Often we as Latter day saint read the Book of Mormon from beginning to end and do a little challenge in Moroni 10 at the end of the book.
3 Behold, I would exhort you that when ye shall read these things, if it be wisdom in God that ye should read them, that ye would remember how merciful the Lord hath been unto the children of men, from the creation of Adam even down until the time that ye shall receive these things, and ponder it in your hearts.
4 And when ye shall receive these things, I would exhort you that ye would ask God, the Eternal Father, in the name of Christ, if these things are not true; and if ye shall ask with a sincere heart, with real intent, having faith in Christ, he will manifest the truth of it unto you, by the power of the Holy Ghost.
5 And by the power of the Holy Ghost ye may know the truth of all things.
This promise is that if you read, ponder, and pray you may know the truth by the power of the Holy Ghost. But this process must be sincere: Not just browsing the words but studying them. Not just thinking about the words but carefully weighing them to reach conclusions. And not just saying “is it true?” but solemnly pleaing that you may know so that you can do what is right. This challenge is encouraged to all Latter Day Saints of the Church of Jesus Christ. But most of us skip right over another promise that the Book of Mormon makes in 2 Nephi 3.
12 Wherefore, the fruit of thy loins shall write; and the fruit of the loins of Judah shall write; and that which shall be written by the fruit of thy loins, and also that which shall be written by the fruit of the loins of Judah, shall grow together, unto the confounding of false doctrines and laying down of contentions, and establishing peace among the fruit of thy loins, and bringing them to the knowledge of their fathers in the latter days, and also to the knowledge of my covenants, saith the Lord.
This Promise is that the Book of Mormon and the Bible can be used together to confound and end false doctrines and contentions. These two books also promise to found peace as they give a knowledge of the past and God’s Covenant. We believe that these two books contain a fulness of the Gospel. Should we not use this promise from the scriptures to make sure that false doctrines don’t cause dissension amongst us and use these two books to define the gospel and the covenants for us to follow?
This Book of Mormon challenge is to use the scriptures to examine all that we have received that are not found in the Book of Mormon and Bible. We believe we have the truth and if we have the truth we have nothing to fear in proving God’s word. We believe in modern revelation but do we just accept it because of the source or do we test it to make sure?
Many of us view our places of worship and it’s leadership as the only way for us to have spiritual promptings and understanding. Do we believe that we cannot worship God without them? If so, Alma warned against this in Alma 33.
2 And Alma said unto them: Behold, ye have said that ye could not worship your God because ye are cast out of your synagogues. But behold, I say unto you, if ye suppose that ye cannot worship God, ye do greatly err, and ye ought to search the scriptures; if ye suppose that they have taught you this, ye do not understand them.
If we believe that we must have the church define our beliefs then we do not understand that the scriptures contain the fulness of the Gospel. We have been encouraged to study the scriptures in personal study, in families and with others in the church. There are many scriptures that show that the people who receive God’s word had searched the scriptures. In Alma 14 the people just finished listening to the teachings of Amulek and Alma.
1 And it came to pass after he had made an end of speaking unto the people many of them did believe on his words, and began to repent, and to search the scriptures.
Then in Berea the apostle Paul and Silas teach the people and we get the same reaction. In Acts 17 we learn of their encounter.
11 These were more noble than those in Thessalonica, in that they received the word with all readiness of mind, and searched the scriptures daily, whether those things were so.
12 Therefore many of them believed; also of honourable women which were Greeks, and of men, not a few.
We also can approach the promise in 2 Nephi 3:12 with open minds, being willing to repent of mistakes we may find along the way and search the scriptures to see if all things are true.
The Israelites were cursed because they had put away the Law and forgotten about it. The same thing can happen to us today. Yet, we can find favor in the Lord if we follow after the Example of King Josiah in 2 Chronicles 34 when the Book of the Law (Leviticus) was found in the Temple while cleaning. They brought it to King Josiah and read it to him.
19 And it came to pass, when the king had heard the words of the law, that he rent his clothes.
Distraught he then Orders his servants saying:
21 Go, inquire of the Lord for me, and for them that are left in Israel and in Judah, concerning the words of the book that is found: for great is the wrath of the Lord that is poured out upon us, because our fathers have not kept the word of the Lord, to do after all that is written in this book.
The Book was read, they pondered the meaning and then (recognizing their error) asked the Lord to know of the truth. The Lord responds:
27 Because thine heart was tender, and thou didst humble thyself before God, when thou heardest his words against this place, and against the inhabitants thereof, and humbledst thyself before me, and didst rend thy clothes, and weep before me; I have even heard thee also, saith the Lord.
In the remainder of chapter 34 and in the following chapter, after King Josiah hears the answer of the Lord he works hard to reestablish the Law and its holy convocations to the Land. We all ought to be like King Josiah and humble ourselves before the Lord, following Him with our whole heart, might, mind and strength. The Lord warns us and provides evidence for us to know the truth in the scriptures. In Deuteronomy 18 a very important question is addressed.
21 And if thou say in thine heart, How shall we know the word which the Lord hath not spoken?
22 When a prophet speaketh in the name of the Lord, if the thing follow not, nor come to pass, that is the thing which the Lord hath not spoken, but the prophet hath spoken it presumptuously: thou shalt not be afraid of him.
God provides evidences for us that we can prove him on. When you search to prove the word of God and it is true you will be strengthened. When you find a false doctrine do not be afraid to do away with that belief. It is not of God. God wants us to know the truth so he gave testaments for us to compare all new words against. Deuteronomy 13 gives us an example of how we can use those testaments to prove new scripture.
1 If there arise among you a prophet, or a dreamer of dreams, and giveth thee a sign or a wonder,
2 And the sign or the wonder come to pass, whereof he spake unto thee, saying, Let us go after other gods, which thou hast not known, and let us serve them;
3 Thou shalt not hearken unto the words of that prophet, or that dreamer of dreams: for the Lord your God proveth you, to know whether ye love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul.
4 Ye shall walk after the Lord your God, and fear him, and keep his commandments, and obey his voice, and ye shall serve him, and cleave unto him.
If a sign comes true that is not proof enough to believe. The message also must support what God has already given us. If it is contrary in any way then it is leading us astray. How often do we blindly accept something as truth? “It must be true… I saw it on the internet… I heard it from the bishop… I read it in a prophet’s book.” Whatever the excuse may be, God is looking to know whether you love him. An example of this principle is found in 1 Kings 13 with two prophets of God.
1 And, behold, there came a man of God out of Judah by the word of the Lord unto Beth-el: and Jeroboam stood by the altar to burn incense.
3 And he gave a sign the same day, saying, This is the sign which the Lord hath spoken; Behold, the altar shall be rent, and the ashes that are upon it shall be poured out.
5 The altar also was rent, and the ashes poured out from the altar, according to the sign which the man of God had given by the word of the Lord.
7 And the king said unto the man of God, Come home with me, and refresh thyself, and I will give thee a reward.
8 And the man of God said unto the king, If thou wilt give me half thine house, I will not go in with thee, neither will I eat bread nor drink water in this place:
9 For so was it charged me by the word of the Lord, saying, Eat no bread, nor drink water, nor turn again by the same way that thou camest.
10 So he went another way, and returned not by the way that he came to Beth-el.
11 Now there dwelt an old prophet in Beth-el; and his sons came and told him all the works that the man of God had done that day in Beth-el: the words which he had spoken unto the king, them they told also to their father.
12 And their father said unto them, What way went he? For his sons had seen what way the man of God went, which came from Judah.
14 And went after the man of God, and found him sitting under an oak: and he said unto him, Art thou the man of God that camest from Judah? And he said, I am.
15 Then he said unto him, Come home with me, and eat bread.
The Man of God tells him no like unto the King but the old prophet continues.
18 He said unto him, I am a prophet also as thou art; and an angel spake unto me by the word of the Lord, saying, Bring him back with thee into thine house, that he may eat bread and drinkwater. But he lied unto him.
19 So he went back with him, and did eat bread in his house, and drank water.
20 And it came to pass, as they sat at the table, that the word of the Lord came unto the prophet that brought him back:
21 And he cried unto the man of God that came from Judah, saying, Thus saith the Lord, Forasmuch as thou hast disobeyed the mouth of the Lord, and hast not kept the commandment which the Lord thy God commanded thee,
22 But camest back, and hast eaten bread and drunk water in the place, of the which the Lord did say to thee, Eat no bread, and drink no water; thy carcase shall not come unto the sepulchre of thy fathers.
24 And when he was gone, a lion met him by the way, and slew him: and his carcase was cast in the way, and the ass stood by it, the lion also stood by the carcase.
We learn from this story that even a prophet can lie. If they do God can still use them as his spokesman even after that lie. The Man of God had the first command of God to not return and listened to commands that were contrary that which he already had, and returned. Who was punished? The one who listened. It is good to believe a prophet but as we learn in Deuteronomy and Kings that we ought to prove them by the word of God. in 1 Corinthians 14 it tells us to prove the prophets by the prophets
32 And the spirit of the prophets are subject to the prophets
We see this in the Book of Mormon whenever a false prophet arises among them. If the prophet teaches a different God than that which was taught before, then we may prove him a false prophet. In Jacob 7 we see one such false prophet who denied Christ be rejected. Afterwords it says:
23 And it came to pass that peace and the love of God was restored again among the people; and they searched the scriptures, and hearkened no more to the words of this wicked man.
If we want peace and the love of God we need to study the scriptures and not listen to any voice that takes us away from the words which we have. We need to decide which voice we want to follow; the pleasing voice that leads us astray or the dusty old voice of the Bible and the Book of Mormon which God has laid out as a foundation for us to prove upon.
Joshua 24: 15 … choose you this day whom ye will serve; whether the gods which your fathers served… as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord.