And I know that the
Lord God will consecrate my prayers for the gain of my people. And the words which I have written in
weakness will be made strong unto them; for it persuadeth them to do good; it
maketh known unto them of their fathers; and it speaketh of Jesus, and
persuadeth them to believe in him, and to endure to the end, which is life eternal.
And it speaketh harshly
against sin, according to the plainness of the truth; wherefore, no man will be
angry at the words which I have written save he shall be of the spirit of the
devil.
I glory in plainness;
I glory in truth; I glory in my Jesus, for he hath redeemed my soul from hell.
2 Nephi 33:4-6
Nephi earlier wrote about his prayers to the Lord about his people. He knows that the Lord will consecrate his
prayers for his people.
Even though Nephi’s a strong and powerful speaker, his
writings, he tells us, are his weakness.
Even so, the Lord will make his words strong to those who read the Book
of Mormon. I will testify to the
truthfulness of this statement. I’ve
wished I could have heard Nephi preach if this was his strength. I have always loved the power and spirit in
the words of Nephi in the Book of Mormon.
These words, Nephi writes, will persuade us to do good.
Moroni2 wrote, “Wherefore, I, Moroni, am commanded to write these things that evil may
be done away, and that the time may come that Satan may have no power upon the
hearts of the children of men, but that they may be persuaded to do good
continually, that they may come unto the fountain of all righteousness and be
saved” (Ether 8:26).
He was restating words he had heard from his father.
Wherefore,
all things which are good cometh of God; and that which is evil cometh of the
devil; for the devil is an enemy unto God, and fighteth against him
continually, and inviteth and enticeth to sin, and to do that which is evil
continually.
But
behold, that which is of God inviteth and enticeth to do good continually;
wherefore, every thing which inviteth and enticeth to do good, and to love God,
and to serve him, is inspired of God.
Wherefore,
take heed, my beloved brethren, that ye do not judge that which is evil to be
of God, or that which is good and of God to be of the devil.
For
behold, my brethren, it is given unto you to judge, that ye may know good from
evil; and the way to judge is as plain, that ye may know with a perfect
knowledge, as the daylight is from the dark night.
For
behold, the Spirit of Christ is given to every man, that he may know good from
evil; wherefore, I show unto you the way to judge; for every thing which
inviteth to do good, and to persuade to believe in Christ, is sent forth by the
power and gift of Christ; wherefore ye may know with a perfect knowledge it is
of God.
But
whatsoever thing persuadeth men to do evil, and believe not in Christ, and deny
him, and serve not God, then ye may know with a perfect knowledge it is of the
devil; for after this manner doth the devil work, for he persuadeth no man to
do good, no, not one; neither do his angels; neither do they who subject
themselves unto him.
Moroni 7:12-17
Those who accept these words will be persuaded to accept
Christ, endure to the end, and obtain eternal life.
Hugh Nibley comments:
Men simply do not have faith and so
deny themselves the blessings and the power that might be theirs—boundless
"knowledge, of all things" that is "hid up because of
unbelief" (Ether 4:13). Given faith, God will not withhold from us a knowledge
of all things. And ironically enough men know that they should have
faith even apart from the thought of any reward, "for it persuadeth [men]
to do good" (2 Nephi 33:4).[1]
But, there will be those who reject Nephi’s words. The truth will make them angry. These angry people “shall be of the spirit of the devil” (2 Nephi 33:5).
Speaking of his brethren, Nephi wrote:
AND
now it came to pass that after I, Nephi, had made an end of speaking to my
brethren, behold they said unto me: Thou hast declared unto us hard things,
more than we are able to bear.
And
it came to pass that I said unto them that I knew that I had spoken hard things
against the wicked, according to the truth; and the righteous have I justified,
and testified that they should be lifted up at the last day; wherefore, the guilty
taketh the truth to be hard, for it cutteth them to the very center.
And
now my brethren, if ye were righteous and were willing to hearken to the truth,
and give heed unto it, that ye might walk uprightly before God, then ye would
not murmur because of the truth, and say: Thou speakest hard things against us.
1 Nephi 16:1-3
He also wrote, “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” (2 Nephi 28:28).
Here, Nephi waxes poetic.
I glory in plainness;
I glory in truth;
I glory in my Jesus,
for he hath redeemed
my soul from hell.
[1]
Lehi
in the Desert; The World of the Jaredites; There Were Jaredites, A Permanent
Heritage, Hugh W. Nibley, Maxwell Institute, accessed February 9, 2014.
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