3
Nephi 2:10
Let
Him In
What
10 And
it came to pass that the people did still aremain in
wickedness, notwithstanding the much preaching and prophesying which
was sent among them; and thus passed away the tenth year also; and
the eleventh year also passed away in iniquity.
Why
Satan had hold on
the wicked part of the people.
Pattern
Alma
34:35
35
For behold, if ye have procrastinated the day of your repentance even
until death, behold, ye have become subjected to
the spirit of the devil, and he doth seal you
his; therefore, the Spirit of the Lord hath withdrawn from you, and
hath no place in you, and the devil hath all power over you; and this
is the final state of the wicked.
2 Ne.
28:19 (19–23)
19
For the kingdom of the devil must shake,
and they which belong to it must needs be stirred up unto repentance,
or the devil will
grasp them with his everlasting chains,
and they be stirred up to anger, and perish;
20 For behold, at that day shall he rage in the hearts of the children of men, and stir them up to anger against that which is good.
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.
22 And behold, others he flattereth away, and telleth them there is no hell; and he saith unto them: I am no devil, for there is none—and thus he whispereth in their ears, until he grasps them with his awful chains, from whence there is no deliverance.
23 Yea, they are grasped with death, and hell; and death, and hell, and the devil, and all that have been seized therewith must stand before the throne of God, and be judged according to their works, from whence they must go into the place prepared for them, even a lake of fire and brimstone, which is endless torment.
20 For behold, at that day shall he rage in the hearts of the children of men, and stir them up to anger against that which is good.
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.
22 And behold, others he flattereth away, and telleth them there is no hell; and he saith unto them: I am no devil, for there is none—and thus he whispereth in their ears, until he grasps them with his awful chains, from whence there is no deliverance.
23 Yea, they are grasped with death, and hell; and death, and hell, and the devil, and all that have been seized therewith must stand before the throne of God, and be judged according to their works, from whence they must go into the place prepared for them, even a lake of fire and brimstone, which is endless torment.
2 Ne.
9:9
9
And our spirits must have become like unto
him, and we become devils, angels to
a devil,
to be shut
out from
the presence of our God, and to remain with the father of lies,
in misery, like unto himself; yea, to that being who beguiled our
first parents, who transformeth himself
nigh unto an angel of
light, and stirreth
up the
children of men unto secret
combinations of
murder and all manner of secret works of darkness.
Devil
- this has happened with numberless groups of people. The people at Jerusalem at the time Lehi departed, the Israelite s were not allowed to enter the promised land and wandered for 40 years. Even after seeing so many miracles. The people of Sodom and Gomorrah, Nineveh (who finally did repent) those who persecuted Christ and what about the whole earth's inhabitants at the time of Noah? It has happened repeatedly all through history.
Christ
We
are always at war with Satan. Jesus Christ is our captain and
general in this cause for righteousness. Opposition is here and will
serve a purpose for us to learn good from evil and happiness from
sorrow. Jesus Christ himself was tempted . He cast out devils They
had to obey Him.
- casteth out devils through the prince of the devils: Matt. 9:34 . ( Matt. 12:24 ; Mark 3:22 ;Luke 11:15 . )
Conference
APRIL
1988 | “For
I Will Lead You Along”
Neal
A. Maxwell Of
the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles
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.
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).
Our
time already reflects yet another prophecy: “Distress of nations,
with perplexity” (Luke
21:25).
Before modern times, global perplexity simply was not possible. Now,
there is a quick transmission of some crises and problems from one
nation to others—the consequences of debt-ridden economies, the
spreading of diseases, the abuse of narcotics, and, perhaps most of
all, a shared sense of near-helplessness in the face of such
perplexities. Today, the assembled agonies of the world pass in
reminding review on the nightly news.
In
the last days, happily, the Church will grow extensively, with its
membership being “scattered upon all the face of the earth” (1
Ne. 14:14).
Nevertheless, its dominions will still be comparatively “small”
because of “wickedness,” which will close the ears of many to the
gospel message (see 1
Ne. 14:12).
There
will also be “a great division among the people” (2
Ne. 30:10;
see also D&C
63:54).
This stressful polarization will, ironically, help in the final
shaking of that strange confederacy, the “kingdom of the devil,”
in order that the honest in heart, even therein, may receive the
truth (2
Ne. 28:19).
This
“great division” is what President Brigham Young also saw,
saying: “It was revealed to me in the commencement of this Church,
that the Church would spread, prosper, grow and extend, and that in
proportion to the spread of the Gospel among the nations of the
earth, so would the power of Satan rise” (in Journal
of Discourses, 13:280).
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.
So
let us look at ourselves. For the Church, the scriptures suggest both
an accelerated sifting and accelerated spiritual and numerical
growth—with all this preceding the time when the people of God will
be “armed with righteousness”—not weapons—and when the Lord’s
glory will be poured out upon them (1
Ne. 14:14;
see also 1
Pet. 4:17; D&C
112:25).
The Lord is determined to have a tried, pure, and proven people
(see D&C
100:16; D&C
101:4; D&C
136:31),
and “there is nothing that the Lord thy God shall take in his heart
to do but what he will do it” (Abr.
3:17).
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).
True,
the enemies and the critics of the Lord’s work will not relent;
they only regroup. Even among the flock, here and there and from time
to time, are a few wolves, wearing various styles of sheep’s
clothing—ironically, just before the shearing season! A few
defectors and “highminded” traitors (2
Tim. 3:4)
even go directly to the “great and spacious building” to hire on
(1
Ne. 8:26).
There recruits are celebrated and feted until—like their
predecessors—they have faded into the dark swamps of history. As
President Heber C. Kimball said, divine justice will eventually
require that they “pay all the debt of [all] the trouble that they
have brought upon the innocent” (in Journal
of Discourses, 5:94).
Thus,
there is no need to be surprised, nor to fear, when certain
conditions come upon mankind. Furthermore, the Lord has given to us
some remarkable assurances about the Restoration’s lead Prophet and
the restored Church:
“Behold,
that seer will the Lord bless; and they that seek to destroy him
shall be confounded” (2
Ne. 3:14)
“in mine own due time” (D&C
71:10).
“And
the righteous need not fear, for they are those who shall not be
confounded. But it is the kingdom of the devil … who need fear, and
tremble, and quake” (1
Ne. 22:22–23).
If
we are faithful and obedient while in this good and beautiful world,
we will later inherit “a far better land of promise” (Alma
37:45),
“a city … whose builder and maker is God” (Heb.
11:10),
a city within which are “many mansions” (John
14:2–3).
Paul
wrote, “Eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered into
the heart of man [meaning we cannot even imagine] the things which
God hath prepared for them that love him” (1
Cor. 2:9).
The
spiritually submissive will make it through. The word of God will
lead the man and the woman of Christ “in a strait and narrow course
across that everlasting gulf of misery” (Hel.
3:29)
and land their souls at the right hand of God in the kingdom of
heaven, “to sit down with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, and the holy
prophets who have been ever since the world began” (Alma
7:25;
see also Ether
12:4).
Those
who have overcome the world will themselves then be overcome by the
generosity of the Father, as the Father shares “all that [the]
Father hath” (D&C
84:38).
The faithful will hear those special words, “Enter into the joy of
[your] Lord” (D&C
51:19),
for “they who have endured the crosses of the world, and despised
the shame of it, they shall inherit the kingdom of God, … and their
joy shall be full forever” (2
Ne. 9:18).
...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.
Jesus,
our Shepherd, has “marked the path and led the way, And ev’ry
point defines” (Hymns, 1985,
no. 195). His clearly defined footprints are easy to see. They are
pressed distinctly and deeply into the soil of the second estate,
deeply and distinctly because of the enormous weight which pressed
down upon Him, including the awful burden of all of our individual
sins.
I
thank the Savior personally for bearing all which I added to his
hemorrhaging at every pore for all of humanity in Gethsemane. I thank
Him for bearing what I added to the decibels of His piercing soul-cry
atop Calvary, in the name of Jesus Christ, amen.
Apply
Let
Jesus in Your Life-
from
Elder Maxwell “...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.”
Hymns
#195
- How Great the Wisdom and the Love
Children
Jesus
Is Our Loving Friend (#58)
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