(My highlights in orange, my thoughts in blue 12/2020 red type 11/20 orange 8/21 Brown 2022-23)
A testimony of the Book of Mormon comes by the power of the Holy Ghost—The gifts of the Spirit are dispensed to the faithful—Spiritual gifts always accompany faith—Moroni’s words speak from the dust—Come unto Christ, be perfected in Him, and sanctify your souls. About A.D. 421.
1 Now I, Moroni, write somewhat as seemeth me good; and I write unto my brethren, the aLamanites; No matter how evil the Lamanites are, Moroni still calls them his brethren. This seems like a statement about never disowning a family member no matter what they have done and I would that they should know that more than bfour hundred and twenty years have passed away since the sign was given of the coming of Christ.
2 And I aseal up bthese records, after I have spoken a few words by way of exhortation unto you.
3 Behold, I would exhort you that when ye shall read these things, if it be wisdom in God that ye should read them, Under what circumstances would it be wisdom in God that you should NOT read them? that ye would remember how amerciful the Lord hath been unto the children of men, from the creation of Adam even down until the time that ye shall receive these things, and bponder it in your chearts. Remember the mercy of God throughout the history of mankind as opposed to the justice of God throughout history
4 And when ye shall receive these things, I would exhort you that ye would ask God, the Eternal Father, in the name of Christ, if these things are not btrue; How do you read this phrase? "not true"... are you asking if they are false? ...not true. Or is it another way of saying, "these things are true, are they not? ...and if ye shall ask with a csincere heart, with dreal intent, having efaith in Christ, he will fmanifest the gtruth of it unto you, by the power of the Holy Ghost.
5 And by the power of the Holy Ghost ye may aknow the btruth of all things. We know answers come in the Lord's timing, but this promise is to all. ALL may know the truth by the power of the Holy Ghost. BUT you have to ask God, in the name of Christ, sincerely, with intent to follow when you are shown the truth, and you must have faith in Christ.
6 And whatsoever thing is good is just and true; wherefore, nothing that is good denieth the Christ, but acknowledgeth that he is.
7 And ye may aknow that he is, by the power of the Holy Ghost; wherefore I would exhort you that ye deny not the power of God; for he worketh by power, baccording to the faith of the children of men, the same today and tomorrow, and forever. We were taught that the prophet asked how to increase faith in the saints and was told to teach us to honor the Sabbath Day. We need the power of God in our world more than ever, but He worketh His power according to our faith, so if we're not seeing it, then we need to still increase our faith! I think it's so important to remember that God works in power by OUR faith. It's not just HIS will, in spite of our faith. I believe His will is to grant us our righteous desire BECAUSE of our faith. I think this verse is saying - deny not THAT power!
8 And again, I exhort you, my brethren, that ye deny not the agifts of God, for they are many; and they come from the same God. And there are bdifferentways that these gifts are administered; but it is the same God who worketh all in all; and they are given by the manifestations of the cSpirit of God unto men, to profit them.
9 aFor behold, to one is given by the Spirit of God, that he may bteach the word of wisdom;
10 And to another, that he may ateach the word of bknowledge by the same Spirit; What is the difference between wisdom and knowledge?
11 And to another, exceedingly great afaith; Notice that faith comes in all sizes...and it is a gift! and to another, the gifts of bhealing by the same Spirit; this seems to be something different than priesthood healings; like it's a gift of the Spirit for some to be able to heal...how do we seek out those with this gift?
12 And again, to another, that he may work mighty amiracles; Wouldn't healing someone by the spiritual gift in vs 11 be considered a miracle? How is this gift different? Maybe healing should be more common, so it wouldn't be considered a "mighty" miracle...
13 And again, to another, that he may prophesy concerning all things; So the prophet is not the only person who can prophesy...
14 And again, to another, the beholding of angels and ministering spirits;
15 And again, to another, all kinds of tongues;
16 And again, to another, the interpretation of alanguages and of divers kinds of tongues. I didn't know there was more than one language someone could speak in tongues in...is there? Is this gift about the languages on the earth?
17 And all these gifts come by the Spirit of Christ; and they come unto every man severally, according as he will. Is this "he" you and me?
18 And I would exhort you, my beloved brethren, that ye remember that every tgood bgift cometh of Christ.
19 And I would exhort you, my beloved brethren, that ye remember that he is the asame yesterday, today, and forever, and that all these gifts of which I have spoken, which are spiritual, never will be done away, even as long as the world shall stand, only according to the bunbelief of the children of men. All these gifts are available to those that believe. If they are not present it is our will, not God's.
20 Wherefore, there must be afaith; and if there must be faith there must also be hope; and if there must be hope there must also be charity.
21 And except ye have acharity ye can in nowise be saved in the kingdom of God; neither can ye be saved in the kingdom of God if ye have not faith; neither can ye if ye have no hope.
22 And if ye have no hope ye must needs be in adespair; and despair cometh because of iniquity. This sounds harsh at first, to those who are in despair. Many are victims of things that bring despair. But ultimately, if you have faith and hope and charity, no worldly circumstance can bring despair, (which means all loss of hope or confidence) and that means you have no faith in Christ or the Plan of Redemption, which is a sin against God, since you are denying Him.
23 And Christ truly said unto our fathers: aIf ye have faith ye can do all things which are expedient unto me. What more do you need to know?
24 And now I speak unto all the ends of the earth—that if the day cometh that the power and gifts of God shall be done away among you, it shall be because of bunbelief. I think we are taught in the D&C that the whole world is veiled in unbelief... so we aren't seeing all the Gifts of God among us. We need to do some serious checking among ourselves to see where our unbelief is. Actually, that will be revealed as we do some serious scripture study...
25 And wo be unto the children of men if this be the case; for there shall be anone that doeth good among you, no not one. For if there be one among you that doeth good, he shall work by the power and gifts of God.
26 And wo unto them who shall do these things away and die, for they adie in their bsins, and they cannot be saved in the kingdom of God; and I speak it according to the words of Christ; and I lie not.
27 And I exhort you to remember these things; for the time speedily cometh that ye shall know that I lie not, for ye shall see me at the bar of God; and the Lord God will say unto you: Did I not declare my awords unto you, which were written by this man, like as one bcrying from the dead, yea, even as one speaking out of the cdust?
28 I declare these things unto the fulfilling of the prophecies. And behold, they shall proceed forth out of the mouth of the everlasting God; and his word shall ahiss forth from generation to generation.
29 And God shall show unto you, that that which I have written is atrue. How will He show it to us?
30 And again I would exhort you that ye would acome unto Christ, and lay hold upon every good bgift, and ctouch not the evil gift, How is anything evil called a "gift"? nor the dunclean thing. Do we know all the "unclean" things we are not to touch? Media, food, drink...what else?
31 And aawake, and arise from the dust, O Jerusalem; yea, and put on thy beautiful garments, O daughter of bZion; and cstrengthen thy dstakes and enlarge thy borders forever, that thou mayest eno more be confounded, that the covenants of the Eternal Father which he hath made unto thee, O house of Israel, may be fulfilled. The wording here makes it sound like we are asleep and are confounded (confused, uncertain, disoriented) and that we will awake so that the covenants can be fulfilled as they surely will be.
32 Yea, acome unto Christ, and be bperfected in him, and cdeny yourselves of all ungodliness; and if ye shall deny yourselves of all ungodliness, and dlove God with all your might, mind and strength, then is his grace sufficient for you, that by his grace ye may be eperfect in Christ; and if by the grace of God ye are perfect in Christ, ye can in nowise deny the power of God.
33 And again, if ye by the grace of God are perfect in Christ, and deny not his power, then are ye asanctified in Christ by the grace of God, through the shedding of the bblood of Christ, which is in the covenant of the Father unto the remission of your csins, that ye become dholy, without spot.
Deny self of ungodliness > come unto Christ > be perfected in Him
Love God with all your might, mind and strength > His Grace is sufficient for you
By His Grace > ye may be perfect in Christ > will not deny His power
Sanctified > remission of sins > become holy, without spot
Coming unto Christ means - Deny ungodliness, Love God completely, Believe in His power to sanctify you.
34 And now I bid unto all, farewell. I soon go to arest in the bparadise of God, until my cspirit and body shall again dreunite, and I am brought forth triumphant through the eair, to meet you before the fpleasing bar of the great gJehovah, the Eternal hJudge of both quick and dead. Amen.
The End
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