Article of Faith #9

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Article of Faith #9 states:

"We believe all that God has revealed,

all that He does now reveal,

and we believe that He will

yet reveal many great and

important things pertaining

to the Kingdom of God."



Now lets talk about things that God has revealed.  He revealed to all of us the 10 commandments and the other commandments from the Bible.  Now that is a lot of stuff to have revealed to us, but that is not ALL that God wants to reveal to us.

"And I do this that I may prove unto many

that I am the ^asame yesterday, today,

and forever; and that I speak forth my

^bwords according to mine own pleasure.

And because that I have spoken one

^cword ye need not suppose that I cannot speak another;

for my ^dwork is not yet finished;

neither shall it be until the end of man,

neither from that time henceforth and forever.

 10 Wherefore, because that

ye have a Bible ye need not suppose

that it contains all my ^awords;

neither ^bneed ye suppose

that I have not caused more to be written.

2 nephi 29:9-10

Another blessing of things that he has revealed is the Book of Mormon to support and build on the principles of the Bible.

"And the day cometh that the words of the book which were sealed shall be read upon the house tops; and they shall be read by the power of Christ; and all things shall be ^arevealed unto the children of men which ever have been among the children of men, and which ever will be even unto the end of the earth."

2 Nephi 27:11

When we are ready, Heavenly Father has more to reveal to us! 

"Now ^athese things are ^bwritten unto the ^cremnant of the house of Jacob; and they are written after this manner, because it is known of God that wickedness will not bring them forth unto them; and they are to be ^dhid up unto the Lord that they may come forth in his own due time.

 13 And this is the commandment which I have received; and behold, they ^ashall come forth according to the commandment of the Lord, when he shall see fit, in his wisdom."

Mormon 5:12-13

So why does Heavenly Father do this?  Because he is the greatest teacher of all and knows what we can handle and what he wants us to learn.

"For behold, thus saith the Lord God:

I will give unto the children of men line upon line,

precept upon ^aprecept, here a little and there a little;

and blessed are those who hearken unto my precepts,

and lend an ear unto my counsel,

for they shall learn ^bwisdom;

 for unto him that ^creceiveth I will give ^dmore;

 and from them that shall say, We have enough,

from them shall be taken away even that which they have."

2 nephi 28:30



Article of Faith #8

#8 We believe the Bible

 to be the word of God

 as far as it is translated correctly;

we also believe the

Book of Mormon to be

the word of God.

So We believe in the Bible, and that it is the word of God.

"The book that thou beholdest is a record of the Jews,
which contains the covenants of the Lord,
which he hath made unto the house of Israel;
and it also containeth many of the
prophecies of the holy prophets;
and it is a record like unto the engravings
 which are upon the plates of brass,
save there are not so many; nevertheless,
they contain the covenants of the Lord,
which he hath made unto the house of Israel;
wherefore, they are of great worth unto the Gentiles. (1 Nephi 13:23)

This scripture is a description of the Bible.  That it came out of the mouth of the jews, and that it contains the covenants and promises that the Lord gave to the jews. 
How important are the words of God?  Nephi describes His feelings of the importance when he said: "Wherefore, I, Nephi, did exhort them to give heed unto the word of the Lord; yea, I did exhort them with all the energies of my soul, and with all the faculty which I possessed, that they would give heed to the word of God and remember to keep his commandments always in all things.  (1 Nephi 15:25)

But with the various versions we have of the Bible today in our world, the importance to our Heavenly Father that it is translated correctly is crucial so that we can live God's way with exact obedience. The Bible did start out pure and complete, but through the years of multiple translations, it didn't remain pure.

"And after they go forth by the
 hand of the twelve apostles of the Lamb,
from the Jews unto the Gentiles,
thou seest the formation of that great and abominable church,
which is most abominable above all other churches;
for behold, they have taken away from the
gospel of the Lamb many parts which are plain and most precious;
and also many covenants of the Lord have they taken away.

 And all this have they done that they

 might pervert the right ways of the Lord,

that they might blind the eyes and

 harden the hearts of the children of men."

  (1Nephi 13:26-27)

This confusion that comes from the Bible with people in the past taking and adding to the bible, states that we need something that can bring another witness to the table and clarify that which we need to do.  That the witness of two can bring the truth to light.  So God provided a Book of Mormon.

"And because my words shall hiss forth—many of the Gentiles shall say: A Bible! A Bible! We have got a Bible, and there cannot be any more Bible.  Thou fool, that shall say: A Bible, we have got a Bible, and we need no more Bible. Have ye obtained a Bible save it were by the Jews?

 Know ye not that there are more nations than one? Know ye not that I, the Lord your God, have created all men, and that I remember those who are upon the isles of the sea; and that I rule in the heavens above and in the earth beneath; and I bring forth my word unto the children of men, yea, even upon all the nations of the earth?

 Wherefore murmur ye, because that ye shall receive more of my word? Know ye not that the testimony of two nations is a witness unto you that I am God, that I remember one nation like unto another? Wherefore, I speak the same words unto one nation like unto another. And when the two nations shall run together the testimony of the two nations shall run together also.

And I do this that I may prove unto many that I am the same yesterday, today, and forever; 

Wherefore, because that ye have a Bible ye need not suppose that it contains all my words; neither need ye suppose that I have not caused more to be written."

 (2 Nephi 3, 6-10)

The Book of Mormon comes as a second witness to help God's people more fully understand the doctrine of Christ.  The way Christ's church is suppose to be.   

"Wherefore, the fruit of thy loins shall ^awrite;

and the fruit of the loins of ^bJudah shall ^cwrite;

and that which shall be written by the fruit of thy loins,

and also that which shall be written by the fruit of the loins of Judah,

shall grow together,

unto the ^dconfounding of ^efalse doctrines and laying down of contentions,

and establishing ^fpeace among the fruit of thy loins,

and ^gbringing them to the ^hknowledge of their fathers in the latter days,

and also to the knowledge of my covenants, saith the Lord. (2 Nephi 3:12)

Article of Faith #7

#7  "We Believe in the gift of tongues, prophesy,

revelation,

visions,

healings,

interpretation of tongues

and so forth."

This Article of Faith is a lot to do with the miracles that are all around us.  But we believe in these miracles!

"...exhorting all men to come unto God,

the Holy One of Israel,

and believe in prophesying,

and in revelations,

and in the ministering of angels,

and in the gift of speaking with tongues,

and in the gift of interpreting languages,

and in all things which are good;"

Omni 1:25

We can also aquire the gift of revelation for our children and for ourselves.

"But this is not all;

they had given themselves to much prayer,

and fasting;

therefore they had the spirit of prophecy,

and the spirit of revelation,

and when they taught,

they taught with power and authority of God."

Alma 17:3

An example of a healing from the Book of Mormon:

And Alma said: If thou believest in the redemption of Christ thou canst be healed.

And he said: Yea, I believe according to thy words.

And then Alma cried unto the Lord, saying: O Lord our God, have mercy on this man, and heal him according to his faith which is in Christ.

And when Alma had said these words, Zeezrom leaped upon his feet, and began to walk; and this was done to the great astonishment of all the people; and the knowledge of this went forth throughout all the land of Sidom.

(Alma 15:8-11)

And the gift that is well known for missionaries of the church as well as to anyone that is trying to understand and interpret the spirit.

 "And again, to another, the interpretation of languages and of divers kinds of tongues."

(Moroni 10:16)



If we have the Bible, why do we need the Book of Mormon?

I have heard this question a lot of times!  Why would we need more if God has already given us this much?  Well, first off, this life is ALL about progression.  God wants us to continue to learn, grow, develop, and become more than we are today.  So, He teaches little by little.

Isaiah 28:10
"For precept must be upon precept, line upon line, Here a little, and there a little." 

So God wanted us to learn step by step.  He feels that we have learned what we have needed to learn from the Bible and is ready to give more.

Another struggle is that people have changed those important things in the Bible and now the Bible is not complete.  The Bible has even predicted this. 

Isaiah 24:5
"The earth also is defiled under the inhabitants thereof; because they have transgressed the laws, changed the ordinance, broken the everlasting covenant."

Well, God is a God of order and great knowledge and understanding.  So he knew that this would happen and so he had people in the Ancient America's keeping record so that He could bring it forth when it was time to bring the fulness of the gospel back.

Christ said,
"Wherefore, I the Lord, knowing the calamity which should come upon the inhabitants of the earth, called upon my servant Joseph Smith, Jun., and spake unto him from heaven, and gave him commandments."
"And also those to whom these commandments were given, might have power to lay the foundation of this church, and to bring it forth out of obscurity and out of darkness, the only true and living church upon the face of the whole earth, with which I, the Lord, am well pleased..."  (D&C 1:17, 30)

God has prepared the way for the gospel to come back to the earth and to have those sacred things restored to the earth.  The time for this to happen is now.  The time is called the "fulness of time."

Ephesians 1:10
"That in the dispensation of the
fulness of times
he might gather together
 in one all things in Christ,
 both which are in heaven,
 and which are on earth; even in him." 

We live in the fulness of time, and God has brought the gospel of Jesus Christ through the man who was called as a prophet of God, Joseph Smith.  The Book of Mormon clarifies and refines the doctrine of God and what we have to do in order to return to God.

I know that this is true.  The Book of Mormon does not take away anything from the Bible, it only clarifies and helps us understand who Jesus Christ is, what we need to do, who we need to become, and how we gain peace and happiness in this life.