3
Nephi 3:3
With
God, all things Are Possible
What
3 And
it seemeth a pity unto me, most noble Lachoneus, that ye should be so
foolish and vain as to suppose that ye can stand against so many
brave men who are at my command, who do now at this time stand in
their arms, and do await with great anxiety for the word—Go down
upon the Nephites and adestroy them.
Why
Giddianhi
is belittling Lachoneus for his courage and his faith in God to
deliver them from the Robbers. He is boasting about their strengths
and trying to scare Lachoneus into surrendering without a battle.
Pattern
Alma
60:29
29
Behold it is time, yea, the time is now at hand, that except ye do
bestir yourselves in the defence of your country and your little
ones, the sword of
justice doth hang over you; yea, and it shall fall upon you and visit
you even to your utter destruction.
2 Nephi 1:22
22
That ye may not be cursed with a sore cursing; and also, that ye may
not incur the displeasure of a just God upon you, unto
the destruction, yea,
the eternal destruction of
both soul and body.
Alma 27:4
4
Now when Ammon and his brethren saw this work of destruction among
those whom they so dearly beloved, and among those who had so dearly
beloved them—for they were treated as though they were angels sent
from God to save them from everlasting destruction—therefore,
when Ammon and his brethren saw this great work of destruction,
they were moved with compassion, and they said unto the king:
1 Nephi 14:3
3
And that great pit, which hath been digged for them by that great and
abominable church, which was founded by the devil and his children,
that he might lead away the souls of men down to hell—yea, that
great pit which hath been digged for the destruction of
men shall be filled by those who digged it, unto their
utter destruction,
saith the Lamb of God; not the destruction of
the soul, save it be the casting of it into that hell which hath no
end.
1 Nephi 7:13
13
And if it so be that we are faithful to him, we shall obtain the land
of promise; and ye shall know at some future period that the word of
the Lord shall be fulfilled concerning the destruction of
Jerusalem; for all things which the Lord hath spoken concerning
the destruction of
Jerusalem must be fulfilled.
Helaman 13:10
10
Yea, I will visit them in my fierce anger, and there shall be those
of the fourth generation who shall live, of your enemies, to behold
your utter destruction;
and this shall surely come except ye repent, saith the Lord; and
those of the fourth generation shall visit your destruction.
Joseph Smith—Matthew 1:4
4
And Jesus left them, and went upon the Mount of Olives. And as he sat
upon the Mount of Olives, the disciples came unto him privately,
saying: Tell us when shall these things be which thou hast said
concerning the destruction of
the temple, and the Jews; and what is the sign of thy coming, and of
the end of the world, or the destruction of
the wicked, which is the end of the world?
Matthew 7:13
13
¶Enter ye in at the strait gate: for wide is the gate, and broad is
the way, that leadeth to destruction,
and many there be which go in thereat:
- Lehi1 exhorts sons to unity, that they not incur God’s displeasure unto destruction: 2 Ne. 1:21–22 .
Christ
- As Jesus was destroyed in the flesh so he was restored and became the victor over death and hell. If we have faith in Him then we too shall not be destroyed but have everlasting life with Him.
Matthew
8
24 And,
behold, there arose a great atempest in
the sea, insomuch that the ship was covered with the waves: but he
was asleep.
26 And
he saith unto them, Why are ye afearful,
O ye of little faith? Then he arose, and brebuked the
winds and the sea; and there was a great calm.
27 But
the men marvelled, saying, What manner of man is this, that even the
winds and the asea obey
him!
Helaman
3
29 Yea,
we see that whosoever will may lay hold upon the aword of
God, which is bquick and
powerful, which shall cdivide asunder
all the cunning and the snares and the wiles of the devil, and lead
the man of Christ in a strait and dnarrow course
across that everlasting egulf of
misery which is prepared to engulf the wicked—
30 And
land their souls, yea, their immortal souls, at the aright
hand of
God in the kingdom of heaven, to sit down with Abraham, and Isaac,
and with Jacob, and with all our holy fathers, to go no more out.
Philippians 4:13 I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me.
Conference
Jeffrey
R. Holland Of
the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles
Prophecies
regarding the last days often refer to large-scale calamities such as
earthquakes or famines or floods. These in turn may be linked to
widespread economic or political upheavals of one kind or another.
But
there is one kind of latter-day destruction that has always sounded
to me more personal than public, more individual than collective—a
warning, perhaps more applicable inside the Church than outside it.
The Savior warned that in the last days even those of the covenant,
the very elect, could be deceived by the enemy of truth.1 If
we think of this as a form of spiritual destruction, it may cast
light on another latter-day prophecy. Think of the heart as the
figurative center of our faith, the poetic location of our loyalties
and our values; then consider Jesus’s declaration that in the last
days “men’s hearts [shall fail] them.”2
The
encouraging thing, of course, is that our Father in Heaven knows all
of these latter-day dangers, these troubles of the heart and soul,
and has given counsel and protections regarding them.
In
light of that, it has always been significant to me that the Book of
Mormon, one of the Lord’s powerful keystones3 in
this counteroffensive against latter-day ills, begins with a great
parable of life, an extended allegoryLove. Healing. Help. Hope. The
power of Christ to counter all troubles in all times—including the
end of times. That is the safe harbor God wants for us in personal or
public days of despair. That is the message with which the Book of
Mormon begins, and that is the message with which it ends, calling
all to “come unto Christ, and be perfected in him.”6 That
phrase—taken from Moroni’s final lines of testimony, written
1,000 years after Lehi’s vision—is a dying man’s testimony of
the only true way.
May
I refer to a modern “last days” testimony? When Joseph Smith and
his brother Hyrum started for Carthage to face what they knew would
be an imminent martyrdom, Hyrum read these words to comfort the heart
of his brother:
“Thou
hast been faithful; wherefore … thou shalt be made strong, even
unto the sitting down in the place which I have prepared in the
mansions of my Father.
...“Hearken
unto these words and believe in Christ; and if ye believe not in
these words believe in Christ. And
if ye shall believe in Christ ye will believe in these words, for
they are the words of Christ, …
and they teach all men that they should do good.
“And
if they are not the words of Christ, judge ye—for Christ will show
unto you, with power and great glory, that they are his words, at
the last day.”14
Brothers
and sisters, God always provides safety for the soul, and with the
Book of Mormon, He has again done that in our time. Remember this
declaration by Jesus Himself: “Whoso treasureth up my word, shall
not be deceived”15—and
in the last days neither your heart nor your faith will fail you. Of
this I earnestly testify in the name of Jesus Christ, amen.
Apply
Faith
in Jesus Christ and His gospel brings safety to the soul, peace to
the heart and victory over the grave.
Hymns
105
Master, the Tempest Is Raging
Children
96
Faith
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