Faith is our Only Hope - Ether 12:4

Wherefore, whoso believeth in God might with surety hope for a better world, yea, even a place at the right hand of God, which hope cometh of faith, maketh an anchor to the souls of men, which would make them sure and steadfast, always abounding in good works, being led to glorify God.

I recently saw a mock political bumper sticker which proclaimed: Kenobi 2016 - Our only hope. The irony of this sticker and others like it is that Kenobi is a fictional character, and frankly, most of us would rather vote for a fictional character than the characters put up for the presidential ticket. One candidate has violated laws that would put any normal person in jail for half a lifetime. The other is actually a widely recognized icon for debilitating levels of pride and materialism.

Given such circumstances, how can one still have hope for the future? The answer is faith. And more specifically (as the subject scripture indicates) faith in God. Taking a step back and looking at the world as it really is, it is difficult to have hope. Aside from shoddy presidential candidates, we see ever increasing amounts of crime and violence, apathy toward our fellow man (of which I am guilty), self-centeredness, rampant materialism, disrespect for life, increasingly large natural disasters, suicide gunmen, and much more.

What percentage of media content from you favorite vendor would you consider wholesome? It is alarming to realize that many people including children are viewing these things on a daily basis. Regardless of content, the simple fact that so much time is being wasted by so many is unfortunate. This obsession is exactly the "theatromania" that punctuated the downfall of Rome. They had an insatiable lust for entertainment and violence. Can we say that our popular entertainment is much different than watching people mauled by lions or fight to the death in the arena than the ancient Romans did?

The earth, in it's own way can't stand having wickedness upon it's face and will cry unto the Lord for vengeance. Earthquakes, storms floods etc. are only the earth's attempt to cleanse itself. We see this in the case of the flood at the time of Enoch and Noah, when the rivers ran out of their course, the fountains of the great deep opened up and the rains fell. We see it in Sodom at the time of Abraham, a time of frequent earthquakes when finally fire rained from heaven because not even ten righteous souls could be found in those wicked cities. We see it at the meridian of time, when many great cities in the Americas were destroyed "because they did cast them all out, that there were none righteous among them, I did send down fire and destroy them, that their wickedness and abominations might be hid from before my face, that the blood of the prophets and the saints whom I sent among them might not cry unto me from the ground against them."

...wo unto the inhabitants of the whole earth except they shall repent; for the devil laugheth, and his angels rejoice, because of the slain of the fair sons and daughters of my people; and it is because of their iniquity and abominations that they are fallen!

Wo unto them that turn aside the just for a thing of naught and revile against that which is good, and say that it is of no worth! For the day shall come that the Lord God will speedily visit the inhabitants of the earth; and in that day that they are fully ripe in iniquity they shall perish.

Woe unto them that draw iniquity with cords of vanity, and sin as it were with a cart rope: ... Woe unto them that call evil good, and good evil; that put darkness for light, and light for darkness; that put bitter for sweet, and sweet for bitter!

And this is the condemnation, that light is come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil. For every one that doeth evil hateth the light, neither cometh to the light, lest his deeds should be reproved. 

In short, men are corrupt and prone to do terrible things. Really, our only hope for a better world is through Jesus Christ. All things will fade, decrease, and fall to ruin, especially the morals and habits of men. But Jesus Christ is the great restorer. Repentance through the grace of Jesus Christ is the only hope we can rely on to hold back the tide of evil that is the world.

Without Him, all would be despair. But because of Him, we can have firm hope for the future, because we know that through Him all things will be made right; and thus we can hope for a better world.

Faith and Sanctification - Ether 4:7

And in that day that they shall exercise faith in me, saith the Lord, even as the brother of Jared did, that they may become sanctified in me, then will I manifest unto them the things which the brother of Jared saw, even to the unfolding unto them all my revelations, saith Jesus Christ, the Son of God, the Father of the heavens and of the earth, and all things that in them are.

This is an amazing promise. If we exercise faith in Christ, we will receive the vision of all things. I wrote about this in another post. This is the vision of the history and future of the earth.

There are a couple of nuances here that stick out... First it says that we shall exercise faith even as the brother of Jared. What does this mean? Maybe it would help to  remember some of the things that he did. It was the brother of Jared who was the instrument of saving his friends and family from the destruction and confusion of the tower of Babel. He humbled himself before the Lord and obtained the promised land for his people. His people then followed the Lord's instructions and set forth on their journey.

He also sought and received revelation on how to construct barges that he and his party should cross the great deep. In this process, he was told by the Lord to come up with a solution for getting light into the barges other than windows or fire. An interesting conundrum. His answer was to molten clear stones and ask the Lord to touch them and make them so that they would produce light. It was precisely at this time that the Brother of Jared received his vision.

In the subject scripture, we are told to exercise faith like unto him. I think this has several aspects. First of all, we can see that the brother of Jared sought the Lord in humility and followed His instructions with exactness. We might also notice that the process was a rather long one and included several challenges. While there were many things that he did, probably nothing was more important than being obedient. The brother of Jared seems to have had a relationship of trust with the Lord, which is a key element of faith.

It also says: "that they might become sanctified in me...". This is important because it is precedes the phrase: "then I will manifest unto them the things...". There are not many places in scripture where we are told that faith brings sanctification, but we do know that it comes by reception of the Holy Ghost:

... be baptized in my name, that ye may be sanctified by the reception of the Holy Ghost, that ye may stand spotless before me at the last day. (3 Nephi 27:20)

Remember that faith precedes the baptism of water, which precedes the baptism of fire. It is the Holy Ghost which acts as a cleansing agent to our souls. "he is like a refiner’s fire, and like fuller’s soap." (Malachi 3:2). We re-commit ourselves each week as we take the sacrament. This is to "always have his spirit to be with" (D&C 20:77) us.

Remember that this is the covenant which is referred to by Moroni when he said:

Yea, come unto Christ, and be perfected in him, and deny yourselves of all ungodliness; and if ye shall deny yourselves of all ungodliness, and love God with all your might, mind and strength, then is his grace sufficient for you, that by his grace ye may be perfect in Christ... if ye by the grace of God are perfect in Christ, and deny not his power, then are ye sanctified in Christ by the grace of God, through the shedding of the blood of Christ, which is in the covenant of the Father unto the remission of your sins, that ye become holy, without spot. (Moroni 10:32-33)

This is also what is referred to in D&C 84:20-22:

Therefore, in the ordinances thereof, the power of godliness is manifest. And without the ordinances thereof, and the authority of the priesthood, the power of godliness is not manifest unto men in the flesh; For without this no man can see the face of God, even the Father, and live.

It is interesting that He says "the power of godliness" is manifest. He does not say the power of God is manifest. It is my assertion that "the power of godliness" is His power to make us like Him. Thus it is through the ordinances (baptism, sacrament, etc.) that He makes us more like Him, and thus to "see the face of God" and "all things" as the brother of Jared did. Thus we see the paramount importance of continuing to strive to follow the Spirit and participate in the ordinances of salvation. Without them, we cannot properly allow the Lord to make us better.

Of course God will bless us as much as He can. But I believe that the most precious blessings come through the ordinances of the gospel. Because God is a loving parent, he will not give us more than we are prepared for. Many prophets have expressed this sentiment; Paul reminds us that children must consume milk before meat. Jesus, when asked why he preached in parables, answered by paraphrasing Isaiah:

That seeing they may see, and not perceive; and hearing they may hear, and not understand; lest at any time they should be converted, and their sins should be forgiven them. (Mark 4:11)

 If He were to give us too much light and knowledge, before we were prepared, it would serve to our condemnation. The gospel and the ordinances are the way in which we can prepare ourselves to receive the blessings, light and knowledge that He wants to give us.

In all humility, we must put our trust in Him, and enter into covenants which He has established. In so doing, He can not only sanctify us, but give us light and knowledge, and ultimately make us like him:

... pray unto the Father with all the energy of heart, that ye may be filled with this love, which he hath bestowed upon all who are true followers of his Son, Jesus Christ; that ye may become the sons of God; that when he shall appear we shall be like him, for we shall see him as he is; that we may have this hope; that we may be purified even as he is pure. (Moroni 7:48)