3
Nephi 1:28
Stand
For The Right
What
28 And
it came to pass that in the ninety and fourth year they began to
increase in a great degree, because there were many dissenters of the
Nephites who did flee unto them, which did cause much sorrow unto
those Nephites who did remain in the land.
Apostasy
was rampant
Why
Satan
worked through the wicked Gadianton Robbers
Pattern
who
have been like the Gadianton robbers of the past?
Any
organized group who persecuted the Saints -
Pharisees,
Sadducee, in Jesus Time and all the anti Christians who killed the
apostles. '
2 Timothy 3:11
11 Persecutions,
afflictions, which came unto me at Antioch, at Iconium, at Lystra;
what persecutions I
endured: but out of them all the Lord delivered me.
2 Timothy 3:12
12
Yea, and all that will live godly in Christ Jesus shall
suffer persecution.
Lamentations 5:5
5
Our necks are under persecution:
we labour, and have no rest.
Pharoah
with Moses and the people of Israel,
The
brothers of Joseph who was sold into Egypt.
The
list goes on and on of the persecutions rendered to those who believe
in Christ.
Why?
Because Christ is the way and the on ly way so Satan's purpose is to
destroy us so we don't find the way!
Doctrine and Covenants 101:35
35
And all they who suffer persecution for
my name, and endure in faith, though they are called to lay down
their lives for my sake yet shall they partake of all this glory.
Doctrine and Covenants 40:2
2
And he received the word with gladness, but straightway Satan tempted
him; and the fear of persecution and
the cares of the world caused him to reject the word.
Doctrine and Covenants 109:68
68
O Lord, remember thy servant, Joseph Smith, Jun., and all his
afflictions and persecutions—how
he has covenanted with Jehovah, and vowed to thee, O Mighty God of
Jacob—and the commandments which thou hast given unto him, and that
he hath sincerely striven to do thy will.
Christ
Luke 24:7
7
Saying, The Son of man must be delivered into the hands of sinful
men, and be crucified,
and the third day rise again.
Mark 15:15
15
¶And so Pilate, willing to content the people, released Barabbas
unto them, and delivered Jesus, when he had scourged him, to
be crucified.
Conference
Howard
W. Hunter-Apostle
(Pres. 1994-95)
In
other words, the afflictions that had come to him in the form of
opposition or resistance would be for his good. Then Lehi added these
words that have become classic: “For 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
Ne. 2:11).
We
came to mortal life to encounter resistance. It was part of the plan
for our eternal progress. Without temptation, sickness, pain, and
sorrow, there could be no goodness, virtue, appreciation for
well-being, or joy. The law of opposition makes freedom of choice
possible; therefore, our Heavenly Father has commanded his children,
“Choose ye this day, to serve the Lord God who made you” (Moses
6:33).
He has counseled us to yield to his spirit and resist temptation.
Free agency, of course, permits us to oppose his directions; thus, we
see many who resist the truth and yield to temptation.
Today
the Church stands at the summit of a century and a half of progress.
The terrain over which we have traveled is a grim reminder that
struggle, persecution, and sorrow have been the lot of our forebears.
Kirtland, Jackson County, Clay County, Haun’s Mill, and Nauvoo seem
synonymous with suffering—a part of the tribulation the Lord
promised that his people would have to endure (see D&C
58:3).
As
we look back in retrospect, we see that it was because of the
opposition encountered in our early history that our progress today
has been made possible. Out of that caldron of persecution and
heartache, the Lord answered the soul-cry of the Prophet Joseph Smith
in these words: “Thine adversity and thine afflictions shall be but
a small moment;
“If
thou art called to pass through tribulation, … know thou, my son,
that all these things shall give thee experience, and shall be for
thy good” (D&C
122:5, 7).
By
the tribulation well endured by numerous of our progenitors, a desert
blossomed as a rose (see Isa.
35:1),
a tried and persecuted people provided a heritage of faith, and Zion
put on her beautiful garments for all to see (see D&C
82:14).
...Today
other biographies of faith are being written—Saints who, like Job,
suffer physical pain, emotional sorrow, and even disloyalty from
friends—yet remain faithful; Saints who, like Jacob, see sons and
daughters not so valiant as they should be, but who bless them for
their potential; Saints who, like Paul, endure great ridicule and
endure to the end; Saints who, like Nephi, must separate themselves
from family because of their commitment to the gospel. There are
those who know pain and sorrow because of loss of loved ones; who
know spiritual sorrow because children go astray; who experience loss
of health, financial reverses, and emotional distress, and yet, like
Job, resolve, “When he hath tried me, I shall come forth as gold”
(Job
23:10).
We
recently celebrated the birthday of President Spencer W. Kimball.
Most of us are familiar with the fact that great adversity has been
his companion for a great portion of his eighty-five years. He spoke
from experience when he wrote these words: “Being human, we would
expel from our lives physical pain and mental anguish and assure
ourselves of continual ease and comfort, but if we were to close the
doors upon sorrow and distress, we might be excluding our greatest
friends and benefactors. Suffering can make saints of people as they
learn patience, long-suffering, and self-mastery” (Faith
Precedes the Miracle, Salt
Lake City: Deseret Book Company, 1972, p. 98).
What
makes us imagine that we may be immune from the same experiences that
refined the lives of former-day Saints? We must remember that the
same forces of resistance which prevent our progress afford us also
opportunities to overcome. God will have a tried people!
President
Nelson in a talk to the young adults
Becoming True Millennials
President Russell M. Nelson
Of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles
The
Lord has promised us that He will never allow the prophet to lead us
astray. President Harold B. Lee declared: “You may not like
what comes from the authority of the Church. It may contradict your
political views. It may contradict your social views. It may
interfere with some of your social life. But if you listen to these
things, as if from the mouth of the Lord Himself, with patience and
faith, the promise is that ‘the gates of hell shall not prevail
against you; yea, and the Lord God will disperse the powers of
darkness from before you, and cause the heavens to shake for your
good, and his name’s glory’ (D&C
21:6).”10
You
may not always understand every declaration of a living prophet. But
when you know a prophet is a prophet, you can approach the Lord in
humility and faith and ask for your own witness about whatever His
prophet has proclaimed.
Around
41 b.c., many Nephites joined the Church, and the Church prospered.
But secret combinations also began to grow, and many of their cunning
leaders hid among the people and were difficult to detect. As the
people became more and more prideful, many of the Nephites made “a
mock of that which was sacred, denying the spirit of prophecy and of
revelation.”11
Those
same threats are among us today. The somber reality is that there are
“servants of Satan”12 embedded
throughout society. So be very careful about whose counsel you
follow.13
My
beloved brothers and sisters, you were born to be True Millennials!
You are a chosen generation,14 fore-determined
by God to do a remarkable work—to help prepare the people of this
world for the Second Coming of the Lord.
Now,
as an Apostle of the Lord Jesus Christ, I bless each one of you, as
though I had my hands upon your heads, with the ability to become the
True Millennial you were born to be. I bless you to have the desire
and ability to learn your true identity and purpose, that you will
expect and prepare to do “impossible” things, that you will
be undaunted in your efforts to learn how to access the powers of
heaven to help you solve your problems and answer your questions. And
I bless you to follow the prophets with exactness, to feel peace in
your heart as you do so. I bless you to know and feel how much the
Lord loves you and how much confidence He has in you.
APPLY-
Press
on through the trials of life with faith in Jesus Christ and all
these things will be counted for your good. All prophecies will be
fulfilled. We will all enter the spiritual world at some point in
time and we will then be faced with the reality of Jesus Christ and
the plan of salvation and know that all the trials were for our own
good. They are to help us, not to hurt us but it is up to us how we
respond to the troubles and trials of life.
Hymns
122
– Though Deepening Trials
Children
159-
Stand For The Right
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