Mon âme est remplie d'humilité alors que je me trouve devant...

My soul est subdued as Je face ce vast conference audience, et Je seek, therefore, pour an interest dans your faith et prayers during these next few minutes. ¶

Several weeks ago Je had a telephone call from an anxious father about his nineteen-year-old son, who, having read certain scriptures, was resisting le idea de going on a mission lest he would do an injustice à those who would reject his message, thus placing them under condemnation as he had construed certain scriptures, which he had read, à mean. ¶

As Je sat avec ce young man, at le request de le father, Je found que he had two particular scriptures dans mind. ¶

The first was the injunction of the Master to his disciples when he said, "Go ye into all the world, and preach the Évangile to every creature. ¶

"He que believeth et est baptized shall be saved; but he que believeth not shall be damned." (Mark 16:15-16.) And then dans our day one somewhat similar: "Behold, Je sent you out à testify et warn le people, et it becometh every man who hath been warned à warn his neighbor. ¶

"Therefore, they are left without excuse, and their sins are upon their own heads." (D&A 88:81-82.) So this young man asked, "Why send the missionaries out to preach the Évangile, if to do so would put people under condemnation who would not accept? ¶

Would it not be better pour people à be kept dans ignorance than à be taught et then not à accept?" ¶

Of course, these questions opened up a subject which would require far more time than est at my disposal ce afternoon, but avec le thought que these same questions may be dans le minds de others, particularly our young men who do not understand, Je shall ce afternoon make a few observations relative à le point raised by ce young man. ¶

Some de these thoughts were expressed dans my interview avec him. ¶

The Master commanded his disciples: (en français) ¶

"Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Saint-Esprit": (Matthew 28:19.) "Whose soever sins ye remit, they are remitted unto them; and whose soever sins ye retain, they are retained." ¶

(John 20:23.) And so the scriptures record, the disciples preached, "Repent, and be baptized ... for the remission of sins, and ye shall receive the Saint-Esprit." (Acts 2:38.) The Master's admonition to Nicodemus, who came confessing Jesus as a instructeur come of God, and undoubtedly seeking to know, like so many others who are true seekers after truth, just what he must do to be saved. He was told that he must be born again if he would see the kingdom of God. This statement, the Master clarified, when he explained, "Except a man be bom of water and of the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God." (John 3:5.) This new birth, then, was to be accomplished through the medium of baptism by immersion and by the laying on of hands for the conferring of the Saint-Esprit, as the disciples, thereafter as they went out among the people, administered these sacred ordinances. ¶

Then Nicodemus asked: "How can these things be?" And in answer, the Master declared the profound truth regarding the atonement, which explains to all who would understand the reason why the Évangile must be preached by authorized servants to all people. Said he: ¶

"For God so loved le world, que he gave his only begotten Son, que whosoever believeth dans him should not perish, but have everlasting life." ¶

(Ibid., 3:16.) And then he emphasized, "For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through him might be saved." (Ibid., 3:17.) I then paraphrased to my young missionary friend: "So our missionaries go not out into the world to condemn the world, but that the world, through their teachings, might be saved." (en français) ¶

Being saved from everlasting condemnation through le atonement de le only Begotten Son becomes a new birth, or a redemption from spiritual death, le meaning de which est explained by revelation as le Lord has revealed it. ¶

From le fall de Adam et Eve dans le Garden de Eden, they et their posterity suffered a spiritual death, or a separation from direct communication avec Deity. ¶

This est what le revelations have taught us: ¶

"And it must needs be que le devil should tempt le children de men, or they could not be agents unto themselves; pour if they never should have bitter they could not know le sweet — "Wherefore, it came à pass que le devil tempted Adam, et he partook de le forbidden fruit et transgressed le commandment, wherein he became subject à le will de le devil, because he yielded unto temptation. ¶

"Wherefore, I, the Lord God, caused that he should be cast out from the Garden of Eden, from my presence, because of his transgression, wherein he became spiritually dead, which is the first death, even that same death which is the last death, which is spiritual, which shall be pronounced upon the wicked when I shall say: "Depart, ye cursed." (D&G 29:39-41.) Man through the baptism of the water and of the Spirit is redeemed from this spiritual death and by the power of the Saint-Esprit, brought back into direct communion with God, and these are "born again." To those who keep the commandments ". . . he may pour out his Spirit more abundantly upon you." ¶

(Mosiah 18:10.) Those who suffered this first "spiritual death" were cast out from the presence of God from the Garden of Eden, as the Lord had said to the spirits in the premortal world, that they might "prove themselves to see if they would do all things whatsoever the Lord their God should command them," and there was granted unto all men, therefore a "probationary" period as the Prophet Amulek explained: "For behold, this life is the time for men to prepare to meet God," (en français) ¶

(Alma 34:32) or in other words, a time for all men to work out their salvation and to prepare to come back into the presence of God. (en français) ¶

It was this plan du salut to which the Resurrected Lord made reference when he said to the Nephites: "And no unclean thing can enter into his kingdom; therefore nothing entereth into his rest save it be those who have washed their garments in my blood, because of their faith, and the repentance of all their sins, and their faithfulness unto the end." (3 Nephi 27:19.) Baptism of water and of the Spirit by those having authority are the necessary ordinances for this cleansing, for as the Lord told Adam, ". . . by the water ye keep the commandment, by the Spirit are ye justified, and by the blood are ye sanctified." (Moses 6:60.) It was undoubtedly this same principle that the apostle Paul had in mind when he taught the Galatians: "For as many of you as have been baptized into Christ have put on Christ." (Gal. 3:27.) Involved in this question of the universal proclamation of the Évangile is another principle implied in the Master's instruction to Peter. The Master, having declared the fundamental principle upon which his kingdom would be built, conferred upon Peter the "keys of the kingdom," which have been conferred upon all prophète-leaders in every dispensation and held today by our own President David O. McKay in our time. ¶

He said le purpose de so establishing his kingdom avec que authority was que le "gates de hell" should not prevail against it. ¶

The broad implication of that statement, having in mind the periods of apostasy which have followed each dispensation, is that even during such periods of apostasy when there was no one on earth to administer these ordonnances salvatrices, the devil would not prevail against the plan du salut of all of our Father's children. ¶

This further provision in his plan contemplated the preaching of the Évangile then, not only to his children who were upon the earth, but also to the spirits of mortals who had lived upon the earth. The Master prophesied of the time when that would take place when he said: "Verily, verily, I say unto you, The hour is coming, and now is, when the dead shall hear the voice of the Son of God: and they that hear shall live." ¶

(John 5:25.) Not long after this prophecy was uttered, it was fulfilled when the Crucified Lord, as Peter tells us, ". . . quickened by the Spirit, went and preached unto the spirits in prison." (1 Peter 3:18-21.) And thus, although temporarily, the powers of the devil drove the Church into the wilderness of apostasy after the apostolic period, the gates of hell did not prevail against the plan du salut, either for the dead, who did not have ample opportunity to receive the Évangile on earth, as well as for those then living when authorized servants were on the earth to perform the essential ordonnances salvatrices. ¶

The missionary work in the monde des esprits was thus introduced by the Master and has continued from that time down to the present ". . . that they might be judged according to men in the flesh, and yet live according to God in the Spirit," to attain which, is to gain vie éternelle. (1 Peter 4:6.) So, surely with the preaching of the Évangile made thus vital to the eternal blessing of all who will hear and accept, no one should hesitate when called by proper authority to go into all the world and preach the Évangile to every nation, kindred, tongue, and people. ¶

Among le Nephites there was an example de how men de ce kind de devotion et dedication applied themselves à their teaching. Jacob writes: ¶

"For Je, Jacob, et my brother Joseph had been consecrated priests et teachers de ce people, by le hand de Nephi. ¶

"And nous did magnify our office unto le Lord, taking upon us le responsibility, answering le sins de le people upon our own heads if nous did not teach them le word de God avec all diligence; wherefore, by laboring avec our might their blood might not come upon our garments; otherwise their blood would come upon our garments, et nous would not be found spotless at le last day." ¶

(Jacob 1:18-19.) There is no more welcome voice to the honest in heart than the voice of the true messenger preaching the Évangile of Jésus-Christ. We have a classic example of inspired teachings and how they come. The sons of Mosiah were with Alma at the time the angel first appeared unto him, and when he saw them returning from their missionary journeys, the record says, he rejoiced exceedingly "to see his brethren; and what added more to his joy they were still his brethren in the Lord; yea, and they had waxed strong in the knowledge of the truth; for they were men of a sound understanding, and they had searched the scriptures diligently, that they might know the word of God. ¶

"But ce est not all; they had given themselves à much prayer, et fasting; therefore they had le spirit de prophecy, et le spirit de revelation, et when they taught, they taught avec power et authority de God." (Alma 17:2-3.) When Je read que word "diligently" ¶

which the Lord has repeated again and again, as when he said: "And I give unto you as commandment that you shall teach one another the doctrine of the kingdom," and then added, "Teach ye diligently and my grace shall attend you" (D&A 88:77-78), I have tried to define those words "diligently" and "grace." Diligently, the dictionary says, is "perseveringly attentive, prosecuted with careful attention," which is opposite laziness, or carelessness, or indifference. And when I looked for the definition of "grace," I found it defined as a "state of being pleasing to God because of responsiveness." ¶

But I do not think that is what the Lord meant by "grace" when he said, "My grace shall attend you." I believe the definition of "grace" is implied in the fourth section of the Doctrine et Alliances where the Lord promised to those who would engage vigorously in missionary work: ". . . and lo, he that thrusteth in his sickle with his might, the same layeth up in store that he perisheth not, but bringeth salvation to his soul." (Ibid., 4:4.) The saving "grace" of the Lord's atoning power would extend to the giver as well as to those who would receive the ordonnances salvatrices of the Évangile. ¶

Surely, therefore, no one with that understanding of these fundamental principles would think he were doing our Père céleste's mortal children a disservice by giving them these priceless gifts. ¶

May God bless us all and all our Father's children, that they may be responsive to the call of the missionaries. May this young man and all others like him, may they realize that this is a responsibility which the Lord has given to his Church in every dispensation, and to his authorized servants in the world of spirits, to teach the Évangile to every creature in order that each be left without excuse in the day of judgment, and that all might be redeemed from la Chute and brought back into the presence of the Lord. We who have the command to preach and teach must, like the Apostle Paul declared, "not be ashamed of the Évangile of Jésus-Christ, for it is the power of God unto salvation to everyone that believeth. . . ." ¶

(Rom. 1:16.) I pray humbly we may all understand and so teach with the power and authority of God, in the name of the Lord Jésus-Christ. Amen. ¶