10 And now, my beloved brethren, and also Jew,
and all ye ends of the earth, 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 he hath given
them unto me; and they teach all men that they should do good.
11 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; and you and I shall stand face to face before
his bar; and ye shall know that I have been commanded of him to write these
things, notwithstanding my weakness.
12 And I pray the Father in the name of Christ
that many of us, if not all, may be saved in his kingdom at that great and last
day.
2 Nephi 33:10-12
Nephi calls up all to listen to his words and believe in
Christ. If we don’t believe these words,
believe in Christ. If we believe in
Christ, we will know that Nephi’s words are true, for Christ gave him these
words.
Moroni2 closed his record in a manner similar to
Nephi.
And
I exhort you to remember these things; for the time speedily cometh that ye
shall know that I lie not, for ye shall see me at the bar of God; and the Lord
God will say unto you: Did I not declare my words unto you, which were written
by this man, like as one crying from the dead, yea, even as one speaking out of
the dust?
I
declare these things unto the fulfilling of the prophecies. And behold, they shall proceed forth out of
the mouth of the everlasting God; and his word shall hiss forth from generation
to generation.
And
God shall show unto you, that that which I have written is true.
Moroni 10:27-29
If these are not the words of Christ, He will show us that
these are his word with power and glory.
The day will come when we will all stand before the bar of God. At that time, Nephi writes, “ye shall know that I have been commanded of
him to write these things, not withstanding my weakness” (2 Nephi 33:11).
Richard Rust shows that Nephi’s testimony is just one of many
the Lord gives us.
The testimonies or teachings of
Nephi, Jacob, King Benjamin, Alma the Younger, Nephi the son of Helaman, Jesus,
Mormon, and Moroni all culminate in reference to the last judgment.3 For example, in his parting words, Nephi
confirms the truthfulness of his writings by saying, "Christ will show
unto you, with power and great glory, that [my writings] are [Christ's] words,
at the last day; and you and I shall stand face to face before his bar" (2
Nephi 33:11). By directing our thoughts to the last judgment, these prophets
give the Book of Mormon the largest possible sweep of concern pertaining to
both time and timelessness, mortality and immortality. That concern is set
forth in several overall artistic structures. Examining those structures helps
us understand better how the book truly is designed for our day in testifying to
a disbelieving world that miracles are real—that earth can and does meet
heaven.[1]
Nephi prays in the name of Christ that many, if not all of
us may be saved and enter the Lord’s kingdom on that last day.
Nephi bids us farewell until we see him before the judgment
bar of God. He will be as “the voice of one crying from the dust” (2
Nephi 33:13).
Again we turn to Richard Rust.
One of the chief "marvelous
things," Moroni is told, is the record Moroni is involved in writing. It
shall come forth "out of the earth," Moroni says, "in a day when
it shall be said that miracles are done away; and it shall come even as if one
should speak from the dead" (Mormon 8:26). The book thus is "betwixt"
and between the dead and the living (Alma 40:6); of earthly origins, it asserts
that it contains the revelations of God; a liminal "voice . . . from the
dust" (2 Nephi 33:13), it speaks today with power and beauty.[2]
If we choose not to “partake
of the goodness of God, and respect the words of the Jews and also my words,” Nephi
bids us farewell. Because of our choice
to believe not these words, they will condemn us at the judgment bar of God.
Nephi’s last words to us were “the Lord commanded me, and I must obey. Amen.” (2 Nephi 33:15).
The choice has been given to us by Nephi. And, the choice is clear. Accept his words, which were given to him by
Christ, and receive eternal life in the kingdom of God. Or, we can reject this words. If we do, we will be cast off for all
eternity.
[1]
"At
the Judgment-Seat of Christ" – Larger Perspectives, Richard Dilworth
Rust, Maxwell Institute, accessed February 13, 2014.
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