Repentance

I had to speak in church today on repentance.  I haven't posted in a very long time so I thought I would share it here:

To start off I’d like to relay a story that was told by President David O. McKay :

“One day, a group of small boys were swimming. Perhaps it would be more accurate to say, they were learning to swim; for none could take more than a few strokes. Just below them a short distance down the stream was a treacherous hole much beyond their depth. Into this, either through bravado or accident, one daring youngster either plunged or fell. He became helpless to save himself; and for a moment his companions were powerless to aid him. Fortunately, one with presence of mind and quick action, jerked a long stick from a willow fence and held one end of it toward the drowning lad. The latter grasped it, held on tightly, and was saved. All the boys declared that the venturesome lad owed his life to the boy who furnished the means of rescue.” (The Gospel of Work, Instructor, Jan 1955, p 1.)

We are all like the young boy in this story who fell. We all fall into sin and have need to repent and be saved . Jesus is like the rescuer and His atonement is like the stick. Jesus offers us the Atonement as the way to receive forgiveness. When we repent, we reach out to accept the Atonement just as the drowning boy reached out to grasp the stick and was saved. If we accept the Atonement by repenting, we will be forgiven and be saved from our sins.

　

Let’s go into a little more detail and ask ourselves, “Why is it necessary for us to repent in this life?” We know that we can find all the answers to our questions in the scriptures. In D&C 1:31, The Lord says, “For I the Lord cannot look upon sin with the least degree of allowance. “ When we are brought to this earth we are clean and pure. During this time of testing and trial we all make mistakes and we sin. We are no longer clean and pure when we sin. We used to use an analogy on my mission where we ask our investigators to imagine that we live in a beautiful mansion with our Father and Mother and brothers and/or sisters. Our home is beautiful, and clean, and all white. One day we decide to go out to play and find ourselves too tempted and can’t resist the mud puddles. We run and jump in the mud puddles and get all dirty. Well, we are tired now and desire to go back inside our home. Our Father is standing at the door shaking his head and telling us that we can’t come in looking as we are. We are devastated and don’t know what to do now. Well, our older brother comes around the corner with a water hose and asks us if we want him to help us get cleaned up so we can go back inside. He helps us get cleaned up and we are able to now enter our beautiful home. The analogy isn’t perfect by any means but it gets us to see that as it says in 1^st Nephi 10:21, “…no unclean thing can dwell with God.” We must be cleansed from sin before we can inherit the kingdom of heaven.

Which brings us to ask How do we become clean? How is Repentance made possible? Referring back to the analogy of the boy who fell…he needed rescued and so do we need rescued from our sins. In Alma 34:8-9 Amulek answers the question as to how we can become clean :

“8 ...Behold, I say unto you, that I do know that Christ shall come among the children of men, to take upon him the transgressions of his people, and that he shall atone for the sins of the world; for the Lord God hath spoken it.

9 For it is expedient that an atonement should be made; for according to the great plan of the Eternal God there must be an atonement made, or else all mankind must unavoidably perish except it be through the atonement which it is expedient should be made.”

So Christ, because he suffered for our sins has grabbed the stick and is holding it out to us. He has done his part and now we must do ours by exercising our faith unto repentance. We must grab hold of the stick and use the atonement to help pull ourselves out of the treacherous hole that sin leads us into.

In Doctrine and Covenants 19:16-17 Christ solidifies this teaching by saying,

“16 For behold, I, God, have suffered these things for all, that they might not suffer if they would repent;

17 But if they would not repent they must suffer even as I;”

Richard G. Scott declared in the Apr 1995 conference,

“Each of us has made mistakes, large or small, which if unresolved will keep us from the presence of God. For this reason, the atonement of Jesus Christ is the single most significant event that ever has or ever will occur. This selfless act of infinite consequence, performed by a single glorified personage, has eternal impact in the life of every son and daughter of our Father in Heaven—without exception.”
“Finding Forgiveness,” Ensign, May 1995, 75

The ability that we have to grab on to the stick or the atonement is such a great and life saving gift that has been given to us. What love our older brother, our Savior, and friend has for us that He would rescue us. May we come unto Him and be perfected in Him.

I’d like to read the words to a favorite hymn: “Come Unto Jesus”

“1. Come unto Jesus, ye heavy laden,
Careworn and fainting, by sin oppressed.
He’ll safely guide you unto that haven
Where all who trust him may rest.

2. Come unto Jesus; He’ll ever heed you,
Though in the darkness you’ve gone astray.
His love will find you and gently lead you
From darkest night into day.

3. Come unto Jesus; He’ll surely hear you,
If you in meekness plead for his love.
Oh, know you not that angels are near you
From brightest mansions above?

4. Come unto Jesus from ev’ry nation,
From ev’ry land and isle of the sea.
Unto the high and lowly in station,
Ever he calls, “Come to me.”

Text and music: Orson Pratt Huish, 1851–1932 (LDS Hymns, No. 117)

Brothers and Sisters, Repentance takes effort on our part. There are things that we must do in order to be forgiven.

The first step to repentance is for us to have faith in God. Repentance is an act of faith, because it requires us to really believe there is a God and that it is worth the effort required to repent of our sins.

We must recognize our sins. 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)

We must feel sorrow for our sins. We must feel that our sins are terrible. We recognize the heavy burdens that our sins place upon us and wish to unload and abandon them.

We must forsake our sins. Our sorrow should lead us to forsake our sins. In D&C 58:43 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.”

We must also Confess our sins. The Lord has commanded us to confess our sins. Confession relieves a heavy burden from the sinner.. The Lord promised in D&C 61:2,” I, the Lord, forgive sins, and am merciful unto those who confess their sins with humble hearts.”

We must make restitution. As much as possible we must make right any wrong that we have done.

We must forgive others. In Doctrine and Covenants 82:1 we read , “Verily, verily, I say unto you, my servants, that inasmuch as you have forgiven one another your trespasses, even so I, the Lord, forgive you.”

One final thing that we need to do to make our repentance complete is to keep the commandments of the Lord. When we repent we have a change of heart and have a desire to serve God and keep His commandments.



Brothers and Sisters as we repent, the Atonement of Jesus Christ becomes fully effective in our lives, and the Lord forgives our sins. We are rescued from the treacherous hole , and we experience peace and joy. Alma recounted his experience of repenting from his sinful past:

“My soul was harrowed up [troubled] to the greatest degree and racked with all my sins.

“Yea, I did remember all my sins and iniquities, for which I was tormented with the pains of hell; yea, I saw that I had rebelled against my God, and that I had not kept his holy commandments.

“… So great had been my iniquities, that the very thought of coming into the presence of my God did rack my soul with inexpressible horror.

“… It came to pass that as I was … harrowed up by the memory of my many sins, behold, I remembered also to have heard my father prophesy … concerning the coming of one Jesus Christ, a Son of God, to atone for the sins of the world.

“Now, as my mind caught hold upon this thought, I cried within my heart: O Jesus, thou Son of God, have mercy on me. …

“And now, behold, when I thought this, I could remember my pains no more. …

“And oh, what joy, and what marvelous light I did behold; yea, my soul was filled with joy as exceeding as was my pain!

“… There can be nothing so exquisite and sweet as was my joy” (Alma 36:12–14, 17–21).

I think that we have all felt the anguish that sinning brings to our hearts and souls.
The Savior is holding the stick out to us. I know that if we come unto Him; if we grab hold of the stick and use the atonement and repent of our sins every day that we will experience the sweet joy that comes from repenting and being once again pure that we will one day return to live with our Father in Heaven again.

In the name of Jesus Christ Amen.