Book of Mormon Challenge (Nov 7, 2018 - 1 of 12)

From: Jason Kemp
jasonmkemp@hotmail.com


Book of Mormon Challenge (Nov 7, 2018 - 1 of 12)
Reading starts Nov 19th

Book of Mormon Challenge (Nov 7, 2018 - 1 of 12)
The reading challenge starts on Monday, November 19, but until then, I wanted to provide some introductory information prior to the daily reading of the Book of Mormon.

Nov 7 and 8 will be preface, introduction, overview and purpose of the Book of Mormon.
Each day, between Nov 9 and 18 will be a Biblical Proof of the Book of Mormon
-----

Preface
Protestant Christians are big on the following statement.
"…Show it to me in the Word and I’ll believe it."

I intend to show that the Bible points to the Book of Mormon and to the New World; that there are more than a few key biblical passages supporting the "Stick of Joseph" (Book of Mormon). Ten biblical proofs, to be exact. [There are far more than that.]

Introduction

I’ve been preaching out of the Book of Mormon, as well as the Bible, now for over fifteen years. (Been preaching for nearly forty years.) And I’m a Baptist minister. I’ve discovered the Book of Mormon is full of those grand Protestant themes—salvation by grace, faith and repentance, forgiveness through His shed blood, the born again experience, and other cardinal Protestant doctrines.

Like the Bible, the central theme of the Book of Mormon is the Lordship of Jesus Christ. There are over 160 passages in the Book of Mormon that speak of the Lord Jesus Christ. There were 22 men named in the Book of Mormon who saw Christ. Some form of Christ’s name is mentioned on an average of every 1.7 verses. The New Testament mentions a form of Christ’s name on an average of every 2.1 verses. The name of the Savior appears nearly 25 percent more frequently in the Book of Mormon than in the New Testament. When we realize that a verse usually consists of one sentence, we cannot on the average read two sentences in the Book of Mormon without seeing some form of Christ’s name.

"He is Lord" rings loud and clear from its pages like a London cathedral choir harmonizing on a Sunday morning. The sound is resonant throughout the book’s pages. The Spirit’s witness is there. That same Jesus I discovered in the Bible is also present in the pages of the Book of Mormon.

Praise be to His holy name!

To begin with, I’ve discovered—most Protestant Christians have never read the Book of Mormon, yet are against it. That’s why we need to begin with…

How Did We Get the Book of Mormon?
• Mormon abridged a thousand years of history.
• He gave the abridgment to his son Moroni to finish (385 AD).
• Moroni, resurrected being, gave it to Joseph Smith in 1827 AD.
• Joseph translated it by the "gift and power of God."
• It was first published in March, 1830, by Egbert B. Grandin, a printer and bookstore proprietor of Palmyra, New York. Five thousand copies were printed for $3,000.

There is one other group mentioned in the Book of Mormon that came from the East to the Americas—the Jaredites. This group came from the tower of Babel at the time of the confounding of languages around 2,300 BC. Their civilization lasted over 2,000 years, and their story is highly condensed in the Book of Ether.

The Book of Mormon then tells of 3 civilizations or cultures - all branches from the House of Israel - which were led by God to the Americas: 1) the Jaredites, 2) Nephites, and 3) Mulekites.

What’s the Purpose of the Book of Mormon?
• To tell the seed of Lehi about their heritage as part of the House of Israel.
• To witness that Jesus is indeed the Christ.
• To give testimony of Joseph’s blessing to his descendants—a "land choice above all others." Joseph’s land, the Land of Promise.
• To reveal that a New Jerusalem is to be built in the Land of Promise, the New World, the Americas.
And now, let’s turn our attention to…
Biblical Proofs of the Book of Mormon
The Bible points to the Book of Mormon and to the New World. What a wonderful story of hope and promise for these last days!

TOMORROW (Nov 8, 2018 - 2 of 12):
An Overview of Book of Mormon History