Words of Apostle Bento D´Almeida / Palavras do Apostolo Bento D´Almeida
Words of Apostle Bento D´Almeida / Palavras do Apostolo Bento D´Almeida
Words of Dr John Pratt / Palavras do Dr John Pratt
Words of Elder Steve Woodby / Palavras do Elder Steve Woodby
Words of the Prophet Maurício Artur Berger / Palavras do Profeta Maurício Artur Berger
Words of the Prophet Maurício Artur Berger / Palavras do Profeta Maurício Artur Berger
It has been said that life is like a book, in which we write a page every day and a comma every hour. In this autobiography, however, there is no pen that can write the future, nor an eraser that can erase the past, and obviously, just as it all ends one day, at some moment in our human existence on earth, God will take His pen and write the end in our history. And when that day arrives, then there will be nothing we can do. It was for this reason that the prophet Isaiah said “that we must seek God while He can be found”, although the Bible assures us that He is not far from each one of us, however, while you are there, writing your history, He is here, crying out to thee, “Come to me my son, my daughter, come to me all ye who are tired, overwhelmed and fatigued, with the oppressive system of the world outside, and I will revive you. These words extracted from the text of Matthew 11:28, make it clear that Jesus is calling you, He is calling each one of us here today. Can you hear?
God took for Himself those who heard the call of God in biblical times as His special property, however, it was those who answered His call, and here is the key to every question, because there is a difference between hearing and answering. And for those who answered His call, Deuteronomy 32:10 says that God designed a hedge around them and protected them as the apple of His eye.
Do you know what the apple of the eye is? It is the little ball that is in the center of the eyeball. Have you ever let someone stick their finger in the center of your eye? Of course not! First because it hurts, and it hurts a lot, and second, because even if someone tries, the eyelids instinctively close, not allowing any foreign body to enter the eyeball. And if that weren’t enough, the hands move quickly to protect the face and the eyes, no matter what the cost. Have you noticed that?
Deuteronomy 32:10 is saying that if you are like the apple of the eye of the Lord, then nothing nor anyone will touch you. I repeat, if God considers you to be the apple of His eye, then no matter how big thy problems might be, no matter what size thy adversities might be, just as the eyelids close to protect the human eye, so also God will clothe your life with protection. And if that weren’t enough protection from Him, the hands of the One who rules the entire universe, will also protect you, no matter what the cost, as long as you answer His call. This call, which has been disseminated since the beginning of time, when God, through revelation or through the ministry of angels, called prophets with the purpose of calling his people to repentance, always before an impending catastrophe, just as in the days of Noah, when only he and his family were spared during the great flood. You know why, right? Because they answered the call of God in their lives.
However, the call of Noah was not enough for the days of Abraham and accordingly the call of Abraham, did not serve for Moses to free the Hebrew people from the captivity of Egypt. That is why the Bible was written from time to time, because God commissioned prophets in their respective epochs, each having a calling that corresponded to the difficulties and demands of their own dispensations. But what about today? Is it a fact that we no longer need revelation from heaven, since we have the Bible? That is what many Christian religions claim. If that were true, then the revelation given to Noah for building the ark would be just as effective for our salvation today as it was for his day, or God’s command for Abraham to leave his land would be just as necessary for us today, to the point of going out into the world in search of our own promised land. Or, if we were to live the revelation given to Moses, would we be living in tents in the desert and worshiping God at the foot of the mountain?
Let us not be naive!
It is obvious that the revelations of the past, while encouraging us to believe in God in the present, are of no use in saving us from the impending global and monetary catastrophe that is fast approaching. But don’t worry, the Bible assures us that God will do nothing, against humanity, without first notifying his servants the prophets.
And that is exactly what started to happen on March 26, 1820, when Joseph Smith Jr., at the age of only 14, saw two personages whose splendor and glory defy all description, when God commissioned him to be a prophet for the nations, with the purpose, of course, to call the people of Earth to repentance, for the last time, in the fullness of times. His message gained strength 9 years later, when in June 1829, Oliver Cowdery, David Whitmer and Martin Harris, together with Joseph, gave their names to the world as eyewitnesses to the appearance of the angel Moroni, who, as prophesied in Revelation 14:6, carried in his hands an ancient record compiled on gold plates, of which Joseph Smith, by the power and gift of God, translated the part that was for him, being the Book of Mormon, which, together with the Bible, form the basis of our faith.
It is 200 years later, and are we here, still reliving the first call of the fullness of times?
Yes and no!
“Yes” because we have the Book of Mormon as the cornerstone of our religion, and “no” due to the many events which have begun to occur among us since 2007, of a purely heavenly nature, a period in which Joni Batista, Wagner Zeppenfeld, and Valdeci Machado, together with me, contemplated the presence of that ascended being, clothed with light, who identified himself by the name of Moroni, and who again carried in his hands the Plates of Mormon, of which I, Maurício Berger, also by the gift and power of God, I translated the part that fell to me, as The Sealed Book, which not only is the secure foundation of our faith in this work that we are doing today, but it is also the second and last call of God to humanity in the fullness of times.
Can you hear? Are you willing to answer His call?
Finally, since the Bible assures us that God does not change, but that He is the same yesterday, today and forever, I must now as a prophet set aside my discourse and announce to you a revelation that comes to me from Jesus Christ who says:
“Blessed are ye, O remnant people of my Church, and ye who lead it as you have for such a noble cause, for, behold, my Day is at the doors and is rapidly approaching, who then may abide the Day of my coming? When I, Jesus Christ, draw my sword over all the inhabitants of the earth, having justice like battle armor upon my loins, and vengeance dripping from my eyes, like acts of judgments to be poured out on all nations, because the foundations of the earth will be shaken, and there will be no safe place to flee, except in Zion and its abodes, which is why I have encouraged you to build the United Order, like Noah’s ark, to save you in the last days. So now I will make known the names of those that I revealed to you previously as being a Davidic Servant and One Mighty and Strong to sustain the arms of my servant Mauricio in the presidency of my Church in these last days, just as it was in the beginning of the restoration, when I the Lord appointed and called Sidney Rigdon and Jesse Gause as counselors to my servant Joseph, to establish the law of consecration among my people.
[This verse was given in English:] “Behold, I the Lord, will raise up a leader for my people in Utah, whose name is John Pratt, whom I have prepared since before the foundation of the world, to replace the one that behaves as Saul, in rejecting my prophet. John is like David in many ways, small in front of the giant, but I the Lord chose him for greatness of his heart. And, among them, I’ll raise up one man, which will be a Mighty and Strong in my work, whose name is Steve Woodby. Amen.”