“And he gave some, apostles; and
some, prophets; and some, evangelists [patriarchs]; and some, pastors [bishops]
and teachers;
“For the perfecting of the saints, for the
work of the ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ:
“Till 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 fulness of Christ:
“That we henceforth 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”
(Ephesians 4:11-14).
Among other
things this passage means that we will have apostles and prophets acting as watchmen
on the tower to guide and help keep obedient and faithful believers from being
deceived by cunning and crafty men and women, until the Millennium, during which
time we will all come to a unity of the faith under Jesus as our Lord and King and
we will no longer need them. It almost makes one weep with joy and thanksgiving
to think of—a thousand years of no negative, icky, anti-Mormons/anti-Christs
flooding the earth with their deceptions and falsehoods; a time when there will
no longer be people “who are blinded by the subtle craftiness of men, whereby
they lie in wait to deceive, and who are only kept from the truth because they
know not where to find it” (D&C 123:12).
But until “the day cometh that
shall burn as an oven, and all the proud, yea, and all that do wickedly shall
burn as stubble” (JS-H 1:37), and the great Millennium begins, we have prophets
and apostles teaching true, pure and powerful doctrine to all those who will
listen and obey and thereby benefit both now and eternally. Elder M. Russell Ballard
recently quoted President Hinckley on this tremendous responsibility: “In a
General Authority training meeting, President Gordon B. Hinckley taught on the
subject ‘keeping the doctrine pure and the Church on the right course.’ He
said, ‘We cannot be too careful. We must watch that we do not get off [course].
In our efforts to be original and fresh and different, we may teach things
which may not be entirely in harmony with the basic doctrines of this the
restored Church of Jesus Christ. … We had better be more alert. … We must be
watchmen on the tower.’” So
it is, and we thank Almighty God for it.
From Determining
Doctrine:
L. Aldin Porter:
The
prophets are called not only to receive the doctrine and direct the ordinances
through the keys they hold. They are also responsible to keep the saving
doctrine pure so that people can hear and feel that doctrine in its sure and
certain form. (L. Aldin Porter, Conference Report, October 1994, 82.)
Gordon B. Hinckley :
I have
spoken before about the importance of keeping the doctrine of the Church pure,
and seeing that it is taught in all of our meetings. I worry about this. Small
aberrations in doctrinal teaching can lead to large and evil falsehoods. (Teachings of Gordon B. Hinckley
[Salt Lake City :
Deseret Book, 1997], 620.)
The First Presidency and the Quorum of the Twelve:
[Brief
excerpt from a] Statement by The Council of the First Presidency and the Quorum
of the Twelve Apostles of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints:…
We have the
responsibility to preserve the doctrinal purity of the Church. We are united in
this objective….
The Council
of the First Presidency and The Quorum of the Twelve Apostles (Church News, October 23, 1993, 3.)
Joseph Fielding McConkie:
The essence
of our faith centers on preserving the purity of our doctrine. No principle of
salvation can ever be a matter of private interpretation or of speculation.
Faith cannot be exercised in principles that are not true. As we must not be
seduced by false doctrines, so we must not be distracted by doctrinal decoys. (Here
We Stand [Salt Lake City: Deseret Book, 1995], 116.)
The Lord
has only one source for the declaration of His basic fundamental doctrines.
Even as General Authorities of the Church, we are instructed: “In order to
preserve the uniformity of doctrinal and policy interpretation, you are asked
to refer to the Office of the First Presidency for consideration [of] any
doctrinal or policy questions which are not clearly defined in the scriptures
or in the General Handbook of Instructions.” In this way, conflict and
confusion and differing opinions are eliminated.
Joseph Fielding McConkie:
The purity
of the gospel is lost when scripture is mingled with the philosophies of men.
The center of gravity for the Christian world was shifted in the time between
the death of the apostles and the Council of Nicaea in A.D. 325. A church that
had been founded on the principle of revelation was now to be founded on
philosophical speculation. A form of godliness was preserved, but the power was
lost, and the world entered into a period known to us as the Dark Ages. The
loss to mankind has been immeasurable, and even though the gospel has now been
restored, it will be generations before its influence will set at naught the
influence of those dark days. (Here We Stand [Salt Lake City: Deseret
Book, 1995], 119.)
Harold B. Lee:
Our best hope of maintaining
doctrinal purity rests with a membership that knows and understands doctrinal
implications because they have “witnessed for themselves.” (“Special Challenges
Facing the Church in Our Time” [regional representatives’ seminar, 3 October
1968], 7.)
Harold B. Lee:
We face a tremendous task in our
time in maintaining doctrinal purity. . . . The doctrines of the Church are not
“ours,” but His, whose Church this is! That we must impress upon all. Failure
to keep the doctrines given by Christ pure and simple would cause much human
misery here and in eternity. For this reason, fruitless speculation,
fascination with the mysteries, and the tendency of some teachers to add their
own personal embroidery to the fabric of the Gospel, must be resisted.
(“Special Challenges Facing the Church in Our Time,” 6.)
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