SERMON: Blessings of the Restoration

A Sermon by Matthew P Gill

Many of the blessings and the opportunities we enjoy are results of the Restoration. We have more light and knowledge than has ever been on the earth before at one time. The Gospel sun, which had its setting in the day when darkness covered the earth, that same Gospel sun had its rising in the new day of the Restoration.

What great blessings and advantages does the Restoration offer us? We have knowledge of life’s purpose and eternal opportunities that await us. We can share eternal joy with our friends and our families. We can have growth and satisfaction through organised service, and we can gain a profound peace and strength through a spiritual closeness with the Lord. God has restored his Gospel and it is given to us as a way of life, our way of Life, God’s way of life.

So how, as Latter Day Mormons, can we take advantage of the blessings and opportunities of the restored Gospel? We are in a position to claim these blessings when we strive to obey the commandments. One of these blessings is to fulfil the role that the Lord gave to us; this role was divinely appointed to us before we came to earth at this time of the Restoration for a special reason. It is the duty of every Latter Day Mormon to be holy unto God. We must have elevated aims, if we are holy people under God. We shall feel that we are called to perform important duties.

As the ancient Prophet Alma said, “And now my beloved brethren, I have said these things unto you that I might awaken you to a sense of your duty to God, that ye may walk blameless before him, that ye may walk after the holy order of God, after which ye have been received.” (Alma Chapter 5; 7:22/Utah)

No one is who is a Latter Day Mormon is exempt from doing their duty. There is no person so isolated, and their sphere so narrow that they can not do a great deal towards establishing the kingdom of God upon the earth. Let us look at the Holy Bible in Isaiah chapter 29: “Therefore, behold, I will proceed to do a marvellous work among this people, even a marvellous work and a wonder: for the wisdom of their wise men shall perish, and the understanding of their prudent men shall be hid.”

In the Book of Jeraneck, that prophet recorded that all his people were called by God to, “Be righteous and obedient and clean, Be holy and sanctified.” (BOJ, Religious Teachings 1:63)

What we have to remember today is that many good people of the world will be drawn to the church in ever increasing numbers. This will happen to the degree that the members of the church reflect righteousness and articulateness in their lives and to the degree that the members of the church are seen as distinct and different in happy ways from the people of the world.

There are among the people of the world heroes and heroines who will come to the church who are concerned with being righteous than with being selfish. These real heroes and heroines have true humility, which places a higher value on integrity than on visibility, Great men and women are always more anxious to serve than have dominion.

So Latter Day Mormons, as members, are the ultimate examples of the church and it is we who will be a significant force in both the numerical and spiritual growth of the church in these the last days. The blessings of the Restoration are ours when we keep the commandments and fulfil our roles as members of the church.

Let us be guided by Heavenly Father to be true to His Word.