Why do you think signs from God come through faith and according to His will, rather than on demand?
"7 And he that seeketh signs shall see signs, but not unto salvation.
8 Verily, I say unto you, there are those among you who seek signs, and there have been such even from the beginning;
9 But, behold, faith cometh not by signs, but signs follow those that believe.
10 Yea, signs come by faith, not by the will of men, nor as they please, but by the will of God.
11 Yea, signs come by faith, unto mighty works, for without faith no man pleaseth God; and with whom God is angry he is not well pleased; wherefore, unto such he showeth no signs, only in wrath unto their condemnation.
12 Wherefore, I, the Lord, am not pleased with those among you who have sought after signs and wonders for faith, and not for the good of men unto my glory." (Doctrine and Covenants 63: 7-12)
"1 The Pharisees also with the Sadducees came, and tempting desired him that he would shew them a sign from heaven.
2 He answered and said unto them, When it is evening, ye say, It will be fair weather: for the sky is red.
3 And in the morning, It will be foul weather to day: for the sky is red and lowring. O ye hypocrites, ye can discern the face of the sky; but can ye not discern the signs of the times?
4 A wicked and adulterous generation seeketh after a sign; and there shall no sign be given unto it, but the sign of the prophet Jonas. And he left them, and departed." (Matthew 16: 1-4)
"37 ¶ But though he had done so many miracles before them, yet they believed not on him:" (John 12: 37)
"10 And now, if ye have imagined up unto yourselves a god who doth vary, and in whom there is shadow of changing, then have ye imagined up unto yourselves a god who is not a God of miracles.
11 But behold, I will show unto you a God of miracles, even the God of Abraham, and the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob; and it is that same God who created the heavens and the earth, and all things that in them are.
12 Behold, he created Adam, and by Adam came the fall of man. And because of the fall of man came Jesus Christ, even the Father and the Son; and because of Jesus Christ came the redemption of man.
13 And because of the redemption of man, which came by Jesus Christ, they are brought back into the presence of the Lord; yea, this is wherein all men are redeemed, because the death of Christ bringeth to pass the resurrection, which bringeth to pass a redemption from an endless sleep, from which sleep all men shall be awakened by the power of God when the trump shall sound; and they shall come forth, both small and great, and all shall stand before his bar, being redeemed and loosed from this eternal band of death, which death is a temporal death.
14 And then cometh the judgment of the Holy One upon them; and then cometh the time that he that is filthy shall be filthy still; and he that is righteous shall be righteous still; he that is happy shall be happy still; and he that is unhappy shall be unhappy still.
15 And now, O all ye that have imagined up unto yourselves a god who can do no miracles, I would ask of you, have all these things passed, of which I have spoken? Has the end come yet? Behold I say unto you, Nay; and God has not ceased to be a God of miracles.
16 Behold, are not the things that God hath wrought marvelous in our eyes? Yea, and who can comprehend the marvelous works of God?
17 Who shall say that it was not a miracle that by his word the heaven and the earth should be; and by the power of his word man was created of the dust of the earth; and by the power of his word have miracles been wrought?
18 And who shall say that Jesus Christ did not do many mighty miracles? And there were many mighty miracles wrought by the hands of the apostles.
19 And if there were miracles wrought then, why has God ceased to be a God of miracles and yet be an unchangeable Being? And behold, I say unto you he changeth not; if so he would cease to be God; and he ceaseth not to be God, and is a God of miracles.
20 And the reason why he ceaseth to do miracles among the children of men is because that they dwindle in unbelief, and depart from the right way, and know not the God in whom they should trust.
21 Behold, I say unto you that whoso believeth in Christ, doubting nothing, whatsoever he shall ask the Father in the name of Christ it shall be granted him; and this promise is unto all, even unto the ends of the earth." (Mormon 9: 10-21)
"12 For if there be no faith among the children of men God can do no miracle among them; wherefore, he showed not himself until after their faith.
18 And neither at any time hath any wrought miracles until after their faith; wherefore they first believed in the Son of God." (Ether 12: 12,18)
And here's the commentary entitled: "Signs come by faith and the will of God." :
"At the end of this outline, there’s an illustration of a miracle that deeply impressed Ezra Booth: Elsa Johnson’s arm was miraculously healed. After seeing that, Ezra was eagerly baptized. And yet, within just a few months, Ezra lost his faith and became critical of the Prophet. How could this be, considering the miracle he’d witnessed?
Ponder this as you read Doctrine and Covenants 63:7–12. What truths do you learn about signs and faith?
See also Matthew 16:1–4; John 12:37; Mormon 9:10–21; Ether 12:12, 18."
Here are the truths I learned about signs and faith from reading Doctrine and Covenants 63:7–12 :
- He that seeketh signs shall see signs, but not unto salvation
- Faith cometh not by signs, but signs follow those that believe
- Signs come by faith, not by the will of men, nor as they please, but by the will of God
- Signs come by faith, unto mighty works, for without faith no man pleaseth God
- The Lord is not pleased with those among us who have sought after signs and wonders for faith, and not for the good of men unto His glory
It makes sense that signs come by faith and the will of God because witnessing a sign doesn't produce faith. Believe first and then seeing the sign will follow. It's not the other way around.
No comments:
Post a Comment