Post 46v: As Indicated in My Blog Description (just below) In My Blog Posts I Will Be Emphasizing the Witnessing by Prophets and Apostles of the Lord Jesus Christ, both Anciently and in Our Day! In this Blog Post You Will Be Privileged to Read Some of Those Marvelous Testimonies of Prophets of the Past and at the End of This Post You Will Have the Special Privilege of Both Reading (if you choose to) and Listening to the October 2012 Conference Address on the Atonement of Our Lord Jesus Christ by President Boyd K. Packer of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles!

The Following Blog Description Explains Why My Blog has been renamed: "Four Books of Scripture Testify of Jesus Christ!

Jesus the Christ -by Del Parson

WELCOME, NEW  AND PREVIOUS VIEWERS OF THIS BLOG: In this and in every additional post of this blog you will be led on a carefully and prayerfully planned exciting and inspiring journey as you prepare by means of a guided study of the four sacred books of scripture I am shown holding above; which will assist you in becoming more righteously happy now and more fully prepared for eventual After-Mortality Eternal Endeavors on your part, along with your loved ones and countless other mortals who are seeking to qualify as our Heavenly Father's worthy children. 

Those enabling Books of Scripture were brought about through the love of the Heavenly Father of our immortal spirits which now inhabit our mortal bodies; and were a key part of the Restoration of the Gospel, and of establishing The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, through the Prophet Joseph Smith early in the Nineteenth Century. Leading out in all of this, was of course, Our Heavenly Father's Only Begotten Son who is our Lord, Savior, and Redeemer, Jesus Christ (who initially was our eldest spirit brother and is the only one of us our Heavenly Father will have ever sired into mortality). 

Jesus accomplished His Infinite Atonement, the Ultimate Mortal Sacrifice, along with His infallibly witnessed Resurrection. He is our Redeemer and Savior and has opened the way for each of us to learn with certainty through those four books of scripture, and through the inspired teachings of His prophets, seers and revelators of our day and those authorized by them; that some time after our mortal deaths, because of His atonement and resurrection, and depending on the level of individual rightousness we each attain to, through His grace, we can eventually experience Eternal Life in our own resurrected bodies, which in the case of those who fully heeded all of His scriptural guidance and the guidance of His authorized living servants, there will be full possession of Godly capabilities! J. Neil Birch

To Access This Blog's Index, Please Scroll Down To the Fifth Paragraph From the End of This Post! For Those of You Who May Be In a Hurry to Access it, Here it is now: Neil Birch's Blog Index.

****

TODAY'S THEME:

THE ATONEMENT OF THE LORD JESUS CHRIST

The Lord Jesus Christ -by Heinrich Hofmann.

The birth and the Atonement  of the Lord Jesus Christ was foreseen by many prophets as recorded in the Holy Scriptures. I choose to quote  only three to keep this blog post reasonably short (there are many more available but you would need to search for others on your own!):

The Prophet Isaiah Foretells Christ's Birth -by Harry Anderson

Isaiah foretold our Savior Jesus Christ's atonement:

 53:6 All we like sheep  have gone astray; we have turned every one to his own way; and the Lord hath laid on him the iniquity  of us all.

  7 He was oppressed, and he was afflicted, yet he opened not his mouth: he is brought as a lamb to the slaughter, and as a sheep before her shearers is dumb, so he openeth not his mouth.

  8 He was taken from prison and from judgment: and who shall declare his generation? for he was cut off out of the land of the living: for the transgression of my people was he stricken.

  9 And he made his grave with the wicked, and with the rich in his death; because he had done no violence, neither was any deceit in his mouth.

  10 ¶ Yet it pleased the Lord to bruise him; he hath put him to grief: when thou shalt make his soul an offering for sin, he shall see his seed, he shall prolong his days, and the pleasure of the Lord shall prosper in his hand.

  11 He shall see of the travail of his soul, and shall be satisfied: by his knowledge shall my righteous servant justify many; for he shall bear their iniquities.

Abinadi Appearing Before King Noah, -by Arnold Friberg

The Prophet Abinadi as recorded in the Book of Mormon, Mosiah 14: 1-12 quotes that same prophecy of Isaiah's foretelling the atonement of our Savior Jesus Christ in the Court of Wicked King Noah. Abinadi begins a little earlier in quoting the prophet Isaiah than I recorded above. 

Chapter 14 of Mosiah

Isaiah speaks messianically—The Messiah’s humiliation and sufferings are set forth—He makes His soul an offering for sin and makes intercession for transgressors—Compare Isaiah 53. About 148 B.C.

1. Yea, even doth not Isaiah say: Who hath believed our report, and to whom is the arm of the Lord revealed?

2. For he shall grow up before him as a tender plant, and as a root out of dry ground; he hath no form nor comeliness; and when we shall see him there is no beauty that we should desire him.

3. He is despised and rejected of men; a man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief; and we hid as it were our faces from him; he was despised, and we esteemed him not.

4. Surely he has borne our griefs, and carried our sorrows; yet we did esteem him stricken, smitten of God, and afflicted.

5. But he was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities; the chastisement of our peace was upon him; and with his stripes we are healed.

6. All we, like sheep, have gone astray; we have turned every one to his own way; and the Lord hath laid on him the iniquities of us all.

7. He was oppressed, and he was afflicted, yet he opened not his mouth; he is brought as a lamb to the slaughter, and as a sheep before her shearers is dumb so he opened not his mouth.

8. He was taken from prison and from judgment; and who shall declare his generation? For he was cut off out of the land of the living; for the transgressions of my people was he stricken.

9. And he made his grave with the wicked, and with the rich in his death; because he had done no evil, neither was any deceit in his mouth.

10. Yet it pleased the Lord to bruise him; he hath put him to grief; when thou shalt make his soul an offering for sin he shall see his seed, he shall prolong his days, and the pleasure of the Lord shall prosper in his hand.

11. He shall see the travail of his soul, and shall be satisfied; by his knowledge shall my righteous servant justify many; for he shall bear their iniquities.

12. Therefore will I divide him a portion with the great, and he shall divide the spoil with the strong; because he hath poured out his soul unto death; and he was numbered with the transgressors; and he bore the sins of many, and made intercession for the transgressors.

Alma, the Younger, a Prophet of God  

The Prophet Alma Testifies:

The Book of Mormon: Alma 7: 7-14

7 For behold, I say unto you there be many things to come; and behold, there is one thing which is of more importance than they all—for behold, the  time is not far distant that the Redeemer liveth and cometh among his people.

8 Behold, I do not say that he will come among us at the time of his dwelling in his mortal tabernacle; for behold, the Spirit hath not said unto me that this should be the case. Now as to this thing I do not know; but this much I do know, that the Lord God hath power to do all things which are according to his word.

9 But behold, the Spirit hath said this much unto me, saying: Cry unto this people, saying Repent ye, and prepare the way of the Lord, and walk in his paths, which are straight; for behold, the kingdom of heaven is at hand, and the Son of God cometh upon the face of the earth.

10 And behold, he shall be born of Mary, at Jerusalem which is the land of our forefathers, she being a virgin, a precious and chosen vessel, who shall be overshadowed and conceive by the power of the Holy Ghost, and bring forth a son, yea, even the Son of God.

11 And he shall go forth, suffering pains and afflictions and temptations of every kind; and this that the word might be fulfilled which saith he will take upon him the pains and the sicknesses of his people.

12 And he will take upon him death, that he may loose the bands of death which bind his people; and he will take upon him their infirmities, that his bowels may be filled with mercy, according to the flesh, that he may know according to the flesh how to succor his people according to their infirmities.

13 Now the Spirit knoweth all things; nevertheless the Son of God suffereth according to the flesh that he might take upon him the sins of his people, that he might blot out their transgressions according to the power of his deliverance; and now behold, this is the testimony which is in me.

14 Now I say unto you that ye must ^arepent, and be born again; for the Spirit saith if ye are not born again ye cannot inherit the kingdom of heaven; therefore come and be baptized unto repentance, that ye may be washed from your sins, that ye may have faith on the Lamb of God, who taketh away the sins of the world, who is mighty to save and to cleanse from all unrighteousness.

15 Yea, I say unto you come and fear not, and lay aside every sin, which easily doth beset you, which doth bind you down to destruction, yea, come and go forth, and show unto your God that ye are willing to repent of your sins and enter into a covenant with him to keep his commandments, and witness it unto him this day by going into the waters of baptism.

16 And whosoever doeth this, and keepeth the commandments of God from thenceforth, the same will remember that I say unto him, yea, he will remember that I have said unto him, he shall have eternal life, according to the testimony of the Holy Spirit, which testifieth in me.

Now after quoting the sacred words of holy prophets from the Holy Scriptures I bring this post to a fitting conclusion by having you listen to words of a present day apostle of our Lord Jesus Christ's sacred Atonement which is so vitally important to each of us:

This talk on the Atonement was given by President Boyd K. Packer of the Quorum of the Twelve at the October 2012 General Conference of the Church.

After clicking on the link I've provided right below please select the word Listen you will see on your screen along with the emblem which signifies Listening. (Please note that if you click on the white arrow found on the photo of President Packer you will be able to actually watch him throughout his talk as you listen to him. I advise you to do both! 

http://www.lds.org/general-conference/2012/10/the-atonement?lang=eng

I'm sure Spirit of the Lord Jesus Christ will guide and prompt your feelings as you listen to all of this long but magnificent talk! Elder Packer truly testifies of his and our Lord Jesus Christ in this talk.

____________


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.

____________

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 Post Title Shown at the End of this following paragraph:  When You See Our Savior Jesus Christ Sitting Next To a Little Boy, Please, Scroll Down To Your Target.  Jesus Christ, testimonies of Him by Prophets and a Modern Day Apostle President Boyd K. Packer of the Quorum of the Twelve. Post 46v. 

____________

"Four Books of Scripture Testify of Jesus Christ!" 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.

_____________

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. 

Neil Birch

Post 46u: I Feel it Important to Assist You Dear Viewers of this Blog in Learning the True Facts Regarding Book of Mormon Geography. Many Members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints Have Become Confused about the True Facts Regarding This Important Matter! In this Blog Post I am Calling Upon the Prophets Mormon and Moroni who Both Were Involved in the Writing of the Book of Mormon, Another Testament of Jesus Christ, to Witness To Us the True Facts of this Controversial Matter! They Actually Lived in that Geography!

The Following Blog Description Explains Why My Blog has been renamed: "Four Books of Scripture Testify of Jesus Christ!

Jesus the Christ -by Del Parson

WELCOME, NEW  AND PREVIOUS VIEWERS OF THIS BLOG: In this and in every additional post of this blog you will be led on a carefully and prayerfully planned exciting and inspiring journey as you prepare by means of a guided study of the four sacred books of scripture I am shown holding above; which will assist you in becoming more righteously happy now and more fully prepared for eventual After-Mortality Eternal Endeavors on your part, along with your loved ones and countless other mortals who are seeking to qualify as our Heavenly Father's worthy children. 

Those enabling Books of Scripture were brought about through the love of the Heavenly Father of our immortal spirits which now inhabit our mortal bodies; and were a key part of the Restoration of the Gospel, and of the Church of Jesus Christ through the Prophet Joseph Smith early in the Nineteenth Century. Also intimately  involved, and surely leading out in all of this, was of course, Our Heavenly Father's Only Begotten Son who is our Lord, Savior, and Redeemer, Jesus Christ (who initially was our eldest spirit brother and is the only one of us our Heavenly Father will have ever sired into mortality). 

Jesus accomplished His infinite atonement, the Ultimate Mortal Sacrifice, along with His infallibly witnessed Resurrection. He is our Redeemer and Savior and has opened the way for each of us to learn with certainty through those four books of scripture, and through the inspired teachings of His prophets, seers and revelators of our day; that some time after our mortal deaths, thanks to His atonement and resurrection, we will each eventually experience eternal life in our own resurrected bodies, which in the case of those who truly heeded all of the scriptural and prophetic guidance, there will be full possession of Godly capabilities!

To Access This Blog's Index, Please Scroll Down To the Fifth Paragraph From the End of This Post! For Those of You Who May Be In a Hurry to Access it, Here it is now: Neil Birch's Blog Index.

****

TODAY'S THEME

The Actual Book of Mormon Geography

Sunday June 16, 2013: The past two or three days while writing updates to my personal journal, I spent some time reviewing all of the scriptures I have been told about by others or personally found in the Book of Mormon, which describe the geography of the Book of Mormon lands which so many members of the Church, including perhaps some of my posterity who will some day read my personal journal;  have ignored or most likely just haven't felt the need to be interested in that subject. Here are the scriptures I have found through  my own Book of Mormon searching, or with the help of others. 

"Alma 22:32. (The Prophet Mormon's writings) And now, it was only the distance of a day and a half's journey for a Nephite, on the line Bountiful and the land Desolation, from the east to the west sea; and thus the land of Nephi and the Land of Zarahemla were nearly surrounded by water, there being a small neck of land between the land northward and the land southward."

33. And it came to pass that the Nephites had inhabited the land Bountiful, even from the east  unto the west sea, and thus the Nephites in their wisdom, with their guards and their armies, had hemmed in the Lamanites on the south, that thereby they should have no more possession on the north, that they might not overrun the land northward."

Helaman 11:20: (The Prophet Mormon's writings:) "And thus it did come to pass that the people of Nephi began to prosper again in the land, and began to build up their waste places, and began to multiply and spread, even until they did cover the whole face of the land, both on the northward and on the southward, from the sea west to the sea east."

Helaman 4:7: (The Prophet Mormon's writings:) "And there they did fortify against the Lamanites, from the west sea, even unto the east; it being a day's journey for a Nephite, on the line which they had fortified and stationed their armies to defend their north county."

(You most likely noticed that Mormon, was describing the same basic geography of their lands as already described, namely the narrow strip of land (or passage) which connects the Southern portion of their lands where the Lamanites lived and the Northern portion of their lands where they, the Nephites lived, as indicated by: 

Mormon 2:29: (The Prophet Mormon's writings:) "And the Lamanites did give unto us the land northward, yea even to the narrow passage which led into the land southward. And we did give unto the Lamanites all the land southward."

Describing what was done by a much earlier nation of refugees from the Tower of Babel, the Jaredites, who had occupied the same basic geography described above, Mormon's son, Moroni wrote:

 Ether 10:20: "And they built a great city by the narrow neck of land, by the place where the sea divides the land." 

Then there is this: 

21: "And they did preserve the land southward for a wilderness, to get game. And the whole face of the land northward was covered with inhabitants" (Neil Birch's comment:) ,who were all Jaredites."

Satellite Image of Baja California, Mexico, overlaid with Book of Mormon Lands.

Most of you without even looking at a map of Mexico will most likely quickly realize that land which each of those scriptures from the Book of Mormon describes, is Baja California, which contains several agriculturally productive states of Present Day Mexico. That land, a peninsula, is very fertile and favored with very excellent weather! It is quite large and is listed by experts as one of the most fertile regions in the world.

There can be no doubt in any one's mind after reading those scriptures that the original Book of Mormon Lands were actually the land which is now the Baja California portion of Modern Day Mexico.

At the time of Christ's coming (soon after His resurrection in Jerusalem) to those lands, great destruction drastically changed some of the geography. However, that did not change the shape of their land or the position of the two seas which nearly surrounded their land! That is evidenced by Mormon, who lived after Christ's coming who very clearly personally describes the geography of Baja California in all but one of the scriptures quoted above. His son, Moroni described the same basic geography as it existed at a much earlier time, in that particular scripture.

There are members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, some of whom are eminent scholars, who believe that the land where the Nephites and Lamanites originally lived is found in Mexico proper, and not in the Baja California portion of present day Mexico. They use maps on which there is a Sea North and a Sea South, instead of a Sea East and a Sea West which the Prophets Mormon and Moroni describe, and the "narrow neck of land" separating the Northern and Southern portions of that land where according to Mormon in Alma 22:32, a Nephite can walk it in a day and a half, or in the case of what is described in Helaman 4:7; in one day. It would actually take, according to those scholars' supposed geography, a large number of days to traverse."

We discover in that last mentioned scripture where we are told that the fortifications the Nephites built to better protect themselves from the hostile Lamanites to the South of that "Narrow Neck of Land", had without doubt straightened their road because of the linking of those fortifications, so that traveling then took only one day to walk that distance, while the supposed "professionally developed maps" indicate clearly that a larger number of days would be required in traversing that much longer distance which is indicated by their "map!" To sum up:

Book of Mormon geography is best described by the two prophets, Mormon and his son, Moroni, who wrote the history of the people who lived there in the Book of Mormon.

According to the maps most frequently shown in various books and at times, on the tack boards in Sunday School classes when the Book of Mormon is the subject matter, the narrow neck of land is shown to be at the very least, ninety to a hundred miles in length and so it definitely is not narrow and no Nephite or Lamanite, for that matter, could ever walk that distance in a day or in just a day and a half! Then again, it is not the scriptural: Seas West and East on those scholars' map, but instead a "Sea North and Sea South. (which cannot be explained by some hypothesized calendar change.")

One of our LDS ward's very excellent Sunday school teachers made the comment to me after class one Sunday after she had just taught one of our lessons from last year's (2012) Sunday School curriculum, that "we may never know during this life which map is correct!" As you no doubt can discern easily after reading my essay above, we should absolutely accept the truth that the correct original Book of Mormon Land is Baja California thanks to the accurate Book of Mormon scriptural descriptions written by the prophets Mormon and his son, Moroni who both actually lived there!

A professional geographer, Lynn Rosenvall founded the Olive Leaf Foundation and lives in Alberta, Canada.  His son, David who lives in Utah directs regular Informational sessions which are held at the Mexican Mormon Museum located just South of the LaVell Edwards BYU Stadium in Provo, Utah. They have led out in identifying Baja California as the original Book of Mormon Land. Lynn simply followed his professional geographic training in making that correct identification. How can we doubt their conclusions after reading the Book of Mormon scriptures which guided them?

J. Neil Birch 

(jneilmelva@gmail.com)  This Google Earth Satellite Photo provides perhaps a better visual perspective of the Baja California Peninsula along with the surrounding land mass than does the Google Map shown above!

Google Earth™

Now in keeping with the plan of mine which is expressed in the Blog Description above, that Witnesses of God will bear witness of Jesus Christ and His Great Work which applies to each of you and to me to, we once again will turn to the Book of Mormon, Another Testament of Jesus Christ.  This will now happen, at first in written form in the case of the Great Prophet, Mormon and then you will be able to hear the words of Mormon's Son, the Great Nephite Prophet, Moroni.

Mormon's Last Day

The Following is the closing testimony of the Prophet Mormon to his people, the Nephites, not long before he was killed by the Lamanites: Dear Readers of this blog post, please apply these words to yourselves. You will be blessed for having done so!

Mormon 7: 5 Know ye that ye must come to the ^aknowledge of your fathers, and repent of all your sins and iniquities, and ^bbelieve in Jesus Christ, that he is the Son of God, and that he was slain by the Jews, and by the power of the Father he hath risen again, whereby he hath gained the ^cvictory over the grave; and also in him is the sting of death swallowed up.

  6 And he bringeth to pass the ^aresurrection of the dead, whereby man must be raised to stand before his ^bjudgment-seat.

  7 And he hath brought to pass the ^aredemption of the ^bworld, whereby he that is found ^cguiltless before him at the judgment day hath it given unto him to ^ddwell in the presence of God in his kingdom, to sing ceaseless praises with the ^echoirs above, unto the Father, and unto the Son, and unto the Holy Ghost, which are ^fone God, in a state of ^ghappiness which hath no end.

  8 Therefore repent, and be baptized in the name of Jesus, and lay hold upon the ^agospel of Christ, which shall be set before you, not only in this record but also in the record which shall come unto the Gentiles ^bfrom the Jews,(The Holy Bible)  which record shall come from the Gentiles ^cunto you.

  9 For behold, ^athis is ^bwritten for the intent that ye may ^cbelieve that; and if ^dye believe that ye will believe this also; and if ye believe this ye will know concerning your fathers, and also the marvelous works which were wrought by the power of God among them.

  10 And ye will also know that ye are a ^aremnant of the seed of Jacob; therefore ye are numbered among the people of the first covenant; and if it so be that ye believe in Christ, and are baptized, first^bwith water, then with fire and with the Holy Ghost, following the ^cexample of our Savior, according to that which he hath commanded us, it shall be well with you in the day of judgment. Amen.

__________

Moroni Burying the Plates, -By Tom Lovell

Now you will be blessed by hearing the words of Mormon's son, Moroni so you can apply them also to your lives. Moroni was not killed by the Lamanites. He survived and traveled from  what we call Baja California to far away New York eventually where he buried the Golden plates which the young prophet Joseph Smith would translate by the power for God to bring about the Book of Mormon, Another Testament of Jesus Christ, for our benefit! Moroni eventually appeared to young Joseph Smith as a resurrected person. Each of us will eventually be resurrected and hopefully we will be considered worthy to associate at that time with these three great men! The following link will allow you to listen to Moroni's inspired words which apply to each of you!

http://www.lds.org/scriptures/bofm/moro/10?lang=eng

____________


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.

____________

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 Post Title Shown at the End of this paragraphFollowing: When You See Our Savior Jesus Christ Sitting Next To a Little Boy, Please, Scroll Down To Your Target.   A Description of the actual Book of Mormon Geography is given us by Book of Mormon Prophets, Mormon and Moroni. Post 46u. 

____________

"Four Books of Scripture Testify of Jesus Christ!" 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.

_____________

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. 

Neil Birch

Post 46t: As My Relatively New Blog Title Indicates, I Will Continue to Emphasize How Each of the Four Books of Holy Scriptures Contain Much in the Way of Various Prophets' Teachings of the Divinity of Jesus Christ and How His Atonement and Resurrection Bless Our Lives! In Today's Blog Post I Turn to the Book of Mormon but at the Same Time Show How the Original Patriarch of the Nephite-Lamanite Nation, Lehi, Under Inspiration from God, Saw to it that the Version of Our Old Testament that They Had Access to Way Back in 600 B.C., Was Obtained (Through much devoted effort) from One of the Leading Men in Jerusalem, Laban, to be Brought With Them on Their Way to Their "Promised Land in the Western Hemisphere. Those Scriptures Contain Some of the Same Books that Our Old Testament Now Contains, but Also Some that are Not Seen or Even Mentioned in Our Old Testament:

The Following Blog Description Explains Why My Blog has been renamed: "Four Books of Scripture Testify of Jesus Christ!

Jesus the Christ -by Del Parson

WELCOME, NEW  AND PREVIOUS VIEWERS OF THIS BLOG: In this and in every additional post of this blog you will be led on a carefully and prayerfully planned exciting and inspiring journey as you prepare by means of a guided study of the four sacred books of scripture I am shown holding above; which will assist you in becoming more righteously happy now and more fully prepared for eventual After-Mortality Eternal Endeavors on your part, along with your loved ones and countless other mortals who are seeking to qualify as our Heavenly Father's worthy children. 

Those enabling Books of Scripture were brought about through the love of the Heavenly Father of our immortal spirits which now inhabit our mortal bodies; and were a key part of the Restoration of the Gospel, and of the Church of Jesus Christ through the Prophet Joseph Smith early in the Nineteenth Century. Also intimately  involved, and surely leading out in all of this, was of course, Our Heavenly Father's Only Begotten Son who is our Lord, Savior, and Redeemer, Jesus Christ (who initially was our eldest spirit brother and is the only one of us our Heavenly Father will have ever sired into mortality). 

Jesus accomplished His infinite atonement, the Ultimate Mortal Sacrifice, along with His infallibly witnessed Resurrection. He is our Redeemer and Savior and has opened the way for each of us to learn with certainty through those four books of scripture, and through the inspired teachings of His prophets, seers and revelators of our day; that some time after our mortal deaths, thanks to His atonement and resurrection, we will each eventually experience eternal life in our own resurrected bodies, which in the case of those who truly heeded all of the scriptural and prophetic guidance, there will be full possession of Godly capabilities!

To Access This Blog's Index, Please Scroll Down To the Fifth Paragraph From the End of This Post! For Those of You Who May Be In a Hurry to Access it, Here it is now: Neil Birch's Blog Index.

****

TODAY'S THEME

Jacob 1:7 Wherefore we labored diligently among our people, that we might persuade them to come unto Christ, and partake of the goodness of God, that they might enter into his rest, lest by any means he should swear in his wrath they should not enter in, as in the provocation in the days of temptation while the children of Israel were in the wilderness. *

8 Wherefore, we would to God that we could persuade all men not to rebel against God, to provoke him to anger, but that all men would believe in Christ, and view his death, and suffer his cross and bear the shame of the world; wherefore, I, Jacob, take it upon me to fulfil the commandment of my brother Nephi. (emphasis added)

Moses Asks the Children of Israel to Gaze at the Brazen Serpent -by Judith Mehr

You may remember my using the picture above at the beginning of post 35e. I would like you to focus specifically on something in it that I didn't point out in that post.

Please notice that just beyond Moses there are members of the House of Israel who have turned and are walking away from him and the others who have fixed their eyes upon the brazen serpent toward which Moses is raising his right arm.

We must remember that those who were following Moses' instructions by staring at the brazen 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 an important question I would like each of us, you and me, to ask ourselves: By what we 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 our family members who love us, to be completely honest. Then we each need to live as we know we should live, without hesitating!

The following is additional testimony regarding Jesus Christ along with teachings about His gospel, by Jacob, the fifth son of Lehi and younger brother to Nephi. He certainly was one of Lehi's righteous and believing sons:

II Nephi 9:40 O, my beloved brethren, give ear to my words. Remember the greatness of the Holy One of Israel. Do not say that I have spoken hard things against you; for if ye do, ye will revile against the truth; for I have spoken the words of your Maker. I know that the words of truth are hard against all uncleanness; but the righteous fear them not, for they love the truth and are not shaken.

41 O then, my beloved brethren, come unto the Lord, the Holy One. Remember that his paths are righteous. Behold, the way for man is narrow, but it lieth in a straight course before him, and the keeper of the gate is the Holy One of Israel; and he employeth no servant there; and there is none other way save it be by the gate; for he cannot be deceived, for the Lord God is his name.

42 And whoso knocketh, to him will he open; and the wise, and the learned, and they that are rich, who are puffed up because of their learning, and their wisdom, and their riches—yea, they are they whom he despiseth; and save they shall cast these things away, and consider themselves fools before God, and come down in the depths of humility, he will not open unto them.

43 But the things of the wise and the prudent shall be hid from them forever—yea, that happiness which is prepared for the saints.

There again was Jacob's strong witness of the Son of God, Jesus Christ and of the importance of following Him. Now here is the last quote of Jacob's testifying I will give you in this post. Please feel the power and truthfulness of his testimony. Please also note the accuracy of his prophecy.

II Nephi 10:1 AND now I, Jacob, speak unto you again, my beloved brethren, concerning this righteous branch of which I have spoken.

2 For behold, the promises which we have obtained are promises unto us according to the flesh; wherefore, as it has been shown unto me that many of our children shall perish in the flesh because of unbelief, nevertheless, God will be merciful unto many; and our children shall be restored, that they may come to that which will give them the true knowledge of their Redeemer.

3 Wherefore, as I said unto you, it must needs be expedient that Christ—for in the last night the angel spake unto me that this should be his name—should come among the Jews, among those who are the more wicked part of the world; and they shall crucify him—for thus it behooveth our God, and there is none other nation on earth that would crucify their God.

4 For should the mighty miracles be wrought among other nations they would repent, and know that he be their God.

5 But because of priestcrafts and iniquities, they at Jerusalem will stiffen their necks against him, that he be crucified.

Thank you Jacob! Thank you dear readers for trusting me to review correctly, important teachings of a prophet of the Lord Jesus Christ which will benefit both you and me.

Following the asterisk * I inserted in TODAY'S THEME down to the asterisk you have just seen in this sentence, you will learn some additional key information if you have time now or perhaps you might return later.

I inserted the asterisk (*) in TODAY'S THEME where Jacob had referred to: "as in the provocation in the days of temptation while the children of Israel were in the wilderness." Now if you were wondering how Father Lehi's family could know about such Old Testament information, long before the Old Testament had been put together as a book, I would like you to know that Jacob and all of his father, Lehi's family possessed many of the same books which are in our Old Testament along with a significant number of additional books we know not of. These scriptures had a significant influence on Lehi, his believing children and on their posterity.

Lehi and his family were able to bring that set of scriptures with them to their promised land in Ancient America only by the guidance of the Spirit of the Lord. They were even assisted by a holy angel. The key to their eventual success was the faith and determination of Nephi, Lehi's fourth son along with the support of his brother, just older than him, Sam. The four brothers endured incredible difficulties by going back to Jerusalem where they finally, through much tribulation, were able to obtain thePlates of Brass on which the inspired records where engraven.

You may want to come back to these scriptural links later. You may already be familiar with them, but if not, here are the three scriptures to read I Nephi, chapters 3, 4 and 5. If you haven't read them before you will be surprised how fascinating is Nephi's account of this challenging task he and his brother, Sam faced bravely. You can choose to listen to each of these scriptural quotes:

I Nephi 3:1-31

I Nephi 4:1-37

I Nephi 5:1-22

____________


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.

____________

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 Post Title Shown at the End of this paragraphFollowing: When You See Our Savior Jesus Christ Sitting Next To a Little Boy, Please, Scroll Down To Your Target.   Jacob, Brother of Nephi and Son of Lehi, Testified Powerfully of Jesus Christ. Post 46t. 

____________

"Four Books of Scripture Testify of Jesus Christ!" 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.

_____________

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. 

Neil Birch