Brothers and sisters, Aloha.
Once there was a Fly fisher who's favorite past time was creating and fishing flies that deceived the wily trout in the river close by his home. As the fly fisherman starts out, he looks over the river to decide where to fish. He divides the river into three types of water: slow moving, medium fast with riffles and last fast water. Fishing the slow water requires great care and stealth because there the fish are cautious and stay in protected places. The flies to catch them need to be very realistic because the trout have so much time to inspect the fly looking for anything that would give it away as a fake. The riffles and medium fast water do not require as much caution. The moving water hides the fisherman and his line somewhat so the fish do not flee as quickly. Here the fly must only be about the right color and the right size - an impressionistic fly. Because the fly is moving more quickly, the trout must make a quicker choice and it is easier for the fisherman to deceive the fish. Last is the fast water. There are fewer trout in this water but those in the water are apt to make very quick decisions.
Flies for this water only need to have something similar to a real food item in color or size. Fish feel they can spit out anything that is not right. It is easiest to fool trout here but the fisherman knows not too many fish are located in the fast water. Sometimes the fly fisherman will choose any of the waters but today it will be the medium fast water. In not too long the fish there succumb to the temptation of his flies and he fills his fishing creel with an abundant catch.
In life we can swim in any of the waters. We are most safe in waters where we carefully make decisions not where heightened peer pressure, excited emotions, culture or friends entice us to try something we know is not right. Invariably when this happens a hook is hidden in the temptation and we find that we are deceived.
Today I hope to give you some thoughts that may help you to reveal temptations for what they are-deceptions or hooks held by someone whose purpose and desire is to take away your eternal life.
In the pre-mortal life, Lucifer-also to be known later as Satan or the Devil, lived with us. There our Heavenly Father brought forth a plan, which would allow us to progress and live with him and be like him. Lucifer designed an imitation plan. Many were deceived and lost their chance at eternal life - which is the life that God lives. Satan and his followers were cast down to earth where he continues to design plans to tempt us and to hook us so we will become miserable like he is. It is important that you know this about him. If we accept his temptations, we lose our eternal life. Satan does not want anything good for you.
The scriptures tell us "Wherefore, be not deceived, but continue in steadfastness" (D&C 49:23) and yet at the same time we are almost overwhelmed with rising levels of temptations. Most of these are leveled at youth. It is easy to see why. You are the promised future. In you are future families. Destroy the root and the tree withers away. With so much temptation how can you or I be expected to succeed?
The Lord does not leave us defenseless. He promises us a guide -the Holy Ghost. The well disguised offerings of the evil one will be exposed for what they are - deceptions - if we keep the Holy Ghost as our Guide. Moroni 10:5 states that the Holy Ghost can show us the truth of all things.
The key is keeping that Guide. The scriptures tell us that the Holy Spirit will not stay in unholy places. That is why we repent and are baptized for the remission of sins prior to receiving the Holy Ghost. Then we are clean. If we are to keep that gift we must remain clean. One of the reasons for taking the sacrament is to remind us of that baptismal experience and cleanse us again if we have repented which allows the Holy Ghost to remain or return to us. Maintaining His companionship allows us to spot the deceptive offerings of the Adversary.
In the vision of the Tree of Life which Lehi and Nephi shared, followers of Christ pressed on following a path, which would lead to eternal life.
1 Ne 8:19-21
19 And I beheld a rod of iron, and it extended along the bank of the river, and led to the tree by which I stood.
20 And I also beheld a strait and narrow path, which came along by the rod of iron, even to the tree by which I stood; and it also led by the head of the fountain, unto a large and spacious field, as if it had been a world.
21 And I saw numberless concourses of people, many of whom were pressing forward, that they might obtain the path which led unto the tree by which I stood.
Nephi learned that the rod of iron was the word of God. The Tree is a representation of the love of God, which is most apparent in the Atonement wrought by the Savior.
1 Ne 8:22-23
22 And it came to pass that they did come forth, and commence in the path which led to the tree.
23 And it came to pass that there arose a mist of darkness; yea, even an exceedingly great mist of darkness, insomuch that they who had commenced in the path did lose their way, that they wandered off and were lost.
We learn that temptation is in the midst of darkness. Satan places exciting billboards along the "straight and narrow path" to try to get us to leave the path. When the people in the vision lost their hold on the word of God they wandered off and were lost. Therefore another way to identify and resist temptation is to use the word of God, which include the scriptures and the words of our inspired leaders. We have been encouraged repeatedly to read our scriptures daily. They teach us truth and allow the spirit of revelation to flow through us. With the word of God we are less likely to be deceived by the devil.
JS-Matthew 1:37
And whoso treasureth up my word, shall not be deceived...We should stop to talk about what it means to treasure the words of God. It is obvious that it does not mean putting our scriptures in a chest and hiding them away.
Brother Robert Millet states:
"Treasure up his word. The scriptures are the words of Christ. They contain the warnings and doctrinal teachings of those who were moved upon by the Holy Ghost and who thus spoke with the tongue of angels (see 2 Nephi 31:13; 32:1-3; 33:10). To read and ponder them is to hear the voice of the Master (see D&C 18:34-36). Holy writ has been preserved to bring us to Christ and to establish us upon his doctrine. Those who are serious students of the revelations seek diligently to know and apply scriptural precepts and principles; they can more readily see the hand of God and discern the handiwork of Lucifer. More equipped to sift and sort through the sordid, such persons are more prepared to distinguish the divine from the diabolical, the sacred from the secular."
And Elder Bruce R. McConkie wrote:
"It is self-evident that we have received no useless and unneeded revelations. All that the Lord does has a purpose and serves a need. He expects us to treasure up his word, to ponder in our hearts its deep and hidden meanings, and to understand its full import. Those who have done so know that the revealed accounts of the Creation are designed to accomplish two great purposes. Their general purpose is to enable us to understand the nature of our mortal probation, a probation in which all men are being tried and tested 'to see if they will do all things whatsoever the Lord their God shall command them' (Abr. 3:25). Their specific purpose is to enable us to understand the atoning sacrifice of the Lord Jesus Christ, which infinite and eternal Atonement is the very foundation upon which revealed religion rests."
Having the word of God as these two brethren have described gives us a vision and a way to reject Satan's deceptions.
Nephi continues with his father's dream -
1 Ne 8:24-33
24 And it came to pass that I beheld others pressing forward, and they came forth and caught hold of the end of the rod of iron; and they did press forward through the mist of darkness, clinging to the rod of iron, even until they did come forth and partake of the fruit of the tree.
25 And after they had partaken of the fruit of the tree they did cast their eyes about as if they were ashamed. (Elder Packer states that those that partake of the fruit of the tree are members of the Church. If these are members of the Church we need to ask if we are the ones ashamed of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Do we show our shame by ignoring the counsel of the Lord in our dress, language, or friends?)
26 And I also cast my eyes round about, and beheld, on the other side of the river of water, a great and spacious building; and it stood as it were in the air, high above the earth. (Do you ever when you're reading the scriptures ask why things are expressed the way they are? Like here, why is the great and spacious building standing as it were in the air, high above the earth? Is it so they can look down on us? Or maybe because it is filled with hot air. If it is in the air, it has no foundation. It is just interesting sometimes for me to ask why the writer used the terminology or symbolism that he uses - okay back to the scripture)
27 And it was filled with people, both old and young, both male and female; and their manner of dress was exceedingly fine; and they were in the attitude of mocking and pointing their fingers towards those who had come at and were partaking of the fruit.
28 And after they had tasted of the fruit they were ashamed, because of those that were scoffing at them; and they fell away into forbidden paths and were lost.
29 And now I, Nephi, do not speak all the words of my father.
30 But, to be short in writing, behold, he saw other multitudes pressing forward; and they came and caught hold of the end of the rod of iron; and they did press their way forward, continually holding fast to the rod of iron, until they came forth and fell down and partook of the fruit of the tree.
31 And he also saw other multitudes feeling their way towards that great and spacious building.
32 And it came to pass that many were drowned in the depths of the fountain; and many were lost from his view, wandering in strange roads.
33 And great was the multitude that did enter into that strange building. And after they did enter into that building they did point the finger of scorn at me and those that were partaking of the fruit also; but we heeded them not.
We know that the Book of Mormon was written for our time. While the vision was given to Lehi, it was for us. If so what do we learn about temptation from this vision?
First, we learn that it is real, that in many instances temptation comes from those that we may admire because they are famous or popular and appear to "have it all." They may be beautiful, dress in the latest fashions, live in nice places, drive exciting cars. Because of that what they say and do may be important to us because we want to be like them. Occasionally they or others we admire will try to make us feel small if we hold to our beliefs. At some point in our life, maybe many times, we will be belittled if we live the Gospel honestly and fully. How we react will be the key. Lehi states two of the possible reactions. We can be ashamed of the Gospel or we cannot give any heed to those that mock us and make fun of us. How we react will determine whether we continue to eternal life or become lost, wandering strange roads.
Just as the fly fisherman has many flies some which will work with some fish and others with other fish so that Wicked One will tempt you with those temptations where you may be unsuspecting or have challenges. He will tempt the surfer with breaking the Sabbath, those that don't have much with envy and theft, a couple who think they are in love with immorality. Temptation tailored to us. We do have the assurance, though, that he cannot tempt us beyond our ability to withstand it. Unfortunately, as in the case of the drug addict, when does the chance start? With the first fix or later I cannot tell. It is better to leave temptation alone.
Most temptations are grouped into a few basic categories. We learn this well from Korihor in the Book of Mormon:
Alma 30:12-18
12 And this Anti-Christ, whose name was Korihor ...began to preach unto the people that there should be no Christ. And after this manner did he preach, saying:
13 O ye that are bound down under a foolish and a vain hope, why do ye yoke yourselves with such foolish things? Why do ye look for a Christ? For no man can know of anything which is to come.
14 Behold, these things which ye call prophecies, which ye say are handed down by holy prophets, behold; they are foolish traditions of your fathers.
15 How do ye know of their surety? Behold, ye cannot know of things which ye do not see; therefore ye cannot know that there shall be a Christ.
16 Ye look forward and say that ye see a remission of your sins. But behold, it is the effect of a frenzied mind; and this derangement of your minds comes because of the traditions of your fathers, which lead you away into a belief of things which are not so.
17 And many more such things did he say unto them, telling them that there could be no atonement made for the sins of men, but every man fared in this life according to the management of the creature; therefore every man prospered according to his genius, and that every man conquered according to his strength; and whatsoever a man did was no crime.
18 And thus he did preach unto them, leading away the hearts of many, causing them to lift up their heads in their wickedness, yea, leading away many women, and also men, to commit whoredoms -- telling them that when a man was dead, that was the end thereof.
Look at his arguments - no Christ and no God, no Atonement and no sin. Think what he has just done. What do the first four articles of faith teach us? We believe in God and Christ, man is accountable for his sin, there is an Atonement and we must repent and have faith in Christ. Korihor has attacked the very foundation of the Gospel. Unfortunately, people then and now like the fact they do not have to be held accountable for sin so they will pay someone to ease their conscience. Those that accepted Korihor fell quickly into two sins according to the prophet-pride and whoredoms or sexual sins. These are two serious sins very prevalent today and of which we are warned regularly by our general authorities.
At the University of Alabama, I had a friend who lived in the student housing across from me. He was a fine young man and a great football player. We used to have talks together. Sometimes, he would share some of his Baptist beliefs and I would share some of my Mormon ones. One day when were discussing the need to have faith demonstrated by our actions, he told me. "Mike, what do you think of sinning saints?" I confessed that I was not sure what he was talking about. He said that his minister believed that if we love the Lord even if we could not keep the commandments we would still be saved. The minister called this group sinning saints. I wondered what happened to all the words that the Savior said, such as, "If ye love me keep my commandments." Or, "Not everyone that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the Kingdom of Heaven; but he that doeth the will of my Father which is in Heaven. (Matthew 7:21.) We were never able to reconcile this together. He was a good person but he had come to believe that what we did had no impact on his being saved. However, the Lord could not be more clear. D&C 1:31 For I the Lord cannot look upon sin with the least degree of allowance." To my friend wherever he is, I state again - sin matters.
In the Book of Mormon we read, "And there shall also be many which shall say: Eat, drink, and be merry; nevertheless, fear God he will justify in committing a little sin; there is no harm in this; and do all these things, for tomorrow we die; and if it so be that we are guilty, God will beat us with a few stripes, and at last we shall be saved in the kingdom of God." (2 Ne. 28:7-8) Again let me restate that the Book of Mormon was written for us. It is a tool for members to recognize evil and learn truth. This temptation that we can do what we want now because it won't matter much is as scary as it is prevalent. Some members feel they can play with temptations now and repent later. I admire their faith in repentance but I am disappointed in their willingness to turn away from God while they do it. Elder Maxwell stated it this way "Even if we decide to leave Babylon, some of us endeavor to keep a second residence there, or we commute on weekends." And President Marion G. Romney said, some go on "trying to serve the Lord without offending the devil"
Elder Dean L. Larsen formerly one of the Seven Presidents of the Seventy and my mission president from many years ago taught this in General Conference, "Not long ago I interviewed a young man who desired to fill a mission, but he had been guilty of some very serious transgressions during his teen years. He was a member of an active Latter-day Saint family, and he himself had been an actively participating member of the Church, even during the time of his transgressions. Ultimately he had gone to his bishop and confessed his wrongdoings. Now, for more than a year, his life had been free of the earlier difficulties, and he was anxious to serve a mission.
"As we talked about his situation and the decisions he had made earlier in his life that led to his questionable standing in the Church, he said, Oh, I knew that what I was doing was wrong, and I was sure that one day I would put things back in order and go on a mission.
"While I was pleased with this young man's desire to reorder his life and serve the Lord as a missionary, I was troubled by the apparent premeditated, calculated way in which he had allowed himself to move off the proper course to engage in some destructive, immoral behavior, and then, almost as if he were following a timetable set by himself, he had begun to reconstruct his resolve to be obedient.
"If my experience with this young man had been an isolated one, it would not be worthy of note here; unfortunately, however, it is not unique. There appears to be an increasing tendency and temptation for young people to sample the forbidden things of the world, not with the intent to embrace them permanently, but with the knowing decision to indulge in them momentarily as though they held a value of some kind too important or exciting to pass by. It is one of the great tests of our time.
"While many recover from these excursions into forbidden territory, an increasing number of tragedies are occurring that reach out to bring a blight and a despair to many lives and that have long-lasting consequences. There is no such thing as private sin. Although its commission can be calculated, its effects cannot be regulated by the person guilty of the misbehavior. To believe otherwise is to become gullible to one of the most insidious lies ever perpetrated by the father of lies."
While I was at Duke University, I had the opportunity to play volleyball. On one of our trips I was in a discussion with two of our team members one of whom was in the Divinity School there and was in his last year and the other a younger student from Brazil. The divinity student had spent his last few summers doing student preaching (if that was what it was called.) He was a nice guy and everyone on the team got along great. The young man from Brazil was a fine player. As we traveled to a meet, the young Brazilian asked the "to be" minister a question. He stated that he was in love with a girl and wanted to know if it was wrong to have premarital relations with her. What did the future minister friend think? My friend said - "I think it is fine".
At that point I nearly scared them to death as I said in an agitated voice - what are you talking about? Haven't you read the Bible? I then quoted Matt 5:28 which reads, But I say unto you, that whosoever looketh on a woman to lust after her hath committed adultery with her already in his heart. I also pointed to counsel given by Paul to Timothy and Titus pointing out the sins of the flesh and commending them to be chaste. My friend agreed that indeed the scriptures said that and the discussion grew quiet. The young Brazilian had not gotten the permission slip he wanted and I may have embarrassed my divinity student friend. But in good conscience I could not let him give such bad counsel.
I have long been concerned that some of those we ought to be able to look to providing for wise principles and counsel have themselves become lost. If we follow our friends who are lost we have as the scriptures stated taken blind guides. This is not just my minister friend; it may be your friends as well. Maybe it could be one who is professing love for you and is asking you to do something you know is wrong. Always ask yourself is this something I know is right or is it something I just want to do. Most of the time, you will know if it is wrong. However, because you may have placed yourself in the fast water of the parable you may be in too big a hurry to take what is wrong for you to do. Be wise and retreat to safer water.
Paul says in 1Cor 6:9-10
9 Know ye not that the unrighteous shall not inherit the kingdom of God? Be not deceived: neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor effeminate, nor abusers of themselves with mankind,
10 Nor thieves, nor covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor extortioners, shall inherit the kingdom of God.
D&C 59:6 ... Thou shalt not ... commit adultery ... nor do anything like unto it.
That phrase - "nor do anything like unto it"-is like the words used in a lot of contracts. Basically, it is telling us that there are so many ways to sin that I will give you the basics and don't do anything that is like that or would lead to that. Necking and petting are precursors to fornication. It is "like unto it." You can say it is not it - but you should ask yourself - do I really think the Lord approves what I am doing? I doubt any of you would think he did. If you do, here are some words from President Kimball, "Immorality does not begin in adultery or perversion. It begins with little indiscretions like sex thoughts, sex discussions, passionate kissing, petting and such, growing with every exercise. The small indiscretion seems powerless compared to the sturdy body, the strong mind, the sweet spirit of youth who give way to the first temptation. But soon the strong has become weak, the master the slave, spiritual growth curtailed. But if the first unrighteous act is never given root, the tree will grow to beautiful maturity and the youthful life will grow toward God, our Father."
This quote is taken from "President Kimball Speaks Out on Morality" found in the November 1980 Ensign and you can read it on-line. The article is clear and straightforward and easy to understand. I would recommend it to anyone that is searching for guidance from the Lord on this issue.
The phrase "or anything like unto it" also applies to pornography. I wish it were not such a terrible blight but it is. It is a 13 plus billion-dollar-a-year business.
I have had experience with several sad situations where members - good members - became involved. There may not be a better example of a deception than pornography. Like the flies of the fly fisherman, users of pornography do not see the hook. One person I know well said to his wife, "why are you so upset? (speaking of his viewing pornography on the internet). This is not hurting anyone." They had two beautiful children. Soon however, he became involved with another woman, was excommunicated, divorced and lost the right to raise his children. As it turned out his pornography did hurt many people. In another instance, the habit led the husband to begin treating his wife in degrading ways that led to divorce and three children with no father. I will mention just one more. I know a fine person who had wanted to work at a particular institution his whole life. He was so happy to finally be working there. For some reason out of curiosity looked at a few pornographic sites on the Internet not with the intent to become addicted. The first looks led to longer searches and finally found viewing sites at work he lost his employment. "Anything like unto it" does include pornography and it does carry with it sadness.
"Anything like unto it" might include drugs or kava when talking about the Word of Wisdom even though they are not specifically mentioned in the revelation. And for each commandment we could find a small indiscretion that leads to the bigger sin. I think these are the paths spoken of by the prophet Lehi. Most of those leaving the straight and narrow path probably did not have the great and spacious building as their starting destination. At first it was just a short diversion from the path but once off the path it is easier to become lost. Keep hold to the rod of iron.
There are many other deceptions, which Satan will ply you with:
Deuteronomy 11:16 states:
16 Take heed to yourselves, that your heart be not deceived, and ye turn aside, and serve other gods, and worship them.
Today the other gods that we worship are anything that takes away from what we should be doing. These other gods can be the unhealthy pursuit of wealth, desire for a physical image, video games, sports, culture or popularity. It is whatever we worship or desire that is in opposition to God or his teachings. It is what we do instead of what we should do.
1 Corinthians 15:33
33 Be not deceived; evil communications corrupt good manners.
How we talk is a big problem. I have heard people say, "if you don't like it, that is your problem." But language is like cigarette smoke. People used to say that smoking was a personal thing and then the dangers of second-hand smoke were discovered. Language affects all within its sound. Hurtful, vile and foul language from someone is a testimony of the quality of that person's soul. Be careful with your language. Do not defile yourself or others with degrading and filthy talk. Don't injure pure minds or break tender hearts with meanness and cruelty. All are children of God. If you offend one of them you will be offending Him.
One truth I have had profoundly impressed upon me is that God is just. Alma said, "What, do ye suppose that mercy can rob justice? I say unto you, Nay; not one whit. If so, God would cease to be God." (Alma 42:25) Paul said to the Galatians, "Be not deceived; God is not mocked: for whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap." (Galatians 6:7) If we sow thistles, we shouldn't plan to get strawberries. If we sow hate, we must not expect to reap an abundance of love. We get back, in kind, that which we sow, we reap, somehow, always in greater quantity. We sow a little thistle in our yard, and we get a lot of thistle-years and years of it, big bushes and branches of it. We never get rid of it unless we cut it out. If we sow a little bit of hate, before we know it we've reaped a lot of hate-smoldering and festering and belligerent and finally warring and malicious hate. If we sow disobedience, we should not expect the reward of those that are faithfully striving to obtain the fruit from the Tree of Life.
In the parable, the fisherman uses deception to take the fish. Satan will probably not tempt you in the beginning to commit the major sins. He will tempt you to commit seemingly insignificant sins. Ones that you do not need to see the bishop about. Once you are comfortable with those, he has erased your safety ground and you are close to the edge. Staying away from anything that you know is not what the Savior wants you doing will keep you from taking the tempting flies from the Master Deceiver.
Let me conclude with my testimony to you that I know that these things that I have shared today are true. I pray that when Satan comes, with his tempting flies, you will be in the safe slow water, that you will see temptations for what they are, and refuse to be enticed by them. May you always be careful, guided by the Holy Ghost and free from Satan's entanglements and never, never be deceived. In the name of Jesus Christ, amen.