In the last days, Nephi tells us, people will deny the power
of Christ. Writing about this time,
Nephi previously wrote:
And
the Gentiles are lifted up in the pride of their eyes, and have stumbled,
because of the greatness of their stumbling block, that they have built up many
churches; nevertheless, they put down the power and miracles of God, and preach
up unto themselves their own wisdom and their own learning, that they may get
gain and grind upon the face of the poor.
2 Nephi 26:20
Paul wrote Timothy describing the conditions in the last
days.
THIS
know also, that in the last days perilous times shall come.
For
men shall be lovers of their own selves, covetous, boasters, proud,
blasphemers, disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy,
Without
natural affection, trucebreakers, false accusers [GR slanderers], incontinent [GR
without self-control], fierce, despisers of those that are good,
Traitors,
heady [GR rash, reckless], highminded [GR puffed up, conceited], lovers of pleasures
more than lovers of God;
Having
a form of godliness, but denying the power thereof: from such turn away.
2 Timothy 3:1- 5
They will deny the existence of God. We see that today. We have seen many books written by so-called “intellectuals”
who want to convince those of us not as wise as they are there is no God.
Alma2 told Korihor:
Yea,
they durst not make use of that which is their own lest they should offend their
priests, who do yoke them according to their desires, and have brought them to
believe, by their traditions and their dreams and their whims and their visions
and their pretended mysteries, that they should, if they did not do according
to their words, offend some unknown being, who they say is God—a being who never
has been seen or known, who never was nor ever will be.
Alma 30:28
Those that still know of God’s existence will claim the day
of miracles has passed. He no longer
does these things. Mormon warned, “Yea, and wo unto him that shall say at that
day, to get gain, that there can be no miracle wrought by Jesus Christ; for he
that doeth this shall become like unto the son of perdition, for whom there was
no mercy, according to the word of Christ” (3 Nephi 29:7).
Channeling his father, Moroni2 would write, “And now, O all ye that have imagined up
unto yourselves a god who can do no miracles, I would ask of you, have all
these things passed, of which I have spoken?
Has the end come yet? Behold I
say unto you, Nay; and God has not ceased to be a God of miracles” (Mormon 9:15).
Today, there are many who accept f “eat, drink, and be merry, for tomorrow we die; and it shall be well
with us” (2 Nephi 28:7) philosophy. Alma2
had to deal with an anti-Christ, Korihor.
His teachings embody what we are warned against by Nephi.
Ye
look forward and say that ye see a remission of your sins. But behold, it is the effect of a frenzied
mind; and this derangement of your minds comes because of the traditions of
your fathers, which lead you away into a belief of things which are not so.
And
many more such things did he say unto them, telling them that there could be no
atonement made for the sins of men, but every man fared in this life according
to the management of the creature; therefore every man prospered according to
his genius, and that every man conquered according to his strength; and whatsoever
a man did was no crime.
Alma 30:16-17
Donald Parry looks at the words of Isaiah and how they apply
to us today.
Woe unto them that rise up early
in the morning, that they may follow strong drink; that continue until night,
till wine inflame them! (Isaiah 5:11)
This passage indicates revelry and
unholy merrymaking among those who spend time in immoral entertainment. It
warns all against making strong drink their passion. A passage from the Book of
Mormon presents a prophecy that corresponds in some ways to this verse of
Isaiah: "There shall be many which shall say: Eat, drink, and be merry,
for tomorrow we die; and it shall be well with us" (2 Nephi 28:7). But these
are "false and vain and foolish doctrines" (Isaiah 5:9).[1]
Like Korihor, there are those today who believe we should
not (and will not) be held accountable for our actions. They find ways to justify actions, claiming it’s
not a person’s fault for what they do.
Isaiah prophesied,
And
in that day did the Lord GOD of hosts call [IE He called for repentance] to weeping, and to mourning, and to baldness,
and to girding with sackcloth:
And
behold joy [IE They went on with revelry as usual] and gladness, slaying oxen,
and killing sheep, eating flesh, and drinking wine: let us eat and drink; for to
morrow we shall die.
And
it was revealed in mine ears by the LORD of hosts, Surely this iniquity shall
not be purged from you till ye die, saith the Lord GOD of hosts.
Isaiah 22:12-14
In Malachi’s day, he faced the same problem. “Ye
have wearied the LORD with your words.
Yet ye say, Wherein have we wearied him?
When ye say, Every one that doeth evil is good in the sight of the LORD,
and he delighteth in them; or, Where is the God of judgment” (Malachi 2:17).
Moroni2 warned those of us who would read the Book of Mormon
we would face the same challenges.
Yea,
it shall come in a day when there shall be great pollutions upon the face of
the earth; there shall be murders, and robbing, and lying, and deceivings, and
whoredoms, and all manner of abominations; when there shall be many who will
say, Do this, or do that, and it mattereth not, for the Lord will uphold such
at the last day. But wo unto such, for
they are in the gall of bitterness and in the bonds of iniquity.
Mormon 8:31
[1] Visualizing
Isaiah – A Warning to the Wicked, Donald W. Parry, Maxwell Institute,
accessed November 24, 2013.
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