Latest / Scripture Central / Helaman 7–12 | Scripture Study Insights with Tyler Griffin | A Come Follow Me Resource

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Helaman 7–12 | Scripture Study Insights with Tyler Griffin | A Come Follow Me Resource · Scripture Central

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Hello there. My name is Tyler Griffin and
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this is Scripture Study Insights by Scripture Central Today,
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Helaman Chapter 7 through 12. The lifelong learning overlay
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that I wanted to explore with these particular chapters today
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was to look at this contrast between the natural man or woman
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approach to life contrasted with those spiritual attributes the
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the spiritual man or woman of Christ tendencies that the Holy
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Ghost would inspire within us. What we see as this catalyst for
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this contrast is God sending a prophet, and in our case today
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that would be plural profits. And what happens when those
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profits come into a setting and how they, they seriously form
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this catalyst for seeing these two contrasting elements of
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humanity manifesting themselves in a variety of ways.
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So as you, as you read and study these particular chapters and
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verses, look closely at not just what these people back then in,
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in this time over 2000 years ago, how they responded to
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profits, but bring those principles forward in time and
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consider, ponder how are we doing collectively and
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individually with the same opportunities presented to us by
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the prophets of God who who come with messages.
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So we open up Chapter 7 with verse one.
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And he says, behold, now it came to pass in the 60 and 9th year
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of the reign of the Judges over the people of the Nephites that
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Nephi the son of Helaman returned to the land of
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Zerahemlah from the land northward.
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So he has been up north of Bountiful, up in the land
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northward among the groups of people that had migrated there,
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and even further up back in Human chapter 3, and also in
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Alma 63. So as he finished his preaching
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among them, it says in the bottom of verse two, He did
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prophecy many things unto them. So he came, he delivers his
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prophecies, he delivered his message, and now the people have
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their choice. The agency comes into play.
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Verse three says, and they did reject all his words in so much
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that he could not stay among them, but returned again unto
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the land of his nativity in the land of Zarahemlah to the South.
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Now this is a real a real tragedy because these people
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could have had more prophecy, more revelation given to them,
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more direction from the prophet had they listened, hearkened and
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obeyed the words that God had given them.
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But they resisted him, they rejected him, and and he leaves,
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thus cutting themselves off from further direction from the Lord
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through His chosen prophet. And you see the destruction and
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the sorrow and the misery that is going to come into play for
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for many of these people. Now we don't hear the full
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extent of that for the people up in the land northward, but we
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are going to get that now as he comes home to the land of His
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nativity, down in the land of Zarahemla, as it says, He enters
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into Zarahemla and it says. And seeing the people in a state
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of such awful wickedness and those Gadian robbers filling the
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judgement seats, having usurped the power and authority of the
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land, laying aside the commandments of God and not in
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the least a right before him, doing no justice unto the
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children and men. Everything that we read about
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the way these people are governing, governing their lives
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and taking over the governance of the people, it's all focused
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on the natural man or natural woman tendencies.
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It's all hearkening to what the devil wants them to do.
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They've stopped listening to the prophets.
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We're not, we're not tuning our ears or or our hearts to the
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prophets at this time. So it leaves them vulnerable and
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open to those temptations from the adversary.
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And it, it, it goes on and on. So if you read verse 567, you're
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seeing all of the effects of what happens when prophets are
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rejected. It now leaves people more
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vulnerable and open to those temptations from the devil.
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So they condemn the righteous. They set up laws in order that
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they might more easily commit adultery and steal and kill and
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do according to their own wills. Now, that little phrase to me is
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the the summation. It's the the essence of that
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natural man, natural woman tendency inside of all of us.
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It's to focus on our own wills. It's not to focus on what God
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wants. It's not his will that we're
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seeking to have done. It's our own will.
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What do I want right here, right now?
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And this is what's happening. This reminds me of a powerful
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statement from President Russell and Nelson in his October 2022
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General Conference address entitled Overcome the World and
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Find Rest. Listen to this phrase.
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Here is the grand truth. While the world insists that
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power, possessions, popularity, and pleasures of the flesh bring
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happiness, they do not. They cannot.
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What they do produce is nothing but a hollow substitute for the
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blessed and happy state of those who keep the commandments of
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God. Now he goes on to say the truth
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is that it is much more exhausting to seek happiness
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where you can never find it. However, when you yoke
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yourselves to Jesus Christ and do the spiritual work required
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to overcome the world, he and He alone does have the power to
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lift you above the pull of this world.
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It's this this beautiful contrast that when we turn to
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God, follow his prophets, we start to seek his will rather
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than our own, and it's there that we find rest to our souls.
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Now these people are, are clearly struggling with this to
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the point where Nephi is lamenting as only a prophet can
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lament. He, he feels the weight of the
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responsibility of, of teaching and nurturing and shepherding
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these people. And yet they're rejecting him
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and they're embracing those natural tendencies and they're
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they're destroying their civilization.
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And so it says in verse six. Now this great iniquity had come
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upon the Nephites in the space of not many years.
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And if you look at the footnote there, 6A, it tells you six
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years and then they give you some scripture references to
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show you the time stamps that are given.
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You'll notice the book of Helaman has as many time stamps,
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as many time stamps as you will find in any book of the Book of
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Mormon. So it's easy to follow the
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progression or digression of the people as we go through.
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So he's saying within six years you have turned your back on all
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of the the righteousness and the peace and the prosperity that
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you were enjoying. And now look what you're
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getting. You're seeking your own will.
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But the devil nor the world can give you ultimate happiness.
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They cannot. They produce a hollow substitute
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for that blessed and happy state, to use President Nelson's
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words. So Nephi starts his lament.
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Oh, that I could have had my days in the days when my father
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Nephi first came out of the land of Jerusalem, that I could have
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joyed with him in the Promised Land.
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Then were his people easy to be entreated, firm to keep the
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commandments of God, and slow to be led to do iniquity.
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And they were quick to hearken unto the words of the Lord.
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It's fascinating that here's this prophet Nephi hearkening
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back to the original Nephi 600 years before him, saying I wish
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I could have just lived in his days because then it would have
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been easier. Everybody was a little more
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righteous back then. I wonder if he could actually
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have lived in Nephi's that that first Nephi's time period, if he
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would still say the same thing. I think there's something
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beautiful about letting the Lord prevail, prevail in our life.
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Letting God prevail not just in what happens in our life, but
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letting him prevail in his knowledge and power and love for
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sending us forth to this earth at the exact time and place and
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in the settings that we were born into.
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So that we can discover our own life's story.
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And to walk that journey of discipleship on the appointed
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path that the Lord has given us in our time.
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This is a beautiful moment for for Nephi to to reflect on the
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past, comparing it to his present.
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And then notice he says verse 9. Behold, I am consigned that
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these are my days and that my soul shall be filled with sorrow
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because of this, the wickedness of my brethren.
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Now, some of you may be looking at people around you, in your,
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in your ward, in your steak, in your, in your workplace, in your
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family, and you may be comparing yourself and you may be feeling
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bad about your own life circumstance.
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I think if Nephi, who's writing or whose story we're reading
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here, if he could be here today, I think he might say that it's
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more important that we focus on God and what his prophets want
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us to do rather than turning horizontally and focusing on our
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problems and our struggles and our our difficulties and
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setbacks. Because those will tend to lead
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us to focus on those natural tendencies of pride of doing
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comparison that either either looks up at somebody and feels
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like we're never going to be good enough, or pride that looks
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down on somebody else and feels haughty and puffed up and better
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than everybody else. There's something beautiful
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about saying this is the the life.
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Or to use the Savior's phrase, take up that cross that you've
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been given and bear it with His help, regardless of what it may
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be and regardless of what other people around you may be
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bearing. It's, it's a beautiful
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opportunity for us to to perhaps decrease our comparison and
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increase our consecration to the Lord and our trust in Him that
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He will help deliver us. So Nephi's making all these
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laments, but he happens to be doing it from on top of the
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tower in his garden that happens to be near a highway with a lot
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of people who are overhearing this prophetic lament.
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And the crowd gathers. So in verse 12 it says, and now
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when Nephi arose, he beheld the multitudes of people who had
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gathered together and he begins to to directly address them.
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Instead of praying his lament to heaven, he now gives his
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prophetic lament to these people.
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He says, you have great need to marvel.
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Yeah, you ought to marvel because you are given away that
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the devil has got so great hold upon your hearts.
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Yeah, how could you have given way to the enticing of him who
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is seeking to hurl away your souls down to everlasting misery
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and endless woe? The irony here is that if you
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take a pull from these people and say who's your best friend
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or who really has your best interest in mind?
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Nephi up on his tower or one of these judges, who's among you?
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A part of the gadiant and robbers.
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Most of them would probably vote for the gadiant and robbers as
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their best friends. And yet the grand irony is, if
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they followed them, they are simply following the the person
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who is inspiring them, which is the devil.
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And the way Nephi describes this, the devil is seeking to
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hurl away your souls down to everlasting misery and endless
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woe. So now you get this incredible
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contrast that when we follow the natural instincts that we all
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experience and have to deal with to 1° or another, whenever we
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choose to follow those, it leads to short term pleasure of some
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sort. There there's a short term
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gratification of something in the natural manner, natural
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woman side of our existence that always leads to long term
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negative consequences because wickedness never was happiness
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versus when we resist those natural tendencies, when we
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swallow our will up into focusing on his will, when we
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hear him, when we hearken to his prophets.
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It might take some short term sacrifice, some short term
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suppression of our own desires, of our own appetites.
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It might cost us something in the short term, but it always
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leads to long term peace, joy, contentment.
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And from President Nelson's talk, that's where we find rest.
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So a little bit of struggle, a little bit of sacrifice, a
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little bit of work upfront leads to that which is most fruitful
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and productive in the long term. As opposed to following the
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natural man tendencies which are those short term cheap
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substitutes for the real thing that then lead to long term
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misery and and being taken over more and more by those desires
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until we at times seem to lose much of our control.
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So he then follows it up with a prophetic plea.
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O repent ye, repent ye. Why will you die?
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Turn ye, turn ye unto the Lord your God.
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Why has he forsaken you? There's a beautiful Hebraism
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here, the repetition of two repents and two turn ye
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tourneys. In Hebrew, the word for repent,
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it means to turn. So he's repeating this concept
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of turn away from this and turn over to this side, the spiritual
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side, turn to the Lord, which means you're turning away from
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the devil, you're turning away from the world, you're
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overcoming the world in order to find that rest that can only be
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found in the Lord. Jump down to verse 20 and he
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says, oh, how could you have forgotten your God in the very
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day that he has delivered you? You remember the pride cycle
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that we covered from last week. How did you so quickly turn away
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from that peace and that prosperity that came through
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your your humble repentance? And he gives the answer, Behold,
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it is to get gain, to be praised of men, that you might get gold
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and silver, all of those things that a natural man or natural
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woman would would pay really close attention to, and and
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deeply desire. And ye have set your hearts upon
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the riches and the vain things of this world, for which you do
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murder and plunder, and steal, and bear false witness against
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your neighbor, and do all manner of iniquity, in order to get
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these earthly things. Now think about that from
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President Nelson's perspective. If we think celestial, how many
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of you think that 10,000 years from now you'll look back on
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your mortal life and and shake your head in frustration and
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wring your hands together and say, oh man, I wish I would have
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had more money and more possessions and more of the
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things of the world. I think we will see at that time
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how fleeting and temporary all of this world's treasures
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happened to be. And yet here we are in the
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middle of it and it's pretty enticing.
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And the more we turn our lives over to it and our will over to
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it, the more enticing it becomes.
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The more we seem to to not just desire it, but even need it at
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times is the feeling. So after giving them a couple of
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more descriptions of their wickedness and their struggle
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and the position that they they find themselves in, in verse 26
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through 28, he describes what the actual fruits of wickedness
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are, what the rewards for those natural behaviors, what they
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turn out to be. He says verse 26, Woe shall come
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unto you because of that pride which you have suffered to enter
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your hearts, which has lifted you up beyond that which is good
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because of your exceedingly great riches.
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Yeah, woe be unto you because of your wickedness and
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abominations. And except you repent, he shall
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perish. Even your land shall be taken
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from you, and you shall be destroyed from off the face of
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the earth and those lands that you.
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Possessed that you had ownership of that gold, that silver, those
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precious things, that power, all of that will slip between your
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fingers and will fall into somebody else's hands as you are
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taken off of the face of this earth, as you pass into the next
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life. None of that will go with you.
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It's a very sobering message from Nephi to these people who
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have stopped on that highway to listen to him preach from his
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garden tower that day. Now the prophet has declared
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some truths and we get to see what is the reaction of the
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people, How are they going to respond to the prophetic voice?
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And it says in verse one, it came to pass that when Nephi had
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said these words, behold, there were men who were judges who
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also belonged to the secret band of Gadiantin and they were angry
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and they cried out against him. If you notice the words that the
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contrast in these chapters between the prophetic and the
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the devilish, you see that all of these Gadienton robbers and
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these judges that are part of that band, they reflect those
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devilish characteristics. They get angry when truth is
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told, when, when their secret works of darkness are revealed
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by the prophet, they they get angry and they say to the
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people, why do you not seize upon this man and bring him
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forth? He may be condemned according to
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the crime which he has done. And what is the crime that he's
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done? They claim he has spoken against
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our law and against this great people and against our cities
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and our country. He said that we're going to be
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destroyed. This isn't possible.
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We're so strong and so powerful. Look at what a mighty people we
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are. All of these elements of pride
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are getting entrenched deeper and deeper into their souls.
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So they're not responding to the prophet, they're actually
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rejecting him further. So to validate this, look at
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verse six. They say to the people, Now we
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know that this is impossible. For behold, we are powerful and
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our city's great, therefore our enemies can have no power over
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us. This pride, this puffed up into
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look how big and how strong and mighty we are.
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And it came to pass that thus they did stir up the people to
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anger against Nephi and raised contentions among them.
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So they they foster this spirit of contention and the spirit of
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debate among the people and created division.
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And it, it worked. The, the people start arguing
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back and forth, some saying, no, he's a prophet, another saying,
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yeah, he can't be a prophet. Let's let's condemn him.
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And then it he, he goes into this beautiful segment where he
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brings the whole discussion around to the Christ the Savior.
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Look at verse 14, Speaking of Moses.
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Yeah, Did he not bear record that the Son of God should come?
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And as he lifted up the brazen serpent in the wilderness, Even
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so shall he be lifted up who should come?
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So they're only a couple of decades away from the birth of
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Christ at this point. And here's Nephi bearing witness
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that just as Moses back about 1500 years previous to this had
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lifted up the brazen serpent, that Jesus Christ would also be
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lifted up. And as many as should look upon
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that serpent should live. Even so as many should look upon
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the Son of God with faith, having a contrite spirit might
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live even unto that life which is eternal.
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Not just live in this life, but think celestial, think eternal.
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That I, I love what President Nelson said, that the very same
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things that will bring you the the greatest peace and joy and
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happiness in this life are the same things that will bring you
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eternal peace, joy and happiness and eternal rest.
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And he goes on to say, and it's not just Moses who testified of
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these things. He was also testified by all the
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holy prophets from his days, even to the days of Abraham.
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So we're going back in time for Moses to about 2000 BC to
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Abraham and even there are others, he says verse 19.
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I would that you should know that even since the days of
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Abraham, there have been many prophets now coming forward in
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time that have testified these things.
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Yeah. Behold, the prophet Zenus did
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testify boldly for the witch he was slain.
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You could go back to Jacob chapter 5 and make a little note
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in your in your chapter heading to to Zenus's amazing allegory
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that Zenus was slain as a prophet for his testimony.
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And you could cross reference it here to to heal him.
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And eight verse 19, that great prophet who taught such amazing
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truths, he was killed because he bore such a powerful witness of
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the of the coming Messiah and not he alone.
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Verse 20. Behold also Zenuch and Isaias
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and Isaiah and Jeremiah. He he's giving you this long
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list and and he says, and are you going to debate whether
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Jerusalem was destroyed? All these prophecies that were
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made and these these prophets have been vindicated over and
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over and over again. Then he adds, verse 22, our
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father Lehi was driven out of Jerusalem because he testified
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of these things. Nephi also testified of these
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things. And almost all of our fathers,
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even down to this time, yeah, they have testified of the
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coming of Christ. That's the most important thing.
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All of the other prophecies are pointing people to Christ and
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inviting people to come unto Christ and to overcome the
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natural tendencies and embrace his will, listen to his words
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and his prophets and embrace the spiritual aspects that are
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inside of each of us. And what do they say about him?
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Behold, He is God and he is with them, and He did manifest
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himself unto them, that they were redeemed by Him, and they
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gave unto him glory because of that which is to come.
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This is beautiful because all of this is happening in a before
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Christ time frame BC and look at all of the work that the Lord
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Jehovah, the pre mortal Messiah has accomplished with those
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people back then and now. Here's Nephi on his on his
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pulpit trying to help his people understand that they have a
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serious choice in front of them right then, right there.
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Look at verse 25. Behold, ye have rejected the
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truth and rebelled against your holy God.
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And even at this time, instead of laying up for yourselves
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treasures in heaven where nothing does corrupt and where
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nothing can come which is unclean, ye are heaping up for
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yourselves wrath against the day of judgment.
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Decisions I make today will heap up either eternal treasures or
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wrath for a coming day of judgment to to 1° or another.
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I That's the decision I have to make.
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And he says even at this time you are ripening because of your
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murders and your fornication and wickedness for everlasting
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destruction. Yeah.
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And accept you, repent. It will come unto you soon.
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So he makes this warning and again, they they have a choice.
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So he ends chapter 8 with an amazing prophecy.
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He just got through talking about multiple examples of
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previous prophets to him who had testified of the coming of
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Christ, who had prophesied concerning other things, and
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they had all been vindicated that the things that they had
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prophesied had all come to pass. And now he gives them a prophecy
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for that exact day. Verse 27 Behold, it is now even
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at your doors that this destruction that he's been
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talking to them about, go ye in unto the judgement seat and
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search and behold your judge is murdered and he lieth in his
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blood and he hath been murdered by his brother who seeketh to
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sit in the judgement seat. This variation on a pre mortal
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theme comes up again. The devil's number one goal was
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to destroy his own brother Jehovah so that he Lucifer could
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sit upon the throne to take the glory from God all for himself
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to take the power, the ruling all of these natural desires and
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tendencies in in astronomical proportions coming into play
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here and now you get another earthly object lesson of what
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the devil has inspired people to do.
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Probably didn't start with temptations to go and murder to
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seek the chief judgeship probably started with little
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infractions of the law and leading to more and more serious
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sins over time until individually and collectively.
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Many of these people in this Nephite society have gotten to
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this point where they never quite know who is is out to get
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them. Even when you're the chief judge
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and he makes that prophecy that right, then he's, he's been
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murdered by his brother. Now at that point you have five
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men who are part of that crowd on the highway that day who
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turned each other and say, let's go and, and see.
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And, and then we'll know if the chief judge really has been
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murdered and is lying in his blood, then we'll know that
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Nephi is a prophet. He, he will have been
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vindicated. So they run, they come to the
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place where the chief judge was and see him murdered, dead.
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And then they fall to the ground in astonishment.
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The next day, when all of the people gather together to mourn
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and to fast at the burial of the great chief judge who had been
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slain, the judges gather together and they say, Hey,
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where? Where are the the five that went
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to inquire concerning the chief judge?
31:35
And when the people say, oh, we, we don't know who you're talking
31:37
about. We found five guys who were
31:39
passed out and we think it was God who struck them down because
31:41
they murdered him. They're in prison.
31:44
So they go and question them, get them out of prison, and they
31:49
simply tell their story, at which point these gadienton
31:55
robbers who are judges draw a conclusion.
32:00
There is no such thing as prophecy or revelation in their
32:04
mind, so they try to answer it based on worldly rational logic
32:11
and reasoning alone. And they think, how is this
32:15
possible? Well, it's pretty obvious.
32:18
Nephi has paid somebody to go and kill a chief judge on that
32:24
day at that time so that he could claim to be a prophet and
32:29
so that he could look good. Now notice what just happened
32:33
there. They took their character their
32:39
their own attributes, and they now are superimposing that on
32:44
God's prophet. That's what they would have
32:47
done. Those are the kinds of secret
32:51
lying and murdering and plundering in order for them to
32:55
get gain or to get power. That's how their mind and their
32:59
heart operate at this point, and they're now superimposing that
33:04
on God's prophet because they assume there there can't be any
33:09
true revelation. It's fascinating because now
33:16
they turn to Nephi and they do something else that would have
33:20
resonated with their own soul. Verse 20 Thou art confederate,
33:27
Who is this man that hath done this murder?
33:30
Now tell us and acknowledge thy fault.
33:32
And then they said, Behold, here is money, and also we will grant
33:38
unto thee thy life, if thou wilt tell us, and acknowledge the the
33:41
agreement which thou hast made with him.
33:45
Can you picture this scene with God's prophet and a group of
33:49
people holding out money very similar to Alma and Amulek with
33:56
Ziezram back in ammonia? This this same scenario I can
34:03
buy what I want with the things of this world.
34:07
And here stands God's prophet, looking at their offering of
34:11
money, And he says, O ye fools, ye uncircumcised of heart, ye
34:17
blind, and ye stiff necked people, do you know how long the
34:22
Lord your God will suffer, that you shall go on in this your way
34:24
of sin? O ye ought to begin to howl and
34:28
mourn because of the great destruction which at this time
34:31
doth await you. Accept you shall repent.
34:35
And then he goes on to give them an even more amazing prophecy.
34:40
He says, your chief judge Scissorum has been murdered, and
34:44
you think that I've, I've been confederate with somebody to go
34:48
and do that. Let me tell you what to do.
34:52
And he tells them to go to Scissorum's brother's house by
34:56
the name of Siantum. And then in verse 27 through 36,
35:01
he gives them the script. He says, go ask this question.
35:08
Siantum is going to respond this way, follow up with this.
35:12
He will respond accordingly. And he gives them a play by play
35:16
analysis of exactly what is going to happen.
35:20
And as it turns out, it says, it came to pass that they went and
35:24
did, even according as Nephi had said unto them.
35:27
And behold, the words which he had said were true.
35:30
For according to the words he did deny, and also according to
35:33
the words he did confess, Speaking of Siantan, the brother
35:36
of Scissorum. And now you would think, Oh
35:41
well, if you show me enough signs, if if you prove yourself
35:46
to be a true prophet enough, then the people are now going to
35:50
have faith in God, repent of their sins and trust you and
35:54
follow you, right? Verse 39, there were some of the
35:58
Nephites who believed on the words of Nephi, and there were
36:01
some also who believed because of the testimony of the five,
36:04
for they had been converted while they were in prison.
36:07
So these five have had a little different level of experience.
36:11
And then verse 40 says, and now there were some among the people
36:14
who said that Nephi was a prophet, and there were others
36:18
who said, behold, he is a God. For except he was a God, He
36:21
could not know all of these things.
36:24
For behold, he has told us the thoughts of our hearts and also
36:27
has told us things. And even he has brought unto our
36:30
knowledge the true murderer of our chief judge.
36:33
And you're thinking, wow, this is going to be a great turning
36:36
point for many of these Nephites.
36:39
Well, look at how chapter 10 opens.
36:43
And it came to pass that there arose a division among the
36:45
people, and so much that they divided, hit her, and thither
36:49
and went their ways. The division occurs, and the
36:55
people leave and go separate ways, leaving Nephi alone as he
37:02
was standing in the midst of them.
37:05
We would assume that that means standing in the middle of this
37:08
group as the group then disperses, leaving him all
37:11
alone. Nobody comes to God's prophet to
37:15
say, teach me what could I do to more fully repent and consecrate
37:22
my life to the Lord and to make right those things that I have
37:26
made wrong in the past. He's left all alone and it came
37:30
to pass. The Nephi went his way toward
37:32
his own, towards his own house, pondering upon the things which
37:35
the Lord had shown unto him. This must have been an amazing
37:38
day for Nephi the prophet, That heavy mantle that he's bearing
37:43
as he walks back towards his home, looking at these people
37:49
that he doesn't hate or despise. He loves them.
37:53
He wants them to find rest to their souls.
37:57
He wants them to be prosperous. He wants them to enjoy all of
38:02
the blessings the Lord has to pour out upon their heads if
38:06
they will come unto him. But they're refusing it.
38:10
And it says, And it came to pass, as he was thus pondering,
38:13
being much cast down because of the wickedness of the people in
38:16
Nephites, their secret works of darkness, and their murderings,
38:19
and their plunderings in all manner of iniquities.
38:22
And it came to pass, as he was thus pondering in his heart,
38:24
behold, a voice came unto him saying, So now here's a place
38:29
where we turn a corner. He's feeling dejected, rejected,
38:34
cast down, and wondering what could I have done more for these
38:42
people in this little part of the vineyard?
38:45
And the voice from the Lord says, Blessed art thou, Nephi,
38:49
for those things which thou hast done.
38:52
If you want a meaningful scripture study exercise in this
38:55
chapter, try reading very carefully verses 4 through 11
39:02
the these words that the voice of the Lord says to Nephi, and
39:07
you might consider marking all of the things that the Lord
39:11
mentions that Nephi has done. What are the the action words,
39:18
the verbs here? Notice he says, Blessed art
39:22
thou, Nephi, for those things which thou hast done?
39:25
For I have beheld how thou hast with unwearyingness declared the
39:32
word which I have given unto thee unto this people.
39:35
And thou hast not feared them, and hast not sought thine own
39:41
life, but hast sought my will and to keep my commandments.
39:48
Everything that's on this side you've done that.
39:53
Now has it borne a lot of fruit among this particular people at
39:56
that particular time? Not necessarily.
40:00
But that doesn't change the fact that Nephi is blessed by the
40:04
Lord. In other words, some of you may
40:07
be looking at your own family. You may be looking at students
40:13
that you've taught or people you've been called to lead, and
40:18
maybe they didn't respond the way that you had hoped they
40:23
would respond or the way that God would have hoped they would
40:27
respond. That's their agency.
40:31
And the reality is that that to me, the beautiful part of this
40:34
is that God isn't telling Nephi, I'm judging you based on their
40:40
use of agency. He's saying, Nephi, blessed art
40:44
thou because you did everything I asked you to do.
40:48
And God doesn't take away agency of anybody.
40:53
But oh, what a beautiful thing when you in the face of
40:58
adversity, continue to move forward with unwearingness in
41:04
your connection with God. Look at this next, next part.
41:09
Now because thou has done this with such unwearingness, behold,
41:13
I will bless thee forever, and I will make thee mighty in Word
41:19
and in deed, in faith and in works, even, that all things
41:24
shall be done unto thee according to thy word.
41:26
For thou shalt not ask that which is contrary to my will.
41:31
So because you have endured this temporary short term struggle,
41:39
you're going to be eternally blessed.
41:41
I will bless thee forever. And he gets these, what we would
41:46
call the ceiling keys from from the Lord.
41:50
Behold, thou art and ephi, and I am God.
41:53
Behold, I declare it unto thee in the presence of mine angels,
41:56
that you shall have power over this people, and shall smite the
42:00
earth with famine, and with pestilence, and with
42:02
destruction, according to the wickedness of the people.
42:05
And I give unto you power, that whatsoever you shall seal on
42:08
earth shall be sealed in heaven, and whatsoever you shall loose
42:12
on earth shall be loosed in heaven.
42:13
And thus shall you have power among this people.
42:17
This, this beautiful promise given to him and he follows it
42:22
up with a command. He doesn't just say, OK, now
42:26
your work is done and you can relax.
42:30
Verse 11 says, and now behold, I command you that you shall go
42:35
and declare unto this people that thus saith the Lord God,
42:38
who is the Almighty, except you repent, ye shall be smitten even
42:43
unto destruction. Now what would your response be?
42:48
If you're Nephi, would you say it's, it's been a really long
42:51
day, there's been a lot happen. I'm going to go home and get a
42:56
snack and take a rest. And then I'll, I'll, I'll get to
42:59
that command. Or would you do what he did?
43:04
Behold, now it came to pass that when the Lord had spoken these
43:07
words under Nephi, he did stop and did not go into his own
43:12
house, but did return unto the multitudes who were scattered
43:17
about upon the faceal land, and began to declare unto them the
43:20
word of the Lord which had been spoken unto Him concerning their
43:23
destruction if they did not repent.
43:27
He's modeling what it looks like to preach the Word with
43:32
unwaringness yet again. God has already blessed him for
43:37
His unwaringness in the past, and now he shifts into a new
43:42
gear. There's a greater sense of
43:44
urgency, there's a greater sense of mission and and purpose as he
43:50
now goes back to the people. You'll know that it's the spirit
43:56
of the Lord that's inspiring you.
43:57
If you feel more hope, more sense of urgency, more sense of
44:03
the Lord guiding you, regardless of how people are going to
44:07
respond compared to the just just don't do anything, don't
44:13
act, sit back and react or relax.
44:18
Probably isn't a message that the Holy Ghost is going to give
44:22
to to too many people on the earth.
44:25
So you would think, oh, so now it's going to change.
44:30
Everything's going to get better, right Verse 17.
44:34
It came to pass that he'd go forth in the Spirit from
44:36
multitude to multitude, declaring the Word of God, even
44:39
until He had declared it unto them all, or sent it forth among
44:43
all the people. But up above in verse 15, it
44:47
tells you that when Nephi declared unto them the word,
44:50
behold, they did still harden their hearts and would not
44:55
hearken unto his words. Therefore they did revile
44:58
against him, and did seek to lay their hands upon them, upon him,
45:02
that they might cast him into prison.
45:05
But they weren't able to, because the Spirit directed him.
45:10
And he now goes to all the people.
45:14
Now, if you take Chapter 11 as a pretty amazing little case study
45:24
in human nature and you could pull up whatever version of the
45:29
pride cycle that you prefer. There's the one that that we
45:34
introduced last week that you could use.
45:36
Here's a little activity you could do with with children in a
45:40
in a home setting or grandchildren.
45:43
Here's an exercise you could do with a class of students of
45:46
almost any age in in a Sunday setting.
45:51
You could give them Chapter 11 with this pride cycle and set up
45:57
a little arrow with the they are here or you are here and mark
46:04
the dates. So we begin in verse one.
46:07
It came to pass in the 70 and second year of the reign of the
46:10
judges that the contentions did increase and there were wars
46:14
throughout all the land among all the people of Nephi.
46:17
So you would probably put your your arrow on the sin and
46:22
iniquity section of of your pride cycle.
46:26
And then in the 70 and 3rd year, the work of destruction and
46:29
wickedness is increasing. So now we're a year later.
46:33
So Nephi cries under the Lord and he pleads for a famine.
46:38
So the famine is given a great famine and it says and thus in
46:42
the 70 and 4th year the famine did continue.
46:46
So keep in mind we started in the 70 and 2nd year.
46:50
We're now to this destruction. And verse six, the work of
46:55
destruction did also continue in the 70 and 5th year.
46:58
So your students or your children can be working their
47:02
way through this chapter and noting the year, how, how long
47:07
it's been and where the the general group of Nephites
47:11
happens to to be on the pride cycle at that time.
47:15
Now in verse seven, because there were people who began to
47:18
perish, they began to remember the Lord their God and they
47:23
began to remember the words of Nephi.
47:26
And they pled with their chief judge judges that they would go
47:30
and plead with Nephi to turn away the wrath of the Lord,
47:35
which is interest. That's good.
47:37
But using President Oak's idea of good, better, best, it would
47:40
have been way better had they gone directly to the prophet and
47:45
asked him to to pray to the Lord.
47:50
And I would propose that it would have been best if they
47:53
individually and collectively would have turned directly to
47:57
the Lord and pled with him to forgive them and to help them
48:02
overcome this, this terrible cycle that they've gotten into.
48:07
But we'll take the good. So Nephi, praise, they're
48:12
repenting, they've humbled themselves.
48:14
And he tells the Lord about their humility.
48:17
And as your children or your students keep working their way
48:20
through this, they see that in verse 17, in the 70 and 6th
48:24
year, the Lord did turn away his anger.
48:27
So now we get this repentance that leads to the forgiveness
48:31
and their their peace and their prosperity.
48:34
The rain is falling. So verse 18 they're rejoicing
48:38
and glorifying God. And this is all in the 70 and
48:41
6th year. Remember that the story started
48:45
in the 70 and 2nd year. So it's only been four years in
48:49
and now we're prospering and we begin to multiply and spread
48:54
until we cover the whole face of the land.
48:56
Verse 21 takes you to the 70 and 7th year.
48:59
Remember I told you that the book of Healon has more time
49:02
stamps than probably any other book in the Book of Mormon.
49:05
It it's just very calendar oriented here and it says that
49:12
the peace and and prosperity is spreading among all the face of
49:16
the land. And then you get to verse 22 and
49:19
we're at this prosperous high point of the pride cycle.
49:24
And it says there were a few contentions concerning points of
49:28
doctrine which had been laid down by the prophets.
49:32
So it's not major debates, it's not major wars going on, but
49:37
people start contending about points of doctrine.
49:43
And in the 70 and 9th year there began to be much strife, and
49:48
they were continuous revelation. And then in verse 24, you get to
49:52
the 80th year. Now there were dissenters and
49:56
there's anger, and they commenced a war among the
50:01
people. And now 25 were committing
50:04
murder and plunder and their dissenters that went forth unto
50:09
them. And verse 26, Thus in time,
50:13
yeah, even in the space of not many years, you just watched an
50:18
entire iteration of the pride cycle occur in those first 26
50:24
verses of this chapter. And now we're right back to
50:28
where we started in sin and iniquity, in war.
50:32
And it says, now behold, these robbers did make great havoc,
50:36
yet even great destruction. And then in verse 30, it says in
50:41
the commencement of the 18 first year, they did go forth against
50:45
this band of robbers and to destroy many, and they were also
50:48
visited with much destruction. So now we're down in that
50:52
destruction part of the cycle in the 18 first year.
50:56
Verse 34 says now this great evil which came upon the people
50:59
because their iniquity did stir them up again in remembrance of
51:02
the Lord their God. Here comes some humility, here
51:06
comes some repentance. So that last cycle took eight or
51:10
nine years. This one, in one year the people
51:15
have now gone from prosperity down through destruction to now
51:21
some humility and less ended the 80 and first year of their end
51:24
of the Judges. And in the 80 and 2nd year they
51:27
began again to forget the Lord their God.
51:30
And in the 80 and 3rd year they began to wax strong in iniquity.
51:34
And in the 80 and 5th year, they did wax stronger and stronger in
51:38
their pride. Are you noticing how much time
51:40
they're spending in the sin and the pride and the destruction
51:45
phases of the pride cycle and how quickly they seem to work
51:49
through the humility and repentance and peace and
51:53
prosperity and blessing parts of the cycle?
51:56
It's become a Ferris wheel for them.
51:58
But one part they're spending it seems more time in that
52:03
destruction and and pride and sin portion and thus brings on
52:10
Mormon's commentary on the situation.
52:14
Chapter 12 is where Mormon pauses to give his commentary on
52:22
the natural man's state of of many people in in the history of
52:29
time and especially in this particular phase of the book
52:33
Mormon's history. He starts by saying, thus we can
52:37
behold how false and also the unsteadiness of the hearts of
52:40
the children of men. Yeah, we can see the Lord and
52:42
his great infinite goodness doth bless and prosper those who put
52:45
their trust in him. So he's making very clear as a
52:48
prophet, look, if you'll stay in the celestial cycle, if you'll
52:53
think celestial don't go down into that terrestrial or
52:57
telestial cycle of that always begins with pride and leads to
53:03
sin, then the Lord and his infinite goodness will bless and
53:07
prosper you more and more and more.
53:10
Yeah. And we may see that at the very
53:12
time when he does prosper his people, Yeah, in the increase of
53:14
their fills, their flocks, their herds, and in golden and silver
53:17
and an all manner of precious things of every kind and art,
53:20
sparing their lives and delivering them out of the hands
53:22
of their enemies, softening the hearts of their enemies, that
53:25
they should not declare wars against them.
53:27
Yeah. And in fine, doing all things
53:28
for the welfare and happiness of his people, Yeah.
53:31
Then is the time that they do harden their hearts and do get
53:34
the Lord their God and to trample under their feet the
53:37
Holy One. Yeah.
53:39
And this because of their ease and their exceedingly great
53:42
prosperity. It's a it's a, an engaging
53:46
exercise to go through things like heal in Chapter 11 and and
53:51
map out the pride cycle with dates and where the people are
53:54
at different years. That's a good exercise.
54:00
But a better exercise is to look at our own life and to map out
54:06
our own versions of the pride cycle and to analyze what we're
54:11
doing that would lead us into those negative parts of the the
54:18
pride cycle and what we might be able to do to not fit this
54:22
description that Mormon's giving of so many people in the history
54:27
of the world, he says. Thus we see that accept the Lord
54:31
doth chasten his people with many afflictions.
54:33
Yeah, except he does visit them with death and with terror, and
54:36
with famine, and with all manner of pestilence.
54:40
They will not remember him. Mormon saying unless your life
54:44
is really hard, you reject and forget God.
54:48
And then he, he, he vents some more, oh, how foolish and how
54:53
vain and how evil and devilish, and how quick to do iniquity and
54:58
how slow to do good are the children of men.
55:00
Yeah, how quick to hearken under the words of the evil one and to
55:04
set their hearts upon the vain things of the world.
55:07
And you can read the rest of that column, verse 567 and
55:12
eight. He he ends up by saying that the
55:16
dust of the earth actually moves, hit her and thither
55:21
according to the command of our great and everlasting God.
55:24
But when God commands us to do things, we want to argue with
55:29
him. We want to tell him how foolish
55:32
that would be for us to follow that particular injunction or
55:35
that particular command. And he goes on to say, yeah,
55:39
behold his voice to the hills and the mountains trembling
55:42
quake. And the question becomes to what
55:45
degree do I move or tremble and quake at the voice of the Lord,
55:50
not in fear, but in awe and in reverence and in faith and in
55:55
respect. Now you can take verse 10 down
55:59
through verse 22 and see how Mormon inserting himself once
56:03
again in in this story, preparing the way for his his
56:09
message of Samuel Lamanite coming in the next chapter, how
56:14
he's describing all of the things that God does for his
56:19
creation and how his creation responds.
56:23
And yet how we often reject him and his his prophets.
56:29
Now let's let's end on a positive note.
56:32
Verse 23. Therefore, blessed are they who
56:35
will repent and hearken unto the voice of the Lord their God.
56:39
For these are they that shall be saved.
56:42
There is no other way nor means given under heaven, whereby
56:46
mankind can be saved only in and through the name of Jesus
56:51
Christ. That's it.
56:53
And all of His prophets are going to point you to him, and
56:57
nobody else. So it says, May God grant in His
57:01
gratefulness that men might be brought unto repentance and good
57:05
works, that they might be restored unto grace for grace
57:08
according to their works. And then Mormon adds his
57:14
testimony to Nephi, to his prophetic testimony by saying, I
57:18
would that all men might be saved.
57:21
But we read that in the great and last day there are some who
57:24
shall be cast out. Yeah, who shall be cast off from
57:27
the presence of the Lord. Yeah, who shall be consigned to
57:33
a state of endless misery, fulfilling the words which say
57:36
they that have done good shall have everlasting life, and they
57:40
that have done evil shall have everlasting damnation.
57:44
And thus it is Amen. He ends with this very stark
57:49
contrast. And the choice is ours.
57:53
So here was a prophet anciently Nephi being abridged by and
57:58
added to with his testimony from the prophet Mormon.
58:02
That comes to us today in these chapters, and then we add to it
58:06
our living prophets today, teaching the same doctrines,
58:10
pointing to the same source of salvation and the same source
58:15
where we can find rest to our souls.
58:18
And I want to add my very small voice to these astronomically
58:25
important prophetic voices that invite all to come unto Christ
58:32
and to be perfected in him and to hear Him and to do His will,
58:39
and to resist the pride and embrace the humility and the
58:46
deeper repentance and the increasing turning to him.
58:51
That's my prayer for all of us. In the name of Jesus Christ,
58:55
Amen. Know that you're loved.