Book of Mormon 11- “Press Forward with a Steadfastness in Christ”

Today’s Sunday School lesson followed on perfectly from a marvellous Sacrament meeting. Easter Sunday blessed us with a musical Sacrament meeting. The first song was sung by two Primary children with the sweetest voices and the sweetest spirits. Subsequent items were presented by the Priesthood, the Relief Society, combined brethren and sisters, and the Ward Choir. The postlude was three of our beautiful talented, Young Single Adults, one being my “other daughter” Mia. The spirit was so strong throughout the meeting. The theme was following the Saviour. The speakers included two prospective missionaries and the Bishop. What a feast!

The Sunday School lesson centred on Nephi’s teachings about the importance of feeding on the words of Christ, believing and following the doctrines of Christ, pressing forward, and enduring to the end. Jesus Christ is my elder brother, my Saviour, my Redeemer, and I owe him everything. I spent Sacrament filled with gratitude for His love and His forgiveness, and then studied the lesson with a passionate desire to learn more of His doctrine, to try to live a better life by following His example.

In 2 Nephi 31:20, we are told to:  “…press forward with a steadfastness in Christ, having a perfect brightness of hope, and a love of God and of all men. Wherefore, if ye shall press forward, feasting upon the word of Christ, and endure to the end, behold, thus saith the Father: Ye shall have eternal life”. This is a message meant for me. I need to be steadfast, i.e. faithful, loyal, constant, firm in adherence to the gospel and the Saviour. I cannot pick which commandments I will obey, or when I will be obedient. If I am steadfast, it will be always, in every way.

Hope is one of the most important blessings the gospel brings to me. President Dieter Uchtdorf quoted 2 Nephi 31:20, and then followed it with these wise words:

This is the quality of hope we must cherish and develop. Such a mature hope comes in and through our Saviour Jesus Christ, for “every man that hath this hope in him purifieth himself, even as [the Savior] is pure” (1 John 3:3).

The Lord has given us a reassuring message of hope: “Fear not, little flock” (D&C 6:34)…

And to all who suffer—to all who feel discouraged, worried, or lonely—I say with love and deep concern for you, never give in.

Never surrender.

Never allow despair to overcome your spirit.

Embrace and rely upon the Hope of Israel, for the love of the Son of God pierces all darkness, softens all sorrow, and gladdens every heart (Oct. 2008, The infinite power of hope, Ensign).

If we love God and our fellow men, we will act on that love. If we love God, we will serve Him. If we love our fellow men, we will lose ourselves in service. I am a very fortunate person. I grew up surrounded by love. I, therefore, find it very easy to love other people. I love my job because I can serve. I need to do more, but I find this requirement easier than many others.

There are two last things I need to do. To feast on the words of Christ means I must do more of what I am doing here: read the scriptures, study the scriptures, and apply what I read. And, I must endure to the end. I do not want to simply endure; I want to improve as the time goes on.

I love the gospel, I love my Saviour. Now I must demonstrate that love in everything I do. As yet, I fall far short of this goal. But I will try.

Book of Mormon 10 - “He Inviteth All to Come Unto Him"

This lesson brought back many of the discussions we had in Seminary on the signs of the times. These signs are all around us. All we have to do is switch on the television and the new items declare boldly the work of Satan and his followers. There are wars and terrorism, murders and natural disasters. I worry about the future. I am especially concerned about our young people.  They are faced with such enormous trials and these will only increase as time moves inexorably forward.

The scriptures from 2 Nephi 26-30 contained some fascinating, terrifying, reassuring, and motivating messages. We learn that the Jews, the Nephites and Lamanites, and the Gentiles will all reject Christ and apostatize. We learn that the human family will be given a second chance and how this will take effect. We are told of the Book of Mormon and how Satan will try his best to destroy it. We then learn about how we must follow the Saviour and feast on His words. All these messages are timely and will have an effect on our lives.

2 Nephi 28 gives us an insight into Satan and his tactics. Brother John Bytheway lists many of these tactics. Some include:

• Builds up false churches (3)
• Creates contention (4)
• Relies on learning, not on the spirit (4)
• Denies the existence and power of God (5)
• Denies miracles (6)
• Teaches that there is no life beyond mortality (7)
• Says God will justify some sin (8)
• Says God will save everyone regardless of how they live (8)
• Tempts people to sin now, repent later (8)
• Encourages pride (9, 12)
• Robs the poor (13)
• Promotes whoredoms, immorality (14)
• Emphasizes riches (15)
• Twists the truth (15)
• Hates that which is good (16)
• Promotes anger (19)
• Pacifies people – think of a baby “pacifier” (21)
• Lulls – think of a “lullaby” (21)
• Puts us to sleep and cheateth our souls (21)
• Uses flattery (22)
• Teaches there is no devil, hell (22)
• Says there is no need for new scripture (29)
• Says to trust in man, not in God (31)

These can be seen all around us, every day. I have associates who deny God completely. I see people around me, in academic circles, who believe they have all the answers and have no need to look further. They rely entirely on their academic achievements. I have associates and friends who belong to a religious group that borrows many of the teachings of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, but was established and operates for the personal gain of its leader. I see our politicians who serve no one but themselves and their lives are centred on greed and self-emulation. I know I cannot survive without the guidance of the Spirit.

The tactic that is the saddest is contained in two scriptures, that to me are linked closely: verse 8: (in part) And there shall also be many which shall say: Eat, drink, and be merry; nevertheless, fear God—he will justify in committing a little sin… and verse 21: And others will he pacify, and lull them away into carnal security, that they will say: All is well in Zion; yea, Zion prospereth, all is well—and thus the devil cheateth their souls, and leadeth them away carefully down to hell. I see this in the lives of some of our Young Single Adults. They will have just one drink with friends… definitely not more… they won’t get drunk… just to be friendly. Or, they will go clubbing… maybe indulge in just one pill… just to make it more fun… no one will know. The trouble is that one small sin leads to more sin and more excuses, and more sin leads to guilt and an excuse to not go to church. Satan soon has them exactly where he wants them.

I know where I want to be. I know how grateful I am for the gospel. I wish I could take my testimony and share it with some of our younger people who are struggling so hard. I wish I could make it easier for them. I am so grateful for the Atonement. At least this gives us all hope. We find the guidance we need in the scriptures, especially in the Book of Mormon, and through modern revelation from the apostles and prophets.

It seems appropriate, as it is the Easter weekend, to share the message of hope in this short video. In 2 Nephi 30 we are told that being a part of the Lord’s chosen family is open to everyone. This little Easter video highlights the same message. All we have to do is follow Him.

Book of Mormon 9 - “My Soul Delighteth in the Words of Isaiah”

The Isaiah chapters in the Book of Mormon were always the chapters I found hardest to understand as a Seminary student and in Sunday School classes. After my last week of teaching Gospel Doctrine, we had a week break with a special Regional Conference, followed by another week with Papatoetoe Stake Conference. Then, I was called in to chat with the Bishop and I was told I would be released as the Gospel Doctrine teacher. I was a little sad. I had already read through the lesson, the scriptures, and started reading ‘Isaiah for Airheads’ by John Bytheway. For the first time in my life, I had actually enjoyed reading the Isaiah chapters, and, what was even better, they seemed to make more sense to me. I thought of not blogging my thoughts on the lessons anymore, but I issued the challenge to the class. I may not be the teacher, but I can still continue with my own challenge!

I was fascinated to read the following statistics in Brother Bill Beardall’s Lesson 9:

Isaiah's writings are quoted extensively in other scripture:

• Book of Mormon:  quotes 433 verses of Isaiah's 1,292 verses (about 32% of the book of Isaiah. Another 3% is paraphrased)
• New Testament:  quotes Isaiah at least 57 times
• Doctrine & Covenants:  contains about 100 references through quoting, paraphrasing, or interpreting Isaiah's teachings

Elder Bruce R. McConkie (1973) suggested that, “It just may be that my salvation (and yours also!) does in fact depend upon our ability to understand the writings of Isaiah as fully and truly as Nephi understood them” (Ten keys to understanding Isaiah, Ensign, October). This statement made me think about this lesson as invaluable. I needed to study the scriptures and understand the content for myself.

Two chapters that I particularly enjoyed were 2 Nephi 12 and 2 Nephi 16.

Chapter 12 speaks of temples in the latter days. Verse 2 reminded me of our beautiful hymn #54:

“Behold the mountain of the Lord

In latter days shall rise

On mountaintops, above the hills,

And draw the wond’ring eyes.

To this shall joyful nations come;

All tribes and tongues shall flow.

“Up to the hill of God,” they’ll say,

“And to his house we’ll go.”

In the church movie, ‘The Mountain of the Lord’, a newspaper reporter who had interviewed President Wilford Woodruff, mentioned the definition of the word ‘Utah’. It is a Ute Indian word that literally means ‘top of the mountains’. When the Saints first arrived in Utah, they named it Deseret. It was the government that formalised the state name as Utah. This is such a strong testament to me of the divinity of the Lord’s work and the revelatory power of the prophet Isaiah. The scripture in 2 Nephi 12:2 could literally be taken to mean that in the last days the Lord’s temple would be built in Utah!

2 Nephi 16 is where Isaiah receives his call. I was particularly humbled by Isaiah’s response to his call in verse 5: ‘Wo is unto me! for I am undone…’. I have experienced a sense of inadequacy when called by the Bishop or Stake President to a calling. For a prophet as great as Isaiah to feel this inadequacy, makes me feel better about myself.

In verses 6-7, Isaiah describes a seraphim ‘having a live coal in his hand… And he laid it upon my mouth’. The coal came from the altar and is a symbol of the Atonement. This is a remarkable image that touched my soul. The image is one of a painful cleansing by fire. The coal’s heat would have burned the flesh, but the result was the beauty of the purification offered by the Lord through His Atonement and through the process of repentance.

I found this video clip from Brother John Bytheway, while studying Isaiah. It is short, but provides remarkable insight into Isaiah. He describes ‘John’s Journey’ through ‘Isaiah National Forest’. In the forest are four trees that all start with the letter C. These trees are the four themes in Isaiah’s teachings. Brother Bytheway suggests that all Isaiah’s scriptures are one of these themes or a hybrid of the themes.

The themes are:

• Covenants or Covenant Israel
• Christ
• Current events (events in Isaiah’s day – usually around alliances)
• Coming events (sometimes current events foreshadow coming events)

Brother Bytheway goes on to discuss four keys presented in 2 Nephi 25. These are:

• Understanding the manner of prophesying among the Jews and the use of complex symbols and imagery
• Having the spirit of prophecy, that comes with a testimony of Christ
• Knowing the geography and referring to the maps in our scriptures; and
• Living in the last days

Lastly, Brother Bytheway lists the four guides to help us understand Isaiah: Nephi. Jacob, Abinadi, and Jesus Christ himself.

I have found this little video a wonderful way of looking at Isaiah. It makes the understanding of the Isaiah scriptures much clearer.