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Church in the Twentieth Century: The Destiny of the Church by Richard O. Cowan
At the Church's sesquicentennial
conference in 1980, Elder Bruce R. McConkie spoke of the
Church's progress to date and of its future destiny. Using
symbolic terms, he likened the Church's present achievements to
standing on a majestic and glorious mountain peak: "From where
we stand, on the peak of 150 years of progress, the view is
glorious indeed." The stone foreseen by the prophet Daniel is
rolling forward towards its destiny of filling the whole earth.
(See Dan. 2:34-35.) Prophet after prophet labors to prepare the
faithful for the Savior's second coming. "Our joy and rejoicing
is not in what lies below," Elder McConkie continued, "not in
our past-great and glorious as that is-but in our present and in
our future." Our sorrows and sufferings are not all behind us,
he cautioned. "We shall yet be tempted with more severe
trials... than we have ever known before .... "
"From the top of the peak... we
can look forward, crest upon crest, to the Zion of God which one
day will be ours if we walk in the course charted by those who
have gone before." Unfortunately, not all will attain this goal.
"We weep for those in the true Church who are weak and wayward
and worldly and who fall by the wayside as the caravan of the
kingdom rolls forward."
Elder McConkie anticipated the
time when the gospel would be preached with success in all
nations. "We see the Lord break down the barriers so that the
world of Islam and the world of communism can hear the message
of the Restoration." He looked forward to stakes being organized
throughout the earth. In temples, which will dot the earth,
"those of every nation and kindred and tongue and people can
receive the fullness of the ordinances of the house of the Lord
and can qualify to live and reign as kings and priests on earth
a thousand years." There will be a rich outpouring of the Holy
Spirit, together with revelations, gifts, and miracles. Because
of this, Elder McConkie emphasized, faithful souls are "born
again, . . . sanctified by the power of the Spirit, and
they prepare themselves to dwell with God and Christ and holy
beings in the eternal kingdom.
"Truly the world is and will be
in commotion," Elder McConkie concluded, "but the Zion of God
will be unmoved. The wicked and ungodly shall be swept from the
Church, and the little stone will continue to grow until it
fills the whole earth." 1
Prophecies in the Doctrine and
Covenants and other scriptures similarly speak of these future
conditions through which the Church must pass before the
glorious second coming of Christ. The consistent message is a
"voice of warning" to the Saints to prepare for that which is to
come. Church organizations and programs are intended to aid in
this preparation.
In 1823, Moroni declared "that
the time was at hand for the Gospel in all its fullness to be
preached in power, unto all nations that a people might be
prepared for the Millennial reign." 2During the 1960s a member
of one of the priesthood correlation committees recalled:
I sat in a meeting at 47 East
South Temple and heard President N. Eldon Tanner say, "Brethren,
we are sending you out to the conferences of this Church. We
send you forth to teach, and not to be taught." Then he said,
"You go out and prepare the people for the second coming of
Jesus Christ." We sat there with those chills just going up and
down our spines when we heard a prophet say this. 3
But before these glorious events
occur, prophecy indicates, the world must pass through a period
of tribulations. The programs of the Church are designed to
fortify the Saints for these difficulties. Elder Harold B. Lee
explained:
Almost imperceptibly we see the
hand of the Lord moving to do things, and this I construe to Be
a consolidation of the forces of the Lord under the direction of
the prophet, just as in an army, in order to meet a superior
force of the enemy in numbers, the forces of our opposition to
the forces of evil must be consolidated in order to give them
the most effective possible defense.
We are in a program of defense.
The Church of Jesus Christ was set upon this earth in this day
"... for a defense, and for a refuge from the storm, and from
wrath when it should be poured out without mixture upon the
whole earth." (D&C 115:6.) [Therefore we are instructed] "to
move forward," that we consolidate to make more efficient and
more effective the work of the priesthood, the auxiliaries, and
the other units in order that we may conserve our time, our
energy, and our efforts toward the prime purpose for which the
Church itself has been organized. 4
Elder Thomas S. Monson regarded
priesthood correlation, emphasized beginning in the 1960s, as
the inspired means by which those objectives can be achieved:
Though our objectives may at
times appear unattainable, though the resources of that evil one
loom overpowering, and though discouragement threatens, and
weaknesses handicap, yet that blessing brought by
correlation-even united effort-will bring us the victory we so
much seek.
We can take strength from the
example of Gideon. You will remember how Gideon and his army
faced the overwhelming strength of forces vastly superior in
equipment and in number .... The outcome of that mighty battle
is recorded in one short sentence: "And they stood every man in
his place ..." (Judg. 7:21), and the victory was won.
Today, we are encamped against
the greatest array of sin, vice, and evil ever assembled before
our eyes. Such formidable enemies may cause lesser hearts to
shrink or shun the fight. But the battle plan whereby we fight
to save the souls of men is not our own. It was provided to our
leader, even President David O. McKay, by the inspiration and
revelation of the Lord. Yes, ] speak of that plan which will
bring us victory, even the Correlation Program of the Church.
And as we do battle against him who would thwart the purposes of
God and degrade and destroy mankind, I pray that each of us will
stand in his or her appointed place, that the battle for the
souls of men will indeed be won .... 5
President Hugh B. Brown
expressed his appreciation for the priesthood correlation
program and then added this prophetic declaration:
It seems to me that of all the
signs of the times (and they are ominous and on every side) this
is one of the significant signs of the times-that the Church of
Jesus Christ, the kingdom of God, is massing its forces, getting
ready for that which is to follow ....
I want to say to you, brethren,
that in the midst of all the troubles, the uncertainties, the
tumult and the chaos through which the world is passing, almost
unnoticed by the majority of the people of the world, there has
been set up a kingdom, a kingdom over which God the Father
presides, and Jesus the Christ is the King. That kingdom is
rolling forward, as I say, partly unnoticed, but it is rolling
forward with a power and a force that will stop the enemy in its
tracks while some of you live.
Do you want to be among those on
the side of Christ and his apostles?...
Now is the time to make a
resolution to that effect and to prepare to put yourselves in a
position where you can do the will of God, keep control of
yourselves, and control your passions and your appetites and
those other things that lead downward into forbidden paths. 6
If we are to meet President
Brown's challenge, Zion must be established on earth before
Christ comes. In 1834, the Lord outlined what is required for us
to be prepared to fulfill this goal:
. . . it is expedient in me that
mine elders should wait for a little season for the redemption
of Zion-
That they themselves may be
prepared, and that my people may be taught more perfectly, and
have experience, and know more perfectly concerning their duty,
and the things which I require at their hands.
And this cannot be brought to
pass until mine elders are endowed with power from on high.
In summary the Lord then
declared: "But first let my army become very great, and let it
be sanctified before me...." (D&C 105:9-11, 31). How are we
doing?
We have seen that there has been
tremendous growth during the twentieth century, that the Lord's
"army" truly is becoming "very great." Yet, has it filled the
earth? In 1978 Church membership passed the four million mark,
but there were approximately four billion people living on the
earth at the time. This meant that there was only about one
Latter-day Saint for every thousand of the earth's inhabitants.
Obviously there is room and need for further growth.
Is the Lord's "army" or Church
sufficiently sanctified? President Wilford Woodruff declared:
The parable of the ten virgins
is intended to represent the second coming of the Son of Man,
the coming of the Bridegroom to meet the bride, the Church...
and I expect that the Savior was about right when he said, in
reference to the members of the Church, that five of them were
wise and five were foolish;... if he finds one-half of those
professing to be members of his Church prepared for salvation,
it will be as many as can be expected, judging by the course
that many are pursuing. 7
Available statistics do not
measure worthiness or sanctification directly. Nevertheless,
faith and devotion are reflected in the levels of Church
activity. Information presented in this volume indicates that
there has been substantial progress during the twentieth century
in such matters as attendance at meetings, missionary service,
or temple ordinances performed. Yet here again there is ample
room for further improvement.
Latter-day Saints in the
twentieth century should find the Church's progress thrilling.
Truly the kingdom is rolling forth. Yet much more remains to be
accomplished. Each Church member has the opportunity and
responsibility to contribute to the kingdom's forward momentum.
Elder Harold B. Lee Once challenged: "If we can get the
priesthood now to come alive and to put into gear the full
strength of the priesthood, we shall see some of the most
wonderful developments and some of the greatest things happen to
the forces which the Lord can set in motion that we have ever
known in this dispensation." 8
The challenge to all Latter-day
Saints, then, is to catch the vision of the Church's mission and
destiny, that they may help to realize the fulfillment of the
Prophet's inspired petition (D&C 65:6) in which he prayed, "May
the kingdom of God go forth, that the kingdom of heaven may
come, that thou, O God, mayest be glorified in heaven so on
earth."
Notes
Chapter 24. The Destiny of the
Church
1. Conference Report, April
1980, pp. 97-99.
2. Joseph Smith, Jr., History of
The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, 2nd ed. rev., 7
vols. (Salt Lake City: Deseret Book Co., 1960), 4:537.
3. Paul F. Royal, "Every Man in
His Place," BYU fireside address, January 3, 1965, p. 12.
4. Conference Report, September
1961, p. 81.
5. Relief Society Magazine,
April 1967, pp. 246-47.
6. Conference Report, October
1967, pp. 115-16.
7. Journal of Discourses, 26
vols. (London: Latter-day Saints' Book Depot, 1855-86), 18:110.
8. Conference Report, October
1962, p. 83.
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