Thursday, January 5, 2017

Stand For The Right- 3 Nephi 1:28

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
APRIL 1980 | God Will Have a Tried People
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;
And then, if thou endure it well, God shall exalt thee on high” (D&C 121:7–8).
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!
I witness today this truth from a verse of one of our favorite hymns:
When through fiery trials thy pathway shall lie,
My grace, all sufficient, shall be thy supply.
The flame shall not hurt thee; I only design
Thy dross to consume and thy gold to refine.

President Nelson in a talk to the young adults

Becoming True Millennials

President Russell M. Nelson

Of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles

An Evening with President Russell M. Nelson
Worldwide Devotional for Young Adults • January 10, 2016 • Brigham Young University–Hawaii

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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