Intro: Good morning brothers, for those of you who don’t know me, my name is Garrett Kraus. A week from this Wednesday, I’ll be serving in the New Mexico Farmington mission. I’m excited for this opportunity to act and serve as a representative of Jesus Christ. Today, I was asked to speak on what it means to Come Unto Christ, and what we can do every day to do so. To do so, my talk focuses on my school ward’s theme: Learn, Practice, and Become. Through these 3 principles, I’ve begun to understand what it means to Come unto Christ, and how we can do so.
Learn
The first principle is Learn. In the words of Elder Walter F. Gonzalez:
“One way to come unto Christ is by seeking to learn essential truths with our hearts. As we do so,impressions that come from God will give us knowledge that we cannot get by any other means. The Apostle Peter knew of a surety that Jesus was the Christ, the Son of the living God. The Savior explained that the source for Peter’s knowledge was not “flesh and blood… but [the] Father which is in heaven.” . . . Today, surrounded by so much information, we might think that navigating millions of web pages will give us all that we need to know. We can find good and bad information on the web, but information alone is not enough. God has given us another source for greater knowledge,6 even knowledge sent from heaven. Our Heavenly Father can give us such knowledge when we navigate the celestial web in our hearts and minds. The Prophet Joseph Smith said that he had “the oldest book in [his] heart, even the gift of the Holy Ghost.””
As members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, we received this phenomenal gift at confirmation. The Holy Ghost can testify to us of essential truths. We can learn these truths through prayer and scripture study. “There is no substitute for studying the scriptures and the words of the prophets and apostles. There are wonderful promises made to those who immerse themselves in the study of the gospel, particularly in the scriptures. In the words of Gordon B. Hinckley: “I hope that for you this will become something far more enjoyable than a duty; that, rather, it will become a love affair with the word of God. I promise you that as you read, your minds will be enlightened and your spirits will be lifted. At first it may seem tedious, but that will change into a wondrous experience with thoughts and words of things divine.” As Ezra Taft Benson said: “The great test of life is obedience to God. The great task of life is to learn the will of the Lord and then do it.” I testify that we can Come Unto Christ through learning of God’s will for us, through study of the scriptures, through personal prayer, and through personal revelation.
Practice
The second way for us to Come Unto Christ is through practice. In the words of the savior: “Verily, verily, I say unto you, this is my gospel; and ye know the things that ye must do in my church; for the works which ye have seen me do that shall ye also do” He is the ultimate example of whom we should be. As we practice applying His attributes to our own lives, we will be blest, both in our efforts to share the gospel with those around us and to better apply the gospel to our own lives. In the words of Gordon B. Hinckley: “the most persuasive gospel tract is the exemplary life of a faithful Latter-day Saint.” We can practice modeling our lives after the Savior’s by using what my Book of Mormon professor called “getting a spiritual pulse” Alma 5 is replete with questions that we can ask ourselves at the end of each day to gauge how closely we are modeling our lives after his, and thereby coming unto him. The following are some of the questions found within Alma 5:
14 And now behold, I ask of you, my brethren of the church, have ye spiritually been born of God? Have ye received his image in your countenances? Have ye experienced this mighty change in your hearts?
15 Do ye exercise faith in the redemption of him who created you? Do you look forward with an eye of faith,and view this mortal body raised in immortality, and this corruption raised in incorruption, to stand before God to be judged according to the deeds which have been done in the mortal body?
16 I say unto you, can you imagine to yourselves that ye hear the voice of the Lord, saying unto you, in that day:Come unto me ye blessed, for behold, your works have been the works of righteousness upon the face of the earth?
19 I say unto you, can ye look up to God at that day with a pure heart and clean hands? I say unto you, can you lookup, having the image of God engraven upon your countenances?
26 And now behold, I say unto you, my brethren, if ye have experienced a change of heart, and if ye have felt to sing the song of redeeming love, I would ask, can ye feel so now?
27 Have ye walked, keeping yourselves blameless before God? Could ye say, if ye were called to die at this time,within yourselves, that ye have been sufficiently humble?That your garments have been cleansed and made white through the blood of Christ, who will come to redeem his people from their sins?
28 Behold, are ye stripped of pride? I say unto you, if ye are not ye are not prepared to meet God. Behold ye must prepare quickly; for the kingdom of heaven is soon at hand, and such an one hath not eternal life.
29 Behold, I say, is there one among you who is notstripped of envy? I say unto you that such an one is not prepared; and I would that he should prepare quickly, for the hour is close at hand, and he knoweth not when the time shall come; for such an one is not found guiltless.
30 And again I say unto you, is there one among you that doth make a mock of his brother, or that heaped upon him persecutions?
31 Wo unto such an one, for he is not prepared, and the time is at hand that he must repent or he cannot be saved!
As we ask ourselves these questions each day, we will have desires to improve, to more deeply love our fellow man, even as He does. We won’t be perfect, but as we practice charity with our fellow man, modeling our life after his, we will be doing that which we can to Come Unto Christ, turning unto Him as the ultimate example in all that we do and say. I testify that through practicing His attributes, we will be better equipped to Come unto Christ.
Become
Our purpose on Earth wasn’t simply to gain a body and return back unto God. If that were the case, than Satan’s plan would have worked! In coming to Earth, Heavenly Father wants us not only to come back, but to become like Him in the process. Coming Unto Christ, therefore, can be expressed in a different way: Becoming like Christ. The grand objective of the Savior’s gospel was summarized succinctly by President David O. McKay(1873–1970): “The purpose of the gospel is … to make bad men good and good men better, and to change human nature.”1 Thus, the journey of mortality is to progress from bad to good to better and to experience the mighty change of heart—to have our fallen natures changed. It is the enabling power of Christ’s atonement that helps to transform us from bad to good and from good to better. He enables us to become so much more than we could on our own. In my mission prep class, we are constantly encouraged to ask why we are doing as we go throughout our day. This personally helps me to maintain my daily focus on becoming who Christ would have me become. Having this attitude puts challenges, even tragedies, into perspective:
“Good timber does not grow in ease
The stronger the wind the tougher the trees;
The farther sky, and the greater length;
The more the storm, and the more the strength;
By sun and cold, by rain and snows,
In tree or man good timber grows.”
Joseph Smith exemplified this principle of becoming more Christlike through challenges during his time in Liberty Jail. Whilst there, he received the following revelation from the Lord, which can be applied to all of us:
5 If thou art called to pass through tribulation; if thou art in perils among false brethren; if thou art in perils among robbers; if thou art in perils by land or by sea;
6 If thou art accursed with all manner of false accusations; if thine enemies fall upon thee; if they tear thee from the society of thy father and mother and brethren and sisters; and if with a drawn sword thine enemies tear thee from the bosom of thy wife, and of thine offspring, and thine elder son, although but six years of age, shall cling to thy garments, and shall say, My father, my father, why can’t you stay with us? O, my father, what are the men going to do with you? and if then he shall be thrust from thee by the sword, and thou be dragged to prison, and thine enemies prowl around thee like wolves for the blood of the lamb;
7 And if thou shouldst be cast into the pit, or into the hands of murderers, and the sentence of death passed upon thee; if thou be cast into the deep; if the billowing surge conspire against thee; if fierce winds become thine enemy; if the heavens gather blackness, and all the elements combine to hedge up the way; and above all, if the very jaws of hell shall gape open the mouth wide after thee, know thou, my son, that all these things shall give thee experience, and shall be for thy good.
8 The Son of Man hath descended below them all. Art thou greater than he?
9 Therefore, hold on thy way, and the priesthood shall remain with thee; for their bounds are set, they cannot pass. Thy days are known, and thy years shall not be numbered less; therefore, fear not what man can do, for God shall be with you forever and ever.
In the words of Elder David A. Bednar:
“The Savior has suffered not just for our iniquities but also for the inequality, the unfairness, the pain, the anguish, and the emotional distresses that so frequently beset us. There is no physical pain, no anguish of soul, no suffering of spirit, no infirmity or weakness that you or I ever experience during our mortal journey that the Savior did not experience first.You and I in a moment of weakness may cry out, “No One understands. No one knows.” No human being,perhaps, knows. But the Son of God perfectly knows and understands, for He felt and bore our burdens before we ever did. And because He paid the ultimate price and bore that burden, He has perfect empathy and can extend to us His arm of mercy in so many phases of our life. He can reach out, touch, succor—literally run to us—and strengthen us to be more than we could ever be and help us to do that which we could never do through relying upon only our own power.
“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.””
I testify that as we Come Unto Christ, building our lives and our testimonies around Him, we will be given rest from our labours. I testify that He will enable us to love His Children even as He does. To close, I’d like to share what I find to be one of the most powerful scriptures. D&C 128:22 reads:
“Brethren , shall we not go on in so great a cause? Go forward and not backward. Courage, brethren; and on, on to the victory! Let your hearts rejoice, and be exceedingly glad. Let the earth break forth into singing. Let the dead speak forth anthems of eternal praise to the King Immanuel, who hath ordained, before the world was, that which would enable us to redeem them out of their prison; for the prisoners shall go free.”
I know that Christ's gospel is on the earth again. I know God lives, and that He loves us. I know that because He loves us, He has provided a fantastic plan for us! I know that this plan enables us not only to return to Him, but to become like Him! I know that this is only through the power of Christ's Atonement. I testify that the Atonement enables us to be and do and serve and love so much more than we could possibly be on our own. He suffered everything for us, and because He's done this for me, I will devote my life to Him by doing everything I can to share His gospel, His Atonement, and His love, with everyone I come into contact with. Not to pay Him back, for there's no way I could do that, but because there's no better way to learn, practice, and become. In the name of Jesus Christ, amen.
