Most of us know the primary song about the wise man and the foolish man who build their houses. The Foolish man built his house on the sand and the wise man built his house on the rock. Then the rain came tumbling down. The rain came down and the floods went up. The floods hit the sand and washed the sand and the house away. The floods hit the rock and the house on the rock stood still.
Everywhere I see people building their foundations on sand and they think they are building on a rock.
Some people build their foundations on a church saying the church can never be wrong... Catholics, Protestants, Jehovah's Witnesses and even Mormons do this. The problem with this is that Church can and are wrong and do bad things or things which are not morally sound. It happens because of the imperfect people who operate and run and make decisions for those organizations.
Some people build their foundations on the leader of a group. They say, the Pope can't be wrong or the Prophet/President can't ever lead the church members astray, or Billy Graham never teaches false doctrine, or Denver Snuffer has spoken to God and isn't guessing so he can't be wrong on anything...etc...
The problem is that all of these people have been wrong on some level. They don't know everything and they will make mistakes and have made mistakes. As the lord teaches in Ezekiel 14,
So, how do you know if you are built on a sandy foundation? It is easy actually... You just imagine what you would do if your church were proven false or your prophet/pope were to fall in a way you knew was wrong, like teach false doctrine or have an affair or something or do something you know is wrong. There are a few responses I have heard people say to such a scenario:9 And if the prophet be deceived when he hath spoken a thing, I the Lord have deceived that prophet, and I will stretch out my hand upon him, and will destroy him from the midst of my people Israel.
10 And they shall bear the punishment of their iniquity: the punishment of the prophet shall be even as the punishment of him that seeketh unto him;
11 That the house of Israel may go no more astray from me, neither be polluted any more with all their transgressions; but that they may be my people, and I may be their God, saith the Lord God.
- "That could never happen!" - This person has built their foundation on sand and when something like that happens or they learn something already happened in the past, their foundation is swept away out from under them and they fall hard.
- "I am sure that they did the right thing, I just trust them." - This person has built their foundation on sand and rather than fall they will justify the church or leader or whatever they built on so that they can stand even though the flood swept their foundation away, they went with it and closed their eyes to remain in blind or lying ignorance while the flood sweeps them away. These are probably the most foolish because they can't see or bare the truth that stares them in the face.
- "So what?" - These are not built on that particular foundation and so if it falls, they will not fall with it and it will not effect them or their testimony/knowledge.
Well, not according to most peoples understanding...meaning that if most people were to build on Christ, their understanding of how to accomplish that is flawed and the result is that they fall back on a group or organization to tell them what Christ said. This in turn makes them feel like they are building on Christ when in fact they are building on a man or set of men whom they feel speak for Christ/God.
Follow this line of scriptures and see if it clarifies how we build on the Rock of Christ from which we cannot fall...
Who is Christ?Helaman 5:12 - And now, my sons, remember, remember that it is upon the rock of our Redeemer, who is Christ, the Son of God, that ye must build your foundation; that when the devil shall send forth his mighty winds, yea, his shafts in the whirlwind, yea, when all his hail and his mighty storm shall beat upon you, it shall have no power over you to drag you down to the gulf of misery and endless wo, because of the rock upon which ye are built, which is a sure foundation, a foundation whereon if men build they cannot fall.
What is the truth?John 14:6 - Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me.
Intelligence is knowledge of truth. This is also God's Glory. It is also our glory, whatever portion of truth/intelligence/glory we will accept.D&C 93:24-25 - And truth is knowledge of things as they are, and as they were, and as they are to come;
25 And whatsoever is more or less than this is the spirit of that wicked one who was a liar from the beginning.
Whatever principle of intelligence/truth/glory we attain will stay with us.D&C:93: 36 The glory of God is intelligence, or, in other words, light and truth.
37 Light and truth forsake that evil one.
The Intelligence/Truth/glory that we gain or allow our bodies to be quickened and live by in this life will rise with us in the resurection and determine what kingdom we are placed. (We actually are progressing through the kingdoms now, while we are alive and whatever kingdom we have progressed to before we are resurrected is the kingdom we will be assigned to based on our glory which is the result of the intelligence we gained or truth we accepted during our probation...)D&C 130:18-19 - Whatever principle of intelligence we attain unto in this life, it will rise with us in the resurrection.
19 And if a person gains more knowledge and intelligence in this life through his diligence and obedience than another, he will have so much the advantage in the world to come.
So, to built on Christ, we must build on truth because Christ is the Truth. And that is what progresses us through kingdoms.D&C 88:28-32 - They who are of a celestial spirit shall receive the same body which was a natural body; even ye shall receive your bodies, and your glory shall be that glory by which your bodies are quickened.
29 Ye who are quickened by a portion of the celestial glory shall then receive of the same, even a fulness.
30 And they who are quickened by a portion of the terrestrial glory shall then receive of the same, even a fulness.
31 And also they who are quickened by a portion of the telestial glory shall then receive of the same, even a fulness.
32 And they who remain shall also be quickened; nevertheless, they shall return again to their own place, to enjoy that which they are willing to receive, because they were not willing to enjoy that which they might have received.
When you build on truth, and someone comes and proves or shows us where our beliefs or leaders or church or whatever is wrong, because we are built on truth, we simply and happily accept the truth as fast as we can learn it and progress on. We are not stuck on people or organizations or books or histories which prove to be false, or riddled with issues. We don't care if a particular person teaches something false, we simply accept the truth and dismiss the errors and move on. It doesn't matter if a person was right 90% of the time or 10% of the time. We find the truth and accept it as best we are able and build on that until we learn a higher way or gain more truth that succeeds and replaces what we used to think was truth.
Rather than becoming upset because someone showed us where our prophet was wrong or our church, we celebrate that we found more truth than we had before. It doesn't mean that our personal Snuffer has to be right all the time to be a true prophet or that our Amonhi can't make a mistake or he was always wrong or our Monson leads the the church to build a Mall or become the largest land owner in a given state, etc.
Our testimony is not built on people or positions but on truth. This is the rock on which if we build we cannot fall. This is Christ, the truth that does not lie. This is the spirit of truth that will teach us all things. This is the truth that increases our intelligence and the light that helps us to see clearly while others wade through mists of darkness created by their own minds.
If we will do this, then we will build on the rock from which we cannot fall. When we cannot fall, then we qualify for the blessing of our Calling and Election made sure which is to be guaranteed eternal progression in the Celestial Kingdom because we have learned how to eternally progress by seeking unlimited truth rather than learning to be damned by seeking churches or leaders in which our progression is dependent upon the limited progression of others. (Meaning if you build on the church or prophet of your choosing, you can only progress as far as they have and no more and at the pace they progress and no faster...)In regard to our religion, I will say that it embraces every principle of truth and intelligence pertaining to us as moral, intellectual, mortal and immortal beings, pertaining to this world and the world that is to come. We are open to truth of every kind, no matter whence it comes, where it originates, or who believes in it. Truth, when preceded by the little word "all", comprises everything that has ever existed or that ever will exist and be known by and among men in time and through the endless ages of eternity. And it is the duty of all intelligent beings who are responsible and amenable to God for their acts, to search after truth, and to permit it to influence them and their acts and general course in life, independent of all bias or preconceived notions, however specious and plausible they may be.
If any person in the religious world, or the political world, or the scientific world, will present to me a principle that is true, I am prepared to receive it, no matter where it comes from.
We are after the truth. We commenced searching for it, and we are constantly in search of it, and so fast as we find any true principle revealed by any man, by God, or by holy angels, we embrace it and make it part of our religious creed.
A man in search of truth has no peculiar system to sustain, no peculiar dogma to defend or theory to uphold. He embraces all truth, and that truth, like the sun in the firmament, shines forth and spreads its effulgent rays over all creation. If men will divest themselves of bias and prejudice, and prayerfully and conscientiously search after truth, they will find it wherever they turn their attention.
If there are any good principles, any moral philosophy that we have not yet attained to, we are desirous to learn them. If there is anything in the scientific world that we do not yet comprehend, we desire to become acquainted with it. If there is any branch of philosophy calculated to promote the well-being of humanity, that we have not yet grasped, we wish to possess ourselves of it. If there is anything pertaining to the rule and government of nations, or politics, if you please, that we are not acquainted with, we desire to possess it. If there are any religious ideas, any theological truths, any principles pertaining to God, that we have not learned, we ask mankind, and we pray God, our Heavenly Father, to enlighten our minds that we may comprehend, realize, embrace, and live up to them as part of our religious faith. Thus our ideas and thoughts would extend as far as the wide world spreads, embracing everything pertaining to light, life, or existence pertaining to this world or the world that is to come.
There is no man nor set of men who have pointed out the pathway for our feet to travel in, in relation to these matters. There are no dogmas nor theories extant in the world that we profess to listen to, unless they can be verified by the principles of eternal truth. We carefully scan, investigate, criticize, and examine everything that presents itself to our view, and so far as we are enabled to comprehend any truths in existence, we gladly hail them as part and portion of the system with which we are associated.
If there is any truth in heaven, earth, or hell, I want to embrace it; I care not what shape it comes in to me, who brings it, or who believes in it; whether it is popular or unpopular, truth, eternal truth, I wish to float in and enjoy." - "Chapter 23: Eternal Truth," Teachings of Presidents of the Church: John Taylor, 209
In the name of Truth, Amen,
Amonhi