Friday, January 13, 2017

Spiritual Survival 3 Nephi 2:4-5

2 Nephi 2:4-5
Spiritual Survival
What
 4 And thus did pass away the ninety and sixth year; and also the ninety and seventh year; and also the ninety and eighth year; and also the ninety and ninth year;
 5 And also an hundred years had passed away since the days of aMosiah, who was king over the people of the Nephites.

Why
At the time of king Mosiah everyone had repented and become righteous. In 96 years there were many doing great wickedness. They were coming closer to the day the Savior would be born.

Pattern
Mosiah 29:46 (46–47)
46  And it came to pass that Mosiah died also, in the thirty and third year of his reign, being sixty and three years old; making in the whole, five hundred and nine years from the time Lehi left Jerusalem.
47  And thus ended the reign of the kings over the people of Nephi; and thus ended the days of Alma, who was the founder of their church.

APOSTASY

A turning away from the truth by individuals, the Church, or entire nations.

General apostasy

  • Israel had to guard against their hearts turning away from the Lord:Deut. 29:18;
  • Where there is no vision, the people perish:Prov. 29:18;
  • They have broken the everlasting covenant:Isa. 24:5;
  • The winds beat upon that house, and it fell:Matt. 7:27;
  • I marvel that ye are so soon removed unto another gospel:Gal. 1:6;
  • They commenced in the good path but lost their way in the mist:1 Ne. 8:23; ( 1 Ne. 12:17; )
  • After they had tasted of the fruit, they fell away into forbidden paths:1 Ne. 8:28;
  • Nephite apostasy caused a stumbling block for nonbelievers:Alma 4:6–12;
  • Many members of the Church became proud and persecuted other members:Hel. 3:33–34; (Hel. 4:11–13Hel. 5:2–3; )
  • When the Lord prospers his people, they sometimes harden their hearts and forget him:Hel. 12:2;Hel. 13:38;
The Nephites hardened their hearts and fell under Satan’s power:3 Ne. 2:1–3;

Apostasy of the early Christian church

  • This people draw near me with their mouth:Isa. 29:10, 13;
  • Darkness shall cover the earth:Isa. 60:2;
  • The Lord will send a famine of hearing the words of the Lord:Amos 8:11;
  • There shall arise false Christs and false prophets:Matt. 24:24;
  • Grievous wolves shall enter in among you:Acts 20:29;
  • I marvel that ye are so soon removed from him:Gal. 1:6;
  • There will be a falling away before the Second Coming:2 Thes. 2:3;
  • Some people err concerning the truth:2 Tim. 2:18;
  • Some people have a form of godliness but deny the power thereof:2 Tim. 3:5;
  • The time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine:2 Tim. 4:3–4;
  • There will be false prophets and false teachers among the people:2 Pet. 2:1;
  • Certain men crept in denying the only Lord God:Jude 1:4;
They have strayed from mine ordinances and have broken mine everlasting covenant:D&C 1:15;
  • Darkness covers the earth and gross darkness the minds of the people:D&C 112:23;
  • Joseph was told that the churches were all wrong; their hearts were far from God:JS—H 1:19;

Christ
these two verses are actually counting down the time until Christ's birth.

Conference
OCTOBER 2016 | Joy and Spiritual Survival
By President Russell M. Nelson President of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles

My dear brothers and sisters, today I would like to discuss a principle that is key to our spiritual survival. It is a principle that will only become more important as the tragedies and travesties around us increase.
These are the latter days, so none of us should be surprised when we see prophecy fulfilled. A host of prophets, including Isaiah, Paul, Nephi, and Mormon, foresaw that perilous times would come,1 that in our day the whole world would be in commotion,2 that men would “be lovers of their own selves, … without natural affection, … lovers of pleasures more than lovers of God,”3 and that many would become servants of Satan who uphold the adversary’s work.4 Indeed, you and I “wrestle … against the rulers of the darkness of this world, [and] against spiritual wickedness in high places.”5
As conflicts between nations escalate, as cowardly terrorists prey on the innocent, and as corruption in everything from business to government becomes increasingly commonplace, what can help us? What can help each of us with our personal struggles and with the rigorous challenge of living in these latter days?
The prophet Lehi taught a principle for spiritual survival. First, consider his circumstances: He had been persecuted for preaching truth in Jerusalem and had been commanded by the Lord to leave his possessions and flee with his family into the wilderness. He had lived in a tent and survived on what food could be found on the way to an unknown destination, and he had watched two of his sons, Laman and Lemuel, rebel against the teachings of the Lord and attack their brothers Nephi and Sam.
Clearly, Lehi knew opposition, anxiety, heartache, pain, disappointment, and sorrow. Yet he declared boldly and without reservation a principle as revealed by the Lord: “Men are, that they might have joy.”6 Imagine! Of all the words he could have used to describe the nature and purpose of our lives here in mortality, he chose the word joy!
Life is filled with detours and dead ends, trials and challenges of every kind. Each of us has likely had times when distress, anguish, and despair almost consumed us. Yet we are here to have joy?
Yes! The answer is a resounding yes! But how is that possible? And what must we do to claim the joy that Heavenly Father has in store for us?
That’s it! Saints can be happy under every circumstance. We can feel joy even while having a bad day, a bad week, or even a bad year!
My dear brothers and sisters, the joy we feel has little to do with the circumstances of our lives and everything to do with the focus of our lives.
When the focus of our lives is on God’s plan of salvation, which President Thomas S. Monson just taught us, and Jesus Christ and His gospel, we can feel joy regardless of what is happening—or not happening—in our lives. Joy comes from and because of Him. He is the source of all joy. We feel it at Christmastime when we sing, “Joy to the world, the Lord is come.”9 And we can feel it all year round. For Latter-day Saints, Jesus Christ is joy!
Apply
Focus on the gospel. It will bring joy. The Savior brings joy to our lives and hope and purpose. We have control over our own thoughts and attitudes (barring severe mental illness which brings innocence). A testimony of Jesus Christ will guide us on the path to eternal joy. Commune with Heavenly Father in prayer and He will guide you in the very smallest of details in your life and especially in the big ones. Faith and trust brings joy.

Hymns

Lyrics

  1. 1. You can make the pathway bright,
    Fill the soul with heaven's light,
    If there's sunshine in your heart;
    Turning darkness into day,
    As the shadows fly away,
    If there's sunshine in your heart today.

    And his burden you will share
    As you lift his load of care,
    If there's sunshine in your heart today.
    4. You can live a happy life
    In this world of toil and strife,
    If there's sunshine in your heart;
    And your soul will glow with love
    From the perfect Light above,
    If there's sunshine in your heart today.





 8 Finally, be ye all of aone mind, having bcompassion one of another, love as cbrethrenbe dpitifulbe ecourteous:
 9 Not arendering bevil for evil, or railing for railing: but contrariwise blessing; knowing that ye are thereunto called, that ye should inherit a cblessing.
 10 For he that will love life, and see good days, let him arefrain his btongue from evil, and his lips that they speak no cguile:
 11 Let him aeschew evil, and do good; let him seek bpeace, and censue it.
 12 For the aeyes of the Lord are over the brighteous, and his ears are open unto their cprayers: but the face of the Lord is against them that do devil.
Mosiah 2
 17 And behold, I tell you these things that ye may learn awisdom; that ye may learn that when ye are in the bservice of your cfellow beings ye are only in the service of your God.

Children
60 Jesus Wants Me For A Sunbeam


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