THE PLACE TO BE

 

“It is not difficult to envision that there will be false prophets and false teachers in the last days. But what of the promise that there will be false Christs?

“There are, of course, those deluded souls who announce, from time to time, that they are Christ or God or the Holy Ghost….or whatever Satan or the workings of a deranged mind places in their thoughts. But in a larger and more realistic sense, false Christs are false systems of religion that use his name and profess to present His teachings to the world.” (Bruce R.  McConkie, “The Promised Messiah” p 324)

Elder McConkie went on to say that the contention of different religions in Joseph Smith’s day meant that each group of religionists was saying: “Lo, here is Christ; we have his system of salvation; ours is the true church, we know the way; come join with us” (JS-H 5).

So strong was Joseph’s confusion that it led him to the source of all truth for guidance. We all know the result of that query – that there is only one Christ and one true system of salvation.

Today there are an estimated 4,000 to 10,000 distinct religions in the world. There are four major religions with over 77% of the world’s population adhering to one of them. They are: Christianity, Islam, Hinduism and Buddism.

I was raised as a Christian so I knew of Christ’s salvation but all I knew of it was that we were saved from sin so we don’t go to hell. At 16 years of age I wondered what comes after salvation, what are we saved for? Why are we here and what is there to come?

When I found the Church and was baptized at 18 years of age, I was amazed at the vista of information that the Plan of Salvation offered. For the first year of my membership I believed that all the Church members were perfect. With all that marvelous truth at their fingertips, how could you not be? Fifty years later, I understand and know better….

Despite the richness of the Gospel, I have seen some members of the Church be seduced by false Christs in the form of other religions and turn to them in preference to the Church that possesses all truth.  I am still trying to understand the attraction.

Elder McConkie explains the splendour we are in as members of the true body of Christ: “The great restoration of all things has begun, and like the light of the rising sun, it shall spread over all the earth until the darkness of Babylon shall be no more, and the Son of Man shall come to be seen and admired by those who wait for Him.”  (“The Promised Messiah”, p 325)

“This Church, the great institutional body of Christ, is a marvelous work and a wonder not only because of what it does for the faithful but also because of what the faithful do for it. Your lives are at the very heart of that marvel. You are evidence of the wonder of it all.” (Elder Jeffrey R. Holland, “Miracles of the Restoration” October 1994 General Conference)

When the Saviour proclaimed himself to be ‘the bread of life’, many of his disciples, lacking in understanding, “walked no more with him. Then said Jesus unto the twelve, Will ye also go away? Then Simon Peter answered him, Lord, to whom shall we go? Thou hast the words of eternal life…..thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God.” (John 6:68)

To whom indeed???....

- CATHRYNE ALLEN 

(Art: And The Truth Shall Make You Free by Greg Olsen)