The New and Everlasting
Covenant of Marriage:
Elder Joseph Fielding Smith, then a member of the
Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, taught, “Nothing
will prepare mankind for glory in the kingdom of
God as readily as faithfulness to the marriage
covenant” (The Way to Perfection [1970], 232).
Why is it Called New and Everlasting?
It is called a NEW covenant because it has been
restored to the earth during this dispensation. Each
time it is restored in a dispensation it is new to that
dispensation. It is EVERLASTING because it was
revealed by God, who is Everlasting, and the
blessings of the covenant are everlastingly the same.
That is, anyone who lives the covenant, in any age,
will receive the same promised blessings. A
COVENANT is an agreement between God and man,
wherein God sets the terms which man is free to
accept or reject. As ordained by God, marriage is a
covenant not a contract.
What is the New and Everlasting Covenant?
Elder Bruce R. McConkie said that “All covenants
between God and man are part of the new and
everlasting covenant… celestial marriage is a new
and an everlasting covenant” (Mormon Doctrine,
530).
“Marriage, the most important event
between birth and death, is a determining
condition of life’s happiness. Therefore, it
should be entered into with the greatest of
care” (Elder John A. Widtsoe, Evidences and
Reconciliations, 297-301).
“Except a man and his wife enter into an
everlasting covenant and be married for
eternity, while in this probation, by the
power and authority of the Holy Priesthood,
they will cease to increase when they
die….But those who are married by the
power and authority of the Priesthood in
this life….will continue to increase and have
children in the celestial glory (Joseph Smith,
History of the Church, 5:391).
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Old Testament?
New Testament?
Book of Mormon?
Doctrine & Covenants?
Not really!
What we do have is not good!
Basically silent!
Oh yes!!!!
D&C 131:1-6
D&C 132:4-7
D&C 132:14-19
“Three Case Studies from the Lord”
“The Prophet Joseph Smith declared– and he never taught a
more comforting doctrine– that the eternal sealing's of
faithful parents and the divine promises made to them for
valiant service in the Cause of Truth, would save not only
themselves, but likewise their posterity. Though some of the
sheep may wander, the eye of the Shepherd is upon them,
and sooner or later they will feel the tentacles of Divine
Providence reaching out after them and drawing them back
to the fold. Either in this life or in the life to come, they will
return.”
Joseph Smith (1805-1844)
They will have to pay their
debt to justice; they will suffer
for their sins; and may tread a
thorny path; but if it leads
them at last, like the penitent
Prodigal, to a loving and
forgiving father’s heart and
home, the painful experience
will not have been in vain.
Pray for your careless and disobedient
children; hold on to them with your faith.
Hope on, trust on, till you see the salvation of
God’ (Orson F. Whitney, Conference Report,
Apr. 1929, 110).
Brigham Young (1801-1877)
“Let the father and mother, who are members of
this Church and Kingdom, take a righteous course,
and strive with all their might never to do a wrong,
but to do good all their lives; if they have one child
or one hundred children, if they conduct
themselves towards them as they should, binding
them to the Lord by their faith and prayers, I care
not where those children go, they are bound up to
their parents by an everlasting tie, and no power of
earth or hell can separate them from their parents in
eternity; they will return again to the fountain from
whence they sprang” (quoted in Joseph Fielding
Smith, Doctrines of Salvation, comp. Bruce R.
McConkie, 3 vols. [1954-56], 2:90-91).
Lorenzo Snow (1814-1901)
“If you succeed in passing through these
trials and afflictions and receive a
resurrection, you will, by the power of the
Priesthood, work and labor, as the Son of
God has, until you get all your sons and
daughters in the path of exaltation and
glory. This is just as sure as the
sun rose this morning over yonder mountains. Therefore,
mourn not because all your sons and daughters do not
follow in the path that you have marked out to them, or give
heed to your counsels. Inasmuch as we succeed in securing
eternal glory, and stand as saviors, and as kings and priests
to our God, we will save our posterity” (in Collected
Discourses, comp. Brian H. Stuy, 5 vols. [1987-92], 3:364).
Boyd K. Packer
“The measure of our success as
parents.. Will not rest solely on how
our children turn out. That judgment
would be just only if we could raise
our families in a perfectly moral
environment, and that now is not
possible.”
“It is not uncommon for responsible
parents to lose one of their children,
for a time, to influences over which
they have no control. They agonize
over rebellious sons or daughters.
They are puzzled over why they are
so helpless when they have tried so
hard to do what they should”
(Ensign, May 1992).
“It is my conviction that those wicked
influences one day will be overruled…
“We cannot overemphasize the value of
temple marriage, the binding ties of the
sealing ordinance, and the standards of
worthiness required of them. When
parents keep the covenants they have
made at the altar of the temple, their
children will be forever bound to them”
(“Our Moral Environment,” Ensign, May
1992, 68).
President Hinckley challenged us not to be the weak link in the
chain of generations. Well, if there’s a break in the chain, then
the new chain starts with you. And, as you forge your link in
that chain, it will bless not only you, but it will reach in both
directions to strengthen other links; so, it begins with you. We
read the statement by the Prophet Joseph, and Orson Whitney,
and the elaborations by President Packer, about the tentacles
that will reach out to wayward children. Some parents, I
believe, over interpret that to mean that if I’m faithful to my
temple covenants then my children will be okay. Well, that
can’t be right; we believe that men will be punished for their
own sins, not for Adam’s transgressions. And therefore you
can’t be saved through the faithfulness of your parents. But the
tentacles that reach out because of the faithfulness of parents in
honoring temple covenants exert a spiritual pull and a tug on
those wayward children. Well, couldn’t that work the same
way for children who are faithful to temple covenants and the
tentacles reach out to a mom and a dad who are not as faithful
as they need to be? So it will extend both ways and they can
help forge that chain of the generations, and help repair some
of the broken links, regardless of the direction” (Elder David A.
Bednar, CES Satellite Training Broadcast, Aug. 2011).
Teach the law of eternal marriage to children. May all
Latter-day Saint fathers and mothers see to it that they teach
their children the sacredness of the marriage covenant. Let
them impress upon their children that in no other way than
by honoring the covenants of God, among which the
covenant of eternal marriage is one of the greatest and most
mandatory, can they obtain the blessings of eternal lives.
If they refuse to receive this ordinance and other blessings of
the house of God, then shall they be cut off from these higher
blessings. They shall wear no crown; they shall have no rule
and sway no scepter; they shall be denied the fullness of
knowledge and power, and like the prodigal son, they may
return again to their Father’s house, but it will be as servants,
not to inherit as sons (Joseph Fielding Smith, Doctrines of
Salvation, Vol. 2, 75).
“I’d like to append to them the fact—
and this is a true gospel verity—that
everyone in the Church who is on the
straight and narrow path, who is
striving and struggling and desiring to
do what is right, though is far from
perfect in this life; if he passes out of
this life while he’s on the straight and
narrow, he’s going to go on to eternal
reward in his Father’s kingdom.
“We don’t need to get a complex or get a feeling that you
have to be perfect to be saved. You don’t. There’s only
been one perfect person, and that’s the Lord Jesus, but in
order to be saved in the Kingdom of God and in order to
pass the test of mortality, what you have to do is get on
the straight and narrow path– thus charting a course
leading to eternal life– then, being on that path, pass out
of this life in full fellowship. I’m not saying that you
don’t have to keep the commandments. I’m saying you
don’t have to be perfect to be saved. The way it operates
is this: you get on the path that’s named the “straight and
narrow”. You do it by entering the gate of repentance
and baptism. The straight and narrow path leads from
the gate of repentance and baptism, a very great distance,
to a reward that’s called eternal life. If you're on that path
and pressing forward, and you die, you’ll never get off
that path. There is no such thing as falling off the straight
and narrow path in the life to come, and the reason is
that this life is the time that is given to mean to prepare
for eternity.
Now is the time and the day of your salvation, so if
you’re working zealously in this life– though you haven’t
fully overcome the world and you haven’t done all you
hoped you might do– you're still going to be saved. You
don’t have to do what Jacob said, “Go beyond the mark.”
You don’t have to live a life that’s truer than true. You
don’t have to have excessive zeal that becomes fanatical
and becomes unbalancing. What you have to do is stay in
the mainstream of the Church and live as upright and
decent people live in the Church– keeping the
commandments, paying your tithing, serving in the
organizations of the Church, loving the lord, staying on
the straight and narrow path. If you’re on that path when
death comes– because this is the time and the day
appointed, this the probationary estate– you’ll never fall
off from it, and, for all practical purposes, your calling
and election is made sure” (“The Probationary Test of
Mortality,” Address given at University of Utah, January
10, 1982, 11).
Elder Joe J. Christensen of the
Presidency of the Seventy in
Conference Report, (Apr. 1995,
84-87; or Ensign, May 1995, 6466).
Here are eight practical suggestions that, hopefully,
may be of value in strengthening our marriages,
now and in the future:
1. Remember the Importance of Marriage
“There is nothing in this world as important as the
creation and perfection of family units!
2. Pray for the Success of Your Marriage
Elder Kimball shared this wise counsel: “Well,
don’t just pray to marry the one you love. Instead,
pray to love the one you marry.”
We should pray to become kind, courteous,
humble, patient, forgiving, and, especially, less
selfish.
3. Listen to your Spouse
Visit with each other and assess how you are doing
as a marriage partner.
Brent Barlow asked a question to a group of
priesthood brethren if they wanted to receive
revelation. Every hand went up.
His reply was to go home and ask their wives how
they could be better husbands.
4. Avoid Ceaseless Pinpricking
It can deflate any marriage!
Generally each of us are painfully aware of our
weaknesses, and we don’t need frequent reminders.
“The Grapefruit Syndrome”
5. Keep Your Courtship Alive
It doesn’t need to be costly. The time together is the
most important element!
6. Be Quick to Say, “I’m sorry”
Even though you are not the one who is totally at fault.
Never go to bed angry?
There may be instances when it’s best to take a timeout.
7. Live within Your Means
Pay your tithing first, and avoid debt insofar as
possible.
8. Share Home and Family
Responsibilities
Be a true partner in home and family
responsibilities.
Several years ago, President and Sister
Hinckley spoke at a Regional Conference held
at Ricks College.
Sister Hinckley said “I know that my husband
loves the Lord more than he loves me. And, I
like it!”
When someone loves the Lord with all their
heart, as demonstrated by his obedience to
God’s laws, love of spouse naturally follows.
In the April 1992 General Conference, Elder Russell M.
Nelson related how he had been in a two-propeller airplane in
which one of the engines burst into flames while in flame.
The airplane immediately began a steep dive to the earth. He
said he expected to die. Many of the other passengers
screamed in hysterical panic. He commented:
“Throughout that ordeal, though I ‘knew’
death was coming, my paramount feeling
was that I was not afraid to die…I
remember my deep sense of gratitude that
my sweetheart and I had been sealed
eternally to each other and to our children..
I realized that our marriage in the temple
was my most important accomplishment.
Honors bestowed upon me by men could
not approach the inner peace provided by
sealing's performed in the house of the
Lord” (Ensign, May 1992, 74).
Elder Bruce Hafen described the
difference between a contract marriage
and a covenant marriage. He said:
“When troubles come, the parties to a
contractual marriage seek happiness by
walking away. They marry to obtain
benefits, and will stay only as long as
they’re receiving what they bargained
for. But when troubles come to a
covenant marriage, the husband and
wife work them through [They understand that the essential
purpose of mortality is to be tested]. They marry to give and to
grow, bound by covenants to each other…and to God. A
contract companion gives 50 percent; a covenant companion
gives 100%. Marriage is by nature a covenant, not just a
private contract one may cancel at will” (Covenant Marriage,
Oct. 5, 1996 General Conference).
The Lord promises five blessings to those who
worthily enter and keep the new and
everlasting covenant of marriage.
Doctrine & Covenants 132:19 gives three:
1. Come forth in the first resurrection and
inherit thrones and kingdoms.
2. The marriage will be valid throughout
eternity.
3. We will be able to pass by the angels
and the Gods which are set there.
Without the ordinances and knowledge of
the key words, signs, and tokens available
only in the temple, it will be impossible to
pass by the angels and gods to our
exaltation.
4. We will have a continuation of our seed
forever. In other words, our children will
be sealed to us and we will be permitted to
have additional posterity throughout
eternity.
5. We will be exalted and will become Gods
(Doctrine & Covenants 130:20).
“Your endowment is to receive
all those ordinances in the House
of the Lord, which are necessary
for you, after you have departed
this life, to enable you to walk
back to the presence of the
Father, passing the angels who stand as sentinels,
being able to give them the key words, the signs and
tokens, pertaining to the Holy Priesthood, and gain
your eternal exaltation in spite of earth and hell”
Discourses of Brigham Young, 416).
President Spencer W. Kimball said:
“Choosing a marriage partner is a
vital decision. The greatest single
factor affecting what you are going
to be tomorrow, your activity, your
attitudes, your eventual destiny is
the one decision you make that
moonlit night when you ask that
individual to be your companion
for life. That’s the most important decision of your entire life!
It isn’t where you are going to school, or what lessons you are
going to study, or what your major is, or how you are going
to make your living. These, though important, are incidental
and nothing compared with the important decision that you
make when you ask someone to be your companion for
eternity” (Teachings of Spencer W. Kimball, 301).
Elder Bruce R. McConkie taught that
“From the moment of birth into
mortality to the time we are married in
the temple, everything we have in the
gospel system is to prepare and qualify
us to enter that holy
order of matrimony
which makes up husband
and wife in creation and
perfection of family
units” (Improvement Era,
June 1970, 43-44).