Be Faithful-Loyal Being faithful is above all to be loyal. It is also to be reliable and trustworthy. It is a person who can be depended upon. To be faithful is to have faith and be true to the cause. Be Faithful D&C 33: 17: Wherefore be faithful, praying always, having your lamps trimmed and burning, and oil with you, that you may be ready at the coming of the Bridegroom D&C 42:66: Ye shall observe the laws which ye have received and be faithful. D&C 59:4: And they shall also be crowned with blessings from above, yea, and with commandments not a few, and with revelations in their time they that are faithful and diligent before me. D&C 81:5: Wherefore be faithful; stand in the office which I have appointed unto you; succor the weak, lift up the hands which hang down, and strengthen the feeble knees. D&C 105:41: Therefore, be faithful; and behold, and lo, I am with you even unto the end. D&C 112:34: Be faithful until I come, for I come quickly; and my reward is with me to recompense every man according as his work shall be. I am Alpha and Omega. D&C 124:13: Let him, therefore, hearken to your counsel, and I will bless him with a multiplicity of blessings; let him be faithful and true in all things from henceforth, and he shall be great in mine eyes. Being faithful brings the blessings of Heaven D&C 6:13: If thou wilt do good, yea, and hold out faithful to the end, thou shalt be saved in the kingdom of God, which is the greatest of all the gifts of God; for there is no gift greater than the gift of salvation. See D&C 6:37 D&C 46:14: To others it is given to believe on their words, that they also might have eternal life if they continue faithful. D&C 50:5: But blessed are they who are faithful and endure, whether in life or in death, for they shall inherit Eternal Life. D&C 51:19: And whoso is found a faithful, a just, and a wise steward shall enter into the joy of His Lord, and shall inherit Eternal Life. D&C 106:8:.and if he continue to be a faithful witness and a light unto the church I have prepared a crown for him in the mansions of my Father. 1
D&C 72:4: For he who is faithful and wise in time is accounted worthy to inherit the mansions prepared for him of my Father. D&C 75:5: And thus, if ye are faithful ye shall be laden with many sheaves, and crowned with honor, and glory, and immortality, and eternal life. D&C 78:22: And he that is a faithful and wise steward shall inherit all things. D&C 124: 55: And again, verily I say unto you, I command you again to build a house to my name, even in this place, that you may prove yourselves unto me that ye are faithful in all things whatsoever I command you, that I may bless you, and crown you with honor, immortality, and eternal life. Matthew 25:23: Well done, thou good and faithful servant: thou hast been faithful over a few things, I will make thee ruler over many things: enter thou into the joy of the Lord. Faithful in keeping the commandments of God D&C 5:35: And if thou art faithful in keeping my commandments, thou shalt be lifted up at the last day. D&C 6:20: Behold, thou art.and I have spoken unto thee because of thy desires; therefore treasure up these words in thy heart. Be faithful and diligent in keeping the commandments of God, and I will encircle thee in the arms of my love. D&C 92:2: And inasmuch as you are faithful in keeping all former commandments you shall be blessed forever. D&C 104:42: And inasmuch as he is faithful in keeping my commandments, which I have given unto him, I will multiply blessings upon him and his seed after him, even a multiplicity of blessings. 1 Nephi 3:21: And it came to pass that after this manner of language did I persuade my brethren, that they might be faithful in keeping the commandments of God. (1 Nephi 3:16) 1 Nephi 4:1:.and let us be faithful in keeping the commandments of the Lord; for behold he is mightier than all the earth. Put on the whole armour of God. Part of that armour is to be faithful: D&C 27:15-18: Wherefore, lift up your hearts and rejoice, and gird up your loins, and take upon you my whole armour that ye may be able to withstand the evil day, having done all that ye may be able to stand. Stand therefore having your loins girt about with truth and be faithful until I come, and ye shall be caught up that where I am ye shall be also. Those that are faithful will become rulers (leaders) D&C 52:13: And behold, he that is faithful shall be made ruler over many things. 2
D&C 101: 61: And this shall be my seal and blessing upon you- a faithful and wise steward in the midst of mine house, a ruler in my Kingdom. D&C 117:10: Let my servant William Marks be faithful over a few things, and he shall be a ruler over many. Let him preside in the midst of my people in.. D&C 124:13: And when he shall prove himself faithful in all things that shall be entrusted unto his care, yea, even a few things, he shall be made ruler over many D&C 132: 53: For I am the Lord thy God, and ye shall obey my voice; and I give unto my servant Joseph that he shall be made ruler over many things; for he hath been faithful over a few things, and from henceforth I will strengthen him. Matthew 25:23: His lord said unto him, Well done, good and faithful servant; thou hast been faithful over a few things, I will make thee ruler over many things: enter thou into the joy of thy lord. Matthew 24: 45-47: Who then is a faithful and wise servant, whom his lord hath made ruler over his household, to give them meat in due season? Blessed is that servant, whom his lord when he cometh shall find so doing. Verily I say unto you, That he shall make him ruler over all his goods. Luke 19:17: And he said unto him, Well, thou good servant: because thou hast been faithful in a very little, have thou authority over ten cities. The faithful are to be ordained to the Melchezidek Priesthood: D&C 108:4-5:..and receive right by ordination with the rest of mine elders whom I have chosen. Behold, this is the promise of the Father unto you if you continue faithful. D&C 84:33: For whoso is faithful unto the obtaining these two priesthoods The faithful are to be called to labour in the vineyard: D&C 39:17: Wherefore lay to with your might and call faithful laborers into my vineyard, that it may be pruned for the last time. General scriptures on being faithful or unfaithful D&C 3:6-8: And behold, how oft you have transgressed the commandments and the laws of God, and have gone on in the persuasions of men. For, behold, you should not have feared man more than God Yet you should have been faithful; and he would have extended his arm and supported you against all the fiery darts of the adversary; and he would have been with you in every time of trouble. D&C 10:3: Nevertheless, it is now restored unto you again; therefore see that you are faithful and continue on unto the finishing of the remainder of the work 3
D&C 14:11: And behold, thou.art called to assist; which thing if ye do, and are faithful, ye shall be blessed both spiritually and temporally, and great shall be your reward. Amen. D&C 25:2: A revelation I give unto you concerning my will; and if thou art faithful and walk in the paths of virtue before me, I will preserve thy life, and thou shalt receive an inheritance in Zion. D&C 31:13: Be faithful unto the end, and lo, I am with you. These words are not of man nor of men, but of me, even Jesus Christ, your Redeemer, by the will of the Father. D&C 34:11: And if you are faithful, behold, I am with you until I come (D&C 105:41) D&C 44:2: And it shall come to pass, that inasmuch as they are faithful, and exercise faith in me, I will pour out my Spirit upon them in the day that they assemble themselves together. D&C 47:4: Wherefore, it shall be given him, inasmuch as he is faithful, by the Comforter, to write these things. D&C 52:4-5: And inasmuch as they are faithful unto me, it shall be made known unto them what they shall do; And it shall also, inasmuch as they are faithful, be made known unto them the land of your inheritance. (See D&C 52: 42-43) D&C 58:2: For verily I say unto you, blessed is he that keepeth my commandments, whether in life or in death; and he that is faithful in tribulation, the reward of the same is greater in the kingdom of heaven. D&C 61:10: And inasmuch as they are faithful they shall be preserved, and I, the Lord, will be with them. D&C 62:5-6:.as seemeth you good, it mattereth not unto me; only be faithful, and declare glad tidings unto the inhabitants of the earth. Behold, I, the Lord, have brought you together that the promise might be fulfilled, that the faithful among you should be preserved and rejoice together in the land of Missouri. I, the Lord, promise the faithful and cannot lie. D&C 62:9: Behold, the kingdom is yours. And behold, and lo, I am with the faithful always. D&C 63:47: He that is faithful and endureth shall overcome the world D&C 66:8.and give him thine instructions; and he that is faithful shall be made strong in every place; and I, the Lord, will go with you. D&C 68:7-8: This is the word of the Lord unto you, my servant.and also unto my servant.. and unto all the faithful elders of my church Go ye into all the world, preach the gospel to every creature, acting in the authority which I have given you 4
D&C 69:1: It is not wisdom in me that he should be entrusted with the commandments and the moneys which he shall carry unto the land of Zion, except one go with him who will be true and faithful. D&C 71:7 Wherefore, confound your enemies; call upon them to meet you both in public and in private; and inasmuch as ye are faithful their shame shall be made manifest. D&C 75:16: And he who is faithful shall overcome all things, and shall be lifted up at the last day. (See D&C 75:13, 22) D&C 84:86: Therefore, let no man among you, for this commandment is unto all the faithful who are called of God in the church unto the ministry.. D&C 90: 30-31: Verily I say unto you, that it is meet in mine eyes that she should go up unto the land of Zion, and receive an inheritance. That she may settle down in peace inasmuch as she is faithful, and not be idle in her days from thenceforth. D&C 98:12: For he will give unto the faithful line upon line, precept upon precept; and I will try you and prove you herewith. D&C 101:90: And in his hot displeasure, and in his fierce anger, in his time, will cut off those wicked, unfaithful, and unjust stewards, and appoint them their portion among hypocrites, and unbelievers. D&C 103:36: All victory and glory is brought to pass unto you through your diligence, faithfulness, and prayers of faith. D&C 104:2-3: With promise immutable and unchangeable, that inasmuch as those whom I commanded were faithful they should be blessed with a multiplicity of blessings. But inasmuch as they were not faithful they were nigh unto cursing. D&C 104:25: And inasmuch as he is faithful, I will multiply blessings upon him and his seed after him. See D&C 104:31, 33,35, 38, 42, 46. D&C 104:74-75: Until he be found a transgressor, and it is manifest before the council of the order plainly that he is an unfaithful and an unwise steward. But so long as he is in full fellowship, and is faithful and wise in his stewardship, this shall be his token unto the treasurer that the treasurer shall not withhold. D&C 104:82: And inasmuch as ye are humble and faithful and call upon my name, behold, I will give you the victory. D&C 105:12: For behold, I have prepared a great endowment and blessing to be poured out upon them, inasmuch as they are faithful and continue in humility before me. D&C 105:18: But inasmuch as there are those who have hearkened unto my words, I have prepared a blessing and an endowment for them, if they continue faithful. 5
D&C 105:23: And let all my people who dwell in the regions round about be very faithful, and prayerful, and humble before me, and reveal not the things which I have revealed unto them, until it is wisdom in me that they should be revealed. D&C 138:18: While this vast multitude waited and conversed, rejoicing in the hour of their deliverance from the chains of death, the Son of God appeared, declaring liberty to the captives who had been faithful. 1 Nephi 7:12-13: Yea, and how is it that ye have forgotten that the Lord is able to do all things according to his will, for the children of men, if it so be that they exercise faith in him? Wherefore, let us be faithful to him. And if it so be that we are faithful to him, we shall obtain the land of promise.. 2 Nephi 2:28: And now, my sons, I would that ye should look to the great Mediator, and hearken unto his great commandments; and be faithful unto his words, and choose eternal life, according to the will of his Holy Spirit; Alma 44:4: Now ye see that this is the true faith of God; yea, ye see that God will support, and keep, and preserve us, so long as we are faithful unto him, and unto our faith, and our religion; and never will the Lord suffer that we shall be destroyed except we should fall into transgression and deny our faith. Alma 48:7:..Moroni, on the other hand, had been preparing the minds of the people to be faithful unto the Lord their God. Alma 48:15: And this was their faith, that by so doing God would prosper them in the land, or in other words, if they were faithful in keeping the commandments of God that he would prosper them in the land; yea, warn them to flee, or to prepare for war, according to their danger. Alma 50:22: And those who were faithful in keeping the commandments of the Lord were delivered at all times, whilst thousands of their wicked brethren have been consigned to bondage, or to perish by the sword, or to dwindle in unbelief, and mingle with the Lamanites. Luke 16:10: He that is faithful in that which is least is faithful also in much: and he that is unjust in the least is unjust also in much. Proverbs 28:20: A faithful man shall abound with blessings. The unfaithful will have things removed: D&C 52:6: And inasmuch as they are not faithful, they shall be cut off, even as I will, as seemeth me good. D&C 60:3: And it shall come to pass, if they are not more faithful unto me, it shall be taken away, even that which they have. 6
D&C 64:40:..If they are not faithful in their stewardships (they) shall be condemned and others shall be planted in their stead. D&C 83:3: And if they are not faithful they shall not have fellowship in the church. Quotes Gordon B Hinckley Keep the Faith Sep 1985 Ensign YSA Fireside As I have already mentioned, from the beginning of this work there has been opposition. There have been apostates. There have been scholars, some with balance and others with an axe to grind, who have raked over every bit of evidence available concerning Joseph Smith, the prophet of this dispensation. I plead with you, do not let yourselves be numbered among the critics, among the dissidents, among the apostates. That does not mean that you cannot read widely. As a Church, we encourage gospel scholarship and the search to understand all truth. Fundamental to our theology is belief in individual freedom of inquiry, thought, and expression. Constructive discussion is a privilege of every Latter-day Saint. But it is the greater obligation of every Latter-day Saint to move forward the work of the Lord, to strengthen His kingdom on the earth, to teach faith and build testimony in that which God has brought to pass in this, the dispensation of the fulness of times. Of course, there are items in our history which, when pulled out of context and highlighted, separated from the time and the circumstances in which the events took place, may raise some questions. Remember, however, that no Church leader of whom I am aware, past or present, has ever claimed perfection. They have been and are human, including those who have served as Presidents of the Church. The Lord has always used those he has found most suitable for His purposes. Notwithstanding some human weaknesses, they have accomplished great and remarkable things, and this even while enemies have been snapping at their heels. The work has moved steadily and consistently forward, and the only losers have been those who, in a spirit of criticism, which usually has begun in a very mild and innocuous way, have in some instances literally read, talked, and written themselves out of the Church because they looked only for the negative, read only the negative, and discussed only the negative. To all Latter-day Saints, I say, keep the faith. When you study, do so with balance. Read the Book of Mormon itself. Read it again and again. Ponder its beauty. Reflect upon its many magnificent passages. Think of the complexity of the detail of its historical accounts. Pray about it, and the Holy Ghost will bear record to you, as he has to me and to millions of others, that it is the word of God, a voice crying from the dust to this generation in declaration of the divinity and the reality of the Lord Jesus Christ as the living Son of the living God. The Lord Himself has spoken concerning our study of this great latter-day work. He has said: Search these commandments, for they are true and faithful, and the prophecies and promises which are in them shall all be fulfilled. What I the Lord have spoken, I have spoken, and I excuse not myself; and though the heavens and the earth pass away, my word shall not pass away, but shall all be fulfilled, whether by mine own voice or by the voice of my servants, it is the same. (D&C 1:37 38.) Those who mock Joseph Smith fulfill the prophecy of the Lord Himself. In the misery of Liberty Jail in March of 1839, Joseph cried out, O God, where art thou? Among the words 7
that came in answer are these: The ends of the earth shall inquire after thy name, and fools shall have thee in derision, and hell shall rage against thee; While the pure in heart, and the wise, and the noble, and the virtuous, shall seek counsel, and authority, and blessings constantly from under thy hand. And thy people shall never be turned against thee by the testimony of traitors. (D&C 122:1 3) I cannot tell you in detail how to decide everything. But I can promise that if you will make your decisions according to the standards of the gospel and the teachings of the Church, and if you will keep the faith, your lives will bear fruit of great good and you will know much of happiness and accomplishment. This Church is true. It will weather every storm that beats against it. It will outlast every critic who rises to mock it. It was established by God our Eternal Father for the blessing of His sons and daughters of all generations. It carries the name of Him who stands as its head, even the Lord Jesus Christ, the Savior of the world. It is governed and moves by the power of the priesthood. It sends forth to the world another witness of the divinity of the Lord. Be faithful, my friends. Be true. Be loyal to the great things of God which have been revealed in this dispensation. Joseph A Cannon Mormon Times 12 Nov 2009 on Fidelity Fidelity is "the quality of being faithful; faithfulness, loyalty, unswerving allegiance to a person or party." Our fidelity is our word of honor, our pledge, our oath. It is "strict conformity to truth or a fact; honesty, truthfulness, trustworthiness." Fidelity comes from the root word that means to trust or to have faith. Generally, the virtue of fidelity is manifested in two types of behavior. The first is that we keep our promises, covenants and oaths. This trust is a bedrock of all civil societies. Much progress comes from faithful adherence to higher principles. Helen Keller noted, "Many persons have a wrong idea of what constitutes true happiness. It is not attained through selfgratification, but through fidelity to a worthy purpose." Fidelity, then, like many of the other "ity" virtues, involves some level of subordination of our selfish and self-interested behavior to a higher good. Elder David Bednar Jan 2008 Ensign As we become more spiritually mature and increasingly steadfast and immovable, we focus upon and strive to understand the fundamental and foundational doctrines of the restored gospel of Jesus Christ. Disciples who are steadfast and immovable do not become fanatics or extremists, are not overzealous, and are not preoccupied with misguided gospel hobbies. President Joseph F. Smith emphasized: We frequently look about us and see people who incline to extremes, who are fanatical. We may be sure that this class of people do not 8
understand the gospel. They have forgotten, if they ever knew, that it is very unwise to take a fragment of truth and treat it as if it were the whole thing (Gospel Doctrine, 5th ed. [1939], 122). Let me repeat and reinforce this first great blessing associated with being a steadfast and immovable disciple of the Savior: such a follower of Christ consistently is focused upon and striving to understand the fundamental and foundational doctrines of the restored gospel. 9