The teachings of Jesus Christ in the Book of Mormon

 My accounting of the teachings of Jesus was started due to various discussions with Mormons, and their Sacrament prayer says that they believe keeping the commandments of Jesus Christ is part of their covenant of the gospel. These comments are not intended to disparage their faith in Jesus, but if you compare the teachings of Jesus in the Bible to the book of Mormon you can easily note they are not the same teachings. .

After this study of what Jesus taught in the Bible, I'm convinced the primary teachings of Jesus are as John said, that the law came by Moses, but grace and truth came by Jesus Christ.  If we believe (as Jesus defined belief), we seek the light of, and obedience to, His word.  He said His words were imperishable by any means.

Is the Book of Mormon what LDS claim, “Another testimony of Jesus Christ”?   Is the testimony of Jesus Christ the same in the Book of Mormon and the Bible?  Or is the witness of Jesus Christ from the book of Mormon different?  If it is different, are the differences insignificant, significant, or critical differences?   In this investigation I will also be looking briefly at both the actual teachings as well as the prophetic pattern commanded by God in the Bible as it relates to the gospel of Jesus Christ.

Exodus 25:8,9;  "And let them make Me a sanctuary, that I may dewll among them.  According to all that I show you, that is, the pattern of the tabernacle and the pattern of all its furnishings, just so you shall make it."

Hebrews 8:1-6;   "Now this is the main point of the things we are saying:  We have such a High Priest, who is seated at the right hand of the throne of the Majesty in the heavens, a Minister of the sanctuary and of the true tabernacle which the Lord erected, and not man.  For every high priest is appointed to offer both gifts and sacrifices.  Therefore it is necessary that this One also have something to offer.  For if He were on earth, He would not be a priest, since there are priests who offer the gifts according to the law; who serve the copy and shadow of the heavenly things, as Moses was divinely instructed when he was about to make the tabernacle.  For He said, 'See that you make all things according to the pattern shown you on the mountain.'  But now He has obtained a more excellent ministry, inasmuch as He is also Mediator of a better covenant, which was established on better promises."

9:11-15;  "But Christ came as High Priest of the good things to come, with the greater and more  perfect tabernacle not made with hands, that is not of this creation.  Not with the blood of goats and calves, but with His own blood He entered the Most Holy Place once for all, having obtained eternal redemption.  For if the blood of bulls  and goats and the ashes of a heifer; sprinkling the unclean, sanctifies for the purifying of the flesh; how much more shall the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered Himself without spot to God, cleanse your conscience from dead works to serve the living God?  And for this reason He is the Mediator of the new covenant, by means of death, for the redemption of the transgression under the first covenant, that those who are called my receive the promise of the eternal inheritance."  

22-28; "And according to the law almost all things are purified with blood, and without shedding of blood there is no remission.  Therefore it was necessary that the copies of the things in the heavens should be purified with these, but the heavenly things themselves with better sacrifices than these. For Christ has not entered the holy places made with hands, which are copies of the true, but into heaven itself, now to appear in the presence of God for us: not that He should offer Himself often, as the high priest enters the Most Holy Place every year with the blood of another - He would have had to suffer often since the foundation of the world; but now, once at the end of the ages, He has appeared to put away sin by the sacrifice of Himself.  And as it is appointed for men to die once, but after this the judgment, so Christ was offered once to bear the sins of many.  To those who eagerly wait for Him He will appear a second time, apart from sin, for salvation."

An early review of the Book of Mormon was done by Alexander Campbell in 1831, and can be found at the following link:

 http://www.lds-mormon.com/campbell.shtml

Some changes have been made to the BOM since, but some points he brought up still remain.

In the BOM we find that repentance and baptism was reportedly taught in the Americas long before Jesus earthly ministry in Israel, and I believe it is their doctrine that the gospel of Jesus Christ, including baptism and the forgiveness of sins,  was instituted with Adam and Eve, and lost a number of times both before and after the earthly appearance of the Savior.  In Matthew 16:18 Jesus said; "And I say also unto thee, that thou art Peter, and upon this rock I will build my church; and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it."   In Mosiah 18:17 we can read; "And they were called the church of God, or the church of Christ, from that time forward."  This allegedly took place about 147 BC.  Jesus said ‘I will build’ about AD 30, and used the future tense – that it had not been done at that time.  The Church is not spoken of as present tense until Acts 2:38 on the day of Pentecost when 3000 responded to the first gospel sermon after the resurrection of Jesus Christ.

There are prophecies in the BOM relating to the birth and death of Jesus that are different than those found in the Bible account (prophecy from the Old Testament that Peter defined as 'the prophetic word made sure').   I found different prophecies from the Book of Mormon, book of Helaman, chapter 14 on. You can study these for yourself and see that the LDS Scriptures are different.

One of the precepts of Jesus is to be careful who we hear.  He cautioned of the need to believe what Moses wrote is true, for if we don't believe Moses, we can't believe Him.  This issue solely rests upon the word of Jesus as the true Witness,  Apostle, Prophet and Lamb of God.

One account of the LDS gospel before the resurrection of Jesus Christ or His visit to the Americas can be found from 3 Nephi 7:14-22;

“And it came to pass in the thirty and first year that they were divided into tribes, every man according to his family, kindred and friends; nevertheless they had come to an agreement that they would not go to war one with another; but they were not united as to their laws, and their manner of government, for they were established according to the minds of those who were their chiefs and their leaders.  But they did establish very strict laws that one tribe should not trespass against another, insomuch that in some degree they had peace in the land; nevertheless, their hearts were turned from the Lord their God; and they did stone the prophets and did cast them out from among them.And it came to pass that Nephi – having been visited by angels and also the voice of the Lord, therefore having seen angels; and being eye-witness, and having had power given unto him that he might know concerning the ministry of Christ, and also being eye-witness to their quick return from righteousness unto their wickedness and abominations; Therefore, being ‘grieved for the hardness of their hearts and the blindness of their minds – went forth among them in that same year, and began to testify, boldly, repentance and remission of sins through faith on the Lord Jesus Christ. And he did minister many things unto them; and all of them cannot be written, and a part of them would not suffice, therefore they are not written in this book.  And Nephi did minister with ‘power and with great authority.’ And it came to pass that they were angry with him, even because he had greater power than they, for it were not possible that they could disbelieve his words, for so great was his faith on the Lord Jesus Christ that angels did minister to him daily.  And in the name of Jesus did he cast out devils, and ‘unclean spirits; and even his brother did he raise from the dead, after he had been stoned and suffered death by the people.  And the people saw it, and did witness of it, and were angry with him because of his power; and he did also do ‘many more miracles, in the sight of the people, in the name of Jesus.  And it came to pass that the thirty and first year did pass away, and there were but few who were converted unto the Lord; but as many as were converted did truly signify unto the people that they had been visited by the power and Spirit of God, which was in Jesus Christ, in whom they believed.  And as many as had devils cast out from them, and were healed of their sicknesses and their infirmities, did truly manifest unto the mothers and our fair daughters, and our children have been spared, and not have been buried up in that great city Moronihah.  And thus were the howlings of the people great and terrible.”

I'd like to include a note about what the apostles of Jesus said regarding the gospel and when it was given.  There are several important records:

Col. 1:24-28;  "I now rejoice in my sufferings for you, and fill up in my flesh what is lacking in the afflictions of Christ, for the sake of His body, which is the church, of which I became a minister according to the stewardship from God which was given to me for you, to fulfill the word of God, the mystery which has been hidden from ages and from generations, but now has been revealed to His saints."

I Peter 1:1-12;  "Peter, an apostle of Jesus Christ, To the pilgrims of the Dispersion in Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia, and Bithynia, elect according to the foreknowledge of God the Father, in sanctification of the Spirit, for obedience and sprinkling of the blood of Jesus Christ: Grace to you and peace be multiplied. Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who according to His abundant mercy has begotten us again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, to an inheritance incorruptible and undefiled and that does not fade away, reserved in heaven for you, who are kept by the power of God through faith for salvation ready to be revealed in the last time.  In this you greatly rejoice, though now for a little while, if need be, you have been grieved by various trials, that the genuineness of your faith, being much more precious than gold that perishes, though it is tested by fire, may be found to praise, honor, and glory at the revelation of Jesus Christ, whom having not seen you love.  Though now you do not see Him, yet believing, you rejouce with joy inexpressible and full of glory, receiving the end of your faith- the salvation of your souls.  Of this salvation the prophets have inquired and searched carefully, who prophesied of the grace tht would come to you, searching what, or what manner of time, the Spirit of Christ who was in them was indicating when He testified beforehand the sufferings of Christ and the glories that would follow.  To them it was revealed that, not to themselves, but to us they were ministering the things which now have been reported to you through those who have preached the gospel to you by the Holy Spirit sent from heaven - things which angels desire to look into.

Romans 16: 25-27;

"Now to Him who is able to establish you according to my gospel and the preaching of Jesus Christ, according to the revelation of the mystery kept secret since the world began, but now made manifest, and by the prophetic Scriptures made known to all nations, according to the commandment of the everlasting God, for obedience to the faith - to God alone wise, be glory through Jesus Christ forever.  Amen."  (Note that 'by the prophetic Scriptures' is this to be 'made known to the nations according to the commandment of the everlasting God.'  What 'prophetic Scriptures was Paul refering to?)

Ephesians 3:1-12;  For this reason I, Paul, the prisoner of Christ Jesus for you Gentiles - if indeed you have heard of the dispensation of the grace of God which was given to me for you, how that by revelation He made known to me the mystery (as I have briefly written already, by which, when you read, you may understand my knowledge in the mystery of Christ), which in other ages was not made known to the sons of men, as it has now been revealed by the Spirit to His holy apostles and prophets: that the Gentiles should be fellow heirs, of the same body, and partakers of His promise in Christ through the gospel, of which I became a minister according to the gift of the grace of God given to me by the effective working of His power.  To me, who am less than the least of all the saints, this grace was given, that I should preach among the Gentiles the unsearchable riches of Christ, and make all see what is the fellowship of the mystery, which from the beginning of the ages has been hidden in God who created all things through Jesus Christ; to the intent that now the manifold wisdom of God might be made known by the Church to the principalities and powers in the heavenly places, according to the eternal purpose which He accomplished in Christ Jesus our Lord, in whom we have boldness and access with confidence through faith in Him."

In the book of Mormon we find:

2 Nephi 25:19.20 (reportedly written about 550-600 years before the birth of Jesus);  For according to the words of the prophets, the Messiah cometh in six hundred years from the time that my father left Jerusalem; and according to the words of the prophets, and also the word of the angel of God, his name shall be Jesus Christ, the Son of God.  And now, my brethren, I have spoken plainly that ye cannot err.  And as the Lord God liveth that brought Israel up out of the land of Egypt, and gave unto Moses power that he should heal the nations after they had been bitten by the poisonous serpents, if they  would cast their eyes unto the serpent which he did raise up before them, and also give him power that he should smite the rock and the water should come forth; yea, behold I say unto you, that as these things are true, and as the Lord God liveth, there is none other name given under heaven save it be this Jesus Christ, of which I have spoken, whereby man can be saved."  Note that in Numbers 21 God gave commandment to Moses to set up the firery serpent that those of Israel who had been bitten, so that when he looks upon it, shall live.  This was not the power of Moses, but a demonstration of the power of God and a foreshadowing of Jesus upon the cross and the healing we gain through His sacrifice, not the power and authority of the baptizer, but the very promise of God according to Acts 2.  The 'firery serpant' was not to heal the nations, but was a foreshadowing of that which was to come to the 'nations' when Jesus Chirst and the Holy Spirit revealed the mystery of God.

2 Nephi 31:17; "For the gate by which ye should enter is repentance and baptism by water; and then cometh a remission of your sins by fire and the Holy Ghost.".

Note above in Hebrews and a number of other places in the Bible account that it is by the blood of Christ that we have remission of sins, that His blood is an eternal sacrifice - once for all time, now revealed.  The Holy Ghost is the seal of the Covenant that God gives us that we may know we are His.

We now find 3 Nephi, chapter 9 with the heading: ‘In the darkness the voice of Christ proclaims the destruction of many people and cities for their wickedness – He also proclaims his divinity, announces that the law of Moses is fulfilled, and invites men to come unto him and be saved.’

1.  Verse 13:  “O all ye that are spared because ye were more righteous than they, will ye not now return unto me, and repent of your sins, and be converted that I may heal you?”  NOTE:  Luke 13:1-5; ‘There were present at that season some who told Him about the Galileans whose blood Pilate had mingled with their sacrifices.  And Jesus answered and said to them, “Do you suppose that these Galileans were worse sinners than all other Galileans, because they suffered such things?  I tell you, no, but unless you repent you will all likewise perish.  Or those eighteen on whom the tower in Siloam fell and killed them, do you think that they were worse sinners than all other men who dwell in Jerusalem?  I tell you, no; but unless you repent you will likewise perish.”

2.      Yea, verily I say unto you, if ye will come unto me ye shall have eternal life.

3.      Behold, mine arm of mercy is extended towards you, and whosoever will come, him will I receive; and blessed are those who come unto me.

4.      Behold, I am Jesus Christ the Son of God.  I created the heavens and the earth, and all things that in them are. 

5.      I was with the Father from the beginning.

6.      I am in the Father, and the Father in me; and in me hath the Father glorified his name.

7.      I came unto my own, and my own received me not.  And the scriptures concerning my coming are fulfilled.

8.      And as many as have received me, to them have I given to become sons of God; and even so will I to as many as shall believe on my name, for behold, by me redemption cometh, and in me is the law of Moses fulfilled. 

9.      I am the light and the life of the world.  I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end.

10.  And ye shall offer up unto me no more the shedding of blood; yea, your sacrifices and your burnt offerings shall be done away, for I will accept none of your sacrifices and your burnt offerings.

11.  And ye shall offer for a sacrifice unto me a broken heart and a contrite spirit.

12.  And whoso cometh unto me with a broken heart and a contrite spirit, him will I baptize with fire and with the Holy Ghost, even as the Lamanites, because of their faith in me at the time of their conversion, were baptized with fire and with the Holy Ghost, and they knew it not.

13.  Behold, I have come unto the world to bring redemption unto the world, to save the world from sin.

14.  Therefore, whoso repenteth and cometh unto me as a little child, him will I receive, for of such is the kingdom of God.  Behold, for such I have laid down my life, and have taken it up again; therefore repent and come unto me ye ends of the earth, and be saved.

15.  Chapter 10.  And now behold, it came to pass that all the people of the land did hear these sayings, and did witness of it.  And after these sayings there was silence in the land for the space of many hours; for so great was the astonishment of the people that they did cease lamenting and howling for the loss of their kindred which had been slain; therefore there was silence in all the land for the space of many hours.  And it came to pass that there came a voice again unto the people, and all the people did hear and did witness of it saying:  “O ye people of these great cities which have fallen, who are descendants of Jacob, yea, who are of the house of Israel, how oft have I gathered you as a hen gathereth her chickens under her wings, and have nourished you.  And again, how oft would I have gathered you as a hen gathereth her chickens under her wings, yea, O ye people of the house of Israel, who have fallen; yea, O ye people of the house of Israel, ye that dwell at Jerusalem, as ye that have fallen; yea, how oft would I have gathered you as a hen gathereth her children and ye would not.  O ye house of Israel whom I have spared, how oft will I gather you as a hen gathereth her chickens under her wings, if ye will repent and return unto me with full purpose of heart.  But if not, O house of Israel, the places of your dwellings shall become desolate until the time of the fulfilling of the covenant of your fathers.  And now it came to pass that after the people heard these words, behold, they began to weep and howl again because of the loss of their kindred and friends.  And it came to pass that thus did the three days pass away.  And it was in the morning, and the darkness dispersed from oft the face of the land, and the earth did cease to tremble, and the rocks did cease to rend, and the dreadful groanings did cease, and all the tumultuous noises did pass away.  And the earth did cleave together again, that it stood; and the mourning, and the weeping, and the wailing of the people who were spared alive did cease; and their mourning was turned into joy, and their lamentations into the praise and thanksgiving unto the Lord Jesus Christ, their Redeemer.  And thus far were the scriptures fulfilled which had been spoken by the prophets.  And it was the more righteous part of the people who were saved, and it was they who received the prophets and stoned them not; and it was they who had not shed the blood of the saints, who were spared.  And they were spared and were not sunk and buried up in the earth; and they were not drowned in the depths of the sea; and they were not burned by fire, neither were they fallen upon and crushed to death; and they were not carried away in the whirlwind; neither were they overpowered by the vapor of smoke and of darkness.  And now, whoso readeth, let him understand; he that hath the scriptures, let him search them, and see and behold if all these deaths and destructions by fire and by smoke, and by tempests, and by whirlwinds, and by the opening of the earth to receive them, and all these things are not unto the fulfilling of the prophecies of many of the holy prophets.

NOTE:  Prophecy is important.  God gave the law through Moses and God also told Israel the standards to use in determining if a prophet spoke for Him or not and gave examples of the fate of those who did not follow His chosen leadership.  It was a frightful thing to observe the ground opening up to swallow those who rejected Moses God given leadership and authority as he led Israel through the wilderness.  Prophecy is extremely important in at least these three aspects:  First, by prophecy God told what was going to happen.  The end has been told from the beginning.  Prophecy not only tells the future, it tells the future in a pattern, as the law is a pattern that foretells of Jesus Christ and should lead one to know their need for Him and His fulfilling the law requirements.  Second is that prophecy of God is true.  Many err when they fail to see the perspective of God being outside of time or the promises and prophecies regarding Israel.  One example is that some groups of the gentile Church gave up waiting for God to fulfill His word to Israel and presumed the Church took the place of Israel in the promises of God and presume upon themselves some things that are unique of Gods word for Israel, such as the land and earthly reign of the Christ on the throne of His father David as told by the angel to Mary.  Yet we now know that God established Israel to the exact day in May of 1948.  Those of the 19^th century would not have realized this and would have been prone to speculate certain things of Bible prophecy.  Third is that prophecy, according to Jesus, was different than what was established by Moses or Enoch.  Jesus said the prophets were until John the baptist, and that after John the kingdom of God was preached.  The prophet’s role was to call people to repent and obey God and to write prophecy regarding the Messiah that Jesus fulfilled and is yet to fulfill.  Once Jesus revealed both Himself and the gospel of the kingdom and things yet to come and the apostles/disciples wrote of those things He taught them and gave the great commission and finally the Revelation of Jesus Christ, we have the word of God to man made sure and only have expectation of when ‘the faith becomes sight.’

Third Nephi chapter 10, verse 14, is a key verse in that it invites comparison to what the prophets who claimed to speak for God foretold, and Jesus told the disciples what those things were after His resurrection.  The gospel of the kingdom was not known until Jesus revealed it.  The prophecies He fulfilled were not fully known until then, if we are to believe the biblical accounts.  Yet we find the remnant of Israel believing in and practicing much of it long before Jesus was even born.  In the book of Mormon are elements of biblical prophecy which are spoken of the end times before the day of the LORD, but in the Book of Mormon they take place at His birth and resurrection.  For all the footnotes in the Book of Mormon that point to places in itself  and references to the Bible, for this verse that invites searching these matters out there is not one reference to either the Bible or book of Mormon.  That should be an indicator about this verse.  One example is the three days of darkness, where the Bible account speaks of three hours.  There are numerous issues, but the primary issue should be that the gospel was not revealed until Jesus Christ Himself revealed it.  These comments and part of the book are primarily a comparison to the teachings of Jesus in the book of Mormon, and it is noteworthy to see that the identity of Jesus Christ is given before He revealed it.  So who is it more reasonable to believe?  If God is true and His messengers true and Jesus Christ is true, one has to decide who we must hear and who we should not.  16.  ‘Behold I say unto you, Yea, many have testified of these things at the coming of Christ, and were slain because they testified of these things.’  The book continues to mention the prophets Zenos, Zenock, Jacob, Joseph, and Lehi as prophets whose writings were taken with them from Jerusalem and ‘spake concerning these things, because they testified particularly concerning us, who are the remnant of their seed’… of Joseph.’  One should read the prophets of the Bible to understand the ‘remnant’ prophecies, as this has started being fulfilled on May 14, 1948 and is being literally fulfilled in Israel and particularly Jerusalem.  The promise of God is unchanging and the prophecies of God must be acknowledged as true when they have become ‘the prophetic word made sure.’  To deny the promises and prophecy of God is a grave error. 

Before resuming with the study, we need to hear what Hebrews 2 says about the gospel by way of historical review and grave warnings regarding Jesus and the gospel and the law.  "Therefore we must give the more earnest heed to the things we have heard, lest we drift away.  For if the word spoken through angels proved steadfast, and every transgression and disobedience received a just reward, how shall we escape if we neglect so great a salvation, which at the first began to be spoken by the Lord, and was confirmed to us by those who heard Him, God also bearing witness both with signs and wonders, with various miracles, and gifts of the Holy Spirit, according to His own will? 

.  Chapter 11:10;  “And behold, I am Jesus Christ, whom the prophets testified shall come into the world.” 

18.  And behold, I am the light and the life of the world;

19.  and I have drunk out of that bitter cup which the Father hath given me,

20.  and have glorified the Father in taking upon me the sins of the world,

21.  in which I have suffered the will of the Father in all things from the beginning.

22.  Arise and come forth unto me, that ye may thrust your hands into my side, and also that ye may feel the prints of the nails in my hands and in my feet, that ye may know that I am the God of Israel, and have been slain for the sins of the world.  And it came to pass that the multitude went forth, and thrust their hands into his side, and did feel the prints of the nails in his hands and in his feet; and this they did do, going forth one by one until they had all gone forth, and did see with their eyes and did feel with their hands, and did know of a surety and did bear record, that it was he, of whom it was written by the prophets, that should come.  **I find it odd that all had to personally experience his wounds to believe and know after all that had just taken place!  And where in the ministry of Jesus did He claim to be ‘the God is Israel’?

23.  And it came to pass that he spake unto Nephi and he commanded him that he should come forth.  And Nephi arose and went forth, and bowed himself before the Lord and did kiss his feet.  And the Lord commanded him that he should arise.  And he arose and stood before him.  And the Lord said unto him:  I give unto you power that ye shall baptize this people when I am again ascended into heaven.  (Added)

24.  And again the Lord called others, and said unto them likewise; and he gave unto them power to baptize.  (Added)

25.  And he said unto them: On this wise shall ye baptize.  And there shall be no disputations among you.  Verily I say unto you, that whoso repenteth of his sins through your worlds, and desireth to be baptized in my name, on this wise shall ye baptize them – Behold, yet shall go down and stand in the water, and in my name shall ye baptize them.  And now behold, these are the words which ye shall say, calling them by name, saying:  Having authority given to me of Jesus Christ, I baptize you in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost.  Amen.  And then shall ye immerse them in the water, and come forth again out of the water.  And after this manner shall ye baptize in my name; for behold, verily I say unto you, that the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Ghost are one; and I am in the Father, and the Father in me, and the Father and I are one.  (elemental differences about authority requirements and need for formula of official recitation – also missing is that baptism is for the remission of sins and the promised gift of the Holy Spirit, given by God Himself)

26.  And according as I have commanded you thus shall ye baptize.  And there shall be no disputations among you, as there have hitherto been; neither shall there be disputations among you concerning the points of my doctrine, as there have hitherto been.  (Added)

27.  For verily, verily I say unto you, he that hath the spirit of contention is not of me, but is of the devil, who is the father of contention, and he stirreth up the hearts of men to contend with anger, one with another.  (added***)

28.  Behold, this is not my doctrine, to stir up the hearts of men with anger, one against another; but this is my doctrine,  that such things should be done away.  (added.. note Jesus’ words in the gospel accounts about division because of Him and that a mans enemies would be those of his own household, as well as the need to contend for the truth.)

29.  Behold, verily, verily, I say unto you, I will declare unto you my doctrine.  And this is my doctrine, and it is the doctrine which the Father has given unto me; and I bear record of the Father, and the Father beareth record of me, and the Holy Ghost beareth record of the Father and me; and I bear record that the Father commandeth all men, everywhere to repent and believe in me.

30.  And whoso believeth in me, and is baptized, the same shall be saved; and they are they who shall inherit the kingdom of God. 

31.  And whoso believeth not in me, and is not baptized, shall be damned.

32.  Verily, verily, I say unto you, that this is my doctrine, and I bear record of it from the Father; and whoso believeth in eme believeth in the Father also; and unto him will the Father bear record of me, for he will visit him with fire and with the Holy Ghost.  And thus will the Father bear record of me, and the Holy Ghost will bear record unto him of the Father and me; for the Father, and I, and the Holy Ghost are one. (???)

33.  And again I say unto you, ye must repent, and become as a little child, and be baptized in my name, or ye can in nowise receive these things.

34.  And again I say unto you, ye must repent, and be baptized in my name, and become as a little child, or ye can in nowise inherit the kingdom of God.

35.  Verily, verily, I say unto you, that this is my doctrine, and whoso buildeth upon this buildeth upon my rock, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against them.

36.  And whoso shall declare more or less than this, and establish it for my doctrine, the same cometh of evil, and is not built upon my rock; but he buildeth upon a sandy foundation, and the gates of hell stand open to receive such when the floods come and the winds beat upon them.  Therefore, go forth unto this people, and declare the words which I have spoken, unto the ends of the earth.

Thus endeth Chapter eleven of Third Nephi, with the testimony of the doctrine of baptism.  One obvious example of a difference of what Jesus taught in the Bible vs the Book of Mormon is that Jesus said the ‘rock’ He built His Church upon being the fact that He is the Messiah, and that we are to hear and do whatsoever He taught, which were not His words, but the very words of God, the doctrine of God, and per His word, except you do what He said you don’t believe and you won’t be saved.  Yet here we find repeated that the doctrine is solely based upon repentance and baptism.  

Continuing with 3 Nephi chapter 12. 

37.  And it came to pass that when Jesus had spoken these words unto Nephi, and to those who had been called, (now the number of them who had been called, and received power and authority to baptize, was twelve) and behold, he stretched forth his hand unto the multitude, and cried unto them, saying: Blessed are ye if ye shall give heed unto the words of these twelve whom I have chosen from among you to minister unto you, and to be your servants; and unto them I have given power that they may baptize you with water; and after that ye are baptized with water, behold, I will baptize you with fire and with the Holy Ghost; therefore blessed are ye if ye shall believe in me and be baptized, after that ye have seen me and know that I am.

38.  And again, more blessed are they who shall believe in your words because that ye shall testify that ye have seen me, and that ye know that I am.  Yea, blessed are they who shall believe in your words, and come down into the depths of humility and be baptized, for they shall be visited with fire and with the Holy Ghost, and shall receive a remission of their sins.

39.  Yea, blessed are the poor in spirit who come unto me, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

40.  And again, blessed are all they that mourn, for they shall be comforted.41.  And blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth.

42.  And blessed are all they who do hunger and thirst after righteousness, for they shall be filled with the Holy Ghost.

43.  And blessed are the merciful, for they shall obtain mercy.

44.  And blessed are all the pure in heat, for they shall see God.

45.  And blessed are all the peacemakers, for they shall be called the children of God.

46.  And blessed are all they who are persecuted for my name’s sake, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

47.  And blessed are ye when men shall revile you and persecute, and shall say all manner of evil against you falsely, for my sake.  For ye shall have great joy and be exceedingly glad, for great shall be your reward in heaven; for so persecuted they the prophets who were before you. 

48.  Verily, verily, I say unto you, I give unto you to be the salt of the earth; but if the salt shall lose its savor wherewith shall the earth be salted?  The salt shall be thenceforth good for nothing, but to be cast out and be trodden under foot of men.

49.  Verily, verily, I say unto you, I give unto you to be the light of this people.  A city that is set on a hill cannot be hid.  (by this time we can only speculate how many were left to be ‘this people’ after all the destructions that came upon the Americas)

50.  Behold, do men light a candle and put it under as bushel?  Nay, but on a candlestick, and it giveth light unto all that are in the house;  Therefore let your light so shine before this people, that they may see your good works and glorify you Father who is in heaven.

51.  Think not that I am come to destroy the law or the prophets.  I am not come to destroy but to fulfill (sic);   For verily I say unto you, on jot nor one tittle has not passed away from the law, but in me it has all been fulfilled.

52.  And behold, I have given you the law and the commandments of my Father, that ye shall believe in me, and that ye shall repent of your sins, and come unto me with a broken heart and a contrite spirit.  Behold, ye have the commandments before you, and the law is fulfilled.  (Jesus came to fulfill, but taught the law was still in force and true.  This seems to be a paraphrase of most evangelical teaching about the law being done away with, where I did not find a teaching where Jesus said it was not still true in every way except His being the true sacrifice for sin.)

53.  Therefore come unto me and be ye saved; for verily I say unto you, that except ye shall keep my commandments, which I have commanded you at this time, ye shall in no case enter into the kingdom of heaven.  (In the gospels Jesus said the issue was righteousness – true righteousness, not the righteousness of the Scribes and Pharisees, that our righteousness must exceed theirs if we are to enter the kingdom of God.  The apostles wrote later that the issue was that their righteousness was not mixed with faith, and it was the lack of faith that was the problem.)

54.  Ye have heard that it hath been said by them of old time, and it is also written before you, that thou shalt not kill, and whosoever shall kill shall be in danger of the judgment of God;  But I say unto you, that whosoever is angry with his brother shall be in danger of his judgment.  (Jesus added that the anger was ‘without cause’ in the gospel record.  Here we find Jesus teaching that anger for any reason is a sin?  Next, the gospel account says that unrighteous anger places us in the danger of the judgment of God, not the man.)

55.  And whosoever shall say to his brother, Raca, shall be in danger of the council; and whosoever shall say, Thou fool, shall be in danger of hell fire.

56.  Therefore, if ye shall come unto me, or shall desire to come unto me, and rememberest that thy brother hath aught against thee  - Go thy way unto thy brother, and first be reconciled to thy brother, and then come unto me with full purpose of heart, and I will receive you.

57.  Agree with thine adversary quickly while thou art in the way with him, lest at any time he shall get thee, and thou shalt be cast into prison.  Verily, verily, I say unto thee, thou shalt by no means come out thence until thou has paid the uttermost senine.  And while ye are in prison can ye pay even one senine?  Verily, verily, I say unto you, Nay.  (Last sentence added, but implied in the text; also, what is a ‘senine’?) 

58.  Behold, it is written by them of old time, that thou shalt not commit adultery;  But I say unto you, that whosoever looketh on a woman, to lust after her, hath committed adultery already in his heart. 

59.  Behold, I give unto you a commandment, that ye suffer none of these things to enter into your heart; For it is better that ye should deny yourselves of these things, wherein ye will take up your cross, than that ye should be cast into hell.  (The commandment is not found in the gospels.  Jesus gave many warnings, such as equating the need to rid yourself of a body part that causes you to sin, but those were never taken as literal, but figurative, and He also taught repentance and forgiveness.  On the surface it appears non-contradictory, but Jesus was careful to speak only those things the Father told Him, and this was not one that was recorded.  I don’t think Jesus gave a teaching that would damn one to hell for a thought without act or spoken transgression.  This one seems to be over the line.)

60.  It hath been written that whosoever shall put away his wife, let him give her a writing of divorcement.  Verily, verily, I say unto you, that whosoever shall put away his wife, saving for the cause of fornication, causeth her to commit adultery; and whoso shall marry her who is divorced committeth adultery.  (Note in the Matthew account Jesus spoke further on the topic in chapter 19 that clarified the teaching was not for all men, but only to those who could accept it – so the need is to see if the BOM also gives the full testimony of the doctrine of God.)

61.  And again it is written, thou shat not forswear thyself, but shalt perform unto the Lord thine oaths; But verily, verily, I say unto you, swear not at all; neither by heaven, for it is God’s throne; Nor by the earth, for it is his footstool; Neither shalt thou swear by thy head, because thou canst not make one hair black or white; But let your communication be Yea, yea; Nay, nay; for whatever cometh of more than these is evil.

62.  And behold, it is written, and eye for an eye, and a tooth for a tooth; But I say to you, that ye shall not resist evil, but whosoever shall smite thee on thy right cheek, turn to him the other also; And if any man will sue thee at the law and take away thy coat, let him have thy cloak also; And whosoever shall compel thee to go a mile, go with him twain.

63.  Give to him that asketh thee, and from him that would borrow of thee turn thou not away.

64.  And behold it is written also, that thou shalt love thy neighbor and hate thine enemy; But behold I say unto you, love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them who despitefully use you and persecute you; That ye may be the children of your Father who is in heaven; for he maketh his sun to rise on the evil and on the good.  (At this time it was left off that “For if you love those who love you, what reward have you?  Do not even the tax collectors do the same?  And if you greet your brethren only, what do you do more than others?  Do not even the tax collectors do so?  Therefore you shall be perfect, just as your Father in heaven is perfect.) 

65.  **ADDED  Therefore those things which were of old time, which were under the law, in me are all fulfilled.  Old things are done away, and all things have become new.  (This is supportive of what?  Jesus affirmed the law and prophets and judgments, precepts and commandments of God as fully righteous and eternally good standards.  He said none of it passed away.  Futhermore, the ‘all things have become new’ was spoken by Jesus in Revelation at the end of time when God creates a new heaven and a new earth wherein righteousness dwells.  Although spoken, this is to disorganize the revelation of Jesus Christ and cannot be true as given in this verse, but can only be true as given by Jesus in His revelation.)

66.  Therefore I would that ye should be perfect even as I, or your Father who is in heaven is perfect.  (See note above and observe the self judgment required is lacking in the BOM account – at least to the end of Chapter 12)

67.  Verily, Verily, I say that I would that ye should do alms unto the poor; but take heed that ye do not your alms before men to be seen of them; otherwise ye have no reward of your Father who is in heaven.  Therefore, when ye shall do your alms do not sound a trumpet before you, as will hypocrites do in the synagogues and in the streets, that they may have glory of men.  Verily I say unto you, they have their reward.  But when thou doest alms let not thy left hand know what they right hand doeth; That thine alms may be in secret; and thy Father who seeth in secret, himself shall reward thee openly.

68.  And when thou prayest, thou shalt not do as the hypocrites, for they love to pray, standing in the synagogues and in the corners of the streets, that they may be seen of men.  Verily I say unto you, they have their reward.  But thou, when thou prayest, enter into thy closet, and when thou hast shut thy door, pray to the Father who is in secret; and thy Father, who seeth in secret, shall reward thee openly.  Be ye not therefore like unto them, for your Father knoweth what things ye have need of before ye ask him.  After this manner therefore pary ye:  Our Father who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name.  Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven.  And forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors.  And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil.  For thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, forever.  Amen.  (Note: So far much of the 3 Nephi account has been from Matthew chapter 5 and 6.  Missing in the prayer is to first acknowledge the Father for our provision, ‘Give us this day our daily bread’, is found between praise and forgiveness in the order of the ‘Lord’s Prayer’ in Matthew.

69.  For, if ye forgive not men their trespasses neither will your Father forgive your trespasses.

70.  Moreover, when ye fast be not as the hypocrites, of a sad countenance, for they disfigure their faces that they may appear unto men ot fast.  Verily I say unto you, they have their reward.  But thou, when thou fastest, anoint thy head, and wash thy face; that thou appear not unto men to fast, but unto thy Father, who is in secret; and thy Father who seeth in secret, shall reward thee openly.

71.  Lay not up for yourselves treasure upon earth, where moth and rust doth corrupt, and thieves break through and steal; But lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust doth corrupt, and where thieves do not break through nor steal.  For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also.

72.  The light of the body is the eye; if, therefore, thine eye be single, they whole body shall be full of light.  But if thine eye be evil, thy whole body shall be full of darkness.  If, therefore, the light that is in thee be darkness, how great is that darkness!

73.  No man can serve two masters; for either he will hate the one and love the other, or else he will hold to the one and despise the other.  Ye cannot serve God and Mammon.

74.  Note that in the Matthew account the teachings were to the multitude, but in the Nephi account we find Jesus not telling everyone the following, but only the selected twelve:  And now it came to pass that when Jesus had spoken these words he looked upon the twelve whom he had chosen, and said unto them; Remember the words which I have spoken.  For behold, ye are they whom I have chosen to minister unto this people.  Therefore I say unto you, take no thought for your life, what ye shall eat, nor what ye shall drink; nor yet for your body, what ye shall put on.  Is not the life more than meat, and the body than rament?  Behold the fowls of the air, for they sow not, neither do they reap nor gather into barns; yet your heavenly Father feedeth them.  Are ye not much better than they?  Which of you by taking thought can add one cubit unto his stature?  And why take ye thought for rament?  Consider the lilies of the field how they grow; they toil not, neither do they spin;  And yet I say unto you, that even Solomon, in all his glory, was not arrayed like one of these.  Therefore take no thought, saying, What shall we eat? Or, What shall we drink? Or, Wherewithal shall we be clothed?  For your heavenly Father knoweth that ye have need of all these things.  But seek ye first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things shall be added unto you.  Take therefore no thought for the morrow, for the morrow shall take thought for the things of itself.  Sufficient is the day unto the evil thereof.

75.    And now it came to pass that when Jesus had spoken these words he turned again to the multitude, and did open his mouth unto them again, saying:  Verily, verily, I say unto you, Judge not, that ye be not judged.  For with what judgment ye judge, ye shall be judged; and with what measure ye mete, it shall be measured to you again.  And why beholdest thou the mote that is in thy brother’s eye, but considerest not the beam that is in thine own eye?  Or how wilt thou say to thy brother; Let me pull the mote out of thine eye- and behold, a beam is in thine own eye?  Thou hypocrite, first cast the beam out of thine own eye; and then shalt thou see clearly to cast the mote out of thy brother’s eye.

76.       And now it came to pass that when Jesus had spoken these words he turned again to the multitude, and did open his mouth unto them again, saying:  Verily, verily, I say unto you, Judge not, that ye be not judged.  For with what judgment ye judge, ye shall be judged; and with what measure ye mete, it shall be measured to you again.  And why beholdest thou the mote that is in thy brother’s eye, but considerest not the beam that is in thine own eye?  Or how wilt thou say to thy brother; Let me pull the mote out of thine eye- and behold, a beam is in thine own eye?  Thou hypocrite, first cast the beam out of thine own eye; and then shalt thou see clearly to cast the mote out of thy brother’s eye.

77.      Give not that which is holy unto the dogs, neither cast ye your pearls before swine, lest they trample them under their feet, and turn again and rend you.

78.      Ask, ant it shall be given unto you; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you.  For everyone that asketh, receiveth; and he that seeketh, findeth; and to him that knocketh, it shall be opened.

79.      Or what man is there of you, who, if his son ask bread, will give him a stone?  Or if he ask a fish, will he give him a serpent?  If ye then, being evil, know how to give good gifts unto your children, how much more shall your Father who is in heaven give good things to them that ask him?  Therefore, all things whatsoever ye would that men should do to you, do ye even so to them, for this is the law and the prophets.

80      Enter ye in at the strait gate; for wide is the gate, and broad is the way, which leadeth to destruction, and many there be who go in thereat; Because strait is the gate, and narrow is the way, which leadeth unto life, and few there be that find it.

81.      Beware of false prophets, who come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly they are ravening wolves.  Ye shall know them by their fruits.  Do men gather grapes of thorns, or figs of thistles?  Even so every good tree bringeth forth good fruit; but a corrupt tree bringeth forth evil fruit.  A good tree cannot bring forth evil fruit, neither a corrupt tree bring forth good fruit.  Every tree that bringeth not forth good fruit is hewn down, and cast into the fire.  Wherefore, by their fruits ye shall know them.

82.      Not every one that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that doeth the will of my Father who is in heaven.  Many will say to me in that day; Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in thy name, and in thy name have cast out devils, and in thy name done many wonderful works?  And then will I profess unto them; I never knew you; depart from me, ye that work iniquity.  Therefore, whoso heareth these sayings of mine and doeth **them, I will liken him unto a wise man, who built his house upon a rock – and the rain descended, and the floods came, and the winds blew, and beat **upon that house; and it fell not, for it was founded upon a rock.  And every one that heareth these sayings of mine and doeth them not shall be likened unto a foolish man, who built his house upon the sand – and the rain descended, and the floods came, and the winds blew, and beat upon that house; and it fell, and great was the fall of it.  (Change of a word:  Jesus identified His sayings as ‘the’ rock, not ‘a’ rock. ‘The’ implies a singular importance and ‘a’ says there are other rocks.  Perhaps this is important enough that someone should do a word investigation in the original texts to know the meaning of the word used if it is as important as it seems to be.  Based upon what I’ve learned from the teachings of Jesus, there is a singular importance that we dig through everything we found our faith upon to the point that it is solely placed upon Him and doing what He said because of our belief that He is who He claimed to be, and proved this fact in many ways, and this leads back to the hidden message in Genesis 5, that ‘God came down teaching’ and the words of Moses that we are to hear the prophet that was to come after Him, to which we can know that this Prophet is Jesus Christ and now know His teachings to do them.  This fits perfectly with  what is said previously, that we know good through God and doing what He says to do because we believe in Jesus Christ.  I’m led to believe that doing what Jesus said is the opposite of iniquity, therefore the law we are to obey is His words, which fits with what Jesus said about those who ‘hear these sayings of mine and doeth them, as well as His teaching that we will be judged by His words.’)

83.  Chapter 15.  And now it came to pass that when Jesus had ended these sayings he cast his eyes round about on the multitude, and said unto them: Behold, ye have heard the things which I taught before I ascended to my Father; therefore, whoso remembereth these sayings of mine and doeth them, he will I raise up at the last day.  (Note: At this point we find Jesus claim that He had taught them all He had given until the time of his ascension.  The listing is far short of what Jesus taught in the gospels, which was profoundly identified as the very words God have given to Jesus to give to us.)

84.  And it came to pass that when Jesus had said these words he perceived that there were some among them who marveled, and wondered what he would concerning the law of Moses; for they understood not the saying that old things had passed away, and that all things had become new.  And he said unto them: Marvel not that I said unto you that old things had passed away, and that all things had become new.  Behold, I say unto you that the law is fulfilled that was given unto Moses.  Behold, I am he that gave the law, and I am he who covenanted with my people Israel; therefore, the law in me is fulfilled, for I have come to fulfil the law; therefore it hath and end.  Behold, I do not destroy the prophets, for as many as have not been fulfilled in me, verily I say unto you, shall all be fulfilled.  And because I said unto you that old things have passed away, I do not destroy that which hath been spoken concerning things which are to come.  For behold, the covenant which I have made with my people is not all fulfilled; but the law which was given unto Moses hath an end in me.  Behold, I am the law, and the light.  Look unto me, and endure to the end, and ye shall live; for unto him that endureth to the end will I give eternal life.  Behold, I have given unto you the commandments; therefore keep my commandments.  And this is the law and the prophets, for they truly testified of me.  (Note: The teachings of Jesus in the sermon on the mount say the law did not pass away and that it is still fully true and for anyone to teach others not to keep any of the law would cause them to be least in the kingdom of heaven.  As the example given when discussing the issue as comparison to elemental math and the skilled use of advanced math, that the law was the elemental principle and the teachings of Jesus in the gospel was advanced math - that you don't cast addition and subtraction aside to perform advance math problems, but it is very much a part of the solutions.  This is in direct conflict with what Jesus said about the law not passing away.  When considering the teachings of Jesus in the Bible account, those teachings of God that He gave before ascending to the Father in heaven, there is an obvious shortfall in the teachings found so far in the book of Mormon.)

85.  And now it came to pass that when Jesus had spoken these words, he said unto those twelve whom he had chosen:  Ye are my disciples; and ye are a light unto this people, who are a remnant of the house of Joseph.  And behold, this is the land of your inheritance; and the Father hath given it unto you.  And not at any time hath the Father given me commandment that I should tell it unto your brethren at Jerusalem.  Neither at any time hath the Father given me commandment that I should tell unto them concerning the other tribes of the house of Israel, whom the Father hath led away out of the land.  This much did the Father command me, that I should tell unto them;  That other sheep I have which are not of this fold; them also I must bring, and they shall hear my voice; and there shall be one fold, and one shepherd.  And now, because of stiffneckedness and unbelief they understood not my word; therefore I was commanded to say no more of the Father concerning this thing unto them.  But verlily, I say unto you that the Father hath commanded me, and I tell it unto you, that ye were separated from among them because of their iniquity; therefore it is because of their iniquity that they know not of you.  And verily, I say unto you again that the other tribes hath the Father separated from them; and it is because of their iniquity that they know not of them.  And verily I say unto you, that ye are they of whom I said: Other sheep I have which are not of this fold; them also I must bring, and they shall hear my voice; and there shall be one fold, and one shepherd.  And they understood me not, for they supposed it had been the Gentiles; for they understood not that the Gentiles should be converted through their preaching.  And they understood me not that I said they shall hear my voice; and they understood me not that the Gentiles should not at any time hear my voice - that I should not manifest myself unto them save it were by the Holy Ghost.  But behold, ye have both heard my voice and seen me; and ye are my sheep, and ye are numbered among those whom the Father hath given Me.

The teaching of Jesus at this point, going forward for a ways, start to depart from the norm of Scripture in the Bible.  Some of the basis of prophecy is based upon the promises of God to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, and is witnessed in Scriptures by God identifying Himself as 'the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.'  The angel Gabriel told Mary, 'Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favor with God.  And behold, you will conceive in your womb and bring forth a Son, and shall call His name Jesus.  He will be great, and will be called the Son of the Highest; and the Lord God will give Him the throne of His father David.  And He will reign over the house of Jacob forever, and of His kingdom there will be no end.'

One needs to be aware of each promise given to Abraham, Isaac, Jacob and David to understand the fullness of the gospel message, as the rule of Jesus over the house of Jacob forever established.  Another promise of God was for the land of Israel and Jerusalem in particular relates to many of these promises.

The departure in the pattern of prophecy found in the Bible was significant enough that I went to the LDS 'ask a missionary' site to be sure what LDS belief is on the topic, that I wasn't misrepresenting their beliefs.  Where this section seems to end is also given in the LDS 'Articles of Faith' in saying that the 'New Jerusalem' will be in the State of Missouri.  The book of Mormon places the land promises to Abraham, Issaac and Jacob into two lands:  Israel and the North America. 

Reviewing some of what the Bible says about 'new Jerusalem', a starting point could be where it is spoken of in Revelation 3:12, spoken of by Jesus Christ to the faithful Church in Philadelphia.  "Because you have kept My command to persevere, I also will keep you from the hour of trial which shall come upon the whole world, to test those who dwell on the earth.  Behold, I am coming quickly!  Hold fast what you have, that no one may take away your crown.  He who overcomes, I will make him a pillar in the temple of My God, and he shall go out no more.  I will write on him the name of My God and the name of the city of My God, the New Jerusalem, which comes down out of heaven from My God.  And I will write on Him My new name."  Hebrews 12:12-29;

"Therefore strengthen the hands which hang down, and the feeble knees, and make straight paths for your feet, so that what is lame may not be dislocated, but rather be healed.  Pursue peace with all people, and holiness, without which no one will see the Lord: looking carefully, lest anyone fall short of the grace of God; lest any root of bitterness spring up cause trouble, and by this many become defiled; like Essu, who for one morsel of food sold his birthright.  For you know that afterward, when he wanted to inherit the blessing, he was rejected, for he found no place for repentance, though he sought it dilligently with tears.  For you have not come to the mountain that may be touched and that burned with fire, and to blackness and darkness and tempest, and the sound of a trumpet and the voice of words, so that those who heard it begged that the wrod should not be spoken to them anymore.  (For they could not endure what was commanded: 'And if so much as a beast touches the mountain, it shall be stoned or shot with an arrow.' And so terrifying was the sight that Moses said, 'I am exceedingly afraid and trembling.'  (Exodus 19,20; Deu.9)

"But you have come to Mount Zion and to the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, to an innumerable company of angels, to the general assembly and Church of the firstborn, who are registered in heaven, to God the Judge of all, to the spirits of just men made perfect, to Jesus the Mediator of the new covenant, and to the blood of sprinkling that speaks better things than that of Abel.

"See that you do not refuse Him who speaks.  For if they did not escape who refused Him who spoke on earth, much more shall we not escape if we turn away from Him who speaks from heaven, whose voice then shook the earth; much more shall we not escape if we turn away from Him who speaks from heaven, whose voice then shook the earth; but now He has promised, saying, "Yet once more I shake not only the earth, but also heaven." (Hag. 2:6) Now this, 'Yet once more,' indicates the removal of those things that are being shaken, as of things that are made, that the things which cannot be shaken may remain.  Therefore, since we are receiving a kingdom which cannot be shaken, let us have grace, by which we may serve God acceptably with reverence and godly fear.  For our God is a consuming fire.

As a note on Zion, the Strongs Exhaustive Concordance lists Zion about 155 times in the Old Testiment, starting in 2 Samuel 5:7 through Zecariah 9:13, and in my review these speak of Jerusalem, but check them out for yourself, don't take my word for it, take the word of God through the holy Prophets and David himself.   In the New Testiment the word is largely rendered 'Sion' in the KJV, but the NKJV uses 'Zion'.  My concordance is for the KJV, and 'Sion' is listed in seven places in the New Testiment: Math. 21:5; John 12:15; Romans 9:33, 11:26; Heb. 12:22; I Peter 2:6; and Revelation 7:14.  It also lists ''Sion' at Deu. 4:48 and in Psalms 65:1.  Starting in Deu. 4:48 it is identified as Mount Hermon. In Psalm 65:1 it is the place of future praise to God that relates to the passage in Revelation.   In Matthew 21:5 Zion is identified as Jerusalem when Jesus entered on the foal of a donkey; John 12:15 quotes Jechariah 9:9 in the same event as Matt. 21:5.  I Peter 2:6 is clearly Jerusalem, as: "Behold, I lay in Zion a chief cornerstone, elect, precious, and he who believes on Him will by no means be put to shame." (Isaiah 28:6).  Revelation 7 speaks of those who come out of the great tribulation and washed their robes and made them white in the blood o fthe Lamb and are before the throne of God serving Him day and night in His temple, and He who sits on the throne will dwell among them.  What city does God identify in Scriptures as His city?  Time and time again it has been shown to be Jeruslame, not Missouri.  Never is it hinted to be anywhere but at Jerusalem, where David ruled as king and Jesus will rule on the throne of His father David.  To go beyond this sure seems to be adding to what God has revealed from all the Holy Scriptures which Jesus said were true.  Of what benefit it might be to risk the curse of God for longing in Missouri is a mystery to me.  For what benefit it is to neggate the rest of the commandments and teachings of Jesus Christ for the teaching that we are to hear prophets who claim to speak for Jesus is also a thing that Jesus NEVER taught.  In fact, Jesus taught them, promised they would be gifted by the Holy Spirit to remember all He had taught them, and that they did leave those things for our knowledge of the truth, and that the words of God spoken through Jesus by those eyewitnesses who sealed their testimony of the gospel with their very lives, and for which many more have testified by loosing thier lives to bring those same words to us today.

Revelation 20:11-22:21.  (21:1-9)  "Now I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away.  Also there was no more sea.  Then I, John, saw the holy city, New Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband.  And I heard a loud voice from heaven saying, 'Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men, and He will dwell with them; and they shall be His people.  God Himself will be with them and be their God.  And God will wipe away every tear from their eyes; there shall be no more death, nor sorrow, nor crying.  There shall be no more pain; for the former things have passed away.  Then He hwo sat on the throne said, "Behold, I make all things new."  And He said to me, "Write, for these words are true and faithful.  And He said to me, 'It is done!'  I am the Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning and the End.  I will give of the fountain of water  of life freely to him who thirsts.  He who overcomes shall inherit all things, and I will be his God and he shall be My son.  But the cowardly, unbelieving, abominable, murderers, sexually immoral, sorcerers, idolaters, and all liars shall have their part in the lake which buns with fire and brimstone, which is the second death."

Here I will rest my discourse of the testimony of Jesus in the LDS Scriptures as it compares to the word of God in the Bible.    Do they keep all His commandments?  Is Jesus their teacher? Or do they instead allow their Prophets to be their Teacher?  One doctrine alone would spell disaster for that claim, and that is the doctrine that God was a man before becoming a God, and that they also can become a God just as He did...otherwise known as the 'Adam/God doctrine, or the gospel of eternal progression taught by Brigham Young.  Not even speaking to D&C 132 about polygamy being required for becoming a God or that God ever commanded polygamy.

May God use His word to identify who really believe and obey Jesus Christ, as it is still His words of eternal life recorded in our Bible that will judge us on that day.  May those found worthy of salvation truly look to Jesus and never be ashamed of His words.  May we all wash ourselves in the word of God and the blood of the Lamb of God and be found to be faithful and overcomers, that we have the faith of Jesus and keep the commandents of God.  May we all repent of anything amiss in our lives and any belief not founded on the rock, Jesus Christ, and His true and faithful witness.

I issue a challenge to LDS based upon your own scripture in 3 Nephi 10, .."And now whoso readeth, let him understand; he that hath the scriptures, let him search them and see,.."if" all these things are not  unto the fulfilling of the prophecies of many of the holy prophets.".  You have the Bible and the Book of Mormon in on hand, open your Bible and see if it is so. 

I leave an open invitation for anyone to prove the testimony of the Book of Mormon is in accord to the Holy Bible.  Please contact me via the link provided.  If good and sound reason is given that proves my viewpoints given here are wrong, I will make that known and correct what is written here.

(A quote attributed to Grant Palmer is in place here:  I don't know how to repent of the truth)

richard@onediscipletoanother.org

 The promises of God should be known, as well as His judgments, especially those promises related to His promises to Abraham and those things He has determined through the prophets of the Bible about those things.  It is foolishness to judge a matter before you hear the issues out.  It would be foolish to believe a lie because you don't want to hear the truth, but equally as wrong and not trying to hear the truth, for as Jesus said, those of God come to the light that they may know what they do is done of God.

That God will establish a new covenant with Israel   Matthew 26:28 and Jeremiah 31 speak to those things.  "Thus says the LORD, Who gives the sun for a light by day, The ordinances of the moon and the stars for a light by night, Who disturbs the sea, and its waves roar (The LORD of hosts is His name):  If those ordinances depart From before Me, says the LORD, Then the seed of Israel shall also cease From being a nation before Me forever.  Thus says the LORD:  If heaven above can be measured, And the foundations of the earth searched out beneath, I will also cast off all the seed of Israel For all that they have done, says the LORD."

Gods promises to Abraham were based upon His word and character, not Abraham; they were immutable promises. One account of the land promise is found at the end of Genesis 15;  "On the same day the LORD made a covenant with Abram, saying:  "To your descendants I have gien this land, from the river of Egypt to the great river, the River Euphrates - the Kenites, the Kenezites, the Kadmonites, the Hittites, the Parizzites, the Rephaim, the Amorites, the Canaanites, the Girgashities and the Jebusites."  One really needs to read Genesis and recognize what God said to Abram (Abraham), of the promised land is only one element of His promises.  God made the promises to Abraham and his seed after him and the land is clearly identified, except in LDS writings.

Is this declaring God true?  ...

Israel’s relationship to the Holy Land is a major focus of biblical prophecy, both fulfilled and unfulfilled.  God prophesied precisely when Israel would return to the Promised Land after her citizens went into exile in the first two captivities, the Egyptian and Babylonian.  The Egyptian captivity was prophesied to last exactly 430 years and it is significant that it ended precisely to the last day when the 430 year captivity ended.  “And it came to pass at the end of the four hundred and thirty years; even the self-same day; it came to pass, that all the hosts of the Lord went out from the land of Egypt.” (Ex 12:41).  The prophet Jeremiah predicted the exact duration of the captivity of the Jewish exiles in Babylon would last 70 years.  “And this whole land shall be a desolation and an astonishment, and these nations shall serve the king of Babylon seventy years” (Jer 25:11).  The Babylonian army conquered Israel in the spring of 606 B.C.  Both secular history and the Bible reveal that, as predicted, the Babylonian Captivity ended exactly 70 years later in the spring of 536 B.C., in the Jewish month Nisan, when the Persian Cyrus freed the Jews to return to their land (Ezra 1:3).

The three major Jewish prophets, Daniel, Jeremiah and Ezekiel, were all alive at this time.  Naturally, the prophet Ezekiel was aware of the prophet Jeremiah’s prophecy that the Jews could return from Babylon after 70 years in 536 B.C.  However, God gave him a new revelation that looked much farther into the future revealing how long it would be until the Jewish people would finally re-establish their nation in the last days.  The prediction began with God’s declaration that “this shall be a sign to the house of Israel” (Ezekiel 4:3).  The full prediction is found in Ezekiel 4: 3-6: “This will be a sign to the house of Israel.  Lie also on your left side, and lay the iniquity of the house of Israel upon it.  According to the number of the days, three hundred and ninety days; so you shall bear the iniquity of the house of Israel.  And when you have completed them, lie again on your right side; then you shall bear the iniquity of the house of Judah forty days.  I have laid on you a day for each year” (Ezekiel 4:3-6).

In this passage the prophet Ezekiel clearly declares that this prophecy would be “a sign to the house of Israel” and that each day represents on biblical year.  The prediction revealed that Israel would be punished for a combined period of 430 years (390 years plus another 40 years).  The beginning point for this worldwide captivity occurred in the spring of 536 B.C., at the end of the seventy years predicted captivity in Babylon (Jeremiah 25:11).  However, in the month Nisan, 536 B.C., only a small remnant of the Jews from the nation of Judah chose to leave their homes in Babylon and return to Jerusalem.  The Jewish exiles who remembered their former homes in Israel were now over 70 years old.  Their children who had been born in Babylon naturally had little connection or attachment to the former home of their parents.  The vast majority were quite happy to remain in the pagan Persian Empire as colonists rather than immigrate six hundred miles to rebuild the devastated colony of Israel.  God decreed to Ezekiel a period of punishment of 430 years for Israel’s and Judah’s sin (390 years + 40 years).  However, when we deduct the 70 years of punishment the Jews had endured during the 70 year Babylonian captivity, which ended in 536 B.C., there still remained a total of 360 years of further punishment beyond the year 536 B.C.  When we examine the history of that period we note that the Jews did not return to establish and independent country at the end of either 360 or of 430 years of additional punishment.  In light of the precision of Ezekiel’s prophecy, it was difficult to understand why nothing occurred at theat time to fulfill the detailed prediction.   

Both the Bible and history reveal that Israel did not repent of its sins at the end of the seventy-year captivity in Babylon.  In fact, the Scriptures record in the books of Ezra and Nehemiah that the minority of fifty thousand who chose to return with Ezra to the Promised Land did so with little faith.  The vast majority of the Jews remained in pagan Babylon.  They failed to repent of their disobedience, which was the reason God sent them into captivity in the first place.  This majority who refused to immigrate home to Israel, composing over 95 percent of the Jewish captives, simply settled down as colonists in what is now Iraq-Iran.  Over the centuries that followed, travelers such as Benjamin of Tuldela reported that thousands of Jews still lived in several of the cities of present-day Iraq, Iran, and Afghanistan.

The solution to the mystery of the duration of Israel’s worldwide dispersion and return in a divine principle that God revealed to Moses in Leviticus 26.  In this chapter the LORD established promises and punishments for Israel based on her obedience and her disobedience to His commands.  God declared to Israel four times in this passage that if, after being punished for her sins, she still did not repent, the punishments previously specified would be multiplied by seven (the number of completion).  “And after all this, if you do not obey Me, than I will punish you seven times more for your sins” (Leviticus 26:18; see also Leviticus 26:21, 23-24, 27-28).  In other words, if Israel failed to repent of her disobedience, the punishments already decreed by God would be multiplied or extended seven times.  Since the majority of Israel refused to repent of her sin after the Babylonian Captivity ended, the period of 360 years of further punishment declared by Ezekiel 4:3-6 was multiplied by seven times.  This meant that the Jews would remain without an independent nation for another 2520 biblical years from 536 B.C., the beginning point of the prediction (360 years x 7 = 2520 biblical years).

The period of punishment was to last 2520 biblical years rather than 2520 calendar years.  The reason is that the Bible always used the ancient Jewish calendar composed of 360 days, making up a biblical year, in both the historical and prophetic passages.  The true length of the Jewish, biblical prophetic year was only 360 days because it was a lunar-solar years composed of twelve months of 30 days each.  The modern solar year of 365.25 days was unknown to the ancient nations in the Old Testament.  According to articles on Chronology in the Encyclopedia Britannica and Smith’s Bible Dictionary, Abraham used a 360 day year.  The Genesis’ record of Noah’s flood confirms that the ancient year consisted of twelve months of thirty days each.  Moses declared in Genesis that the period of 150 days when the flood waters were at their height lasted precisely five months from the seventeenth day of the second month to the seventeenth day of the seventh month, proving that each month consisted of thirty days.  Sir Isaac Newton relates that all nations, before the just length of the solar year was known, reckoned months by the course of the moon, and years by the return winter and summer, spring and autumn; and in making calendars for their festivals, they reckoned thirty days to a lunar month, and twelve lunar months to a year, taking the nearest round numbers whence came the division of the ecliptic into 360 degrees.”

Therefore, if we wish to understand the precise times involved in the fulfillment of prophecy, we need to calculate using the same biblical lunar-solar year of 360 days which the prophets used.  Both the prophet Daniel and John, in the Book of Revelation, clearly used a year of 360 days.  The failure to understand the true length of the biblical year as 360 days has prevented some prophecy students from clearly understanding many prophecies which contain a precise time element.  This 360 day prophetic year is also borne out of the Book of Revelation where John’s vision refers to the future Great Tribulation period.  He describes the Great Tribulation of three and one-half years as lasting precisely 1260 days (Revelation 12:6), “a time, times and half a time” where a “time” in Hebrew stands for a year of 360 days (verse 14), and “forty-two months” of thirty days each (13:5).  All of these biblical references confirm that the 360-day biblical year is the one we must use to correctly understand biblical prophecy and chronology.

Therefore, Ezekiel’s prophecy of the 430 years declared that the end of Israel’s punishment and her final restoration to the land would be accomplished in 2520 biblical years of 360 days each which totals precisely 907,200 days.  To convert this period into our calendar year of 365.25 days we simply divide the period of 907,200 days by 365.23 days to reach a total of 2483.8 of our modern calendar years.  Therefore, Ezekiel prophesied that the end of Israel’s worldwide captivity would occur precisely 2483.8 years after the end of the Babylonian Captivity which occurred in the spring of 536 B.C.  In these calculations we must keep in mind that there was only one year between 1B.C. and A.D. 1.  There was no year Zero As an illustration, there were only twelve months between the feast of Passover on the 14^th of Nisan in the spring of 1 B.C. and the next annual Feast of Passover in the Spring of A.D. 1.

To calculate when Ezekiel prophesied the Jews would become a nation again

536.4 B.C.    Babylonian captivity ended in the spring

MINUS

2,483.8 calendar years

1,947.4

1 Adjust one year for B.C. to A.D.

1,948.4

1948 - May 15 Prophecied rebirth of Israel.

On the afternoon of May 14, 1948, the Jews proclaimed the independence of the reborn state of Israel.  As an old rabbi blew on the traditional shofar, a ram’s horn, the Jewish people celebrated the end of their tragic worldwide dispersion and captivity in precise fulfillment of the prophecy made thousands of years earlier by the prophet Ezekiel.  At midnight, as May 15, 1948 began, the British Mandate officially ended and Israel became an independent nation.  This great day marked the first time since the days of Solomon that a united Israel took its place as a sovereign, independent state among the nations of the world.

So did Moses and the other holy Prophets of old speak for God? or did this one called Nephi?  Is the restoration of Israel in process sufficient to know the truth - who spoke the words of God and who didn't?   Did Nephi record the words of Jesus or is this book false witness of what Jesus said and taught?  A story doesn't have to be 100% false to be untrue or false, especially regarding the truth God has spoken through His prophets and then finally His Son.

The disciple of Jesus must never turn from the truth of Jesus Christ, that what he does may be shown to be done in God, and not the father of lies.  The warning of Peter about the truth of the gospel that he taught seems to shine brightly on this issue.

But here we can see that the teachings of Jesus in the Bible have a fulness that is not the same as found in the book of Mormon.

'Beware of false prophets and false teachers'