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The Ninth Article of Faith

© Rebecca Talley

The Ninth Article of Faith of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints says, "We believe all that God has revealed, all that He does now reveal, and we believe that He will yet reveal many great and important things pertaining to the Kingdom of God."

While Adam lived in the Garden of Eden he spoke with and was instructed by Heavenly Father. When he and Eve were cast out Adam took with him a personal knowledge and remembrance of God. While they sojourned on the earth, both Adam and Eve prayed continually for guidance from God. "And Adam and Eve, his wife, called upon the name of the Lord, and they heard the voice of the Lord from the way toward the Garden of Eden, speaking unto them, and they saw him not; for they were shut out from his presence. And he gave unto them commandments, that they should worship the Lord their God, and should offer the firstlings of their flocks, for an offering unto the Lord. And Adam was obedient unto the commandments of the Lord." (Moses 5:4-5)

Enoch also had direct communication with God. "And Enoch walked with God after he begat Methuselah three hundred years, and begat sons and daughters." (Genesis 5:22). Further reading of this chapter indicates that Enoch so faithfully obeyed the word of God that he was taken unto God.

Additional study of the Bible relates many other instances when the Lord communed with man. Numerous times Moses talked with God and then related the teachings to his people. The Lord warned Noah to build an ark. Abraham was commanded to sacrifice his only son.

We believe that just as in the times of Adam, Abraham, Moses, and Noah, God speaks to his people today. He does this now, as he did anciently, through His prophets. We believe that today God's prophet is Gordon B. Hinckley. As President Hinkcley speaks to us and counsels us, we follow his words because he is the current mouthpiece of the Lord. "What I the Lord have spoken, I have spoken, and I excuse not myself; and though the heavens and the earth pass away, my word shall not pass away, but shall all be fulfilled, whether by my own voice or by the voice of my servants it is the same." (Doctrine and Covenants 1:38)

Throughout the Old and New Testaments, God spoke to man as necessary for man's benefit. God communed with Adam, Enoch, Noah, Abraham, Isaac, Joseph, Moses, Elijah, Isaiah, Daniel, Ezekiel, Peter, James, John, Paul, and Stephen, to name a few. Sometimes these revelations were intended for the individual, sometimes for their family, and sometimes for an entire city or people. Paul states that "no man can say that Jesus is the Lord, but by the Holy Ghost." (1 Corinthians 12:3) John wrote that "the testimony of Jesus is the spirit of prophecy." (Revelation 19:10) In other words, we gain our own personal testimony that Jesus Christ is our Savior and Redeemer through personal revelation from God.

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