Covenants — Missionary Training Center sacrament meeting talk
Covenants
I am very grateful for the opportunity to share a few thoughts concerning covenants and their importance in our lives. I would first remind all of us exactly what a covenant is. A covenant is a sacred agreement between God and a person or a group of persons. Elder Jeffrey R. Holland gave a beautiful description of what a covenant is: “A covenant is a binding spiritual contract, a solemn promise to God our Father that we will live and think and act in a certain way, the way of his Son Jesus Christ. In return, the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost promise to grant us the full splendor of eternal life.” It is important to remember that although our covenants are agreements between us and Heavenly Father, Heavenly Father always sets the terms or conditions of the covenant. As much as we might want to adjust or alter the terms to meet our own expectations or desires, such cannot be. We only have the option or agency to enter into the covenant with all its terms, or to not enter into the covenant. We need to be fully aware of how seriously Heavenly Father takes these covenants. There is no coercion, no force or compulsion on His part, so when we choose to enter into a covenant relationship with Him, He expects nothing less than complete obedience and adherence to the terms of the covenant. We can know with a surety that Heavenly Father will honor His promises to us, and our sense of honor and responsibility can be nothing less.
What covenants do we make during our mortal lives? Four main covenants of salvation and exaltation can be entered into. They are baptism and confirmation, the sacrament, receiving the priesthood, and temple covenants. With each of these covenants comes sobering responsibilities on our part, and transcendent blessings on the Lord’s part. It is remarkable to notice how greatly disproportionate are the blessings promised compared to the obedience required. When the Lord said that he would repay 100 fold or greater, He was very sincere. As we review these 4 covenants, each of us should ask: “How am I doing in keeping my promises to the Lord”?
The covenant of baptism and confirmation are beautifully enumerated in Mosiah 18. The Lord expects us to keep his commandments, to bear one another’s’ burdens, to stand as witnesses of God at all times and in all places, to repent, and to receive the Holy Ghost. The Lord promises, in return, that we will be blessed by the companionship of the Holy Ghost, that our burdens will be lightened, we will be redeemed of God, numbered with those of the First Resurrection, have eternal life. Put a price tag on those blessings, brothers and sisters. Are they worth the effort to keep our covenants?
In the covenant of the sacrament, we promise to take upon ourselves the name of Christ. to always remember Him, and to keep His commandments. What does it mean to take upon ourselves His name? To me it means that we make a declaration to the world that by watching me and my actions, you will better understand who Jesus was and why He came to earth. My life and my actions are a reflection of the healing power of the Atonement. I am a living testimony of Jesus, his life, and his gospel. How about always remembering Him? Although we can’t realistically keep Jesus in our thoughts every moment of the day, we certainly can show our remembrance of Him in every decision we make and every act we perform. We remember Him as our acts reflect His will. The blessings of keeping our covenants at the sacrament table? That we may always have His spirit to be with us! Section 121 describes the blessing that come with having the Holy Spirit as our constant companion. Listen to these: confidence shall wax strong in the presence of the Lord, doctrine will distill upon our souls as the dew from heaven, we will possess scepters of righteousness and truth. These incredible blessings are worth every effort on our part. Sister Reeves in a recent conference address stated that “We can be washed clean weekly as we worthily partake of the Sacrament.”
In the oath and covenant of the holy priesthood, we agree to magnify the calling, exercise the priesthood, receive Jesus in our lives, serve others and live by every word that proceeds out of God’s mouth. No small task, but consider the resultant blessings: We become the Church and the Kingdom and the elect of God, and all that the Father has will be given to us! All that He has? We become joint heirs with Christ?
The temple covenants include the endowment and sealing covenants. The endowment in a course of sacred instruction, accompanied by ordinances and covenants. We agree to be obedient to God, to live a chaste and moral life, to benevolent, tolerant, and to dedicate all of our talents and resources to building the kingdom. These promises are daunting, and they should be. The Savior said that his way would be strait and narrow and uphill and there would be few that would find it. However, the rewards are incomprehensible. We are promised that we will endowed with spiritual power, inspired, protected physically and spiritually, and ultimately to be escorted into the presence of the Father and the Son.
How do we honor our covenants? The course of discipleship is different for every saint, but we grow in commitment line upon line, precept by precept. We must be anxiously engaged in all good causes. Think of those two words: anxiously? No one is prodding us, reminding us, nudging us. No. We serve the Lord by doing many things of our own free will and choice, because the power is in us. What power? The power of living a covenant life, dedicated to His cause. We learn our duty, and act in the office of our callings in all diligence. Christ-like conduct becomes the very essence of our nature and our efforts. We realize that we must “do” before we will “know”, and that we must “act” before we are “blessed”, and that faith must precede any expected miracles.
Who are some of the great “covenant-keepers” that stand out in the scriptures? How about Abraham? To keep his covenants, he gave up family and parents and homeland, and was even willing to give us his own son. He blessed himself and millions of his posterity by so doing. How about the apostle Paul, who honored his baptismal and priesthood covenants. He ultimately said, “ I have fought a good fight, I have finished my course, I have kept the faith. Henceforth there is laid up for me a crown of righteousness.” Those are the words of a covenant disciple of Christ. How about Joseph Smith? “Joseph Smith, the prophet and seer, has done more, save Jesus only, for the salvation of men in this work, than any other man that ever lived in it. He lived great and he died great, in the eyes of God and his people.” Did Joseph take seriously the covenants and promises he made to the Lord? And our Savior? Did he honor his covenant with the Father to atone for our sins? His tasks were so great he asked if there was some other way in with he could accomplish his promises. There being no other way, he was true to his word and completed the task, bearing indescribable pain and hardship to do so.
Brothers and Sisters, I bear testimony that our covenants empower us, enable us to bless others, and they make eternal life possible for us and our families.
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