Beware of False Prophets!

So our Savior laid down His life for us, and was resurrected: what a miracle! Sadly, many people didn't believe in the many miracles he performed, including breaking the bands of death. As His Apostles went forth with His authority to spread the gospel, many accepted their message, and many didn't. Unfortunately, violence ensued, and many of the apostles were killed or exiled. This created a problem within the church: the authority which Jesus had given to those apostles was gone. People didn't know who to look to in order to solve squabbles over doctrine, ordinances, and the like. They were searching for the truth, but either couldn't find it, or looked to man's wisdom or interpretation of the truth for answers: they were searching for a way to happiness, and were left to their own devices. There is a scripture in the Old Testament that describes this:

"Behold the days come... that I will send a famine in the land, not a famine of bread, nor a thirst for water, but of hearing the words of the Lord: And [people] shall wander from sea to sea, and from the north even to the east, they shall run to and fro to seek the word of the Lord, and shall not find it." -Amos 8:11-12

In The Princess and the Frog, Prince Naveen is looking for happiness in all the wrong places. He chases women, plays music all day, and refuses to work. He hopes to marry any woman as quickly as he can, so as to inherit his parents' money, thus ensuring a worry-free life of comfort. In this pursuit, he seeks the advice of Dr. Facilier, a voodoo-man, who loves telling people what they like to hear, in order to trick them and steal their souls away. Perhaps Matthew 7:15-20 comes to mind?

15 ¶Beware of false prophets, which come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly they are ravening wolves.

 16 Ye shall know them by their fruits. Do men gather grapes of thorns, or figs of thistles?

 17 Even so every good tree bringeth forth good fruit; but a corrupt tree bringeth forth evil fruit.

 18 A good tree cannot bring forth evil fruit, neither can a corrupt tree bring forth good fruit.

 19 Every tree that bringeth not forth good fruit is hewn down, and cast into the fire.

 20 Wherefore by their fruits ye shall know them.

But as the story goes on, Naveen and Tiana go to see Mama Odie, who is the voodoo mama of the bayou. They come to her, hoping to repair the situation that Naveen and Tiana have gotten themselves into. She offers what advice she can, but in the end only gives them some sage advice, not the cure they were looking for.

This situation hearkens back to the scripture from Amos, because Naveen was looking for happiness in the promises Dr. Facilier gave him, but it led to quite the opposite. Even when they went to Mama Odie, who only uses "good" voodoo to help people, she couldn't help them either. Their authority wasn't real or true, and could not lead someone to the path that leads to true happiness. In a similar way (I know the analogy isn't perfect), people searched for happiness in following the example of Jesus Christ. This is the way to true and lasting peace and happiness, but only if it is operating under the priesthood authority of God. But without that authority present, what was to be done?

As I mentioned earlier, this lack of authority caused much confusion among the faithful followers of Christ. They wanted to stay on the straight and narrow, but without inspired leadership, they could only have a hope at receiving man's interpretation of the teachings of Jesus and whatever scriptures they had at the time. This was no fault of the people: they were just trying to do the best with what they had.

This confusion led to the creation of many different churches, with conflicting teachings, which caused even more confusion! This all came about for various reasons: political aspirations, hunger for power or money, or rebellion against the teachings of other churches. Perhaps an illustration would help!

(This illustration only shows a portion of the Christian denominations to be found in the world!)

With such an array of Christian faiths, how could one not become confused; especially when considering Ephesians 4:5 - "One Lord, one faith, one baptism." What could one do to find the light in the midst of this "long night of apostasy?" Stick around for the next blog to find out!

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P.S.: This post is not meant to demean or downplay the good that countless marytyrs, reformers, translators, intellectuals, and other leaders have done in the course of Christianity. I am especially grateful for those, like William Tyndale, who worked so hard and gave all they had to provide a translation of the Bible in the English language. All Christians are forever grateful and indebted to these marvelous men and women!

A Hero's Sacrifice

In classic Disney films, we see many examples of heroism. We have Mulan: a young woman who impersonates a man in an attempt to save her father. We also have Pinocchio: who saves his father from the belly of Monstro the whale, losing his own life in the process. We have Ray: a courageous, love-struck lightning bug, who gives his life to save his friends. We have Mufasa: a father who would do anything for his son, including a dash through a wildebeest stampede, with no thought for his own life. We have Flynn Rider (A.K.A. Eugene), who cuts off Rapunzel's hair, saving her from a life of slavery to a selfish witch. But as the golden light of Rapunzel's hair faded, so did his chances of being healed from his mortal wound.

Luckily, these films all provide us happy endings: Simba honoring his father's memory by saving the kingdom; Tiana and Naveen returning to human form and being married; Pinocchio is granted life as a real boy; Mulan not only saving her father but saving the empire; and of course, the magic tear that heals Eugene. I love a happy ending!

Incidentally, the greatest Hero to ever live taught and eventually lived a teaching that these characters emulate: "Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends." John 15:13. Our Savior, Jesus Christ, is the most important person to ever live on this Earth. Without Him, the whole plan of our loving Heavenly Father wouldn't work, for no unclean thing can dwell in the presence of God. I don't know about you, but I sin every day, and if I didn't have a way to clean those mistakes up, I would be in big trouble come judgement day!

Our Savior had several objectives to accomplish when He came to the Earth, the most important being to "lay down His life for His friends," and in the verse that follows the one quoted previously, He says: "Ye are my friends, if ye do whatsoever I command you." So if we want to honor His suffering and death, we have to obey and live His teachings.

Teaching was another purpose for His earthly ministry: for a couple hundred years previous to His coming, the Earth had been in a period of apostasy, and the teachings which had been revealed through prophets and written in scripture had become twisted to suit man, rather than to follow God. The Savior came to rectify the situation: to teach the correct doctrines and principles, and even to institute a higher law. This law was called "higher" because it raised His disciples to a greater level of spirituality: they could see past the animal sacrifices and the strict laws and commandments, and understand the purpose behind those things. This higher law helped them to live more by faith, rather than strict observance of specific laws and rites; it required greater sacrifice than that of animal blood: it required the whole heart and soul.

As Christ went about teaching these doctrines and principles, He instituted churches and officials to help guide His disciples as they continued in their gospel learning. This is talked about 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: 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 fullness 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;"The Savior instituted this perfect church with perfect organization because He knew that, in order to accomplish His primary objective, He would have to leave the Earth. But how did He set up this church, and how did He know who to choose, and what set those people apart from any others? These are all valid questions, and ones that can be answered by an appeal to both the Bible and the Book of Mormon.

He called twelve men, apostles, and gave them His priesthood authority, which is the same authority the prophets held all through time. This gave them His permission to teach, baptize, confer the gift of the Holy Ghost, and other such things. Christ did this so that once He was gone from the Earth, His church could still be organized and administered under His authority, which I'm sure was very comforting to His followers.

I know that the Savior lives. He came to this Earth not just to suffer and die for our sins, but to rise from the grave. This is wonderful news, because before Christ came to the Earth, men could be sure of two things: birth and death. But as the hymn says:

Christ the Lord is ris'n today,

Alleluia!

Lives again our glorious King,

Where, O death, is now thy sting?

Once He died our souls to save

Where the victory, O grave?

 I know that the only way to find happiness in this life is through Him: by following His teachings and example, and I know that by doing these things we will also gain eternal life in the world to come. I know that because of Him, nothing is impossible if we have faith in Him who overcame death.

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