The Most Important Doctrine I Can Declare

General Conference April 1985

The most important doctrine I can declare
Is of the lord's atoning sacrifice
Clearly the transcendent event ever
Provides us mortals with life forever

And as the Father's plan is now operative
We've help to overcome our pride's motive
Thus it is for us to take upon Christ's name
And heed the words of apostles who proclaim

They who have heard His voice and know His word
Are willing to suffer for Him- even scourged
For they know the place outside the Jerusalem walls
Which is a pleasant garden that to our hearts calls

Gethsemane by name is where the sinless Son
Took upon Himself ours- every one
That on condition of our repentance
We can be ransomed unto remittance

Thus we can be saved from hell's endless torment
Athough we cannot conceive its full import
All we do know is that great gouts of blood
Did sweat from every pore as with a flood

He drained the bitter dregs of the cup given
Such that in agony the burden pressed upon Him
Then in some way incomprehensible to any of us
His suffering satisfied the demands of justice

To ransom the penitent souls from sin
Through mercy available to those who believe on Him
And as He lay prostrate upon the ground
He would that the bitter cup not be found

Thus to Him an angel came from the courts on high
To strengthen Him with love in rich supply
And we suppose it was Michael who foremost fell
Who shared with Him things no man can tell

After this with His body wrenched and drained
Came that which conspirators prearranged
He confronted Judas and incarnate devils
And was roped at a criminal's common level

By the very Jews that sat in Aaronic seats
He was sent twice unto Pilot's feet
There they smote Him, accused, and cursed
And their foul saliva down His face coursed

To then further weaken Him they dealt vicious blows
What pain engulfed His body, there fully showed
As one could see- His trembling brow
While the thorns pierced unto a make shift crown

But above it all they scourged the mighty Son
With barbs they whipped Him forty save one
He arose from this suffering that He might die
An Ignominious death - to be crucified

He carried His cross midst taunts and brawl
Until He collapsed from the agony of it all
Finally on a hill that looks like a skull bone*
The disciples felt the agonies of near death in their own

The Roman Soldiers laid Him upon a cross
And with great malices more blood was lost
They drove spikes of iron through His hands, wrists, and precious feet
Truly He was wounded for our transgressions and bruised for our iniquities

Then the cross was raised that all might see and gape
While they did curse and deride and part His cape
This they did with evil venom for three hours from nine till noon
Then the heavens grew black and darkness loomed

For the space of three hours- as it did among all the world
There was a mighty storm as the pains of Gethsemane reoccurred
Then... finally after all the infinite agonies and merciless pain
He said "it is finished" and of the ghost, He voluntarily gave

As the peace and comfort of a merciful death freed Him
He entered the Paradise of God, which surely pleased men
For He was prepared to see His seed according the Messianic word
Who were assembled there to see His face and grasp what was heard

Those who were present consisted of holy prophets and faithful Saints
Comprising of those from ages past who took upon them His name
Who of Him were spiritually begotten even as it is with us
Meanwhile in the Arimathaens tomb lay the body of Jesus

After some 38 or 40 hours
Jesus came to the garden of tombs and flowers
And took up that body which had not yet been corrupted
And arose glorious and triumphant

He received all the power in Heaven and on Earth
Being immortal as the Father unto worth
Then having obtained Eternal Exaltation
Appeared to many Saints for their education

They who witnessed, too, saw Him rise
This the crowning moment of the Atonement of Jesus Christ!
As Adam brought death so Christ brought life
That we might work out our salvation to ascend heights beyond the skies!

May I invite you to join with me in gaining a sound and sure knowledge
Of the Atonement that others might benefit from your witness
Cast aside the philosophies of men and the wisdom of the wise
And hearken unto the spirit which unto all truth guides

We must search the scripture, ponder, and pray to accept them
As the mind and will and voice of the Lord given to holy men
They contain the very power of God unto salvation
There you'll see much without equivocation

As we ponder and too pray
There will come unto our minds
Glorious visions of past days
Where three gardens we will find...

1. In the garden of Eden
All was a paradisaical state
Without death or procreation
Our mortality was but in wait

Then Adam and Eve transgressed and stepped down
To become parents of trial and reknown
There's it was to multiply and toil the ground
While making it possible our second estate be known

2. Then in Gethsemane we will see the Son of God ransome man
From the very fall and temptation that cursed Adam
We being spiritually and temporally dead
Have for us to learn what the Atonement did

3. Finally, may each see the resurrection place
And imagine the joy of seeing Jesus Christ face to face
He burst the bands of death and stands over the grave
And Salvation comes in and through His Atoning blood and in no other way!

God grant that all of us will walk, as God our Father is- in the light!
According to His promise- cleansed by the blood of Jesus Christ!

Bruce R. McConkie
The Purifying Power of Gethsemene
Ensign, May 1985


*looking for a picture I came across a dramatic site
It is a non- LDS site and states something about the relevance of the blood being missing in the NIV, TNIV, and the NIRV as well as the mention of the word Calvary. I would like it if someone commented on this....
I like how he finishes by stating we should be faithful to the King James Version of the Bible.
click on title to go to this site and to see the Calvary image