Beatitudes: Steps to come to Christ
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"Exaltation is earned by accepting Jesus Christ and His divine Sonship and following His precepts," said Elder Royden G. Derrick of the Seventy in his April 1989 general conference address.
"Jesus showed us the way. Its simplicity is encompassed in His Beatitudes, which have echoed down through the centuries of time and will yet echo through the millenniums of time. . . . The Beatitudes are steps we can take to come to Christ."Elder Derrick quoted from the Beatitudes that the Savior gave to His followers in the Sermon on the Mount in the Holy Land (see Matthew, chapters 5-7) and from a similar discourse the Savior gave to the people in ancient America (see 3 Ne. 12:1-48).
"[In theT Sermon on the Mount in the Holy Land, the Savior said, `Be ye therefore perfect, even as your Father which is in Heaven is perfect.' (Matt. 5:48.) But when the Savior repeated the Sermon on the Mount to the people of ancient America, He said, `Therefore I would that ye should be perfect even as I, or your Father who is in heaven is perfect.' (3 Ne. 12:48, italics added.)
"Something important happened between the time He taught this sermon to the people in the Holy Land and when He taught it to the people of ancient America. In the meantime, He went through His Gethsemane, where He drank the bitter cup and did not shrink. We too should strive for perfection, bear up under our problems and our sorrows, remain faithful to the end, and not shrink."
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(ADDITIONAL INFORMATION)
Articles on this page may be used in conjunction with the Gospel Doctrine course of study.
Information compiled by Gerry Avant.
Sources: April 1980, October 1982 and April 1989 general conference reports.
