From a
satellite broadcast address to religious educators in the Church Educational
System at the
At the
center of the gifts of the Holy
Ghost is His unique
witnessing to us of Christ’s
atoning act, history’s greatest emancipation.
Neal A.
Maxwell, “The Holy
Ghost: Glorifying Christ,” Ensign, July 2002, 56
The overall gift of the Holy Ghost truly is one of
the greatest blessings available to members of the Church. We all need to
stress—for ourselves and for those whom we teach—the vital
connection with the gifts of the Holy Ghost. These gifts
are vital at every stage of an individual’s life and in every
situation of life. Members of the Church have received the gift of the Holy
Ghost,
but in many it lies dormant—somewhat like the ancients who had received the
gift but knew it not (see 3 Ne. 9:20).
Consider the statement of Elder Parley P. Pratt (1807-57) of the Quorum of
the Twelve Apostles:
“The Holy Ghost … quickens all the intellectual faculties, increases,
enlarges, expands, and purifies all the natural passions and
affections, and adapts them, by the gift of wisdom, to their lawful use. It
inspires, develops, cultivates, and matures all the fine-toned sympathies,
joys, tastes, kindred feelings, and affections of our nature” (Key
to the Science of Theology [1978], 61).
What a promise! No wonder we are instructed to “seek ye … the best gifts” and
their attendant joys (D&C 46:8). We are not
limited to just one gift, though that is the minimum each is given. Since the
realization of so many blessings does lie latent, the Apostle Paul urged us to
“stir up the gift of God, which is in thee” (2
Tim. 1:6).
In the Holy Ghost’s role in the Godhead, He “witnesses of the Father and
the Son” (2 Ne. 31:18; emphasis added), and
further He actually glorifies Christ (see John
16:14). Ever relevant, this glorification of our
Savior is so vital in the last days, when so many esteem Jesus, the Lord of the
Universe, as “naught” (1 Ne. 19:7). Therefore, at
the center of the gifts of the Holy Ghost is His unique
witnessing to us of Christ’s atoning act, history’s greatest
emancipation: “To some it is given by the Holy Ghost to know that
Jesus Christ is the Son of God, and that he was
crucified for the sins of the world” (D&C
46:13).
There is such a difference between the admiration and the adoration of
Jesus!
The Holy Ghost Glorifies Christ and His Atonement
Christ’s
Atonement, of course, is for super sinners and the midrange
sinners and then good people who make a lot of mistakes but are not
wicked! Each of these acts of drawing upon the Atonement requires us to put off
the natural man. I am persuaded that so much of taking up the cross
daily—daily, not quarterly or semiannually—consists of putting
off the natural man (see Mosiah 3:19). Doing this
involves some arduous isometrics—the old man working against the new spiritual
man. That natural man, as you know, will not go quietly or easily. And
even when he is put off, he has a way of hanging around, hoping to throw his
saddle on us once again.
May I call your attention to the word repentance and the Greek word
from which it came, which casts the concept in a broad and helpful light and
which covers the ground so very nicely. If we understood the nature of
repentance better, there would be more of it!
The English word repentance is the rendering for a Greek word which
means “a change of mind,” such as changing one’s view of himself, God, the
universe, life, others, and so on (see Bible Dictionary,
“Repentance,” 760). How good you and I get at repenting will determine
how good life is.
Those who overcome this world by repenting will in the process have formed
character which will give them “so much the advantage in the world to come” (D&C
130:19).
So much, therefore, of overcoming the world consists of overcoming the
proclivities of the natural man and woman. For example, submissiveness
does not come naturally to the arrogant natural man. Meekness—which isn’t
valued much as a virtue by the world—facilitates our submissiveness. For
example, John the Baptist never had a greater spiritual size, in my opinion,
than when he testified of Jesus’ emerging mission and said, “He must
increase, but I must decrease” (John
3:30). Of John the Baptist, Jesus said in turn, “Among
those that are born of women there is not a greater prophet” than he (Luke
7:28). But we live in a world in which people don’t
gladly “decrease” so that someone else can “increase.”
Jesus was at His perfect best when things were at their worst in Gethsemane and
Calvary. There could have been no Atonement without the character of Christ!
None of the precious lines I am going to share with you now and what occurred in
connection with them could have occurred without Jesus’ perfect character. He
entered Gethsemane, and the agony by then was so intense, so
overwhelming that, at least initially, He “fell on His face” (Matt.
26:39). And then we read of Him that He let His
will be “swallowed up in the will of the Father” (Mosiah
15:7), and He “poured out his soul unto death”
(Isa.
53:12; Mosiah
14:12). Think of the imagery—pouring out His soul unto
death and being swallowed up in the will of the Father!
He confides in us, in my opinion, what perhaps concerned Him most when He
said, “Would that I might not drink the bitter cup, and shrink” (D&C
19:18). In that connection, He felt “the fierceness of
the wrath of Almighty God” (D&C
76:107). I never recite or read that line without some
inner tremulation—“the fierceness of the wrath of the Almighty God,” during
which He stood in our stead and paid for our sins. If we will let the
foregoing imagery rest upon our minds and in our hearts
more often, it will bring the special chemistry of contemplation, evoking an
even deeper love for Christ and the Father and
greater gratitude for what took place. Remember King Benjamin’s words about
knowing Christ in our hearts and minds (see Mosiah
5:12-13). Remember, too, one of the gifts of the Holy
Ghost
is that He glorifies Christ.
Greater Need for Our Personal
Submissiveness
Now, we often make some common mistakes when applying the Atonement in our
lives. I will mention several. God leaves us free to make these very mistakes.
Yet each of these mistakes reflects a greater need for our personal
submissiveness.
First, we make a mistake when we think we own ourselves and that we own
blocks of time. It’s a natural thing to do. But our faith in God includes faith
in God’s timing, enough to be able to say, in effect, “Thy timing be
done” (see D&C
64:32).
We make another mistake when we fail to realize how much serious
discipleship consists of downsizing our egos and diminishing our
selfishness! The bloated natural man will resist any downsizing. But meekness
is what has to happen.
Another mistake we can make is that we maybe don’t take life’s little
quizzes seriously enough. We think we will cram and pass the final
exam! The infinite Atonement is there for our finite mistakes, including the
daily mistakes we tend to make. It is understandable, of course, that we focus
on the crunch times in our lives. We are mindful of these spikes of suffering and
stress, and we sometimes, ironically, let ourselves become overcome by
relentless routineness—with what might be called the daily dampening of things
spiritual.
We make another mistake. We fail to focus on and to develop patience
as well as faith (see Mosiah
23:21). These two attributes are in tandem; they go
together. By the way, if we are meek, being tried means being developed.
We don’t look at impatience in terms of its downside. When we are impatient, in
effect, we do not honor what is implied in the words “in process of time.” We
foolishly wish to have some of life’s moments over and done with,
seasons to be over with, ignoring the possibilities for service that are
inherent in them. We are somewhat like airline passengers in America who fly
coast to coast and resent the space in between; but there are souls down
there, not just sagebrush! Yet we want to fly over some experiences. It
is so likely we will miss the chance to be of service. So it is with life’s
seeming in-between and routine spaces! Impatience puts us at
risk.
We may feel put upon by events and circumstances—another mistake we
can make when not approaching the Atonement properly. Yet many of these things
that we feel put upon by actually constitute the customized curricula needed
for our personal development. Still, our tendency is to push away the necessary
and
prescribed courses of spiritual calisthenics. We can’t withdraw from all of
life’s courses and still really stay enrolled in school!
Another mistake we make is that we foolishly think we are free to choose,
without wanting the consequences of those choices! (see Alma
29:4). Bainville, the French philosopher, said, “One
must want the consequences of what one wants.”
Another mistake commonly made is that we play to the mortal galleries! We
listen too much to the wrong peers. There is what I call the mystic “they,” who
for some become ascendant. In terms of the choices they make, they want to
please the mystic “they.” We see this politically, in the corporate world, in
academic life, and so on.
Some people are so anxious to be politically correct and to conform to the
fashions of the world! What is worse, however, is when we see members of the
Church try to conform eternal truths to the ways and thinking of the
world. But it won’t work! As Paul warned, “The natural man receiveth not the
things of the Spirit of God: for they are foolishness unto him: neither can he
know them, because they are spiritually discerned” (1
Cor. 2:14). It is a terrible mistake for us to try to
please the world by twisting and conforming things that won’t fit in the
secular matrix.
Now, these mistakes are but a few we make; they keep us from fully applying
the Atonement to our lives. They are not worthy of Jesus and what He
accomplished in Gethsemane and on Calvary!
To understand and have faith, therefore, in the character and the purposes of
God means that instead of complaining, we accept (more than we do) the menu of
life and what is allotted to us. Sometimes with particular individuals
that may seem to be the equivalent of “Eat your spinach” and “Clean your
plate.”
Part of discipleship should be to become high-yield, low-maintenance members
of the Church. These members are not high profile; they won’t be on the six
o’clock evening news when they die. But they have done what Heavenly Father has
wanted them to do meekly and humbly.
I’m going to mention two such sisters. Many years ago, one wonderful sister,
Roxie N. Rich, who had been married for 11 years in 1944 and had no children,
prayed in the temple that she and her husband could have a child. And
then they were able to adopt a child. She noticed that when the birth
certificate was finally given to them, the birth of the child was on the day
she offered the prayer in the Salt Lake Temple. Soon they adopted three
deserted children and sponsored two others from Europe—five children at once in high
school. She said in her letter to me that “I felt like a real mother then.”
Sister Rich is 92 years old now.
Her husband, recently deceased, was a bishop and high councilor
for 18 years. She wrote very modestly, almost offhandedly, that she had been a
ward organist for 16 different bishops. They have an organ in their home. This
sweet sister writes that though her husband’s memory was failing, he liked to
sit in the overstuffed chair with his pet dog at his feet and listen to her
play Church hymns, and when she did, he would clap. The son whom
they adopted many years ago died of cancer recently. He called the night
before, long distance, and asked his mother to tell his father
good-bye and said good-bye to his mother. This sweet sister is emblematic
of the kind of discipleship about which I am striving to speak.
There is another sister, Sister Esther Packard, who had 16 children. Her
husband was on Wake Island as a civilian worker. The Japanese took the island, and
he was a prisoner of war for four and a half years. At the time he was
taken prisoner, she was expecting their 16th child. She was a remarkable woman.
The special thing about the Packard family is they don’t know how good they
are. They are truly meek and special, and yet, as things
are measured, they are high achievers, spiritually distinguished. Among them
are sister leaders, stake presidents, mission presidents, temple presidents, and
one who served as a U.S. congressman for 18 years. Yet they are so meek and
modest. I was told not long ago by one of her sons serving as a stake president
what his mother said as she lay dying. She said modestly as she was soon to
die, “I’ve been a good girl.”
Isn’t that similar to what we would like to have said of us? In the fifth
chapter of Helaman we are reminded of parents and what was said and
written of them: “That they were good” (Hel.
5:6). This goodness is inherent in the two sisters
I’ve attempted to describe so briefly, made possible by the discipleship which
draws regularly upon the Atonement of Christ and
which endures well—not just survives but endures well. It is a wonderful thing
to think of someone whose résumé wouldn’t impress the world but who was ward
organist for 16 bishops. And to think of another sister with 16
children and over 100 grandchildren, who could say in her moment of
departure, “I’ve been a good girl.”
We Should Glorify Christ
For you and me, to be part of this work amid these kinds of people is a
precious thing. Since the Holy Ghost glorifies Christ
as indicated, so should we. One of the ways you and I can glorify Christ
is by improving and repenting, showing that we take seriously the proffered
discipleship that comes from Him. We should care enough about it that it lies
at the very center of our lives. The world may miss it altogether. The world
may see the doctrines we teach as foolishness, but we know that doctrines drive
discipleship and that the Spirit gives us so many gifts, including the several
I have enumerated here.
I conclude by sharing my growing feeling of appreciation for another reality
of the gospel. What we do on this earth is so vital, but it is actually a
preparation for our labors in paradise in the spirit world. The scope in that
spirit world is 10 times as large as are the demographics of this world. It is,
though, a place of peace, a place of intense devotion. One sees in section 138
of the Doctrine and Covenants words that tell us about the character of God. Not
only will the gospel go to those who have never heard of it, but also included
are those who have been in transgression, in rebellion, and who have rejected
the prophets.
No wonder on Judgment Day every knee will bow and every tongue
confess that Jesus is the Christ. Those who have lived without God in
the world will confess that God is God. His mercy is supernal. Indeed, as the
Book of Mormon says, His mercy “overpowereth justice” (Alma
34:15). Remember Brigham Young’s statement about faith
in Jesus’ character, in Jesus’ Atonement, and in the plan of
salvation? Such faith should help us more than it is allowed to do by us at
times. We can also understand that as important as our labors here are, they
have to be put in perspective in the context of that plan.
We do not control what I call “the great transfer board in the sky.” The
inconveniences that are sometimes associated with release from our labors here
are necessary in order to accelerate the work there. Heavenly Father can’t do
His work there, with 10 times more people than we have on this planet, without
on occasion taking some of the very best sisters and brothers from
among us. The conditions of termination here, painful though they are, are a
part of the conditions of acceleration there. Thus we are back to faith in the
timing of God, and to our need to be able to say “Thy timing be done,”
even when we do not fully understand it.
I testify to you that the Church is led by a prophet who was prepared for a
long, long time before he became the President of the Church. President Gordon
B. Hinckley is naturally bright and keen. He has a fabulous memory and,
most of all, is well connected with the Spirit.
The Church will pass through some turbulence that lies ahead. We will be all
right. However, do all you can to be connected with the gifts of the Holy
Ghost,
and
He will glorify Christ. He will give you a precious reassurance about The Church
of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.
Faster than we realize, we are being more sharply defined and are seen in ways
that are significantly different. We must measure up to our time and
say with the ancient prophet Nephi, as he thought upon the ministries of those
who preceded him, “I am consigned that these are my days” (Hel.
7:9). These are your days, brothers and sisters. And
the intertwining of your lives with the lives of others isn’t simply reflective
of this mortal second estate. I so testify to you! I seek to glorify Christ.
I know it is my apostolic duty, but it is also my delight.
Gospel topics: Jesus Christ, Holy Ghost, Atonement,
humility
Let’s Talk about It
Most Ensign articles can be used for family home evening
discussions. The following questions are for that purpose or for personal
reflection:
1. In what ways does the Holy Ghost bless our
lives?
2. How can we overcome the weaknesses that prevent us from fully applying
the Atonement in our lives?
3. In what ways can we personally glorify Christ?
[photo] Photo by Michael
Schoenfeld; electronic composition by Charles Baird
[photos] Photos ©
Photodisc and Steve Bunderson
[photos] Photos by Steve
Bunderson
© 2003 Intellectual Reserve, Inc. All
rights reserved.