A simple concept came to me today, so simple that it can boggle the mind.
The simple concept was as follows. For hundreds of years during the time of the Old Testament (BC), certain men prophesied the coming of Jesus Christ. Many ancient scrolls that prophesied of Christ were confirmed as existing before the birth of Jesus.
Then after Jesus Christ was born and grew into a man, he came and announced himself as the Son of God and Saviour of mankind. He performed miracles and many visions were seen to pinpoint Jesus as the Son of God. After his crucifixion, he rose from the dead and appeared before his followers, proving he was the one crucified and risen.
These events and especially what Jesus had clearly stated of himself is astonishing to say the least. The thought was that how can a man, who proclaimed himself as the Son of God, with all other evidence proving who he was, end up still denied today?
I have heard and read many personal opinions of the man we call Jesus Christ and many discount his divinity and attribute him to a minor complement, that he was a wise and good man and that was all. Just a “good man”, that was it. All the rest Jesus was and still is excluded.
The fact that people can discredit this man so easily, with the clear and simple evidence before their eyes, is a fact that is hard to swallow, because it displays such a denial of the truth. Why would a man proclaim himself as the Son of God, accept his role as the one to be crucified (horribly painful) and not be real? How this shows me that people really do not want to hear or see the truth and they accuse us of being wrong.
How simple the fact of his presence and his words and claims, so simple that one would think that this simple truth is undeniable, but it was denied by many. This leads me to think and perceive that those who follow false doctrines born of men while denying the simple truths and commandments in the Bible is another mind defying fact.
What this also tells me is that since the simple fact and truth that Jesus is the Son of God, that denying him to any degree shows the selfishness and blindness people choose to keep. In light of that, what value is their word when they speak contrary to the doctrines of God? – No value is the answer.
This rolls into much more.
The First Vision with the prophet Joseph Smith. There was no Book of Mormon, as we now have it, in the world before the First Vision. No thought, no word, nothing existed to influence Joseph Smith to believe there was a restored gospel. In fact the opposite was true, that there were many charismatic and influential preachers of many different Christian denominations that tried to influence Joseph and he nearly joined one of those groups. In addition, in this interesting fact, while Joseph Smith attended and listened to the many different Bible only preachers, Satan left him alone. The moment that Joseph went to the forest grove to pray to God, that was when Satan attacked. Interesting isn’t it?
Joseph Smith was at dis-ease with the preaching of that day, until…now read this slowly and clearly,…until he read in the Bible the passage of James 1:5, where it says that if we need wisdom is to ask of God.
What did Joseph do? Did he follow a false Christ or false doctrine? – The answer is “NO”. What did Joseph do?
Joseph did the real and humble Christian thing…He followed the Bible.
Joseph went and prayed alone, in the forest, and God the Father and God the Son, Jesus Christ, appeared before him and the rest is now history.
Simple, eh?
That is a very simple fact that glares into everyone’s eyes, and to repeat that simple fact is this. “The Bible”, the very book that so many other disbelievers use to discount this Church and the Prophet. It was the “Bible” that got Joseph to that vision. There was no other book or influence and the other preachers did not succeed with Joseph. How he followed the same Bible other Christian’s have and claim and,… the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints was born.
Joseph followed the Bible, how simple can it be!
Funny how personal pride can get in the way of these simple truths.
Amen
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