Tag: Wisdom

O Be Wise: What More Can I Say?

~ Richard Rowley

Jacob teaches what it means to be spiritually wise.

“Behold, will ye reject these words? Will ye reject all the words which have been spoken concerning Christ, after so many have spoken concerning him; and deny the good word of Christ, and the power of God, and the gift of the Holy Ghost, and quench the Holy Spirit, and make a mock of the great plan of redemption, which hath been laid for you? Know you not that if you will do these things, that the power the redemption and the resurrection, which is in Christ, will bring you to stand with shame and awful guilt before the bar of God? And according to the power of justice, for justice cannot be denied, ye must go away into that lake of fire and brimstone, whose flames are unquenchable, and whose smoke ascendeth up forever and ever, which lake of fire and brimstone is endless torment. O then, my beloved brethren, repent ye, and enter in at the strait gate, and continue in the way which is narrow, until ye shall obtain eternal life. O be wise: what can I say more?” (Jacob 6:8-12)

Questions:

-Do you believe the Spirit testifies of the reality of Christ’s redemptive power to every person’s heart that hears of Him and His Father’s plan of salvation?

-How serious are the consequences when the testimony of the Spirit is quenched?

-Was Jacob speaking to a group of people who were saturated in opportunities to receive the Spirit (a social environment where the testimony of Christ was a constant presence)?

-Would someone who had far less exposure to the testimony of the Spirit be open to the same depth of consequence as those to whom Jacob was speaking?

-As you read the scriptural message above, what thought processes lead you to quench the Spirit? What thoughts lead you to receive the Spirit? Can you feel the ebb and flow of the Spirit in proportion to your openness to the message versus the thoughts that close your heart to the message?

-Did Jacob believe in a literal lake of fire and brimstone? Or, is he using a metaphor for representing eternal spiritual loss?

Seek Not to Counsel the Lord, But to Take Counsel from His Hand

~ Richard Rowley

After teaching about God’s perfect power and knowledge, Jacob emphasizes a point that should be obvious but is easily missed by those of us living in the fallen world.

“…Seek not to counsel the Lord, but to take counsel from his hand. For behold…he counseleth in wisdom, and in justice, and in great mercy, over all his works. Wherefore, beloved brethren, be reconciled unto him through the atonement of Christ, his Only Begotten Son, and ye may obtain a resurrection, according to the power of the resurrection which is in Christ, and be presented as the first-fruits of Christ unto God.” (Jacob 4:10-11)

Questions:

-How often does God reach out to individuals to guide them in the right direction through His Spirit? How often do those individuals respond and follow the Spirit?

-What causes a person to reject or ignore the direction of God’s Spirit?

-Where can one find the counsel the Lord has given to those on earth in written form?

-Did you just read a portion of His counsel in bold above?

-Why not start drawing on His great wisdom, justice, and mercy today by listening to the Spirit and reading His written word with an open heart?

-Is there any counsel from God more important than that which He has given to be reconciled to Him through His Son’s Atonement?

-How joyful is the consequence of being reconciled to God through Christ’s Atonement? What does it mean to be part of the First Resurrection?

I Will Give unto the Children of Men Line upon Line, Precept upon Precept

~ Richard Rowley

Nephi dispels the fallacy that God speaks all He has to say to mortals in one age and then falls permanently silent thereafter. Missed opportunity and spiritual misadventure (wo) will come to those who stubbornly adhere to this view because they are likely to reject God’s word when He chooses to speak again:

“…Wo be unto him that hearkenth unto the precepts of men, and denieth the power of God, and the gift of the Holy Ghost! Yea, wo be unto him that saith: We have received, and we need no more! 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. 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!” (2 Nephi 28:25-29)

Nephi then declares God’s truth regarding how He teaches and speaks to His children on earth:

“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 28:30)

Questions:

-Do you believe the Book of Mormon is another testament of Jesus Christ? If so, do you believe the Bible is being taken away from those who have not accepted this second witness? If so, in what ways is it being taken away?

-Has God given additional precepts to mankind (beyond those found in the Book of Mormon) since the time of the Restoration?

-Have many of the truths of the Restoration (which occurred in the early 1800s) influenced Christianity in general over the past two centuries? Have most churches and other organizations been leavened by Restoration truth without recognizing it (or despite their leaders efforts to prevent it)? For instance…

  • How many Christians believed that families could live together in the eternities after mortal life two-hundred year ago? How many believe this to be true now?

The Sealed Portion of the Gold Plates Contain Another Book of Revelatory Scripture

~ Richard Rowley

The Book of Mormon was translated from the unsealed portion of the Gold Plates, but there was at least one other book contained within a sealed portion of the Gold Plates that was not translated. In the portion of the Plates that was translated (which is now known as the Book of Mormon), the prophet Nephi recorded a prophecy that the book in the sealed portion of the Plates would not be translated at the same time as the Book of Mormon because the world would not be ready for it (see 2 Nephi 27:8). Instead, the Lord has kept the sealed book in store for a time when the world is ready.

“…It shall come to pass that the Lord God shall bring forth unto you the words of a book…but the words which are sealed he shall not deliver…and the revelation which was sealed shall be kept…until the own due time of the Lord, that they may come forth; for behold, they reveal all things from the foundation of the world unto the end thereof. 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 revealed 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 27:6, 10-11)

Questions:

-Do you believe the Book of Mormon was brought forth by God’s power?

-Did you know that there was a large portion of the Gold Plates (that were delivered to Joseph Smith by an angel) which were not translated because the Lord knew the world wasn’t ready for it?

-Do you believe that those with the greatest wisdom and truth are living today?

-If (as the Book of Mormon testifies) there is a book which – when read by the power of Christ – reveals all things from the beginning to the end, would that suggest that some who lived long ago had greater wisdom and a grasp of the truth than we have today?

-Is it exciting to hear that God has much more scriptural knowledge in store for us? Or, do you believe God has already told us everything we need to know?

Teachings of Latter-day Prophets, Seers, and Revelators:

“Many more scriptural writings will yet come to us, including those of Enoch (see D&C 107:57), all of the writings of the Apostle John (see Ether 4:16), the records of the lost tribes of Israel (see 2 Nephi 29:13), and the approximately two-thirds of the Book of Mormon plates that were sealed: ‘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 revealed 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)” (Neal A. Maxwell, A Wonderful Flood of Light [1990], 18).

“Lost books are among the treasures yet to come forth. Over twenty of these are mentioned in the existing scriptures. Perhaps most startling and voluminous will be the records of the lost tribes of Israel (see 2 Nephi 29:13). We would not even know of the impending third witness for Christ except through the precious Book of Mormon, the second witness for Christ! This third set of sacred records will thus complete a triad of truth. Then, just as the Perfect Shepherd has said, ‘My word also shall be gathered in one’ (v. 14). There will be ‘one fold and one shepherd’ (1 Nephi 22:25) in a welding together of all the Christian dispensations of human history (see D&C 128:18)” (Neal A. Maxwell, “God Will Yet Reveal,” Ensign, Nov. 1986, 52).

The records, part of which the Book of Mormon was translated from, “were engraven on plates which had the appearance of gold, each plate was six inches wide and eight inches long, and not quite so thick as common tin. They were filled with engravings, in Egyptian characters, and bound together in a volume as the leaves of a book, with three rings running through the whole. The volume was something near six inches in thickness, a part of which was sealed. The characters on the unsealed part were small, and beautifully engraved. The whole book exhibited many marks of antiquity in its construction, and much skill in the art of engraving.” (Joseph Smith, Jr., The Wentworth Letter)