Obtaining Eternal Life

My heart is full of gratitude unto my heavenly Father for the name and standing which I hold in this Church. I thank him for the restoration of his glorious gospel, through the instrumentality of his prophet, Joseph Smith. My heart is full of appreciation of that gospel, for all of its gifts and blessings that we are today in the enjoyment of. There are many of these blessings to which we have become so accustomed that we sometimes fail to appreciate them, and yet if we were deprived of them by being separated from the Church, we would then feel what a loss it was indeed. The blessings of the gospel are felt in the homes of all faithful Latter-day Saints. The power of God is manifest in the intercourse which we hold in our family circles and in our associations with one another, in our coming together in meetings, in offering up prayers and feeling the presence of his Holy Spirit, in the healing of the sick, and in untold many ways are we in the enjoyment of these splendid blessings which come by reason of the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ. But there is one blessing that exceeds all the others and embodies within it all the blessings of the gospel. It is God's greatest gift unto his children -- eternal life. And to obtain this blessing all members of the Church should be zealously, energetically striving with all their might. It is indeed far more valuable to us than all other things that we can possibly conceive of, for it means all that the name implies, eternal life. And we must not think that this is limited to the usual conception of a never ending life, for we have a much broader meaning to that term than merely that we shall continue to live after we have "shuffled off this mortal coil." No indeed, it means coming forth in the resurrection from the dead, crowned with immortality and eternal life, and in that term we mean an exalted life in the presence of God, for he is indeed the very Eternal One and eternal life means his life, to live with him forevermore, to receive from him, as has been promised, "all that the Father hath" -- all this is embodied in that great and wonderful blessing which we call eternal life. ¶

How then are we to obtain eternal life, to secure to ourselves and to our families that wonderful blessing that is beyond compare? By keeping the commandments. We all remember reading in the New Testament of the young man who came to the Savior and said: "Good Master, what good thing shall I do, that I may obtain eternal life?" And the answer was: "Keep the commandments." And when he asked which, a few of these were enumerated: "All these things have ¶

I kept from my youth up; what lack I yet?" Then the word of the Lord came to him: "If thou wilt be perfect, sell that which thou hast, and give to the poor, and thou shalt have a treasure in heaven; and come and follow me." And let it be known that eternal life applies to those who are made perfect and not to any others, for no unclean thing can dwell in the presence of God forever. We are living in this world and passing through a probationary period. These are the days of our probation, the days when we are to be tried to find out whether or not we will serve God or Mammon. ¶

What did it mean to him, when the Savior said that he should sell that which he had, for he was a wealthy young man, and had great possessions, and should give to the poor and come and follow the Master? If he followed that injunction he would cease to worship Mammon, he would serve God, would cease to be selfish and greedy in his nature, and, casting all that aside, give proof that; he loved God more than he loved Mammon. ¶

"Come and follow me." What does that mean? Was not the Savior tempted just as you and I are tempted, when he had fasted in the wilderness and Satan came unto him and offered him all the kingdoms of the world and wealth and fortune and all that he could get if he would only bow down and worship Satan. We must have the strength and power to resist temptations. What was the Savior's reply: "It is written, Thou shalt worship the Lord thy God, and him only shalt thou serve." Likewise we must declare our allegiance to God and resist the power of Satan. ¶

It means this, that if we are to inherit eternal life, or obtain that greatest of all blessings that is within the gift of God we must sanctify and purify our souls. "The spirit and the body are the soul of man, and the resurrection from the dead is the redemption of the soul." Then this soul of thine "must needs be cleansed or sanctified from all unrighteousness." Why? "That it may be prepared for the celestial glory." Does not that mean the same thing? Eternal life, to our way of thinking, means the obtaining of celestial glory, and if we attain to that glory it will be. because we live according to the law of the celestial kingdom, and that means that we shall sanctify and purify our souls from all unrighteousness. It means that we are to follow Christ. His was a life of devotion, a blameless life, a life without sin, without corruption, without yielding to the power of the adversary. It therefore behooves us that we shall practice in our lives that great and fundamental principle, that saving principle of repentance from sin; for, unlike the Savior, we are sinners, and have need of repentance. It means that we shall give of our substance, and help those that are in need. It means that we are to place the kingdom of God before all other things. It means more than merely taking the initial steps of faith, repentance, and baptism, at the time of our admission into the Church. This, of course, is a good start -- the right beginning, and ¶

through it we obtain the remission of sins and, by the laying on of hands, the companionship of God's Holy Spirit. But it also means that we must continue to have faith in God, and have faith unto repentance, as long as we are not perfect in our lives, for the principle of repentance has been given to us that we might sanctify our hearts and purify our souls, and prepare ourselves to dwell in the presence of God, for that celestial glory, for that eternal life that has been promised to the faithful. But this we cannot do, unless we shall engage in the good fight of faith, resisting temptation in whatever form it may come, and not permitting ourselves to be led away by the allurements of wealth and its uses for greedy and selfish purposes. ¶

All that we have and all that we are should be devoted to the service of God, and that doesn't prevent us from engaging in laudable enterprises. It doesn't preclude us from the enjoyment of the proper pleasures of life, it doesn't hinder us from supporting and sustaining our families and educating our children, for all this and everything that we do that is right is truly a service to God; but when we forget God and worship at the shrine of the god of this world, even Mammon, seeking riches for the gratifying of selfish lusts, securing it by questionable methods -- by cheating, fraud, deception, misrepresentation, no matter how, but getting it by fair means or foul; or, in other words, when the devil taketh us up into an exceeding high mountain and showeth us all the kingdoms of this world and their glory and splendor, and wealth, and sayeth unto us as he is wont to say: "All these things will I give you, if you will fall down and worship me," then, O Latter-day Saints, "follow Christ," and set yourselves as steel against the fiery darts of the adversary and say as the Savior said: "Get thee hence, Satan, for it is written, Thou shalt worship the Lord thy God, and him only shalt thou serve." ¶

What good thing shall we do that we may have eternal life? Follow the admonition of the Apostle Paul to Timothy: "Fight the good fight of faith, lay hold on eternal life," for unto this we have been called through our acceptance of the gospel of Jesus Christ which is the gospel of repentance, and it enjoins upon all a life of repentance from sin, and promises salvation only to him "that endureth to the end." We live in a world of sin and are subjected to its temptations. The good fight is one of resistance to the arch enemy of God. "Blessed is the man that endureth temptation, for when he is tried he shall receive the crown of life which the Lord has promised to them that love him." ¶

Then let us follow Christ, resist temptation, cleave unto his word and eternal life will be our sure reward. God grant that it may be so. Amen. ¶