Sacrament Talk
Given at the BYU-I 17th Ward
Describe experience of Abraham:
Abraham, one of the greatest patriarchs we have ever known of, was strictly obedient to the word of the Lord. After a lifetime of obedience and many years passed of trying to have children, messengers of the Lord came to proclaim that Sarah would birth a son: Isaac. This was a tremendous miracle of the Lord, since the child's mother was well beyond the years of childbearing. Yet, the lord decreed his arrival and made it known that Isaac would be the one through whom the promised Abrahamic blessings would come. Isaac was born and grew as a healthy heir of Abraham. Despite Abraham’s continual obedience, there was yet something—a test—that had to transpire before the blessings would be granted. This ultimate test of obedience to God came when God asked Abraham to offer Isaac as a sacrifice to him. This countered everything God had taught Abraham about the wickedness of human sacrifice. Moreover, through Abraham’s obedience in the offering of Isaac as a sacrifice, Abraham would lose his heir, thus rendering it impossible to receive the very blessings promised for obedience. Nevertheless, Abraham hearkened to the commandment of God and would have sacrificed Isaac had the Lord not intervened. This test of Abraham's obedience proved that Abraham was "determined to serve God at all hazards," therefore the Lord assured Abraham that the covenant made to him—the Abrahamic Covenant—was now in full force (Gen. 22:15-18).
Bruce R. McConkie teaches that
the gospel of Abraham was one of celestial marriage…. As a consequence, the righteous among all future generations were assured of the blessings of a continuation of the seeds forever, even as it was with Abraham of old (Bruce R. McConkie).
We see here that a loving Heavenly Father bestows the blessings of exaltation or godhood upon His children only as they willingly enter into and live to the fullest the Abrahamic Covenant, the covenant of Celestial Marriage.
Today I am speaking on the line in the Proclamation to the world that reads: “Marriage between man and woman is essential to His eternal plan.”
As we think of the very nature of godhood, one cannot suppose continued procreation into the eternities may happen unless there exists an eternal union of man and woman to last equally as long.
Though one is able to enter into the walls of Holy Temples and therein be anointed king and priest unto God through Celestial Marriage, it isn’t until this person has this anointing sealed through the Holy Spirit of Promise that the blessings become valid in his or her life.
D&C 132:7: And verily I say unto you, that the conditions of this law [the law of Celestial Marriage] are these: All covenants, contracts, bonds, obligations, oaths, vows, performances, connections, associations, or expectations, that are not made and entered into and sealed by the Holy Spirit of promise, of him who is anointed, both as well for time and for all eternity, …are of no efficacy, virtue, or force in and after the resurrection from the dead; for all contracts that are not made unto this end have an end when men are dead.
Joseph Smith spoke of this very principle when he explained the process by which a person may reap Abrahamic blessings:
Joseph Smith: After a person has faith in Christ, repents of his sins, and is baptized for the remission of his sins and receives the Holy Ghost, (by the laying on of hands), which is the first Comforter, then let him continue to humble himself before God, hungering and thirsting after righteousness, and living by every word of God, and the Lord will soon say unto him, Son, thou shalt be exalted. When the Lord has thoroughly proved him, and finds that the man is determined to serve Him at all hazards, then the man will find his calling and his election made sure, then it will be his privilege to receive the other Comforter….
This ‘other’ comforter—Christ himself—brings the promise of exaltation to the individual. Hereafter, the individual has the right to eternal posterity guaranteed to him and can lose it only through committing the unpardonable sin. This—in essence—is godhood.
Since godhood is what all of us ultimately desire and presumably few if any have yet qualified for, I would like to talk for a minute about what happens between the time one enters into the highest mortal covenants—that of Celestial Marriage—and the time one has his exaltation promised by the Savior. To do this, I want to incorporate experiences of the early saints around the time plural marriage was introduced to them, for this brought many great trials, some of which were of the magnitude of Abraham’s. Let’s look at Joseph Smith’s feelings as he was commanded to introduce this law to the saints:
Eliza R. Snow: The Prophet Joseph unbosomed his heart, and described the trying mental ordeal he experienced in overcoming the repugnance of his feelings… relative to the introduction of plural marriage. He knew the voice of God—he knew the commandment of the Almighty to him was to go forward—to set the example, and establish Celestial plural marriage. He knew that he had not only his own prejudices and prepossessions to combat and to overcome, but those of the whole Christian world stared him in the face; but God, who is above all, had given the commandment, and He must be obeyed. Yet the Prophet hesitated and deferred from time to time, until an angel of God stood by him with a drawn sword, and told him that, unless he moved forward and established plural marriage, his Priesthood would be taken from him and he should be destroyed! This testimony he not only bore to my brother, but also to others—a testimony that cannot be gainsayed.
The following experience is that of Brigham Young’s from his own account:
Brigham Young: Some of these my brethren know what my feelings were at the time Joseph revealed the doctrine; I was not desirous of shrinking from any duty, nor of failing in the least to do as I was commanded, but it was the first time in my life that I had desired the grave, and I could hardly get over it for a long time. And when I saw a funeral, I felt to envy the corpse its situation, and to regret that I was not in the coffin, knowing the toil and labor that my body would have to undergo; and I have had to examine myself, from that day to this, and watch my faith, and carefully meditate, lest I should be found desiring the grave more than I ought to do.
You will probably wonder at this, and that such should have been my feelings upon this point, but they were even so.
And that of Heber C. Kimballs (explained by his daughter). Joseph had been instructed by the Lord to speak and request that something precious of Heber C. Kimball’s be given up:
Heber C. Kimball's daughter: It was no less than a requirement for him to surrender his wife, his beloved Vilate, and give her to Joseph in marriage!
The astounding revelation well-nigh paralyzed him. He could hardly believe he had heard aright. Yet Joseph was solemnly in earnest. His next impulse was to spurn the proposition, and perhaps at that terrible moment a vague suspicion of the Prophet's motive and the divinity of the revelation, shot like a poisoned arrow through his soul.
But only for a moment, if at all, was such a thought, such a suspicion entertained. He knew Joseph too well, as a man, a friend, a brother, a servant of God, to doubt his truth or the divine origin of the behest he had made. No, Joseph was God's Prophet, His mouthpiece and oracle, and so long as he was so, his words were as the words of the Eternal One to Heber C. Kimball. His heart-strings might be torn, his feelings crucified and sawn asunder, but so long as his faith in God and the Priesthood remained, heaven helping him, he would try and do as he was told. Such, now, was his superhuman resolve.
Three days he fasted and wept and prayed. Then, with a broken and a bleeding heart, but with soul self-mastered for the sacrifice, he led his darling wife to the Prophet's house and presented her to Joseph.
It was enough—the heavens accepted the sacrifice. The will for the deed was taken, and "accounted unto him for righteousness." Joseph wept at this proof of devotion, and embracing Heber, told him that was all that the Lord required. He had proved him, as a child of Abraham, that he would "do the works of Abraham," holding back nothing, but laying all upon the altar for God's glory.
The Prophet joined the hands of the heroic and devoted pair, and then and there, by virtue of the sealing power and authority of the Holy Priesthood, Heber and Vilate Kimball were made husband and wife for all eternity.
Heber's crucial test was in part over.
Following that, he was told by Brother Joseph to go and take to wife another without telling Vilate, for she would find out in the Lord’s time. After three commandings, he listened. Certainly this proved to be the test that would wrench the heartstrings of Heber C. Kimball!
The Lord has told us today that…:
D&C 98:12-15: For he will give unto the faithful line upon line, precept upon precept; and I will try you and prove you herewith. And whoso layeth down his life in my cause, for my name's sake, shall find it again, even life eternal. Therefore, be not afraid of your enemies, for I have decreed in my heart, saith the Lord, that I will prove you in all things, whether you will abide in my covenant, even unto death, that you may be found worthy. For if ye will not abide in my covenant ye are not worthy of me.
D&C 101:4-5: Therefore, they must needs be chastened and tried, even as Abraham, who was commanded to offer up his only son. For all those who will not endure chastening, but deny me, cannot be sanctified.
In other words, through continued trials and purification — as if through a “refiner’s fire” — each of us will grow bit by bit through obedience until we are prepared to receive the fullness of joy in the Celestial Kingdom.
John Taylor, in quoting Joseph Smith, explains that after we have many tests, there will be a test given to us that will prove to be specific only to the individual that will prove ultimately if he or she will follow the commands of the Lord.
John Taylor: Nevertheless, as I have said, it is necessary that we pass through certain ordeals, and that we be tried. But why is it that we should be tried? There is just the same necessity for it now that there was in former times. I heard the Prophet Joseph say, in speaking to the Twelve on one occasion: ‘you will have all kinds of trials to pass through. And it is quite as necessary for you to be tried as it was for Abraham and other men of God, and (said he) God will feel after you, and He will take hold of you and wrench your very heart strings, and if you cannot stand it you will not be fit for an inheritance in the Celestial Kingdom of God.’ Some people have wondered why so many of the Twelve fell away. God tries people according to the position they occupy.
On another occasion, John Taylor added to this by saying,
Joseph said that if God had known any other way whereby he could have touched Abraham's feelings more acutely and more keenly he would have done so. (John Taylor, 24:264)
The promises of godhood found within the Abrahamic Covenant are likewise applicable to us today: Through entering into the Abrahamic Covenant, we will be granted the promised land (the earth for the Celestial Kingdom), eternal increase through spiritual offspring, and the blessing of the priesthood throughout all generations of time. Yet, in the meantime, we must grow in obedience, that we might have the strength and determination to serve God ‘at all hazards.’ We must gain sufficient faith in Christ, that we may stand victorious through our Abrahamic trial. We must prepare for an eternal family through creating a celestial family here.
Again quoting from the Proclimation,
successful marriages and families are established and maintained on principles of faith, prayer, repentance, forgiveness, respect, love, compassion, work, and wholesome recreational activities.
So that we may gain exaltation, marriage between man and woman is indeed essential to His eternal plan!
