Monday, November 3, 2014

The Work Of The Lord Goes On

False Christ's will not stop the work of the Lord
In 2 Nephi 25:18 it says,
" Wherefore, he shall bring forth his words unto them
at the last day, for they shall be given them for the
purpose of convincing them at the last day, for they shall
be given them for the purpose of convincing
  them that they need not look forward anymore for a Messiah
to come, for there should not any come, save it should be a
false Messiah which should deceive the people; for there is
save one Messiah spoken of by the prophets and that Messiah
is he who should
  be rejected of the Jews. 

When reading this verse I find it so neat that this
scripture has been fulfilled with the coming forth of the
Book of Mormon by Joseph Smith, and this scripture has not
only served well for disciples of Christ in the past, but
for us in our day as well.  We
  have many examples of this warning being fulfilled. 

As I read, " For there should not any come save it
should be a false Messiah which should deceive the
people" , I was reminded that though there are times a
person may claim that they are Jesus Christ; more often the
false Messiah is a person who claims they
  can deliver people from something or someone, when in
actuality it is removing them from their true source of
deliverance- The actual Jesus Christ whom was rejected by
the Jews.

In Matthew 24:5 Jesus Christ himself said during his
ministry on earth, " For many shall come in my name
saying, I am Christ; and shall deceive many."

After Christ's death and after the temple of Jerusalem
was destroyed, the Jews were waiting for someone who could
deliver them from the Romans; during this  time there were
those who claimed they would deliver the people of Israel.
In Acts 5:36 we learn of
  one named Theudas who claimed to be a deliverer. Those who
obeyed him were " scattered and brought to
nought." As well in Acts 5:37 we learn of Judas of
Galilee who as many obeyed him " were dispersed ".

We also have many examples of this in the Book of Mormon. In
Alma 31:21 we learn of the Zoramites whom stood upon a high
stand and gave thanks that they did not believe in the
traditions of their fathers ( belief in Jesus Christ ) . We
also have an example
  in Jacob 7:1 , Sherem declares that there was no Christ.

There are many more examples in the Bible and Book of
Mormon. Today we have many people claiming their ways and
ideas are correct; much like Sherem whom said there would be
no Christ. We also have political leaders in our day whom
claim their way will direct
  us towards a better society; while these ideas also lead us
away from Christ; they are a false savior.

I am thankful for the truth recorded in a verse that 
follows these examples written in Acts. Only a few verses
later in Acts 5:39. A true claim was made to those opposing
Christ's disciples. It reads:

" But if it be of God, ye can not overthrow it; lest
haply ye be found even to fight against God."

The apostles were killed but their message about our Savior
Jesus Christ  did not die and it was not overthrown as even
now we have that same Priesthood that those apostles held.
The same Priesthood that was given them by Jesus Christ was
not overthrown but
  restored to the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day
Saints. 

This witness that , " If it be of God, ye can not
overthrow it" rings true in my heart as I think of the
most humble senerio of a fourteen year old boy kneeling in
that sacred grove, as he asked which church was true? As my
heart aches for the struggles, pain
  and sorrow that Joseph Smith faced in restoring the truth
to the earth, I'd like to imagine that he may have even
held onto this scripture himself? As Joseph knew amidst all
of his trials, that the marvelous work that he was doing was
never going to be overthrown.
  I take joy in the thought that Joseph Smith knew there
would be false christ's claiming their ways were saving;
but, ultimately he knew there was not any chance that the
work he was doing for the Lord would be overthrown.

Likewise, all of these examples strengthen my testimony that
even if some people choose not to serve God and help create
His kingdom on the earth...I hold onto my knowledge from the
scripture Mormon 8:22:

"For the eternal purposes of the Lord shall roll on,
until all his promises shall be fulfilled. "

No comments:

Post a Comment