Meaningful Sacrament

                As members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, we have the opportunity each week to partake of the sacrament and renew our covenants with God.  To make this experience more meaningful, we should examine our lives carefully, ponder the Atonement of Jesus Christ, and consider what we need to do to repent of our sins.  We do not need to be perfect in order to partake of the sacrament, but we should have a spirit of humility and repentance in our hearts.  When we place proper priority on the sacrament, it can become a source of strength as well as an opportunity to rededicate ourselves to living the gospel.

                Matthew, one of the original Twelve Apostles of Jesus Christ, shared his experience of the first sacrament:  “And as they were eating, Jesus took bread, and blessed it, and brake it, and gave it to the disciples, and said, Take, eat; this is my body.

                “And he took the cup, and gave thanks, and gave it to them, saying, Drink ye all of it;

                “For this is my blood of the new testament, which is shed for many for the remission of sins” (Matthew 26:26-28).

                Can you imagine being in the presence of our Savior as He blessed and passed the bread and water?  When I first considered this question, my thoughts were about how wonderful it would be to see the Savior and be in His presence.  Then I realized that I can have a similar experience every Sunday if I go to sacrament meeting prepared to grow spiritually.  I probably will not see the Savior, but I can feel His presence.

                 I have enjoyed many spiritual experiences during sacrament meeting.  One of the most powerful ones came as I was pondering if I would recognize the Savior and how I would act in His presence.  I was blessed with a three-second vision of myself kneeling at His feet and knew that I would recognize Him because I would feel His presence as well as see Him.

                Elder Dallin H. Oaks of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles explained that we live in the perilous times prophesied by the Apostle Paul in 2 Timothy 3:1 and can “be distracted, degraded, downhearted, or depressed” by the world around us.  He said that the Lord gave the answer in modern revelation when He renewed the commandment to keep the Sabbath Day holy.  With the Lord’s renewal, He also gave us a promise.

                “And that thou mayest more fully keep thyself unspotted from the world, thou shalt go to the house of prayer and offer up thy sacraments upon my holy day;

                “For verily this is a day appointed unto you to rest from your labors, and to pay thy devotions unto the Most High” (Doctrine and Covenants 59:9-10.

                Sacrament meeting is the “most sacred and important meeting in the Church” because of the ordinance of the sacrament.  We can make this meeting and the ordinance more meaningful by being prepared to have a spiritual experience.  We should dress in an appropriate manner for a sacred meeting.  Elder Oaks said, “Our manner of dress indicates the degree to which we understand and honor the ordinance in which we will participate.”  We should come to the meeting with “a broken heart and a contrite spirit.”  We should be seated before the meeting begins in order to listen to the prelude music and to bring our spirits in tune with the Spirit of the Lord.  Elder Oaks said that “we should concentrate on worship and refrain from all other activities, especially from behavior that could interfere with the worship of others.”  (“Sacrament Meeting and the Sacrament,” Ensign, November2008, pp. 17-20).  

                Elder Robert D. Hales of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles spoke about “coming to ourselves” by the way we partake of the sacrament, participate in temple service, and sacrifice in service.  “We become converted and spiritually self-reliant as we prayerfully live our covenants – through worthily partaking of the sacrament, being worthy of a temple recommend, and sacrificing to serve others.

                “To worthily partake of the sacrament, we remember that we are renewing the covenant we made at baptism.  For the sacrament to be a spiritually cleansing experience each week, we need to prepare ourselves before coming to sacrament meeting.  We do this by deliberately leaving behind our daily work and recreation and letting go of worldly thoughts and concerns.  As we do, we make room in our minds and hearts for the Holy Ghost.

                “Then we are prepared to ponder on the Atonement.  More than just thinking about the facts of the Savior’s suffering and death, our pondering helps us to recognize that through the Savior’s sacrifice, we have the hope, opportunity, and strength to make real, heartfelt changes in our lives.

                “As we sing the sacrament hymn, participate in the sacrament prayers, and partake of the emblems of His flesh and blood, we prayerfully seek forgiveness for our sins and shortcomings.  We think about the promises we made and kept during the previous week and make specific personal commitments to follow the Savior during the coming week” (“Coming to Ourselves:  The Sacrament, the Temple, and Sacrifice in Service,” Ensign, May 2012, pp.34-36).  

                Elder Don R. Clarke of the Quorum of the Seventy spoke about the blessings of the sacrament.  “If we properly prepare for the sacrament, we can transform our lives.  I would like to suggest five principles that can bless our lives as we partake of the sacrament worthily. 1) The first principle is to have a feeling of gratitude to Heavenly Father during the sacrament for the Atonement of His Son.  2) The second principle is to remember that we are renewing our baptismal covenants as we partake of the sacrament….  The sacramental prayers are a reminder of these covenants.  3) Thirdly, during the sacrament we can feel forgiven of our sins.  If we have spent time before sacrament meeting repenting of our sins, we can leave sacrament meeting feeling clean and pure.  4) The fourth principle is that we can receive inspiration for solutions to our problems during sacrament meeting….  As we humbly come to sacrament meeting, we can be blessed to feel impressions for solutions to our daily problems.  We must come prepared, be willing to listen, and not be distracted.  5) The fifth principle, partaking of the sacrament worthily, will help us be filled with the Holy Ghost….  The sacramental prayer also promises that if we live up to our covenants, we will always have His Spirit to be with us” (“Blessings of the Sacrament,” Ensign, November 2012, pp. 104-106).  

                I know that we can each do something to make our sacrament experiences more meaningful.  I know that we can bring more blessings into our lives by making sacrament meeting the most important part of our Sabbath Day.  I encourage you to consider what you can do to make the sacrament more meaningful to you.

Understanding Sacred Covenants

                As members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, we make sacred covenants with our Heavenly Father when we participate in the ordinances of the gospel.  When we make covenants, God sets specific conditions, and He promises to bless us as we obey those conditions.  As we better understand our covenants, we will be able to honor them and receive the blessings promised by our Heavenly Father.

                The word covenant as used in a legal sense “denotes an agreement between two or more parties.”  A sacred covenant means so much more. In a religious context, a covenant is a sacred promise with God.  Elder Russell M. Ballard of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles explained that God “fixes the terms.  Each person may choose to accept those terms.  If one accepts the terms of the covenant and obeys God’s law, he or she receives the blessings associated with the covenant….” (See “Covenants,” Ensign, November 2011, p. 86; emphasis added.)

                Modern revelation tells us that there “is a law, irrevocably decreed in heaven before the foundations of this world, upon which all blessings are predicated—

                “And when we obtain any blessing from God, it is by obedience to that law upon which it is predicated” (Doctrine and Covenants 130:20-21).

                Heavenly Father has made covenants with His children throughout the ages, and His covenants are part of the fulness of His gospel.  An example of His covenants is the covenant that God made with Abraham.  Because of this covenant, the children of Israel are also known as the children of the covenant.  The Apostle Peter explained the covenant that God made with Abraham and renewed with Isaac and then Jacob while teaching in the temple in Jerusalem:  “Ye are the children of the prophets, and of the covenant which God made with our fathers, saying unto Abraham, And in thy seed shall all the kindreds of the earth be blessed” (Acts 3:25).

                The resurrected Lord told the people in the New World, “And behold, ye are the children of the prophets; and ye are of the house of Israel; and ye are of the covenant which the Father made with your fathers, saying unto Abraham:  And in thy seed shall all the kindreds of the earth be blessed” (Book of Mormon – Another Testament of Jesus Christ, 3 Nephi 20:25).

                The Abrahamic Covenant contained several promises, including:  1) Jesus the Christ would be born through Abraham’s lineage. 

2) Abraham’s posterity would be numerous, entitled to an eternal increase, and also entitled to bear the priesthood.  3) Abraham would become a father of many nations.  4) Certain lands would be inherited by his posterity.  5) All nations of the earth would be blessed by his seed.  6) And that covenant would be everlasting – even though “a thousand generations” (Deuteronomy 7:9; 1 Chronicles 16:15; Psalm 105:8).

                Elder Nelson explained that some of these promises have already been fulfilled but others are pending.  He quoted “an early Book of Mormon prophecy:  `Our father [Lehi] hath not spoken of our seed alone, but also of all the house of Israel, pointing to the covenant which should be fulfilled in the latter days; which covenant the Lord made to our father Abraham.’  Isn’t that amazing?  Some 600 years before Jesus was born in Bethlehem, prophets knew that the Abrahamic covenant would be finally fulfilled only in the latter days.

                “To facilitate that promise, the Lord appeared in these latter days to renew that Abrahamic covenant.  To the Prophet Joseph Smith, the Master declared:

                “`Abraham received promises concerning his seed, and of the fruit of his loins—from whose loins ye are,… my servant Joseph….

                “`This promise is yours also, because ye are of Abraham’ (Doctrine and Covenants 132:30-31).”

                The Lord also told the Prophet Joseph Smith, “As I said unto Abraham concerning the kindreds of the earth, even so I say unto my servant Joseph:  In thee and in thy seed shall the kindred of the earth be blessed” (Doctrine and Covenants 124:58).

                Elder Nelson continued, “With this renewal, we have received, as did they of old, the holy priesthood and the everlasting gospel.  We have the right to receive the fulness of the gospel, enjoy the blessings of the priesthood, and qualify for God’s greatest blessing—that of eternal life.  [See Doctrine and Covenants 14:7.]

                “Some of us are the literal seed of Abraham; others are gathered into his family by adoption.  The Lord makes no distinction.  [See Acts 19:34-35.]  Together we receive these promised blessings—if we seek the Lord and obey His commandments.  [See Exodus 19:5.]  But if we don’t, we lose the blessings of the covenant.  [“I, the Lord, am bound when ye do what I say; but when ye do not what I say, ye have no promise” (Doctrine and Covenants 82:10).]  To assist us, His Church provides patriarchal blessings to give each recipient a vision for his or her future as well as a connection with the past, even a declaration of lineage back to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob….”

                Elder Nelson later said, “Children of the covenant have the right to receive His doctrine and to know the plan of salvation.  They claim it by making covenants of sacred significance….

                “At baptism we covenant to serve the Lord and keep His commandments [Doctrine and Covenants 20:37].  When we partake of the sacrament, we renew that covenant and declare our willingness to take upon ourselves the name of Jesus Christ.  Thereby we are adopted as His sons and daughters and are known as brothers and sisters.  He is the father of our new life [“We talk of Christ, we rejoice in Christ, we preach of Christ, we prophesy of Christ,… that our children may know to what source they may look for a remission of their sins” (Book of Mormon, 2 Nephi 25:26).]  Ultimately, in the holy temple, we may become joint heirs to the blessings of an eternal family, as once promised to Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, and their posterity.  [See Galatians 3:29; Doctrine and Covenants 86:8-11.] Thus, celestial marriage is the covenant of exaltation.

                “When we realize that we are children of the covenant, we know who we are and what God expects of us.  His law is written in our hearts.  He is our God and we are His people.  Committed children of the covenant remain steadfast, even in the midst of adversity.  When that doctrine is deeply implanted in our hearts, even the sting of death is soothed and our spiritual stamina is strengthened.

                “The greatest compliment that can be earned here in this life is to be known as a covenant keeper.  The rewards for a covenant keeper will be realized both here and hereafter…” (“Covenants,” Ensign, November 2011, pp. 86-89).  

                I have made sacred covenants with God and have received many blessings for keeping those covenants.  I intend to be a “covenant keeper” from this point forward because I desire the blessings promised by God.  I know that God keeps His promises and will bless me as I keep my covenants with Him.

Ordinances and Covenants

                The power of God is manifest in the ordinances of the gospel of Jesus Christ (see Doctrine and Covenants 84:20).  Our Father in Heaven uses the ordinances and covenants of the gospel of Jesus Christ to teach us and to prepare us to live with Him.  Ordinances are sacred, formal acts performed under proper priesthood authority.  Ordinances symbolize gospel truths and teach us about Heavenly Father’s plan of salvation and the Atonement of Jesus Christ.  Ordinances also teach us about who we are and remind us of our duty to God.  There is symbolism in the ordinances and learning about that symbolism increases our understanding of the gospel more completely as well as to strengthen our faith in Jesus Christ.

                “In the Church, an ordinance is a sacred, formal act performed by the authority of the priesthood.  Some ordinances are essential to our exaltation.  These ordinances are called saving ordinances.  They include baptism, confirmation, ordination to the Melchizedek Priesthood (for men), the temple endowment, and the marriage sealing.  With each of these ordinances, we enter into solemn covenants with the Lord.

                “Other ordinances, such as naming and blessing children, consecrating oil, and administering to the sick and afflicted, are also performed by priesthood authority.  While they are not essential to our salvation, they are important for our comfort, guidance, and encouragement.

                “Ordinances and covenants help us remember who we are.  They remind us of our duty to God.  The Lord has provided them to help us come unto Him and receive eternal life.  When we honor them, He strengthens us.

                “You may receive many opportunities to participate in priesthood ordinances.  Whenever you have such an opportunity, do all you can to prepare yourself, whether you are performing the ordinance or receiving it.  You can prepare by praying, fasting, counseling with priesthood leaders, and studying the scriptures and the words of latter-day prophets.  If you are a priesthood holder, you should always be spiritually prepared to perform an ordinance.  Live a clean, worthy life, and strive to receive the constant companionship of the Holy Ghost.

                “Additional references:  D&C 84:19-21; Articles of Faith 1:3-5” (True to the Faith, “Ordinances,” pp. 109-110).

                The ordinances of the gospel teach about the Atonement of Jesus Christ.  One example is the ordinance of baptism by immersion.  When we are immersed or buried in the water and then brought up out of the water, it symbolizes the death and resurrection of Christ as well as our own spiritual rebirth.  (See Romans 6:3-6 and Doctrine and Covenants 76:51.)

                “Baptism is the first saving ordinance of the gospel (see Articles of Faith 1:4).  Through baptism and confirmation by priesthood authority, you became a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

                “When you were baptized, you showed your willingness to follow the Savior’s example.  He too was baptized, even though He was without sin.  As He explained to John the Baptist, He needed to be baptized in order to `fulfill all righteousness’ (see Matthew 3:13-17).

                “All who seek eternal life must follow the example of the Savior by being baptized and receiving the gift of the Holy Ghost.  The prophet Nephi said that the Savior showed us `the gate by which [we] should enter.  For the gate by which [we] should enter is repentance and baptism by water; and then cometh a remission of [our] sins by fire and by the Holy Ghost.  And then are [we] in this strait and narrow path which leads to eternal life’ (2 Nephi 31:17-18).  We will receive eternal life if we endure to the end, keeping our covenants and receiving other ordinances of salvation” (True to the Faith, “Entering the Path to Eternal Life,” pp. 21-22).

                The sacrament is another ordinance that teaches about the Atonement of Jesus Christ.  The sacrament represents the body and blood of the Savior.  (See Luke 22:19-20 and 3 Nephi 18:1-11.)

                “The sacrament provides an opportunity for you to remember with gratitude the life, ministry, and Atonement of the Son of God.

                “With broken bread, you remember His body. You can be mindful of His physical suffering – especially His suffering on the cross.  You can remember that through His mercy and grace, all people will be resurrected and given the opportunity for eternal life with God.

                “With a small cup of water, you can remember that the Savior shed His blood in intense spiritual suffering and anguish, beginning in the Garden of Gethsemane.  There He said, `My soul is exceeding sorrowful, even unto death’ (Matthew 26:38).  Submitting to the will of the Father, He suffered more than we can comprehend:  `Blood [came] from every pore, so great [was] his anguish for the wickedness and the abominations of his people’ (Mosiah 3:7).  You can remember that through the shedding of His blood, Jesus Christ saved you and all other people from what the scriptures call the `original guilt’ of Adam’s transgression (Moses 6:54).  You can remember that He also suffered for the sins, sorrows, and pains of all Heavenly Father’s children, providing remission of sins for those who repent and live the gospel (see 2 Nephi 9:21-23)” (True to the Faith, “Remembering the Savior and His Atonement,” pp. 147-148).

                When we understand the symbolism of baptism and the sacrament and how they teach about the Atonement of Jesus Christ, we will understand more fully the importance of the ordinances themselves.

                Jesus Christ taught His gospel using parables and symbols.  Parables illustrate meaning with words, and symbols are simply objects that represent something else.  To illustrate that ordinances and covenants are inseparable, we can use a simple coin.  While displaying a coin, we can ask “which side of the coin is more important?”  Just as neither side of the coin is more important, both ordinances and covenants are important.  They are inseparable and are both necessary for admission into God’s presence.

                There are eternal truths or principles taught through the ordinances of baptism and the sacrament.  Some of those truths are: 

1) Baptism by immersion symbolizes the death and resurrection of Christ and our own spiritual rebirth.  2) Every person who reaches the age of accountability must be baptized in order to enter the kingdom of God.  Not even Jesus Christ was exempt from this requirement.  3) We renew our baptismal covenant each time we partake of the sacrament.  4) The sacrament represents the body and blood of the Savior.  5) Both baptism and partaking of the sacrament help us to become clean and worthy to enter God’s presence. 

When we learn to understand the symbolism in the ordinances of the gospel, we are prepared to gain more understanding.  With this preparation, we can better understand the temple ordinances because the teaching in the temples is done in symbolic fashion.

                President Boyd K. Packer, President of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, taught:  “Before going to the temple for the first time, or even after many times, it may help you to realize that the teaching in the temples is done in symbolic fashion.  The Lord, the Master Teacher, gave much of His instruction in this way.

                “The temple is a great school.  It is a house of learning.  In the temples the atmosphere is maintained so that it is ideal for instruction on matters that are deeply spiritual….

                “If you will go to the temple and remember that the teaching is symbolic, you will never go in the proper spirit without coming away with your vision extended, feeling a little more exalted, with your knowledge increased as to things that are spiritual.  The teaching plan is superb.  It is inspired.  The Lord Himself, the Master Teacher, taught His disciples constantly in parables – a verbal way to represent symbolically things that might otherwise be difficult to understand.

                “The temple itself becomes a symbol.  If you have seen one of the temples at night, fully lighted, you know what an impressive sight that can be.  The house of the Lord, bathed in light, standing out in the darkness, becomes symbolic of the power and the inspiration of the gospel of Jesus Christ standing as a beacon in a world that sinks ever further into spiritual darkness.

                “Upon entering the temple, you exchange your street clothing for the white clothing of the temple.  This change of clothing takes place in the dressing room, where each individual is provided with a locker and a dressing space that is completely private.  In the temple the ideal of modesty is carefully maintained.  As you put your clothing in the locker you leave your cares and concerns and distractions there with them.  You step out of this private little dressing area dressed in white, and you feel a oneness and a sense of equality, for all around you are similarly dressed” (“The Holy Temple,” Ensign, Oct. 2010, pp. 29-35).

                Elder Dennis B. Neuenschwander taught, “May we now turn our attention to a discussion of some of the factors that make personal and worthy participation in sacred gospel ordinances, properly administered, so significant in our determination to come unto Christ and be perfected in Him.

                “First, through personal participation in sacred gospel ordinances we come to know God.  I refer to the 84^th section of the Doctrine and Covenants, in which we read:

                “`And this greater priesthood administereth the gospel and holdeth the key of the mysteries of the kingdom, even the key of the knowledge of God.

                “`Therefore, in the ordinances thereof, the power of godliness is manifest.

                “`And without the ordinances thereof, and the authority of the priesthood, the power of godliness is not manifest unto men in the flesh’ [Doctrine and Covenants 84:19-21].

                “Our participation in sacred ordinances teaches much about the order of God’s kingdom and about Him.  For example, it seems strange to think that one could enter a temple to perform some of the most sacred ordinances before submitting to baptism, which is one of the initial ordinances of the gospel.  There is order in the kingdom of God, and there is order in the way we learn about it….

                “We do not receive everything at one time but receive knowledge of holy things progressively and incrementally as we are worthy of, and obedient to, such knowledge….  Our participation in the sacred ordinances of the gospel orders our knowledge of the kingdom and thereby reveals the nature of God to us.

                “Sacred ordinances and knowledge of God are closely related…. 

                “As sacred ordinances reveal the order of the kingdom of God in a progressive manner, our participation in them reveals to us a knowledge of the personality and character of God that can be gained in no other way.

                “Second, sacred gospel ordinances are the gateway to solemn covenants with God.  Ordinances and covenants can hardly be understood apart from each other.  By ordinances we enter into covenants, and by covenants we receive the ordinances….  Our important steps toward God are introduced by sacred ordinances and are governed by the conditions of the covenants associated with those ordinances.

                “Perhaps it would be good at this point to make just a comment on the nature of covenants.  Eternal covenants are extended or offered to us only by God.  He is the originator of all such covenants, as He is the only one who has authority and power to guarantee their validity beyond the grave…

                “We cannot originate such covenants because we do not possess the power to guarantee them.  Consequently, we can only enter into covenants that are offered to us by God, and we can enter them only in the way He prescribes.

                “… [W]ithout the priesthood authority and the accompanying covenant, the power of the ordinance is denied.  If we eliminate priesthood authority and the covenant portion of an ordinance, we are left only with the `form of godliness.’ [See Joseph Smith-History 1:19].

                “Third, sacred ordinances provide an endowment of divine power in our lives.  In His conversation with Pilate, the Savior said, `My kingdom is not of this world’ [John 18:36].  Numerous scriptures teach us that there is natural enmity between the world and the kingdom of God.  One of the things that set the kingdom of God apart is the sense of the holy that exists therein.  The world can have a sense only of the secular.  Worthy participation in sacred gospel ordinances changes our lives and brings blessings and power to us that we would otherwise not enjoy.  The power of the Atonement itself is unlocked by sacred gospel ordinances that are performed under the keys of the priesthood.  Remission of sins is extended through the ordinance of baptism.  Confirmation brings with it the promise of the constant companionship of the Holy Ghost.  Ordination to the Melchizedek Priesthood opens the way for `every man [to] speak in the name of God’ [Doctrine and Covenants 1:20] by teaching, blessing, and comforting others.  Worthy participation in the holy ordinances of the temple reveals our eternal possibilities and places us in a position to realize them….

                “One of the most beautiful yet most common of the gospel ordinances is that of the sacrament.  We participate in it literally thousands of times throughout our lives.  Yet because of its ever-present nature in our sacrament meetings, we can easily miss its supernal significance.  Partaking worthily of the sacrament can bring a weekly endowment of divine power in our lives….

                “Sacred ordinances are ordained of God.  They are essential to our salvation and exaltation.  Through the sacred ordinances of the gospel, we learn of His kingdom and learn of Him, we enter into holy and eternal covenants, and we receive an endowment of divine power in our lives.  All of these things bring us to Christ that we may be perfected in Him” (“Ordinances and Covenants,” Ensign, Aug. 2001, 20-26).

                As I learn more about the symbolism in the ordinances and teachings of the gospel of Jesus Christ, I am gaining greater appreciation for the covenants involved in them.  I am grateful to know that I can make covenants with God and receive blessings from Him through the ordinances of the priesthood.