21 And others will he pacify, and lull them away into carnal security, that they will say: All is well in Zion; yea, Zion prospereth, all is well—and thus the devil cheateth their souls, and leadeth them away carefully down to hell. 22 And behold, others he flattereth away, and telleth them there is no hell; and he saith unto them: I am no devil, for there is none—and thus he whispereth in their ears, until he grasps them with his awful chains, from whence there is no deliverance. 23 Yea, they are grasped with death, and hell; and death, and hell, and the devil, and all that have been seized therewith must stand before the throne of God, and be judged according to their works, from whence they must go into the place prepared for them, even a lake of fire and brimstone, which is endless torment.
2 Nephi 28:21-23 (Emphasis mine)
17 ¶ Ye have wearied the LORD with your words. Yet ye say, Wherein have we wearied him? When ye say, Every one that doeth evil is good in the sight of the LORD, and he delighteth in them; or, Where is the God of judgment?
Malachi 2:17 (Emphasis mine)
20 And the beast was taken, and with him the false prophet that wrought miracles before him, with which he deceived them that had received the mark of the beast, and them that worshipped his image. These both were cast alive into a lake of fire burning with brimstone.
Revelation 19:20 (Emphasis mine)
The devil will be very active, working among us, in the last days. He will perpetuate a big lie: “All is well is Zion; yea, Zion propsereth, all is well.” All is not well in Zion. Like all of the world, we have our share of problems and challenges. We see the devil and his minions very active in their attempts to undermine the gospel of Christ and His Church.
Every General Conference Session, we hear the Brethren remind us of the problems we face; where we are short of living the gospel as we should. We must avoid becoming complacent in our lives. If we do, were walking straight into the devil’s trap. He will carefully lead us straight to hell.
Then we learn about his next big lie. There is no hell. How can there be? There is no devil. What you do doesn’t matter. We see this lie in our society today. The idea of there being no devil is one that is a part of our society today. Those that listen to this lie will be gasped “with his awful chains, from which there is no deliverance.”
Those that buy off on the devil’s lie will have to stand before the judgement bar of God and judged according to their works. They will be sent to the place, which was prepared for them, “a lake of fire and brimstone, which is endless torment.”
Nephi(1) is giving us a warning we must heed.
George Mitton writes about the fact we are all influenced by both good and evil powers.
“The basic concept is that all persons are influenced by both the good and evil powers or spirits and must learn to judge, discern, and make choices between them. The doctrine is prominent in the Book of Mormon, especially in Lehi's teaching of the necessity that there be an ‘opposition in all things’ and that God has given man to ‘act for himself,’ which requires that he be ‘enticed by the one or the other’ (2 Nephi 2:11—16). The two powers are real, not imaginary, although the Book of Mormon says that it would come forth at a time when the devil would whisper ‘in their ears’ that there is no devil (2 Nephi 28:22).” [1] (Emphasis mine)
Hugh Nibley reminds us the Nephi(1) is reminding the Church that we can’t become and stay complacent.
“And so the timely reminder to the Church is this: Do not ‘suppose that ye are more righteous than the Gentiles … For … ye shall … likewise perish; … ye need not suppose that the Gentiles are utterly destroyed’ (2 Nephi 30:1). The Church is in the same danger as the Gentiles: ‘Wo be unto him that is at ease in Zion. Wo be unto him the crieth: All is well!’ (2 Nephi 28:24—25). Here we see how the label of Zion has been processed in a smooth soft-sell by broadcasting: ‘All is well in Zion; yea, Zion prospereth, all is well … .—the devil cheateth their souls, and leadeth them away carefully down to hell’ (2 Nephi 28:21). That's the business of advertising, to cheat and lead carefully.” [2] (Emphasis mine)
24 Therefore, wo be unto him that is at ease in Zion!
25 Wo be unto him that crieth:
All is well!
26 Yea, wo be unto him
that hearkeneth unto the precepts of men,
and denieth the power of God,
and the gift of the Holy Ghost!
27 Yea, wo be unto him that saith:
We have received,
and we need no more!
28 And in fine,
wo unto all those who tremble,
and are angry
because of the truth of God!
For behold,
he that is built upon the rock
receiveth it with gladness;
and he that is built upon a sandy foundation
trembleth lest he shall fall.
29 Wo be unto him that shall say:
We have received the word of God,
and we need no more
of the word of God,
for we have enough!
2 Nephi 28:24-29 (Emphasis mine)
13 ¶ Wherefore the Lord said, Forasmuch as this people draw near me with their mouth, and with their lips do honour me, but have removed their heart far from me, and their fear toward me is taught by the precept of men:
Isaiah 29:13 (Emphasis mine)
Here Nephi(1) warns a number of people. He emphasizes the warning to those who are comfortable in Zion and say “All is well.” He warns those who listen to the philosophy of man and deny the power of God.
Then we have a “wo” to those who say we have enough of the gospel. We need no more. These are those who are angry because of the truth of God. He likens them to those whose foundation is built upon sand and rock. If your foundation is on sand, you will tremble and fall. If it is on rock, you will receive the gospel with “gladness.”
24 ¶ Therefore whosoever heareth these sayings of mine, and doeth them, [he will resemble] a wise man, which built his house upon [the] rock:
25 And the rain descended, and the floods came, and the winds blew, and beat upon that house; and it fell not: for it was founded upon a rock.
26 And every one that heareth these sayings of mine, and doeth them not, shall be likened unto a foolish man, which built his house upon the sand:
27 And the rain descended, and the floods came, and the winds blew, and beat upon that house; and it fell: and great was the fall of it.
Matthew 7:24-27 (Emphasis mine)
Dilworth Parkinson reminds us that Nephi(1)’s warming (“we have received and need no more”) applies to members of the Church as well.
“Nephi summed up his condemnation with the words ‘Yea, wo be unto him that saith: We have received, and we need no more!’ (2 Nephi 28:27).
“I'm not sure he is just referring to nonmembers and nonbelievers when he said this, however. I wonder if he also isn't referring to me as I sit in Sunday School class with one more lesson on faith wondering what more I could possibly learn about faith. No matter how much progress we have made, no matter what line we're on, we need more. We need a firmer witness, a clearer and deeper understanding, and a more practical, heart-changing incorporation of almost any gospel principle we could contemplate. If we are satisfied with where we are, if we are pretty sure we have the whole thing figured out, we are in effect saying: ‘We have received, and we need no more.’ The point of this life is to grow and progress, to become something so unbelievably far from where we are now that it almost seems ridiculous to contemplate. Learning the language of the gospel to the point of real native fluency—just like learning a foreign language as an adult—is difficult and can seem impossible when we contemplate the gulf between where we are and where we want to be. But God has given us a way to do it, and if what Brigham Young says is right, we get to it a little at a time by consistently working at it throughout our lives until the gospel gradually—and through his grace—becomes a part of us, truly ‘written in our hearts,’ one line at a time.” [3] (Emphasis mine)
[1] Editor's Introduction: Anti-Mormon Writings: Encountering a Topsy-Turvy Approach to Mormon Origins, George L. Mitton, Provo, Utah: Maxwell Institute, accessed January 8, 2012.
[2] Last Call: An Apocalyptic Warning from the Book of Mormon, Hugh Nibley, Provo, Utah: Maxwell Institute, accessed January 8, 2012.
[3] We Have Received, and We Need No More. Dilworth B. Parkinson, Provo, Utah: Maxwell Institute, accessed January 8, 2012.
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