Ezra Taft Benson - A Witness and a Warning: A Modern Day Prophet Testifies of the Book of Mormon

1988 Deseret Book Company. All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any means without permission in writing from the publisher, Deseret Book Company, P.O. Box 30178, Salt Lake City, Utah 84130. This work is not an official publication of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. The views expressed herein are the responsibility of the author and do not necessarily represent the position of the Church or of Deseret Book Company. Deseret Book is a registered trademark of Deseret Book Company.

Foreword

My beloved brethren and sisters:

Sister Benson and I have a great love for the Book of Mormon and we try to read it every day.

The Book of Mormon is the instrument that God has designed to "sweep the earth as with a flood, to gather out His elect unto the New Jerusalem." (Moses 7:62.)

This sacred volume of scripture has not been, nor is it yet, central in preaching, our teaching, and our missionary work. We have not adequately used "the most correct of any book on earth."

Presently the Book of Mormon is studied in our Sunday School and seminary classes every fourth year. This four-year pattern, however, must not be followed by Church members in their personal study of the standard works. All scripture is not of equal value. The book that is the "keystone of our religion" and that will get a man "nearer to God by abiding by its precepts, than by any other book" needs to be studied constantly. (History of the Church 4:461.)

In section 84 of the Doctrine and Covenants, the Lord declares that the whole Church and all the children of Zion are under condemnation because of the way we have treated the Book of Mormon. (Verses 54-58.) This condemnation has not been lifted, nor will it be until we repent.

The Lord states that we must not only say but we must do. We have neither said enough nor have we done enough with this divine instrumentthe key to conversion. As a result, as individuals, as families, and as the Church, we sometimes have felt the scourge and judgement God said would be "poured out upon the children of Zion" because of our neglect of this book.

The Lord inspired His servant Lorenzo Snow to reemphasize the principle of tithing to redeem the Church from financial bondage. In those days the General Authorities took that message to the members of the Church. So too ]in our day. The Lord has inspired His servants to reemphasize the Book of Mormon to get the Church and all the children of Zion out from under condemnationthe scourge and judgment. (See D&C 84:54-58.) This message must be carried to the members of the Church throughout the world.

We invite each member of the Church to read again and again the Book of Mormon. Those who teach or speak in Church meetings should carefully and prayerfully use the Book of Mormon to strengthen and enhance their messages and presentations.

I bless you with increased understanding of the Book of Mormon. I promise you that from this moment forward, if we will daily sup from its pages and abide by its precepts, God will pour out upon each child of Zion and the Church a blessing hitherto unknown. And we will plead to the Lord that He will begin to lift the condemnationthe scourge and judgment. Of this I bear solemn witness.

I promise you that as you more diligently study modern revelation on gospel subjects, your power to teach and preach will be magnified and you will so move the cause of Zion that added numbers will enter into the house of the Lord as well as the mission field.

I bless you with increased desire to flood the earth with the Book of Mormon, to gather out from the world the elect of God who are yearning for the truth but know not where to find it.

Faithfully your brother,

Ezra Taft Benson

Chapter 1

The Book of Mormon Is the Word of God

As members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, "We believe... the Book of Mormon to be the word of God." (Eighth Article of Faith.) God has so declared it, so have its writers, so have its witnesses, and so do all those who have read it and received a personal revelation from God as to its truthfulness.

In section 20 of the Doctrine and Covenants the Lord says that he gave Joseph Smith "power from on high... to translate the Book of Mormon; which contains... the fulness of the gospel of Jesus Christ... which was given by inspiration." (Verses 8-10.)

Nephi, one of the prophet-writers of the Book of Mormon, testifies that the book contains "the words of Christ" (2 Nephi 33:10), and Moroni, the last writer in the book, testifies that "these things are true" (Moroni 7:35).

This same Moroni, as an angelic being sent from God, showed these ancient records to three witnesses in our day. Their testimony of the records is contained in the front of the Book of Mormon. They state: "We also know that they have been translated by the gift and power of God, for his voice hath declared it unto us; wherefore we know of a surety that the work is true."

And Joseph Smith, the Prophet, the instrument whom God used to translate this record, testified that "the Book of Mormon was the most correct of any book on earth, and the keystone of our religion, and a man would get nearer to God by abiding by its precepts, than by any other book." (History of the Church 4:461.)

The Book of Mormon was written for us today. God is the author of the book. It is a record of a fallen people, compiled by inspired men for our blessing today. Those people never had the bookit was meant for us. Mormon, the ancient prophet after whom the book is named, abridged centuries of records. God, who knows the end from the beginning, told him what to include in his abridgment that we would need for our day. Mormon turned the records over to his son Moroni, the last recorder; and Moroni, writing over 1,500 years ago but speaking to us today, states: "Behold, I speak unto you as if ye were present, and yet ye are not. But behold, Jesus Christ hath shown you unto me, and I know your doing." (Mormon 8:35.)

The purpose of the Book of Mormon is stated on the title page. It is "to the convincing of the Jew and Gentile that Jesus is the Christ, the Eternal God."

Nephi, the first prophet-writer in the Book of Mormon, states: "For the fulness of mine intent is that I may persuade men to come unto the God of Abraham, and the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob, and be saved.

"Wherefore, the things which are pleasing unto the world I do not write, but the things which are pleasing unto God and unto those who are not of the world.

"Wherefore, I shall give commandment unto my seed, that they shall not occupy these plates with things which are not of worth unto the children of men." (1 Nephi 6:4-6.)

The Book of Mormon brings men to Christ through two basic means. First, it tells in a plain manner of Christ and His gospel. It testifies of His divinity and of the necessity for a Redeemer and the need of our putting trust in Him. It bears witness of the Fall and the Atonement and the first principles of the gospel, including our need of a broken heart and a contrite spirit and a spiritual rebirth. It proclaims we must endure to the end in righteousness and live the moral life of a Saint.

Second, the Book of Mormon exposes the enemies of Christ. It confounds false doctrines and lays down contention. (See 2 Nephi 3:12.) It fortifies the humble followers of Christ against the evil designs, strategies, and doctrines of the devil in our day. The type of apostates in the Book of Mormon is similar to the type we have today. God, with his infinite foreknowledge, so molded the Book of Mormon that we might see the error and know how to combat false educational, political, religious, and philosophical concepts of our time.