The Book of Mormon

Last Sunday I was approached by the First Counselor in my Branch Presidency asking my if I would give a talk the following Sunday. He said that it was "Bring Your Friend to Church" (we are always allowed to bring friends to church, however this is a specific Sunday that is greared more towards people that are not of our faith) and that my talk should fall within those lines. So I went and took a look at some Ensigns and decided that I wanted to talk about the Book of Mormon. What could be a better topic than to cover some of the things people disagreed with of the Book of Mormon, and to explain why it is so important to us.

The Book of Mormon has often been referred to as the keystone of our religion; but for those of other faiths it is often a source of contention. Many people think that this was a book that was entirely made up by Joseph Smith, an uneducated man; they will say “A Bible, a Bible, we have a Bible.” But what they fail to understand is that The Book of Mormon is not another Bible, but rather it is another testament of Jesus Christ. When writing my talk, I decided to work from several different articles and have broken it up into two topics that branch out.

First

A Witness with the Bible

In 2 Corinthians 13:1 it states that “in the mouth of two or three witnesses shall every word be established.” The Book of Mormon and the Bible are both testaments of Christ and the principles that were taught by Him. Elder Russell M. Nelson said that “scriptural witnesses authenticate each other. This concept was explained long ago when a prophet wrote that the Book of Mormon was ‘written for the intent that ye may believe [the Bible]; and if ye believe [the Bible] ye will believe [the Book of Mormon] also’ [Mormon 7:9]. Each book refers to the other. Each book stands as evidence that God lives and speaks to His children by revelation to His prophets.”

Here are some of the fundamental doctrines that are taught in the Bible and have an additional witness in the Book of Mormon.

We have a Loving Father in Heaven

Acts 17:28 “For in him we live, and move, and have our being; as certain also of your own poets have said, For we are also his offspring.”

Psalms 82:6 says “I have said, Ye are gods; and all of you are children of the most High.”

Now turn to The Book of Mormon and it will say:

1 Nephi 11:17 “I know that [God] loveth his children.

In 1 Nephi 17:36 “Behold, the Lord hath created the earth that it should be inhabited; and he hath created his children that they should possess it.”

Resurrection

Job 19:26: “That though after my skin worms destroy this body, yet in my flesh shall I see God.”

Ezekiel 37:12 “Therefore prophesy and say unto them, Thus saith the Lord God; Behold, O my people, I will open your graves, and cause you to come up out of your graves, and bring you into the land of Israel.”

In the Book of Mormon we read:

2 Nephi 9:4 “I know that ye know that our flesh must waste away and die; nevertheless, in our bodies we shall see God.”

Alma 40:23 “The soul shall be restored to the body, and the body to the soul; yea, and every limb and joint shall be restored to its body; yea, even a hair of the head shall not be lost; but all things shall be restored to their proper and perfect frame.”

Blessings and Obedience

Deuteronomy 6:24-25 “And the Lord commanded us to do all these statutes, to fear the Lord our God, for our good always, that he might preserve us alive...And it shall be our righteousness, if we observe to do all these commandments.”

These same teachings are mirrored in the Book of Mormon;

Mosiah 2:22 “He has promised you that if ye would keep his commandments ye should prosper in the land; and he never doth vary from that which he hath said; therefore, if ye do keep his commandments he doth bless you and prosper you.”

Tithing

Malachi 3:10 “Bring ye all the tithes into the storehouse, that there may be meat in mine house.”

Turning back to the Book of Mormon we will see

Alma 13:15 “It was this same Melchizedek to whom Abraham paid tithes; yea, even our father Abraham paid tithes of one-tenth part of all he possessed.”

Baptism and Holy Ghost

John 3:5 “Except a man be born of water and of the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God.”

Both principles are taught in the Book of Mormon as well,

3 Nephi 27:20 “Repent, all ye ends of the earth, and come unto me and be baptized in my name, that ye may be sanctified by the reception of the Holy Ghost, that ye may stand spotless before me at the last day.”

Atoned for Our Sins

Matthew 26:28 “For this is my blood of the new testament, which is shed for many for the remission of sins.”

It was prophesied in the Book of Mormon that, “Behold, he offereth himself a sacrifice for sin, to answer the ends of the law, unto all those who have a broken heart and a contrite spirit.” (2 Nephi 2:7)

Bore our Sorrows

Isaiah 53:4 “Surely he hath borne our griefs, and carried our sorrows.”

This is again reconfirmed in the Book of Mormon in Alma 7:11-12 where it says “And he shall go forth, suffering pains and afflictions and temptations of every kind;…that he may know according to the flesh how to succor his people according to their infirmities.”

Prophets

Amos 3:7 “Surely the Lord God will do nothing, but he revealeth his secret unto his servants the prophets.”

Biblical people had a prophet as did the people that were on what is now the American continent.

1 Nephi 22:2 “By the Spirit are all things made known unto the prophets.”

The Twelve

Luke 6:13 “He called unto him his disciples: and of them he chose twelve, whom also he named apostles.”

After Christ’s resurrection, He came to the America’s to establish His church so that the gospel might be spread across the world. In 3 Nephi 12:1 Christ stated: “Blessed are ye if ye shall give heed unto the words of these twelve whom I have chosen from among you to minister unto you.”

Second

The Keystone of our Religion

According to President Ezra Taft Benson, The Book of Mormon is “the most significant gifts given to the world in modern times. . . [It] is more important than any of the inventions that have come out of the industrial and technological revolutions. [It] is a gift of greater value to mankind than even the many wonderful advances we have seen in modern medicine. It is of greater worth to mankind than the development of flight or space travel.”

 In the Doctrine and Covenants, Christ bears witness to seven truths of The Book of Mormon:

First Christ bares his testimony of the Book of Mormon and tells us that it is a divine gift in Doctrine and Covenants 17:6 “And he has translated the book, even that part which I have commanded him, and as your Lord and your God liveth it is true.”

Second, Christ tells us that the Book of Mormon does in fact contain truth and His words. Doctrine and Covenants 19:26 states “And again, I command thee that thou shalt not covet thine own property, but impart it freely to the printing of the Book of Mormon, which contains the truth and the word of God—“

Third, we are told that the Book of Mormon was translated by the power of God. Doctrine and Covenants 20:8 says “And gave him power from on high, by the means which were before prepared, to translate the Book of Mormon;”

Fourth, we are told that the Book of Mormon does contain the fullness of the gospel of Jesus Christ. In Doctrine and Covenants 20:9 is states “Which contains a record of a fallen people, and the fullness of the gospel of Jesus Christ to the Gentiles and to the Jews also;”

Fifth, the Lord reveals that the Book of Mormon was given by inspiration and confirmed by the ministering of angels in Doctrine and Covenants 20:10.

Sixth, we learn that the Book of Mormon gives evidence that holy scriptures are true in Doctrine and Covenants 20:11 by saying “Proving to the world that the holy scriptures are true, and that God does inspire men and call them to his holy work in this age and generation, as well as in generations of old;”

Finally, we are told that those who receive the Book of Mormon in faith shall receive eternal life in Doctrine and Covenants 20:14.

The prophet Joseph Smith was the first person to say that the Book of Mormon is the keystone of the Mormon religion. He testified that “the Book of Mormon was the most correct of any book on earth, and the keystone of our religion.” The Book of Mormon is the keystone of our witness of Christ; our doctrine, and of our testimony.

President Ezra Taft Benson stated:

“The Book of Mormon is the keystone in our witness of Jesus Christ, who is Himself the cornerstone of everything we do. It bears witness of His reality with power and clarity . . . the Book of Mormon came from writer to reader in just one inspired step of translation. Therefore, the testimony of the Master is clear, undiluted, and full of power. But it does even more . . . The Book of Mormon teaches in plain and unmistakable terms about the truth of [His miraculous birth, His perfect life, and the reality of His glorious Resurrection. It also provides the most complete explanation of the doctrine of the Atonement. Truly, this divinely inspired book is a keystone in bearing witness to the world that Jesus is the Christ.”

I would like to bear my testimony that I know this Church is true; I know that President Thomas S. Monson is a prophet of God and that he leads and guides righteously. I know that the Book of Mormon is the word of God; I know that Joseph Smith translated the Book of Mormon only through the power of God. I say these things in the name of Jesus Christ, Amen.