Talks
Quotes
“I’d like to append to them the fact — and this is a true gospel verity — that everyone in the Church who is on the straight and narrow path, who is striving and struggling and desiring to do what is right, though is far from perfect in this life; if he passes out of this life while he’s on the straight and narrow, he is going to go on to eternal reward in his Father’s kingdom.
We don’t need to get a complex or get a feeling that you have to be perfect to be saved. You don’t. There’s only been one perfect person, and that’s the Lord Jesus, but in order to be saved in the Kingdom of God and in order to pass the test of mortality, what you have to do is get on the straight and narrow path — thus charting a course leading to eternal life — and then, being on that path, pass out of this life in full fellowship.
I’m not saying that you don’t have to keep the commandments. I’m saying you don’t have to be perfect to be saved. If you did, no one would be saved. The way it operates is this: You get on the path that’s named the “straight and narrow”. You do it by entering the gate of repentance and baptism. The straight and narrow path leads from the gate of repentance and baptism, a very great distance, to a reward that’s called eternal life.
If you’re on that path and pressing forward, and you die, you’ll never get off the path. There is no such thing as falling off the straight and narrow path in the life to come, and the reason is that this life is the time that is given to men to prepare for eternity. Now is the time and the day of your salvation, so if you’re working zealously in this life — though you haven’t fully overcome the world and you haven’t done all you hoped you might do — you’re still going to be saved.
You don’t have to do what Jacob said, “Go beyond the mark.” You don’t have to live a life that’s truer than true. You don’t have to have an excessive zeal that becomes fanatical and becomes unbalancing.
What you have to do is stay in the mainstream of the Church and live as upright and decent people in the Church — keeping the commandments, paying your tithing, serving in the organizations of the church, loving the Lord, staying on the straight and narrow path. If you’re on that path when death comes — because this is the time and day appointed, this is the probationary estate — you’ll never fall off from it, and for all practical purposes, your calling and election is made sure.”
Bruce R. McConkie “The Probationary Test of Mortality” – Address given at the University of Utah, January 10, 1982, p. 11
The real you is going to stand before the Savior
If you don’t get the Celestial Kingdom, it won’t matter what you get instead.
Great God, I ask thee for no meaner pelf, than that I may not disappoint myself. – Thoreau, “A Prayer”
The three degrees of glory are like an upside down triangle. On top you have unlimited control so you have unlimited opportunities. At the bottom you have a lot of rules because you can’t control yourself.
Enos 1:27 “And I soon go to the place of my rest which is with my Redeemer; for I know that in him I shall rest. And I rejoice in the day when my mortal shall put on immortality and shall stand before him; then shall I see his face with pleasure, and he will say unto me: Come unto me, ye blessed, there is a place prepared for you in the mansions of my Father.”
1 Corinthians 2:9 “But as it is written eye hath not seen nor ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of man, the things which God hath prepared for them that love him.”
About Me
I’ve worried and wondered and pondered and thought
Of my future and what lies ahead.
Will the sum of my living be counted as naught
When my living is done and I’m dead?
“Will there be any me anymore?” I cried,
“Will there be any me any more?
When my mortal existence is done and I’ve died,
Will I have what I’m living for?”
The response to my questions came quickly and clear,
As clear as a winter night’s air.
The me that I make of myself while I’m here
Is the me that I’ll be when I’m there.
What a job it will be just to fashion my me
With the help of my Father above,
For that me I will be through eternity-
How I hope I’m a me I can love!
One day each of us will run out of tomorrows.
Hell is where the man I am shakes hands with the man I could have been.
Each of us is personally responsible for living up to our covenants. It’s so easy to say, “I’m not going to do missionary work because I’m shy” or “I’m not going to do compassionate service because I’m not the kind of person who gets involved in other people’s lives.” Regardless of our personalities, we must keep our promises.
It’s also easy to think, “Well, I’m a member of the 4th ward and the 4th ward is really good at compassionate service, or really good at missionary work.” Or maybe you belong to a family who does a lot of genealogy. Unfortunately, we will not be judged as a ward, or as a family. Each of us will stand before the Lord as individuals and discuss what we personally did to build the kingdom of God. – Shannon Williams
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