1.And the Lord said unto me: John, my beloved, what desirest thou? For if you shall ask what
you will, it shall be granted unto you.
2. And I said unto him: Lord, give unto me power over death, that I may live and bring souls unto thee.
3. And the Lord said unto me: Verily, verily, I say unto thee, because thou desirest this thou shalt tarry until I come in my glory, and shalt prophesy before nations, kindreds, tongues and people.
4. And for this cause the Lord said unto Peter: If I will that he tarry till I come, what is that to thee? For he desired of me that he might bring souls unto me, but thou desirest that thou mightest speedily come unto me in my kingdom.
5. I say unto thee, Peter, this was a good desire; but my beloved has desirest that he might do more, or a greater work yet among men than what he has before done.
6. Yea, he has undertaken a greater work; therefore I will make him as flaming fire and a ministering angel; he shall minister for those who shall be heirs of salvation who dwell on the earth.
7. And I will make thee to minister for him and for thy brother James; and unto you three I will give this power and the keys of this ministry until I come.
8. Verily I say unto you, ye shall both have according to your desires, for ye both joy in that which ye have desired.
The revelation above does not really need explaining, in it the Lord promises the Apostle John he shall never die but shall remain alive on earth until the Lord returns during which time he: "shalt prophesy before nations, kindreds, tongues and people."
The revelation also mentions the Apostle Peter, who shall: 'speedily come unto me in my kingdom'.
This so-called 'revelation'obviously hatched in Joseph Smith's fertile imagination following a reading of John chapter 21 verses 18-23. There we read of Jesus telling Peter that when he is old he shall be taken by others and put to death.
Peter was curious about John and asked the Lord what sort of death John would suffer, in answer, Jesus said to him:
"What's that got to do with you? If I so wished, he would live until my return."
In verse 23 we read that because of this a rumour spread that John would not die, it goes on to tell us "but that is not what Jesus said, He only said "if I so wished ..."
Do the Mormon people really believe this revelation? If so, where do they think John has been all these years?
The revelation says that John will: "prophesy before nations, kindreds, tongues and people." Has he done so for the last 1900 years? If not, either Christ is a liar or the revelation is a lie. I know which I believe, but which do you believe?
If you believe the revelation to be true you have the problem regarding the whereabouts of John. What nations has he preached to? The revelation mentions kindreds, tongues and people so John must be preaching in places where different languages are used, yet nobody knows where he is, does that not seem strange to you?
Add to the above another problem for the Mormon faith.
If the revelation is true, and John is somewhere, still faithfully preaching the gospel (along with the three Nephite's who Christ also promised would remain alive until He comes - see Book of Mormon 3 Nephi 28:7) then, clearly, the gospel was never lost from the earth, and did not need to be restored, so why do we need Joseph Smith, his Book of Mormon, his Doctrine and Covenants etc.? If the Mormon God cannot re-kindle His church on earth with four, longstanding apostles He cannot be the all powerful God of the Bible
Perhaps, even though you are a Mormon, you have never really been able to accept this revelation as being true, that leaves you in a very difficult situation. If you do not believe this, and perhaps some other parts of Mormon Scripture, you are faced with this dilemma:
1. Do I really believe Joseph Smith was a prophet of God, or is it just something I've grown up with?
2. If he was a true prophet how could he have made mistakes? (see Deuteronomy 13:1-5; 18:21-21).
3. If he was a false prophet then Mormonism is false, so why am I still part of it?
4. Is it not time I studied the Bible to see what it teaches rather than just accept what I'm told it teaches? If Jesus died in agony for me, should I not put my full faith in Him, rather than a false church which misrepresents Him, and seeks to reduce His status and glory?