Today, I would like to talk about a very precious gift that each of us inherited from our first estate or our premortal existence. It is the gift to choose right from wrong, the gift of agency.
As we reason together, we will have confirmed in our minds and hearts, the powerful importance of choosing correct paths during the course of our lifetime on earth. In our premortal life, we lived as spirits in a pre-existent world or first estate. In that world, our Heavenly Father gave each one of His spirit children the power and ability to choose, the gift of agency. He also gave laws and with our agency we could choose to obey or disobey. By obediently following God's laws and by choosing correctly, we developed talents, abilities, aptitudes, and characteristics. We were capable of learning, love, happiness, sorrow, obedience, disobedience and other personal characteristics.
We attended a great family council of God's spirit children, which we refer to as the Council in Heaven. Our Heavenly Father explained that for us to truly become like our Heavenly Parents, we would need to experience mortality as a first step to resurrection and immortality. We would need to leave our celestial home to be tested and to gain experience as we read in the Pearl of Great Price:
"And we will prove them herewith, to see if they will do all things whatsoever the Lord their God shall command them;" (Abraham 3:25).
Our Heavenly Father explained His plan for His children to undergo this necessary experience. He taught about the Creation, the Fall, mortality, the Atonement, the Resurrection, and the Final Judgment. The first-born spirit son of God, the one who would become Jesus asked for the role of Savior
"And the Lord said: Whom shall I send? And one answered like unto the Son of Man: Here am I, send me" (Abaraham 3:27).
He proposed accepting the terms of the Father's plan, even though it meant that many of the spirit children would not succeed. Another spirit son, Lucifer, asked that he be allowed to assume the role of Savior; he said:
"Behold, here am I, send me, I will be thy son, and I will redeem all mankind, that one soul shall not be lost, and surely I will do it; wherefore give me thine honor" (Moses 4:1).
Lucifer said by eliminating agency, he would guarantee that everyone would pass the probationary test. In the end, the two positions presented were incompatible; they could not coexist. A vote was taken and many shouted for joy; while sadly, objections were made by some of our brothers and sisters. A battle ensued and Lucifer using his divine gift of agency rebelled and with one-third of the spirit children were cast out of Heaven. They became the devil and his angels.
"Wherefore, because that Satan rebelled against me, and sought to destroy the agency of man, which I, the Lord God, had given him, and also, that I should give unto him mine own power; by the power of mine Only Begotten, I caused that he should be cast down" (Moses 4:3).
To the remaining two-thirds of Heavenly Father's spirit children, agency was not something to fear but something to embrace. We recognized that mistakes made on earth could be forgiven, and the associated punishments would be paid for by the suffering blood of Jesus Christ.
The "casting out" did not end the war. The war in heaven was the first battle in a long protracted struggle. The devil has not conceded defeat. He is still fighting a war. The Book of Mormon tells us in 2 Nephi 2:5 that
"Men are instructed sufficiently that they know good from evil".
And from the same chapter, we are also taught that
"men are free according to the flesh; and all things are given them which are expedient unto man. And they are free to choose liberty and eternal life, through the great Mediator of all men, or to choose captivity and death, according to the captivity and power of the devil" (2 Nephi 2:21).
One of the great challenges of life is to learn about choosing the right path.
Because we are living our second estate, we know that every prophet, every individual written about in the scriptures was among the two-thirds of the host of heaven. Everyone's experience in mortality is about choices. It it about understanding the gift of agency; the sickness and health, the joy and sorrow, the highs and lows, and ultimately the triumph that our Heavenly Father intended that we experience. Thus, we were given the opportunity to come to earth and experience all that is inherent in choice. We are here by choice! And, because we chose to come here, we should be happy to be here. The potential rewards are enormous. We are promised an inheritance with our heavenly parents in a celestialized world if we can learn to wisely exercise the gift of agency.
From the earliest of times we can observe examples of choices that have brought both blessings and curses to individuals, families, or civilizations.
It is helpful to review a few accounts of individuals in the scriptures who have chosen wisely or unwisely. Understanding experiences of others will help us understand the difficulty of choosing a correct path.
The very first is the account of Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden.
We can get a very clear idea of these events by reading the Pearl of Great Price. In Moses 3:15, we read, ''And I, the Lord God, took the man, and put him into the Garden of Eden, to dress it, and to keep it."
As soon as Adam arrived in the garden, he had to choose a path. Continuing in Moses:
''And I, the Lord God, commanded the man, saying: Of every tree of the garden thou mayest freely eat, but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt not eat of it, nevertheless, thou mayest choose for thyself, for it is given unto thee; but, remember that I forbid it, for in the day thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die" (Moses 3:16-17).
So, we learn first that man has the gift to choose, and that it was given to man from God. Adam was taught that "thou mayest choose for thyself." But immediately after being made aware that he could choose, he was also told that it was forbidden for him to choose to obtain a knowledge of good and evil by partaking of the fruit. Adam finds that he is not alone in the garden, he had a companion. His choices would not just affect him, but they would also impact this new companion. And as he was soon to discover, choices made by the companion could also have a dramatic impact on him. We know that after Eve exercised her agency, it was still left to Adam to exercise his. Adam chose to "cleave unto his wife" (Moses 3:24) and to experience with her the obtaining of wisdom and the understanding of good and evil. Adam recognized that exercising agency would bring joy in this life and ultimately lead him back to God where he wanted to go. Another experience from the Old Testament is the account of Noah and how choices made have eternal consequences.
Recall the choices made by the people at the time of Noah, when they laughed and they mocked and they jeered as he erected an ark. But their laughter and jeering ceased when the rain came and failed to cease. They had chosen a path contrary to the instructions of God's prophet, and they paid for that decision with their very lives (see Genesis 7).
King David is another tragic example. As a youth he was brave and full of faith. He slew the giant, Goliath. He became king. He had everything a man could desire. Yet when he saw Bathsheba, he wanted her even though she was another man's wife. He had her husband, Uriah the Hittite, sent to the front lines of battle so that he would be killed. Uriah died in battle, and David married Bathsheba. As a consequence of this evil deed, David lost his spiritual inheritance (see 2 Samuel 11-12).
And how about the choice of Laman and Lemuel, when they were commanded to go and obtain the plates of Laban? They murmured and complained that their task was too difficult, and they chose not to obey. But Nephi, responded by saying: "I will go and do the things which the Lord hath commanded," (1 Nephi 3:7) and he did.
Next, consider the choice of a 14-year-old boy who read in the first chapter of James, verse five: "If any of you lack wisdom, let him ask of God, that giveth to all men liberally, and upbraideth not; and it shall be given him."
Joseph Smith chose to put this scripture to the test. He went into the grove and he prayed. Was that a minor choice? No that was a choice that has affected all mankind and particularly all of us who are members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.
As the battle goes on around us, we should use the same strategy that was successful in our premortal state. Faith in the atoning sacrifice of Christ will allow us to overcome our fears, our sorrows, and our sins. Faith will allow us to access the blessings of the Atonement and give us strength to keep the commandments of God. How great is our joy when we choose to follow the Savior. We who comprised the two-thirds, who opted to retain the gift of agency and submit to the plan of redemption proposed by the Father and His Son, Jesus Christ, are those who have had, are having, and will have an experience in mortality. When we exercised our agency in the preexistence; we basically chose to keep choosing. This is our responsibility, we cannot be neutral. There is no middle ground. The Lord knows this; Lucifer knows this.
There is a great contest being waged for the souls of men. On the one hand Lucifer has attractively painted his road signs. You've seen them. They are bright and most enticing. They read like this: "Eat, drink, and be merry, for tomorrow we die" (2 Nephi 28:7). Or "It's the popular thing to do." Or "Just this once won't matter." Or "The Honor Code does not apply to me." But our Father in Heaven has prepared his road signs for our guidance. They read: "As ye sow, so shall ye reap" (See Gal. 6:7).
"There is a law, irrevocably decreed in heaven before the foundations of this world, upon which all blessings are predicated”
"And when we obtain any blessing from God, it is by obedience to that law upon which it is predicated" (D&C 130:20-21).
Thus we have to choose which path to follow. We are responsible for our own actions and accountable to God for what we choose to do with our lives. When we choose a path, we choose the place it leads to. We can choose to walk in or around the mud of life, but with our choices come the consequences. As we choose we become what we are choosing to be for all eternity. We all must understand that we cannot blame anybody else for our actions. A misconception of agency is that one can have the privilege of choice and somehow avoid the responsibility of consequences. To many people of the world, the concept of moral agency and free agency becomes blurred and some believe that choice is somehow free from consequence. It must be pleasing to the devil, who seeks to make "all men miserable like unto himself" (2 Nephi 2:27), that the relationship between choice and accountability is somehow obscured. Misery definitely comes when we make choices, ignoring the consequences that follow.
Our Heavenly Father has given us the ability to choose right from wrong and to act for ourselves. We have been given the Holy Ghost to help us know good from evil. While on earth, we are proven to see if we will use our agency to show our love for God by keeping His commandments. While we are free to choose, we are not free to choose the consequences of our actions. Wrong choices delay our progression and lead to heartache and misery. Right choices lead to happiness and eternal life. Something that must be considered is the difference between earthly consequences and heavenly or eternal consequences. The laws of man are finite, however the laws of God are eternal and have eternal consequences. For example, the laws of God concerning chastity and moral purity are quite clear, and we are constantly counseled about the eternal consequences of breaking those laws. By contrast, most Western societies have long since given up on trying to punish any kind of immoral conduct.
Elder Dallin H. Oaks tells a story of an airline pilot announcing on the intercom this message: "I have good news and bad news. The good news is that we're making good time. The bad news is that we've had an equipment failure, and we're not sure we're headed in the right direction,"
Elder Oaks continued:
"All of us need to be very careful about the paths we choose and the directions in which we set our lives. What seem to be only small deviations in direction or small detours from the straight and narrow path can result in huge differences in position down the road of life.
Potentially destructive deviations often seem so small that some find it easy to justify 'just this once.' When likely temptations arise we should ask ourselves, 'Where will it lead?'" (Dallin H. Oaks, "Where Will It Lead?" New Era, Aug 2007, 2-5).
Daily, we make choices of what to read, what to listen to, or what to watch. Because each of us has a body, something that Satan will never have, his desire is to have us cause harm to our bodies. We are sons and daughters of our Heavenly Father. Our spirits have been clothed in mortal tabernacles. If we let desires of the flesh dominate our spirit, we become carnally minded. Abinidi said,
"But remember that he that persists in his own carnal nature, and goes on in the ways of sin and rebellion against God, remaineth in his fallen state and the devil hath all power over him" (Mosiah 16:5).
Sadly, we see this captivity today among those who indulge in drugs, pornography, immorality, and other sins of the flesh.
Today's entertainment often makes what is evil and wrong look enjoyable and right. Let us remember the Lord's counsel:
"Woe unto them that call evil good, and good evil; that put darkness for light, and light for darkness; that put bitter for sweet, and sweet for bitter!" (Isaiah 5:20)
Pornography, though billed by Satan as entertainment, is deeply poisonous and deceptive. It destroys self-esteem and weakens self-discipline. As I discussed earlier, King David stood where he should not have stood. He watched what he should not have watched.
Resisting the temptations of today's electronic media is not easy. It takes focused courage and effort. Today on the Internet, trouble is just a few mouse clicks away.
Decide now, before you face a challenge, where to draw the line. President Hinckley counseled that if we decide now not to watch inappropriate media but instead to walk away, because then, "the challenge is behind us" (Gordon B. Hinckley, "A Prophet's Counsel and Prayer for Youth," Ensign, Jan 2001, 2). Another strong tool of Satan is get man to break the law of chastity. Most people fall into sexual sin in a misguided attempt to fulfill basic human needs. We all have a need to feel loved. We all seek to have joy and happiness in our lives. Knowing this, Satan often lures people into immorality by encouraging their basic needs. He promises pleasure, happiness, and fulfillment. But this is, of course, a deception.
Do not be misled by Satan's lies. There is no lasting happiness in immorality. There is no joy to be found in breaking the law of chastity. Just the opposite is true. There may be momentary pleasure. For a time it may seem like everything is wonderful. But quickly the relationship will break down. Guilt and shame set in. We become fearful that our sins will be discovered. We must sneak and hide, lie and cheat. Love begins to die.
Bitterness, jealousy, anger, and even hate begin to grow. All of these are the natural results of sin and transgression. On the other hand, when we obey the law of chastity and keep ourselves morally clean, we will experience the blessings of increased love and peace, greater trust and respect and a deeper commitment to each other, and therefore a deep and significant sense of joy and happiness.
We must not be misled into thinking these sins are minor or that consequences are not that serious.
For those who have not been misled and are pure and chaste, President Ezra Taft Benson offers some steps of preparation and prevention:
"1. Decide now to be chaste.
2. Control your thoughts. The first seeds of immorality are always sown in the mind.
3. Always pray for the power to resist temptation."
("President Benson Speaks on Importance of Chastity," Ensign, Dec 1987, 67-68)
Temptation will come to all of us. It will take many forms and appear in many disguises, but the Lord has given us the key for resisting it. He said to the Prophet Joseph Smith:
"Pray always, that you may come off conqueror; yea, that you may conquer Satan, and that you may escape the hands of the servants of Satan that do uphold his work" (D&C 10:5).
It should be part of our daily prayers to ask the Lord for constant strength to resist temptation, especially temptations that involve the law of chastity.
"6. For those who are single and dating members of the opposite sex, carefully plan positive and constructive activities so that you are not left to yourselves with nothing to do but share physical affection." This is "the principle of filling one's life with positive activities so that the negative has no chance to thrive" ("President Benson Speaks on Importance of Chastity," Ensign, Dec 1987, 67-68). Don't be alone together for long periods of time with no specific planned activities.
There may be some here for whom the counsel to prepare and prevent such activity is too late. You may already be involved in serious sin. If this is the case, there is no choice now but to repair your lives and repent of your sins. To you President Benson suggests five important things you can do to come back to a state of moral purity:
"1. Flee immediately from any situation you are in that is either causing you to sin or that may cause you to sin."
Follow Joseph of Egypt's example. Flee from it and get yourself out (see Genesis 39:12). You cannot linger in sin and expect to have success in repentance.
"2. Plead with the Lord for the power to overcome. "
One of Satan's most effective strategies with those whom he has lured into sin is to whisper in their ears that they are not worthy to pray. He will tell you that Heavenly Father is so displeased with you that He will never hear your prayers. This is a lie, and he says it to deceive us. No one is more anxious to help you than your Heavenly Father. Go to Him. Acknowledge your sin, confess your shame and your guilt, and then plead with Him for help. He has the power to help you triumph. President Benson continues:
"3. Let your priesthood leaders help you resolve the transgression and come back into full fellowship with the Lord."
"Full repentance of [sexual] sin requires that we not only confess our sins and resolve them with the Lord, but that we also do so with the Church."
The bishops and stake presidents have been appointed by revelation to serve as watchmen over the Church and judges in Israel and play a critical role in the process of repentance.
"4. Drink from the divine fountain, and fill your lives with positive sources of power; It is not enough simply to try to resist evil or empty our lives of sin. We must also fill our lives with righteousness"
"5. Remember that through proper repentance, you can become clean again. For those who pay the price required by true repentance, the promise is sure. You can be clean again. The despair can be lifted. The sweet peace of forgiveness will flow into your lives." ("President Benson Speaks on Importance of Chastity," Ensign, Dec 1987, 67-68)
Brothers and Sisters, the choices we make determine our destiny.
Joshua of old declared: "Choose you this day whom ye will serve; but as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord." (Joshua 24:15)
All of us commenced this journey when we left the spirit world and entered this challenging stage called mortality. We brought with us that great gift from God our agency. By virtue of this agency you and I and all mankind are made responsible beings, responsible for the course we pursue, the lives we live, the deeds we do.
Finally, and most importantly, choose to believe in the Atonement of Jesus Christ. In the name of Jesus Christ, Amen.