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TODAY'S THEME
In this most recent series of blog posts, The Book of Mormon, Another Testament of Jesus Christ, I Have presented to you as TODAY'S THEMES in each of the five parts of that series thus far, prophetic witnesses of Book of Mormon prophets regarding Jesus Christ, the Son of God, our Redeemer and Savior.
Each one of these quotes are very strong and clear evidence that Jesus is the Christ and demonstrate why the Book of Mormon, is indeed, Another Testament of Jesus Christ.
In this post I will present five additional Nephite testimonies of Jesus Christ being the Savior of the World, but first as TODAY'S THEME I would like you to view and listen to this You Tube presentation by the newest member of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, Elder Neil L. Andersen. I believe his message is very pertinent.
Elder Neil L. Andersen I apologize to those of you who would prefer a digital version of this video. Such is not yet available. Perhaps there is someone who could sit with you, if your hearing is impaired, who will have the ability to communicate what is said by Elder Andersen to you in a way that will assist you to know what is said. Perhaps, your relative or friend you might choose could give you a written summary of that which is spoken.
Elder Neil L. Andersen's Talk
Perhaps you, as well as I, find it easy to agree with Elder Neil L. Andersen when he said in the video you just viewed:
"You don't know everything but you know enough."I believe he was saying that there comes a time for action on our parts after our really knowing something like: "the Gospel of Jesus Christ is a sure guide to my life."
However, action on our parts in living what we have come to know is true, is helped along by our continuing to develop insights into, for instance, the many prophecies of the Lord's prophets given of Him in the Book of Mormon.
In addition to the prophecies I have quoted already in this series, you may still be strengthened and impressed by additional ones I can give you. In this post I have selected just two, which you can read below:
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The Lost Lamb -by Del Parson |
Omni: 1:23 Behold, I, Amaleki, was born in the days of Mosiah; and I have lived to see his death; and Benjamin, his son, reigneth in his stead. . .
26 And now, my beloved brethren, I would that ye should come unto Christ, who is the Holy One of Israel, and partake of his salvation, and the power of his redemption. Yea, come unto him, and offer your whole souls as an offering unto him, and continue in fasting and praying, and endure to the end; and as the Lord liveth ye will be saved. (emphasis added)
Next I give you the witness of Nephi, the son of Helaman, the son of Alma the younger: He was speaking mostly to men who were enemies to the Church of Jesus Christ and caught up in Secret Societies. I believe there were also present some who thought they ought to believe in Nephi's words, but weren't quite sure.
This was written between 23 and 20 B.C. As the time of the prophesied birth of Jesus Christ was approaching, opposition to faith in His teachings was growing. (The following scripture contains the words of Nephi, the Son of Helaman:)
Helaman 8:13 But, behold, ye not only deny my words, but ye also deny all the words which have been spoken by our fathers, and also the words which were spoken by this man, Moses, who had such great power given unto him, yea, the words which he hath spoken concerning the coming of the Messiah.
14 Yea, did he not bear record that the Son of God should come? And as he lifted up the brazen serpent in the wilderness, even so shall he be lifted up who should come.
15 And as many as should look upon that serpent should live, even so as many as should look upon the Son of God with faith, having a contrite spirit, might live, even unto that life which is eternal.
16 And now behold, Moses did not only testify of these things, but also all the holy prophets, from his days even to the days of Abraham.
17 Yea, and behold, Abraham saw of his coming, and was filled with gladness and did rejoice.
18 Yea, and behold I say unto you, that Abraham not only knew of these things, but there were many before the days of Abraham who were called by the order of God; yea, even after the order of his Son; and this that it should be shown unto the people, a great many thousand years before his coming, that even redemption should come unto them.Father Abraham Was Willing to Sacrifice His Son, Isaac As God Had Commanded Him. He Pleased God By His Willingness to Do That Which God Would Eventually Do in Allowing His Only Begotten Son, Jesus Christ to be Sacrificed! As You Know God Revoked His Command that Abraham Sacrifice Isaac! God Knew that Abraham Truly Loved Him!
19 And now I would that ye should know, that even since the days of Abraham there have been many prophets that have testified these things; yea, behold, the prophet Zenos did testify boldly; for the which he was slain.
20 And behold, also Zenock, and also Ezias, and also Isaiah, and Jeremiah, (Jeremiah being that same prophet who testified of the destruction of Jerusalem) and now we know that Jerusalem was destroyed according to the words of Jeremiah. O then why not the Son of God come, according to his prophecy?
21 And now will you dispute that Jerusalem was destroyed? Will ye say that the sons of Zedekiah were not slain, all except it were Mulek? Yea, and do ye not behold that the seed of Zedekiah are with us, and they were driven out of the land of Jerusalem? But behold, this is not all—
22 Our father Lehi was driven out of Jerusalem because he testified of these things. Nephi also testified of these things, and also almost all of our fathers, even down to this time; yea, they have testified of the coming of Christ, and have looked forward, and have rejoiced in his day which is to come.
23 And behold, he is God, and he is with them, and he did manifest himself unto them, that they were redeemed by him; and they gave unto him glory, because of that which is to come.
24 And now, seeing ye know these things and cannot deny them except ye shall lie, therefore in this ye have sinned, for ye have rejected all these things, notwithstanding so many evidences which ye have received; yea, even ye have received all things, both things in heaven, and all things which are in the earth, as a witness that they are true. (emphasis added)
The three prophets whose names I have highlighted in verses 19 and 20 in the quote just above are prophets whose names and prophesies are not found in our Old Testament. Their writings, however, were in the collection of scriptures written on the Brass Plates of Laban which were kept by Laban (a relative of Father Lehi) in Jerusalem until the Lord guided Nephi, Son of Lehi, to obtain them with the special help of an angel and the Lord's Spirit.
Another matter referred to in the scriptural quote above, was that Mulek, the youngest son of King Zedekiah of Jerusalem, was saved from death by Jews who were loyal to their king. (You won't read of that in the Bible) King Zedekiah was killed (after Lehi and his family and friends had already left Jerusalem) by the Babylonians after having been forced to watch them kill all of his sons, (except Mulek about whom the Babylonians evidently didn't know. Mulek was most likely very young then.)
The Neal A. Maxwell Institute for Religious Scholarship, located at the Brigham Young University in Provo, Utah, have identified possible evidence of Mulek's existence, in the form of an identification ring or seal, with what would be his (Mulek's) own special identification marker on it because he was a son of the king.Without Nebuchadnezzar, King of Babylon, knowing it, Mulek, Zedekiah's youngest son, was smuggled away by Jews loyal to King Zedekiah thus saving him from the fate that doomed his brothers.
The Nephites, in about the time of King Mosiah, son of King Benjamin, first discovered the descendants of Mulek and others that had found their way to Ancient America by a ship of some kind, as did Lehi and his family and friends, who happened to be living near them in Central America. Lehi's group had come to America before the people the Nephites knew as Mulekites (named after Mulek, youngest son of King Zedekiah.)
The Mulekites who were living in the land of Zarahemla, had not seen fit to bring any scriptures with them as did Lehi. By the time the Nephites discovered them they had lost any faith in God they may have still had when they left Palestine. Their language had become corrupted and King Mosiah and his people taught them their language. They mixed in with the Nephites and before long were not a separate people.
Just a final comment: I consider the testimony of the prophet, Nephi who lived not long before the birth of the Savior in Jerusalem, to be one of the strongest, and most informative of the prophecies of the coming of Christ (Helaman 8:13-24) which I quoted above.
In keeping with Elder Neil L. Andersen's message which was TODAY'S THEME,
I believe that many of you readers now know "enough" of the truthfulness of the great witness given by Book of Mormon prophets, to be able to move forward in doing what the Lord Jesus Christ now wants you to do. That may include, contacting the missionaries of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints to allow them to teach you that which they can best teach you, HIS GOSPEL. Please feel free to contact me by e-mail (my e-mail address is given below) if you need assistance in locating the LDS missionaries nearest you.
A FOOTNOTE!
I repeat a painting from above in order to make some additional comments about it which I feel are important for each of us to consider:
Please notice that just beyond Moses there are members of the House of Israel who have turned and are walking away from him while the others have stayed with Moses and have fixed their eyes upon the bronze serpent toward which Moses is raising his right arm.
We must remember that those who were following Moses' instructions by staring at the bronze serpent which represented the sacrifice of Jesus Christ the Son of God, were healed from the effects of the bites of the poisonous serpents while those who refused to follow Moses' instructions were walking away only to soon die from the poisonous bites they had suffered.
Here is a question I would like each of us, you and me, to ask ourselves:
By what we each have now been doing regarding keeping the commandments of our Savior, Jesus Christ, to which of the two groups of people depicted in the picture above do we belong?
We owe it to ourselves and to the Lord Jesus Christ who atoned for our sins, and died for us to bring about the universal resurrection of us all, and also to our family members who love us, and depend on us to set an example for them, to be completely honest in answering that question above. Then we each need to live as we know we should live, without hesitating! This applies to me, Neil Birch, as well!
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DISCLAIMER
This website is not owned by or affiliated with the Church Of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (sometimes called the Mormon or LDS Church). The views expressed herein do not necessarily represent the position of the Church.
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TO ACCESS NEIL BIRCH'S BLOG INDEX: To Either Read the Full Index Item Which Refers To This Blog Post, (Or To Search The Index For Any Other Blog Post You Decide To Open), When You Have Read All of This Paragraph, Please Click on the Following: Amaleki, Helaman, (Son of Alma the Younger), Zenos, Zenock and Ezias testified of Jesus Christ -Post 40z. When The Picture of Our Savior, Jesus Christ Sitting Next to a Little Boy Comes Onto Your Screen, Please Scroll Down To Your Target Item Or Use the Alphabetical Scrolling Device (When It Has Been Installed). There is an Individual listing in the Blog Index For Each of the Prophets Highighted Above.
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"Have You Really Read the Book of Mormon?" Legal /Statement. Thank you for visiting. The author retains intellectual property and creative licensing rights. Permission to use or reprint must be given in writing. © Est.2008 Neil Birch Legal /Statement.
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I deeply appreciate your readership and hope you found very beneficial, that which was presented to you in this blog post.
If you have any questions about what you have read or viewed in this post or in any previous posts of mine, or if you even have a curiosity about the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, and or its teachings, please e-mail me. I'm Neil and my e-mail address is: jneilmelva@gmail.com. If you contact me I'll get back to you just as soon as possible.
I invite you to let your friends and relatives know about this blog if you think they would be interested. Please be advised that I also have an additional blog. It is in Spanish: Its content is translated from the English in this blog.
Neil Birch
