9:8-9 - "...For do we not read that God is the same yesterday, today, and forever, and in him there is no variableness neither shadow of changing? (Hebrews 13:8)"
God does not change or move away from us. We move away from him. He has always used Prophets and appointed men and women to teach, preach, and bring forth the gospel. We can see the truth by reading the scriptures and following the same pattern. We can receive a confirmation that it is true from the Holy Ghost.
9:14 - "...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..."
We can't expect to change from filthy to righteousness at the last day. It just doesn't work that way. We need to change ourselves now and not think that we can change at the last minute and that all will be well.
9:20 - "...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..."
This shows the effects of the opposite of faith. If we dwindle in unbelief and depart from the right way, we see that miracles will cease.
If we want to have miracles in our life, we must have faith and not dwindle in unbelief.
9:27 - "...O then despise not, and wonder not, but hearken unto the words of the Lord..."
We need to always come unto Christ, working out our own salvation before Him - with fear and trembling. This means that we must be humble and realize that it is not within our power to save ourselves, but only with the Lords help. Also, it means that we must work at keeping the commandments so we can receive the blessings.
We must repent in order to be cleansed. That's the conditions that the Lord put on us when He paid the price for all of us.
9:33 - "...And if our plates had been sufficiently large we should have written in Hebrew; but the Hebrew hath been altered by us also; and if we could have written in Hebrew, behold, ye would have had no imperfection in our record..."
We need to realize that Reformed Egyptian was good, but not the best, so we can't judge their choice of words harshly. It's amazing that they are as good as they are now! It's a blessing to have such clear teachings of Jesus Christ, and we should learn from these teachings.
9:36 - "...And behold, these things which we have desired concerning our brethren, yea, even their restoration to the knowledge of Christ, are according to the prayers of all the saints who have dwelt in the land..."
The things that they desired was the restoration of their brethren to the knowledge of Christ. This is according to the prayers of all the saints who have dwelt in the land, but also people throughout history. For many areas in the world, they do not have this knowledge. We must continue to pray for them so they can receive the gospel. Things can happen quickly - the Berlin Wall and the Wall of Jericho came down in a short period of time. Anything can and will happen. We see this continuing quicker and quicker in our day, especially with the age of missionaries reduced for young men from 19 to 18, and for young women from 21 to 19. We will continue to see the gospel spread more and more throughout the world, and it is fun to see! We just need to do our part to keep the commandments and help in the work.
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