27:1
President Nelson said, “In God’s eternal plan, salvation is an individual matter; exaltation is a family matter.” Of course I agree. His statement about exaltation is especially true when it comes to our spouse. Exaltation being a family matter is literally correct.
But, our team that will support us in our journey of exaltation extends beyond our family. I’m specifically talking about our fellow disciples. Jesus himself said, “ye shall meet together oft.” Why? Because being united in fellowship with other disciples strengthens each of us to be more like Jesus Christ.
This is true for the 12 disciples that Jesus chose. “And it came to pass that as the disciples of Jesus were journeying and were preaching the things which they had both heard and seen, and were baptizing in the name of Jesus, it came to pass that the disciples were gathered together and were united in mighty prayer and fasting.” It’s interesting that their gathering was described by Mormon as “mighty prayer and fasting.” Were they doing other things? Did they have meetings, classes, workshops?
Perhaps they did and perhaps they didn’t. But Mormon chose to only mention that they were gathered and were united in mighty prayer and fasting. This indicates to me that praying and fasting were the main things that they were doing. I wouldn’t describe my prayers and my fasts as mighty. I think I should continue to strive to make them so.
It also illustrates the importance of gathering and being united. In the ward we are currently in, I feel this. There is a unity that I haven’t felt in other groups. There is authentic joy at seeing each other. There is legitimate care and concern. There isn’t gossip or judgment. Every week, we are uplifted and strengthened by those we meet with. This group is united and it is definitely supporting Marci and I in our journey towards exaltation.
27:6
I pay special attention to scriptures that outline or describe how to be saved. Often these verses are shockingly short. This verse is another succinct instruction. “And whoso taketh upon him my name, and endureth to the end, the same shall be saved at the last day.” We all know that we are supposed to endure to the end. The loaded part is the “taketh upon him my name.” What does that mean?
Taking His name upon us is a profound covenantal act. It is about aligning ourselves with Christ in our thoughts and words and deeds. We are dedicating our lives to represent Him and follow His teachings.
When we take upon ourselves His name, we promise to live as His disciples and act according to His will. It also implies that we accept His atoning sacrifice on our behalf, striving to walk in His footsteps by living the principles he taught.
We renew this commitment each week as we take the sacrament. We are promising to “always remember him.” Always remembering him is also a loaded statement - filled with meaning about taking his name upon us.
Yes, in five words, Christ taught everything we need to do to be saved at the last day. We just need to do what this means in every sense of the phrase. We fully submit to his will when we truly take his name upon us.
27:10-14
In these few verses, we learn a lot about works. “And if it so be that the church is built upon my gospel then will the Father show forth his own works in it. But if it be not built upon my gospel, and is built upon the works of men, or upon the works of the devil, verily I say unto you they have joy in their works for a season, and by and by the end cometh, and they are hewn down and cast into the fire, from whence there is no return. For their works do follow them, for it is because of their works that they are hewn down; therefore remember the things that I have told you. Behold I have given unto you my gospel, and this is the gospel which I have given unto you—that I came into the world to do the will of my Father, because my Father sent me. And my Father sent me that I might be lifted up upon the cross; and after that I had been lifted up upon the cross, that I might draw all men unto me, that as I have been lifted up by men even so should men be lifted up by the Father, to stand before me, to be judged of their works, whether they be good or whether they be evil.”
Why is it not mentioning thoughts or words? Because it’s a little redundant to do so. Works are the culmination of our thoughts and words. This is true whether the works are good or bad. Our actions begin with thoughts, then words. Our works are the greatest evidence of our good thoughts and words.
Thinking about doing something but never doing it is an indicator of righteousness. Saying you’ll do something without doing it is another indicator. You could say that good works are the evidence of good thoughts and words. Our works are the best measurement of our righteousness. It’s very easy to think about doing good deeds. It’s also easy to speak of doing good deeds. It’s harder to actually do the good deeds.
27:19
“And no unclean thing can enter into his kingdom; therefore nothing entereth into his rest save it be those who have washed their garments in my blood, because of their faith, and the repentance of all their sins, and their faithfulness unto the end.” I love illuminating scriptures that use a symbolic statement but then explain what the symbolism means.
The symbolic part of this verse is about washing our garments in his blood. That’s a very stark visual. But what does it mean? How do we do that exactly? The answer is in the second half of the verse. It is through our faith, our repentance and our faithfulness until the end. It is saying the same thing as verse six.
Washing our garments in his blood is the same as taking the name of Christ upon us. We are committing to submitting to God’s will. Thinking about washing our garments in his blood is a reminder that we cannot cleanse ourselves of sin on our own. It is only through Christ’s atonement that we can be cleaned.
27:20
“Now this is the commandment: Repent, all ye ends of the earth, and come unto me and be baptized in my name, that ye may be sanctified by the reception of the Holy Ghost, that ye may stand spotless before me at the last day.” Why does receiving the Holy Ghost sanctify us?
When we are truly receiving the Holy Ghost, that means we are following his promptings. If we are following the Spirit’s promptings, we are aligning ourselves with God’s will. As we grow closer and closer to that alignment, we are becoming sanctified. This process is refining our thoughts, words and deeds.
27:21
“Verily, verily, I say unto you, this is my gospel; and ye know the things that ye must do in my church; for the works which ye have seen me do that shall ye also do; for that which ye have seen me do even that shall ye do;” Just like earlier in the chapter, Christ is stating plainly that our works are important. Christ said that he was sent to DO the will of the Father. His will was perfectly aligned with God’s. He was the perfect example. It’s hard to be a perfect example! Thankfully, we can look to every act he did as an example of how to live our lives.
Exaltation is about action. A universe will never be created through good intentions.
27:32
With a clear perspective, none of us would sell our souls for money. But many of us do it every day. Jesus said, “They will sell me for silver and for gold, and for that which moth doth corrupt and which thieves can break through and steal.” If our perspective is clear and our testimony is true, none of us would ever do this. It’s only when we allow the things of this world to take over our spiritual vision that we trade our infinite eternal future for a limited and temporary existence in this fallen world.
It doesn’t make sense that any of us do this. It is a good example of how powerful an influence living in this place has on us. We are definitely living in the enemy’s home.
28:9-10
The three Nephites decided to remain on the earth until Christ returns a second time. That is quite a commitment! Why would they do that? The answer is in these verses. “And again, ye shall not have pain while ye shall dwell in the flesh, neither sorrow save it be for the sins of the world; and all this will I do because of the thing which ye have desired of me, for ye have desired that ye might bring the souls of men unto me, while the world shall stand.”
These three wanted to bring souls unto Christ in mortality. Surely the other nine disciples are doing God’s work on the other side. But, in many ways, it is easier to spiritually progress in mortality alongside the struggles and temptations that we face here. They could be more effective here perhaps. They would experience a FULNESS of joy doing the work that God does.
They volunteered to stay in enemy territory to work for the eternal life of man. Their lives were dedicated to the salvation and exaltation of men and women. Their wills were essentially aligned with God’s and Christ’s. It makes sense why Christ said, “And for this cause ye shall have fulness of joy; and ye shall sit down in the kingdom of my Father; yea, your joy shall be full, even as the Father hath given me fulness of joy; and ye shall be even as I am, and I am even as the Father; and the Father and I are one.” Truly these Nephites, Christ and God were all one in purpose. That purpose being the immortality and eternal life of man.
28:39
The three Nephites experienced a change in their bodies that prevented them from suffering and pain and death. They weren’t resurrected but translated. “Now this change was not equal to that which shall take place at the last day; but there was a change wrought upon them, insomuch that Satan could have no power over them, that he could not tempt them; and they were sanctified in the flesh, that they were holy, and that the powers of the earth could not hold them.” I just wanted to say that ALL of us can experience this change in terms of not having Satan have any power over us. Any of us can render Satan powerless in our lives! We can become more and more resistant to any temptation from the devil.
29:4-7
“And when ye shall see these sayings coming forth among you, then ye need not any longer spurn at the doings of the Lord, for the sword of his justice is in his right hand; and behold, at that day, if ye shall spurn at his doings he will cause that it shall soon overtake you. Wo unto him that spurneth at the doings of the Lord; yea, wo unto him that shall deny the Christ and his works! Yea, wo unto him that shall deny the revelations of the Lord, and that shall say the Lord no longer worketh by revelation, or by prophecy, or by gifts, or by tongues, or by healings, or by the power of the Holy Ghost! Yea, and wo unto him that shall say at that day, to get gain, that there can be no miracle wrought by Jesus Christ; for he that doeth this shall become like unto the son of perdition, for whom there was no mercy, according to the word of Christ!”
To spurn is to reject with disdain or contempt. It’s one thing to reject something or someone because you simply don’t agree. It’s another to reject with contempt. Adding contempt to rejection is a husband who cannot stand his wife. Adding disdain to rejection is to literally hate your political opponent.
To spurn “the doings of the Lord” is to reject his works with such feeling that you actively argue or fight against those works. How are the works of the Lord made manifest in the latter days? While the Lord is working on our behalf in every corner of the world and with every people, the organization that is to build the kingdom on earth is the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints.
Those who feel the most contempt and disdain are ex-members. I’m afraid that some of them may be creating a permanent fixture in their character that will not allow them to humble themselves ever - even in front of Christ. I imagine all kinds of criticisms and blame directed at him. “You shouldn’t have made me this way.” I’ve heard that very comment from someone very close to me who has a scientific brain. I asked him if he dies and then is with Christ, what will he say. He said that he would “have a lot of questions about why he did what he did.”
If we believe that the antagonists of the church are simply going to convert once they are proven wrong, we are also wrong. The only thing that will truly reach them is the “sword of his justice” that will “soon overtake you.”
29:8
“Yea, and ye need not any longer hiss, nor spurn, nor make game of the Jews, nor any of the remnant of the house of Israel; for behold, the Lord remembereth his covenant unto them, and he will do unto them according to that which he hath sworn.” There are some people in this world who are making a “game of the Jews.” They are twisting the facts of their war against Hamas. They are focusing on the casualties and ignoring the efforts made by Israel to be careful. Many are trusting the numbers presented by a terrorist organization. Some people are suggesting that Israel is the one escalating the conflict. Some are highlighting every mistake that the IDF makes.
It appears that some are making a game of the Jews.
4 Nephi 1:12
The Nephites began to “wax strong” in the Lord. “And they did not walk any more after the performances and ordinances of the law of Moses; but they did walk after the commandments which they had received from their Lord and their God, continuing in fasting and prayer, and in meeting together oft both to pray and to hear the word of the Lord.” Again, this is a strong example of how important it is to fast and pray and meet together.
1:15
“And it came to pass that there was no contention in the land, because of the love of God which did dwell in the hearts of the people.” It’s interesting that, if we love God enough, we won’t have contention with each other. There are a few obvious reasons for this:
We will see others as God’s children. If we love God then we will be kind to his children - of course.
We will be doing those things that bring us closer to God. As we do, our godliness will improve - which will naturally improve our brotherly kindness.
We will learn more about Christ and become more unified with him. As we do, we will naturally become more Christlike. We will understand the importance of serving others. If someone does make a mistake and mistreat us, we will forgive them and move forward.
1:23-26
Because of their righteousness, the Lord “did bless them in all their doings.” This is the natural order of how this world works. If we seek the kingdom of God first, the temporal blessings will follow. “And now I, Mormon, would that ye should know that the people had multiplied, insomuch that they were spread upon all the face of the land, and that they had become exceedingly rich, because of their prosperity in Christ.” Success is good right?
As we learn from the scriptures, not really. “And now, in this two hundred and first year there began to be among them those who were lifted up in pride, such as the wearing of costly apparel, and all manner of fine pearls, and of the fine things of the world. And from that time forth they did have their goods and their substance no more common among them. And they began to be divided into classes; and they began to build up churches unto themselves to get gain, and began to deny the true church of Christ.”
Pride almost always follows success. We read this same story over and over again.
1:27-29
“And it came to pass that when two hundred and ten years had passed away there were many churches in the land; yea, there were many churches which professed to know the Christ, and yet they did deny the more parts of his gospel, insomuch that they did receive all manner of wickedness, and did administer that which was sacred unto him to whom it had been forbidden because of unworthiness.” The interesting part is that these churches professed to know Christ, but deny his gospel and “receive all manner of wickedness.” What does that mean?
I think a church receives all manner of wickedness when they accept any behavior. To me this is exactly what is happening in the world today! There are those who are leaving the church because the church isn’t loving and accepting of all kinds of people. They profess that Christ would never reject a person - since he is perfectly loving. They believe that Jesus loves us as we are and wants us to be true to ourselves.
Their version of a perfectly loving Jesus is twisting the truth so that all kinds of personal choice is perfectly acceptable. This version of Christ isn’t correct. It’s a twisted truth.
Of course Jesus is perfectly loving of every individual. Loving a person does not mean that their behavior is also loved. Loving a person doesn’t mean that we want them to develop into something great - which involves change. Loving a person doesn’t mean that Christ wants us to, little by little, abandon our own will for his. We are not meant to be true disciples of our own wills! We are meant to be true disciples of Christ. Which means we must follow his pleadings to REPENT.
Why are they so accepting and attempt to connect their loving and accepting behavior to Christ, so they can justify their own wickedness. “And this church did multiply exceedingly because of iniquity, and because of the power of Satan who did get hold upon their hearts.” People LOVE to do what they want to do. If there is a church that helps them to feel better about simply following the desires of their heart, that church is going to “multiply exceedingly.”
Of course, this other church can never just simply break away without then working against the true church. “And again, there was another church which denied the Christ; and they did persecute the true church of Christ, because of their humility and their belief in Christ; and they did despise them because of the many miracles which were wrought among them.” If the false church believes that the true church is right, then the members of the false church must be stupid. So, in order for them to not feel stupid, they MUST believe that the true church is wrong - even wicked.
This belief allows them to feel good about themselves for breaking away. It’s human nature to do this but it’s pretty pathetic I think.
1:38, 40
Those who do this are particularly wicked. “And it came to pass that they who rejected the gospel were called Lamanites, and Lemuelites, and Ishmaelites; and they did not dwindle in unbelief, but they did wilfully rebel against the gospel of Christ; and they did teach their children that they should not believe, even as their fathers, from the beginning, did dwindle.” These people aren’t slowly falling away because of their weaknesses or laziness or distraction. They are falling away because they want to rebel. They want to follow their own will. This rebellion is especially harmful because it is more permanent. It will follow them throughout their lives and even into eternity.
Rebelling against what you know to be true will lead to further rebellion - even when standing before the Savior. Knowing is knowing.
One thing that helps a wicked person feel better about his or herself is to be around other people who are the same kind of wicked. Their is fellowship, there is support, there is pleasant collusion, there is reinforcement of incorrect principles. A big herd of people can’t be all wrong - right? With this flawed thinking, there is a built-in desire to do missionary work to convert others to their way of thinking. “And it came to pass that two hundred and forty and four years had passed away, and thus were the affairs of the people. And the more wicked part of the people did wax strong, and became exceedingly more numerous than were the people of God.”
Worldliness has a home-field advantage in this world. Selfishness is part of the natural man. Wanting to do what we want to do is the easiest thing in the world - like water flowing to the lowest place - it just happens. In every way, when we follow our own will, we are - in a way - worshipping ourselves. Naturally, we would want to even build a church to worship ourselves. The Nephites did this very thing. “And they did still continue to build up churches unto themselves, and adorn them with all manner of precious things.”
I must carefully choose to follow Christ and his prophets. If I ever think I’m wiser than the scriptures or prophets, I’m on the wrong path.
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