Mormon 9:26-27

Moroni raises a question. Who can stand against the works of the Lord. “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).

“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.

“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;

“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.

“O the wise, and the learned, and the rich, that are puffed up in the pride of their hearts, and all those who preach false doctrines, and all those who commit whoredoms, and pervert the right way of the Lord, wo, wo, wo be unto them, saith the Lord God Almighty, for they shall be thrust down to hell” (2 Nephi 28:4-6, 15).

Who will deny his sayings?

“And when ye shall see these sayings coming forth among you, then ye need not any longer spurn at the doings of the Lord, for the sword of his justice is in his right hand; and behold, at that day, if ye shall spurn at his doings he will cause that it shall soon overtake you.

“Wo unto him that spurneth at the doings of the Lord; yea, wo unto him that shall deny the Christ and his works!

“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!

“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 29:4-7).

Who will rise up against the Lord’s power? Who will despise the Lord’s work? “Whoso despiseth the word shall be destroyed: but he that feareth the commandment shall be rewarded” (Proverbs 13:13).

Who will despise the children of Christ? All who despise His works will wonder and perish.

Neither despise nor wonder. Listen to the Lord’s words. Ask the Father, in Christ’s name, for whatever you stand in need. Don’t doubt. “Jesus answered and said unto them, Verily I say unto you, If ye have faith, and doubt not, ye shall not only do this which is done to the fig tree, but also if ye shall say unto this mountain, Be thou removed, and be thou cast into the sea; it shall be done” (Matthew 21:21).

“[L]et him ask in faith, nothing wavering. For he that wavereth is like a wave of the sea driven with the wind and tossed.

(James 1:5-6).

“I will [GR desire] therefore that men pray every where, lifting up holy hands, without wrath and doubting” (1 Timothy 2:8).

Instead of doubt, believe and come unto the Lord. “And if it so be that they repent and come unto the Father in the name of Jesus, they shall be received into the kingdom of God” (Ether 5:5).

“And again I would exhort you that ye would come unto Christ, and lay hold upon every good gift, and touch not the evil gift, nor the unclean thing.

“Yea, come unto Christ, and be perfected in him, and deny yourselves of all ungodliness; and if ye shall deny yourselves of all ungodliness, and love God with all your might, mind and strength, then is his grace sufficient for you, that by his grace ye may be perfect in Christ; and if by the grace of God ye are perfect in Christ, ye can in nowise deny the power of God” (Moroni 10:30, 32).

Come to the Lord with all your heart. “But take diligent heed to do the commandment and the law, which Moses the servant of the Lord charged you, to love the Lord your God, and to walk in all his ways, and to keep his commandments, and to cleave unto him, and to serve him with all your heart and with all your soul” (Joshua 22:5).

“And after that day, I, the Lord, will not hold any guilty that shall go with an open heart up to the land of Zion; for I, the Lord, require the hearts of the children of men.

“Behold, the Lord requireth the heart and a willing mind; and the willing and obedient shall eat the good of the land of Zion in these last days” (D&C 64:22, 34).

Moroni admonishes us to work out our salvation “with fear and trembling before him” (Mormon 9:27).

“Wherefore, my beloved, as ye have always obeyed, not as in my presence only, but now much more in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling.

“For it is God which worketh in you both to will and to do of his good pleasure.

“Do all things without murmurings and disputings:

“That ye may be blameless and harmless, the sons of God, without rebuke, in the midst of a crooked and perverse nation [GR generation], among whom ye shine as lights in the world;

“Holding forth the word of life; that I may rejoice in the day of Christ, that I have not run in vain, neither laboured in vain” (Phillipians 2:12-16).

“Both Moroni and Jacob teach that God’s might compels us to humble ourselves and take counsel from his hand (see Jacob 4:10, compare Mormon 9:27). While Jacob looked backwards at the Jews as a ‘stiffnecked people’ (Jacob 4:14), Moroni looked forward and saw the people of the latter days (see Mormon 8:35). Moroni utilizes Jacob’s words in order to urge modern-day readers to avoid the mistakes spoken of by Jacob.”[1]

“We Latter-day Saints likewise have to work out our own covenant relationship with God and what he communicates through his servants, the prophets, whom we covenant to sustain. This lifelong proposition is another garden where blood will inevitably be sweat out as we individually work out our salvation ‘with fear and trembling’ (Mormon 9:27).”[2]

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[1] Jacob’s Textual Legacy, John Hilton III, Journal of the Book of Mormon and Other Restoration Scripture 22/2 (2013): 60-61.

[2] Shattered Glass: The Traditions of Mormon Same-Sex Marriage Advocates Encounter Boyd K. Packer, Gregory L. Smith, Mormon Studies Review 23/1 (2011): 82.