King Solomon, during a time of stress, sought from the Lord an “understanding heart”. His request pleased the Lord. I Kings 3:9. I would ask that you would join me today in seeking the Spirit of the Lord that each of us might have an understanding heart as we discuss sacred matters. Clearly that extends beyond having an understanding mind.
A tender letter came to me while I was serving in the Salt Lake Temple. It was from a young man not many years older than most of you here today. He was in a foreign prison. He indicated he could be there for a long time. His purpose in writing was to ask that his name be included in the prayers of the temple. At the end of his letter, at what seemed almost an after thought, he asked, “How did I lose my way?”
I don’t know the answer as to how this particular young man lost his way–exactly when or where he drifted from the path to happiness, but now in his sorrow, he recognizes his great loss.
This path to happiness–which the scriptures call: "the plan of happiness,"[1] "the plan of redemption,"[2] "the plan of salvation,"[3] "the plan of mercy,"[4] "the great plan of the Eternal God,"[5] and "the merciful plan of the great Creator."[6]
Each name emphasizes one aspect or another of the plan. In reality there is only one plan called by many names through which God means to bring to pass the immortality and eternal life of man.
Listen to the Lord’s words to Moses:
"And worlds without number have I created; and I also created them for mine own purpose; and by the Son I created them, which is mine Only Begotten” (Moses 1:33).
Note the Lord's words:
"I created them for mine own purpose."
He explained a few verses later what His purpose was:
"For behold, this is my work and my glory--to bring to pass the immortality and eternal life of man."[7]
You are the reason he created worlds without number–you and a multitude of others. The fact that many are included does not diminish the glory that awaits each one who obtains immortality and eternal life. The Lord Jesus Christ accepted and adopted and put into force the Father’s plan which was laid out to accomplish His purposes.
As the Father of us all created this earth to bring us eternal life, He most certainly outlined a plan for us to accomplish the very purpose of His creation.
Consider for a moment the importance of having a plan. Think of an airplane leaving the airport with the complete journey mapped out. The pilots and crew know where they are going, and they won't get off course and fail to reach their destination once in 50,000 times unless weather or mechanical troubles interfere.
Now, imagine another airplane with a captain and crew but no flight plan. The engines are started, and the plane moves down the runway. As it begins to climb, the crew doesn't know whether to turn east or to turn west. If you are on that airplane, you will have almost no chance of arriving at your destination. It is clear to each of us that an airplane crew needs a flight plan. Isn’t your future both here in mortality and beyond the veil of death more important than a trip on an airplane? Your Father has given you a plan. I might add it is also clear that when a flight plan is ignored it is as if there was no flight plan at all.
What is the Lord’s plan? There are some basic parts of the plan that we ought to carefully study and ponder. Among them are:
- The premortal existence. You did not spring into existence when you were born into mortality.
- Agency
- The war in heaven.
- The creation of the earth.
- The fall of Adam and Eve.
- The senior of them all--The Atoning sacrifice of the Lord Jesus Christ.
- The priesthood and the keys thereof.
- Life beyond this mortal existence including a day of judgment.
The Lord tries to help us understand the plan first, and when we do, we can then understand more clearly the ordinances, the covenants and the commandments. We are first taught in the temple about the creation of the earth and its purposes, then we make sacred covenants with the Lord.
Alma taught this principle when he said:
"Therefore God gave unto them commandments, after having made known unto them the plan of redemption, that they should not do evil, the penalty thereof being a second death, which was an everlasting death as to things pertaining unto righteousness; for on such the plan of redemption could have no power, for the works of justice could not be destroyed, according to the supreme goodness of God."[8]
Commandments are best understood after one knows something about the plan. The Lord has given us instructions and commandments to help us fulfill the destiny which He envisions for us.
When you are confused or distressed about the revelations from the Lord, ponder His plan of happiness. When the covenants of the Lord which you have taken seem restrictive or old fashioned, prayerfully ponder the Lord’s plan. When the living prophets give counsel which you find contrary to your desires or your opinions, prayerfully ponder the Lord’s plan. When your course of action is inappropriate and the commandments conflict with your wants, stop! Before you proceed, pray and ponder the merciful plan of the great Creator. Doing so will help keep you anchored against the winds of wickedness. Such action by my young imprisoned friend would very likely have caused him to take a different course.
Temptations divert us
Just a few weeks ago the Deseret Morning News Church section had an editorial which said:
“This is an amazing age. Prophets in previous dispensations, privileged to peer into it, described it variously as both magnificent, and unprecedented in its wickedness. The Savior described it by comparing it to another age of wickedness. ‘But as the days of Noah were, so shall also the coming of the Son of man be’ (Matthew 24:37).”[9]
What were the days of Noah like? The book of Genesis lists two major and tragic accusations.
First: “And God saw that the wickedness of man had become great in the earth; and every man was lifted up in the imagination of the thoughts of his heart; being only evil continually.”[10]
And the second: “The earth also was corrupt before God; and the earth was filled with violence.”[11]
Is it not true that much of our public communication today shows that the thoughts of many are evil continually? Surely the level of violence in the earth is shocking and continues to increase.
Where do you find false and destructive concepts and principles? Where do you find temptations to commit evil acts?
Everywhere, including printed material of all kinds, television, the internet, videos, music, even misguided friends– I do not need to list them; you are not children–you know when material is going into your mind that is destructive. You know when a sense of darkness comes over you while reading and watching and thinking of inappropriate matters. I warn you that time will prove to you that evil thoughts are more permanent and more destructive than you now likely realize.
These evils–both blatant and subtle–surround us and tempt us to divert from our Father’s plan of true and everlasting happiness. By contrast, Satan’s plan is a deceitful mirage pretending to bring happiness–offering temporary fun and popularity.
President Spencer W. Kimball warned:
“Whoever said that sin was not fun? Whoever claimed Lucifer was not handsome, persuasive, easy, friendly? Whoever said that sin was unattractive, undesirable, or nauseating in its acceptance?
“Transgression wears elegant gowns and sparkling apparel. It is highly perfumed, has attractive features, a soft voice. It is found in educated circles and sophisticated groups. It provides sweet and comfortable luxuries. Sin is easy and has a big company of bed fellows. It promises immunity from restrictions, [and gives] temporary freedoms. It can momentarily satisfy hunger, thirst, desire, urges, passions, wants, without immediately paying the price. But, it begins tiny and grows to monumental proportions. It grows drop by drop, inch by inch.”[12]
Pursuing the vain things of the world, pride, unchastity, misunderstanding gender roles, greed, and a disregard for the sacredness of human life are just a few of the imprisoning obstacles to obtaining life with our Heavenly Father. His plan allows for repentance, but it does not allow for the acceptance and perpetuation of self-destructive behavior.
Permit me to raise a warning voice about another potential path to evil. Do not accept the philosophies of men about spiritual matters. Let the standard of judgment always be the scriptures and the words of the living prophets. This standard will not fail you.
Many who design the philosophies of men know little or nothing of the purposes of God. Their secular concepts are often woefully inadequate for eternal purposes. If, for instance, a person believes that man's existence on earth is an accident of nature–that person’s judgment of the destiny of man will be flawed. Modern-day philosophers, in the main, do not know about the premortal life of mankind, nor are they aware of the eternal destiny of man. How could they possibly develop and teach principles that will endure the tests of centuries? Knowing God’s plan of salvation for you gives you a perspective of eternity unknown to even the best educated of those who are unaware of that plan
When you make decisions that you know are contrary to the covenants you have taken, when you choose to walk paths that lead you away from the marvelous destiny that has been laid out for your life, stop and know that you cannot fulfill your destiny through disobedience to His plan.
The Savior’s atonement
The center of the plan is the Lord Jesus Christ. Reject Him or ignore Him, and the great plan of happiness cannot function in your behalf. His life was dedicated in His premortal existence, through mortality, and on into the eternal worlds to establishing the Father's plan to our blessing and benefit.
The cost to the Master was monumental. Think of the pain of Gethsemane and of His suffering on Calvary. This should give us some concept of the enormous importance of the plan of redemption.
Let us read together some of His words which describe what the cost was to Him so that we might enjoy the fruits of the sacred plan of happiness.
“Therefore I command you to repent—repent, lest I smite you by the rod of my mouth, and by my wrath, and by my anger, and your sufferings be sore—how sore you know not, how exquisite you know not, yea, how hard to bear you know not.
For behold, I, God, have suffered these things for all, that they might not suffer if they would repent;
But if they would not repent they must suffer even as I;
Which suffering caused myself, even God, the greatest of all, to tremble because of pain, and to bleed at every pore, and to suffer both body and spirit—and would that I might not drink the bitter cup, and shrink—
Nevertheless, glory be to the Father, and I partook and finished my preparations unto the children of men.”[13]
That description of His sacrifice falls short by a large measure of what the true cost was; nevertheless, He partook and finished His preparations for you.
Let me share two experiences that illustrate how the Master’s sacrifice and the knowledge of the merciful plan of our Heavenly Father helped Latter-day Saints cope with great sorrow:
We were attending Sunday meetings at a black branch outside of Cape Town South Africa. I invited several members to bear testimony. One of them was a lovely middle aged sister who told of the death of her husband a year earlier in an automobile accident. She expressed her gratitude for the sealing powers of the priesthood.
A few days later we met with all of the missionaries in the Johannesburg South Africa mission. I invited about eight missionaries to speak. As one elder was talking it became clear that he was the son of the sister in the small branch near Cape Town. After the meeting I told him how impressed I was with his mother and then said: "I am sorry you have lost your father". He responded: "I have not lost my father for I am sealed to him. He is mine and I am his forever.”
A similar incident shows the gospel’s comforting power:
Many years ago our family was at an outing with some very dear friends. One of their children had an accident and drowned. It was a dark and fearsome day. The following morning Sister Porter and I drove to their home. As we approached the front door, a gentleman came out of the house who was a close business associate of mine. He was very emotional and all he could bring himself to say was: “Death does not hurt Mormon mothers like it does other people”.
Of course the pain to any mother is beyond description. This mother understood the plan–what is more, she had lived her life according to the covenants–therefore an assurance had come through the Holy Spirit that her child was bound to her forever. There came the sweet conviction borne by that Holy Spirit that she and her child will meet again. My business friend saw and felt what he could not understand.
Our moral agency
A very important part of God’s plan for you is your right of personal choice. The Lord calls it agency or moral agency. That means you have the right to make your own choices, but you then must accept the consequences of those decisions! Whether we accept or reject His plan consequences will follow. Truly, we have the agency to make our own decisions, but many complain that life is not just, or the Lord does not love us when the consequences of our choices bring pain and suffering.
The Lord has, through the scriptures and through living prophets, taught us and warned us. Your parents, priesthood and auxiliary leaders have taught and warned you. The truly outstanding administration, faculty, and staff of this university exist to teach you, among other things, the Lord’s plan for you as well as the consequences of not following that plan.
You surely will not commit a crime that will cause you to serve a long prison sentence. But many seemingly small decisions often have very large consequences.
To illustrate how even minor acts can lead to destructive results “A survey by Rand Corporation in Pittsburgh published in Pediatrics concluded that teenagers who listen to a lot of raunchy music with suggestive lyrics end up behaving immorally. They tend to engage in the types of things the music glorifies.”[14]
Is that a surprise? We don’t need a survey to know that we become what we think about. The scriptures as well as common sense tells us: “For as he thinketh in his heart, so is he.” [15] What people take into their minds will early or late impact their actions. Surely the violence of evil begins in the thoughts of our hearts.
Do you see why pornography is such a curse? It is but one more addiction to violence and evil. Those addicted testify that the thoughts of the heart become ‘evil continually’.
The God given right of agency–the right to choose is often seen as freedom to do what we want. Do we consider that the right to choose also includes deciding to do what we ought to do–even if we don’t want to do it. The hard choices, the difficult choices even the ones that bring some pain fall under the category of moral agency.
Individual progress is almost always dependent upon choosing to take action that is difficult and sometimes distasteful. Progress is not always related to talent or to high ACT scores or to athletic or musical abilities. Personal progress is more highly correlated to your ability to exercise self control and discipline: to arise early even when you don’t want to, to serious study and concentration when you would prefer to do little or nothing, to happily abide the elements of the honor code because you have agreed that you would do so, to cease doing those things which the prophets have clearly indicated will bring us pain and sorrow. Spiritual progress as envisioned in the Lord’s plan of happiness requires us to deny ourselves. The power to say No! to ourselves and then to abide by that decision which will bring major spiritual progress. The power to say Yes! to the right choices and then see them through to completion will bring major spiritual progress.
What should you do with the life God has given you? Where should your contributions to others begin and end? An understanding of the plan of redemption will bring these decisions into focus.
Using prayer and study to understand and live the plan
Where do you learn about the plan? The answers are plain and powerful. They include:
- personal communication with the Lord through his Holy Spirit
- the scriptures
- the counsel of the living prophets
- your patriarchal blessing
I have a worrisome suspicion–that far too many of our youth today do not pray. Do you sincerely pray? In addition to your family prayers or roommate prayers and prayers at meal time–do you have a time each day for a personal and private devotional? Do you pour out the feelings of your heart to your Father in Heaven and then when finished do you pause for a moment of gratitude that He is there? I promise you comfort and strength and understanding through sincere prayer.
In regard to prophetic counsel President Gordon B. Hinckley announced the proclamation on the family, by saying: "With so much of sophistry that is passed off as truth, with so much of deception concerning standards and values, with so much of allurement and enticement to take on the slow stain of the world, we have felt to warn and forewarn. In furtherance of this we of the First Presidency and the Council of the Twelve Apostles now issue a proclamation to the Church and to the world as a declaration and reaffirmation of standards, doctrines, and practices relative to the family which the prophets, seers, and revelators of this church have repeatedly stated throughout its history."[16]
Ponder the words of the proclamation on the family and you will find its essence flows from the Lord’s plan of happiness.
Ponder very carefully any statement or proclamation when it is authored and dispensed by the Council of the First Presidency and the Council of the Twelve Apostles. You will most certainly be receiving the instruction approved by your Father in Heaven.
One hundred and one years ago President Joseph F. Smith, then the President of the Church, said: “Those things which we call extraordinary, remarkable, or unusual may make history, but they do not make life. After all, to do well those things which God ordained to be the common lot of all mankind, is the truest greatness. To be a successful father or a successful mother is greater than to be a successful general or a successful statesmen.”[17]
That statement may seem contrary to your understanding of the importance of generals and statesmen. But it was given us by a prophet of God who understood the Lord’s plan of salvation. He was able to see far into the future when the successful father and the successful mother’s work will deliver results that cannot be totally understood during one’s mortal life.
Seek diligently to understand the plan of the Father. It is simple. It is challenging. A child can learn its fundamentals. Yet, the brightest spiritually among us can profitably invest a good part of life seeking to understand God’s principles of progress.
“Men are that they might have joy” said the prophet Lehi many years ago.[18] Remember that there is an order and a cost to obtaining that joy. God’s plan requires personal vision, sacrifice, and yes, discipline. Yet the plan, abided by, brings joy and comfort and peace and long lasting happiness. The great plan of the Eternal God exists to prepare you and me to live comfortably in a celestial world where celestial law reigns.
Commit yourself now to the work of the Lord and His plan here on the earth. It will require a good deal of inconvenience and selflessness and sacrifice but will give you the “... the peace of God, which passeth all understanding,..."[19] You will be a recipient of immortality and eternal life–the very purpose for this earth’s creation.
In soberness and in all solemnity I bear witness to you that there is a God in Heaven who is the Father of us all. I stand as a witness of the Lord Jesus Christ and of His atoning sacrifice for us. I know that we are led by prophets of God the senior among them being President Gordon B. Hinckley
Notes
[1] Alma 42:16
[2] Jacob 1:2; Alma 12:25-26, 30, 32
[3] Alma 24:14; 42:5; Moses 6:62
[4] Alma 42:15
[5] Alma 34:9
[6] 2 Nephi 9:6
[7] Moses 1:39
[8] Alma 12:32, emphasis added
[9] Church News August 2006
[10] Genesis 6:5
[11] Genesis 6:11
[12] CR, April 1967, p. 66
[13] Doctrine and Covenants 19:15-19
[14] Deseret Morning News Church Section 19 August 2006
[15] Proverbs 23:7
[16] "Stand Strong against the Wiles of the World," ENSIGN, Nov. 1995, 100
[17] Juvenile Instructor 15 December 1905 p. 752
[18] 2 Nephi 2:25
[19] Philippians 4:7