At the End of Every Dark Tunnel, a Pillar of Light

     “I saw a pillar of light exactly above my head, above the brightness of the sun, which descended gradually until it fell upon me.  When the light had rested upon me I saw two personages, whose brightness and glory defy all description, standing above me in the air.  One of them spake unto me, calling me by name, and said pointing to the other, ‘This is my Beloved Son, hear him!’”

             

     This is the vision Joseph Smith saw when he went to pray in the sacred grove, and having been granted an audience by God he proceeded to ask which of the Christian sects he should join.  The Lord’s response perhaps, was the only thing more shocking than his sudden appearance.  He answered that he must join none of them, for they were all wrong.  Of course, this message wasn’t very popular with the ministers of the day, who disbelieved that something as beautiful and pure as Christ’s church could have fallen away, especially in light of the promise Christ made Peter wherein he said, “Upon this rock I will build my church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it.”

     What we need to realize, is this was a conditional promise and the church would only be safe as long as it remained on that rock or foundation upon which it was built.  It’s simple physics that if you have two objects and you place one on top of the other, and then remove the bottom supporting object, the one on top will fall.  It’s important to identify the foundation of the church, because we are built on the same foundation today, and that foundation consists of four pillars of righteousness: the first pillar is Jesus Christ and his infinite atonement, the second pillar is prophets and apostles, third revelation, and fourth priesthood authority and keys.  Each of these was absolutely vital to the health and function of the early church and each was mentioned in Christ’s promise to Peter.  When he asked his disciples who they thought he was, Peter said, “Thou art the Christ (pillar #1), the Son of the living God”.

            

     Jesus answered, “Blessed art thou Simon Barjona, for flesh and blood hath not revealed it unto thee, but my Father which is in heaven (pillar #3), and I say unto thee that thou art Peter (pillar #2), and upon this rock I will build my church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it.  And I will give unto thee the keys to the kingdom of heaven (pillar #4), that whatsoever thou shalt bind on earth shall be bound in heaven, and whatsoever thou shalt loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven.”

            

     Shortly after this Jesus took Peter, James, and John to the top of the Mount of Transfiguration, and what an experience that must have been!  First Moses and Elijah appeared and handed over the sealing powers and the keys to the priesthood to the leaders of the new dispensation, then Christ was transfigured in their midst and the Father’s voice spoke out of heaven calling Christ His Son.  Again, all four pillars of the church are highlighted at the top of the Mount of Transfiguration.  On the way down the disciples were clearly beginning to see that this was the real deal and so they asked Christ a question, which was: “Why are the scribes always saying that Elias must come first?”

             

     Elias is the Greek form of the name Elijah, and this question was in reference to the prophecy at the very end of the Old Testament which states: Behold, I will send you Elijah the prophet BEFORE the coming of the great and dreadful day of the LORD.  The Jews were under the mistaken impression that Christ would only come once and promptly deliver them from Roman bondage, and so it was and still is their tradition that Elijah would come before the Messiah, hence the question: why say the scribes that Elias must first come?

     In response to this inquiry Jesus said, “Elias truly shall first come, and restore all things.”  First he spoke in the future tense, signifying that the prophecy had not yet been fulfilled, but then, not only would Elijah come, he would restore all things.  What a statement to make only moments after the priesthood keys were returned to the earth!  At that point for all things to be restored, all things first had to be lost, which is sadly exactly what happened.  The early church suffered heavy persecution and the apostles were killed for their testimony and witness of Christ.  Along with them went the keys of the priesthood and church-wide revelation until the only thing remaining was the one thing that couldn’t be taken away, the cornerstone.

             

     An era of darkness was ushered in, it was a time the Lord had alluded to in John 9 when, after healing a blind man he said, “I must work the works of Him who sent me while it is day.  The night cometh when no man can work.”  Paul also told Timothy, “The time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine, but after their own lusts they shall heap to themselves teachers, having itching ears.  And they shall turn away their ears from the truth, and shall be turned unto fables.”  And speaking of fables, I do believe there is one nursery rhyme that accurately describes what happened to the New Testament church…

            

  Humpty Dumpty sat on a wall

            

Humpty Dumpty had a great fall

           

 All the king’s horses and all the king’s men

           

Couldn’t put Humpty together again

             

     Now I realize that the doctrine of the apostasy can be pretty depressing, especially in light of the evils of our day and the great temptations that beset us.  We may at times feel like the people in Lehi’s vision who are clinging to the rod of iron for dear life, while mists of darkness encircle us about, and wonder how on earth we’re going to make it to the end.  We may on occasion lose sight of the tree of life in that darkness, and wonder if it’s really even there at all.  I do believe, however, that there are some spiritual truths we can learn from the apostasy, and I’d like to highlight a few of those.

            

     First, the same four pillars from protect the church from apostasy will also protect us from individual apostasy.  The reasons for prophets, apostles, and the offices that operate beneath them are listed in Ephesians 4:11-14: And he gave some apostles, and some prophets, and some evangelists, and some pastors and teachers.  For the perfecting of the saints, for the work of the ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ, til we all come in the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God unto a perfect man, unto the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ.  That henceforth we be no more children tossed to and fro and carried about with every wind of doctrine, by the sleight of men, and cunning craftiness whereby they lie in wait to deceive.

             

     We recently had General Conference, and I can attest that I came out of that both edified and perfected.  Now that’s not to say I’m perfect, not by a long shot.  But I was made aware of some imperfections I had previously justified and swept under the rug.  I think one of the adversary’s goals is to lure us into a false sense of security, but meanwhile the prophets and apostles are doing everything in their power to shake us awake.  And while it isn’t always pleasant to be made aware of our imperfections, it is the first step to true repentance, which gives us an opportunity to be a little less imperfect tomorrow than we are today.  We also live in a time when the winds of cultural doctrine have shifted dramatically, especially in regards to the family.  In some cases the logic behind these “doctrines” is very compelling, but we know the Lord’s standards do not change, and the prophets and apostles have made it very clear where the Lord stands in regards to the family lest we be carried about with these winds of doctrine.

           

     Then there’s the work of the ministry, which goes hand in hand with priesthood authority.  I can personally testify that I have never felt closer to the Lord, seen his power more clearly, or heard the whisperings of the Spirit so readily as when I have used the priesthood.  But whether we have the priesthood or not, it can still bless our lives.  For me one of the best examples of this is my mother.  When she was a freshman at BYU she received some bad news from her doctor.  He told her it was very likely she had endometriosis and that she should not expect to have any children.  It was my mother’s lifelong dream to have children, and so hearing this grim news was tantamount to having her heart ripped from her chest.  As she drove home that day she wept bitterly amid fears that for some reason God had found her undeserving of her desire. 

            

     However, not long after this a fateful day arrived.  She was suffering immense physical pain at work and so was sent home early.  As he walked to her dorm she happened across her hometeacher, who discerned through the spirit that she needed a blessing.  He quickly ran for his companion and gave her a blessing: first he commanded the pain to leave her body (which it did that instant), and then he blessed her that the Lord was going to send some special spirits her way, that she would be a mother, and that she should not concern herself with that.  In the years that followed my mother’s dream came true when I, my sister, and my three brothers were born.

             

     Of equal importance to the priesthood is revelation.  When I came home from my mission I was on a spiritual high, but when my Stake President released me he warned that if I didn’t continue to nourish my testimony I could lose it.  I remember thinking at the time, ‘I know the church is true, beyond any shadow of a doubt, so how could I possibly lose faith?’  Yet, I’ve had to wonder the same thing as I’ve read the account of Peter walking on the water with Christ.  As he walked on the water his attention was diverted from Jesus by the winds and the waves, his faith gave way to fear, and he began to sink.

            

     It’s amazing sometimes how quickly and easily we can go from spiritually walking on water to drowning in it.  In part it’s because our spiritual memories are slippery and can only be maintained through the Spirit who grants us revelation in two forms: first he teaches things that are new, and then he reminds us of things we’ve already known.  Jesus expounds on this is John 14:26: But the Comforter, which is the Holy Ghost, whom the Father shall send in my name, He shall teach you all things, and bring all things to your remembrance, whatsoever I have said unto you.

             

     Amid the distractions of our day I know the Lord uses revelation, the priesthood, and prophets and apostles to convey His love to us.  But in the end Jesus Himself still is and always will be the author and finisher of our faith, and like Peter, as long as we keep our eyes single to His glory, we can do all things.  But the adversary knows this, and does all he can to obscure our view of the Savior with mists of darkness, with winds, and with waves to make us believe that God has abandoned us to a tumultuous sea of heartache and despair.  He would have us believe that we should look to some other source to keep ourselves afloat.  The problem is, there is no other reliable source; boats capsize and sink, and even the shore is subject to flooding.  But this I know: that regardless of how obscured our view of Christ is, or how long it’s been since we’ve felt his presence, the cornerstone can never be taken away!  We cannot be separated from the love of Christ, and He is near enough to hear our cries for help, and reach out to save us.

             

     So yes, bad things happen: like the apostasy, the scattering of Israel, estrangement from God through sin, and even death.  However, the gospel is about happy endings.  It’s all about the restoration, the gathering of Israel, the resurrection, and adoption and redemption through Christ.  So if you are reading this and are currently suffering through a period of loneliness, sin, or doubt; if you think for even a second that God doesn’t love you anymore, think again, because He does.  It is my testimony that at the end of every dark tunnel there is a pillar of light and Jesus is there, waiting to bring us back home.