The
RLDS Church Is Still Alive
God has declared that the RLDS Church shall
not die,
but will continue until Zion is redeemed!
By Richard Price
When the Restorationists left their congregations in the institutional
part of the RLDS Church in the late l98Os, they moved out and
formed branches which were independent of the Hierarchy. Many
did so without any thought of rejecting the Reorganized Church
of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. But during the years since
then, a tragedy has occurred—some Saints have concluded
that the RLDS Church is dead and have completely rejected it.
Some of them now declare themselves to be members of an ambiguous
“Church of Jesus Christ”—which evidently is
a different church.
Did God give them a revelation which stated that He had rejected
the RLDS Church and they should become a part of a new one? The
Scriptures say, “Surely the Lord God will do nothing, until
he revealeth the secret unto his servants the prophets”
(Amos 3:7). Has God told a true prophet that He was going to reject
the RLDS Church and start another? Where in the Scriptures did
the Lord announce that He would do so? There is no such authentic
record. Read the divine passage wherein the Lord told us through
the Prophet Israel A. Smith in 1950, “The night will come
when for many of my people opportunity to assist will have passed”
(DC 142:5b). Did the Lord then say, “My Church will collapse
and you are to become a part of another church with some other
name?” No, there has been no indication that the RLDS Church
would be rejected. Instead, the Lord promised that “The
hopes of my people and the goals of my church, while not yet fully
realized, and at times and to many seemingly distant, are closer
to realization than many recognize” (DC 142:5a). When speaking
of ”my church” He was definitely referring to the
RLDS Church and none other.
The Saints who reject the RLDS Church apparently have not been
able to see that the Church did not die when the Community of
Christ (C of C) leaders made all their apostate changes, but that
the true RLDS Church continues in the hearts and lives of all
those who reject the new false doctrines and cling to the Restored
Gospel.
The RLDS Church has been divided between the liberalists in
the Community of Christ Church and the fundamental Saints in the
orthodox part of the Reorganized Church of Jesus Christ of Latter
Day Saints. The orthodox RLDS Saints can be found today in some
of the Restoration branches, while others no longer attend regular
Church services but worship in small unorganized groups, or in
their homes. There are even some orthodox RLDS members still attending
C of C branches for a variety of reasons. As an example, one grandmother
explained that she was staying because she was her grandchildren’s
church school teacher, and she wanted to be sure that they learned
the true gospel.
Actually the C of C leaders have done the true Saints a favor
by taking a new name for their part of the Church, for it has
helped make a definite distinction between the true and false
parts. The change of name makes it easier to understand and describe
the differences.
God has declared that the RLDS Church shall not die. This is
manifested in spiritual experiences received by eleven ministers.
In view of these prophetic testimonies, the Saints should be assured
that the RLDS Church is still alive and will survive the present
crisis and triumph at last. God will yet build Zion through the
RLDS Church (Vision 42:15).
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