2 Nephi 2:5-7

5 And men are instructed sufficiently that they ^aknow good from evil. And the ^blaw is given unto men. And by the law no flesh is ^cjustified; or, by the law men are ^dcut off. Yea, by the temporal law they were cut off; and also, by the spiritual law they perish from that which is good, and become miserable forever.

 6 Wherefore, ^aredemption cometh in and through the ^bHoly ^cMessiah; for he is full of ^dgrace and truth.

 7 Behold, he offereth himself a ^asacrifice for sin, to answer the ends of the law, unto all those who have a broken heart and a contrite spirit; and unto ^bnone else can the ^cends of the law be answered.

 8 Wherefore, how great the importance to make these things known unto the inhabitants of the earth, that they may know that there is no flesh that can dwell in the presence of God, ^asave it be through the merits, and mercy, and grace of the Holy Messiah, who ^blayeth down his life according to the flesh, and taketh it again by the power of the Spirit, that he may bring to pass the ^cresurrection of the dead, being the first that should rise.

 9 Wherefore, he is the firstfruits unto God, inasmuch as he shall make ^aintercession for all the children of men; and they that believe in him shall be saved.

 10 And because of the intercession for ^aall, all men come unto God; wherefore, they stand in the presence of him, to be ^bjudged of him according to the truth and ^choliness which is in him. Wherefore, the ends of the law which the Holy One hath given, unto the inflicting of the ^dpunishment which is affixed, which punishment that is affixed is in opposition to that of the happiness which is affixed, to answer the ends of the ^eatonement—

2 Nephi 2:5-7

Sacrifice

“You that have not passed through the trials, and persecutions, and drivings of this people, from the beginning, but have only read of them, or heard some of then related, may think how awful they were to endure, and wonder that the Saints survived them at all.  The thought of it makes your hearts sink within you, your brains reel, and your bodies tremble, and you are ready to exclaim, ‘I could not have endured it.’  I have been in the heat of it, and I never felt better in my life; I never felt the peace and power of the Almighty more copiously poured upon me than in the keenest part of our trials.  They appeared as nothing to me.  I hear people talk about their troubles, their sole privations, and the great sacrifices they have made for the Gospel’s sake.  It never was a sacrifice to me.  Anything I can do or suffer in the cause of the Gospel, is only like dropping a pin into the sea; the blessings, gifts, powers, honor, joy, truth, salvation, glory, immortality, and eternal lives, as far out-swell anything I can do in return for such precious gifts, as the great ocean exceeds in expansion, bulk and weight the pin that I drop into it.  Had I millions of wealth, and had I devoted it all to the building up of this people, and said, ‘take it, and build temples, cities and fortifications with it,’ and left myself penniless, would it have been a sacrifice?  No, not to my feelings.  Suppose I should be called to preach the Gospel until my head is white, and my limbs become weak with age, until I go down into my grave, and never see my family and friends again in the flesh, would it be a sacrifice?  No, but one of the greatest blessings that could be conferred upon mortal man, to have the privilege of calling thousands, and perhaps millions, from darkness to light, from the power of Satan and unrighteousness to the principles of truth and righteousness in the living God….I have not known or seen a single sacrifice that this people have made.  There has not been one such providence of the Almighty to this people that was not calculated to sanctify the heart and enrich them with blessings instead of curses–enrich them not only with earthly blessings, but with crowns of glory, immortality and eternal lives on the presence of God.  Where, then, is the sacrifice this people have ever made?  There is no such thing–they have only exchanged a worse condition for a better one, every time they have been moved–they have exchanged ignorance for knowledge, and inexperience for its opposite.”


Brigham Young, February 20, 1853 (Journal of Discourses Volume 1)

“…when you are compelled to give up something or when things that are dear are withdrawn from you, know that this is your lesson to be learned right now.  But know also that, as you are learning this lesson, God wants to give you something better.”  

F. Enzio Busche, “Unleashing the Dormant Spirit”, BYU devotional, May 14, 1996

Transcript and recording available at: http://speeches.byu.edu/?act=viewitem&id=5&tid=7