Sermon at the Temple, We Can Literally Come to Him

Reading: 3 Ne 12-15

I was supposed to teach this lesson and started preparing for it, but then we decided to go out of town.  This is also why I am late in posting, please excuse me.  When I called someone to substitute I was a little sad because I didn't study this reading in detail as I would have liked.  But then these four chapters contain so much, that I could study them for a very, very long time.  I did read a little of John W. Welch's book, "The Sermon at the Temple and the Sermon on the Mount,"  (the whole text is at this link) and was overwhelmed by the amount comparison and information.  Basically, Brother Welch believes that the sermon that was given to the Nephites by the Savior was in preparation for them to receive temple covenants.  Indeed they are.  Though the words given by the Savior would benefit anyone who is seeking to live a better life.

There are differences in the text of the Sermon on the Mount compared to the text given to the Nephites.  He gives the same basic beattitudes, but must give a little more because the people are now under a new law and in fact, a new church, since Christ's atonement and resurrection fulfills the law of Moses.  The Savior now asks the people, and us, to live a higher law, as He explains in 3 Nephi 12:17-20 (italics added):

17 Think not that I am come to destroy the law or the prophets. I am not come to destroy but to fulfil;
 18 For verily I say unto you, one jot nor one tittle hath not passed away from the law, but in me it hath all been fulfilled.
 19 And behold, I have given you the law and the commandments of my Father, that ye shall believe in me, and that ye shall repent of your sins, and come unto me with a broken heart and a contrite spirit. Behold, ye have the commandments before you, and the law is fulfilled.
 20 Therefore come unto me and be ye saved; for verily I say unto you, that except ye shall keep my commandments, which I have commanded you at this time, ye shall in no case enter into the kingdom of heaven.

In my last post I talked about the introduction of continuing revelation and these chapters continue with that thought.  In verse 20, Christ specifically mentions following the commandments He gives "at this time," meaning, that whatever He tells them now supersedes what He gave in the Old Testament. Or rather, he adds to the doctrine and takes away the necessity of offering sacrifices upon an altar.  He continues on, giving examples of what He, through the prophets, commanded, but then gives a higher law, the rest of chapter 12 and 13-15.

If you have not read these chapters yourself, I highly recommend it. I don't think I will even try to pick out something to discuss, other than to say that the fulfillment of the law and the request to live the law of Christ, is a more obvious call to "come unto the Holy One of Israel."  It is not symbolic, it is not a representative sacrifice that helps us remember Him, following his commandments are not just laws to abide by and live a relatively happy life.  He is telling us that obeying and living His commandment will actually bring us to Him, literally.  He has now lived in this world and has become our example of how to live in this world. We can rest assured that the Savior's example is the perfect one and one that has not existed before in the world at the time of his appearance to the Nephites.  At His visit, he was perfected, even as his Father, God, is perfect (see 12:48).  Our choice to live commandments and laws and behave in certain ways is not symbolic, it is real.  We can come directly to Him.  He asks us to (12:20): "come unto me and be ye saved."

Introduction to continuing revelation

Reading: 3 Nephi 8-11

These are great chapters.  There is excitement, destruction, darkness, light, repentance, everything you want in a good drama.  When I read through these chapters I was impressed that the concept of continuing revelation was introduced here.  Up until this point, the continuing revelation had much to do with 'repent and stick to the same sacrificial ordinances.'  There was the Law or Commandments given to Moses, and laws having to do with how to carry out the sacrifices.  Any addition to the laws came from the Pharisees or others who took it upon themselves to add to the law, but the changes did not come from the Lord.  But in these chapters, the Lord wakes the people up, in a major way, to get their attention and speaks to them, telling them to repent and get ready for new revelations.

Chapter 8 tells of the major destruction that occurred.  This destruction was so extensive it changed the face of the land.  Then there was darkness for the space of three days.  This wasn't just any darkness, but a "thick darkness" where the ability to even make light was lost.

In chapter 9, the voice of Christ is heard by the people telling them who and what had been destroyed, but tells those who remained:

 13 O all ye that are spared because ye were more righteous than they, will ye not now return unto me, and repent of your sins, and be converted, that I may heal you?
 14 Yea, verily I say unto you, if ye will come unto me ye shall have eternal life. Behold, mine arm of mercy is extended towards you, and whosoever will come, him will I receive; and blessed are those who come unto me.

I was struck by this because the remained of the people are not perfect.  They were more righteous than those who were destroyed, but still had some things to repent of.  This, to me, is a hopeful discovery and just goes to show that the Lord is interested in giving us a lot of chances to prove ourselves, to repent and become better.

Then the introduction of continuing revelation, by way of abolishing the Mosaic Law:

 18 I am the light and the life of the world. I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end.
 19 And ye shall offer up unto me no more the shedding of blood; yea, your sacrifices and your burnt offerings shall be done away, for I will accept none of your sacrifices and your burnt offerings.
 20 And ye shall offer for a sacrifice unto me a broken heart and a contrite spirit. And whoso cometh unto me with a broken heart and a contrite spirit, him will I baptize with fire and with the Holy Ghost, even as the Lamanites, because of their faith in me at the time of their conversion, were baptized with fire and with the Holy Ghost, and they knew it not.

Here is your first revelation straight from the Lord: Do not sacrifice animals as your fathers have done for thousands of years before you, but offer a more personal and perhaps more difficult sacrifice of your broken heart and contrite spirit.  What this means to me is, not only is this the first of many revelations to come, it is a revelation that commands people to listen for more revelation: to follow Him humbly and submit your will to His.

The voice of Christ continues is Chapter 10 and gives one of my favorite visuals:

 5 And again, how oft would I have gathered you as a hen gathereth her chickens under her wings, yea, O ye people of the house of Israel, who have fallen; yea, O ye people of the house of Israel, ye that dwell at Jerusalem, as ye that have fallen; yea, how oft would I have gathered you as a hen gathereth her chickens, and ye would not.
 6 O ye house of Israel whom I have spared, how oft will I gather you as a hen gathereth her chickens under her wings, if ye will repent and return unto me with full purpose of heart.

Many people think this is about the gathering of Israel, and it definitely applies.  But this has always been a more personal plea to me.  If I come to Him, he will gather me under his wing and protect me.  I picture baby chicks who explore away from their mother, but multiple times a day, she gathers them in to make sure they are safe.  But in order to be safe they have to listen to their mother and look to her and run to her.  Christ is telling us the same thing: if we look to Him, listen to Him and run to Him, He offers protection, peace, security and a haven.  AND He will do this often!  OFTEN!  We need it often.

Then the "crowning event of The Book of Mormon" occurs in Chapter 11 (read it all), where Christ comes to visit the Nephites who had repented and were faithful.  In Sunday School, this verse was pointed out after reading that he came to them.

13 And it came to pass that the Lord spake unto them saying:
 14 Arise and come forth unto me, that ye may thrust your hands into my side, and also that ye may feel the prints of the nails in my hands and in my feet, that ye may know that I am the God of Israel, and the God of the whole earth, and have been slain for the sins of the world.
 15 And it came to pass that the multitude went forth, and thrust their hands into his side, and did feel the prints of the nails in his hands and in his feet; and this they did do, going forth one by one until they had all gone forth, and did see with their eyes and did feel with their hands, and did know of a surety and did bear record, that it was he, of whom it was written by the prophets, that should come.

The Savior let the people feel his hands and feet as a testimony that He is who He is. And He did it one by one.  Someone in class said there were thousands of people there and if they each took 10 seconds to feel His hands and feet, He would have been doing only that for over 7 hours.  This is a representation of how the gospel is a personal gospel.  In The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, we have many programs and group activities and there are many discussions about the church as a group, but it really comes down to how each person comes to know Jesus Christ.  This event is a strong symbol of how the Lord will give us His time as we individually need it.

The first doctrine Christ teaches is that of repentance and the authority and method of baptism and as such are supremely important.  The first step in a having a broken heart and contrite spirit is to follow His example and be baptized, submitting our will to His.  If we do so, we will receive the guidance of the Holy Ghost and the Holy Ghost, the Father and the Son all have the same purpose: to help you in this life. If you take on His will, here is His promise:

 39 Verily, verily, I say unto you, that this is my doctrine, and whoso buildeth upon this buildeth upon my rock, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against them.

Not bad.

Testimony, signs, opposition and reactions

Reading: 3 Nephi 1-7

We come to the exciting and insightful chapters that lead up to the Savior’s visit to the Nephites.  Next post we will discuss his actual visit.

The reading is 3 Nephi 1-7, but we will begin in chapter 5 today because Mormon gives us a testimony of his calling, The Book of Mormon and it’s purpose. By reading about its purpose from the compiler, we learn how crucial it is to learn from the people in The Book of Mormon and specifically for the time before the second coming of the Savior.

3 Nephi 5:13-18

·      Mormon testifies of his calling, a special witness of Christ

·      Compiling these records is the will of God and is a fulfillment of the prayers of previous prophets

·      Testifies that the record it just and true, which is an important testimony as the things that have happened are miraculous and for some people unbelievable

After testifying of its truthfulness, Mormon indicates that The Book of Mormon will fulfill the great prophecy of the seed of Jacob.

 3 Nephi 5:20-24

·      Lehi and his family were directed by Jesus Christ. Mormon adds an interesting and important comment: only the Lord knew about this exodus.

·      Lehi leaving Jerusalem was fulfillment of prophecy that a remnant of the seed of Joseph shall be preserved and brought to a knowledge of the Lord.

·      Refer to 25-26 where Mormon indicates that the gathering will happen according to the time of the Lord and they will be gathered by knowing their Redeemer.  Mormon’s words about The Book of Mormon indicate that this record will be a cause of the gathering.

Mormon actually states this purpose in the Title Page of The Book of Mormon:

“Which is to show unto the remnant of the house of Israel what great things the Lord hath done for their fathers; and that they may know the covenants of the Lord, that they are not cast off forever—And also to the convincing of the Jew and Gentile that Jesus is the Christ, the Eternal God, manifesting himself unto all nations”

These chapters leading to the first coming of Christ and His ministry parallel the spiritual preparation and situation that we face in preparation for the second coming of Christ.

Signs

3 Ne 1:4-8

·      Prophecy began to be fulfilled, but the really noticeable sign of lighted night had not yet come. 

·      Satan opposes the signs – causes disbelief and ridicule.  The unbeliever set apart a day “that all those who believed in those traditions should be put to death except the sign should come to pass, which had been given by Samuel the prophet.” V9

·      The righteous watched steadfastly, notwithstanding ridicule they kept believing

There is a lot of inspection, ridicule and misinformation circulating about Mormons right now,

WHAT KEEPS YOU BELIEVING DESPITE RIDICULE?

In response to ridicule, and with concern for the lives of the believers, the prophet Nephi prays and receives this answer:

3 Nephi 1:13-17

·      Undeniable sign that could not be duplicated by human means in any way

·      Everyone knew that the Son of God would come into the world soon because the prophets had fortold it and Samuel prophecied about it only five years ago.

·      There were many who believed and were baptized because of this sign

But of course, Satan has a response:

3 Ne 1:22-24

·      Lies by Satan

·      But many still believed because of the undeniable sign

·      Twist the truth by citing the fulfillment of the law of Moses

o   They knew the doctrine but did not understand it spiritually.  However, credit should be given because when the fulfillment of the Law of Moses was explained to them, they believed.

The Nephites had a few years of peace until the Gadianton robbers began to bother the believers again.  In addition to the mischief they caused, the children of the believers “became for themselves,” or started making their own choices in belief, and were persuaded by the robbers and Zoramites to not believe.  The younger generation had influence upon the older generation:

3 Nephi 1:30

30 And thus were the Lamanites afflicted also, and began to decrease as to their faith and righteousness, because of the wickedness of the arising generation.

Five years pass with wars and contentions until Giddianhi, the leader of the Robbers, asks the believers to surrender.  In his letter requesting surrender we discover the workings of Satan:

3 Nephi 3:2-5

·      Flattery (“firmness” “maintain your rights” “as if you were supported by the hand of a god”)

·      BUT you are not quite good enough because you wouldn’t be able to defeat my army

·      If you join forces with us, you could be stronger

·      It’s really for your own good/Surrender because I care about you

3 Nephi 3:6-7

·      Pool our resources for strength

·      We will be equals (the great irony of this is they may not be slaves to the robbers, but they will be slaves to the devil)

3 Nephi 3:8-10

·      Promises/Oaths – threatens temporal destruction

·      Tries to authenticate/validate evil traditions

·      It is our RIGHT/ change your governing principles

Lachoneus is shocked with Giddianhi’s demands and threats.  Lachoneus’ plan of action shows us how to respond to and deal with the workings of Satan that we face today.  Break up into these reading sections:

3 Nephi 3:12-14

·      Pray, faith is the opposite of fear

·      Gather families and substance

·      Fortify and protect, 24/7

3 Nephi 3:15-16

·      Repent/change to ensure deliverance

·      Listen to prophet/leaders and put into actions their direction

3 Nephi 3:19-21

·      Sustain appointed righteous leaders

·      Listen to the Lord – continuing revelation

·      Do not run away, but do not attack/defense not offense

3 Nephi 3:25-26

·      I think this is one of the most important lessons that we can learn: the people followed the prophets even though they had sins/issues.  They worked and repented at the same time!  Our spiritual progress should not be mutually exclusive from our temporal progress.  We can and should work on both!

·      Weapons of defense, used only in defense. 

I asked at the beginning of the lesson, how can we keep believing despite ridicule and hardship.  The Nephite show us how. These things keep us believing:

3 Nephi 4:3-4 “no chance for the robbers to plunder”

HOW CAN WE BE PREPARED ENOUGH SPIRITUALLY SO THAT THERE IS “NO CHACE FOR THE ROBBERS TO PLUNDER” OUR SPIRITUAL STRENGTH?

3 Nephi 4:8,10 When attacked, first instinct was to pray/remember God and ask for strength

3 Nephi 4:18-19  because they were prepared with provisions, they conquered

3 Nephi 4:29 after Zemnarihah had been hanged and the tree fell to the earth, the people witnessed of the Lord’s help

3 Nephi 4:30-33 – rejoicing/gratitude

In verse 33, I was particularly interested in the phrase they knew it was because of their repentance and their humility that "they had been delivered from an everlasting destruction."  Their concern was not a temporal destruction (destruction of their life or the destruction of their things), but a concern for a possible spiritual destruction.  Even though they had to fight temporally and using worldly things, they maintained their spiritual health and therefore avoided spiritual destruction/everlasting destruction.