Keeping Covenants

Wednesday, April 16, 2008

Covenants
Wednesday, September 28, 2005
12:25 PM
Covenants

Objective:
After this talk, the worshiper will be motivated to honor their covenants, and seek to enter into lasting covenants with God.

Key points:
World is filled with problems…All worlds problems would be taken care of if we honored 3 covenants.
But you have to stay faithful always…even if…
Examine what lures you away from keeping or honoring covenants
Why honor covenants?
It’s hard to keep covenants at first
Regardless if you remember him, he will remember you.

Extended points:
World is filled with problems – all worlds problems would be taken care of…
Keep 3 covenants
I don’t want to fill our heads with the problems we all face in our personal lives or in the world in general. But examine your last month. If there wasn’t some period of fear, of grief, of worry, of concern, of despair – your life is either filled with the peace promised of the lord to those who are living the gospel to it’s fullest – or you haven’t got a clue of the problems going on. Most of us deal with a certain amount of pain because of the trials we face.
President Hinkley said:
“We are a covenant people. I have had the feeling that if we could just encourage our people to live by three or four covenants everything else would take care of itself; we would not have to have anything else except to go forward with our program.”
“The first of these is the covenant of the sacrament, in which we take upon ourselves the name of the savior and agree to keep his commandments with the promise in his covenant that He will bless us with His spirit. If our people would go to sacrament meeting every week and reflect as they partake of the sacrament on the meaning of the prayers which are offered, if they would listen to the language of those prayers, which were given by revelations, and live by them, we would be a better people, all of us would be. That is the importance of the sacrament meeting. The speakers are incidental. The great thing is that we gather together and partake of the sacrament together…”
(takes the pressure off me, and puts it onto the deacons and priesthood). It is the most important thing we do during the week – as we reestablish sacred coveants – hope is built, joy is established, and our spirit grows.
“Second, the covenant of tithing. It is a covenant. “Why have ye robbed me? Bring ye all the tithes into the storehouse and prove me herewith.” The commandment to us is to pay our tithing. The promise on the other side of that contract, that covenant, is that He will stay the destroyer and open the windows of heaven and pour down blessings that there will not be room enough to receive them. I am one who believes in the literalness of that promise…”
I have considered deeply on the blessing that tithing gives to each of us. Beyond the aspect that it makes possible the building of temples and church houses. It helps us realize that we are not part of the rat race we call “trying to get ahead of the jones’s” We don’t compete financially with anyone. We can live comfortably and still donate to those less fortunate. It pulls us out of the world. It keeps us focused on Godly things rather than the things of the world. It’s hard to determine how much to give to the poor and needy. But when we understand that we have a covenant to give – the harder question of whether to give or not – is taken – and we know that we are members of the givers to help the poor.
“Three, the covenants of the temple: Sacrifice, the willingness to sacrifice for this the lord’s work – and inherent in that law is sacrifice is the very essense off the atonement, the ultimate sacrifice made by the son of god in bahlf of each of us: consecration which is associated with it, a willingness to give evertying if need be to help in the on-rolling of thisgreat work. And a covenant to love and loyalty to one to another in the bonds of marriage, fidelity, chastity, morality.”
CS Lewis said “Charity – giving to the poor – is an essential part of Christian morality…I do not believe one can settle how much we ought to give. I am aftraid the only safe rule is to give more than we can spare. In other words, if our expenditure on comforts, luxuries, amusements, etc. is up to the standard common among those with the same income as our own, we are probably giving too little. If our charities do not at all pinch or hamper us, I should say they are too small. There ought to be things we should like to do and cannot do because our charitable expenditure excludes them.”
Elder Featherstone said “I promise you that all who faithfully attend to temple work will be blessed beyond measure – your families will draw closer to the lord, unseen angels will watch over your loved ones when satanic forces tempt them, the veil will be thin and great spiritual experiences will distill upon this people”
Again regarding all 3 covenants President Hinkley –
“If our people could learn to live by these covenants everything else would take care of itself, I am satisfied. We would not have to worry about sacrament meeting attendance. We would not have to worry about willingness to serve missions. We would not have to worry about divorce and the many requests for cancellation of temple sealings. We would not have to worry about any of those things.”
Bishop. Do you believe it? If you as a ward focused on helping everyone honor the sacrament covenant, the tithing covenant and the temple covenants – do you think it would be a blessing? It would I promise.

ALWAYS
But keeping covenants occasionally is not going to make the desired changes. The Lord uses a word over and over in the scriptures which applies specifically to covenant keeping. That word is ‘always’. He uses it over and over in the sacrament prayers. We must keep our covenants – ‘always’.

Some might say – do I need to keep my covenants…
Even if my family persecutes me? I don’t know – ask Nephi whose brothers beat him and almost killed him.

Even if: I’m not feeling particularly spiritual? Ask Lehi and the brother of Jared who were scolded of the Lord for not staying keeping faithful even when they didn’t feel grateful or spiritual.

Even if strangers make fun of you or don’t agree with your beliefs? Ask Samual the lamanite who was not only ridiculed, but they threw stones at him.

Even if it seems too hard? Ask Jonah who tried to escape his mission, or Moses who was asked of the Lord to do things he never believed possible.

The Lord expects us to keep our covenants always – not just when it’s convenient or easy. Because if covenants are going to protect us the way they are designed to protect us – we must keep them always.

Example of keeping covenants
When we keep covenants even if it’s hard or painful or difficult – wonderful things will follow – the windows of heaven will open and pour out a blessing so large we can’t accept it.

A wonderful example of people who kept their covenants even when it was difficult are the parents of the 2000 stripling warriors. Do you remember them? The parents had been lamanites who had fought, and even killed others. When they heard the gospel and were converted – they made a covenant with the Lord to never pick up weapons of war. They kept that covenant – even when the lamanites came upon them to kill them. The parents of the stripling warriors went out before them, and lay down in front of them and while the Lamanites killed them, the mothers and fathers of the stripling warriors praised God that they had the strength to keep the covenant they had made. Look what happened to their children. The children of these valiant people had seen the example of their parents. So when they made a covenant with the Lord – that they would protect the families and their people…they knew what it meant to be true because they had seen their mothers and fathers honor their covenants. They were faithful to covenants because they had been taught – by example – what it means to honor God and the covenants we have made.
“They had been taught by their mothers that if they did not doubt God would deliver them. And they rehearsed unto me the words of their mothers, saying; we do not doubt our mothers know it.”

Why do we not keep covenants?
In light of the example of the parents of the stripling warriors – it’s hard to understand why we ever get diverted from keeping our covenants. I believe that it’s because we don’t honor our covenants.

Do you understand the difference? If we keep our covenants – we do what we say we will do. If we honor our covenants – it’s a matter of heart – we love our covenants, we place reverence and awe on our covenants. When we reverence and honor our covenants – we are more able to keep our covenants. And when we keep our covenants they can protect and bless us.

What are signs that we don’t honor our covenants? Do we get too…
Busy with things that matter less – temple attendance, sacrament meeting attendance on trips.
Offended by people who matter less – serve regardless of hurt someone might have caused – or tries to cause.
Financially over-extended buying things that matter less – We fill our lives with gadgets and devices which not only clutter but literally take money away from doing things that would be better
Feel worthless or unworthy in things that matter less – Sometimes when we have proven to ourselves that we are human and have weaknesses, we want to use these transgressions as excuses for why we don’t comply with weighty matters of gospel law and principles. Covenants – regardless of sin – are always in place until a Bishop tells you under direction of a disciplinary council – that your sins require you to lose the covenant – and start over.

If we can keep our covenants firmly in our mind and honor them - as more important than the things, people, purchases and sins which matter less – they will have the power to keep us safe.



Why should we keep these covenants?
As mentioned above – it protects us from the wishy-washy flood of worldly morality.
Example – Tom Peters talked about freak 2 freak
Prophet same 24 hour period said “Be Honest, Be Educated, Be clean”
This is only one example. Even more serious is when we listen to the world who says that alternative lifestyles are great.
Solves problems in our lives. (Mosiah 24:12-15) – to the people of alma who were in bondage in the land of shemlon, shalom, and amulon – to Amulon.
“And it came to pass that the voice of the lord came to them in their afflications saying: lift up your heads and be of good comfort, for I now of the covenant which ye have made unto me: and I will covenant with my people and deliver them out of bondage. And I will also ease the burdens which are put upon your shoulders, that even you cannot feel tehm upon your backs, even while you are in bondage; and this will I do that ye may stand as witnesses for me hereafter, and that ye may know of a surety that I , the Lord God, do visit my people in their afflictions.”
Helps us feel hope and love…really know it. We keep covenants = faith. We continue keeping we feel hope. We continue keeping it – we feel gratitude = charity.

Hard to keep covenants?
It’s not easy keeping covenants, the lord knows that. I think he becomes frustrated sometimes when he sees how the simplest things keep us from honoring and fully keeping our covenants. We skip a meeting, we miss a month in fast offerings, we watch a movie that is not appropriate. But he is filled with joy when he sees us improve just a tiny bit. When we become a better people, as President Hinkley urges us.

We’ve covenanted to “remember always” – how hard is that when we live in a stimulous-invasive society?
We’ve covenanted to “pay tithes and offerings” – how hard is that when your bills are constantly bigger than your paychecks, and there are still things you want to buy?
We’ve covenanted to “marry in the temple” – not ‘until debt do us part’ but for eternity. How hard is that when society promotes the singles society without spouses or children?

How hard is it? It’s hard…and yet it’s not that hard.

It’s only hard at first – after you break the worldly habits – then joy, gratitude, and peace reward you with each effort.


You can choose to honor covenants and remember Christ – Always…or not.
But one things is true. He always remembers you.

I pray that we will keep the covenants we have made. And honor them in a sacred place in our heart. That they may forever be a protection to us from the sins of the world.