Satan works in darkness. Christ’s work is always in the light. Men may make excuses in their days, that they did not know, or could not believe in Him.
But in the last day, there shall be no excuse, for all shall see Him and know Him.
The story is told of an old farmer who sent his young son to the barn to feed the stock. Every morning, the boy was awakened before dawn for this chore. He thought to himself, "If I just give them several bales of hay, I won't have to wake up early every day." He loaded several bales of hay onto a wheelbarrow and dumped them all on the barn floor. When the father went to the barn a few hours later, he found all of his cows sick with the colic. Several of them died. They had overeaten that whole pile of hay. It was a painful lesson for the son to understand why his father asked him to give each cow one flake of hay every day and not the whole barrow-full at one time.
Our Heavenly Father and His Son, Jesus Christ, are wise "farmers" and shepherds. They never give us more revelation than we can absorb at the time He is revealing it.
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 receives 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)
Precept Upon Percept
One of the things Nephi foresaw was, that in the latter-day, when the Book of Mormon would come forth, many people would say, A Bible! We have got a Bible! We need no more Bible! (2 Nephi 29:3) Some people not of our faith are confused about the role of the Book of Mormon; many feel that for members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, the Book of Mormon replaces the Bible. Nothing could be further from the truth. We revere the Bible and study and learn from it. It is a record of the Children of God from Adam onward, particularly those of the House of Israel and the tribe of Judah. But there are other tribes in Israel. Would a just and loving God speak only to one small portion of His children? No. What He says to one, He also says to another.
The Book of Mormon does not replace the Bible, it stands beside it as Another Testament of Jesus Christ. It is the record of some of the descendants of Joseph, he who was sold into Egypt. It fulfills the words of the Prophet Ezekiel, who wrote: take one stick and write upon it, for Judah… then take another stick and write upon it for Joseph… and join them one to another into one stick; and they shall become one in your hand. (Ezekiel 37: 16-17)
I know from
personal experience, that the Book of Mormon both supports and adds clarity to
the Bible. I challenge you to read the Book of Mormon and then see how much
more you appreciate and understand the Bible.
[For] the earth shall be full of
the knowledge of the Lord as the waters cover the sea.
Wherefore, the things
of all nations shall be made known; yea, all things shall be
made known unto the children of men. There
is nothing which is secret save it shall be revealed; there is no work of darkness save it shall be made
manifest in the light; and there is nothing which is sealed upon the earth save
it shall be loosed. (2 Nephi 30: 15-17)
Men
Are Left Without Excuse
The earth shall be full of the knowledge of the Lord. Therefore, man has no excuse. Saying, "I don't believe in God" doesn't remove God from the equation. It only removes us from God. If you are not as close to Him today as you were last week, who moved? Not He.
The story is told of an alcoholic who
sought to excuse himself before his priest by saying, “I don’t believe in Santa
Claus,” to which the good father answered, “That’s a shame, because Santa Claus
believes in you.” After a significant pause, the alcoholic said, with tears in
his eyes, “You’re not talking about Santa Claus.” And the priest responded,
“No, and neither are you.”[1]
God knows and loves all of His
children. His greatest desire is that
they might come home to Him. He provided
us all with a Savior to make that possible if we will but believe and repent,
obeying the laws and ordinances of His Gospel. It saddens my heart when I see
hurting people turn away from the very source of the light that can heal
them. Even if you don’t believe in
“Santa Claus,” never forget that He believes in you and is there to help you
and save you. All you have to do is reach out for Him. Call upon His name. He will hear you. Christ died for us while
we were yet sinners. (Romans 5: 8) Do not wait until
after you repent to believe.
Hold on to what you know and seek to live according to that light. Then shall more be added upon, one line at a time.
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