RememberWhens
Monday, March 17, 2014
Monday, March 03, 2014
Blueprint Part Two
This is a small part of a long
talk by Elder Tad R. Callister 12 Jan 2014 BYU Marriot Center entitled:
What is the Blueprint of Christ's Church?
PART TWO
The next
page of the blueprint might read: “Fruits of Christ’s Church.” The Savior gave
this test for truth: “By their fruits ye shall know them” (Matthew 7:20). What
were the fruits of Christ’s Church as evidenced in the blueprint?
One, those
early Saints strove to be a healthy people. Paul taught that our physical
bodies are “temples” that house our spirits and, therefore, are to be treated
as holy: “Know ye not that ye are the temple of God, and that the Spirit of God
dwelleth in you?” (1 Corinthians 3:16; see also 1 Corinthians 6:19).
In
accordance with this divine law of treating our bodies like temples, Joseph
Smith received a health law from the Lord for the members of Christ’s restored
Church, known as the Word of Wisdom. As a result of living this health law, repeated
studies have confirmed that members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day
Saints are among the healthiest people in the world. This is one of
the fruits of living Christ’s health law.
A second
fruit of Christ’s Church was its miracles and gifts of the Spirit. They are
recorded on page after page in the New Testament. They were an evidence that
the power of God existed in Christ’s Church (see Hebrews 2:4). But
unfortunately, with the advent of the Apostasy, the miracles waned—historians
readily acknowledged it, and reformers admitted it.
Paul
Johnson, a noted historian, observed, “It had been acknowledged at least since
imperial times [meaning the time of Constantine] that ‘the age of miracles’ was
over, in the sense that Christian leaders could no longer spread
the gospel, like the apostles, with the aid of supernatural power.”
Why did the
time come when there were no more miracles and gifts of the Spirit? Because
the tree that bore the fruit, namely Christ’s Church, was no longer on the
earth and the faith of the people diminished. John Wesley noted
this absence of the gifts of the Spirit from the church in his day: “It does
not appear that these extraordinary gifts of the Holy Ghost were common in the
Church for more than two or three centuries.”
Suffice it
to say, I can testify, like many of you, that this is a day of miracles and
gifts of the Spirit in Christ’s restored Church, just as it was in His original
Church.
There is a third
fruit—the blueprint of Christ’s Church records many accounts of angels and
visions. Some people look with skepticism today at a church that claims angels
and visions, but in so doing forget that angels and visions were a critical
part of Christ’s original Church: the angel announcing the birth of Christ to Mary; the
angels coming to Peter, James, and John on the Mount of Transfiguration; the
angel releasing Peter and John from prison; the angel speaking to Cornelius;
the angel warning Paul of the impending shipwreck; the angel coming to John the
Revelator; Stephen’s vision of the Father and the Son; John’s vision of the
last days; and many more.
The question
should not be “How can The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints be the
true Church with its alleged angels and visions?”
Rather, the question
should be “How can any church today claim to be Christ’s true Church unless it
has angels and visions—just as was the case in Christ’s original Church, just
as it is revealed in His blueprint?”
There are
many other fruits consistent with Christ’s original Church:
It was a
missionary church—the Apostles being commanded to “go ye therefore, and teach
all nations” (Matthew 28:19). Today we have over 80,000 missionaries fulfilling
that command and bearing the fruit of doing so.
It was a moral
church—the blueprint teaches us that the early Saints in Christ’s Church were
commanded to dress modestly and to refrain from premarital relations. How many
churches not only teach those moral standards but also live them?
Christ’s
original Church was a family-centered church. Husbands were commanded to love
and be true to their wives (see Ephesians 5:23–25), children were commanded to
obey their parents (see Ephesians 6:1), and bishops were commanded to rule well
their own houses (see 1 Timothy 3:4–5). Today our Church, like Christ’s
original Church, is recognized as a family-centered church. The fruits of
Christ’s Church are carefully recorded in the Bible and match with Christ’s
restored Church today.
Christ
established His Church on earth, but the final page of the blueprint reveals it
had a link to heaven—namely, “Divine Revelation.” Without
this link the Church would be no more than a man-driven organization governed
by the powers of reason.
The prophet
Amos declared, “Surely the Lord God will do nothing, but he revealeth his
secret unto his servants the prophets” (Amos 3:7).
Paul
confirmed that revelation was an integral part of the Church and was meant to
be ongoing, for he declared, “I will come to visions and revelations of the
Lord” (2 Corinthians 12:1; see also Acts 1:2).
Consistent with that
fundamental doctrine, Christ’s Church today is linked to heaven by ongoing
revelation.
The Church’s declaration of belief in this regard, known as the ninth article
of faith, reads as follows: “We believe all that God has revealed, all that He
does now reveal, and we believe that He will yet reveal many great and
important things pertaining to the Kingdom of God.”
If one were to match
the blueprint of Christ’s original Church against every church in the world
today, he would find that point for point, organization for organization,
teaching for teaching, ordinance for ordinance, fruit for fruit, and revelation
for revelation, it will only match one—The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day
Saints.
If one rejects this
Church after studying the blueprint, then it will likely ruin him for any other
church because he knows too much. He will be like Peter, who was asked by the Savior,
“Will ye also go away?” (John 6:67). Peter responded with an answer that should
be engraved in every heart and enshrined in every home: “To whom shall we go?
thou hast the words of eternal life” (John 6:68).
If someone
turns from the Church, where will he go to learn about the restored truths
concerning the nature of God as revealed in the Sacred Grove, the preaching of
the gospel to the dead, the three degrees of glory, and eternal families? Where
will he go to get the ordinances that can save and exalt him? Where will he go
to have his wife and children sealed to him for eternity? Where will he go when
he wants a priesthood blessing of comfort or healing for a family member?
Where will
he go to find a prophet of God? He will look in vain for those doctrines and
those ordinances and those powers and those prophets, as they are unique to The
Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.
One cannot
have the doctrines and ordinances as restored through the Prophet Joseph Smith
without accepting Joseph Smith and the underlying history that is the basis for
such. They are inseparable. They go hand in hand. You cannot call the fruit good
and then call the tree bad. The Savior taught that truth long ago:
“A good tree cannot bring forth evil fruit, neither can a corrupt tree bring
forth good fruit” (Matthew 7:18). Accordingly, if the doctrinal fruit we have
discussed tonight is good, then the tree from which it sprang—Joseph Smith and
the accompanying underlying history of those revealed truths—is likewise good.
You cannot have one without the other.
In general
conference addresses some years ago, Elder B. H. Roberts would speak of the
accomplishments of Joseph Smith, and then, as if speaking to Joseph’s critics,
he would say: “Match it! Match it, I say, or with hand on lips remain silent
when his name is spoken.”
The historical or
social concerns that some may have, the alleged scientific conflicts—these are
the sideshow;
the center stage is the doctrines, ordinances,
priesthood power, and other fruits of our Church, many of which have been discussed
tonight. But some may respond, “I believe all this, but how do I respond to the
critics and their specific questions?”
An attorney
knows that after a prosecutor presents his key witness, the case against the
defendant has been cast in its worst possible light.
Someone
quick to render judgment at that point might determine the defendant guilty,
but then an interesting phenomenon in the courtroom happens. The defense
commences cross-examination of this same witness, and the following frequently
occurs: The definitive answers of the witness start to wilt under the pressure
of cross-examination. The witness who appeared so unimpeachable now has some
inconsistencies, perhaps even glaring holes in his recollection of events. The
seemingly rock-solid story of the witness begins to crack and crumble with each
new question put to him. The witness was able to handle the softball questions
of his prosecutor, but when the hardball questions of the opposition came, he
could not withstand their intensity or probing nature. When the cross-examination is
completed, the witness has been largely discredited. The observer who was
previously ready to “hang” the defendant now sees with a different set of eyes
the man’s complete innocence.
Likewise,
some critics throw one-sided questions at the Church that are intended to put
the Church in its worst possible light. But questions go both ways. The prosecutor’s key witnesses are not immune
to cross-examination, and neither are the Church’s toughest critics. I
have never found any detractors who could give me satisfactory answers on
“cross-examination” to the following questions:
First, how did
Joseph Smith know to restore the doctrines and ordinances from the Bible, such
as the doctrine of the premortal existence, the true nature of God, the gospel
being preached to the dead, baptism for the dead, and many others discussed
tonight, when such doctrines and ordinances were not being taught by other
contemporary churches of his time? Why was Joseph Smith the only one to
discover them and restore them?
Even if he
is considered a theological genius, were there no other such geniuses in the
1,800 years following the Savior’s ministry who could do likewise?
Second, if this
Church is not Christ’s Church, then why does this Church have the same fruits
as Christ’s original Church, namely, miracles and gifts of the Spirit, current
revelation from apostles and prophets, angels and visions, a healthy people, a
moral people, a missionary-minded people, and a people who are intensely family
centered?
Did not the Savior give the test for truth?—“By their fruits ye shall know
them” (Matthew 7:20).
Certainly,
many more questions on cross-examination could be asked. There are certain
questions, however, that trump and transcend all others—in essence, they form
the crux of an issue. Suffice it to say, some questions are simply more important
than others in discovering the truth. If you come to know that
Joseph Smith restored the biblical teachings and ordinances discussed tonight,
if you come to know that The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints has
the same fruits as Christ’s original Church, or if you come to know that the
Book of Mormon is of divine origin, then you know that Joseph Smith is a
prophet.
And if
Joseph Smith is a prophet, then this is the only true and living Church upon
the face of the whole earth. At that point, all other questions pale
in comparison. It is like the Supreme Court ruling on an issue. All
decisions of lower courts to the contrary become immaterial. Likewise,
all questions of the critics, however probing or puzzling or entertaining they
may be, become immaterial in the equation of truth. Why? Because you have
already answered the key questions—the critical questions, the transcending
questions—that are the foundational pillars for knowing the truth.
Suffice it
to say, I can live with some human imperfections, even among prophets of
God—that is to be expected in mortal beings. I can live with some alleged
scientific findings contrary to the Book of Mormon; time will correct those.
And I can live with some seeming historical anomalies; they are minor in the
total landscape of truth. But I cannot live without the doctrinal
truths and ordinances restored by Joseph Smith, I cannot live without the
priesthood of God to bless my family, and I cannot live without knowing my wife
and children are sealed to me for eternity. That is the choice we face—a few
unanswered questions on one hand versus a host of doctrinal certainties and the
power of God on the other. And for me, and I hope for you, the choice is an
easy one and a rational one.
I bear witness that
the Church over which you will one day preside bears Christ’s name because it
does have His approved organization, His teachings, His ordinances, His powers,
His fruits, and His constant revelation, all of which are referred to in His
divine blueprint.