Come Follow Me LDS- Book of Mormon Introductory Pages

 'A Covenant & A Formula'

-  Moroni's message

-  Another Testament of Jesus Christ

-  The Plan of Salvation for the world plays out through 'Covenant'

-  The roles of Manasseh and Ephraim

-  The temporal and spiritual sides of 'The 6 Questions'

-  The Book of Mormon Formula  

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in this Cwic media episode we're going

to talk about a covenant and a formula

here we go alright so because we did an

intro to the Book of Mormon this episode

on the title page and the introduction

pages is gonna be a little bit shorter

very busy week this week so but I do

want to touch on a few things that I

think are really important for this

week's study first of all I want to back

up before the title page and talk about

the title itself of the book The Book of

Mormon another testament of Jesus Christ

we cannot emphasize enough that that's

what this book is if you've looked at or

listened to the last episode you'll have

an understanding that this book is

coming out of an environment the authors

are coming out of an environment where

Christ has been removed or has been

pushed away politically and theocratically

and theologically and so that's

what springs to life this this book is a

counter-reaction to the environment that

Lehi primarily has when he is in

Jerusalem because of all of the events

that have led up to that period all the

political mayhem and all of the changes

in the theocracy all the way to its core

in the Temple of Solomon

so understanding as you read this book

it's not just a nice little title that

they've added here a subtitle of another

testament of Jesus Christ to make it

sound better

it it's telling you what it really is

that's really what this book is that

explains it as well as you can that it

is another testament besides the Bible

of Jesus Christ and we will see that

throughout the all of the books and

throughout all the pages here in this

book it is here to testify of Jesus as

the Son of God and as the Christ so with

that let's go over to the title page

here important to know that this was

written by Moroni right this is not

something from Joseph Smith he didn't

add this in this is written by Moroni

and I want to point out just a few

things here

about what Murrow and I has to say think

about this he has spent with his father

Mormon he has gone through all of the

abridgement of what Mormon has done and

he has added to that the book of ether

he has added his own words at the end of

booklet the Book of Mormon and in the

book of Moroni and as he brings all this

together and is contemplating what this

whole message is he comes back with this

title page he has kind of a bird's-eye

view of everything that has happened and

transpired here throughout the Book of

Mormon and a clear understanding that

this was written not just for his people

but for us today and this is all part of

the concept of covenant within the

gospel so this is what he says in

starting off here with this title page

he says wherefore it is an abridgment of

the record of the people of Nephi and

also of the Lamanites so it's a record

of the Lamanites mostly because the

Nephites wrote about the Lamanites right

this we're gonna see this book has been

handed down mostly father to son but

handed down from one generation to the

next or one prophet to the next until it

ends up in Moroni’s hands

and it's all this line is all a direct

descendants II of Nephi so it's a family

account just in a sense the way that the

Bible is the Old Testament is about a

family right it's about the ancestors of

Abraham and going back further to Adam

and Enoch and know it cetera but then we

get Jacob Israel and his twelve sons and

and the Old Testament is a record of

that family so when we hear about Nephi

writing about just him and salmon and

Jacob and Joseph and Lehi and Sarah that

doesn't mean that's all that there was

there in Zoram right and then Ishmael

and his wife and his children we

don't know who was involved here this is

just about primarily Lehigh's family and

it's the authors that come and descend

from Nephi that keep a record of the

Nephites primarily but it was written

it's of the Lamanites and it's written

to the Lamanites and we see this in

throughout the Book of Mormon where

there's a continual effort to try and

get over to the Lamanites even though

they're their enemies even though they

want to conquer them they were

continually when righteous trying to

preach the gospel to them so whether it

is Enos or whether it is the sons of

Mosiah that are trying to get over and

teach the Lamanites and it says that the

Lamanites who are a remnant of the house

of Israel now this is important to

understand so it's interesting to me

here that what Murrow and I kind of is

doing here is that he is saying that

they are a remnant of the house of

Israel what he may be talking about is

that Northern Kingdom that we've gone

over right Manasseh which is who Nephi

and Laman and Lemuel and Sam and most

everyone except for Zoram and then

eventually the mullah kites we'll get to

that at another

another episode but they're there from a

NASA they are from the tribe the tribes

from the north which was called Israel

and he seems to separate that out here

and talk about them and in a sense the

Western world is a lot attributed to

Israel attributed to Ephraim we'll get

to that eventually to whether by

adoption or who knows by direct lineage

as well from the scattered tribes but

this is about covenant right this is

about covenant this is about going back

all the way to Abraham and then coming

down to Jacob so you have the God of

Abraham Isaac and Jacob and there were

covenants that were made to them what

kind of covenants well the kind of

covenant that would have an oath with it

right the oath and covenant of the

Melchizedek Priesthood and so that goes

to them and their descendants and yet

they spend most of the time in the Old

Testament without the majority of the

people actually having Melchizedek

priesthood but the Nephites have it it's

the only way they have priesthood more

than likely is through the Melchizedek

Priesthood at least the prophets and

they are part of this covenant through

Abraham Isaac and Jacob and through

Ephraim and Manasseh as well coming down

through joseph so this is about Moroni

here going back and saying in a sense

indirectly these are a remnant of Israel

and this is all part of a specific

covenant and in some way that's kind of

the plan right how the plan is going to

work is through this this covenant

relationship not just with God but

between Israel and Judah between Israel

and Judah and the Gentiles as well and

so he says this is written to the

Lamanites for a remnant of the house of

Israel and also to Jew so he seems to

separate that

from the house of Israel the house of

Judah so to speak and Gentile so those

that are outside of the covenant blood

so to speak which would be many of us

that may have been adopted in or many of

us that may have been brought in through

transmit through blood as well

what matters here is that the Covenant

follows a family and then we are all

brought in one way or the other into

that family and into that covenant if we

choose if we hear the gospel if we

accept it and we accept the ordinances

then all of us are able to be bound into

that covenant relationship with God

interestingly here also the Mulekites

are not mentioned because they

are absorbed into the people of Nephi so

we get this a couple times throughout

these introductory pages there's no

mention I don't think of well there's a

little mention of the of the mule kites

but here it's not saying that it's

written for or by the Mulekites right

it's simply the people of Nephi

and that's something to understand going

forward is it for much of what we read

in the Book of Mormon the majority of

the people of Nephi are not really the

people of Nephi we don't usually think

about that but the majority are actually

mullah kites who are it seems mostly or

at least Mulek was from the tribe of

Judah so something to think about as we

start going through the Book of Mormon

here down a little bit further in the

first paragraph it says sealed by the

hand of Moroni and hid up under the Lord

to come forth in due time by way of the

Gentile the interpretation thereof by

the gift of God two things there first

of all when we hear Gentile oftentimes

there's a few different

definitions for that that doesn't mean

that some of those Gentiles are not

the blood of Israel I think there's a

really good chance that you have a

pretty strong mixture of the blood of

Israel in there why does that matter I

don't know and maybe it really doesn't

ultimately but by way of the Gentile is

typically European descendants not

always right the Gentile would be

everybody outside of Israel the family

of Israel the family of Jacob that would

be everyone but oftentimes in in the

land of Judah especially later what they

are referring to when they talk about

the Gentiles at least the ones that they

had contact with and they were speaking

of when they talked about the nations

that's what Gentiles means oftentimes

they were talking about the West right

they were talking about the Greeks and

the Europeans and others and that's

what ends up happening and so there is

this covenant then between Gentile and

Jew between Gentile and Israel right

where Manasseh

has buried the plates and a record the

most perfect book on earth and they've

gone through all of the turmoil all of

the opposition and all of the sweat and

tears to bring us this and then it's

brought out not by Manasseh not by

Israel but by the Gentiles and we can

say Ephraim now remember Ephraim and

Manasseh are brothers they were brothers

under Joseph Manasseh was the oldest

Ephraim was younger but Ephraim ended up

with the birthright and so there's a

covenant relationship here that we hear

about between Ephraim and Manasseh and

that together represents Joseph in many

ways right those are his two sons and

Joseph or Ephraim is the name of the

Northern Kingdom of Israel that was led

by Ephraim

by Ephraimites and so we're getting

this again there's always two lands in

Egypt there's Upper and Lower Egypt

there's the northern kingdom and the

southern kingdom or Judah in Palestine

with the Israelites it's if there's two

because there needs to be a bringing

together which is covenant and as we go

through the Book of Mormon we're gonna

see this theme everywhere especially

with Nephi where he is really going hard

on the covenant relationship of Israel

and as he talks about the vision that he

has of the tree of life that Lehi had

and then further goes through this story

this future story this prophecy this

vision about these different peoples and

and how they work together in this

covenant relationship and we're just

playing it out in our day and so the Jew

and the Gentile and Israel we see it all

throughout the Book of Mormon unlike

what we see in the Old Testament we hear

all about how the gospel will be

preached to the Isles of the sea when

we're in the Book of Mormon to all

peoples and that everybody is equal to

God and that is oftentimes different

than what we hear in the Old Testament

so moving on here the second point I

wanted to make in that last sense there

is that the interpretation thereof by

the gift of God and of course well what

ends up happening with the Book of

Mormon it's the controversy right about

how the Book of Mormon came to be here

Moroni is laying it out for us right

away listen don't worry about it he's

saying right now he knows already that

the interpretation of this that the

bringing to light of the golden plates

is by the gift of God right it is

going to be by the gift of God and it

doesn't matter who it doesn't matter

when it doesn't matter

how and it doesn't matter where what

matters is what and why what we have in

the Book of Mormon and why we have it

and when we focus on those two things

those are the spiritual questions what

and why we can see what the fruit of the

efforts are here which is the Book of

Mormon and understand why we have it and

those are the two questions we really

should be focusing on if we allow

ourselves to get muddled in an argument

and about a history of how this happened

and who it was and where they were when

it happened and when it happened and

it's completely secondary I feel

the same way about the Book of

Abraham I don't care about those things

I do but not as much what is it let me

see what it is and push everything else

aside it's all everything else is a

distraction or can be it's like our

values hierarchy right if we put those

things up at the top and put down what

it really is what the book really is and

why we have it then we're messing

everything up we're taking temporal

things temporal questions temporal

issues and we're putting them at the top

and we're dropping our spiritual reasons

our spiritual questions are spiritual

reasoning and rationale at the bottom

and Moroni seems to know that and

then he brings this up and it gives us

our why right this is our Y which is the

show under the remnants of the house of

Israel what great things the Lord hath

done for their fathers we're gonna see

that theme over and over again remember

remember what the Lord has done for you

that's a state a spiritual state that

the Lord wants us to be in constantly is

in a state of remembrance we need to

attach ourselves keep it real right here

in in front of our heads here in front

of our minds what the Lord has done for

gratitude what great things he has done

for their fathers and that they may know

the covenants of the Lord that they are

not cast off forever

again this is about we are all bringing

brought into this family of the covenant

that's what the Book of Mormon a lot of

what the Book of Mormon is about it's

one of the major themes of the Book of

Mormon

what's the other one we've gone over

already and also to the convincing of

the Jew and Gentile that Jesus is the

Christ the eternal God manifesting

himself unto all nations Moroni sees

this from the very beginning and what he

has here from his father and from what

he is personally inscribed here within

the Book of Mormon as well right he sees

that that's what this is all about he

knows that this is what it's about he

has been studying these scriptures

probably for his entire life and this is

about convincing us that Jesus is the

Christ because it does a better job of

that than any other book right it

finishes off by saying this and now if

there are faults they are the mistakes

of men wherefore condemn not the things

of God that ye may be found spotless at

the judgment seat of Christ he knows

already he's probably gone through this

already with unbelievers in his time

most everyone becomes an unbeliever so

to speak in his time he knows how this

works people start to worry about the

who the how the when and the where and

they push aside the spiritual things

he knows this already that this is

probably what's going to happen it's

probably already happened with these

records with his own people and then at

the bottom here it says translated by

Joseph Smith Jr an interesting piece of

trivia here is that in the third edition

of the Book of Mormon I think that was

ten years after so I think that makes it

1840 the at the bottom

this I didn't say translated by Joseph

Smith it just said Moroni so that's

where we're getting this this title page

here is from Moroni all right the next

page very quickly is something that we

get from under Bruce R McConkie in his

time coming out with the 8 1981 edition

so this is only about 40 years old a

little under 40 years old and he and his

team put this together as well as most

of what we have in the LDS scriptures

that surround the actual work of

scripture here so the chapter headings

and the study guides and the topical

guides etc but a couple things he points

out here that I think is interesting he

says the Book of Mormon is a volume of

Holy Scripture comparable to the Bible

it is a record of God's dealings with

ancient inhabitants of the Americas and

contains the fullness of the everlasting

gospel I hear sometimes from people that

have studied the Book of Mormon and they

say well there's not really a whole lot

of doctrine that we would not get from

say for example the Bible that's in here

we get a lot of our Mormon doctrine from

the pearl of great price and Doctrine

and Covenants which is true but this has

the fullness of the gospel in it what is

the fullness of the gospel the fullness

of the gospel is about the Melchizedek

Priesthood the fullness of the gospel is

about the Son of God and about mercy and

grace and opportunity and us becoming

like him and having potential to grow so

even though we may not see a whole lot

about the pre-existence here or the

afterlife or specific doctrines on a

mother in heaven or anything like this

that we get from Joseph Smith this does

have the fullness of the gospel and the

reason it's important to point that out

is because in a lot of the Old Testament

it does not have the fullness of the

gospel it does not speak of Christ and

the Son of God in the Old Testament

almost everything we get in the Book of

Mormon is during Old Testament times it

is pre birth

of Jesus right almost the entire Book of

Mormon and so it's a huge contrast to

what we have in the Old Testament we do

know about the Melchizedek Priesthood

but not much from the Old Testament and

we don't hear about the Son of God the

Lamb of God unless we look for it and we

can see it laying under some of the

narratives and the prophecies and the

visions especially in the Psalms as well

so the Book of Mormon does have the

fullness of the gospel in it and then

interesting to me again down a little

bit further in the in the second

paragraph it says it's about an account

of two great civilizations one came from

Jerusalem in 600 BC separated into two

nations known as the Nephites and

Lamanites the other came much earlier

when the Lord can found in the tongues

at the Tower of Babel this group is

known as the jarred ice again the mule

kites just kind of get sucked into the

people of Nephi here remember that is a

separate a completely separate voyage

and Exodus that was made outside of the

Nephites and outside of the Jaredites

it's the Book of Mormon really has three

great journeys that had to take place

right for these three peoples to end up

here roughly around the same place right

so we can think about how that might

have happened but probably a much

smaller world anciently then we give

the ancients credit for then down a

little further we get a little bit of an

the story of how the plates got to

Joseph Smith Moroni reappears and kind

of like you know you've got the icon of

John the Baptist as the ironic

priesthood holder or the icons of the

Melchizedek Priesthood with the quorum

of the twelve and probably a first

presidency you in Peter James and John

they return to Joseph Smith here it's

Moroni who seals up the record and then

delivers it to Joseph Smith but he does

it it's interesting on September 21st

1823 is when he comes to him just point

a note here that is the fall equinox

which is kind of an

period of time in the stars it was

written in the stars I suppose and then

Joseph Smith is quoted and he says I

told the Brethren that the Book of

Mormon was the most correct of any book

on earth and the keystone of our

religion I think that's really key to

understand no pun intended there to

understand what that means it is the key

to our the keystone of our religion in

other words this is the Church of Jesus

Christ of Latter day Saints and we are

to get closer to God by this book than

any other book out there we are to

receive a stronger conversion of the

atonement and of who Jesus Christ really

is through the Book of Mormon

so of course Christ being the key and

the keystone of the gospel the Book of

Mormon that testifies of Jesus Christ it

would be the keystone of our religion

there would be attached to the book and

he says in a man would get nearer to God

by abiding by its precepts than by any

other book so this is a book of

instruction right it's like the precepts

that are taught in here what are they

telling us it's not a book about just

information it's not a book to study to

just learn more about something and give

us knowledge it's a book about who

we need to become it's a manual for

becoming more like the Savior and

following the precepts of his gospel and

this book helps us do that more than

anything else we don't get closer to it

just by the Lord by just reading it it's

a book of action right it's by abiding

by its precepts that we are able to get

closer to God than by any other book and

the last two paragraphs are important I

think for everybody even if you've

already got a testimony of the Book of

Mormon we invite all men everywhere to

read the Book of Mormon to ponder in

their hearts the message it contains

and then to ask God the Eternal Father

in the name of Christ if the book is

true those who pursue this course and

ask in faith will gain a testimony of

its truth and divinity by the power of

the Holy Ghost and says see Moroni 10 3

2 5 this is a formula it's the same

formula that Joseph Smith followed with

the first vision so this tape teaches us

a precept right here read the book

ponder it in your heart

take it and ponder and I find that the

message in the Book of Mormon just has a

different flavor right it has a

different spiritual and mental flavor to

me than any other book of Scripture and

I'll bet you've sensed the same thing

and then to ask God so we read and then

we ponder and then we ask God if the

book is true or if this portion of the

book is true or if this precept that

Alma is talking about is a true precept

is it giving me truth that's an I think

an important part of gaining a testimony

of the gospel of the Book of Mormon and

of the church and the priesthood can you

glean truths out of the Book of Mormon

and if we do this in faith and ask in

faith then we are blessed with the Holy

Ghost and that should be one of our

objectives this year as we go through

this that we continually read ponder and

pray in the name of Christ in faith

about the truth of these things and I

think that will give us a great greater

conversion and a greater conviction a

greater testimony and a greater faith in

everything above and then this has

followed with those who gained this

divine witness from the Holy Ghost Holy

Spirit will also come to know by the

same power that Jesus Christ is the

savior of the world

so as you learn these assigned chapters

week by week and you get a greater and

greater conviction of the veracity of

these things that these authors have

told us in these narratives and these

stories and this doctrine then we will

buy the same power of the Holy Spirit

know that Jesus Christ is the savior of

the world that's one of the great things

about this book it all comes together

and meets at that understanding that

Jesus is the Christ and that Joseph

Smith is his Revelator and prophet in

these last days being the head of the

dispensation and at the Church of Jesus

Christ of latter-day saints is the

Lord's kingdom once again established on

the earth is there anything more

important than those things preparatory

to the second coming of the Messiah so

that is our objective as we go through

this series this year with come follow

me is to follow that formula continually

each week with the things that we learn

that we study that we read and ponder

and ask and ask in faith about the

things that we're reading and I think

that if we can do that with a sincere

heart and with faith every week that by

the end of the year we're going to have

a much greater conviction and a much

greater faith in the Book of Mormon in

its veracity in the precepts that it

teaches in our Savior Jesus Christ and

Joseph Smith and in the church and that

is something that brings peace to all of

us that assurance write that knowledge

that spiritual knowledge and it is a

knowledge that testimony that these

things are true I'll talk to you next

time