#39 My Joy is Full

3 Nephi 17-19
Christ is still speaking to the people. He has just finished speaking about commandments and establishing the New Law. In Chapter 17:2 He perceives they are weak and can’t understand (can’t bear) anymore, so He tells them He will leave but will come back tomorrow. They plead with Him to stay and He has compassion. In this chapter He performs some amazing miracles, He heals all their infirmities, He Prays for them, not just any prayer but so magnificent and spiritual that they couldn’t even write the words down. (v 15-17) v20-21 He weeps for the people because of their righteousness, and why wouldn’t He, He just came from a people who hated Him who mocked Him. His joy should be full, He is finally accepted as the Savior of the World. Then in v23-25 He blesses their little ones, by sending angels to minister unto them, as they are encircled about by a ring of fire. WOW, what a primary activity that would be huh? I bet those little ones told some amazing things after that.

So here the people witness all this and what an amazing experience! Now I don’t know about you, but when I have an amazing spiritual high at church I come home pretty drained, physically and mentally. So I can’t even imagine how these people are handling the strain, except for the adrenaline rush. After all I have learned about the scriptures, I know this, that nothing in here including, the order in which things occur is not a coincidence. I will discuss more about this in just a minute.

While I was reading all I could on this lesson I ran across this story in the B of M Institute manual and it got me thinking of when I was younger and a little wayward. I had a time in my life when my Bishop recommended that I not partake of the sacrament, and to tell you I was naïve is an understatement, he didn’t tell me why I shouldn’t take it except that I wasn’t worthy. I just thought it was so it would humiliate me enough to humble me. I didn’t fully comprehend why taking or not taking the sacrament was so important until now. But like I said I came across this story and it related to me and taught me a lot and so this is where our lesson starts today.

Story:
The sacrament never really meant much to me until the Sunday I was ordained a deacon. That afternoon I passed the sacrament for the first time. Prior to the meeting, one of the deacons warned me, “look out for Brother Schmidt. You may have to wake him up!”
Finally the time came for me to participate in the passing of the sacrament. I handled the first six rows quite well. Children and adults partook of the bread with no noticeable thought or problem. Then I got to row seven, the row where Brother Schmidt always sat. But I was surprised. Instead of being asleep he was wide awake. Unlike many of the others I had served, he took the bread with what seemed to be great thought and reverence.
A few minutes later I found myself again approaching row seven with the water. This time my friend was right. Brother Schmidt sat with his head bowed and his big German eyes shut. He was evidently sound asleep. What could I do or say? I looked for a moment at his brow, wrinkled and worn from years of toil and hardship. He had joined the church as a teenager and had experienced much persecution in his small German town. I had heard the story many times in testimony meeting. I decided finally to gently nudge his shoulder in hopes of waking him. As I reached to do so, his head slowly lifted. There were tears streaming down his cheeks and as I looked into his eyes I saw love and joy. He quietly reached up and took the water. Even though I was only twelve then, I can still remember vividly the feeling I had as I watched this rugged old man partake of the sacrament. I knew without a doubt that he was feeling something about the sacrament that I had never felt. I determined then that I wanted to feel those same feelings.

I will read the rest of the story in a minute but first I want to stop here and go over what the Savior is teaching us about the sacrament. I know for all of you this is a review and you are saying: I know this stuff why are we going over it again-but I want to get the basics down before we delve into deeper meaning.

The Savior, after all these miracles, issues the ordinance of the sacrament, So I thought to myself why here of all places right in the middle of these spiritual experiences and miracles does He stop to issue the sacrament. He issues it.
18:9 They were filled. Filled with what? I asked myself the answer came to me-remember 3 Nephi 12:6 That if they hungered and thirsted for righteousness they would be filled with the Holy Ghost! Elder Melvin J. Ballard taught, “and there is none other quite so fruitful in the achievement of that end as partaking, worthily, of the sacrament of the Lord’s supper. We eat food to stimulate our physical bodies. Whithout the partaking of food we would become weak and sickly, and fail physically,. It is just as necessary, for our spiritual body, that we should partake of this sacrament, and by it obtain spiritual food for our souls…”We must come, however, to the sacrament table hungry. If we repair to the sacrament table, we must come hungering and thirsting after righteousness, for spiritual growth.” (The Sacramental Covenant” Improvement Era Oct. 1919 p 1025-31)

So now that they have the Holy Ghost with them they can bear more spiritual food that Christ will give them.
18:10 When we take the sacrament we are stating that we are doing that which He commands-remember all He commands us in the last chapters? Being perfect or attaining a new perfection daily? By taking the sacrament we are telling Him we will do better again this week with a new goal and purpose in mind.
18:11 Also if we take the sacrament we are repenting of any wrong we committed the previous week. We also do it in remembrance of His blood. We are taking the atonement into our lives and physical bodies-stating that as we partake of that we are applying that atonement to any physical, emotional, mental, struggle, we have had that week, and by so doing we remember Him and we will be strengthened through that symbolism.

Elder Ballard again tells us another reason we do this: “Jesus’ command to always observe this sacramental ordinance must not be seen as a selfish desire to receive recognition as we “always remember him,” neither should it be viewed merely as an essential ordinance of salvation, but as a merciful, spiritual blessing-a constant reminder of his love for us and his desire to protect us from the destructive designs of the devil. Having his spirit to be with us is as much a protection as it is guidance and direction. No man goes away from this church and becomes and apostate in a week, nor a month. It is a slow process. The one thing that would make for the safety of every man and woman would be to appear at the sacrament table every Sabbath Day. We would not get very far away in a week-not so far away that, by the process of self-investigation, we could not rectify the wrongs we may have done. If we should refrain from partaking of the sacrament, condemned by ourselves as unworthy to receive these emblems, we could not endure that long, and we would soon, I am sure, have the spirit of repentance. The road to the sacrament table is the path of safety for latter-day saints.”

18:11 If we are doing these things as Elder Ballard suggests Christ promises His spirit to be with us! I’ve heard this statement before but I wanted to look at what having Christ Spirit to be with me really means.
It means Having spiritual experiences, recognize truth(john 14:26), gives us all manner of spiritual gifts(1 Cor. 12:1-11;D&C 46:13-26), guides us in our prayers(D&C46:30), teaches us eternal truths(mor.10:5), brings peace an joy to the soul(gal. 5:22), opens our minds to revelation(Alma 5:46 1 Nep 10:19), shows and tells us all things that we should do(2 Nep 32:3 D&C 11:12), strengthen the body, mind, and spirit(Romans 8:26 D&C84:33), and many more. If you don’t want even 1 of these blessings there is definitely something wrong with you!

Here is where I want to finish Bro. Schmidt’s story: Look for some things in this story that we can learn about the sacrament.
It had been seven years since John had the experience of first passing the sacrament to Brother Schmidt. Since that time he had watched Brother Schmidt carefully. John continued to gain a greater and greater appreciation for his faith and love of the Savior. In two weeks John would be in the mission field, but prior to leaving he wanted to do something he had desired for years-have a personal talk with Brother Schmidt. Saturday evening John went to Brother Schmidt’s home. He lived alone. His wife had passed away a few years earlier. As John entered the small but neatly kept home, he felt a special spirit. Pictures of some of the temples were hung neatly on one wall. On another wall was a painting of the Savior kneeling in Gethsemane. John began, “Brother Schmidt, ever since I first passed the sacrament to you I sensed it has a profound meaning in your life. Before I leave for the mission field, I want to find out why this ordinance that some seem to take so lightly is so meaningful to you.”
Bro. Schmidt didn’t answer for a few moments. His eyes seemed to focus on the picture of Christ that hung on the wall before him. Then he said, “John after I joined the Church in Germany, many of my friends deserted me. My family was also upset and for a time I was left almost completely alone. I desperately needed a source of strength and power to help me survive the challenges I was facing. One day I was reading in the Doctrine and Covenants.” Bro. Schmidt turned to these verses and read: “Therefore, in the ordinances thereof, the power of godliness is manifest. And without the ordinances thereof, and the authority of the priesthood, the power of godliness is not manifest unto men in the flesh; for without this no man can see the face of God, even the Father, and live. (D&C 84:20-22) “As I read those verses,” he continued, “the revelation came to me that the powers of godliness are really manifest in the ordinances of the gospel. I began to see that ordinances are indeed channels of power. That is to say, through ordinances we can literally partake of the spirit and power that emanates from God. I then began a personal study to learn all I could about the ordinances of the gospel. As I studied I became impressed that the sacrament is one of the most important keys to spiritual growth and strength. I decided as a young man that, no matter what went on around me, my ability to live the gospel and to have a personal relationship with Christ could be greatly strengthened as I partook worthily of the sacrament. Sunday after Sunday I went to the sacrament service hungry-hungry to partake of the power of Jesus Christ in my life. Gradually I learned that those who hunger and thirst after righteousness can be filled with the Holy Ghost. Since then, John, I have tried to make the sacrament a time of total worship-a time to think of the Lord and of my behavior during the preceding week, a time to repent and to make commitments. Now, each day of the week, I look forward to the sacrament. To always remember my Savior is a commitment for every day, as well as Sunday.”
John was greatly impressed by what Bro. Schmidt had said and asked, “But Brother Schmidt, don’t you ever get distracted by the noises during the passing of the sacrament?”
“John, it isn’t always an easy thing to make the sacrament a total worship experience. Sometimes outside influences and distracting thought can sidetrack our purpose for being there. But I have found that if I go to a sacrament meeting with a purpose and desire to communicate with the Lord these distractions can be handled more easily.”
As John walked home, he again remembered that day seven years earlier when he had watched Bro. Schmidt. Once again the emotions welled up within him. With renewed determination he whispered, “I want to feel those feelings too.”

So what things stuck out in your mind from that story?
1-through ordinances –including the sacrament, we get power of godliness given to us.
2-We can’t even see God without the power these ordinances give us.
3-Through ordinances we are literally partaking of Gods spirit and power
4- Through partaking of His spirit our relationship with Him is strengthened because we come to know Him intimately- how He “feels” to us!
5-Finally distractions in sacrament can be handled easier if we attend with a specific purpose and desire to communicate with the Lord.

*Now knowing all this, do you see why I asked if it is a coincidence that after telling them “they can’t bear anymore.” Then having them experience all those amazing thing-they needed some of His godly power to keep them going and able to enjoy and withstand more of His presence.

And here comes more:18:15-18 He speaks to them about prayer, how to pray, when to pray how often to pray. He is telling them sacrament is the way to get power to get you through a week overall but prayer is the way to keep getting you through moment by moment. Satan is powerful and never gives up nor sleeps, He knew we needed all the help we could get. Wilford Woodruff said, “Lucifer has great influence over the children of men; he labors continually to destroy the works of God in heaven, and he had to be cast out. He is here, mighty among the children of men. There is a vast number of fallen spirits, cast out with him, here on earth. They do not die and disappear; they have not bodies, and are not to be seen with the sight of the eye. But there are many evil spirits among us, and they labor to overthrow the church and kingdom of God…Do you suppose these devils are around us without trying to do something? I say… we have got a mighty warfare to wage with these spirits. We cannot escape it. What will they do to you? They will try to make us do anything and everything that is not right.” (Discourses of Wilford Woodruff, p238-240)
That is a powerful statement, no wonder one of the main things Christ teaches them is the sacrament and the power it gives, coupled with prayer, are 2 main things that combat this enemy.

Christ isn’t naïve enough to think that we may still slip and so he warns us not to take the sacrament unworthily 18:28-29. The footnote to unworthily took me to damnation. I looked up damnation in the scriptures: we would be punished, held accountable, we may be chastened, cursed, (Now that isn’t something you want, curses pass from generation to generation-look at the Lamanites, or Cain) vengeance, retribution, How would you like the Lord to take vengeance. I guarantee it won’t be pretty. Damnation can happen in different degrees, depending on how much we know what we are doing. But here is something I didn’t know. Damnation, as defined in the Bible Dictionary= we will be limited in our progress and privileges. Now think about this in the job perspective-if we were on a job and we didn’t continue our training and learning about the job, to become more proficient how long would it take before you were replaced or fired? So if we are limited in our spiritual progress and privileges think about that-you’d be stuck on the level-you are right now that’s it! No more knowledge, no more blessings. So how serious is partaking of the sacrament worthily?

18:36-37 Christ gives his disciples power to baptize and give the gift of the holy ghost. Then He ascends through the clouds (v38-39)

Ch 19 Through the night the people who were there to greet Him and were taught by Him rush off to testify to their neighbors that missed out on all the action and they testify of the things they felt and experienced. The twelve taught and baptized many. As they received the H.G. (v13) angels came down encircled them, ministered to them (v15) then Christ came in the midst of that.
V17 Then He asked them to kneel and pray
V19 He went and prayed to the Father
V24 They continued to pray, as they prayed H.G gave them more words to pray, their desire to pray was intensified.
V25 As they prayed Christ’s power strengthened them-His whiteness reflected on them.
V30 But as they continued to pray they themselves became white-purified-glorified-powerful
V35 Because of their faith- that is the only reason they were able to be a part of all these miracles

Again Chapter 20:3-9 Christ blessed and past the bread and wine to them, which he pulled from thin air.

V9 All these wonderful feelings, miracles, they were able to be a part of. They partake of the sacrament again and cried out and gave glory to Jesus! Do we feel this way when we’ve taken the sacrament? What is our purpose when we partake? Do we come with one? Do we understand that, that purpose will be fulfilled with His power-His atoning power? Are we ready to take that upon us? Do we want miracles such as these to enter our own lives and the lives of our children? Christ teaches that through our faith and the ordinances of the sacrament and prayer we can get them! May we challenge ourselves to treat the sacrament with the sacred reverence they deserve. In the name of Jesus Christ amen.