How to Gain Faith
Filed under: Basic Beliefs of Mormons, Book of Mormon Stories, Finding Truth, God in the Book of Mormon, Inside the Book of Mormon, Jesus Christ, Jesus Christ in the Book of Mormon, Joy in our relationship with the Savior, People in the Book of Mormon, Recognizing Truth, Teachings, Written for Our Day
In the previous post, we learned that a missionary named Alma, whose story is found in the Book of Mormon, had gone to preach to an apostate group called the Zoramites. He found the wealthy among them engaged in an arrogant, self-centered form of religion, in which they showed up to the synagogue once a week and each, in turn, climbed onto a tower to recite an identical prayer that simply bragged about how chosen and wonderful they were. They came in their expensive clothing and fine jewelry. Once they returned home, they gave no further thought to God until they returned.
Prayer is an important part of developing faith.
In addition, they kept the poor out of the church. Wealth was, in their minds, proof of their specialness, proof that they had been chosen and all others were doomed. Alma, encountering these poor, realized they had been humbled through their trials and longed to be allowed to worship. He decided not to bother with the arrogant wealthy people and instead to preach to the poor.
In this sermon, he gave one of the greatest sermons on faith ever written. The people were upset about being kept out of the temple because they believed this meant they were unable to worship God. Alma assured them you don’t have to be in a church building to worship. Worship was not a once a week event, but a way of life. Read more
True Worship
Filed under: Becoming More Christlike, Book of Mormon, Book of Mormon Stories, Jesus Christ, People in the Book of Mormon, Written for Our Day
In the Book of Mormon, a missionary named Alma went with others to preach to a group of people called the Zoramites. This was an apostate group that had formed around a leader named Zoram. Alma and his missionary companions were shocked by what they saw when they visited the “worship” service of these people. They’d never seen anything like it and they felt sick at what they observed. Read more
Moroni: Facing Trials with Faith and Courage
Filed under: Book of Mormon, Book of Mormon Stories, History of the Book of Mormon, Uncategorized, Written for Our Day
Moroni prepares the Book of Mormon to be hidden.
When times are hard, the scriptures are a great place to turn for moral support and good attitude role modeling. Not only can you find people who are facing much greater trials than your own, but you can see how they coped with those trials. While they sometimes briefly faltered, they always rallied and learned how to face their trials with faith and gratitude. Read more
The Jewish People and Our Spiritual Heritage
4 But thus saith the Lord God: O fools, they shall have a Bible; and it shall proceed forth from the Jews, mine ancient covenant people. And what thank they the Jews for the Bible which they receive from them? Yea, what do the Gentiles mean? Do they remember the travails, and the labors, and the pains of the Jews, and their diligence unto me, in bringing forth salvation unto the Gentiles?
5 O ye Gentiles, have ye remembered the Jews, mine ancient covenant people? Nay; but ye have cursed them, and have hated them, and have not sought to recover them. But behold, I will return all these things upon your own heads; for I the Lord have not forgotten my people. (2 Nephi 29 in the Book of Mormon)
God’s chosen people in the earliest days of the earth were the Jewish people. He made promises to them throughout the ages which hold true today. Many of the prophecies He made to them of an eventual gathering and homeland are gradually being filled in these last days.
The Book of Mormon begins with Lehi, a Jewish prophet in Jerusalem. He and his family fled Jerusalem at God’s direction when his life was endangered by those who disliked his prophetic message. They took with them another family and a man who became a friend, but all were Jewish. For this reason, the Book of Mormon prophets spoke often of the persecution the Jewish people would face because of the death of the Savior. This was discussed in an earlier article on persecution. In that article we read the following quote:
“For centuries apostate Christianity used the crucifixion of Jesus as an excuse for persecuting the Jews. Occasionally people still say, “This long history of rejection is the punishment for what they did to Jesus.”
In his quoting of Zenos in 1 Nephi 19:13–19, Nephi gave us some important insights into the Jews and their tragic history. There is no indication that because they are “scourged by all people, because they crucify the God of Israel” (v. 13) this scourging is initiated by God….
…Anyone who thinks that persecution of the Jews or other minority groups is pleasing to God is in deep need of repentance (see 2 Nephi 29:5).” Book of Mormon Student Manual)
(http://www.ldsces.org/inst_manuals/bm-in-sm1996/manualindex.asp)
We owe much of our spiritual heritage to the Jewish people, and yet, as Nephi, the Book of Mormon prophet who is quoted at the start of this article, says, we don’t remember to appreciate this wonderful heritage. Instead, many have used a moment in their history as an excuse to persecute them. This scripture makes it clear God does not approve of this type of behavior. Instead, if we’re going to claim the Bible as our own, we need to honor and respect those who gave it to us. Without their powerful contributions to the world, our own Christian religion would not exist. Think of the glories of the Bible we would miss—the teachings of Moses, the story of the Noah, the Psalms…
Even more importantly, our own beloved Savior was Himself a Jewish man, raised in a Jewish home and educated in a Jewish school. All of his chosen apostles were also Jewish, as were Mary and Martha and the other New Testament people we love. Not all Jewish people rejected the Savior, nor was it only the Jewish people who rejected him.
“The Gospels lack any explicit treatment of the word Christian. Indeed, the word appears only three times in the New Testament, and never from the mouth of Christ himself. The word Christianity is entirely absent from the New Testament.
Acts 11:26 tells us that “the disciples were called Christians first in Antioch.” Here, the passive construction “were called Christians” suggests that the term was first used not by Christians, but by non-Christians. (Similarly, the names Yankee and Mormon were first used by outsiders.)” (Daniel C. Peterson and Stephen D. Ricks, “Comparing LDS Beliefs with First-Century Christianity,” Ensign, Mar 1988, 7)
This tells us Jesus did not call himself a Christian. Therefore, He must have continued to think of Himself as a Jewish man. He lived the Jewish traditions, as we see from New Testament recordings of various Old Testament traditions. Jesus assured the people He had not come to destroy the law of Moses, which He loved, but to fulfill it. He was the promised Messiah of the Old Testament, not a person come to do away with the Old Testament prophets and teachings. He was, in fact, a continuation of God’s story on earth.
And so, Jesus taught that until the actual atonement occurred, the people must continue to live the law of Moses, which was a preparatory law meant to help the people prepare for the atonement.
From this we can see that persecution of the Jewish people is not pleasing to God, since it is a persecution of the Savior’s own people and of God’s chosen. As we see from the first verse quoted in this article, God has not forgotten his chosen people of the Old Testament and has loving plans for them in the future. It’s our responsibility to assist in this great promise with love.
Ben-Gurion once told Ezra Taft Benson, a former prophet of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, “You know, there are no people in this world who understand the Jews like the Mormons.”
To learn more about why the members of the Church might understand the Jewish people better than anyone else, read the Book of Mormon and also church history.
What the Bible Says About Additional Scripture
In all the times of history that prophets lived on the earth, those prophets caused new scripture to be created. The words of the prophets were written down and some of them were gathered into books of scriptures. The Bible wasn’t just one book initially. It was a collection of writings that in time were gathered together and men decided which writings should be part of the scripture.
The Jewish people initially had only small portions of what is today called the Bible. They had the writings of whichever prophets had lived to that point. More was regularly added to that cannon. The people were not expected to keep only the words of Moses and to consider that enough.
Early in the Bible, we read of a warning to the people:
1 Now therefore hearken, O Israel, unto the statutes and unto the judgments, which I teach you, for to do them, that ye may live, and go in and possess the land which the Lord God of your fathers giveth you.
2 Ye shall not add unto the word which I command you, neither shall ye diminish ought from it, that ye may keep the commandments of the Lord your God which I command you. (Deuteronomy 4 in the King James version of the Bible)
This is similar to a warning given in the Book of Revelation, which is in the New Testament of the Bible:
18 For I testify unto every man that heareth the words of the prophecy of this book, If any man shall add unto these things, God shall add unto him the plagues that are written in this book: (Revelation 22:18)
Needless to say, a great deal had been added to the Bible between the writings in Deuteronomy and the writings in Revelations. And, of course, although Revelations is the last book in our Bible, it wasn’t the last one written. So what did the prophets mean when they said not to add to the scriptures?
They meant that we must not add the teachings of men to the teachings of God. The prophets might be entitled to their own opinions on subjects, but what they wrote must be God’s word, not theirs, and must be written only with God’s permission. In other words, the scriptures must be purely the word of God, not a commentary that sometimes thinks to quote God.
Jeffrey R. Holland, an apostle of God, explained, concerning the verse in Revelations:
“However, there is now overwhelming consensus among virtually all biblical scholars that this verse applies only to the book of Revelation, not the whole Bible. Those scholars of our day acknowledge a number of New Testament “books” that were almost certainly written after John’s revelation on the Isle of Patmos was received. Included in this category are at least the books of Jude, the three Epistles of John, and probably the entire Gospel of John itself. Perhaps there are even more than these.
But there is a simpler answer as to why that passage in the final book of the current New Testament cannot apply to the whole Bible. That is because the whole Bible as we know it—one collection of texts bound in a single volume—did not exist when that verse was written. For centuries after John produced his writing, the individual books of the New Testament were in circulation singly or perhaps in combinations with a few other texts but almost never as a complete collection. Of the entire corpus of 5,366 known Greek New Testament manuscripts, only 35 contain the whole New Testament as we now know it, and 34 of those were compiled after a.d. 1000.” Jeffrey R. Holland, My Words … Never Cease’,” Ensign, May 2008, 91–94
And so, God was not saying we had to rip all the pages out of our Bible that were written after Deuteronomy, or that we can’t treasure the words of John. He meant only that we can’t put our own doctrines into the scriptures.
The Savior said he had more people than just the Jews. He was not only the God of the Jews. He was the Savior of us all. Modern day revelation tells us Jesus appeared to others between his death and resurrection, and we have the records of one of those groups. This record is the Book of Mormon.
The Book of Mormon tells of several groups of people who immigrated from the Holy Lands. The primary group was the family and friends of a prophet named Lehi. Lehi was called of God to preach to the people of Jerusalem around 600 BC. When the people rejected his words, as they did the other prophets of the time, God instructed him to take his family and flee. In time, God led them to the American continent. They brought with them religious scriptures, those that had been written to that time.
Lehi’s son, Nephi, succeeded him as prophet and was commanded to begin keeping a record of God’s dealings with the people. Future prophets added to it. As a result, when the Savior came to these people between his death and resurrection, the visit was recorded. It stands today as a testimony that Jesus is indeed our Savior, the Savior of all people everywhere. The book stands as a testimony that the Bible is true, since it reinforces the message of the Bible concerning the Savior.
Unfortunately, many people prefer to think God is unwilling to talk to anyone but the ancient Jews of Jerusalem, and that He has closed his dealings with us. The Book of Mormon predicted this very event, with a gentle reminder not to think God can’t do something. He is God…He can do everything.
3 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. (2 Nephi 29)
8 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.
9 And I do this that I may prove unto many that I am the same yesterday, today, and forever; and that I speak forth my words according to mine own pleasure. And because that I have spoken one word ye need not suppose that I cannot speak another; for my work 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 words; neither need ye suppose that I have not caused more to be written. (2 Nephi 29)
Prophets
Some people reject the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints because they have a prophet who continues to share with them God’s messages for them. The Book of Mormon, which they read as Holy Scripture hand-in-Hand with the Bible, foretold of this challenge:
26 Yea, wo be unto him that hearkeneth unto the precepts of men, and denieth the power of God, and the gift of the Holy Ghost!
27 Yea, wo be unto him that saith: We have received, and we need no more!
28 And in fine, wo unto all those who tremble, and are angry because of the truth of God! For behold, he that is built upon the rock receiveth it with gladness; and he that is built upon a sandy foundation trembleth lest he shall fall.
29 Wo be unto him that shall say: We have received the word of God, and we need no more of the word of God, for we have enough!
30 For behold, thus saith the Lord God: I will give unto the children of men line upon line, precept upon precept, 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 wisdom; for unto him that receiveth I will give more; and from them that shall say, We have enough, from them shall be taken away even that which they have. (2 Nephi 28)
On a personal level, I’ve always found this hard to understand. I was so excited when I found out there God continued to talk with us. I had always believed He ought to be talking to us, long before I joined the church. When I attended classes on the Old Testament as a child, I would wonder why God didn’t want to talk to us anymore. If we needed Him to prepare for the first coming, shouldn’t we also need Him to prepare us for the Second Coming of the Savior?
Shouldn’t we be thrilled to learn God continues to talk to us today, that we’re not cut off from Him until our deaths? I was. If God has things He wants us to know, I want to hear them. I love God’s words, and can’t get enough of them.
What is a prophet? Prophets have been on the earth since the very beginning. Adam spoke with God and taught His children what God taught him. Throughout all the Old Testament, God spoke often with His chosen prophets, men who were called of God to hear God’s words directly from God Himself, and then to teach the people. It wasn’t enough to have only one prophet. Adam was not the only prophet. Why did God continue to send prophets after Adam? Why wasn’t one prophet enough?
Prophets were necessary throughout all the Old Testament in order to help us continue to learn God’s word. As the verse above says, God teaches us line upon line, precept on precept. He doesn’t give us the entire gospel all at once. Imagine if the Israelites had received all the law of Moses at once. Can you picture the confusion as they tried to internalize so many rules in a few moments? There were only Ten Commandments when Moses came down from the mountain. The people could learn to internalize ten rules at once. As those became a way of life, more was added.
In the same way, gospel truths were presented a few at a time. No student in school is taught all of physics the first day. The teachers present a little more each day, and classes build upon the preparatory classes taken before. This is how God works with us. He teaches us what we can handle, and adds to it gradually. He also adapts certain things to the needs of the people—building boats when boats are needed, but not commanding boats when it isn’t going to rain, for instance.
Why do we still need prophets today? Just as we don’t have to build an ark because the entire earth isn’t going to flood soon, there are needs we have today that the people of ancient times didn’t have. The world has changed dramatically, and God wants us to navigate it successfully. The wickedness of the larger part of the people brought about a loss of prophecy, but God always promised to return it to us, and now He has.
Celebrate and listen. God is talking. His current prophet is Thomas S. Monson. Learn more about him by following the link on his name.
How Satan Battles Truth
Satan’s sole purpose in his life is to make everyone as miserable as he is, and the best way to do this is to battle truth. If he can turn people away from God, the Savior, and the saving doctrines, he can make people miserable and win his battle. He has a variety of methods he employs in this battle. Knowing some of them can help us protect ourselves from him. The Book of Mormon suggests several of these methods for us to evaluate and prepare to fight.
For behold, at that day shall he rage in the hearts of the children of men, and stir them up to anger against that which is good. (2 Nephi 28:20)
Sometimes when I ask people visiting my church why they came, they tell me they attended some classes on “witnessing” to members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (sometimes nicknamed Mormons) and were taken aback by the rage against our church expressed in those classes. They decided to come and see for themselves if the classes were telling the truth. They felt the church, to inspire such rage must be truly evil or be so true Satan was afraid of it and trying to keep people away. Often those people convert after visiting a while and realizing the church had been unintentionally misrepresented, which led to a desire to find out for themselves what was true.
In the political field, we see great rage against those who choose to obey God instead of man. They are labeled bigots, old-fashioned, out of touch…anything that might embarrass them into “conforming.” True Christians understand that truth is truth and God’s truth matters more than the fleeting views of a self-centered world.
21 And others will he pacify, and lull them away into carnal security, that they will say: All is well in Zion; yea, Zion prospereth, all is well—and thus the devil cheateth their souls, and leadeth them away carefully down to hell.
Some people don’t need rage to lead them away. All they need to do is put on what is sometimes called rose-colored glasses. They go to church and then wander through their week, not doing anything to help themselves or others. They may see attacks on truth and on God, but trust everything will just go away on its own or won’t really cause any trouble. They tune out the need for good people to work incessantly until the battle is won. When those who know the truth do nothing, Satan wins, and, as this scripture points out, he can win us as well. We can be led carefully away, without even seeing it happen, simply because we aren’t paying attention.
We often focus more on the Do Not commandments than on the Do commandments. As we read the scriptures, we should note that there are things we are not to do, but there are many things the scriptures instruct us to do. When we neglect those, Satan gains an opening into our lives.
We can’t let those who oppose morality and truth do all the talking if we want God to win the battle for souls.
22 And behold, others he flattereth away, and telleth them there is no hell; and he saith unto them: I am no devil, for there is none—and thus he whispereth in their ears, until he grasps them with his awful chains, from whence there is no deliverance.
This particular method seems to be one of Satan’s favorites today. We live in an atmosphere in which self-centeredness is celebrated. We’re told to do whatever we want and expect others to accept and applaud. Whether it involves turning God’s established family patterns upside down, leaving children to explore a world of freedom, or enjoying our favorite sin, many people give no thought to accountability. When we convince people that nothing is really wrong, that God won’t punish them for things the scriptures clearly state are wrong, we let Satan win. After all, if we don’t believe there is punishment for sin, most of us won’t bother to avoid it.
I find this verse’s use of the word flattereth interesting. Satan flatters people by saying there is no sin. I’ve heard atheists state there is no higher power than themselves—a scary thought when applied to anyone but God—and I think this might be what the scripture refers to. When we believe we get to make all the rules for our lives without taking into consideration God, our families, or anyone else, we make ourselves the highest authority. That is flattery, and a powerful tool for Satan to employ.
These verses outlined three methods used by Satan to win his battle against us: getting us furiously angry at righteousness, causing us to ignore the evil around us, and convincing us there is no sin. If we stay alert, we can avoid getting caught up in these traps and stay safe.
Truth is Unchanging
The Book of Mormon often prophesied of our day, and warned us of the challenges we would face. One problem foreseen by the prophets was the danger of mingling the word of God with the teachings of men. For a church to be the Savior’s church, it must teach only what the Savior wants taught, regardless of how popular or “politically correct” it might seem to be.
They wear stiff necks and high heads; yea, and because of pride, and wickedness, and abominations, and whoredoms, they have all gone astray save it be a few, who are the humble followers of Christ; nevertheless, they are led, that in many instances they do err because they are taught by the precepts of men. (2 Nephi 28:14)
There are many who feel that churches need to keep up with the times and change along with the political or social styles. This is a very secular idea, since it suggests a lack of belief in God. After all, if it’s God’s church, He should make the rules, not man. God doesn’t follow the fashions. He teaches truth. Truth cannot be changed by opinion.
There are times when practices change. For instance, much of the law of Moses, created to help prepare people to understand the atonement of Christ, ended when Christ himself came. The Savior instigated new laws based on new needs, since they had the Savior Himself and didn’t need the symbols. However, practices changed, but truth didn’t. Just as gravity will continue to be a true scientific principle even if the majority of the world wakes up one day and decides they don’t like it, God’s truths are always true.
There is a difference between practices and truths. God might alter the name of an auxiliary organization, for instance, to suit current needs, or decide the four-year-olds will study one book of scripture this year instead of another normally taught. There have been commandments meant just for a specific time, such as when Noah was told to build an ark. We don’t all have to build arks—but that was a practice, not a truth. The truth of that story—the importance of obeying God however unlikely the commandment might seem, remains the same. The critical truths, those that determine our eternal destiny, are based on God’s truths, and are unchanging.
Satan does not want us to believe that. He wants us to ignore truth and love fashion, treating truth and morality as something that should be determined by polls, television, celebrities, and politics, rather than by God. He knows if he can undermine the most critical elements of the Plan of Salvation, he can win. And so he pressures people to be concerned about popular opinion. He even wants the Savior’s followers, or those who claim to follow him, to flit from opinion to opinion, and not to be ruled by truth. He would like it best if they could get their churches to follow him.
Satan has a variety of methods for getting people to flit instead of remaining steadfast. Name-calling is one such method. Remember when Lehi, the first Book of Mormon prophet, had a vision of the tree of life. Many people were pulled off the path toward that tree, which represented eternal life, because they were embarrassed when the world made fun of them and called them names. We see that more than ever today. Boyd K. Packer, a high ranking church official called a General Authority, said, “However out of step we may seem, however much the standards are belittled, however much others yield, we will not yield, we cannot yield.” (Boyd K. Packer, “‘The Standard of Truth Has Been Erected’,” Ensign, Nov 2003, 24)
He offered this suggestion for coping with the word tools Satan thrives on to embarrass or belittle those who choose the teachings of God over the teachings of men:
“Now words can be used as weapons against you. If they throw the word diversity at you, grab hold of it and say, “I am already diverse, and I intend to stay diverse.” If the word is tolerance, grab that one, too, saying, “I expect you to be tolerant of my lifestyle—obedience, integrity, abstinence, repentance.” If the word is choice, tell them you choose good, old-fashioned morality. You choose to be a worthy husband or wife, a worthy parent.”
Man’s standards, fleeting and harmful, might give you popularity. But God’s standards, eternal and unchanging, give you eternal life. The choice is yours to live for now or for God.
Accountability
Nephi, the second prophet of the Book of Mormon, foresaw our time and described it with unnerving accuracy. His portrayal of it is accurate because it was shown to him by God. The Book of Mormon was written for our day—the people of the Book of Mormon, other than the prophets who kept the records, didn’t have it. Nephi offered the prophecies in a talk to his people as warnings to them for their own day as well, but preserved the talk for us, because it was really us he was talking to.
One challenge Nephi warns us of is the relaxing of standards in our day. Not only would society tune out the commandments of God, but even some churches would try to minimize the importance of the commandments.
And there shall also be many which shall say: Eat, drink, and be merry; nevertheless, fear God—he will justify in committing a little sin; yea, lie a little, take the advantage of one because of his words, dig a pit for thy neighbor; there is no harm in this; and do all these things, for tomorrow we die; and if it so be that we are guilty, God will beat us with a few stripes, and at last we shall be saved in the kingdom of God. (2 Nephi 28:8)
The Bible makes it very clear that we have to obey God’s commandments, and try our very best to live a Christ-like life. The Savior said that those who didn’t keep His commandments didn’t really love Him. (See John 14:15) He also made clear there were consequences to disobedience. In modern times, however, many prefer to ignore the scriptures about obedience and consequence and instead teach only the initial moment of conversion, as if a moment of conversion were all that were expected—giving a moment out of our lives to God and then doing anything we want all the other moments.
God requires us to obey His laws, and He has certain guidelines for handling those times when we transgress. If we can sin and just go on our way, there isn’t accountability. When you raise a child, do you let him do anything he wants, ignoring his disobedience? Of course not. If you did, your child would never grow to be a responsible, disciplined person. God, being a perfect parent, also knows we need to do certain things in order to grow.
The process of handling our sins is called repentance. Repentance helps us to deal with our sins, be accountable for what we’ve done, and to heal from the sorrow that comes when someone who truly loves God sins.
The first step is to confess the sin. We have to tell God what we’ve done, even though he already knows, just as you might insist your child confess to you when you’ve already uncovered his wrongdoing. This is a humbling experience, and there can’t be spiritual growth without humility. We have to offer this confession with true sorrow for wrongdoing—it can’t just be a matter of going through the motions. We also have to confess to anyone else we’ve harmed through our actions, and in the case of certain serious sins, we need to go to our spiritual leaders as well.
We also have to try to make restitution where possible. A stolen item must be returned or paid for. An unkind word could be replaced with great kindness. Although not everything can be fixed, we do as much as we can to pay for our sins.
We must be truly sorry for what we’ve done, a sorrow so deep it can bring about change. Repentance must be sincere. This is easiest when we’ve put a great deal of time into our relationship with God and trust Him with our faults. When we know we can be forgiven and loved even after sin, it’s easier to face God.
The final step is to completely forsake the sin. If we are unable, or worse, unwilling, to give it up, we haven’t traveled deeply enough through the repentance process and must begin again.
Going through the repentance process each time we sin allows us to be accountable for our own choices. It brings the peace of knowing we’ve made things right with God and are back safely on the path home to Him.
Is God Still in Our Lives?
There are many people who don’t believe in God, but there are many others who believe in Him, but believe that once Jesus’ earthly ministry ended, God decided His work was done and lost interest in the people yet to come until after they died.
Nephi, the second prophet of the Book of Mormon, talked about this to his people:
3 For it shall come to pass in that day that the churches which are built up, and not unto the Lord, when the one shall say unto the other: Behold, I, I am the Lord’s; and the others shall say: I, I am the Lord’s; and thus shall every one say that hath built up churches, and not unto the Lord—
4 And they shall contend one with another; and their priests shall contend one with another, and they shall teach with their learning, and deny the Holy Ghost, which giveth utterance.
5 And they deny the power of God, the Holy One of Israel; and they say unto the people: Hearken unto us, and hear ye our precept; for behold there is no God today, for the Lord and the Redeemer hath done his work, and he hath given his power unto men;
6 Behold, hearken ye unto my precept; if they shall say there is a miracle wrought by the hand of the Lord, believe it not; for this day he is not a God of miracles; he hath done his work. 2 Nephi 28 in the Book of Mormon
At no time has God ever turned His back on His children. He’s our Father in Heaven and He loves us. There have indeed been times when the fullness of the gospel wasn’t on the earth and there were no prophets to guide us. After the Savior and his apostles were gone, there were no more prophets for a time, due to the way the world had treated the Savior and His followers. They killed the Savior, and they killed those who tried to carry on His work, and so God stopped calling prophets. Had they reacted differently, an apostasy wouldn’t have occurred.
However, even during this time, God didn’t abandon us. We’ve always been able to turn to God on a personal level. People throughout history have prayed at critical moments in their lives and in the history of the world. Through the Light of Christ, God could allow even those without the gift of the Holy Ghost or access to a prophet to know what was true and right if they chose to ask.
Joseph B. Wirthlin, a high-ranking church official known as a General Authority, said:
“As the sun gives life and light to the earth, a spiritual light gives nourishment to our spirits. We call this the Light of Christ. The scriptures teach us that it “lighteth every man that cometh into the world.” 2 Thus, all mankind can enjoy its blessings. The Light of Christ is the divine influence that allows every man, woman, and child to distinguish between good and evil. It encourages all to choose the right, to seek eternal truth, and to learn again the truths that we knew in our premortal existence but have forgotten in mortality.
The Light of Christ should not be confused with the personage of the Holy Ghost, for the Light of Christ is not a personage at all. Its influence is preliminary to and preparatory to one’s receiving the Holy Ghost. The Light of Christ will lead the honest soul to “hearkeneth to the voice” 3 to find the true gospel and the true Church and thereby receive the Holy Ghost.” (Joseph B. Wirthlin, “The Unspeakable Gift,” Ensign, May 2003, 26)
God knew we needed prophets to get us through the first days of the world and to prepare for the arrival of the Savior. The final days are equally important and also require the guidance of prophets. God has restored the fullness of His gospel to help us prepare for the return of the Savior to the earth and is actively guiding His church. While in the past, we had to seek out all answers from God on a personal level, we can now turn again, as did the people of the Bible and the Book of Mormon, to the prophets for guidance.
Of course, we are still free to turn to God individually, and in fact, He has instructed us to do so. He expects us first to find out who the prophet is, and to know for ourselves what is true. Then He asks us to continue our personal relationship with God, integrating that with our willingness to follow the prophets He has lovingly sent us.
Would you like to find out how you can personally confirm the identity of God’s own prophet, receiving the answer from God Himself? Visit, How Can I Know This is True?