Gospel topic
Book of Mormon: Sealed Portion of the Gold Plates
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As the Lord Jesus alone has power to loose the seven seals on John’s book, so the coming forth of the sealed portion of the Book of Mormon depends upon our faith and righteousness. When we rend the damning veil of unbelief that now shuts us out from perfect communion with Gods and angels and when we gain faith like that of the brother of Jared, then we will gain the knowledge that was his. This will not occur until after the Lord comes. (See Ether 4.)
Elder Bruce R. McConkie
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In due course the Book of Mormon came forth and the unsealed portion was translated and published to bring salvation to all those who will believe it and the testimony it bears of Him by whom salvation comes. Many revelations came through the prophet and seer of our day, of whom the Lord said: “Thou shalt give heed unto all his words and commandments which he shall give unto you as he receiveth them, walking in all holiness before me; for his word ye shall receive, as if from mine own mouth, in all patience and faith.” (D&C 21:4-5.) A portion of the Lord’s word that came through Joseph Smith and that has been partially ignored by many Latter-day Saints is found in the revisions he made by the spirit of revelation in the Bible itself. He prepared his New Translation for publication in his day, but the power of evil was so great, and the persecutions and drivings of the saints were so extensive and severe, that the work as then prepared did not come forth in that day. We have since published in the Pearl of Great Price the portions known as the Book of Moses and as the 24th chapter of Matthew. In 1979 the Church also published in the footnotes and appendix of their official Bible many of the major changes. There will, of course, be a future day when added revisions, made with prophetic power, will become part of the Stick of Judah. In this connection, be it also remembered that the brass plates that Nephi took from Jerusalem contain more of the word of the Lord for the comparable period than does our present Old Testament. They, of course, will also come forth in due time as part of the restoration of all things. Indeed, Lehi prophesied “that these plates of brass should go forth unto all nations, kindreds, tongues, and people who were of his seed. Wherefore, he said that these plates of brass should never perish; neither should they be dimmed any more by time.” (1 Ne. 5118-19.) Without any question, however, the scripture that is yet to come forth, which will reveal more of the mind and will and purposes of the Lord than any other, is the sealed portion of the Book of Mormon. Moroni says that “there never were greater things made manifest than those which were made manifest unto the brother of Jared.” All of these things are recorded in the sealed portion of the book. Of them, the Lord said to Moroni: “They shall not go forth unto the Gentiles until the day that they shall repent of their iniquity, and become clean before the Lord. And in that day that they shall exercise faith in me, saith the Lord, even as the brother of Jared did, that they may become sanctified in me, then will I manifest unto them the things which the brother of Jared saw, even to the unfolding unto them all my revelations, saith Jesus Christ, the Son of God, the Father of the heavens and of the earth, and all things that in them are.” (Ether 4:4-7.) Nephi spoke similarly. He said: “The book shall be sealed; and in the book shall be a revelation from God, from the beginning of the world to the ending thereof. Wherefore, because of the things which are sealed up, the things which are sealed shall not be delivered in the day of the wickedness and abominations of the people. Wherefore the book shall be kept from them.” And further: “The book shall be sealed by the power of God, and the revelation which was sealed shall be kept in the book until the own due time of the Lord, that they may come forth; for behold, they reveal all things from the foundation of the world unto the end thereof.” This causes us to ask: How would the worldly-wise react if they learned from the book the falsity of their evolutionary theories and how damning their views are about the creation of the world? How would they react if they found detailed prophecies about Joseph Smith and the dispensation in which we live? What if men found in them the mysteries of the kingdom that are revealed in the temples? Would the Lord thus be casting pearls before swine? Our present revelations do, of course, have many allusions to things that are most assuredly set forth extensively and with clarity in the sealed scriptures. It seems apparent, under all the circumstances, that the sealed portion of the Book of Mormon will not come forth until after the Lord Jesus comes. Nephi’s prophetic word is: “And the day cometh that the words of the book which were sealed shall be read upon the house tops; and they shall be read by the power of Christ; and all things shall be revealed unto the children of men which ever have been among the children of men, and which ever will be even unto the end of the earth.” (2 Ne. 27:7-11.)
Elder Bruce R. McConkie
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The Lost Tribes of Israel
Elder Neal A. Maxwell
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New Era When Moroni was finishing the Book of Mormon record, he was commanded to seal up some of the plates, and Joseph Smith was later commanded not to translate them. This sealed portion contains the complete record of the vision of the brother of Jared (see Ether 4:4–5). This vision included “all things from the foundation of the world unto the end thereof” (2 Nephi 27:10–11; see also Ether 3:25). So basically the Lord revealed to the brother of Jared the history of mankind, and the sealed portion of the plates was Moroni’s translated copy of it. Few people have seen the sealed record—for instance, the Nephites in the land Bountiful at the Savior’s coming (see Ether 4:1–2) and Moroni (see Ether 12:24). The Lord said the sealed portion would be revealed to the world “in mine own due time” (Ether 3:27). He also said it would “not go forth unto the Gentiles until the day that they shall repent of their iniquity, and become clean before the Lord” (Ether 4:6; see also 2 Nephi 27:8). According to Joseph Smith’s associates who saw the golden plates, anywhere from half to two-thirds of all the plates were in the sealed portion (see
Kirk B. Henrichsen
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