They Shall Not Labour In Vain Nor...

"They shall not labour in vain, nor bring forth for trouble; for they are the seed of the blessed of the Lord, and their offspring with them. ¶

"And it shall come to pass, that before they call, I will answer; and while they are yet speaking I will hear. ¶

"The wolf and the lamb shall feed together, and the lion shall eat straw like the bullock: and dust shall be the serpent's meat. They shall not hurt nor destroy in all my holy mountain, saith the Lord." (Isa. 65:21-25.) And transformation Then men shall no more die and sleep in the earth, but they shall be changed in the twinkling of an eye and shall be caught up, and their rest shall be glorious. And God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes, and there shall be no more death, neither sorrow nor crying, neither shall there be any more pain. ¶

What a great time to be alive, when Christ himself will be our lawgiver and righteous men and women, from both sides of the veil, will live and reign with Christ for a thousand years. ¶

On the other hand, what a tragic time it will be for those who fail to qualify. ¶

Suppose that we should find ourselves among that group mentioned by John the Revelator when he said, "But the rest of the dead lived not again until the thousand years were finished. . . ." ¶

(Rev. 20:5.) A modern-day revelation says, "For . . . the Lord shall utter his voice out of heaven; . . . and the earth shall tremble, . . . and [he] shall say to the sleeping nations: Ye saints arise and live; ye sinners stay and sleep until I call again." (D&C 43:18.) At the end of the seventh 1,000 years, Satan will again be loosed for a little season before evil is completely banished forever. After the millennium the status of the earth will again be increased to reach its final destiny as a celestial sphere on which the elect will live forever as members of that exalted order to which God himself belongs. ¶

May God grant us success in this greatest of all of earth's enterprises, I humbly pray in the name of Jesus Christ. Amen. ¶

fell down, and gave up the ghost: . . . ¶

"And the young men arose, wound him up, . . . and buried him. ¶

"And it was about the space of three hours after, when his wife, not knowing what was done, came in. ¶

"And Peter answered unto her, Tell me whether ye sold the land for so much? And she said, Yea, for so much. ¶

"Then Peter said unto her, How is it that ye have agreed together to tempt the Spirit of the Lord? behold, the feet of them which have buried thy husband are at the door, and shall carry thee out. ¶

"Then fell she down straightway at his feet, and yielded up the ghost. . . ." ¶

(Acts 5:1-10.) Barnabas' example indicates a wholesome state of mind. Without reservation he sold his land and gave the full amount, in honesty; he simply and truthfully did what was in his mind and heart. ¶

But the state of mind of Ananias and his wife Sapphira was the thinking: ¶

"Yes, we believe, we want to belong, but we will only go part way. Peter will not know the difference, so we will hold back some for ourselves." ¶

They simply rationalized that it is all right to be dishonest as long as no one knows. Honesty cannot be compromised; it requires the full and free consent of the mind. People who pursue the course of Ananias and Sapphira, while they may not die as suddenly, will just as surely receive the same reward, unless they repent. ¶

It is difficult to believe that men and women have strayed so far from true values that they need to ask, "What is honesty?" It is because they are allowing the pressures of a material society to influence them, and thus their senses become dull. ¶

The ten laws It may be unwise for me to try to set up universal standards of honesty. ¶

I can do that for myself, as you can do for yourselves, but the Lord through his prophets has not left this subject untouched. We can begin with Moses, through whom the Lord gave the Ten Commandments, which include "Thou shalt not steal" and "Thou shalt not bear false witness." (Exod. 20:15-16.) But they are not alone. Every one of the commandments requires the correct state of mind to live honestly and truthfully. The Lord further commanded: "Ye shall not steal, neither deal falsely, neither lie one to another. ¶

"And ye shall not swear by my name falsely. . . . ¶

"Thou shalt not defraud thy neighbour, neither rob him: the wages of him that is hired. . . . ¶

"Ye shall do no unrighteousness in judgment, in meteyard, in weight, or in measure. ¶

"Just balances, just weights, a just ephah, and a just hin, shall ye have " (Lev. 19:11-13, 35-36.) The prophet King Benjamin said, ". . . remember, that whosoever among you borroweth of his neighbor should return the thing that he borroweth, according as he doth agree, or else thou shalt commit sin. . . ." (Mos. 4:28.) Notice that these prophets did not add to their statements on honesty any conjunction as did Pilate with his truthful statement of the Savior's innocence, which he followed by the condemning, "But ye have a custom " (John 18:39.) Honesty and truth, foundations of character To be honest, to adhere to truth, is not something to be conditioned by the situation of the moment. Honesty is the very foundation of character. Dishonesty takes upon itself many forms, some of which are the following, all condemned by God: larceny, kidnapping, misappropriation, plagiarizing, misrepresentation, purloin, swindling, usurping, misleading, embezzlement, graft, lying, concealing, cribbing, extortion, falsifying, forging, absconding, trickery, fraud, deceit, infidelity, and shoplifting. ¶

As to the latter, it is reported: "The professional shoplifter, it seems, is being elbowed aside by swarms of amateurs. So says the Northwestern Life Insurance Company, which also predicts that final reports for 1966 will show a new shoplifting record — well over three billion dollars worth of goods. Leading the amateur looters are juveniles and housewives, most of them from well-off families. The ultimate losses extend well beyond the store. More restrictions are imposed, more conveniences are eliminated, shopping becomes more of a chore. ¶

The problem was summed up in a sign spotted by one of Northwestern National's staffers on a candy vending machine: Please be honest — we know you can beat the machine. If we continue to lose money the machine will need to be removed, as we cannot afford to buy another one." (Allan R. ¶

Dodd, Printers' Ink, Vol. 53, No. 11, p. 213.) An act of dishonesty immediately brands an individual. He is not to be trusted any more. His name is marked. ¶

His happiness may be ruined. His path begins to be strewn with thorns. ¶

How honorable would Pilate have been had he had the courage and state of mind to resist that which is not honest. ¶

But Pilate lacked courage. Today's temptations demand the correct state of mind and courage to resist the cry of the mob, which Pilate found too much for him. Unless a serious attempt is made in the home to teach and practice honesty and implant it in the minds and characters of our families, grave problems are ahead for us. ¶

A few dishonest acts by parents, such as an item in a lunch pail taken from the employer, plant the seed of rationalization that will destroy true character. The Lord requires allegiance from the whole man. Plain, ordinary, simply honesty as was displayed by Barnabas is required to please God. ¶

May we do this I pray, in the name of Jesus Christ. Amen. ¶