Heads up! I’m creating short, fun, Come Follow Me videos each week. Be notified of new videos via email, Facebook, or Instagram.
The below transcript is based on this video.
Have you ever thought about what your final words will be? Some last words are romantic, like Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, the author of the Sherlock Holmes stories. He died at age 71 in his garden. Just before had a heart attack he told his wife, “You are wonderful.” Those are beautiful last words. I’m not sure what my last words will be, but I hope they aren’t “Ooops, I shouldn’t have done that,” because that of course would not be good! 😊
On a more serious note, Mormon spent decades working on the Book of Mormon. I’m very confident that he paid careful attention to the last words he engraved on the plates. We find Mormon’s last words in Mormon chapter 7. Towards the very end of the chapter, he tells us the intent he had in writing the Book of Mormon.
Mormon said, “Lay hold upon the gospel of Christ, which shall be set before you, not only in this record but also in the record which shall come unto the Gentiles from the Jews, which record shall come from the Gentiles unto you” (Mormon 7:8).
Now let’s pause for a minute and note that Mormon is talking about two different records. When he says, “This record” he’s referring to the Book of Mormon. When he says, “the record which shall come unto the Gentiles from the Jews” he is referring to the Bible. So Mormon is telling us to lay hold on the gospel of Christ which we will receive in both the Bible and the Book of Mormon.
Mormon continues, “For behold, this [the Book of Mormon] is written for the intent that ye may believe that [the Bible]; and if ye believe that [the Bible] ye will believe this [the Book of Mormon] also…” (Mormon 7:9).
I think it’s powerful that in his final words Mormon tells us that at least one of the key reasons why the Book of Mormon was written is so that we will believe the Bible. Some people think that the Book of Mormon replaces the Bible or is in competition with the Bible. That’s not true. The Book of Mormon was written for the intent that we would believe the Bible.
This same idea, taught at the end of the Book of Mormon, was also taught at the beginning of the book. In 1 Nephi, Nephi had a vision in which he saw “the book of the Lamb of God, which had proceeded forth from the mouth of the Jew, that it came forth from the Gentiles unto the remnant of the seed of my brethren.” (1 Nephi 13:38). In other words, he saw the coming forth of the Bible.
Nephi then says, “And after it [the Bible] had come forth unto them I beheld other books [like the Book of Mormon and Doctrine and Covenants], which came forth by the power of the Lamb, from the Gentiles unto them, unto the convincing of the Gentiles and the remnant of the seed of my brethren, and also the Jews who were scattered upon all the face of the earth, that the records of the prophets and of the twelve apostles of the Lamb are true.” So these later books—including the Book of Mormon—would show the truthfulness of the Bible. This is in fact what the angel speaking to Nephi says in the very next verse:
“The angel spake unto me, saying: These last records [the Book of Mormon and other latter-day scripture], which thou hast seen among the Gentiles, shall establish the truth of the first [meaning the Bible] , which are of the twelve apostles of the Lamb, and shall make known the plain and precious things which have been taken away from them; and shall make known to all kindreds, tongues, and people, that the Lamb of God is the Son of the Eternal Father, and the Savior of the world; and that all men must come unto him, or they cannot be saved” (1 Nephi 13:40).
The idea that the Book of Mormon will persuade us of the truthfulness of the Bible appears elsewhere in the Book of Mormon. Lehi teaches that the Bible and the Book of Mormon “shall grow together, unto the confounding of false doctrines and laying down of contentions, and establishing peace…” (2 Nephi 3:12).
I love these multiple scriptural witnesses that the Bible and the Book of Mormon work together. They are not in competition with each other. A key purpose of the Book of Mormon is to help us know that the Bible is God’s word, so that we can learn of the gospel of Jesus Christ, which is written in both the Bible and the Book of Mormon.
After telling us that the Book of Mormon was written for the intent that we would believe the Bible, Mormon records his final words: “If it so be that ye believe in Christ, and are baptized, first with water, then with fire and with the Holy Ghost, following the example of our Savior, according to that which he hath commanded us, it shall be well with you in the day of judgment. Amen” (Mormon 7:10).
I know that the both the Bible and the Book of Mormon will help us believe in Christ and pray that we will seriously study both of these God-given books.
