Moroni continues to
address the non-believer in this day. He speaks in words similar to his father’s
about those who deny things such as revelations. “Yea, wo unto him that shall
deny the revelations of the Lord, and that shall say the Lord no longer worketh
by revelation, or by prophecy, or by gifts, or by tongues, or by healings, or
by the power of the Holy Ghost” (3 Nephi 29:6).
There are many
churches who reject the concept of modern day revelation. The heavens are
sealed, they tell us. All we need is the words of the Bible, nothing more.
The also deny gifts
of the spirit. Paul listed spiritual gifts.
“Now there are
diversities of gifts, but the same Spirit.
“And there are
differences of administrations, but the same Lord.
“And there are
diversities of operations, but it is the same God which worketh all in all.
“But the
manifestation of the Spirit is given to every man to profit withal.
“For to one is
given by the Spirit the word of wisdom; to another the word of knowledge by the
same Spirit;
“To another faith
by the same Spirit; to another the gifts of healing by the same Spirit;
“To another the
working of miracles; to another prophecy; to another discerning of spirits; to
another divers kinds of tongues; to another the interpretation of tongues” (1
Corinthians 12:4-10).
Joseph Smith made
it clear we reject the claim these gifts are in the past. In the 7th
Article of Faith he wrote, “We believe in the gift of tongues, prophecy,
revelation, visions, healing, interpretation of tongues, and so forth.”
Those who deny
these things knows neither Christ’s gospel and the scriptures. “Jesus answered
and said unto them, Ye do err, not knowing the scriptures, nor the power of God”
(Matthew 22:29).
The scriptures make
it clear that God does no change. “Jesus Christ the same yesterday, and to day,
and for ever” (Hebrews 13:8).
“For he is the same
yesterday, today, and forever; and the way is prepared for all men from the
foundation of the world, if it so be that they repent and come unto him” (1
Nephi 10:18),
“I perceive that it
has been made known unto you, by the testimony of his word, that he cannot walk
in crooked paths; neither doth he vary from that which he hath said; neither
hath he a shadow of turning from the right to the left, or from that which is
right to that which is wrong; therefore, his course is one eternal round” (Alma
7:20).
“For I know that
God is not a partial God, neither a changeable being; but he is unchangeable from
all eternity to all eternity” (Moroni 8:18).
“Before the
mountains were brought forth, or ever thou hadst formed the earth and the
world, even from everlasting to everlasting, thou art God” (Psalms 90:2).
“But thou art the
same, and thy years shall have no end. (Psalms 102:27).
“While you can’t
avoid alterations in your person—appearance, size, voice, gait, and so forth—as
you progress through the infamous seven ages of man as stipulated by the
insight of a Solon or a Shakespeare, you would like your better qualities to
hang on for a while and defy time. Actually they do: steadiness and durability
are the marks of the highest and best qualities of character, as in God
himself, who exhibits no ‘variableness neither shadow of changing’ (Mormon 9:9).”[1]
Moroni let us know
if anyone has come up with a god who changes or vary his laws, this god is not
a God of miracles. He will show us the one true God.
“In God there
exists no ‘shadow of changing’ (Mormon 9:9). Unlike man, ‘God doth not walk in
crooked paths, neither doth he turn to the right hand nor to the left, neither
doth he vary from that which he hath said’ (D&C 3:2). His thoughts do not
reflect our thoughts, nor his ways our ways (Isaiah 55:8).”[2]
[1] Approaching Zion - 14: Change out of Control,.
Neal A. Maxwell Institute for Religious Scholarship.
[2] Twelve Diatribes of Modern Israel,
Avraham Gileadi, Maxwell Institute website.
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