Perhaps the greatest clarification in Covenant of Christ comes from the Lord reaffirming His role as the Second Comforter. In the King James Version of the New Testament, in the 14th Chapter of the Gospel of John, the Lord referred to the Holy Ghost as “the Comforter.” He promised to send the Holy Ghost to His disciples upon His departure to comfort them. But He also refers to His own continuing willingness to also visit them: “I will not leave you comfortless: I will come to you.” (KJV John 14:18.) I’ve written about the reality of this promise by the Lord in the book The Second Comforter: Conversing With the Lord Through the Veil.
The Lord’s Sermon at Bountiful is similar to the Sermon on the Mount found in Matthew. In the newly restated Sermon at Bountiful, the Lord provides us the way He wants us to understand His greatest sermon. Traditionally His message has been stated as “Blessed are…” while describing the difficulties His followers are to face in this world. But in Covenant of Christ He reaffirms and reasserts His role as the Second Comforter. He wanted it stated in these newly clarified words:
“[B]lessed are those who believe in your words and come down into the depths of humility and are baptized, since they will be visited with fire and the Holy Ghost and will receive a remission of their sins. Yes, God is with the poor in spirit who come to Me, for the kingdom of heaven belongs to them.
And also, God is with all those who mourn, for they will be comforted.
And God remembers the meek, for they will inherit the earth.
And God accompanies all those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled with the Holy Ghost.
And God loves the merciful, for they will obtain mercy.
And God blesses the pure in heart, for they will see God.
And God is with all the peacemakers, for they will be called the children of God.
And God is beside all those who are persecuted for being called by My name, for the kingdom of heaven is theirs. And God stands with all of you when people revile, persecute, and say all manner of evil against you falsely, because of following Me, for you should all have great joy and be very glad, because a great reward awaits you in heaven; the prophets who lived before you were persecuted in the same way.” 3 Ne. 5:11-19.
Here the Lord is telling us of His immediate and accessible presence: He is WITH us, He REMEMBERS us, He ACCOMPANIES us, He LOVES us, He BLESSES us, He is BESIDE us, and He STANDS WITH us as we go through this life’s trials and challenges.
It took three days for the Lord to teach me about this specific sermon before I was able to render His message in this newly clarified manner. The Sermon is His. And may His name be praised for what He has done to clarify and explain His meaning to us. More than any previous generation we have the ability to see how the Lord wants to not only connect with us, but how He asks us to accept and recognize His presence as we pass through the ordeals of life.
Of all the great clarifications given by the Lord in Covenant of Christ, His restatement of His meaning for us in this greatest of sermons is perhaps the gift I prize most.