Holland - "He Loved Them unto the End" - October 1989

Elder Holland speaks as a newly called Seventy about what it means to sustain someone.  He talks about the meaning of sustain is to hold up or to provide help.  He talks about Christ being our ultimate example of what it means to sustain through the pressures of life.

• As with all else in our experience, the Lord Jesus Christ is our exemplar and ideal in this very important matter of providing sustenance. His is the ultimate arm of strength and his the endurance which endures all things. At no time did he demonstrate that unfailing devotion more clearly than during the final moments of his earthly life, hours when he might well have wished that others could have been sustaining him.

He talks about various points in the Saviors last days where he overcame the world and fulfilled his earthly mission.  He talks about the weary apostles falling asleep as He suffered in the Garden.  He talks about how in the hardest and most unimaginable pain of His suffering, he reached out for the Father and asked why hast thou forsaken me?  This sustaining support was taken from Christ in His ultimate need but it gave Him a clear knowledge and understanding of all of us and the pains we feel when we feel abandoned, alone, and unsupported in our lives.

• We do not know how such great sorrow can be borne, but it is no wonder the sun hid its face in shame. No wonder the veil of the temple was rent. No wonder the very earth convulsed at the plight of this perfect child. And at least one Roman centurion who saw all of this sensed something of what it had meant. In awe, he uttered the declaration for all eternity, “Truly this was the Son of God.”
  

Elder Holland provides encouragement that Christ has suffered for each of us.  He knows our pains, loneliness, and need for sustaining power from Him and He will not leave us alone.  Ever.

• Life has its share of some fear and some failure. Sometimes things fall short, don’t quite measure up. Sometimes in both personal and public life, we are seemingly left without strength to go on. Sometimes people fail us, or economies and circumstance fail us, and life with its hardship and heartache can leave us feeling very alone. But when such difficult moments come to us, I testify that there is one thing which will never, ever fail us. One thing alone will stand the test of all time, of all tribulation, all trouble, and all transgression. One thing only never faileth—and that is the pure love of Christ.
  
• Only the pure love of Christ will see us through. It is Christ’s love which suffereth long, and is kind. It is Christ’s love which is not puffed up nor easily provoked. Only his pure love enables him—and us—to bear all things, believe all things, hope all things, and endure all things.

He ends with his testimony of the love that Savior has for each of us.

• I testify that having loved us who are in the world, Christ loves us to the end. His pure love never fails us. Not now. Not ever. Not ever.
  

Elder Holland has a way of making the Atonement of Jesus Christ seem personal to me.  His understanding of Christ's sacrifice becomes real to me as he describes His last days, the suffering, and the ultimate triumph that He achieved for you and me.  It gives me hope that no matter what my issue are, no matter what comes at me in life, I am a child of God and Christ made His sacrifice for me.  The atonement is real, Christ understands all my issues in life, and He has provided a way for me to live and prosper in all circumstances.