33s - The Resurrected Jesus Christ's Ministry in Ancient America. A Continuance!

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TODAY'S THEME

Our Resurrected Savior Jesus Christ -by Harry Anderson

The following statement was made by our Resurrected Savior, Jesus Christ from the air before the Nephites had seen Him. He was introduced by Heavenly Father's voice! It occurred during the time of thick darkness they experienced not long after a great cataclysm had destroyed many Nephite cities, killing all of their inhabitants among whom were relatives and friends.

III Nephi 9: 18 I am the light and the life of the world. I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end.

19 And ye shall offer up unto me no more the shedding of blood; yea, your sacrifices and your burnt offerings shall be done away, for I will accept none of your sacrifices and your burnt offerings.

20 And ye shall offer for a sacrifice unto me a broken heart and a contrite spirit. And whoso cometh unto me with a broken heart and a contrite spirit, him will I baptize with fire and with the Holy Ghost, even as the Lamanites, because of their faith in me at the time of their conversion, were baptized with fire and with the Holy Ghost, and they knew it not.

21 Behold, I have come unto the world to bring redemption unto the world, to save the world from sin.

22 Therefore, whoso repenteth and cometh unto me as a little child, him will I receive, for of such is the kingdom of God. Behold, for such I have laid down my life, and have taken it up again; therefore repent, and come unto me ye ends of the earth, and be saved. (emphasis added)

Those survivors heard His voice but had not yet seen Him. He was speaking to them out of the dense darkness surrounding them. They were hearing the Resurrected Savior's voice! Those Nephites must have been amazed to hear Him speak of the conversion of the Lamanites, which took place about four years earlier, revealing that they, the Lamanites He mentioned, had not realized that they had been baptized by fire and the Holy Ghost.

Those to whom He was speaking were the more righteous ones of that nation. Therefore they would have known about the Lamanite conversion incident which they heard Him mention.

That must have given them a sense of trust and love for for Him who was speaking to them. Surely it helped them realize that He knew them and had spared them from destruction the others had suffered because they, these Nephites who were listening to His voice, were more righteous than those who had been destroyed in the great cataclysm.

Earlier in that chapter He is quoted as detailing to them the cities which were destroyed by Him. Notice that He doesn't blame that destruction on a cataclysmic event of nature, He clearly, and unmistakeably takes responsibility for it. He names the cities, one by one, which were destroyed by Him and describes their wickedness. He also makes clear that they were destroyed because they cast out or killed His prophets and saints who lived among them.

As I wrote the above I was reminded of something written in the Today's Theme of my just previous post (33r). In it, our Savior indicates that He, Jesus Christ, is the judge of all mankind. We can imply from this that He can initiate and control the powers of nature to accomplish His divine judgements.

III Nephi 9: 11 And because they did cast them all out, that there were none righteous among them, I did send down fire and destroy them, that their wickedness and abominations might be hid from before my face, that the blood of the prophets and the saints whom I sent among them might not cry unto me from the ground against them.

We read in verse 14 that He invites these Nephite survivors to come unto Him so they will have eternal life. That verse is not included in this post's Today's Theme. In my opinion you might do well to read all of chapter 9 even if you have read it recently. Here it is for you to read and listen to again if you choose to do so.

III Nephi 9:1-22

Here is another scripture you may want review. It is from the Nephite record of the conversion of the Lamanites described by the voice of the Lord speaking from the sky out of the darkness: (Listening might be too awkward because these verses are near the end of the chapter.)

Helaman 5: 41-49

Again, we have been allowed to have a glimpse of our Savior's divine powers. He had very recently been resurrected from the dead, but was fully prepared for His ministry to the Nephites. Note how He knew exactly what had happened during the destruction of the more wicked part of their people. He also knew all about the conversion of the Lamanites about which you have just read.

He, Jesus Christ, just thirty-four years ago, was the babe born in Bethlehem. These Nephites could take comfort, (as we also can regarding ourselves), that He understood them. He had lived as one of us through the challenging circumstances of life like they had (and like we have). He actually had suffered much more than any of of us. Now and then He is fully functioning as a member of the Divine Godhead. I remind you again of what I like to call His "sacred job description":

Moses 1:39 For behold, this is my work and my glory—to bring to pass the immortality and eternal life of man.

I, Neil Birch, stand in complete awe of Him! I think many of you stand with me on that.

You have been reading examples of our Lord Jesus Christ going about His divine roll as one of the Godhead, preparing the people He is soon to walk among, preparing them for eternal life.

As my wife and I were driving from the grocery store a few hours ago we were listening to a BYU -Provo, UT FM Radio station on which was being played: Beethoven's "Moonlight Sonata."

While listening to that beautiful and very calming music, I began thinking through this scripture I have used for Today's Theme. It was to me as though that sonata had been written just for that part of Chapter nine of III Nephi.

Then it dawned on me, that the Lord's spirit prompts great composers of music and that is what made the two of them, that inspired music and the Lord's words, fit together in my mind and heart, in complete harmony.

I wish I could plug that music into this post so you could hear and feel it for yourselves.

(Some of you might be talented enough to move into the other room of your house right now and play your memorized rendition of that very wonderful piece.)

I chose to begin this post the way I did because I feel doing so prepares us to more fully appreciate the great work our Savior has been doing among the Nephite people. Here is the chapter we will now have the opportunity to read and discuss some: (Listening along with reading will work well this time.)
III Nephi 28:1-40



The Three Nephite Apostles Tell Jesus Their Special Desire -by Gary L. Kapp



The Three Nephites

You have just read Mormon's abridgement of the record contained in the plates of Nephi in which the Savior grants the individual wishes of his twelve disciples whom He has assigned to lead His church. I will let what you have just read and listened to suffice, except to remind you that those three disciples along with John, the Beloved apostle, in Palestine, were granted a special mission to do the Lord's work in helping people come unto salvation.

In some future day we may be allowed to read the accounts of these three witnesses along with that of the Apostle, John, regarding all that they have done over the centuries to bring people to Christ. Here is the Lord's promise to the Three Nephites whose bodies underwent a significant change.

III Nephi 28: 9 And again, ye shall not have pain while ye shall dwell in the flesh, neither sorrow save it be for the sins of the world; and all this will I do because of the thing which ye have desired of me, for ye have desired that ye might bring the souls of men unto me, while the world shall stand.

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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 An Item Which Refers To Any Other Blog Post You May Desire To Access), After Reading All of This Paragraph Please Click on the Following: (The Resurrected) Jesus Christ's Ministry in Ancient America (A Twenty Post Series) - Post 33s. When You See the Picture of Our Savior Jesus Christ Sitting Next To a Little Boy, Please, Scroll Down In The Index To Your Target Item Or Use The Alphabetical Scrolling Device (When It Has Been Installed.)

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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.

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Neil Birch