Week 38 is scheduled for study Sept. 16-22, 2024. If we are to be of “good cheer” we must make an effort to become converted and develop a rapport with the Spirit.
Day 1
3 Nephi 1-7 – Becoming converted to the gospel of Jesus Christ requires patience and effort.
It is a comfortable fairytale we tell ourselves that once converted we will always remain true to that knowledge. At the time of conversion it is difficult, if not impossible for us to see all the ways for us to become careless, reckless, or disaffected with the church. We see only how we feel with the conversion fresh in our heart. These chapters demonstrate how the Lord’s people, though converted by signs, rejected their conversion. The reasons are plentiful. This should be a cautionary tale for us.
The manual gives seven scriptural references and invites us to write down the things in each reference that weaken conversion and those things that strengthen conversion. Let’s look at a few of them and consider how they apply to us as well.
3 Nephi 1:5-11 – Those who doubted or disbelieved Samuel’s prophecy of the birth of Christ took his announced timeline of five years and decided for themselves that the time was already past. The problem with this assumption is that they were looking for a way to prove him wrong. By stirring up the public with the idea that he had been wrong and that those who followed him were a danger to society, they arbitrarily chose a deadline for God to honor Samuel’s five year pronouncement. If God didn’t honor it by their deadline then they would kill all of God’s followers.
Have you ever wondered what such a pronouncement would do to those who still believed the prophet? They no longer have the ability to just believe in the safety of their home. Now their belief is on public display. If God doesn’t honor the deadline chosen by the unbelievers it is the believers who will pay the ultimate penalty. Doubt. Massive doubt is the result. It is difficult to exercise faith when your life and social position are on the line. What happens if they continue faithful, but the day comes and the sign still hasn’t appeared? What then? Do they have the faith that even if they die God will still give the sign in His own time? Tough one.
Nephi was new to his calling. His father had given him the mantle of leadership less than a year before this happened and had disappeared from sight. Nephi felt personally responsible for the welfare of the church members, all of whom were being threatened with death. He spent the whole day trying to get answers from the Lord, a sense of peace or direction. This was not an easy situation for anyone in the church.
By the way, when the scriptures say that something “is at hand” it means that it is here, now. So when the Savior tells people that the kingdom of heaven is at hand he is saying that it is here today, already available.
3 Nephi 1:29-30 – This is the second time the Book of Mormon tells us that the faith of the current generation was diminished because of the choices made to be wicked by the rising generation. The last time this happened it was the generation that was too young to understand the words of King Benjamin. When they grew up they hardened their hearts and refused to believe their parents. Their determination to not participate in the church or its beliefs caused many of their parents to weaken in their faith. I’m guessing for the same reason that many fall into error today, because their children don’t feel loved if mommy and daddy disagree with their life choices. To the parents, in an effort to be loving, accept wickedness even though it damages their own testimony.
3 Nephi 2:1-3 – It is natural for us to become accustomed to something new then take it for granted. We become calloused about its specialness. We forget what its very existence means, or should mean, to us. This is what happened with the Nephites. God provided them with all kinds of signs and wonders meant to strengthen their faith. For those who were careful not to harden their hearts this did strengthen their faith. But for those who were casual with their state of conversion all these signs made them immune to their wonder. When doubters raised their concerns it became easier to find reasons for how these were not wonders at all, but were probably just signs made by the devil to deceive the people. Too often we are quick to believe in the devil’s power, but slow to accept God’s power.
President Russell M. Nelson has promised us that in the last days we would see Christ’s power like it has never been demonstrated before. So this is a future repeat we have to look forward to. Will we choose to believe in God’s miracles and wonders or will we find reasons to dismiss them as science or the devil’s work?
Day 2
3 Nephi 1:1-23 – Because of Jesus Christ, I can “be of good cheer.”
Without exception the Lord views our lives as being eternal in nature. We look at our lives as “ending” with death. Often we forget that being eternal in our nature our lives never actually end at all. We just continue on in a different sphere. When we are surrounded by trials and troubles of all kinds, it is this reminder of our eternal nature that God gives us that gives us hope in His Son. It doesn’t matter if our lives are being threatened, if the way before us seems blocked and hedged on all sides. Christ has overcome all the obstacles that can prevent us from being exalted, so the circumstances of today are truly inconsequential in the grand scheme of things.
When the prophets sorrow and are filled with troubled hearts God tells them to lift up their head and be of good cheer, for He has overcome the world. He also tells them that despite the wickedness of those to whom he has been preaching his own life has been lived in conformity to God’s commandments, so he has personal reason to rejoice, for his own soul will be saved. I look at these two ways of thinking and marvel. The prophet is considering all the rejection and lack of acceptance which tells him he has failed in his assignment to go and save the people. But God reminds the prophet that all is not lost, for his own soul has been saved. Their souls are not his responsibility, but his own is. As long as the Lord’s servant does as God commands the Lord will see to it that all is well, for he has delivered the message he was commissioned to give. We sometimes need to just let the judge of all be the judge of all, and not try to take the responsibilities of other’s lives upon ourselves. That is not our responsibility.
Personal righteousness is all that counts in the end. I cannot save my neighbor. I can set an example, teach the right and live according to the commandments, but it is their choice to choose to repent or not. God will only judge me based on my choices, not theirs. I just need to be obedient to what I have been commissioned to do. When I do that I have a right to be of good cheer, for my soul is safe. Please don’t get me wrong. I can still sorrow for the loss of my neighbor to wicked ways, but I need to know that I have made the good choice by keeping the commandments and by pleasing God with my obedience. This is just an acknowledgment of the eternal principle that only Christ can pay for the sins of another. I can but deliver God’s message and love the best way I know how and leave the rest up to Christ.
Day 3
3 Nephi 1:4-21; 5:1-3 – The Lord will fulfill all His words in His time.
This is one of those instances where being faithful that God will fulfill His promises in His own due time becomes extremely difficult to accept and live. The wicked had given the righteous a severe deadline. They had until a particular day and hour for the sign to be given of Christ’s birth or they would all be put to death. In a situation like that how do you keep your hope alive? The closer the fateful hour approaches, the more difficult it is to stay faithful to the belief that God will fulfill His promises. Difficult, because you now have to add to your faith that God’s timing may include happening after your own death.
The prophet Nephi who was given the sealing power and caused a famine in the land, had every faith in his son Nephi. He had taught him well. But now young Nephi, still very new to his new calling as guardian and steward of the Lord’s records of his people, faced an almost certain prospect of death within a day. How was he to get out of it? What would become of the records he had just recently been tasked to keep safe? Must he really be made to watch all those whom he loved die because of their faith in Christ? I’m sure he had many such questions he took to the Lord. After all, he also needed to figure out the boundaries of his own faith in the face of this new crisis.
We know from the record that Nephi didn’t blame God or accuse Him. He kept his heart soft and was willing to accept the Lord’s will in all things, for the Lord saw his faith and assured him that all would be well with him and his people, because the sign would be given that very night.
Day 4
3 Nephi 1:4-15; 5:12-26; 6:10-15; 7:15-26 – I am a disciple of Jesus Christ.
By definition a disciple is a student, a follower of another. They follow with the purpose of learning the doctrines and precepts of their chosen leader.
As disciples of Christ we accept him as our master. He and he alone will be able to teach us what we need to do to become like him. He becomes our way, our path, our light, our beacon. He sets the standards, assigns us our tasks, and judges our merit. We must rely on him in all things, for no one else can do what our master can do. This is the attitude we must adopt as a disciple of Christ. This is why we look to him in all things. Only he can forgive us and correct us, change our heart and improve our performance. Only Christ can teach us the virtues that can make us in his image.
We can study Christ’s doctrines all we want, but we must also learn how to implement those doctrines in our life, so they become part of who we are. True disciples of Christ seek to emulate him in all things. It is not enough to be intellectually schooled in his thought. We must also incorporate his lifestyle, his behavior, into our own life. His ways must become our ways, his attitudes our attitudes.
Day 5
3 Nephi 2:11-12; 3:1-26 – When I exercise faith in Jesus Christ, I don’t need to fear.
From the very beginning God has made His people a promise. If they will never cause offense, and only go to war to defend themselves then He will protect them and fight their battles for them. Over and over again we see what happens to His people when they decide to go on the offensive and initiate a fight. God abandons them and they are brutally beaten by their enemies. His protection has always been based on obedience and defense.
As you read the Book of Mormon notice the number of times the people are so angry with their enemies that they justify to themselves their need to attack their neighbors. They forget that God has always made sure to keep his people in the minority. When the minority attacks the majority, and God is not fighting their battle for them, they get beaten soundly. This doesn’t seem to deter them however until they have been beaten several times and they begin to see the precariousness of their situation, for most of their men have been killed and they can’t do this again without getting wiped out. Limhi’s people learned this lesson. They attacked the Lamanites three times. Once they were finally humbled by their resounding defeats they repented and stopped banging their heads against a wall and accepted their captivity. Only when they had been sufficiently humble and repentant did the Lord deliver them.
We are all under the same directive from the Lord. If we are obedient and faithful to His commandments he will protect us as a people. That doesn’t mean that some won’t be injured or wronged, that was never the promise. But for those who are God has promised a place of glory in the hereafter for their sacrifice. We also see examples of this throughout the Book of Mormon.
Personal Study
Make scripture study personal.
The scriptures are an interesting creation. They are comprised of the stories and sermons of individuals and large groups, but their purpose is to teach us individually what the Lord would have us do in various situations. What makes the scriptures special is that God has imbued them with a measure of the Holy Spirit. As we read them, pray about them, study them, and think about them we are inviting the Spirit to speak to us. When He does, it is with individual instruction on what we personally need to do to become more like Christ and find joy in our life.
The scriptures, though very general in many ways, are extremely specific to each person who reads them. They are specific, because the Spirit teaches each of us individually when we seek knowledge and direction in the scriptures. For this reason it is advisable for us to each ask personal questions of our heart as we study the scriptures. Consider the scriptures like an open invitation to the Spirit to enter our life and speak to us. Just because I am reading about Nephi building a ship in this week’s reading, because of this open invitation, the Spirit can give me instruction on how to be a better spouse or parent. Any topic is fair game for Him. I open the door and invite Him in by studying the scriptures, He is now free to give me the instructions I need in my life wherever I need it.
Asking personal questions about one thing while studying something of a completely different topic doesn’t weaken my prayer. One of the reasons we study the scriptures is because when the Spirit comes to us and shows us something we need to know or understand, it may be in a completely different part of the scriptures. If we hadn’t already studied that part it would be more difficult for the Spirit to teach us. Study all of the Standard Works and the Spirit will open the parts you need to your mind when you need it. In the meantime be as personal and intimate as you need to be in your prayers. Nothing is off limits for the Spirit. The more we open up to God the more He can reveal to our mind and our heart.
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