Faith To Know All Things
The brother of Jared’s encounter with the Savior in the third chapter of Ether deserves more attention than I gave it in my last message. Many of us consider a personal vision or visitation of the Lord beyond our reach. However, I think it is more probable that most of us lack the faith to prepare for a personal meeting with the Lord. We know that the day will come that we will stand before him to be judged, but I would rather sit at his feet and be taught. I don’t think I am qualified for that privilege at this point. The beauty of the stories of Jared’s brother, Moses, and Joseph Smith is that we know it is possible.
Ether 4:7 reads, “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.”
Sanctification is the key and means that we change from a natural to a spiritual state of being. Sanctification happens when we demonstrate our faith through repentance. This can be stated another way: we move from a telestial to a terrestrial state, following a pattern of ascent towards the presence of God. The process of sanctification is ongoing; it happens when we become more Christ-like. As we become Christ-like, we develop the pure love of Christ or charity, so “that when he shall appear we shall be like him, for we shall see him as he is,” as described in Moroni 7:48. I think this applies either to the Second Coming and a personal visitation, as in the case of the brother of Jared.
As I discussed last week, the Lord makes things known to us according to his will and our need to know. Another qualifier is our ability to keep sacred experiences to ourselves. This applies to personal revelations and other sacred knowledge in the covenant-making process. We may receive insights through the Holy Ghost that are not taught openly in the church. To illustrate this point, Lorenzo Snow who famously taught, “As man now is, God once was: As God now is, man may be.” He received this knowledge in 1840 before it was taught by the prophet Joseph in the King Follett discourse in 1844, and was not widely circulated until 1898. The point is that if we have a profound spiritual experience, it is probably meant specifically for us and should not be taught in public settings.
Another area of sacred knowledge is found in temple symbology. Almost everything related to the temple is symbolic. Symbols can be interpreted in many ways, and have many layers, which is why they are so powerful. Every person can gain insights from them differently, and their meanings can develop over time. Our interpretations of these symbols are generally best kept to ourselves, or only shared with those we can trust with sacred things.
We can build trust with God as we keep sacred things sacred. The more the Lord trusts us, the more he gives us. The brother of Jared was told to record the vision he received but that it would be made known after the resurrection of Christ. His faith made the vision possible and his integrity kept him as one who was “highly favored of the Lord.”
Alma 32:42 describes the results of developing faith and the final results. “And because of your diligence and your faith and your patience with the word in nourishing it, that it may take root in you, behold, by and by ye shall pluck the fruit thereof, which is most precious, which is sweet above all that is sweet, and which is white above all that is white, yea, and pure above all that is pure; and ye shall feast upon this fruit even until ye are filled, that ye hunger not, neither shall ye thirst.”
The two trees in the Garden of Eden are called the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil and the Tree of Life. As we exercise faith and choose the good we gain knowledge. Sacred knowledge enables us to pass by the Cherubim with the flaming sword and partake of the fruit of the Tree of Life. When we ascend the high mountain and approach the Lord with great faith, we can have the veil taken from our eyes and enter into the presence of the Lord, the same as the brother of Jared.