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TODAY'S THEME
Painting: Tom Lovell
Moroni Prays to the Lord While Preparing to Bury the Plates of Gold
Painting: Arnold Friberg
The Brother of Jared Sees the Finger of the Lord
The paragraph and scripture below highlight what I have chosen for my TODAY'S THEME:
Many others besides Mormon and Moroni, by the Spirit of Prophecy and Revelation, throughout history, and in our day as well as in the day of Jesus' original apostles, and long before in all ages of mankind, were and are able to speak the words Jesus Christ would have them speak. Therefore they they are His words.
Please note: The following are words of the Lord Jesus Christ as He revealed them to His Latter-day Prophet, Joseph Smith at Kirtland, Ohio, U.S.A. on September 22 and 23, 1832.
D. and C 84: 53 And by this you may know the righteous from the wicked, and that the whole world groaneth under sin and darkness even now.
54 And your minds in times past have been darkened because of unbelief, and because you have treated lightly the things you have received—
55 Which vanity and unbelief have brought the whole church under condemnation.
56 And this condemnation resteth upon the children of Zion, even all.
57 And they shall remain under this condemnation until they repent and remember the new covenant, even the Book of Mormon and the former commandments which I have given them, not only to say, but to do according to that which I have written—
58 That they may bring forth fruit meet for their Father's kingdom; otherwise there remaineth a scourge and judgment to be poured out upon the children of Zion.
Please take note that in verse 57 the Lord said: "not only to say, but to do according "to that which I have written"-- Did you catch that? the Lord is saying that His writings are found in the:
Book of Mormon, Another Testament of Jesus Christ. We, I and you readers of this blog post, all know that the Prophets Mormon's and Moroni's writings are found in the Book of Mormon. Why would the Lord say, "that which I have written?"
First, let me simply say: that which the prophets Mormon and Moroni wrote throughout that part of the Book of Mormon that they abridged (condensed), was done by them, in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ, our Savior and Redeemer.
Secondly, that which I quoted above from the Doctrine and Covenants of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints was what Joseph Smith was inspired to write, in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ. While Joseph Smith, or more likely, one of his scribes, was writing what Joseph Smith was dictating to him by the power of the Spirit of the Holy Ghost. Therefore the words that were written were the Lord's Own Words!
Another angle to this: In the Preface of the recent first publication: THE JOSEPH SMITH PAPERS, one of the editors of that book reminds its readers that there are those who have developed the skill of identifying authors by the way they put their words together forming their own unique style of expressing things, (That particular editor was one of those with that learned skill) can rather easily identify which individual of several individuals wrote a particular statement by examining the unique pattern style of that which was written.
The aforementioned Joseph Smith Papers editor wrote in that book's Preface that by that skill which he has learned, it is very easy for him to differentiate between Joseph Smith's own words and the words which the Lord Jesus Christ had "spoken" through Joseph Smith.
Going back to the original premise of TODAY'S THEME, perhaps you may still question my interpretation of "that which I have written" from D. and C. 84 above. Please bear with me as I attempt to define and clarify the "The Spirit of Revelation and Prophecy." I have done this in a number of posts I have published since beginning this Blog in March 2008. I will now excerpt the following from my Post 19, "The Spirit of Prophecy and Revelation"
Painting: Greg K. Olsen
In Luke 2:26-27 we read regarding Simeon:
In Luke 2:26-27 we read regarding Simeon: 26 And it was revealed unto him by the Holy Ghost, that he should not see death, before he had seen the Lord's Christ.
27 And he came by the Spirit into the temple: and when the parents brought in the child Jesus, to do for him after the custom of the law. . .
Anna also expressed her gratitude for having seen Him, the baby Jesus.
Please click on the link just below to read the full account: (After you have finished reading this, please click on the white arrow with the blue background which is on the upper left hand of your screen, to take you back to this blog post.
Please note that these two, Simeon and Anna, were not prophets of ancient Israel, but relatively speaking, just common folk. However, it is not surprising that they, by the Spirit of Prophecy and Revelation, identified the long expected Messiah. Doing things by that spirit was something that occurred often in Israel over the centuries including in this century.
Please note that Luke termed Anna, a prophetess. Women. as well as men, can possess the Spirit of prophecy and revelation! Members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, both men and women, of all ages, can possess this gift, but must live worthily to use it. In Revelations 19:10 the Apostle John wrote:
"... for the testimony of Jesus is the spirit of prophecy."
Because the Book of Mormon is another Testament of Jesus Christ we must expect much evidence of there being many instances of "prophecy and revelation" throughout that sacred record as well as in the Bible, which is a Testament of Jesus Christ, both in the Old and in the New Testaments.
I will begin here to give you one example from the Book of Ether, an example of the words of Jesus Christ which the Prophet, Moroni wrote along with a brief comment from me afterwards. This example is Ether, Chapter Four. I will provide you a link to click onto so you may read and listen to it at the same time. Please follow these instructions:
After you have clicked on the link below and when the scripture is on your screen, please scroll up and click on the word, Listen, which you will see on the upper left hand side of your computer screen. When you hear the voice reading the words of the scripture you can click on the minus (-) sign you will see on the Audio Window which has come onto your screen, so it will be removed and be non-distracting. After you have finished reading and listening to this chapter, please click on the white left arrow in a blue background. This will bring you back to this post.
Ether 4:1-19
Comment: The words of the Lord Jesus Christ spoken by his prophet, Moroni, son of Mormon, invite you and I to rise to a higher spiritual level, at which we would be using the power of the Spirit of Prophecy and Revelation. This invitation is emphasized in verses 14-19. I will print them here so you can prayerfully review them:
Ether 4: 14 Come unto me, O ye house of Israel, and it shall be made manifest unto you how great things the Father hath laid up for you, from the foundation of the world; and it hath not come unto you, because of unbelief.
15 Behold, when ye shall rend that veil of unbelief which doth cause you to remain in your awful state of wickedness, and hardness of heart, and blindness of mind, then shall the great and marvelous things which have been hid up from the foundation of the world from you—yea, when ye shall call upon the Father in my name, with a broken heart and a contrite spirit, then shall ye know that the Father hath remembered the covenant which he made unto your fathers, O house of Israel.
16 And then shall my revelations which I have caused to be written by my servant John (the apostle, John, the Revelator) be unfolded in the eyes of all the people. Remember, when ye see these things, ye shall know that the time is at hand that they shall be made manifest in very deed.
17 Therefore, when ye shall receive this record (The Book of Mormon) ye may know that the work of the Father has commenced upon all the face of the land.
18 Therefore, repent all ye ends of the earth, and come unto me, and believe in my gospel, and be baptized in my name; for he that believeth and is baptized shall be saved; but he that believeth not shall be damned; and signs shall follow them that believe in my name.
19 And blessed is he that is found faithful unto my name at the last day, for he shall be lifted up to dwell in the kingdom prepared for him from the foundation of the world. And behold it is I (Jesus Christ) that hath spoken it. Amen. (Emphasis and Clarification Added)That is a scripture you may want to mark in your Book of Mormon, Another Testament of Jesus Christ, so that you can return to it often to study and pray about being blessed as the Savior promises you can be blessed.
In the next Post, we will review other things that the prophet Moroni wrote in the name of the Lord, Jesus Christ.
Mormon Messages
Here is another video for you to view. It is one the LDS Church produced about one year ago and was recently given an International award for representing good parenting! When it first came out it was an instant favorite for me.
I laugh good and hard every time I view it! I can see why it won that award. I think you will laugh when you see it too. Please click on the link below. This will tell you about the International Award. Then double click on the ARROW you see in the middle of the screen to actually view the video. I'd enjoy hearing your remarks about this video, either by typing in a comment to me at the bottom of the post or by using my e-mail given near the bottom of the post to let me know what you think about this video!
http://newsroom.lds.org/blog/2009/10/noral-group-international-awards-mormon-swashbucklers-best-psa.html
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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.
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: Book of Mormon is a Great Gift to Us. We Should Treat it as Such. -Post 38v When You See the Picture of Our Savior Jesus Christ Sitting Next To a Little Boy, Please, Scroll Down To Your Target Item. (Or Use The Alphabetic Scrolling Device when It Has Been Installed.)
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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.
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Neil Birch
