Tag Archives: Scripture

Mosiah 1

Posted on by Standard Reply

Mosiah 1

               The Book of Mosiah is the eighth book in the Book of Mormon…

Mosiah is most likely linked to the Hebrew term; “Moshia”, which represents a Champion of Justice against oppression, appointed by God, whose Mission is to liberate a chosen people from oppression, especially by non-violent means.

“And now there was no more contention in all the land of Zarahemla…” (Mosiah 1:1), King Benjamin was the ruler during this time and he had three sons; “…Mosiah, and Helorum, and Helaman. And he caused that they should be taught in all the language of his fathers, that thereby they might become men of understanding…” (Mosiah 1:2) This would give King Benjamin’s sons the ability to know of the prophecies of the prophets that had come before them.

Because Lehi had preserved the records and the language (Egyptian), they now benefit of these things and understand the mysteries of God. We too in our modern age benefit from the preservation of these records from Lehi, to King Benjamin, to his sons, etc. King Benjamin speaks to his sons, but also to us the reader, when he testifies that the words that have been written as part of the plates he know holds are true. Not only that, but King Benjamin testifies that if we “…search them [the scriptures] diligently… ye may profit…” (Mosiah 1:7) We must not only read, but study the scriptures. If we do this and follow God’s commandments we will prosper!

King Benjamin sees that his days are numbered and that he soon will pass on. He decides to choose one of his sons to become King. He chooses Mosiah and confers the power of the kingdom to him. He commands Mosiah to make a proclamation through the land that he is “…king and a ruler over this people…” (Mosiah 1:10) He also explains to his sons that because the records have been preserved throughout time, God has had mercy on them. The chapter ends with Mosiah commanding the people to come to the temple to hear the words of his father, King Benjamin.

Advertisement

Summary of The Words of Mormon + The Words of Mormon 1

Posted on by Standard Reply

Summary of The Words of Mormon + The Words of Mormon 1

The Words of Mormon… is the seventh book in the Book of Mormon….

The Words of Mormon opens up by explaining that Mormon will soon deliver the plates into the hands of his son, Moroni. Mormon explains that it “…is many hundred years after the coming of Christ…” (The Words of Mormon 1:2).

Mormon was abridging the plates, in other words he was condensing down the stories to fit a smaller volume of scripture. He explains that he abridged the plates from the time of Nephi down to the reign of King Benjamin, and from Jacob down to King Benjamin. Mormon explains that he is very pleased of what he sees written on the plates; “…because of the prophecies of the coming of Christ; and my fathers knowing that many of them have been fulfilled… Wherefore, I chose these things, to finish my record upon them… [for] I cannot write the hundredth part of the things of my people.” (The Words or Mormon 1:4-5)

Mormon was being instructed and was on a mission from God to maintain the records of the Ancient Inhabitants of America. He explains that he wrote down only the most important parts “…for they are choice unto me [Mormon]; and I know they will be choice unto my brethren. And I do this for a wise purpose; for thus it whispereth me, according to the workings of the Spirt of the Lord which is in me. And now, I do not know all things; but the Lord knoweth all things which are to come; wherefore, he worketh in me to do according to his will.” (The Words of Mormon 1:6-7)

Mormon writes and abridges these records with the hope that “…they [the future readers of this Book] may once again come to the knowledge of God…” (The Words of Mormon 1:8) Mormon then informs us that the work he has in his hands originally came from Amaleki, and then to King Benjamin and then combined with other plates [books], the record was passed from one generation to another until it finally came to Him. (The Words of Mormon 1:9-11) Mormon warns that in the Last Days, the words that are preserved in this Book “…shall be judged at the great and last day…” (The Words of Mormon 1:11)

Finally, Mormon ends this book by explaining that there were false Christs among them and that through King Benjamin, righteousness and peace had been restored throughout the land.

Revelation 10

Posted on by Standard Reply

Revelation 10: “The Little Book”

John describes an angel that comes down from heaven; “…clothed with a cloud: and a rainbow was upon his head, and his face was it were the sun, and his feet as pillars of fire.” (Revelation 10:1) John explains that the angel brought with him a book, or more specifically a ‘little book’. The angel opens the book and immediately “…seven thunders utter their voices…” (Revelation 10:3), John explains that just as he was about to write down what he heard, the angel commanded him to not write any of those things which he had heard! But John explains that; “…in the days of the voice of the seventh angel, when he shall begin to sound, the mystery of God should be finished, as he hath declared to his servants the prophets.” (Revelation 10:7)

The Angel then tells John to take the book and to ‘eat it up’, but that when he eats it, it will be sweet in his mouth, but bitter in his belly. So John eats the book and sure enough; sweet in the mouth and bitter in the belly. It is possible that John ‘eating’ the book was him accepting his mission to warn the inhabitants of the earth of these great destructions and while accepting the mission was sweet to him to be chosen for this great calling, but become bitter to him because of what he would see and the pain he knew would come to those who chose not to follow God.

3 John 1 + Summary of 3 John

Posted on by Standard Reply

3 John 1: Those who Love Truth + Summary of 3 John

                John writes to Gaius and the members of the Church explaining that he has; “…no greater joy than to hear that my children walk in truth.” (3 John 1:4) This is the same way the Jesus Christ and God the Father feel when they see us walking in the truth and light.

John explains that he would write to Diotrephes, who loved to have dominion over the church and the members. This man, would change words and deceive many… this is the start of important doctrinal changes that would eventually lead to the formation of 100’s if not thousands of churches and religions worldwide today. John explains that he; “…had many things to write…” (3 John 1:13) but would not, and would rather speak in person to the members of the church. This goes to show that the Bible does not contain all the words of the prophets, or apostles. It is a general account, but not a complete and accurate account. The Bible is in fact the word of God, but is not 100% perfect, due to the fact that good and evil men changed the words slowly. This chapter of the Bible proves that this happened from the start.

2 Peter 1

Posted on by Standard Reply

2 Peter 1: Prophecy comes by the Power of the Holy Ghost

                Peter writes a general letter to the members of the Church of Christ, he reminds them of why they were baptized and why they are followers of Jesus Christ. As members of the Church of Jesus Christ, he explains, we; “…are given unto us exceeding great and precious promises: that by these ye might be partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust… giving all diligence, add to your faith, virtue; and to virtue knowledge; And to knowledge temperance [abstinence/restraint]; and to temperance patience; and to patience godliness; And to godliness brotherly kindness; and to brotherly kindness charity…” (2 Peter 1:4-7)

Peter is telling every follower of Jesus Christ that the purpose for following Him is to partake in the divine nature of God Himself. We are His offspring, and by accepting His promise we were sent to earth to prove ourselves and to overcome the lusts of the world to eventually be perfected and return to live with Him. For if we overcome the world we will be given knowledge, faith, patience and the ability to love with the ultimate goal of becoming like unto our Father in Heaven. We are literally partakers in this Great Plan of Salvation! When our trial on this earth is over we will; “…be ministered unto… the everlasting kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.” (2 Peter 1:11) For this purpose, Peter explains that he will not be negligent in stirring up those who have forgotten unto remembrance of their duty in this life. Remember, we are saved only after all we can do. For example, the gift of salvation has been given to everyone, however if we chose to do evil in this world we cannot return to our Heavenly Father. Therefore Salvation requires us to put forth an effort to follow Jesus Christ in all that He would do.

Peter goes on to explain that as followers of Jesus Christ (especially those who heard the voice of God on the holy mount) have a knowledge that; “…no prophecy of the scripture is of any private interpretation. For the prophecy came not in old time by the will of man: but holy men of God spake as they were moved by the Holy Ghost.” (2 Peter 1:20-21) In other words, we can interpret the scriptures as much as we want, but without Holy Men of God, that is, Apostles and Prophets we cannot know the true meaning and interpretation of all things. However, God as He did in old times, still calls AUTHORIZED Apostles and Prophets to serve as His mount piece, even in these modern days.

The message of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is that exact message; God Lives! Jesus Christ is our Redeemer, and Savior. Because of the Love that God and His Son have for us, we have been given a mouth piece in these latter days. The Prophecies and Revelations of the Bible exist today, with Revelations that pertain specifically to the changing times.

Matthew 22

Posted on by Standard Reply

Matthew 22:

Worldly Marriages 

                Jesus spake unto those gathered and told them of the Parable of the King’s Son; Jesus explains that a king invited people to a wedding feast, but those invited did not come. So the man sends more servants to invite them to the wedding, instead of accepting the invitation they kill the messengers. When the king heard what had happened, he was upset and sent armies to kill them and burn their cities. The king then sends out a broad invitation to ALL GOOD AND BAD, essentially inviting everyone that wanted to come to his son’s wedding. Once the guests had arrived, the king noticed one of the guests was not wearing proper wedding garments, and has the man bound and thrown into outer darkness, where there is “…weeping and gnashing of teeth. For many are called, but few are chosen” (Matthew 22:13-14)

                What does this Parable mean? God was the King, and He was celebrating His son’s (Jesus Christ) wedding. God called many to come and celebrate, however the servants He sent (the prophets) were always rejected. Finally he invites all to come unto Christ, yet some still don’t come. Those who came and had their heart set towards Jesus were properly dressed. One man, however, just wanted to come and enjoy the feast without really having his heart set upon the things of God or His son, Jesus Christ. This man, just like anyone else who doesn’t have their heart set on the right things is in jeopardy of being sent to “outer darkness”. Thus we see why Jesus said; many are called but few are chosen. Everyone is called to repentance and do good, but only a handful will do the will of God, and therefore be chosen.

The Pharisees, like usual are trying to ensnare Jesus by asking Him difficult questions. They ask; “…What thinkest thou? Is it lawful to give tribute to Caesar, or not?” (Matthew 22:17) Jesus knew that they were tempting Him and asks them why they are such hypocrites! Jesus responds; “Shew me the tribute money…Whose is this image and superscription?” (Matthew 22:19-20) The Pharisees responded with the obvious, that it is an image of Caesar. So Jesus responds to them with the simple, yet blunt; “…Render therefore unto Caesar the things which are Caesar’s; and unto God the things that are God’s.” (Matthew 22:21)

                Shortly after responding to the Pharisees, the Sadducees, who did not believe in the Resurrection, came to also tempt Jesus with questions. They ask Jesus; “…Moses said, If a man die, having no children, his brother shall marry his wife, and raise up seed unto his brother.” (Matthew 22:24) They propose a hypothetical situation where all seven brothers end up marrying the same wife until they all die. Thus all seven brothers were with the same woman, making the woman a widow seven times over. They ask Jesus, if this were the case; “…whose wife shall she be of the seven? For they all had her.” (Matthew 22:28) At this point Jesus was probably a little irritated after being berated by the Pharisees, so He responds; “…Ye do err, not knowing the scripture, nor the power of God.” (Matthew 22:29) The Sadducees had done nothing, and yet had been in error simply because their beliefs were based on falsehoods. Jesus explains that there will be no marriage in the resurrection.

So will there or will there not be marriage in Heaven?

The Bible does not go into much detail about marriage in heaven. We do know that “…whatsoever God doeth, it shall be for ever…” (Ecclesiastes 3:14), therefore if Marriage is an institution before God of the binding of man and woman in Holy Matrimony; one would believe that marriage, Eternal Marriage, exists in Heaven.

James E. Talmage writes;

“In the resurrection there will be no marrying nor giving in marriage; for all questions of marital status must be settled before that time, under the authority of the Holy Priesthood, which holds the power to seal in marriage for both time and eternity.” (Jesus the Christ, p. 548.)

                LDS Apostle Bruce R. McConkie wrote:

 “What then is the Master Teacher affirming by saying, ‘in the resurrection they neither marry, nor are given in marriage, but are as the angels of God in heaven’? He is not denying but limiting the prevailing concept that there will be marrying and giving in marriage in heaven. He is saying that as far as ‘they’ (the Sadducees) are concerned, that as far as ‘they’ (‘the children of this world’) are concerned, the family unit does not and will not continue in the resurrection. Because he does not choose to cast his pearls before swine, and because the point at issue is not marriage but resurrection anyway, Jesus does not here amplify his teaching to explain that there is marrying and giving of marriage in heaven only for those who live the fullness of gospel law -a requirement which excludes worldly people” (Doctrinal New Testament Commentary 1:605,606).

While this may seem like a difficult subject for man to understand, LDS Doctrine believes that Marriage will continue on, after this life. Will marriage be performed in the next life? It seems that this is not the case. Many LDS members and leaders believe that marriage must be taken care of in this life and will probably exist now through the Resurrection, but not after the Resurrection.

After the Sadducees were put to silence, the Pharisees gathered together to see how they might tempt Jesus. One of the lawyers asked Jesus; “Master, which is the great commandment in the law? Jesus said unto him, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind. This is the first and great commandment. And the second is like unto is, Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself.” (Matthew 22:36-39)