Sunday School - Book of Mormon Lesson 48

Book of Mormon Lesson #48: “Come Unto Christ”
Moroni 7- 8, 10

1. Joseph F. Smith: [Moroni 7:3 – the rest of the Lord] The ancient prophets speak of “entering into God’s rest”; what does it mean? To my mind, it means entering into the knowledge and love of God, having faith in his purpose and in his plan, to such an extent that we know we are right, and that we are not hunting for something else, we are not disturbed by every wind of doctrine, or by the cunning and craftiness of men who lie in wait to deceive. The man who has reached that degree of faith in God that all doubt and fear have been cast from him, he has entered into “God’s rest.” Gospel Doctrine, p. 58.

2. George Q. Cannon: I will tell you a rule by which you may know the Spirit of God from the spirit of evil. The Spirit of God always produces joy and satisfaction of mind. When you have that Spirit you are happy; when you have another spirit you are not happy. The spirit of doubt is the spirit of the evil one; it produces uneasiness and other feelings that interfere with happiness and peace. Journal of Discourses, vol. 15, p. 375.

3. Joseph Smith: A person may profit by noticing the first intimation of the spirit of revelation; for instance, when you feel pure intelligence flowing into you, it may give you sudden strokes of ideas. … Thus by learning the Spirit of God and understanding it, you may grow into the principle of revelation, until you become perfect in Christ Jesus. Teachings of the Prophet Joseph Smith, p. 151.

4. Joseph Smith (to Brigham Young in a dream): You can tell the Spirit of the Lord from all other spirits – it will whisper peace and joy to their souls; it will take malice, hatred, strife and all evils from their hearts, and their whole desire will be to do good, bring forth righteousness, and build up the kingdom of God. Manuscript History of Brigham Young.

5. Theodore M. Burton: God’s light [the Light of Christ] includes the physical light we see, which makes us feel so warm and comfortable. God’s light is also the power to understand and comprehend all things. In other words, all kinds of light are related to intelligence and truth. Gen. Conference, April 1981.

6. Joseph B. Wirthlin: The Light of Christ should not be confused with the personage of the Holy Ghost, for the Light of Christ is not a personage at all. Its influence is preliminary to and preparatory to one’s receiving the Holy Ghost. The Light of Christ will lead the honest soul to “hearken to the voice” [D&C 84:46] to find the true gospel and the true Church and thereby receive the Holy Ghost. Gen. Conference, April 2003.

7. Joseph Fielding McConkie & Robert Millet: [Moroni 7:27-28 – miracles] The greatest of all miracles is the Atonement. Mortal mind cannot fathom or comprehend how one being can assume the burdens and sins of another, much less how one infinitely pure person can take responsibility for the stains of billions of impure persons. Nor can we begin to grasp how one man, Jesus of Nazareth, could take up his physical body in the resurrection and then make immortality available to all who have been tabernacled in flesh. Doctrinal Commentary on the Book of Mormon, vol. 4, p. 339.

8. John Taylor: [Moroni 7:29-31 – angels] The angels are our watchmen. Angels ward off evil. One might as well undertake to throw the water out of this world into the moon with a teaspoon, as to do away with the supervision of angels upon the human mind. They are the police of heaven and report whatever transpires on earth, and carry the petitions and supplications of men, women, and children to the mansions of remembrance where they are kept as tokens of obedience by the sanctified in “golden vials” labeled “the prayers of the saints.” The Gospel Kingdom, p. 31.

9. Joseph F. Smith: When messengers are sent to minister to the inhabitants of this earth, they are not strangers, but from the ranks of our kindred, friends, and fellow-beings and fellow-servants. Our fathers and mothers, brothers, sisters and friends who have passed away from this earth, having been faithful, and worthy to enjoy these rights and privileges, may have a mission given them to visit their relatives and friends upon the earth again, bringing from the divine Presence messages of love, of warning, or reproof and instruction, to those whom they had learned to love in the flesh. Gospel Doctrine, pp. 435-36.

10. Joseph Smith: The doctrine of baptizing children, or sprinkling them, or they must welter in hell, is a doctrine not true, not supported in Holy Writ, and is not consistent with the character of God. All children are redeemed by the blood of Jesus Christ, and the moment that children leave this world, they are taken to the bosom of Abraham. History of the Church, vol. 4, p. 5.

11. Joseph Smith: [Moroni 10:3-5] Search the scriptures … and ask your Heavenly Father, in the name of His Son Jesus Christ, to manifest the truth unto you, and if you do it with an eye single to His glory, nothing doubting, He will answer you by the power of His Holy Spirit. You will then know for yourselves and not for another. You will not then be dependent on man for the knowledge of God; nor will there be any room for speculation. Teachings of the Prophet Joseph Smith, pp. 11-12.

12. William Grant Bangerter: I had great joy yesterday in hearing the call of Elder Helio da Rocha Camargo, our companion and fellow member of the Church. Brother Camargo and his wife were stalwart, faithful people before they joined the Church. They had been brought up in the nurture and admonition of the Lord. Brother Camargo was a graduate of the military academy of Brazil. Later, still a young man, he became a Methodist minister. … One evening two young men called at his home. … He invited the young men in, and in the process of their presentation they left him a copy of the Book of Mormon. On a subsequent visit they inquired if he had read the book. He explained that he had read considerable, making notes of the things with which he did not agree. The elder then suggested that it was not in keeping with a book of scripture to read it to see what was wrong with it, but that it should be read as Moroni says, “with a sincere heart” and “real intent,” having “faith in Christ” and desiring to know the truth of the book. Brother Camargo said he found it necessary to read the book again. In the process the Spirit witnessed to him that it was the true word of God, and he joined the Church with his family. Gen. Conference, April 1985.

13. Gordon B. Hinckley: If the Book of Mormon is true, then God lives. … If the Book of Mormon is true, then Jesus is the Son of God, the Only Begotten of the Father in the flesh. … If the Book of Mormon is true, then Jesus is verily our Redeemer, the Savior of the world. … If the Book of Mormon is true, Joseph Smith was a prophet of God. … If this book is true, we have a living prophet. … If the Book of Mormon is true, the Church is true. Be Thou an Example, pp. 103-05.

14. Keith B. McMullin: The Holy Ghost has a more powerful effect upon the soul than anything else received in any other way. A millennium of experience through sight, sound, touch, taste, smell, and all the powers of the universe combined cannot approach the sublime and complete experience of one brief moment under the influence of the Holy Ghost. Gen. Conference, April 1996.

15. Gordon B. Hinckley: I plead with you, my brothers and sisters, that if you have any doubt concerning any doctrine of this Church, that you put it to the test. Try it. Live the principle. Get on your knees and pray about it, and God will bless you with a knowledge of the truth of this work. Gen. Conference, April 2005.

16. Stephen E. Robinson: [Moroni 10:32 – come unto Christ, and be perfected in him] Perfection comes through the Atonement of Christ. We become one with him, with a perfect being. And as we become one, there is a merger. Some of my students are studying business, and they understand it better if I talk in business terms. You take a small bankrupt firm that’s about ready to go under and merge it with a corporate giant. What happens? Their assets and liabilities flow together, and the new entity that is created is solvent. … Spiritually, this is what happens when we enter into the covenant relationship with our Savior. We have liabilities, he has assets. He proposes to us a covenant relationship. I use the word “propose” on purpose because it is a marriage of a spiritual sort that is being proposed. That is why he is called the Bridegroom. This covenant relationship is so intimate that it can be described as a marriage. I become one with Christ, and as partners we work together for my salvation and my exaltation. My liabilities and his assets flow into each other. I do all that I can do, and he does what I cannot yet do. The two of us together are perfect. Believing Christ, 1989-90 BYU Devotional and Fireside Speeches.

17. Harold B. Lee: [Moroni 10:32 – then is his grace sufficient for you] Spiritual certainty that is necessary to salvation must be preceded by a maximum of individual effort. Grace, or the free gift of the Lord’s atoning power, must be preceded by personal striving. Stand Ye in Holy Places, p. 213.

18. Jeffrey R. Holland: The Savior said, “Peace I leave with you, my peace I give unto you. … Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid” (John 14:27). I submit to you, that may be one of the Savior’s commandments that is, even in the hearts of otherwise faithful Latter-day Saints, almost universally disobeyed; and yet I wonder whether our resistance to this invitation could be any more grievous to the Lord’s merciful heart. I can tell you this as a parent: as concerned as I would be if somewhere in their lives one of my children were seriously troubled or unhappy or disobedient, nevertheless I would be infinitely more devastated that at such a time that child could not trust me to help or thought his or her interest was unimportant to me or unsafe in my care. In that same spirit, I am convinced that none of us can appreciate how deeply it wounds the loving heart of the Savior of the world when he finds that his people do not feel confident in his care or secure in his hands or trust in his commandments. Come Unto Me, Ensign, April 1998.


Next week: Introduction to the Doctrine & Covenants and Church history (read Explanatory Introduction to the D&C)