Moroni 4:1 administering the flesh and blood of Christ unto the
Church
Jeffrey R. Holland
“…every
ordinance of the gospel focuses in one way or another on the atonement of the
Lord Jesus Christ, and surely that is why this particular ordinance with all its
symbolism and imagery comes to us more readily and more repeatedly than any
other in our life. It comes in what has been called ‘the most sacred,
the most holy, of all the meetings of the Church’ (Joseph Fielding
Smith, Doctrines of Salvation, 2:340).
“Perhaps
we do not always attach that kind of meaning to our weekly sacramental service.
How ‘sacred’ and how ‘holy’ is it? Do we see it as our passover,
remembrance of our safety and deliverance and redemption?
“With so very much at stake, this ordinance commemorating our escape from the angel of darkness should be taken more seriously than it sometimes is. It should be a powerful, reverent, reflective moment. It should encourage spiritual feelings and impressions. As such it should not be rushed. It is not something to ‘get over’ so that the real purpose of a sacrament meeting can be pursued. This is the real purpose of the meeting. And everything that is said or sung or prayed in those services should be consistent with the grandeur of this sacred ordinance.” (Conference Report, Oct. 1995, “This Do in Remembrance of Me”)
Spencer
W. Kimball
“We
attend sacrament meetings to worship the Lord. If the meeting is conducted or
if we attend with any other thought, we have missed the spirit of the occasion.
Those who attend meeting only when the speaker is eloquent, the lecturer is
noted, or the music is excellent, are far ahead of the high purpose and
loftiness of this meeting in the house of prayer…we do not go to Sabbath
meetings to be entertained or even solely to be instructed. We go to worship
the Lord. It is an individual responsibility, and regardless of what is said
from the pulpit, if one wishes to worship the Lord in spirit and in truth, he
may do so by attending his meetings, partaking of the sacrament, and
contemplating the beauties of the gospel. If the service is a failure to you,
you have failed. No one can worship for you; you must do your own waiting upon
the Lord.” (The Teachings of Spencer W. Kimball, pp. 514-15.)
Moroni 4:3 that they are willing to take upon them the name of thy
Son
“Why
are the three words ‘are willing to’
necessary here? Are they important? Would it make a difference if the prayer
left these out and just read: ‘ . . . and witness unto thee, O God, the Eternal
Father, that they take upon them the name of thy Son, and always remember him
and keep his commandments which he has given them’? Yes, it would make a
difference. It would make a difference because I cannot do this latter thing. I
can't witness, affirm, or swear that I do always remember him and keep
his commandments. I would be lying, and I know it—I want to do the right thing,
but sometimes I don't. This is precisely the problem that makes the atonement
of Christ and the gospel covenant necessary for me in the first place—I can't
keep all the commandments all the time no matter how hard I try. It follows
that I can't honestly witness to God that I will keep all the
commandments when I know that, in some degree at least, I probably won't.
“However,
I can with absolute honesty witness that I am willing to. I can swear
that this is the desire of my heart. I can affirm that I hunger and thirst
after these things, that I will do all I can to be obedient. Thus even by the
technical terms of the covenant renewal prayer, God lets me know that the
honest commitment of my heart and my best efforts are sufficient for the
covenant to be renewed, and that the covenant of faith is sufficient, through
the grace of Christ, to justify me before God.” (Stephen E. Robinson, Believing
Christ, p. 53-4)
Bruce C. Hafen
“Our
part of that covenant is not that we may never make a mistake; it is, rather,
that we are willing to take upon ourselves his name, willing to always remember
him, and willing to keep his commandments. And that willingness shows where our
hearts really are. On this condition, he will always be with us, to heal, to
compensate, to strengthen us by the gifts of his Spirit—for those gifts are ‘given for the benefit of those who love me and keep all
my commandments, and [those] that seeketh so
to do.’ (D&C 46:9; emphasis added.) The Lord offers the gifts of the
Spirit not only to those who do but also to those who, willing but struggling,
seek to do his will.” (The Belonging Heart, p. 86)
Moroni 4:3 take upon them the name of thy Son, and always remember
him, and keep his commandments
Robert L. Simpson
“These
are not idle thoughts and words but rather sacred obligations and promises
entered into with God, the Father, as each worthy member partakes with contrite
spirit and deepest reflections concerning the atoning sacrifice of the Only
Begotten of the Father.
“Show
me the man, woman, or child who truly and sincerely covenants to take upon
himself the name of Jesus Christ, and I will show you a person who is upright
and honest in all of his dealings.
“Show
me the man, woman, or child who truly commits himself to always remember, and I
will show you a child of God who is without guile, one who is understanding and
quick to forgive.
“Show
me the man, woman or child who makes it a matter of daily and hourly endeavor
to keep God's commandments that he has given them and lives that pledge in his
every act, his every word, to the very best of his ability, and I will show you
one who radiates the true Spirit of Christ and who, if unwavering to the end,
will inherit eternal life, which is, according to the Lord, ‘the greatest of all the gifts of God.’ (D&C
14:7.)” (Conference Report, Apr. 1967, p. 68)
Dallin
H. Oaks
“When
the Savior taught the Nephites following his resurrection, he referred to the
scriptural statement that ‘ye must take upon you the
name of Christ.’ He explained, ‘For by this
name shall ye be called at the last day; And whoso taketh upon him my name, and
endureth to the end, the same shall be saved at the last day.’ (3 Ne. 27:5-6.)
That same teaching is repeated in a modern revelation, which adds the caution
that ‘if they know not the name by which they are
called, they cannot have place in the kingdom of my Father.’ (D&C 18:25;
see also Alma 5:38.)
“The
Book of Mormon explains the significance of being called by the name of Jesus
Christ. When the Savior showed his spirit body to the brother of Jared, he
introduced himself as the Father and the Son, declaring that through his
redeeming sacrifice all mankind who believed on his name should have life
eternal through him, ‘and they shall become my sons
and my daughters.’ (Ether 3:14.)
Abinadi said of those who believed in the Lord and looked to him for a
remission of their sins ‘that these are his seed, or
they are heirs of the kingdom of God.’ (Mosiah 15:11.) He
continued this explanation as follows:
“‘For these are they whose sins he has borne; these are they for
whom he has died, to redeem them from their transgressions. And now, are they
not his seed?’ (Mosiah 15:12.)
“Speaking
through the prophet Alma, the Lord explained the significance of this
relationship: ‘For behold, in my name are they
called; and if they know me they shall come forth, and shall have a place
eternally at my right hand.’ (Mosiah 26:24.)
“In
these great scriptures from the Book of Mormon, we learn that those who are
qualified by faith and repentance and compliance with the laws and ordinances
of the gospel will have their sins borne by the Lord Jesus Christ. In spiritual
and figurative terms they will become the sons and daughters of Christ, heirs
to his kingdom. These are they who will be called by his name in the last day.
“According
to this meaning, when we witness our willingness to take upon us the name of
Jesus Christ, we are signifying our commitment to do all that we can to achieve
eternal life in the kingdom of our Father. We are expressing our candidacy—our
determination to strive for—exaltation in the celestial kingdom.
“Those
who are found worthy to take upon them the name of Jesus Christ at the last day
are described in the great revelations recorded in the ninety-third and
seventy-sixth sections of the Doctrine and Covenants. Here the Savior revealed
to Joseph Smith that in due time, if we keep the commandments of God, we can
receive the ‘fulness’ of the Father. (D&C 93:19-20.)
Here the Savior bears record that ‘all those who are
begotten through me are partakers of the glory of the [Father], and are the church of the Firstborn.’ (D&C 93:22.)
‘They are they into whose hands the Father has given
all things. … Wherefore, as it is written, they are gods’ who ‘shall dwell in the presence of God and his Christ forever
and ever.’ (D&C 76:55, 58, 62.)
‘And this is life eternal, that they might know thee
the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom thou hast sent.’ (John 17:3;
see also D&C 88:4-5.)
This is the ultimate significance of taking upon us the name of Jesus Christ.”
(Conference Report, May 1985 Ensign, “Taking Upon Us the Name of Jesus
Christ”)
David
O. McKay
“Do we
always stop to think, on that sacred Sabbath day when we meet together to
partake of the sacrament, that we witness, promise, obligate ourselves, in the
presence of one another, and in the presence of God, that we will do certain
things?…The first: We are willing to take upon ourselves the name of the Son.
In so doing we choose him as our leader and our ideal: and he is the one
perfect character in all the world. Second: That we will always remember him.
Not just on Sunday, but on Monday, in our daily acts, in our self-control. When
our brother hurts us, we are going to try to master our feelings and not
retaliate in the same spirit of anger…That’s the spirit of the Christ, and
that’s what we have promised—that we will do our best to achieve these high
standards of Christianity, true Christian principles. The third: We promise to ’…keep his commandments which he has given…’—tithing,
fast offerings, the Word of Wisdom, kindness, forgiveness, love. The obligation
of a member of the Church of Jesus Christ is great, but it is as glorious as it
is great, because obedience to these principles gives life, eternal life.” (Gospel
Ideals, p. 146 as taken from Latter-day Commentary on the Book of
Mormon compiled by K. Douglas Bassett, p. 512)
Moroni 4:3 that they may always have his Spirit to be with them
Joseph Fielding Smith
“The promise
made to us, if we will do these things, is that we shall always have his Spirit
to be with us.
“No
member of the Church can fail to make this covenant and renew it week by week,
and retain the Spirit of the Lord. The Sacrament meeting of the Church is the
most important meeting which we have, and is sadly neglected by many members.
We go to this service, if we understand the purpose of it, not primarily to
hear someone speak, important though that may be, but first, and most
important, to renew this covenant with our Father in heaven in the name of
Jesus Christ. Those who persist in their absence from this service will
eventually lose the Spirit and if they do not repent will eventually find
themselves denying the faith.” (Church History and Modern Revelation, 1:122-23)
Joseph
E. Taylor
“You
partake of the ordinance in order that His Spirit may be with you. You cannot have spiritual life without
it. You show me a person who from
Sabbath to Sabbath, month to month, and year to year, absents himself from
these sacred meetings of the Latter-day Saints, and I will show you a man from
whom the Spirit of the Lord will be taken and he will become spiritually
dead. Do you believe it? It seems to lay at the very foundation of
your spiritual life and mine.” (Collected Discourses 1886-1898, ed. by Brian Stuy,
vol. 5, Joseph E. Taylor, Nov. 18, 1894)
Moroni 5:1 The manner of
administering the wine
For a discussion on the
nature of Nephite wine, see commentary for 3 Nephi 18:8. See also DC 27.
Moroni 5:2 in remembrance of the blood of thy Son
The symmetry and the
symbolism of the sacrament is impressive, for the entire plan of salvation
finds its fulfillment in the symbolism of this ordinance. The Fall brought into
the world two kinds of death, physical and spiritual. The atonement overcame
two kinds of death, physical and spiritual, and each of these elements is
beautifully represented in the ordinance.
Physical Death |
Spiritual Death |
Separation from the
physical body |
Separation from God |
Overcome by the Resurrection
of Christ |
Overcome by the Redemption
of Christ |
Death overcome for all (1
Cor 15:22) |
Remission of sins for many
(Matt 26:28) |
Represented by the Body of
Christ |
Represented by the Blood
of Christ |
Symbolized by the bread |
Symbolized by the wine/water |
Christ is the bread of
life (Jn 6:35) |
Christ is the fountain of
living water (Jn 4:10) |
Bread is broken as was
Christ’s body |
Water is poured out as
spilt blood, he hath poured out his soul unto
death (Isa 53:12) |
Offering consummated on
the cross |
Offering consummated in
Gesthemane |