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Two years ago Elder LeGrand Richards was addressing a convention in this city of men of various faiths and denominations, and he began his remarks by calling them all to repentance. I had the opportunity recently of meeting that same group and to realize the tremendous impact that that statement made upon them by one who spoke with authority.
"And we have seen and do testify that the Father sent the Son to be the Saviour of the world. Whosoever shall confess that Jesus is the Son of God, God dwelleth in him, and he in God." (1 John 4:14-15.)
Our mission in this Church is twofold. We must call all people to repentance, and to those who hearken unto our words teach the principles of the gospel of Jesus Christ.
Repent ye for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.
Repent and believe the gospel.
Christ said he came to call sinners to repentance and to save them.
Repentance grows out of faith in God. No matter how good we are, we have all sinned and have fallen short of the glory of God. As Alma of old said:
We must come forth and stand before him in his glory, and in his power, and in his might, majesty, and dominion, and acknowledge to our everlasting shame that all his judgments are just; that he is just in all his works, and that he is merciful unto the children of men, that he has all power to save every man that believeth on his name and bringeth forth fruit meet for repentance. (Alma 12:15.)
I am sure we all need to pray, "O God, have mercy on me a sinner."
Nothing is so much calculated to lead people to forsake sin as to take them by the hand and watch over them with tenderness.
So long as there is sin among men, repentance is as essential in one age of the world as in another. Joseph Smith said: "God does not look upon sin with allowance, but when men sin there must be allowance made for them." (See D. & C. 1:32-33.) We read:
For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but cave everlasting life.
For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through him might be saved. (John 3:16-17.)
We have a great example of the fruits of repentance when we go back to the Day of Pentecost, when the Apostles of old bore this testimony to the multitude, and they each heard it in their own tongue:
Therefore let all the house of Israel know assuredly, that God hath made that same Jesus, whom ye have crucified, both Lord and Christ. (Acts 2:36.)
This testimony of the Apostles provoked the inquiry, "Men and brethren, what shall we do?" (Ibid., 2:37.)
And then Peter gave the most wonderfully inspired reply:
Repent, and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins, and ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost. (Ibid., 2:38.)
that greatest of all promises which God has made to man.
It was the same with Paul, on the road to Damascus, when he questioned the Lord, "Who art thou, Lord? And the Lord said, I am Jesus whom thou persecutest. (Ibid., 9:5.) And then Paul asked the Savior, "Lord what wilt thou have me to do?" (Ibid., 9:6.)
Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.
Draw nigh to God, and he will draw nigh to you. Cleanse your hands, ye sinners; and purify your hearts, ye double minded.
Be afflicted, and mourn, and weep: let your laughter be turned to mourning, and your joy to heaviness.
Humble yourselves in the sight of the Lord, and he shall lift you up. (James 4:7-10.)
What business has any citizen of the kingdom to talk of a certain standard which is meant for him and not for all the subjects of the kingdom? What is it but adopting the maxim which the Roman poet unfairly ascribed to a Greek hero, "that laws were not born for him?" 1 tell you that his laws were born for all the children of our Heavenly Father upon the face of the earth. "And why call ye me, Lord, Lord, and do not the things which I say?" (Luke 6:46.)
Repentance is a t that cannot be trifled with every day of our lives. Daily transgressions, daily repentance are not pleasing in the sight of the Lord. We know as Latter-day Saints that in our lives, just as we have heard this beautiful chorus-choir sing, it is even now the eventide of the day in which we might properly repent.
Do not procrastinate repentance. Deathbed repentance does not fulfil the law -- man should repent and serve the Lord in health and in strength, in vigor of body and mind, and give of his life, such as may remain, when that faith in God, which creates the spirit of repentance within us, is received by him.
If we submit to his Spirit, we may bring forth now the fruits of good works which are to his glory. We may look for the day when every law of the kingdom shall be fulfilled and when all shall know him from the least to the greatest.
And churches, in the sense of their own nothingness, may seek after the foundation which God has laid and which will endure the shock of all winds and waves. And churches which rest upon their own decrees and traditions and holiness will be like the man who
". . . without a foundation built an house upon the earth; against which the streams did beat vehemently, and immediately it fell; and the ruin of that house was great." (Ibid., 6:49.)
The Church accepts the sinners into its society, not to foster them in their wickedness, but if they repent, to sanctify and cleanse them, by our kindness, from all unrighteousness.
Of what do we repent? Does repentance follow the violation of an arbitrary law imposed upon us by a power from on high? Why did the Lord ask Job, "Where wast thou when I laid the foundations of the earth? declare, if thou hast understanding." How significant the following questions:
Who hath laid the measures thereof, if thou knowest? or who bath stretched the line upon it?
Whereupon are the foundations thereof fastened? or who laid the cornerstone thereof. (Job 38:4-6.)
Would the Lord have asked these questions of Job had Job not had a preexistence, had there not been a plan of life and of salvation developed before the foundations of the earth were laid? And then we read that at that very time of which these questions relate, that "the morning stars sang together and all of the sons of God shouted for (Job 38:7.) Job participated in that singing and so did we.
Joseph Smith, the Prophet, leaves us no doubt on that subject. He says:
At the first organization in heaven we were all present and saw the Savior chosen and appointed and the plan of salvation made, and we sanctioned it. (Teachings of the Prophet Joseph Smith, page 181.)
Repentance, therefore, follows the violation of a law to which we ascribed of our own free will and choice; a law we covenanted in the heavens to obey; a law which through our acceptance gave us the privilege of coming here into mortality and working out our mortal existence that we might thereby progress to the higher spheres which await us. There was no reluctance in our acquiescence of this plan. We sang together as the sons of God; all of them shouted for joy.
No other proof should be needed, but if other proof were needed, we find it within ourselves. The power we possess to differentiate between right and wrong, good and evil, the Spirit of God within us with which we were born, our own free agency, all establish within ourselves, any external evidence of selves, wit any kind, the fact that we are under covenant to do that which is right; that which does not violate our own sensitive conscience.
It has been said by the Apostle Paul: ". . . we have had fathers of our flesh which corrected us, and we gave them reverence: shall we not much rather be in subjection unto the Father of spirits, and live?" (Heb. 12:9.)
Whatever we choose to do is voluntary, just as was the redeeming sacrifice of the Savior of mankind.
It is told of Lord Byron that when he was a lad attending a school, a companion of his fell under the displeasure of an overbearing bully, who unmercifully beat him. Byron happened to be present, and he went up to this bully, knowing that there was no use for him to attempt to fight him, and asked how long he intended to beat his friend. The bully immediately answered and said, "Well, what business is that of yours?" Byron replied very mildly, with tears standing in his eyes, "I will take the rest of the beating, if you will let him go."
Ours is a stronger case than that of Lord Byron's. He was under no prior commitment to do as he did. We are charged with the responsibility of doing as we have heretofore agreed. Repentance becomes our second chance to accomplish the purpose of our creation. As we repent, we are forgiven. Maybe Paul had this same thought in mind when he said:
What? know ye not that your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost which is in you, which ye have of God, and ye are not your own?
For ye are bought with a price: therefore glorify God in glorify God in your body, and in your spirit, which are God's. (1 Cor. 6:19-20.)
The Savior fulfilled all of his commitments.
If in this life only we have hope in Christ, we are of all men most miserable.
But now is Christ risen from the dead, and become the firstfruits of them that slept.
For since by man came death, by man came also the lion of the dead.
For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ shall all be made alive. (1 Cor. 15:19-22.)
Christ fulfilled the great mission for which he came to this earth: to atone for the sins of mankind to make the principle of repentance efficacious in our eternal progress.
The Nephi version is as follows: "But behold, all things have been done in the wisdom of him who knoweth all things. Adam fell that men might be; and men are, that they might have joy. And the Messiah cometh in the fullness of time, that he may redeem the children of men from the fall. And because that they are redeemed from the fall they have become free forever, knowing good from evil; to act for themselves and not to be acted upon, save it be by the punishment of the law at the great and last day, according to the commandments which God hath given." (2 Nephi 2:24-26.)
Therefore we believe in preaching the doctrine of repentance in all the world, both to old and young, rich and poor, bond and free. . . . But we discover, in order to be benefitted by the doctrine of repentance, we must believe in obtaining the remission of sins and in order to obtain the remission of our sins, we must believe in the doctrine of baptism in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ. And if we believe in baptism for the remission of sins, we may expect a fulfillment of the promise of the Holy Ghost, for the promise extends to all whom the Lord our God shall call, says the Prophet Joseph Smith. (Teachings of the Prophet Joseph Smith, page 82.)
The Savior finally said: "Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. 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.For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light." (Matt. 11:28-30.)
Look unto me, and be ye saved, all the ends of the earth: for I am God, and there is none else. (Isaiah 45:22.)
And finally, Isaiah writes: "I have sworn by myself, the word is gone out of my mouth in righteousness, and shall not return, That unto me every knee shall bow, every tongue shall swear. Surely, shall one say, in the Lord have I righteousness and strength, even to him shall men come; and all that are incensed against him shall be ashamed. (Ibid., 45:23-24.)
Let us not put off the day of our repentance. May the Lord help us to be pure and humble in his I pray humbly, in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ. Amen.
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