1
Nephi 18:17
Opposition
What
17 Now
my father, Lehi, had said many things unto them, and also unto the
sons of aIshmael;
but, behold, they did breathe out much threatenings against anyone
that should speak for me; and my parents being bstricken in
years, and having csuffered much
grief because of their dchildren,
they were brought down, yea, even upon their sick-beds.
Why
Wicked
children break the hearts of their righteous parents. This kind of
grief and worry and stress effects people physically as well. Lehi
tried to persuade them and defend Nephi but he was threatened by
Laman and Lemuel.
Pattern
They
had rebelled before.--Suffering is part of life.
1
Nephi 7:4-7
6
And it came to pass that as we journeyed in the wilderness, behold
Laman and Lemuel, and two of the daughters of
Ishmael, and the two sons of
Ishmael and their families, did rebel against
us; yea, against me, Nephi, and Sam, and their father, Ishmael, and
his wife, and his three other daughters.
7 And it came to pass in the which rebellion, they were desirous to return unto the land of Jerusalem.
7 And it came to pass in the which rebellion, they were desirous to return unto the land of Jerusalem.
Jeremiah
Chapter
9
Jeremiah
sorrows greatly because of the sins of the people—They will be
scattered among the nations and punished.
17 And
if children, then heirs; aheirs of
God, and joint-heirs with Christ; if so be that
we bsuffer with him, that
we may be also glorified together.
18 For
I reckon that the asufferings of
this present time arenot
worthy to
be compared with
the bglory which
shall be revealed cin
us.
Christ
46 And
said unto them, Thus it is written, and thus itabehoved Christ
to suffer, and to brise from
the dead the third day:
1 Peter 4:1
1
Forasmuch then as Christ hath suffered for
us in the flesh, arm yourselves likewise with the same mind: for he
that hath suffered in
the flesh hath ceased from sin;
Luke 24:26
- Hebrews 11:
26
Ought not Christ to have suffered these
things, and to enter into his glory?
46
And said unto them, Thus it is written, and thus it behoved Christ
to suffer, and to rise
from the dead the third day:
25 Choosing
rather to asuffer affliction
with the bpeople of
God, than to enjoy the pleasures of sin for a season;
26 Esteeming
the areproach of
Christ greater briches than
the treasures in Egypt: for he had respect unto the recompence of the
reward.
Genesis 3:17
17
And unto Adam he
said, Because thou hast hearkened unto the voice of thy wife, and
hast eaten of the tree, of which I commanded thee, saying, Thou
shalt not eat of it: cursed is the ground for thy sake;
in sorrow shalt
thou eat of it all the days of thy life;
23
And unto Adam, I, the
Lord God, said: Because thou hast hearkened unto the voice of thy
wife, and hast eaten of the fruit of the tree of which I commanded
thee, saying—Thou shalt not eat of it, cursed shall be the ground
for thy sake; in sorrow shalt
thou eat of it all the days of thy life.
Moses 5:27
27
And Adam and his
wife mourned before the Lord, because of Cain and
his brethren.
D&C
122: 7 And
if thou shouldst be cast into the apit,
or into the hands of murderers, and the sentence of death passed upon
thee; if thou be cast into the bdeep;
if the billowing surge conspire against thee; if fierce winds become
thine enemy; if the heavens gather blackness, and all the elements
combine to chedge up
the way; and above all, if the very jaws of dhell shall
gape open the mouth wide after thee, know thou, my son, that all
these things shall give thee eexperience,
and shall be for thy good.
Conference
4/2016
Oaks
Opposition
In All Things
[note,
it is hard to choose just parts of this talk. You might read the w
hole thing but here are some of the choice quotes]
The
rest of the plan is also essential. When we make wrong choices—as
we inevitably will—we are soiled by sin and must be cleansed to
proceed toward our eternal destiny. The Father’s plan provides the
way to do this, the way to satisfy the eternal demands of justice: a
Savior pays the price to redeem us from our sins. That Savior is the
Lord Jesus Christ, the Only Begotten Son of God the Eternal Father,
whose atoning sacrifice—whose suffering—pays the price for our
sins if we will repent of them.
One
of the best explanations of the planned role of opposition is in the
Book of Mormon, in Lehi’s teachings to his son Jacob....
“It
must needs be, that there is an opposition in all things. If not so,
… righteousness could not be brought to pass, neither wickedness,
neither holiness nor misery, neither good nor bad” (2 Nephi
2:11;
see also verse
15)....
As
a result, Lehi continued, “the Lord God gave unto man that he
should act for himself. Wherefore, man could not act for himself save
it should be that he was enticed by the one or the other” (verse
16).
Similarly, in modern revelation the Lord declares, “It must needs
be that the devil should tempt the children of men, or they could not
be agents unto themselves” (D&C
29:39).
...Years
later, Joseph was painfully imprisoned in Liberty Jail for many
months. When he prayed for relief, the Lord told him that “all
these things shall give thee experience, and shall be for thy good”
(D&C
122:7).
We
are all acquainted with other kinds of mortal opposition not caused
by our personal sins, including illness, disability, and death.
President Thomas S. Monson explained:
“Some
of you may at times have cried out in your suffering, wondering why
our Heavenly Father would allow you to go through whatever trials you
are facing. …
“Our
mortal life, however, was never meant to be easy or consistently
pleasant. Our Heavenly Father … knows that we learn and grow and
become refined through hard challenges, heartbreaking sorrows, and
difficult choices. Each one of us experiences dark days when our
loved ones pass away, painful times when our health is lost, feelings
of being forsaken when those we love seem to have abandoned us. These
and other trials present us with the real test of our ability to
endure.”4
...Through
all mortal opposition, we have God’s assurance that He will
“consecrate [our] afflictions for [our] gain” (2 Nephi
2:2).
We have also been taught to understand our mortal experiences and His
commandments in the context of His great plan of salvation, which
tells us the purpose of life and gives us the assurance of a Savior,
in whose name I testify of the truth of these things. In the name of
Jesus Christ, amen.
Apply
"2 Timothy 2:1212 If we suffer, we shall also reign with him: if we deny him, he also will deny us:”
Opposition
and suffering are a part of life. It is an essential part of the
plan so we may have agency to choose. This suffering can help us to
understand the suffering that Jesus suffered for us in the Garden of
Gethsemane and on the cross.
Job.
27: 5 God forbid that I should justify you: till I die I
will notaremove mine bintegrity from
me.
None
of us are exempt from suffering. Christ's apostles counted it a
privilege to suffer for His cause.
Hymns\
255-Carry
On
Alma
57-27 Now this was the afaith of
these of whom I have spoken; they are young, and their minds
are bfirm,
and they do put their trust in God continually.
122
Thou Deepening Trials
D&;C
58:2-4Through
all mortal opposition, we have God’s assurance that He will
“consecrate [our] afflictions for [our] gain” (2 Nephi
2:2).
We have also been taught to understand our mortal experiences and His
commandments in the context of His great plan of salvation, which
tells us the purpose of life and gives us the assurance of a Savior,
in whose name I testify of the truth of these things. In the name of
Jesus Christ, amen.
127-Does
The Journey Seem Long?
Alma
36:3 3 And
now, O my son Helaman, behold, thou art in thy youth, and therefore,
I beseech of thee that thou wilt hear my words and learn of me; for I
do know that whosoever shall put their atrust in
God shall be supported in their btrials,
and their troubles, and their afflictions, and shall be clifted
up at
the last day.
Children
164-
I will Follow God's Plan
