Founded on Revelation

The other day, an alarm on my phone reminded me that I'm giving a lesson this Sunday. The lesson is titled "The Church of Jesus Christ Today," but it uses the term "today" fairly loosely. It's mostly about the Great Apostasy and the Restoration. It's mostly about what was lost during the Apostasy, what was restored through the Restoration, and what sets us apart as a church today.

One of those things is revelation. As a picture quote my mom shared on Facebook the other day says:

The heavens are not as closed as some churches believe. God does speak to His children. Anyone can pray for answers to their specific problems, and God will answer them. He also speaks to prophets who relay the messages God has for all the world. God's guidance is a major part of this church, and really, shouldn't it be? When Jesus Christ was one the earth, He said that He would build His church on the rock of revelation (Matt 16: 17-18). And He has.

Through revelation, God restored His church to the earth, along with all of the plain and precious truths that had been lost, and He's still revealing to us the things we need to know and apply. Through revelation, He led His followers through and out of fierce persecution, and He continues to lead the church today. Through revelation, He reinstated essential, saving ordinances that are now being performed in temples all over the world.

Yet, having a revealed knowledge about saving ordinances is virtually useless without the authority to perform those ordinances, which authority is another things that was lost and restored and that sets us apart today. I plan on blogging about that authority sometime soon, or at least studying about it soon enough that I can talk about it on Sunday. Along with modern revelation, Priesthood Authority is one of the central ideas of this church and one of the things that I really need to focus on when I give my lesson. But for now, what I need to do is wrap up this blog post so I can get to my next class.

I'm grateful for modern revelation. I'm grateful that God hasn't left us to our own devices, to try to figure things out on our own. I'm grateful for His loving guidance to help us find our way back to Him. I'm grateful for a knowledge of the precious truths that He has restored (which I should also blog about and incorporate into my lesson). I'm grateful that God still speaks to His children. I'm grateful that He spoke to a farm boy in 1820, and I'm grateful that He still speaks to me.