List of Doctrines on "Unity"
845. The Saints of God are to be united with each other and with God.
846. The gospel of Jesus Christ leads to unity among the Saints.
847. The Saints can accomplish any purpose of the Lord when fully united in righteousness.
845. The Saints of God are to be united with each other and with God.
Joseph Smith
Joseph Smith
Jesus
President John Taylor
Elder Harold B. Lee
Related Witnesses
Jesus
Joseph Smith,
receiving the Word of the Lord
receiving the Word of the Lord
. . .I say unto you, be one; and if ye are not one ye are not mine. (Revelation for the Saints in conference, Jan. 2, 1831) D&C 38:27
Joseph Smith,
translating the Book of Moses
And the Lord called his people ZION, because they were of one heart and one mind, and dwelt in righteousness; and there was no poor among them. (The record of Moses : Enoch builds a city of holiness) Moses 7:18
Jesus,
quoted by John
quoted by John
That they all may be one; as thou, Father, art in me, and I in thee, that they also may be one in us: that the world may believe that thou hast sent me.
22. "And the glory which thou gavest me I have given them; that they may be one, even as we are one:
23. I in them, and thou in me, that they may be made perfect in one; and that the world may know that thou hast sent me, and hast loved them, as thou hast loved me. (Jesus offers the great intercessory prayer for his Apostles) John 17:21-23
President John Taylor
Let the Presidency of my Church be one in all things; and let the twelve also be one in all things; and let them all be one with me as I am one with the Father. (Revelation given through the President of the Church at Salt Lake City, Utah Territory, Oct. 13, 1882) MOFP:2:348
Elder Harold B. Lee
Then, besides those ordinances by which we are adopted into that oneness with the Father and the Son, he has given to us principles and ordinances all intended to the perfecting of his Saints, that this same unity might be realized. CR1950Apr:99
Related Witnesses:
Jesus,
recorded in Matthew
recorded in Matthew
. . .Every kingdom divided against itself is brought to desolation; and every city or house divided against itself shall not stand: (Jesus lectures the Pharisees that devils are cast out by the power of God, not by the power of Satan) Matthew 12:25
846. The gospel of Jesus Christ leads to unity among the Saints.
Elder Joseph F. Smith
Francis M. Lyman
Elder Harold B. Lee
Marion G. Romney
Elder Joseph F. Smith
The gospel has been restored to the earth, and the Priesthood again established, and both are enjoyed by this people; but those unacquainted with the working of the gospel and the Priesthood look upon us with wonder, and are astonished at the union that exists in our midst. We move as a man, almost; we hearken to the voice of our leader; we are united in our faith and in our work. The world can not understand this, and they behold it with wonder.
Let me tell my brethren and friends that this is one of the effects of the gospel of Jesus Christ. We have become united in our faith by one baptism; we know that Jesus Christ lives, we know that he is our Savior and Redeemer; we have a testimony of this, independent of any written books, and we testify of these things to the world. This unison in the midst of the people called Latter-day Saints, and their prosperity, are hard for a great many to understand. (Nov. 15, 1868) (Gospel Doctrine, pp. 80-81) TLDP:708
Francis M. Lyman
It is a great mystery to the people of the world how the Latter-day Saints hold so unitedly together as a people, why there is such a fraternal, binding feeling existing between them. Quite generally they look upon it as the result of compulsory power, exercised by the leaders of the Church. How incorrect this idea is What holds this people together so solidly, and what makes them willing to labor for the salvation of the children of men, at the sacrifice of their own worldly affairs and interest, is answered in the text I have just to read to you. [See 3 Nephi 11:20-36.] . . . The Lord has spoken to us today by the inspiration of His Spirit. He has been present with us by His Spirit. Every Latter-day Saint has been moved upon by that same spirit, and record has been borne in our hearts that we have listened to the word and the will of the Lord. That is the power, the secret power, that binds our hearts together and makes them respond as one, no matter where we may be. We may be thousands of miles apart, yet we are in unison, because bound together and inspired by the one Spirit. It is the same Spirit which binds the Father and the Son and makes them one. As the Father and the Son are one, so are we one. This is accomplished through our faith, repenting of our sins, cleansing our hearts, and living lives of purity before Him. We may make a good start, but if we fail to continue in our good works and in our devotion to the Lord, that Spirit will diminish within us, we are inclined to divide one against the other and receive the spirit of the world. Then it is that every man is for himself, following the imaginations of his own heart instead of being guided by the inspiration of the Holy Ghost. I would like us to understand and realize this. CR1904Apr:10-11
Elder Harold B. Lee
Unity centers in heaven, even as the Master prayed, "Father, that we might be one." The Saints might become one with the Father and the Son, spiritually begotten by baptism and through the Holy Ghost even unto the renewing of their bodies as the Lord tells us, and thus, "become . . . the church and kingdom, and the elect of God" (D&C 84:34), and thus become adopted into the holy family, the Church and kingdom of God, the Church of the Firstborn.
Then, besides those ordinances by which we are adopted into that oneness with the Father and the Son, he has given to us principles and ordinances all intended to the perfecting of his Saints, that this same unity might be realized. CR1950Apr:99
Marion G. Romney
There is but one way that we can be united, and that way is to seek the Lord and his righteousness. (See 3 Nephi 13:33.) Unity comes by following the light from above. It does not come out of the confusions below. While men depend upon their own wisdom and walk in their own way, without the guidance of the Lord they cannot live in unity. Neither can they come to unity by following uninspired men.
The way to unity is for us to learn the will of the Lord and then to do it. Until this basic principle is understood and observed, there will be no unity and peace on this earth.
We of this Church can come to a unity and a oneness which will give us strength beyond anything we have yet enjoyed if we will obtain a sounder understanding of the principles of the gospel and come to a unity in our interpretations of present world conditions and trends. This we can do by prayerful study of the Lord's word, including that given to us through the living prophet.
This is the way to come to a unity. If we will study the word of the Lord as it comes to us through the standard works and through the instructions of the living prophet and not harden our hearts, but humble ourselves and develop a real desire to understand its application to us in our own peculiar circumstances, and then ask the Lord in faith, believing that we shall receive (see D&C 18:18), all the while being diligent in keeping the commandments of the Lord, surely the path we should follow will be made known unto us, and we will be able to face the world as a solid unit.
Surely we need this unity and this strength in this day in which we live. We have a great opportunity, the opportunity to rise heavenward, to gain the spirit of the gospel as we have never enjoyed it before. This we can do by developing among us that unity required by the laws of the celestial kingdom.
If, in the expediency of the moment, we set God aside to follow the teachings of men, we disown him.
Only a united people, keeping God's commands, can expect the protection which he alone can give when the floods come, and the rains descend, and the winds blow, and beat upon our house. (See Matthew 7:25.)
It is my conviction that, since we are engaged in the Lord's work, we can accomplish everything he requires us to do if we will but be united. CR1983Apr:21-22
847. The Saints can accomplish any purpose of the Lord when fully united in righteousness.
J. Reuben Clark, Jr.
Elder Harold B. Lee
Elder Ezra Taft Benson
Related Witnesses
Jesus
Jesus
J. Reuben Clark, Jr.
I have said to you brethren, over and over again, and I repeat it tonight, that if we were really united, if we really saw eye to eye, and then would move in unison, there is nothing in the world, in righteousness, that we might not do in accordance with the will of the Lord and not to defeat his purposes. CR1949Apr:184
Elder Harold B. Lee
If we would be united in paying our fast offerings and on serving the law of the fast as fully as the Lord has taught it, and if we were united in carrying out the principles of the welfare program as they have been given to us by our leaders today, we would be free from want and distress and would be able fully to care for our own. Our failure to be united would be to allow our needy to become the pawns of politicians in the public mart.
If we were fully united as a people in our missionary work, we would rapidly hasten the day when the gospel would be preached to all people without and within the boundaries of the organized stakes of Zion. If we are not united, we will lose that which has been the lifeblood and which has fed and stimulated this Church for a generation.
If we were fully united in keeping the law of sacrifice and paying our tithes as we have been schooled today, we would have sufficient to build our temples, our chapels, our schools of learning. If we fail to do that, we will be in the bondage of mortgage and debt.
If we were united as a people in electing honorable men to high places in our civil government, regardless of the political party with which we have affiliation, we would be able to safeguard our communities and to preserve law and order among us. Our failure to be united means that we permit tyranny and oppression and taxation to the extent of virtual confiscation of our own property.
If we are united in supporting our own official newspaper and magazines which are owned and operated by the Church and for Church members, there will always be in this Church a sure voice to the people, but if we fail to be united in giving this support, we permit ourselves to be subject to abuse, slander, and to misrepresentation without any adequate voice of defense.
If we were united in safeguarding our youth from promiscuous associations that foster marriages out of the Church and out of the temples, by having socials and recreations as a united people, as has been the practice from our pioneer days, we would be building all our Latter-day Saint homes on a sure and happy foundation. Our failure to be united in these things will be our failure to receive eternal blessings that otherwise could be ours.
If we were united in safeguarding the Church from false doctrines and error and in standing as watchmen upon the tower as teachers and leaders in watching over the Church, then we would be free from these things that cause many to stumble and fall and lose their faith. If we are not thus united, the wolves among us will be sowing the seeds of discord, disharmony, all tending to the destruction of the flock.
If we were united in our temple work and in our genealogical research work, we would not be satisfied with the present temples only, but we would have sufficient work for temples yet to come, to the unlocking of the doors of opportunity to those beyond who are our own kin, and thus ourselves become saviors on Mount Zion. Our failure to be united will be our failure to perpetuate our family homes in the eternity. So we might multiply the blessings that could come to this people if they were fully united in the purposes of the Lord. CR1950Apr:96-97
Elder Ezra Taft Benson
There are some who would have us believe that the final test of the rightness of a course is whether everyone is united on it. But the Church does not seek unity, simply for unity's sake. The unity for which the Lord prayed and of which President McKay speaks is the only unity which God honors—that is, "Unity in righteousness," unity in principle.
We cannot compromise good and evil in an attempt to have peace and unity in the Church, any more than the Lord could have compromised with Satan in order to avoid the War in Heaven. ("Our Immediate Responsibility," Brigham Young University Speeches of the Year, 1966, p. 8) TLDP:711
Related Witnesses:
Jesus,
recorded in Luke
recorded in Luke
He that is not with me is against me: and he that gathereth not with me scattereth. (Jesus lectures the Pharisees that devils are cast out by the power of God, not by the power of Satan) Luke 11:23
Jesus,
recorded in Luke
recorded in Luke
No servant can serve two masters: for either he will hate the one, and love the other; or else he will hold to the one, and despise the other. Ye cannot serve God and mammon. (Jesus publicly teaches his disciples) Luke 16:13
