle is being exact in our commandment keeping.
President Clark, in a devotional address given from this pulpit in January 2006, taught us that we must be diligent in the small things. He said at that time:
"I would like to talk today about principles that are central to the special character of BYU-Idaho, and central to your lives now, and to the glorious future that awaits you. These principles are laid out in a beautiful and powerful way in the 64th section of the Doctrine and Covenants. Let's turn to that section and read together verses 33 and 34:
'Wherefore, be not weary in well-doing, for ye are laying the foundation of a great work. And out of small things proceedeth that which is great. Behold, the Lord requireth the heart and a willing mind; and the willing and obedient shall eat the good of the land of Zion in these last days.'"[18]
So, let's translate these principles and President Clark's counsel into an introspective plan of action that will lead us to greater faithfulness and the accumulation of more personal light and truth.
Consider, for instance the Honor Code that we have each committed to obey. The Honor Code is a minimum standard - a baseline, if you will. President Clark has asked us to raise the bar and to have our personal comportment here be at a higher level than the Honor Code. Please answer these questions for yourself:
- Do I obey the Honor Code cheerfully, or do I grumble and complain about its particulars?
- Do I honorably uphold the commitment that I made to my bishop when he endorsed me to attend BYU-Idaho?
- Am I obedient to the spirit of modesty and grooming that are integral to the Honor Code?
- Brethren, did you shave today? Do you shave every day?
- Do I willingly obey the spirit of the curfew?
- Do I attend my Church meetings? All of them? Am I on time?
- How is the spirit in my apartment? Do I treat my roommates with respect and dignity? Is there anyone in my apartment who gets treated less respectfully? Is there ever a spirit of contention there?
- Am I a diligent and faithful home teacher or visiting teacher?
- Do I have a calling in my ward? Do I fulfill that calling faithfully?
- How often am I AWOL from my campus ward on Sundays?
- Does my language reflect the level of light and truth that I desire to have?
- Do I ever take food that doesn't belong to me?
- Am I irritated when someone preaches to me about the Honor Code?
- Do I willingly keep the Sabbath day holy?
- Do I have a current temple recommend and do I worship there often?
- Do I attend devotional services?
- Am I quick to repent when I have fallen short in my commandment keeping, or do I seek to rationalize, minimize and blame others?
- Do I savor the opportunity to partake of the sacrament each week and to renew my covenants with Heavenly Father?
- Do I seek to stand in holy places?
To illustrate the principle of faithfulness, I would like to tell you about an experience that our family had with my mother when she was in the hospital just before she died. Mother was 92 years old and had lived a long and faithful life. She and we knew that she would not be healed this time and we were preparing together for her passing. Her calling in the Church had, for several years, been as a visiting teaching supervisor. She expressed concern to us that she had not called all of her visiting teachers yet that month so that she could make her report on time. She asked for our help in making that happen. And later that afternoon, just before she died, she looked at us and asked: "Do you think I've done enough?" - meaning, "is it okay for me to go now?" I cherish my mother's example of faithful service right to the end of her life. Never give up. Serve the Lord for as long as you can.
As we consider the two companion principles of becoming submissive and of being more exact in our commandment keeping, they are sufficient to help us decipher the "set of our hearts." Isn't that an interesting phrase? "The set of our hearts." Elder Neal A. Maxwell described "the set of our hearts" in slightly different words. He called it "Turning away from the world and toward God, toward home... and it represents the first tentative steps, as Peter explains in 1 Corinthians 2:16, in the process of beginning to develop "the mind of Christ."[19]
This process of developing the mind of Christ, means the same thing as Mosiah's admonition that we "receive his image in our countenances." As we turn away from darkness and embrace the light, we literally "develop the mind of Christ" and begin to receive his image in our countenances.
On the screen is a picture of the Argus C3 Camera that I took with me on my mission to Brazil. It was big and bulky and not automated in any way. I had to buy 35-mm film for it and protect that film from exposure to the light and moisture.
I also took with me a light meter, without which my exposures would have beenonly guesses - and my mission photos would have been chronically over-exposed or under-exposed. I would aim this light meter at the subject of my intended photo and it would tell me how much light was emanating from my subject and how far to open or close my lens for a good photograph. Of course, much has changed for the better since that time and you now have fully automatic digital cameras that are almost always focused correctly and adjusted perfectly to the light. They don't require film and they focus automatically. Even our cell phones often have photographic capabilities.
There is a true principle that we can learn from this light meter. It is that, when we finish our second estate and have accumulated all of the light and truth that we possibly can; when we are "finished," I believe that the process of being judged in the final judgment will be one of measuring the level of our accumulated light and assigning us to a kingdom with which we and our light and truth are compatible.
And, like the camera, as we become more exact in our commandment keeping and more submissive to the will of our Father, our ability to perceive the light and to seek it and make it a part of us through the Holy Ghost is enhanced. In a very real sense, our systems - like those of the camera over time - are becoming better, more refined, more exact. We are better instruments in the hands of a loving Heavenly Father.
"And that which doth not edify is not of God, and is darkness. That which is of God is light; and he that receiveth light and continueth in God, receiveth more light; and that light growth brighter and brighter until the perfect day. And again, verily I say unto you, and I say it that you may know the truth, that you may chase darkness from among you;"[20]
In closing, I would like to read to you from the words of Elder B.H. Roberts, one of the early apostles in this dispensation. He expressed this process of becoming true and faithful in these words:
"The man who so walks in the light and wisdom and power of God, will at the last, by the very force of association, make the light and wisdom and power of God his own - weaving those bright rays into a (divine) chain, linking himself forever to God and God to him. This is the sum of the Messiah's mystic words, 'Thou father, in me, and I in thee' - beyond this, human greatness cannot achieve."[21]
I bear witness that Jesus is the Christ. With Heavenly Father, He is the author of the great Plan of Happiness. Part of that plan is for each of us to seek his divine attributes. We can accomplish this during this lifetime, if we, like him, are true and faithful. You have divine potential. You can become a joint heir with Christ to everything that Heavenly Father has and is. I promise you that as you seek to be humble and to be more exact in keeping the commandments, you will accumulate light and truth. Of this I bear testimony in the name of Jesus Christ, amen.
Notes
[1] Revelations 19:11, 16
[2] John 5:19
[3] Doctrine and Covenants 50:43
[4] Doctrine and Covenants 93:19-20
[5] 2 Nephi 2:18
[6] Doctrine and Covenants 82:5
[7] 3 Nephi 27:27
[8] Doctrine and Covenants 88:6, 11
[9] John 14:6
[10] 3 Nephi 11:10-11
[11] James E. Faust, "The Light in Their Eyes," Liahona, Nov.
2005, 20-23
[12] From James E. Faust, "The Light in Their Eyes," Liahona, Nov. 2005, 20-23
[13] Bruce R. McConkie, Mormon Doctrine, p. 264
[14] Brigham Young, Journal of Discourses, Vol. 10, 22
[15] Dennis L. Largey, "The Armour of Light," BYU Devotional, Feb. 2002
[16] Mosiah 3:19
[17] Henry B. Eyring, "As a Child," Ensign, May 2006, 14-17
[18] Kim B. Clark, "Out of Small Things Proceedeth That Which is Great," BYU-Idaho Devotional, Jan. 2006
[19] Neal A. Maxwell, "Becoming a Disciple," Ensign, Jun
1996, 12
[20] Doctrine and Covenants 50:23-25
[21] B.H. Roberts, "Brigham Young - A Character Sketch," Improvement Era, June 1903, 574