all things done in the dark shall come to light

Thus, Satan proposed to carry out the Father’s plan in a way that would prevent the accomplishment of the Father’s purpose and give Satan His glory. He came before the Father and said, “Behold, here am I, send me, I will be thy son, and I will redeem all mankind, that one soul shall not be lost, and surely I will do it wherefore give me thine honor” ( Moses 4:1). That destruction was inherent in the terms of Satan’s offer. As the Lord revealed to Moses, in the council of heaven Satan “sought to destroy the agency of man” ( Moses 4:3). If Adam and Eve had not made the choice that introduced mortality, Lehi taught, “they would have remained in a state of innocence, … doing no good, for they knew no sin” ( 2 Nephi 2:23).įrom the beginning, agency and opposition were central to the Father’s plan and to Satan’s rebellion against it. Opposition was necessary in the Garden of Eden. Similarly, in modern revelation the Lord declares, “It must needs be that the devil should tempt the children of men, or they could not be agents unto themselves” ( D&C 29:39). Wherefore, man could not act for himself save it should be that he was enticed by the one or the other” ( verse 16). If not so, … righteousness could not be brought to pass, neither wickedness, neither holiness nor misery, neither good nor bad” ( 2 Nephi 2:11 see also verse 15).Īs a result, Lehi continued, “the Lord God gave unto man that he should act for himself. “It must needs be, that there is an opposition in all things. One of the best explanations of the planned role of opposition is in the Book of Mormon, in Lehi’s teachings to his son Jacob. That Savior is the Lord Jesus Christ, the Only Begotten Son of God the Eternal Father, whose atoning sacrifice-whose suffering-pays the price for our sins if we will repent of them. The Father’s plan provides the way to do this, the way to satisfy the eternal demands of justice: a Savior pays the price to redeem us from our sins. When we make wrong choices-as we inevitably will-we are soiled by sin and must be cleansed to proceed toward our eternal destiny. To provide alternatives on which to exercise our agency, we must have opposition. To be tested, we must have the agency to choose between alternatives. Monson taught us so powerfully this morning, we progress by making choices, by which we are tested to show that we will keep God’s commandments (see Abraham 3:25). The purpose of mortal life for the children of God is to provide the experiences needed “to progress toward perfection and ultimately realize their divine destiny as heirs of eternal life.” 1 As President Thomas S. My message focuses on the essential role of opposition in that plan. That plan, explained in modern revelation, helps us understand many things we face in mortality. And you don’t want them to.Central to the gospel of Jesus Christ is the Father’s plan of salvation for the eternal progress of His children. You may know, or guess, what kind of a tale it is, happy-ending or sad-ending, but the people in it don’t know. “I wonder,” said Frodo, “But I don’t know.

But those aren’t always the best tales to hear, though they may be the best tales to get landed in! I wonder what sort of a tale we’ve fallen into?” You know, coming home, and finding things all right, though not quite the same like old Mr Bilbo. We hear about those as just went on, and not all to a good end, mind you at least not to what folk inside a story and not outside it call a good end. And if they had, we shouldn’t know, because they’d have been forgotten. But I expect they had lots of chances, like us, of turning back, only they didn’t. Folk seem to have been just landed in them, usually their paths were laid that way, as you put it. But that’s not the way of it with the tales that really mattered, or the ones that stay in the mind.

Looked for, because they wanted them, because they were exciting and life was a bit dull, a kind of a sport, as you might say. I used to think that they were things the wonderful folk of the stories went out and Frodo, adventures, as I used to call them.

The brave things in the old tales and songs, Mr. “Yes, that’s so,” said Sam, “And we shouldn’t be here at all, if we’d known more about it before we started. “I don’t like anything here at all.” said Frodo, “step or stone, breath or bone. And trees and hills they long have known.

All things done in the dark shall come to light