The Sealed Book from the Mormon Plates

The Sealed Book of Moses

CHAPTER 4

11-20

 

11 Then a voice from heaven said unto him: Enoch, my son, prophesy unto this people, and command them to repent, for thus saith the LORD; I am wroth with this people, and my wrath is kindled against them; for their hearts hardened, and they cover their ears, that they might not hear my messengers, the prophets, and their eyes, that they might not see my work.

 

12 For behold, this people, who claim to be my people in the last days, draw nigh unto me, and with their mouths and lips honor me, but remove their heart from me, and the fear of me is taught according to the precepts of men and no more according to my sound doctrine — and for these many generations from the day that I have created them up until the fullness of time, they shall continually depart from me, the Lord, and shall deny my statutes, and seek their counsel in the darkness, even as it is in thy days, my son Enoch; and in their own abominations they plan the murder, and keep not the commandments which I gave unto their father, Adam.

 

13 It is they who swear falsely, and by their own oaths bring death upon themselves; and a prison, I, the Lord, have prepared for the spirits of these sinners to remain imprisoned in an eternal course1, for I am the Lord, I am the same, I have not changed,
and I will never change, for my ways are eternal and unchanging, and this is the design of my hands until the day of final judgment, when then my Only Begotten proposed in himself, for a full administration in the full limit of the times I have designated, to release the captives in spiritual prisons, if they repent of their sins2 and come to me, the Lord their God and be delivered from captivity and death, when at the end the soul is restored to the body and the body to the soul3.

(1) RLDS D&C 2:1c / LDS D&C 3:2| (2) RLDS Alma 19:69 / LDS Alma 41:6| (3) RLDS Alma 19:58 / LDS Alma 40:23

 

14 And this is a decree which I have promulgated in the beginning of the world, of my own mouth, from its foundation; and by the mouth of my servants, I decreed it, just as it will be propagated in the world, from beginning to end, through my prophets, being therefore, imperative for my justice that men should be judged according to their works in the flesh1, and there will be no resurrection while this earthly mortal body lives in corruption2, until my only begotten come, and in him men may repent of their sins.

(1) RLDS Alma Alma 19:66 / LDS Alma 41:3 | (2) RLDS Alma 19:29; 19:67 / LDS Alma 40:2;41:4

 

15 And so it has been given to man from the beginning a probationary time, until man accepts the righteousness of God, which is prefigured in the figure of his promised offspring, established even before the foundation of the world according to the plan of redemption, which can not be realized except in the face of the repentance of men in this probationary state which is the eternal course, without which men in the flesh would never attain knowledge of the plan of redemption and they would never repent of their sins. Therefore, if there were no eternal course established in opposition, but necessary to the plan of happiness, as eternal as the life of the soul, mankind could never repent and come to Me to save them1.

(1) RLDS Alma 19:84, 94 , 98 / LDS Alma 42:4, 13, 16

 

16 And when he had heard these words, Enoch fell down before the LORD, and spake, saying: Why hath I found grace in thine eyes? I am only a boy and, behold, your people hate me because, unlike my father, I'm weak in the speech. So tell me, why have you chosen me as your servant to tell the people these things? And the LORD said unto Enoch: Go and do as I have commanded you, and no man shall smite thee. Open thy mouth, and it shall be full of wisdom, for I will give thee the words which thou shalt speak, and I will make thee mighty in thy judgments, for all flesh is in my hands; and I will do what seems right to you. For behold, I, the Lord, have found favor in the man you became, though be yet a boy. For there is in you all the good feelings which I esteem are the primordial tools of priests of the holy order of my Only Begotten.

 

17 What makes you pleasing to my eyes, because never before have I found in one man the fullness of my name engraved on his heart, just as there is within you, the feelings of Charity; Enthusiasm, Peace of the Spirit; Resignation to withstand adversities; Benignity; Compassion; Faith; Tenderness and Self-control. Believing that you will attain a higher kingdom with such gifts that are in you, seek to have with you a congregation of those who resemble you.

 

18 For if you can gather all the good feelings derived from My name into the men, women, and children of your congregation, then the sum of these attributes will be my reason to take you, because you bear in yourself the likeness of my Only Begotten, who is full of grace and power.

 

19 And because you have all these gifts within your heart, you will never walk alone, because I will always be with you, whereas you will walk with God in your ways.

 

20 For, behold, the feelings of My name that are in you are intimate; therefore I will justify all your words; and the mountains shall flee before thee, and the rivers shall stray from their course; and you shall abide in me, that is, in my priesthood, for behold, I call upon my servant Adam, the first Priest of the holy order among men, to ordain you to the priesthood of my Only Begotten1, and so obtain in you the fullness of My grace that already act in you through the faith that is in your heart.

(1) RLDS D&C 104:24a / LDS D&C 107:48