Lessons for Our Day From the Book of Mormon Another Testament of Jesus Christ - 2024
Lesson No. Nine

Miracles Have Not Ceased

Remember and ponder the mercy of the Lord – We live in a day of miracles. However, it is very easy to not appreciate all the miracles we experience in our lives. It pleases the Lord for us to recognize His hand in our lives, both on a micro and macro level. We should remember how merciful the Lord has been to us individually and to our family (micro), and to all the children of men (macro). We will then receive the power of the Holy Ghost, and by the power of the Holy Ghost we will know our God is a God of miracles, and that miracles have not ceased. (Moroni 10:3-5)

1 Nephi is an account of one miracle after another. It is evidence of the miracles God is willing to give to us:

1. Lehi prayed with all of his heart, and he was given a miraculous vision (1 Nephi 1:5-14). Nephi desired to know the things his father had seen. He pondered and prayed, and was given his own vision (1 Nephi 11-14). Our Father in Heaven hears and answers our prayers. This is a miracle.

2. Obtaining the brass plates (scriptures) was a miracle (1 Nephi 3-4). The way the Bible was preserved, and the coming forth of the Book of Mormon was a miracle. If we “live by every word which proceedeth forth out of the mouth of God”, this will bring miracles. (D&C 98:11)

3. Lehi’s sons married Ishmael’s daughters and their posterity inherited the promised land, and this was a miracle (1 Nephi 7:1-5; 18:22-25). Finding an eternal companion and raising a righteous family in our promised land is an amazing miracle.

4. Traveling in the wilderness with the guidance of the Liahona was a miracle – It is no less a miracle to have the guidance of the scriptures, the Holy Ghost, and of living prophets as we travel through the wilderness of mortality.

5. Nephi building a ship and crossing the ocean was a miracle – The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is a miracle. “President Brigham Young commonly employed ‘the Old Ship Zion’ as a metaphor for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. He said on one occasion: “We are on the old ship Zion. … [God] is at the helm and will stay there. … All is right, sing Hallelujah, for the Lord is here. He dictates, guides and directs. If the people will have implicit confidence in their God, never forsake their covenants nor their God, He will guide us right.” (M. Russell Ballard, Stay in the Boat and Hold On, CR, October 2014).

2 Nephi teaches how we can enjoy the miracles found in the gospel of Jesus Christ:

6. We must repent and “awake from the sleep of hell and shake off the awful chains…which bind the children of men….and be determined in one mind and in one heart, united in all things.…Rebel no more” against the Lord’s prophets “whose views are glorious” (2 Nephi 1:13,21, 24).

7. We must believe that “redemption cometh in and through the Holy Messiah…who offereth himself a sacrifice for sin to answer the ends of the law unto all those who have a broken heart and a contrite spirit; and to none else can the ends of the law be answered” (2 Nephi 2:6-7).

8. We must believe in the work of restoration accomplished by the “choice seer” the Lord will “raise up” in the latter days (2 Nephi 3:7). This refers to the Prophet Joseph Smith, and the restoration of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, and all of the attendant powers and blessings.

9. We must not “slacken [our] strength because of [our] afflictions” (2 Nephi 4:29), but we must be diligent in the service of God (D&C 4)

10. We must endure to the end, and like Nephi we must not “trust in the arm of flesh” but put our “trust in [the Lord] forever” (2 Nephi 4:34).

The Lord said: “I am a God of Miracles” (2 Nephi 27:23), and I testify this is true – Recently, I felt pressure in my chest, and my primary care doctor arranged for a stress test of my heart. As a result of this test I had a stent placed in my heart. During this procedure a picture taken just before the stent was placed which showed the “widow maker” artery was 90% blocked. A picture taken 15 minutes later, after the stent was placed, showed this artery wide open and blood flowing freely. I returned home the same day. I feel as did Amon in his discussion with his brother Aaron. (See Alma 26:9-12)

Sceptics will say: “This is an example of the miracle of modern medicine.” However, not to recognize the hand of the Lord in the modern miracles of medicine and technology is like Isaiah said: “Shall the ax boast itself against him that heweth therewith? Shall the saw magnify itself against him that shaketh it? As if the rod should shake itself against them that lift it up, or as if the staff should lift up itself as if there were no wood” (2 Nephi 20:15)!

Believers will say: “Praise the Lord, call upon his name, declare his doings among the people, make mention that his name is exalted. Sing unto the Lord; for he hath done excellent things; this is known in all the earth. Cry out and shout, thou inhabitant of Zion; for great is the Holy One of Israel in the midst of thee” (2 Nephi 22:4-6). Count me and my family among the believers!

Released on March 3rd, 2024.