Atonement

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No Atonement Except for the Character of Christ

November 10, 2009 in Jesus Christ by Greg | No comments

Last weekend, in an address about the recent Oquirrh Mountain Utah Temple Dedication, our stake president referred to a talk by David A. Bednar called “The Character of Christ.”1 In this talk, Elder Bednar stated:

The Temptation of Christ by Ary Scheffer Last September I participated in an area training meeting in Twin Falls, Idaho. Elder Neal A. Maxwell presided at the training session, and on a Friday night and a Saturday morning he, the Idaho Area Presidency, and other general church officers instructed a group of approximately one hundred stake presidents. It was a meaningful and memorable time of spiritual enrichment, learning, and edification.

During the course of his teaching and testifying, Elder Maxwell made a statement that impressed me deeply and has been the recent focus for much of my studying, reflecting, and pondering. He said, “There would have been no Atonement except for the character of Christ.” Since hearing this straightforward and penetrating statement, I have tried to learn more about and better understand the word “character.” I have also pondered the relationship between Christ’s character and the Atonement–and the implications of that relationship for each of us as disciples. This morning I hope to share with you just a few of the learnings that have come to my mind and heart as I have attempted to more fully appreciate this teaching by Elder Maxwell.

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  1. Bednar, David A. “The Character of Christ”. 25 Jan 2003. BYU – Idaho. 8 Nov 2009.↩

Awakening to the Spirit

September 6, 2009 in Holy Ghost by Greg | 3 comments

It has been a couple of weeks since the last series of posts in anticipation of the dedication of the Oquirrh Mountain Utah Temple.1 Since the dedication, much has transpired and other things took priority.

Today, while reviewing some gospel-related material, I came across this talk by F. Enzio Busche who spoke about awakening to the Spirit. Considering the prior series of articles, perhaps this is a timely and fitting follow-up.2

Given its importance, the entire text of Elder Busche’s talk follows:

F. Enzio Busche I am overwhelmed with feelings of gratitude and love as I stand before you, my dear brothers and sisters. We have the opportunity to spend a few minutes together where we can turn our minds and our souls away from our daily routines to ponder and to contemplate the things that matter most.

I want to draw our attention today to a very special scripture that has been on my mind for quite some time and that, the more I contemplate and ponder on it, seems to open more dimensions of understanding and of enlightenment. It is taken from section 45 of the Doctrine and Covenants. In this section the Lord reveals to the Prophet Joseph the very circumstances of the world at the time of his Second Coming. In the middle of this eye-opening descriptive picture, the Lord is answering the question that Christendom has had about the meaning of the parable of the ten virgins.

And at that day, when I shall come in my glory, shall the parable be fulfilled which I spake concerning the ten virgins. For they that are wise and have received the truth, and have taken the Holy Spirit for their guide, and have not been deceived–verily I say unto you, they shall not be hewn down and cast into the fire, but shall abide the day. (D&C 45:56-­57).

As we stop and think, we suddenly see that in these words the Lord is revealing some key truth that, when not taken into consideration, affects the very essence of our eternal existence. In my understanding, we cannot afford to overlook the fact that the Lord is literally telling us that nothing really matters unless we take the Holy Spirit as our guide and avoid being deceived. Let us seriously ask ourselves, therefore: Do we really understand the importance of this message?

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  1. For the start of this series, see Philo Dibble and the Three Degrees of Glory.↩
  2. Especially to the post the Gift of the Holy Ghost a Higher Endowment.↩

Holy Order in the Book of Mormon

August 20, 2009 in Priesthood by Greg | No comments

The Book of Mormon contains a number of references to the holy order – or the Holy Priesthood, after the Order of the Son of God -1, many of which are found in the book of Alma. In “The Holy Order of God”, Robert L. Millet wrote:

Priest entering the Holy of Holies To the wayward people of Ammonihah, Amulek had delivered a poignant testimony of Christ as God, had borne witness of the necessity of repentance, and had held out the hope of redemption from sin and death through the merits and mercy of the coming Messiah (see Alma 11:26-46). Alma then delivered a companion and confirming witness of the reality of the Savior and the manner in which men and women can, through faith, pass from death unto eternal life. “Therefore,” he said, quoting the Lord to the ancients, “whosoever repenteth, and hardeneth not his heart, he shall have claim on mercy through mine Only Begotten Son, unto a remission of his sins; and these shall enter into my rest.” Alma then pleaded: “And now, my brethren, seeing we know these things, and they are true, let us repent, and harden not our hearts, . . . but let us enter into the rest of God, which is prepared according to his word” (Alma 12:34, 37). It is in the context of Alma’s discussion of how the Saints can, through applying the atoning blood of Christ, enter into the rest of God, that Alma begins a discussion of the holy order of God. His discussion is a deep and ponderous and insightful prophetic declaration as to how, through the blessings of the priesthood—those called and prepared from the foundation of the world—the people of God may be sanctified from sin and enjoy the “words of eternal life” in this mortal sphere, all in preparation for eternal life with God and holy beings hereafter (see Moses 6:59).2

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  1. See D&C 107:3; for a more thorough review of the priesthood and its orders, see Ellsworth, Richard G. “Priesthood”. 1992. Encyclopedia of Mormonism. 2009.↩
  2. Millet, Robert L. “The Holy Order of God”. Monte S. Nyman and Charles D. Tate, Jr., eds. Alma, The Testimony of the Word. Provo, Utah: BYU Religious Studies Center, 1992. 61-86.↩

Ann Madsen – Leading Our Children to the Temple

August 17, 2009 in Temple by Greg | 1 comment

Dr. Ann Madsen, a senior lecturer in Ancient Scripture at Brigham Young University, gave a talk entitled “Come Ye, and Let Us Walk in the Light of the Lord – Leading Our Children to the Temple” at the 2004 BYU Family Expo Conference. The following is a synopsis of her talk:

Ann Madsen I asked our grown married children, “Why do you love the temple? How did we prepare you to do that?” Their answers could be summed up, “You would come home from the temple all aglow, and we could feel it.”

Orson Pratt gives us a wonderful vision of the light we bring home from the temple: “In the latter days there will be a people so pure in Mount Zion . . . that God will manifest himself, not only in their Temple . . . but when they retire to their [homes], behold each [home] will be lighted up by the glory of God, a pillar of flaming fire by night.”1

I heard Elder Russell M. Nelson say recently, “Children understand that they have a Heavenly Father. They need to be taught that the temple is the way to return to Him.”

In 1893, at the time of the dedication of the Salt Lake Temple, Elder Franklin D. Richards said: “The Temple is full of Divine telegrams. The blessings of heaven are treasured up there, and these temples are the great repositories of eternal life, glory, honor and immortality, waiting for the children of God to come up and bring their offerings of broken hearts and contrite spirits, and draw upon those treasures.”2

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  1. Journal of Discourses. 16:36.↩
  2. Richards, Franklin D. Collected Discourses. 1893. Vol. 3.↩

A Consecrated Place

July 12, 2009 in Second Coming by Greg | No comments

A few years ago a friend shared with me Henry B. Eyring’s talk entitled “A Consecrated Place”. In this talk he reiterated what past prophets taught about the Second Coming and what that means to BYU in particular. It reminded me of Joseph Smith’s vision of Nauvoo which encompassed both a temple and a university. Here is what President Eyring said:

Elder Henry B. Eyring Nothing so focuses the attention of those who work in a school as the knowledge that their students are about to arrive. On my first day of teaching in a university, I lost my appetite for breakfast. Heaven only knows what anxiety those who prepared the student housing and the bookstore and the classrooms felt. But this I know, from that first experience and the decades in education that have followed: You are all about to give laserlike attention to your tasks. Tunnel vision for you is not a weakness. At the start of school, it becomes a necessity.

Just before we put our heads down to get a closer view of the grindstone, it is useful to put a picture in our minds and hearts of where we are headed and why we are going there. That is easier to do here because living prophets of God have described our possibilities. To get ready for this year, I have studied two of those pictures of the future. One is from President George Albert Smith. The other is from President Spencer W. Kimball. The two views combine for me to make more clear what we should do and who we must become.

President George Albert Smith ended his remarks at the first dedication of the Eyring Science Center on October 17, 1950, with this prayer and blessing for us:

Oh, Father, bless the men and the women who are on the faculty of this great school that they may teach . . . under the influence of Thy Spirit, that they may be able to inspire the . . . men and women with the desire to be worthy to be called Thy children. Bless them that they may see the fruits of their labors, have joy when they have finished their work as instructors and leaders . . . that they may look back over a field, not of grain, not of vegetable, not of other things that people labor so hard for to keep us going here in mortality, but that they may look over a field of Thy sons and daughters who have been developed to be worthy to live with Thee. [BYU Archives, UA 579]

That picture of our students worthy to live with God might have seemed to be in some distant future, in the world to come, if I had not next read this from President Kimball’s second-century address (Spencer W. Kimball, “The Second Century of Brigham Young University,” Speeches of the Year, 1975 [Provo: BYU Press, 1976], 250–51):

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