Good morning, I have to admit, when speaking in church, I would much rather have 2:00 pm church instead of 9:00 am.
I am so excited to speak to you today about “Rescuing the One”.
Last night I read my talk to one of my daughters, and after the talk she asked who the one was? At first I kind of laughed thinking it was so obvious, but this morning I changed my tune and realized that I had not taught them sufficiently as their parent. So, to all those daughters and sons out there, “the one,” is you and I, it is everyone individually.
What an amazing topic in light of the recent changes that our dearest prophet has made pertaining to the new ministering program.
As I have pondered this topic, I realized that before we can understand how to rescue the one, we must first understand who we truly are, and what that really means, and then we will better understand the purpose of rescuing the one.
Harold B. Lee said, “Who are you? You are all the sons and daughters of God. Your spirits were created and lived as organized intelligences before the world was. You have been blessed to have a physical body because of your obedience to certain commandments in that premortal state. You are now born into a family to which you have come, into the nations through which you have come, as a reward for the kind of lives you lived before you came here and at a time in the world’s history, as the Apostle Paul taught the men of Athens and as the Lord revealed to Moses, determined by the faithfulness of each of those who lived before this world was created.” (Harold B. Lee, in Conference Report, Oct. 1973,7; or Ensign, January 1974, 5)
I find that very interesting. Just like the decisions we make here in this life and how they impact and determine the degree of glory we will enjoy in the next life, our decisions in the pre-existence impacted and determined our circumstances in this life.
All who embrace the Gospel in this life are either direct descendants or adopted into the House of Israel and thus become part of the royal lineage. Remember that term, the royal lineage, we will spend some time on what that means. There are great blessings and responsibilities that rests upon the Royal lineage.
President Spencer W. Kimball, referring to our pre-earth life, said, “Here you and I made . . . an oath that we would do all things whatsoever the Lord our God shall command us. While we do not remember the details, we made these covenants. We committed ourselves to our Heavenly Father that . . . we would keep our lives clean and would marry in the holy temple and rear a family and teach them righteousness. This was a solemn oath, a solemn promise, an eternal commitment.” (Spencer W. Kimball, “Be Ye Therefore Perfect,” address given at the Institute of Religion at the University of Utah, Jan. 10, 1975. Quote printed in Our Destiny by Robert L. Millet and Joseph Fielding McConkie, p. 23)
I want each of you to take a moment and think about that. Visualize standing before our Father in Heaven and our soon to be Savior, Jesus Christ, and making this solemn oath or promise. Look in their eyes and feel their love for you and how pleased they are with you and the oath you just made to them. Let that sink deep in your hearts.
We are all familiar with the famous, Doctrine and Covenants 2:1-2
1 Behold, I will reveal unto you the Priesthood, by the hand of Elijah the prophet, before the coming of the great and dreadful day of the Lord.
2 And he shall plant in the hearts of the children the promises made to the fathers, and the hearts of the children shall turn to their fathers.
Speaking on this verse Bruce R. McConkie said:
“What is the promise? It says that in Abraham and in his seed, “shall all the families of the earth be blessed, even with the blessings of the Gospel, which are the blessings of salvation, even of life eternal” (Abr. 2:11). God gave Abraham a promise, and that promise has been planted in my heart because I am a descendant of Abraham. What God said to Abraham was, “Your descendants,” meaning, as we shall see, the ones through Isaac and Jacob, “shall have a right to the priesthood, to the gospel and to eternal life.” Three things. I have a right to them…, a right that I earned in preexistence when the Lord decided that I should be born in the lineage that is royal. The royal lineage! It is their right to have the priesthood, the gospel, and eternal life. If I do not obtain those things, it is my fault for not living up to the potential and the possibility that God gave me.” http://scottwoodward.org/dc2-commentary-prophetic.html
So, here in lies the blessings and the responsibilities that are ours as the Royal lineage. I love how he said that it is our “right to have the priesthood, the gospel, and eternal life.” Can you see what that means? It is not just something that we could possibly earn, but rather it is our right. Now with that, also comes the responsibility and the privilege of living up to that right.
Joseph Fielding Smith said, “I have heard people say , and members of the Church too, ‘ I have a right to do as I please.’ My answer is: No, you do not. You haven’t any right at all to do just as you please. There is only one right that you have, and that is to do just what I read to you: keep the commandments of Jesus Christ. He has a perfect right to tell us so. We have no right to refuse. I do not care where he lives, or what he is — when the gospel of Jesus Christ is presented to him, he has no right to refuse to receive it. He has the privilege. He is not compelled to receive it, because our Father in heaven has given to everyone of us in the Church and out, the gift of free agency. That free agency gives us the privilege to accept and be loyal to our Lord’s commandments. But it has never given us the right to reject them. Every man who rejects the commandments of our Father in heaven is rebellious.” (Joseph Fielding Smith, CR, April 1967, pp. 120-121)
As a member of the royal lineage ourselves, if we have no right to reject the gospel and all the blessings that flows from it, wouldn’t it be reasonable that our brothers and sisters who are also of that royal lineage have the same privilege to accept it once it is presented to them? So, with our right also comes the responsibility to share the Gospel and bring many souls unto Christ and help them to live up to and embrace all their rights and all the blessings of the royal lineage. This also includes those within the Church who are struggling and don’t understand what it means to be part of the royal lineage, and we must help them to come unto Christ as well.
Now that we know who we are, and we understand the sacred responsibility that is ours, we must now look at how we can best fulfill that responsibility.
Many years ago, as I stood in a parking garage, I remember as though it was yesterday, I felt the stirring of the spirit prompting me to ask my sister if she would like a blessing. My sister had been inactive for over a decade and was really struggling at that particular time. The spirit was so strong, and so I approached her and asked her if she would like a blessing. She said that she would like one. I laid my hands on her head and immediately the spirit went to work. I remember telling her that the Savior saw her face as He suffered for her sins. I remember feeling reluctant to say that to her, but the spirit was so strong and I knew that that is what I was to say. I knew it was true and yet I couldn’t comprehend it.
Then I found this in Moses 1:27-28
27 And it came to pass, as the voice was still speaking, Moses cast his eyes and beheld the earth, yea, even all of it; and there was not a particle of it which he did not behold, discerning it by the Spirit of God.
28 And he beheld also the inhabitants thereof, and there was not a soul which he beheld not; and he discerned them by the Spirit of God; and their numbers were great, even numberless as the sand upon the sea shore.
Absolutely, mind boggling, and yet if it was possible for Moses to see every soul, isn’t it reasonable that the Savior would see and behold each soul as He atoned for them.
Isn’t that remarkable? Through the spirit He saw and atoned for the one.
Last week at my family reunion in Utah, I asked my sister if I could share that blessing for my talk and she said yes, and began to thank me again and shared how that blessing was so instrumental for her to change her life and she reflects on it often. That was an additional testimony that the Savior truly cares about all the ones out there.
This contains the pattern for us as we endeavor to fulfill our responsibility in bringing souls to Christ, we too must rescue the one.
The spirit knows the one and can direct us to them and help us to know what we are to do and how we can best rescue them. Remember the pleading of our Savior, in Matthew 11:28-30:
28 Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.
29 Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls.
30 For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.
We must remember that the Savior has already atoned for and bore the sickness, sadness, trials, and tribulations that the one has experienced, is experiencing, and will ever experience. Our responsibility is to help them to come unto Christ, and realize this for themselves. As they come unto Christ, we will be the instruments in the Lords hands and our joy will be great and our rejoicing will reach heaven. We will know the sweetness of the blessings that will be theirs as they realize that they too are of the royal lineage and it too is their right to have the “the priesthood, the gospel, and eternal life.”
I bare my testimony of these things, in the name of Jesus Christ, Amen.
Craig
Source: http://ldstalks.blogspot.com/2018/06/talk-on-rescuing-one.html
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