"Upon My Rock"

Here is the first half of Jesus’ concluding statement of His doctrine from 3 Nephi 11:39: “Verily, verily, I say unto you, that this is my doctrine, and whoso buildeth upon this buildeth upon my rock, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against them.” If you want to be upon the Lord’s rock, you have to build upon His doctrine. What exactly is His rock? Matthew 16 contains critical information about it:

13 ¶When Jesus came into the coasts of Cæsarea Philippi, he asked his disciples, saying, Whom do men say that I the Son of man am?

14 And they said, Some say that thou art John the Baptist: some, Elias; and others, Jeremias, or one of the prophets.

15 He saith unto them, But whom say ye that I am?

16 And Simon Peter answered and said, Thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God.

17 And Jesus answered and said unto him, Blessed art thou, Simon Bar-jona: for flesh and blood hath not revealed it unto thee, but my Father which is in heaven.

18 And I say also unto thee, That thou art Peter, and upon this rock I will build my church; and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it.

Did you catch that? Did you see the similar language? The rock is not Peter. That would be idolatry. Peter is a man, after all, and the Nephites wouldn’t have had access to him. The rock must be constant and equally accessible by all of God’s children in every generation of time. Otherwise, God would be a changeable God.

The rock is revelation. It is the pure knowledge that comes from the Father, just like the knowledge that the Father gave to Peter. Not coincidentally, such revelation is promised earlier in 3 Nephi 11. Verse 35 promises that if you believe and follow the doctrine, the Father will bear record to you of Jesus through fire and the Holy Ghost. 2 Nephi 31:17 lets you know that it is the fire that actually causes the remission of sins. This is the rock that you must stand on.

When Gideon wanted a sign to know that God was commanding him, fire rose up out of a rock to consume the food that Gideon had prepared. When Lehi, through the preaching of the prophets, repented and began praying in behalf of his people, a pillar of fire dwelt upon a rock before him and he received his own revelation. This is all meant to illustrate that if you want knowledge and cleansing fire from heaven, you can do so by building upon the Lord’s rock by following His doctrine. If that is the case, the gates of hell will have no power over you.

As a contrast, the Lord finishes His own summary of His own doctrine in 3 Nephi 11:40 by saying, “And whoso shall declare more or less than this, and establish it for my doctrine, the same cometh of evil, and is not built upon my rock; but he buildeth upon a sandy foundation, and the gates of hell stand open to receive such when the floods come and the winds beat upon them.” (compare Helaman 5:12)

This is a serious warning that you should not take lightly, no matter what you think you know or what church you belong to. If you have never made a serious and prayerful effort to make sure you truly understand the Doctrine of Christ and instead have trusted the understanding of men (even men with the best of intentions), you may run the risk of not being on the Lord’s rock. It appears that everything depends upon you getting this doctrine right and acting accordingly. The doctrine you establish in your life cannot be more or less than than anything Jesus declares as His doctrine. That is a very fine line. Choose wisely what you believe and whom you obey. Nephi warned you in 2 Nephi 28:

26 Yea, wo be unto him that hearkeneth unto the precepts of men, and denieth the power of God, and the gift of the Holy Ghost!

27 Yea, wo be unto him that saith: We have received, and we need no more!

28 And in fine, wo unto all those who tremble, and are angry because of the truth of God! For behold, he that is built upon the rock receiveth it with gladness; and he that is built upon a sandy foundation trembleth lest he shall fall.

29 Wo be unto him that shall say: We have received the word of God, and we need no more of the word of God, for we have enough!

30 For behold, thus saith the Lord God: I will give unto the children of men line upon line, precept upon precept, here a little and there a little; and blessed are those who hearken unto my precepts, and lend an ear unto my counsel, for they shall learn wisdom; for unto him that receiveth I will give more; and from them that shall say, We have enough, from them shall be taken away even that which they have.

31 Cursed is he that putteth his trust in man, or maketh flesh his arm, or shall hearken unto the precepts of men, save their precepts shall be given by the power of the Holy Ghost.

32 Wo be unto the Gentiles, saith the Lord God of Hosts! For notwithstanding I shall lengthen out mine arm unto them from day to day, they will deny me; nevertheless, I will be merciful unto them, saith the Lord God, if they will repent and come unto me; for mine arm is lengthened out all the day long, saith the Lord God of Hosts. (see also Alma 12:9-11)

What will you do? Do you really want to build upon the rock? Will you study the words of Christ and let Him teach you the true doctrine of the Father? Or will you allow yourself to be carried by every wind of doctrine or commandment of men due to your refusal to perceive the wicked traditions of your fathers? You decide.