My Brethren And Sisters Today With The...

My brethren and sisters: Today, with the help of the Lord, I would like to reason directly with members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, because they have taken upon themselves the name of Christ and have entered into a covenant to keep all of his commandments. According to the word of the Lord, they belong to " . . . the only true and living church upon the face of the whole earth. ..." (D. & C. 1:30.) This Church has within it the power of the priesthood with all the ordinances of the gospel and doctrines necessary to bring its members back into the presence of God and give them exaltation. ¶

Members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints are heirs not only to the celestial glory but also to exaltation or eternal life in that glory; and that heirship shall be obtained if they keep all the commandments given by Jesus Christ to members of his kingdom. ¶

Thus, the words of Paul apply very aptly to the Latter-day Saints: ¶

Eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of man, the things which God hath prepared for them that love him. (1 Cor. 2:9.) Certainly all the things that this world could offer would not be comparable if attained to the receiving of eternal life which God promises to members of his kingdom; for he has declared that "... eternal life ... is the greatest of all the gifts of God." (D. & C. ¶

14:7.) On a certain occasion, the Savior said: ¶

For what is a man profited, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul? or what shall a man give in exchange for his soul?" (Matt. 16:26.) In answering those questions for the members of the Church, I would say, there is nothing that this world offers which would be equal to the eternal exaltation which God promises those who love him; nor is there anything in this world which we would give for our souls. ¶

Yet I do recognize the fact, also, that there are many temptations in mortality which we have, and some of the Latterday Saints, as a result of these temptations, fall into sin and thereby exchange their souls for the things of this world; for example, the desire to attain wealth, position, or power, accompanied by greed, selfishness, covetousness, and other earthly contaminations, cause some Latter-day Saints to lose their souls. The Savior has warned against covetousness; he said: ¶

Take heed, and beware of covetousness: ¶

for a man's life consisteth not in the abundance of the things which he possesseth. ¶

And he spake a parable unto them, saying, The ground of a certain rich man brought forth plentifully: ¶

And he thought within himself, saying, What shall I do, because I have no room where to bestow my fruits? ¶

And he said, This will I do: I will pull down my barns, and build greater; and there will I bestow all my fruits and my goods. ¶

And I will say to my soul, Soul, thou hast much goods laid up for many years; take thine ease, eat, drink, and be merry. ¶

But God said unto him, Thou fool, this night thy soul shall be required of thee: ¶

then whose shall those things be, which thou hast provided? ¶

So is he that layeth up treasure for himself, and is not rich toward God. (Luke 12:15-21.) And, we could say, so shall it be with the Saints in our day who love gold more than they love God. ¶

We are all very familiar with the incident recorded in the New Testament wherein the rich young ruler came to the Master and asked what he must do to gain eternal life. After the Savior had listed many of the commandments to him, the young ruler said, "All these things have I kept from my youth up." ¶

And then the Savior, knowing of his weakness, said, "If thou wilt be perfect, go and sell that thou hast, and give to the poor, and thou shalt have treasure in heaven: and come and follow me." ¶

(See Matt. 19:20-21.) And the rich young man went away sorrowing, because he had much goods. He was not willing to exchange his earthly goods for his eternal soul; neither was he willing to follow the Savior's admonition wherein he said: ¶

Lay not up for yourselves treasures upon earth, where moth and rust doth corrupt, and where thieves break through and steal: ¶

But lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust doth corrupt, and where thieves do not break through nor steal: ¶

For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also. (Matt. 6:19-21.) I do not believe that the Savior objects to Latter-day Saints becoming wealthy, if they use that wealth as they should. God wants his children to have the good things of the world, if we use that wealth to pay our tithing, and fast offerings, to send out missionaries, to build church houses, and to help build up the kingdom of God here upon this earth in every way; but he warned against the evil effects that wealth might have on members of his Church. Those who use their wealth for the building of the kingdom of God are following the Savior's admonition to . . . seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you. (Ibid., 6:33.) Throughout various dispensations of the gospel, the Lord has placed it upon those who have wealth to "remember the poor." In the latter days he gave definite commandments to members of the Church of Jesus Christ in this respect; and he gave these commandments in strong terminology. Let me quote from the Doctrine and Covenants: ¶

Wo unto you rich men, that will not give your substance to the poor, for your riches will canker your souls; and this shall be your lamentation in the day of visitation and of judgment, and of indignation: The harvest is past, the summer is ended, and my soul is not saved I (D. & C. ¶

56:16.) On another occasion, the Savior revealed in modern days: ¶

Therefore, if any man shall take of the abundance which I have made, and impart not his portion, according to the law of my gospel, unto the poor and the needy, he shall, with the wicked, lift up his eyes in hell, being in torment. (Ibid., 104:18.) Now, what is meant by the law of his gospel? The law of his gospel, in this respect, no doubt, is fast offerings, the Church welfare contributions, probably tithing, and the other contributions that God has provided in his Church to take care of the needy and the poor, and to build up his kingdom here upon this earth. No Latter-day Saint who refuses to contribute his share in carrying forward the work of the Lord will be found guiltless at the judgment day. ¶

Now, what shall the Latter-day Saint give in exchange for his soul? The Lord has given to us the Sabbath day law. In latter days he commanded: ¶

And that thou mayest more fully keep thyself unspotted from the world, thou shalt go to the house of prayer and offer up thy sacraments upon my holy day. ¶

(Ibid., 59:9.) And yet on the Sabbath day there are many Latter-day Saints who go to picture shows, who go to ball games, who go car riding, who work on their lots, and in these and numerous other ways contaminate themselves with the sins of the world, and thereby exchange their souls for improper Sabbath day observance and its accompanying vices. ¶

The Lord has given a great law for the physical and spiritual health of his children, known as the Word of Wisdom. Paul, the ancient Apostle, declared: ¶

Know ye not that ye are the temple of God, and that the Spirit of God dwelleth in you? ¶

If any man defile the temple of God, him shall God destroy; for the temple of God is holy, which temple ye are. (1 Cor. ¶

3:16-17.) Thus, as Paul proclaimed, our bodies are temples of God, given to us that we might keep them clean, pure, and uncontaminated in all respects, that some day we might come back with our bodies into the presence of our eternal Maker and have them purified and exalted. So the things that we do that will contaminate our bodies certainly work against the saving of our souls. ¶

Would any women who belong to the true Church be foolish enough to drink tea and thereby contaminate their bodies? Would others among us drink coffee, use liquor or tobacco, and thereby exchange the gratifying of these physical appetites for our eternal souls? ¶

Foolish, indeed, would be such people, to say the least. ¶

The Lord also gave the great law of chastity in ancient times, saying, "Thou shalt not commit adultery." (Ex. 20:14.) Speaking of sex immorality, Alma said to his son: ¶

Know ye not, my son, that these things are an abomination in the sight of the Lord; yea, most abominable above all sins save it be the shedding of innocent blood or denying the Holy Ghost? (Alma 39:5.) In modern revelation, the Lord has reaffirmed the commandment: "Thou shalt not commit adultery." (See D. & C. ¶

42:24; 59:6.) We read in the Doctrine and Covenants, also: ¶

And verily I say unto you, as I have said before, he that looketh on a woman to lust after her, or if any shall commit adultery in their hearts, they shall not have the Spirit, but shall deny the faith and shall fear. ¶

Wherefore, I, the Lord, have said that the fearful, and the unbelieving, and all liars, and whosoever loveth and maketh a lie, and the whoremonger, and the sorcerer, shall have their part in that lake which burneth with fire and brimstone, which is the second death. ¶

Verily I say, that they shall not have part in the first resurrection. (Ibid., 63:16-18.) With such doctrine revealed by the Lord directly to us, we know, as Latterday Saints, that if we commit adultery and if we continue to satisfy the lusts of the flesh, so to speak, by living that kind of life, we shall be thrust down to hell. Thus, we thereby sell our souls for the gratification of the lust of the flesh. Let me ask you, is sex immorality worth such an exorbitant price? ¶

The Lord has also given the great law of celestial marriage, which is the crowning gospel principle, giving the promise that those who abide by that law and keep the other commandments shall rise in the resurrection and receive exaltation or eternal life which he declares is the greatest gift that he has in store for man. ¶

Even after receiving such a glorious promise, there are many Latter-day Saints who refuse to abide by the law of celestial marriage, refusing to go to the temple and enter into God's holy covenant. And why do they refuse? ¶

For various reasons. ¶

Would there be some members of the Church foolish enough to refuse to go to the temple because they did not want to wear garments for the short space of life in mortality? If there are members of the kingdom of God so unwise, certainly we would say, such a choice would be a very foolish one, indeed. Or would there be some among us who would refuse to pay tithing and fast offerings to the Lord, who would disregard God's law of health by breaking the Word of Wisdom, who would defile their bodies by not observing the law of chastity, or break God's other commandments and thereby cut themselves off from the blessings of the priesthood, from the blessings of the temple, and ultimately from exaltation? The truth remains that there are such unwise people who hold membership in the Church. At the coming of the Lord, if they fail to repent, they shall be counted among the "foolish virgins." (See Ibid., 63:54; 45:56.) "For what is a man profited, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul? or what shall a man give in exchange for his soul?" (Matt. 16:26. ¶

Italics added.) Certainly, as Latter-day Saints, we would have no profit if we should gain the whole world and lose our souls. ¶

There is nothing that this world can offer that we would exchange for eternal life. ¶

May God bless us as children of the covenant — members of his Church and kingdom — that we will keep the commandments, that we will walk in the pathway that our Savior has pointed out for us to follow back to the presence of our eternal Father, that we may someday attain an eternal and blessed exaltation, I humbly pray, in the name of Jesus Christ. Amen. ¶