I Won’t Die Before My Time

K. Douglas Bassett

Acts 17:26; D&C 42:48; 122:9; Job 14:5; Alma 40:8,10; Eccl. 3:1-2; History of the Church, Smith 5:554; Life Everlasting, Crowther, pp. 66-67; Man’s Search for Meaning, Frankl, pp. 82-84; Ensign, Dec. 1971, p. 10

“Stories such as these do not mean that the servants of God are delivered from all hardship or that they are always saved from death. Some believers lose their lives in persecutions, and some suffer great hardships as a result of their faith. But the protection promised to the faithful servants of God is a reality… .” (Dallin H. Oaks, Ensign, Nov. 1992, p. 39)
[A blessing given from Joseph Smith Sr. to his son Joseph, as recorded by the Prophet’s mother.] “‘You shall even live to finish your work.’ At this Joseph cried out, weeping, ‘Oh! my father, shall I?’ ‘Yes,’ said his father, ‘you shall live to lay out the plan of all the work which God has given you to do. This is my dying blessing upon your head in the name of Jesus… .’” (History of Joseph Smith by His Mother, Lucy Mack Smith, pp. 309-310)
“Many people die before their time because they are careless, abuse their bodies, take unnecessary chances, or expose themselves to hazards, accidents and sickness (Eccl. 7:17).” (Spencer W. Kimball, Faith Precedes the Miracle, p. 103)

Latter-Day Commentary on the Book of Mormon

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