Larry Barkdull

Sometimes we do things so often that they become commonplace and lose significance in our lives. The sacrament is a case in point. But worthily partaken of and understood, the sacrament can serve to sanctify and empower us so that we might better rescue wayward souls.

It is a well-known fact that the sacrament serves to align our lives with Jesus Christ like a compass aligns us to true north. When we are faced with a child who is off course, a most useful, redeeming tool for parents is to remain on course. According to numerous parents who have suffered long with a wayward child, the sacrament was the single gospel principle upon which they relied to weekly anchor them to their covenants and to infuse them with power to press forward in faith and hope.

The Purposes of the Sacrament

The ordinances of the sacrament and baptism are interconnected. Baptism is the covenant of salvation;[i] Jesus Christ is the agent of salvation. When we renew our baptismal covenants by partaking of the sacrament, we should recommit to the terms of baptism that ensure our salvation, and we should recommit our lives to Jesus Christ. The major purpose of our gathering in sacrament meeting is to partake of the sacrament. “When ye come together therefore into one place, is it not to eat the Lord’s supper?”[ii] The Apostle Paul suggests three great purposes for the sacrament.

• The sacrament is a memorial. “This do ye . . . in remembrance of me.”[iii]
• The sacrament is a testimonial. When we partake, we “shew the Lord’s death till he come.”[iv] (Note that the word shew means to “proclaim or announce.”)
• The sacrament is an examination. “But let a man examine himself.”[v]

When we partake of the sacrament, do we fulfill these three main purposes? Do we rejoice in our recollection of the wonder and majesty of the Atonement? Does our partaking of the sacrament testify of our faith in the Redeemer? Do we look closely at our lives to see if we are worthy and if we are conducting ourselves as disciples ought? Again, many parents of wayward children have testified that the sacrament, because it focuses on our relationship with Jesus Christ, brought them comfort, purpose, hope, and the power to face their challenges and to obtain divine assistance for their children.

The Sacrament and the Promise of the Holy Ghost

Nothing in the process of redeeming a wayward child is as essential as having the guidance of the Holy Ghost. Significantly, the sacrament’s sanctifying promise is the constant companionship of the Holy Ghost: “Those who partake of the sacrament place themselves under covenant with the Lord to take upon them the name of Christ, to always remember him, and to keep his commandments. The Lord in turn covenants that they may always have his Spirit to be with them.”[vi]

This implication is often missed. When we are baptized and confirmed, we are commanded to “receive the Holy Ghost.” Elder Bruce R. McConkie points out that this commandment is also a gift—a right, not a guarantee, “based on faithfulness, to the constant companionship of the member of the Godhead. It is the right to receive revelation, guidance, light, and truth.”[vii] Our ability to retain the companionship of the Holy Ghost is apparently dependent upon our honoring our baptismal covenants by means of the sacrament. In plain terms, the sacrament is the ordinance that makes retention of the Holy Ghost possible.

The Holy Ghost and Sanctification

Elder Dallin H. Oaks said, “When we worthily partake of the sacrament, we are promised that we will ‘always have his Spirit to be with [us].’ To qualify for that promise we covenant that we will ‘always remember him’ (D&C 20:77).”[viii] Because we enjoy the constant companionship of the Holy Ghost, we enjoy the constant sanctifying power of that gift, which sanctification, in addition to all other considerations, enables us to seek redeeming blessings for those whom we love.

The Holy Ghost is the Sanctifier. Receipt of the Holy Ghost is called the baptism of fire, which follows the baptism by water. We are immersed both in water and in the Spirit. Remission of sins is not possible without the baptism of fire. Of the necessity of these two baptisms, the Prophet Joseph Smith said, “You might as well baptize a bag of sand as a man, if not done in view of the remission of sins and getting of the Holy Ghost. Baptism by water is but half a baptism, and is good for nothing without the other half—that is, the baptism of the Holy Ghost.”[ix] Because “no unclean thing can dwell in a divine presence,” and because “people are saved to the extent that they are sanctified,”[x] we cherish and rely on the Holy Ghost, who burns out of us all impurities and creates of us a “new creature.”[xi]

As its name implies, baptism by fire is hot. Malachi described the work of the Lord and his agent, the Holy Ghost, as a refiner’s fire.[xii] Both the Savior and the Holy Ghost are engaged in the work of refining souls. This knowledge is important to parents of wayward children and speaks to the theme of my book: The redeemed become the redeemers.

Our ability to rescue and redeem a wayward soul is directly linked to our level of sanctification. Therefore, we are told that before we attempt to pluck out the mote in another’s eye we must first excise the beam from our own.[xiii] That process requires the Holy Ghost. As we pray for the Lord’s help to rescue our children, we might be surprised that He focuses His attention on us first. The Lord might use the child’s situation to sanctify us. If we will submit to the refiner’s fire, once we emerge from it, we will be in a much better position to help our children when they experience it.

Elder Bruce R. McConkie wrote of the sacramental covenant and the Holy Ghost as paths to redemption:

Those who partake of the sacrament worthily thereby put themselves under covenant with the Lord: 1. To always remember the broken body and spilled blood of Him who was crucified for the sins of the world; 2. To take upon themselves the name of Christ and always remember him; and 3. To keep the commandments of God, that is, to “live by every word that proceedeth forth from the mouth of God.” (D&C 84:44.)

As his part of the contract, the Lord covenants: 1. That such worthy saints shall have his Spirit to be with them; and 2. That in due course they shall inherit eternal life. (D&C 20:75–79; Moro. 4; 5.) “Whoso eateth my flesh, and drinketh my blood, hath eternal life; and I will raise him up at the last day.” (John 6:54.) In the light of these covenants, promises, and blessings, is it any wonder that the Lord commanded: “It is expedient that the church meet together often to partake of bread and wine in the remembrance of the Lord Jesus.” (D&C 20:75; Doctrines of Salvation, Volume 2, 338–350.)”[xiv]

Clearly, none of these blessings are possible without the sacrament.

Coming to the Altar of Sacrifice

Each Sunday our attention should be focused on the sacramental table—the altar of sacrifice—where the priests of God prepare emblems of bread and water that remind us of the Lord’s sacrifice. Jesus said that He is the Bread of Life[xv] and the Living Water.[xvi]

In the sacramental covenant, both parties make promises to and agree to sacrifice for each other. The Lord’s promises are the constant companionship of the Holy Ghost and eternal life; our promises are those that we made at baptism, specifically, to take upon us the name of Christ, to always remember Him, and to keep His commandments. Jesus’ sacrifice is His body and His blood; our sacrifice is a “broken heart and a contrite spirit.”[xvii] The altar is where all of this takes place.

At the altar of sacrifice, the priests of God prepare and consecrate the sacrifice and set forth the terms of the covenant. The sacrament, like the Passover, is the memorial of our salvation and deliverance. That single hope should sink deeply within our souls as we consider the Atonement’s saving and liberating implications for our children.

The Supernal Blessing of the Holy Ghost

By living in a way that we always honor our baptismal covenants, we “retain a remission of our sins,”[xviii] “and the remission of sins bringeth meekness, and lowliness of heart; and because of meekness and lowliness of heart cometh the visitation of the Holy Ghost, which Comforter filleth with hope and perfect love, which love endureth by diligence unto prayer, until the end shall come, when all the saints shall dwell with God.”[xix] The promise of the Holy Ghost is unequalled: “The Holy Ghost shall be thy constant companion, and thy scepter an unchanging scepter of righteousness and truth; and thy dominion shall be an everlasting dominion, and without compulsory means it shall flow unto thee forever and ever.”[xx]

Therefore—and in no other way—by the simple, sanctifying act of worthily partaking of the sacrament, we renew our baptismal covenant and secure the promise that we received in our confirmation: the constant companionship of the Holy Ghost. And we know that it is the Holy Ghost who sanctifies us, which sanctification fills us with power to rescue our wayward children.

Author’s Note

Note: This article is adapted from Rescuing Wayward Children. Follow this link to learn more.

Also, to receive a sample of my new 5-book series, The Three Pillars of Zion, Click here.

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[i] See Bruce R. McConkie, Mormon Doctrine, “Abrahamic Covenant,” 13.

[ii] JST 1 Corinthians 11:20.

[iii] 1 Corinthians 11:25.

[iv] 1 Corinthians 11:26.

[v] 1 Corinthians 11:28.

[vi] Encyclopedia of Mormonism, “Sacrament,” 1243–1244.

[vii] Bruce R. McConkie, “Gift of the Holy Ghost,” Mormon Doctrine, 312.

[viii] Dallin H. Oaks, “Pornography,” Ensign, May 2005, 88.

[ix] Robert, B.H., History of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, Volume 5, 499.

[x] Encyclopedia of Mormonism, “Holy Ghost,” 649–650.

[xi] 2 Corinthians 5:17.

[xii] See Malachi 3:2.

[xiii] See Matthew 7:3–4.

[xiv] Bruce R. McConkie, “Sacrament,” Mormon Doctrine, 660.

[xv] See John 6:35.

[xvi] See John 4:10.

[xvii] D&C 59:8.

[xviii] Mosiah 4:12.

[xix] Moroni 8:26, emphasis added.

[xx] D&C 121:46.