I stand all amazed at the love Jesus offers me
Confused at the grace that so fully he profers me
I tremble to know that for me he was crucified
That for me a sinner, he suffered, he bled and died
I marvel that he would descend from his throne divine
To rescue a soul so rebellious and proud as mine
That he should extend his great love unto such as I
Sufficient to own, to redeem, and to justify
I think of his hands pierced and bleeding to pay the debt
Such mercy, such love, and devotion can I forget?
No, no, I will praise and adore at the mercy seat,
Until at the glorified throne I kneel at his feet
Oh it is wonderful that he should care for me enough to die
for me
Oh it is wonderful, wonderful to me…
LDS Hymn #193
Some of the greatest sermons are preached by the singing of
hymns.
They can fill our souls with heavenly thoughts and bring us
a Spirit of Peace.
Hymns can help us withstand the temptations of the
adversary.
They have the ability to lift our spirits, give us courage,
and move us to righteous action.
Hymns build testimony and faith, comfort the weary, console
the mourning, and inspire us to endure to the end. Hymns move us to good works and repentance.
During a particularly difficult time., the Sacrament hymns
took on greater meaning for me. I recall
sitting in Sacrament as tears of peace, joy, and understanding streamed down my
face. The songs testified to me so strongly of the power of the Atonement.
What it means to me….
That I can
be forgiven
That I am
loved beyond measure
That my
trials can be made bearable
And also to my husband and children…
They have
these same blessings…
They
can be forgiven
They
are loved beyond measure
Their
trials can be made bearable…
I
learned I can have an impact on their lives as I have faith in the
Atonement and
trust in Christ’s redeeming love…
I understood the need for personal
repentance and unconditional forgiveness
Fourth Article of Faith
We believe the first principles and ordinances of the Gospel
are
First faith in the Lord Jesus Christ,
Second repentance…
Faith comes first.
Faith in the love Jesus offers
Faith to live the Gospel
Faith in the power of the Atonement
It is the little seed planted in our hearts that, if
nourished will grow and expand and beg for action to be taken so it’s beauty
can be felt by others.
Faith in Jesus Christ
naturally leads to repentance. There has been the need for repentance in the
world from the time of Adam to the present day. The Lord instructed Adam,
“Wherefore teach it unto your children, that all men, everywhere, must repent,
or they can in nowise inherit the kingdom of God, for no unclean thing can
dwell there, or dwell in his presence” (Moses 6:57). (Gospel Principles)
As we develop faith, several things can happen as we act on
that faith
1.
We learn…line upon line…precept upon precept,
2.
As we learn, we have a desire to follow our
Saviors example by serving others.
3.
As we serve, we are given an understanding of
God’s profound love for each of us, Our dependency on Christ, The importance of
the Atonement, and therefore the need for repentance.
2 Nephi 25:23, 26
For we labor diligently to write, to persuade our children,
and also our brethren, to believe in Christ, and to be reconciled to God; for
we know that it is by grace that we are saved, after all we can do.
And we talk of Christ, we rejoice in Christ, we preach of
Christ, we prophesy of Christ, and we write according to our prophesies, that
our children may know that source they may look for a remission of their
sins.
Last week we had the Gospel Doctrine lesson from Alma 5…
Have ye received, his image in your countenances.
Bro Haroldsen posed the question….If the people were keeping
the commandments, why were they called to repentance?
I have thought about this question all week long, and the
more I pondered and studied, and prepared for today… answer that came strongest
to my mind was
Repentance means we understand the Atonement.
It is our way of dynamically showing we understand that “it
is by grace we are saved, after all we can do.”
We are not repentant if we do not sustain the authorities of
the Church and do not love the Lord and our fellowmen. If we do not pray and
are unkind to others, we are surely not repentant. When we repent, our life
changes.(GP)
Years ago I was given a book called, “Songs of Redeeming
Love”
The title of that book stuck with me more than the
content. Now when I study the
scriptures, the “Songs of Redeeming Love” seem to pop off the page for me.
Nephi
Alma
Heleman
Mosiah
King Benjamin
Moses.
The Psalms of David
All have as Song of Redeeming Love and all have an eloquent Spirit of Repentance
In Psalms 25…
I would like to pick out some of the blessings of Repentance
found in this Song of Redeeming Love
Souls are lifted and Dwell at ease
Trust is Gained
We can stand unashamed
Learn that God is unchanging, Good, and upright.
Sins and transgressions are forgiven and forgotten,
Brought out of distress
God sees us and our pain
Inherit the earth and receive salvation.
President Spencer W. Kimball declared: “There is no royal
road to repentance, no privileged path to forgiveness. Every man must follow
the same course whether he be rich or poor, educated or untrained, tall or
short, prince or pauper, king or commoner” (Teachings of Presidents of the
Church: Spencer W. Kimball [2006], 38; italics in original).
We Must Recognize Our
Sins
To repent, we must admit to ourselves that we have sinned.
If we do not admit this, we cannot repent.
Alma counseled his son Corianton, who had been unfaithful in
his missionary calling and had committed serious sins: “Let your sins trouble
you, with that trouble which shall bring you down unto repentance. … Do not
endeavor to excuse yourself in the least point” (Alma
42:29–30). The scriptures advise us further not to justify our sinful
practices (see Luke 16:15–16).
We cannot hide any act of our lives from ourselves or from
the Lord.
We Must Feel Sorrow for Our Sins
In addition to recognizing our sins, we must feel sincere
sorrow for what we have done. We must feel that our sins are terrible. We must
want to unload and abandon them. The scriptures tell us, “All those who humble
themselves before God, and desire to be baptized, and come forth with broken
hearts and contrite spirits, and … have truly repented of all their sins …
shall be received by baptism
into his church” (D&C
20:37).
• Study 2 Corinthians
7:9–10 and Mormon
2:10–14. In what ways do you think “godly sorrow” is different from
expressions of regret?
We Must Forsake Our
Sins
Our sincere sorrow should lead us to forsake (stop) our
sins. If we have stolen something, we will steal no more. If we have lied, we
will lie no more. If we have committed adultery, we will stop. The Lord
revealed to the Prophet Joseph Smith,
“By this ye may know if a man repenteth of his sins—behold, he will confess
them and forsake them” (D&C
58:43).
We Must Confess Our
Sins
Confessing our sins is very important. The Lord has
commanded us to confess our sins. Confession relieves a heavy burden from the
sinner. The Lord has promised, “I, the Lord, forgive sins, and am merciful unto
those who confess their sins with humble hearts” (D&C
61:2).
We must confess all our sins to the Lord. In addition, we
must confess serious sins—such as adultery, fornication, homosexual relations,
spouse or child abuse, and the sale or use of illegal drugs—which might affect
our standing in the Church, to the proper priesthood authority. If we have
sinned against another person, we should confess to the person we have injured.
Some less serious sins involve no one but ourselves and the Lord. These may be
confessed privately to the Lord.
We Must Make
Restitution
Part of repentance is to make restitution. This means that
as much as possible we must make right any wrong that we have done. For
example, a thief should give back what he has stolen. A liar should make the
truth known. A gossip who has slandered the character of a person should work
to restore the good name of the person he has harmed. As we do these things,
God will not mention our sins to us when we are judged (see Ezekiel
33:15–16).
We Must Forgive
Others
A vital part of repentance is to forgive those who have
sinned against us. The Lord will not forgive us unless our hearts are fully
cleansed of all hate, bitterness, and bad feelings against other people (see 3 Nephi
13:14–15). “Wherefore, I say unto you, that ye ought to forgive one
another; for he that forgiveth not his brother his trespasses standeth
condemned before the Lord; for there remaineth in him the greater sin” (D&C
64:9).
We Must Keep the
Commandments of God
To make our repentance complete we must keep the
commandments of the Lord (see D&C
1:32). We are not fully repentant if we do not pay tithes or keep the
Sabbath day holy or obey the Word of Wisdom.
We are not repentant if we do not sustain the authorities of the Church and do
not love the Lord and our fellowmen. If we do not pray and are unkind to
others, we are surely not repentant. When we repent, our life changes.
President Kimball said: “First, one repents. Having gained
that ground he then must live the commandments of the Lord to retain his
vantage point. This is necessary to secure complete forgiveness” (Teachings of
Presidents of the Church: Spencer W. Kimball, 43).
(Gospel Principles)
As we apply these steps we can grow closer to our Heavenly Father and have a greater understanding of the love He has for us. We will more fully understand the Atonement of His Son Jesus Christ, and have a greater desire to align our lives to His teaches.
Oh it is wonderful, wonderful to me!
