The Sacrifice and Forgiveness of the Savior

In presenting myself before you, I ask an interest in your faith and prayers. I have enjoyed the remarks of our President, and know you all have, and I was pleased to hear the testimony that he was able to bear in regard to us as a people. I don't believe that we are retrograding, or losing our spirituality. I believe the Latter-day Saints are growing and progressing, and that they love the truth which they have received in the Gospel. The Latter-day Saints have reason to be more thankful than any other people on the earth, for what the Lord has done for them. ¶

We ought to show in our every day lives a deep devotion to the principles of the Gospel, and to our Heavenly Father. It should not be merely in words and expressions, but it should pervade our whole being. When awake in the morning, our thoughts should be directed to the Author of our being, with thanks, for the protection during the night, and with a prayer for His guidance and protection during the day ; and, when we lie down at night, our last thoughts should be directed to Him, thanking Him for what we have been able to do during the day, and communing with Him in our meditations. Our devotion should be shown in calling together our family at the family altar, in the morning and at night, and there bring before the Lord our petitions and supplications. The President told us not to use superfluous words, not to pray for that which we have, but rather give thanks for it, and pray for that which we need. In going to our Heavenly Father in prayer, let us go as children to their Father, knowing that He loves us, and is willing and able to bestow upon us that which is necessary for us to receive. Let our prayers ascend in faith, not as an experiment, not in words spoken by rote, but let our words be the heartfelt supplications for that which we stand in need of, and desire to receive ; and if our prayers be answered, let us not forget to thank the Giver, if the things which we so much desire are withheld from us, let us not feel in our hearts that God does not hear prayers, or answer them. We desire not things that would be an injury to us. He understands us and knows what would aid and assist us, and in His wisdom He often withholds from us that which we earnestly desire. I believe most of us have found that at times we have asked for things which, if they had been granted, would not have been a blessing to us, therefore we ought to follow the example of our beloved Savior in the Garden of Gethsemane. ¶

It is Good Friday today. This is celebrated by the Christian world in commemoration of the sufferings of our Savior. Eighteen hundred and seventy-nine years ago last night, He spent some time in the Garden of Gethsemane. You know how He suffered, in contemplating that which was before Him, the bitter cup that He was to drain. He asked His Father: "If thou be willing, remove this cup from me; nevertheless, not My will, but Thine be done." Now, this is what we all should feel to say. Today, Good Friday, the day on which He suffered so much for us, let us not forget to let our thoughts go to Him in thankfulness. ¶

Every Sunday the Latter-day Saints meet in their houses of worship, they partake of the Sacrament, and there covenant with the Lord to take upon them the name of His Son, and that they will always remember Him, and keep His Commandments. Let these covenants be made in earnest ; covenants meant to be kept, not just while we are partaking of the emblems of His body and blood sacrificed for us, but all through our lives. Day by day we should remember Him and show our love for Him in doing His will as He has shown His great love for us in giving His life to atone for the whole human family. What greater love could any one have than to give his life for his brethren ? He did so ; He brought about the atonement and bought us back unto our Heavenly Father. He carried out the plan that was laid before the world was. It was not a happen-so or chance work. ¶

The Lord, when He prepared this world for us, saw that it was necessary for His children to become acquainted with good and evil. We knew only that which was good in that former world where we lived near Him, as was sang in the hymn to which we have just listened. We had not experienced that which was evil. We were not able to have joy because we had known no sorrow. This earth was prepared for us ; this was the school we had to pass through ; and the Lord, seeing what would take place, prepared the Lamb, ''slain from the foundation of the world" to atone for men, and regain all that was lost in the Fall. Jesus accepted of this mission. The sacrifice that was to be made for the human family could only be made by one who had not sinned Himself. It would have to be done by One who voluntarily offered to do this, in order that justice might be satisfied and mercy be extended to the sinner. We learn in the revelations of the Lord that the fall extended to all, and that the grievous consequence of the fall was banishment from the presence of our Heavenly Father. The consequences of the fall were both temporal and spiritual. Jesus came ; He made the sacrifice. He did it willingly. He was without blemish or fault. No sin was found in Him. and as such He was a proper subject for the sacrifice. We should always remember Him, keep His commandments, love one another, and then we can claim that we love Him and the Father. That love should pervade our very being, and then it is easy to serve Him. The temptations and trials that may come to us, are more easily overcome and borne if we have His love in our hearts and His spirit with us. ¶

Crucifixion was one of the most exquisite tortures that the Roman mind had devised. What an example He gave us while upon the cross, suffering as He did, He still could say: "Father forgive them; they know not what they do !" Can we follow His example and feel that way towards our enemies? He showed Himself, in that very thing, to be above His fellows. It is Godlike to forgive ; it is human-like to want revenge. We are quick to want to revenge ourselves when we are wronged; and there can be no greater wrong done than when an innocent person is put to death. Yet He could, with all the earnestness of His soul, pray for His brethren, those erring ones who had gone so far as to take His life, and ask the Lord to forgive them, for they knew not what they did. The great multitude, no doubt, was in that condition, but there were others who knew better — the guilty ones to whom Peter said : "Repent ye, therefore, and be converted, that your sins may be blotted out, when the times of refreshing shall come from the presence of the Lord." ¶

The Sunday before, when He came to Jerusalem from Bethany, the populace had met Him, and hailed Him as the King of Israel, the Son of David, and made a great uproar in the streets, — and now, five days afterwards, they took part in the cry: "Crucify Him!" But remember the forgiving heart of the Savior, how He could endure His trial and suffering, and yet ask the Father to forgive them. ¶

Now, when anyone offends us, brethren and sisters, let us remember the example given us. Let us not take offense at every little thing that may appear offensive to us, for in the great majority of cases, when we investigate the matter, we find that no intentional offense was meant, but only thoughtlessness was the cause. Often, we do not try to examine into it ; we take it as an affront, and forget the advice given us that if we have ought against our brother, we should go to him and make it right. Let us, the Lord's family here upon the earth, brothers and sisters, not forget to show brotherly kindness and love one another. If we do not do so, we cannot expect the love of our Heavenly Father. If we are not willing to forgive one another our offenses, we cannot ask Him to forgive us our offenses. In the prayer that Jesus taught us, He gave the condition upon which we could obtain forgiveness, namely, by asking the Lord to "forgive us our debts as we forgive our debtors." We must cultivate this feeling. We must live in harmony with one another, and unitedly take hold of building up the kingdom of God upon the earth. ¶

How thankful we ought to be that God has given us the testimony of the truth, that we know that Jesus is our Redeemer, that we know that His Gospel has been restored to earth, and that Joseph Smith was a Prophet of God. I thank Him for this knowledge I have received, and I know that all Latter-day Saints feel to give thanks to the Lord for it. Now, let us show in our every-day work that we are thankful to the Lord, and willing to keep His commandments and do what He has asked us to do. God bless all. Amen. ¶