3
Nephi 1:10
I
Will Lead You
or Wickedness Never Was Happiness
What
10 Now
it came to pass that when Nephi, the son of Nephi, saw this
wickedness of his people, his heart was exceedingly sorrowful.
Why
Because
Nephi loved his people and he wanted the best for them. Wickedness
never brings happiness to anyone or to the people who love them in
spite of their evil doings.
Pattern
Helaman 13:1
1
And now it came to pass in the eighty and sixth year, the Nephites
did still remain in wickedness,
yea, in great wickedness,
while the Lamanites did observe strictly to keep the commandments of
God, according to the law of Moses.
Hosea 9:15
15
All their wickedness is
in Gilgal: for there I hated them: for the wickedness of
their doings I will drive them out of mine house, I will love them
no more: all their princes are revolters.
19
And wo is me because of their wickedness;
for my heart has been filled with sorrow because of
their wickedness, all
my days; nevertheless, I know that I shall be lifted up at the last
day.
Alma 31:30
30
O Lord God, how long wilt thou suffer that such wickedness and
infidelity shall be among this people? O Lord, wilt thou give me
strength, that I may bear with mine infirmities. For I am infirm, and
such wickedness among
this people doth pain my soul.
Ezekiel 33:12
12
Therefore, thou son of man, say unto the children of thy people, The
righteousness of the righteous shall not deliver him in the day of
his transgression: as for the wickedness of
the wicked, he shall not fall thereby in the day that he turneth from
his wickedness; neither
shall the righteous be able to live for his righteousness in the day
that he sinneth.
Proverbs 14:32
32
The wicked is driven away in his wickedness:
but the righteous hath hope in his death.
JST, Genesis 19:12
12
Now this was after the wickedness of
Sodom.
Matthew 22:18
18
But Jesus perceived their wickedness,
and said, Why tempt ye me, ye hypocrites?
Doctrine and Covenants 109:26
26
That no combination of wickedness shall
have power to rise up and prevail over thy people upon whom thy name
shall be put in this house;
Alma 41:10
10
Do not suppose, because it has been spoken concerning restoration,
that ye shall be restored from sin to happiness.
Behold, I say unto you, wickedness never was happiness.
Moses's Israelites,
Sodom and Gomorrah, Jerusalem, Tarshish, --these were some of the
wicked cities mentioned in the Bible. In the Book of Mormon, they
all became wicked before they destroyed themselves.
Christ-
From Neal Maxwell
4/88
Those
in Lot’s day ate, drank, bought, sold, planted, and builded amid
gross wickedness (Luke
17:28),
vexing Lot with their “filthy conversation,” or, as it says in
the Greek, they “oppressed [him] by [their] outrageous behavior”
(2
Pet. 2:7b).
In their grossness, there was also gross neglect of the poor
(see Ezek.
16:49).
Conference
Of
the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles
Peter
wrote of the smug skeptics who would say, “Where is the promise of
his coming,” for do not “all things continue as they were from
the beginning”? (2
Pet. 3:4).
Some
prophecies, such as the return of Jewish people to Israel, were
decades in their fulfillment (see Ezek.
39:27).
Other prophecies can be fulfilled in a compressed period of time.
Taking the restored gospel “for a witness” to all the nations of
the world involves generations (Matt.
24:14),
but a “desolating scourge” can cover the land quickly (see D&C
5:19).
Sadly, more than one qualifying possibility already exists for such
scourges (see Mark
13:10, D&C
5:19).
The blossoming of the desert “as the rose” involved substantial
time, yet significant moral decay can happen within a single
generation—whether in a nation or in a family (see Isa.
35:1; Hel.
6:32; Hel.
11:36; Hel.
12:4).
The
Middle East has been at the intersection of human history so many
times! Yet in our time the words of Zechariah are especially
descriptive, saying that Jerusalem is to be “a cup of trembling”
for “all the people round about” and “a burdensome stone for
all people” (Zech.
12:2–3).
We
are told, by way of example, that some conditions preceding the
second coming of the Savior will be as in the days of Noah (see Matt.
24:37–39)
and “also as it was in the days of Lot” (Luke
17:28).
Noah’s time was one of disobedience and wickedness. People were
uncomprehending and “knew not until the flood came” (Matt.
24:39;
see also Gen.
6:5; 1
Pet. 3:20).
The choking cares and pleasures of this life led to the general
rejection of Noah’s prophetic message. Two especially interesting
words are used in the Bible to describe Noah’s
time: violence and corruption (Gen.
6:11).
Violence and corruption, seldom strangers to the human scene, appear
to be increasing today.
Some
of the coarseness and cruelty present at the time of Noah will be
replicated, for “the love of many shall wax cold” (Matt.
24:12).
Also, peace will have been “taken from the earth” (D&C
1:35).
Peter
wrote of how “the longsuffering of God waited in the days of Noah”
until, as other scriptures advise, the wickedness exceeded that among
all God’s creations (1
Pet. 3:20;
see also Moses
7:36).
A very cruel society existed, one “without affection” in which
people hated “their own blood” (Moses
7:33).
Given the abuses by humans of other humans, in His longsuffering, God
waited as long as even He could.
Happily,
even though the world worsens around us, there will be many, many
fine and wonderful men and women of all races and creeds—and of no
religious creeds at all—who will continue to lead decent and useful
lives. Besides, as Mormon said, scriptural commentary on declining
conditions is not communicated “to weigh thee down,” but,
instead, to help us live so that Christ may “lift thee up” (Moro.
9:25).
Thus,
what I have said is not said in alarm at all, but, rather, so that we
might be noticing and preparing. Prophecies are given, in part, that
we “might know and remember” that these things “had been made
known … beforehand, to the intent that [we] might believe” (Hel.
16:5).
Today’s inattentive people will be like an earlier, desensitized
people who “began to forget those signs and wonders which they had
heard, and began to be less and less astonished, … and began to
disbelieve all which they had heard and seen” (3
Ne. 2:1;
see also 1
Pet. 3:17).
If faithful, brothers and sisters, we lose nothing, even if, happily,
like the ancient Ninevites, today’s mortals were to repent.
How
can we, as individual members of the Church, survive spiritually if
we do not honor our covenants? How can we survive spiritually if we
break outright the covenants made at the time of baptism or in the
holy temples? How can we be on the Lord’s side during the “great
division” if we mirror the world’s materialism and selfishness
(see 2
Ne. 30:10)?
Members
of the Church need not and should not be alarmists. They need not be
deflected from quietly and righteously pursuing their daily lives,
“For God hath not given us the spirit of fear; but of power, and of
love, and of a sound mind” (2
Tim. 1:7).
Meanwhile,
perhaps “summer is nigh” (Matt.
24:32; D&C
35:16; D&C
45:37).
We are here in mortality, and the only way to go is through; there
isn’t any around! Yet our Deliverer assures us: “be of good
cheer, for I will lead you along. The kingdom is yours and the
blessings thereof are yours, and the riches of eternity are yours”
(D&C
78:18).
Brothers
and sisters, it is my testimony to the Church that the Lord will lead
us along, just as promised. He balances giving to the Church and its
people the needed, specific directions, with providing the relevant
learning experiences, including having our faith and patience tried
in order to be strengthened. Thus He leads us along, but He desires
that during that process we take His yoke upon us in order to learn
of Him by our personal experiences. We surely feel the weight of that
yoke at times, but the path is clear.
Apply
“Thus
He leads us along, but He desires that during that process we take
His yoke upon us in order to learn of Him by our personal
experiences. We surely feel the weight of that yoke at times, but the
path is clear. “ Neal Maxwell
Be strong, have
courage, stand for the right and love our enemies and those who make
mistakes against us and the gospel. Continue to pray for them and be
a good example to them.
Hymn 195- How Great
the Wisdom and the Love
Children
160- Choose The
right Way
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