Lesson 7: "The First Principles and Ordinances of the Gospel"

8/23/2019 Lesson 7: "The First Principles and Ordinances of the Gospel"

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To download past handouts, go to: highlandvalleysundayschoolnotes2012.blogspot.com

#1 Elder D. Todd Christofferson: “The gospel, said President Gordon

B. Hinckley, ‘is a plan of freedom thatgives discipline to appetite and direc-

tion to behavior.’ This plan puts us on a pathof increasing knowledge and capacity, increas-ing grace and light. It is the freedom to be-come what you can and ought to be. But foryour freedom to be complete, you must bewilling to give away all your sins (see Alma22:18), your willfulness, your cherished butunsound habits, perhaps even some goodthings that interfere with what God sees is es-sential for you.” (“You Are Free”, Ensign, March 2013)

#2 “My daughter andI were visiting in myparents’ home. Alongabout sundown mymother asked if wewould like to step out

on the back porch andwatch Father call his[five] sheep to comeinto the shelter forthe night. Father… is

a stake patriarch, and… the personification of all that is good and gentle and a true man of God. “...Father walked to the edge of the field

and called, ‘Come on.’ Immediately, withouteven stopping to bite off the mouthful of foodthey were reaching for, all five heads turnedin his direction, and then [the sheep] brokeinto a run until they had reached his side andreceived his pat on each head. “My little daughter said, ‘Oh, Grandmother,

how did Grandfather get them to do that?’ “My mother answered, ‘The sheep know his

voice, and they love him.’ Now I must confethat there were five sheep in the field, and

five heads went up when he called, but onlyfour ran to Father. Farthest away, clear overon the edge of the field, looking straight to-ward Father, stood [a] large [ewe]. Fathercalled to her, ‘Come on.’ She made a motionas if to start but didn’t come. Then Fatherstarted across the field, calling to her, ‘Comeon. You’re untied.’ The other four sheeptrailed behind him at his heels. “Then Mother explained to us that some fe

weeks before this, an acquaintance of theirshad brought the [ewe] and had given it to Fther with the explanation that he no longerwanted it in his own herd. The man had saidwas wild and wayward and was always leading his other sheep through the fences andcausing so much trouble that he wanted toget rid of it. Father gladly accepted the sheeand for the next few days he staked it in the

field so it wouldn’t go away. Then he patienttaught it to love him and the other sheep.Then, as it felt more secure in its new homeFather left a short rope around its neck butdidn’t stake it down. “As Mother explained this to us, Father and

his sheep had almost reached the [stragglerat the edge of the field, and through the stilness we heard him call again, ‘Come on. You

aren't tied down any more. You are free.’ “I felt the tears sting my eyes as I saw [thsheep] give a lurch and reach Father’s side.Then, with his loving hand on her head, heand all the members of his little flock turnedand walked back toward us again.” (Ibid.)



#3 Elder Russell M. Nelson: “Thedoctrine of repentance is muchbroader than a dictionary’s defini-tion. When Jesus said ‘repent,’ Hisdisciples recorded that command inthe Greek language with the verb

metanoeo . This powerful word has great sig-nificance. In this word, the prefix meta meanschange.’ The suffix relates to four importantGreek terms: nous , meaning ‘the mind’, gnosis , meaning ‘knowledge’, pneuma , meaningspirit’, and pnoe , meaning ‘breath.’

“Thus, when Jesus said ‘repent,’ He askedus to change —to change our mind, knowl-edge, and spirit —even our breath. A prophetexplained that such a change in one’s breath

is to breathe with grateful acknowledgment of Him who grants each breath.” (“Repentance and

Converson”, Ensign , April 2007)

#4 The Prophet Joseph Smith: “Salvation is nothing more nor lessthan to triumph over all our enemiesand put them under our feet. And

when we have power to put all enemies underour feet in this world, and a knowledge to tri-

umph over all evil spirits in the world to come,then we are saved, as in the case of Jesus,who was to reign until He had put all enemiesunder His feet, and the last enemy was death

[see 1 Corinthians 15:25 –26].” (HC 5:387-88)

#6 Elder Christofferson: “It is exciting to re-alize that we can expand our freedom by per-

#5 Elder Christofferson: “License is not lib-erty. Self-absorption and self-indulgence arenot freedom. It is yielding to the discipline of

God’s will and His love that brings true free-dom —the freedom to excel, to create, tobless.” (this is from the same talk, but a more complete version foundonline called “Allegiance to God”, a BYU devotional given 19October 1999:http://speeches.byu.edu/?act=viewitem&id=344)

#7 President Hinckley: “It isn’t asbad as you sometimes think it is. Iall works out. Don’t worry. I saythat to myself every morning. It wall work out. Put your trust in God

and move forward with faith and confidencethe future. The Lord will not forsake us. Hewill not forsake us.” (“Put Your Trust in God”, Ensign, Feb, 2006)

#8 President Ezra Taft Benson: “Repentance means more than simply a reformation of behavior… Trrepentance is based on and flowsfrom faith in the Lord Jesus Christ

There is no other way. True repentance in-volves a change of heart and not just achange of behavior” (see Alma 5:13) (The Teaching

Ezra Taft Benson, 71).

Elder Neal A. Maxwell: “...repentance requires both turnin

away from evil and turning toGod” (CR Oct. 1991).

#9 Elder Dennis B. Neuenschwander: “The ordinances of baptism a

the sacrament are bound togetherinseparably. Through baptism we r

ceive a remission of our sins.Through the sacrament we ‘retain a remis-sion’ of sins. By participating in baptism an

the sacrament, we agree, or covenant, thawe are willing to take the name of Christ

upon us, to keep His commandments, and always remember Him. In both instances,

based upon our obedience to the ordi-nances, God extends the promise, or cove-nant that we would have His Spirit to be

with us.” (BYU Fireside, 27 October 2000)

fecting our obedience. In President Boyd K.Packer’s words, ’We are not obedient becauswe are blind, we are obedient because we c

see’ (CR April 1983)” (Ibid.)

http://scriptures.lds.org/1_cor/15/25-26#25







#10 Elder Russell M. Nelson: “The doctrine of repentance is much broader than a diction-ary’s definition. When Jesus said ‘repent,’ Hisdisciples recorded that command in the Greek anguage with the verb metanoeo . This pow-erful word has great significance. In this word,

the prefix meta means ‘change.’ The suffix re-ates to four important Greek terms: nous ,meaning ‘the mind’, gnosis , meaning

‘knowledge’, pneuma , meaning ‘spirit’, andpnoe , meaning ‘breath.’

“Thus, when Jesus said ‘repent,’ He askeus to change —to change our mind, knowl-edge, and spirit —even our breath. A propheexplained that such a change in one’s breath

is to breathe with grateful acknowledgment Him who grants each breath.” (“Repentance and

Converson”, Ensign , April 2007)

Other thoughts too great not to include: Sister Belle Spafford, former General Relief Society President: “May I relate an experience. Authozation, as many of you know, has been given by the Brethren for Relief Societies, under specified circum-stances, to be organized in nursing or residential homes for older sisters. One day I visited such a Relief Society. The members were between seventy-five and ninety years of age. They were ambulatory, bright of mind, and enthusiastic over their society. The lesson was from the Doctrine and Covenants and was followby testimony bearing. The sisters contributed intelligently to the lesson discussions. Their offerings reflectea knowledge of Church doctrine and familiarity with the gospel, as well as rich life experiences. It was a deightful meeting. Then came the testimony period. Each sister who spoke, one by one, prayed that she woendure to the end. As I contemplated their intelligent understanding of the gospel as demonstrated in thediscussion, and as I considered how late in life it was for most of them, I thought, why would they pray ththey might endure to the end? Surely they have already proved themselves.

“Later, however, in private conversation with some of them, I was made aware that they were not en-tirely above reproach, that they had a tendency to excuse themselves for failures to comply with the laws the gospel because of age and circumstances.

“These are a few comments made by these sisters as I talked with them:

“One sister said, ‘We have sacrament meeting here at the home, as well as Relief Society, but I never gto sacrament meeting. I am too old to be preached to.’ I inquired, ‘Don’t you feel a need to partake of thesacrament?’ ‘No,’ the sister indifferently replied. ‘I don’t think it matters at my age.’

“Another sister said, ‘I want to move to a little better home. I have enough money to do so. I have no

one on whom to spend my money but myself. My family does not need it, and I am no longer interested indoing things for others that cost money. I don’t even pay tithing. I don’t think the Lord expects it of one mage.’

“Still another sister, who was drinking tea as I called, said, ‘I almost live on tea. When I was a youngerwoman, you couldn’t have hired me to drink a cup of tea, but I don’t think it will be held against me now.’

“Yet another said, as we heard footsteps near the door, ‘I hope that’s not my daughter. She only comesbecause she fears criticism if she doesn’t. She has very little love for me, and I have very little for her.’

“One more comment: ‘I seem to be growing weaker every day, suffering as I do with pain. I used to hathe elders administer to me, but I don’t believe in that anymore.’

“Attendance at sacrament meeting, partaking of the sacrament, renewing one’s covenants, the paymenof tithing, observance of the Word of Wisdom, love of family, priesthood administration —all basic laws of tgospel —had been abandoned by one or the other of these sisters with a feeling of justification; yet each hearnestly prayed that she might endure to the end.

“Sympathetic as we may be toward these sisters and toward their circumstances, and understanding aswe may be of their actions, yet we must recognize that with clear minds they were justifying the nonobservance of God’s laws. I am led to ask also, Has the Lord ever set a retirement age for keeping his commandments? (“Endure to the End,” in Remarkable Stories from the Lives of Latter-day Saint Women, Leon R. Hartshorn, 1:231)







D&C LESSON 7 OUTLINE

~Would anyone be willing to recite the 4th Article of Faith for the rest of us?While they’re reciting it, fairly slowly, let’s all concentrate of the why—on what thepurpose is of these principles and ordinances in our lives.

On Board as it’s recited: FAITH

HOLY GHOST REPENTANCE

BAPTISM

~What do these steps help us to become? (obedient)~And what does obedience, ironically, produce? (freedom. There are two parts

to this freedom: both the freedom to act and the freedom from somethinWe’ll talk about this more in a bit.)

Quotation #1Don’t you love how President Hinckley described the gospel? “...a plan of freedom”!That must mean that somehow these principles and ordinances, when lived, make ufree. It’s so counterintuitive, but we know it’s true, don’t we?

~Would you say that the first principles and ordinances are more similar to thislinky or this game board? (both get you from point a to point b, but theslinky repeats the circle over and over while gradually taking us higher.)

In this month’s Ensign, Elder Christofferson repeats a story his Aunt told him abouthis Grandfather. She said:

Quotation #2~What is the rope symbolic of? What binds us down in our lives? (sin)~What frees us from having to have that rope around our necks? (Christ’s

Atonement)~And what are the steps Heavenly Father has instructed us are necessary for u

to allow the Atonement to sanctify us? (the 1st principles & ordinances othe gospel)

If you think about it, the first principles and ordinances of the gospel are the procesof repentance —the only means whereby we can become like Christ. Here’s whatElder Russell M. Nelson said about the word repentance:

Quotation #3Remember in D&C 11:9 it says: “Say nothing but repentance unto this generation.”?always wondered what that meant. Now I know the whole gospel is a gospel of re-



pentance. Of changing us so we can live with the Father forever, which is salvation!

Now...Joseph Smith taught an interesting definition of salvation:Quotation #4

~Is it possible for us to be independent? A free agent? Obedient to none? To dwhatever we want? To reject Heavenly Father’s instructions and say,

“That’s fine for others, but I’ll just be over here doing my own thing notbothering anyone, just existing peacefully”?

2 Nephi 2:27Self-indulgence is not true freedom, anyway. We’re all self -indulgent to one degree oanother —does it bring us happiness?

Quotation #5

Elder Christofferson also talks about presiding in a Church disciplinary council saying

“The man whose sins were the subject of the council sat before us and related somthing of his history. His sins were indeed serious, but he had also been terribly sinneagainst. As we considered the matter, my soul was troubled, and I asked to be ex-cused to think and pray about it alone before rejoining the council.” Then Elder Christofferson received a revelation —a vision. He said:“I was standing in front of a chair in my office pleading with the Lord to help me understand how such evil could have been perpetrated. I did not see but rather sensedan immense pit with a covering over it. One corner of the covering was lifted slightlyfor just an instant, and I perceived within it the depth and vastness of the evil thatexists in this world. It was greater than I could really comprehend. I was overcome.collapsed into the chair behind me. It seemed to take my breath away. I cried silentHow can we ever hope to overcome such evil? How can we survive something sodark and overwhelming?’”

~How can we overcome such evil?“In that moment there came to my mind this phrase: ‘Be of good cheer; I have ovecome the world’’ (John 16:33)

Quotation #6

~What is it that we can see? (the alternative, the vastness of evil that wouldovercome us, and that caused our Savior to bleed at every pore in Geth-semane)

Since we have some time, let’s delve into these principles and ordinances a bit: FAITH: ~Does worrying indicate that our faith is weak?

Quotation #7REPENTANCE: ~Is repentance simply changing our behavior?



Quotation #8BAPTISM: ~What is the equivalent of baptism for us each week? (sacrament)

Quotation #9

As we follow the upward spiral, we are doing something else Elder Holland called“another ‘first principle’ beyond the four usually listed, [and] taught by the Father

himself.” (Christ and the New Covenant: The Messianic Message of the Book of Mormon , 398)

~Any ideas what this principle is? (D&C 14:7: enduring to the end)~Do we ever take a break from this path?~How about when we reach age 90?~How about if our calling & election is made sure?~How about if we’re comatose? (apparently not, after hearing Elder Gay’s stor

last week about the mother who’s boy was comatose and on life supportfor years. What was she told as he passed on to the spirit world? Some

thing about Well done, thy son has repented and is going home. I wishnow I’d taken better notes!!)

That we may do likewise is my prayer...

Lesson 7: "The First Principles and Ordinances of the Gospel"

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