Brigham Young University-Idaho Devotional
April 10, 2015
The Sabbath and the Sacrament
Kim B. Clark
President, BYU-Idaho
Before I offer a few remarks to the graduates, I would like to say a word to the parents.
Thank you for entrusting your children to us. We love them very much. As I look at you today, I think of all the prayers you have said on their behalf. I think of all the home evenings and family dinners. I think of all the times you sat up waiting for them to come home. I think of your devotion to them and your love for them. We have seen that love and its fruits in your children.
One of the most wonderful things about your children is the Light of Christ in their eyes and His love in their hearts. It is surely true that they have worked hard at BYU-Idaho and have developed knowledge and skills that will be of great value to them and their families. Yet, what matters most is that they have become disciples of the Lord Jesus Christ. They love the Lord, and His light and His love are in them.
I now speak to the graduates.
Tonight is the last time I will address the graduates of BYU-Idaho as president. I want to share with you the most important counsel I can give a graduate of this very special and set apart university.
Here is my counsel: keep the world out of your heart and the Holy Ghost in it. The world is not in your heart now; don’t let it in.
Keeping the world out of your heart is not easy. There is all around us now, and there will be all around us in the days ahead, diabolical “shafts in the whirlwind,”1 cunning devices,2 lying craftiness,3 subtle deception,4 flattery,5 doctrines of devils, [and] commandments of men.6 These are all designed to tempt you, deceive you, turn you away from Christ, and bring you down to destruction by getting the world into your heart.
Tonight I will give you a sure way to keep the world out of your heart and the Holy Spirit in it. It is a very simple way, but it is powerful because it is the Lord’s way:
And that thou mayest more fully keep thyself unspotted from the world, thou shalt go to the house of prayer and offer up thy sacraments upon my holy day;7
Brothers and sisters, I make you this promise: if you will observe the Sabbath day to keep it a holy day and if you will partake of the sacrament in a spirit of love, remembrance, and commitment, your faith in our Heavenly Father and in His Son, the Lord Jesus Christ, will increase. You will keep the world out of your hearts, and the Lord Jesus Christ will bless you with His Spirit.
Jesus taught the Nephites at the temple at Bountiful that when we partake of the emblems of the sacrament on His holy day:
. . . it shall be a testimony unto the Father that ye do always remember me. And if ye do always remember me ye shall have my Spirit to be with you.8
. . . I give unto you a commandment that ye shall do these things. And if ye shall always do these things blessed are ye, for ye are built upon my rock.9
I hope and pray that you will build your lives “upon the rock of our Redeemer, who is Christ, the Son of God”10 by keeping the Sabbath day holy and by making with our Heavenly Father that sacramental covenant of remembrance and obedience every week. Then, you will keep the world out of your heart and the Holy Spirit will be in it. No matter where you go, no matter what happens to you, this promise of the Lord Jesus Christ will be yours:
And whoso receiveth you, there I will be also, for I will go before your face. I will be on your right hand and on your left, and my Spirit shall be in your hearts, and mine angels round about you, to bear you up.11
And so I say to you tonight, go forward unafraid with confidence and faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. I know He lives. I bear witness of His love, mercy, and grace. You are important to Him. He suffered and died so that He could lift you and strengthen you, cleanse you from sin, comfort you in hours of need, and bless you with His love, His light, and His almighty power, now and forever. His promises to you are true.
I so testify, in the sacred name of Jesus Christ, amen.
[1] Helaman 5:12
[2] Alma 10:13
[3] Mosiah 10:18
[4] Alma 12:4
[5] Mosiah 27:8; Alma 61:4
[6] D&C 46:7
[7] D&C 59:9
[8] 3 Nephi 18:7
[9] 3 Nephi 18:12
[10] Helaman 5:12
[11] D&C 84:88