Continuing to write to the descendants of the Lamanites, he
tells them they must gain a knowledge of their ancestors, repent, and believe
in Jesus Christ. Lehi emphasized this in his farewell sermon to his sons. “Wherefore,
the fruit of thy loins shall write; and the fruit of the loins of Judah shall
write; and that which shall be written by the fruit of thy loins, and also that
which shall be written by the fruit of the loins of Judah, shall grow together,
unto the confounding of false doctrines and laying down of contentions, and
establishing peace among the fruit of thy loins, and bringing them to the
knowledge of their fathers in the latter days, and also to the knowledge of my
covenants, saith the Lord” (2 Nephi 3:12).
When abridging what would be 3 Nephi, Mormon formally
introduces himself. He emphasized the same teachings as he does in Mormon 7:5.
“And insomuch as the children of Lehi have kept his
commandments he hath blessed them and prospered them according to his word.
“Yea, and surely shall he again bring a remnant of the seed
of Joseph to the knowledge of the Lord their God” (3 Nephi 5:22-23).
Christ was slain by the Jews, but He rose gaining victory
over the grave and the sting death. “He will swallow up death in victory; and
the Lord God will wipe away tears from off all faces; and the rebuke of his
people shall he take away from off all the earth: for the Lord hath spoken it” (Isaiah
25:8).
“And if Christ had not risen from the dead, or have broken
the bands of death that the grave should have no victory, and that death should
have no sting, there could have been no resurrection.
“But there is a resurrection, therefore the grave hath no
victory, and the sting of death is swallowed up in Christ:” (Mosiah 16:7-8).
Through Him, the dead will be resurrected. At that time, all
must stand before Him to be judged.
Those who dwell in the presence of God in his kingdom, will sing
ceaseless praises with the choirs above, unto the Father, and unto the Son, and
unto the Holy Ghost, which are one God, and live in a state of happiness which
hath no end.
Those who are found guiltless before him will dwell in God’s
presence; however, there will be consequences for those who do not stand
guiltless before Him.
“But he that doeth not anything until he is commanded, and
receiveth a commandment with doubtful heart, and keepeth it with slothfulness,
the same is damned.
“Who am I that made man, saith the Lord, that will hold him
guiltless that obeys not my commandments” (D&C 58:29-30).
Those who dwell in God’s presence will sing praises to the
Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost.
“One thing have I desired of the Lord, that will I seek
after; that I may dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life, to
behold the beauty of the Lord, and to inquire [OR contemplate] in his temple”
(Psalms 27:4).
“Wherefore, if ye have sought to do wickedly in the days of
your probation, then ye are found unclean before the judgment-seat of God; and
no unclean thing can dwell with God; wherefore, ye must be cast off forever” (1
Nephi 10:21).
“And again we bear record—for we saw and heard, and this is
the testimony of the gospel of Christ concerning them who shall come forth in
the resurrection of the just…
“These shall dwell in the presence of God and his Christ
forever and ever” (D&C 76:50, 62).
Mormon calls upon us to repent, be baptized in Christ’s
name, and to hold upon Christ’s gospel. His gospel is found in the book of
Mormon and other records which will come to us.
“Confronted with the call to ‘lay hold upon the gospel of
Christ’ (Mormon 7:8), individuals have a very private choice to make. They can
recognize honestly their own inadequacies and imperfections, indeed their sins
and temptations, and seize on this great opportunity to let the merits of
Christ deliver them from all these failings. Or they can deny their need for
deliverance and refuse to believe, even though they may know the gospel is
true. In so doing, they harden their hearts and stiffen their necks against the
changes that would be required in heart and mind.”[1]
What would become the Book of Mormon was written with the
intent that we would believe in the truthfulness of the record and the
testimonies therein. It was a desire expressed throughout the Book of Mormon. “Wherefore,
I speak unto all the house of Israel, if it so be that they should obtain these
things” (1 Nephi 19:19).
“And now behold, this was the desire which I desired of
him—that if it should so be, that my people, the Nephites, should fall into
transgression, and by any means be destroyed, and the Lamanites should not be
destroyed, that the Lord God would preserve a record of my people, the
Nephites; even if it so be by the power of his holy arm, that it might be
brought forth at some future day unto the Lamanites, that, perhaps, they might
be brought unto salvation…
“Wherefore, I knowing that the Lord God was able to preserve
our records, I cried unto him continually, for he had said unto me: Whatsoever
thing ye shall ask in faith, believing that ye shall receive in the name of
Christ, ye shall receive it.
“And I had faith, and I did cry unto God that he would
preserve the records; and he covenanted with me that he would bring them forth
unto the Lamanites in his own due time” (Enos 13:13, 15-16).
“Now these things are written unto the remnant of the house
of Jacob; and they are written after this manner, because it is known of God
that wickedness will not bring them forth unto them; and they are to be hid up
unto the Lord that they may come forth in his own due time” (Mormon 5:12).
“[T]he Bible and Book of Mormon are inextricable, if you
understand the latter. Mormon claims that ‘this [Book of Mormon] is written for
the intent that ye may believe that [the Bible]; and if ye believe that ye will
believe this also’ (Mormon 7:9). I have read the Bible to understand the Book
of Mormon; I anticipate a time when the roles will be reversed.”[2]
Those descendants who receive the Book of Mormon should know
they are a part of the house of Jacob. They are to believe in Christ and be
baptized, first with water and then the fire of the Holy Ghost. “And it came to pass when they were all
baptized and had come up out of the water, the Holy Ghost did fall upon them,
and they were filled with the Holy Ghost and with fire.
“And behold, they were encircled about as if it were by
fire; and it came down from heaven, and the multitude did witness it, and did
bear record; and angels did come down out of heaven and did minister unto them”
(3 Nephi 19:13-14).
“Behold, it was the faith of Nephi and Lehi that wrought the
change upon the Lamanites, that they were baptized with fire and with the Holy
Ghost” (Ether 12:14).
“Indeed, after the Savior has the multitude come forth to
recognize him as the God of Israel, the very first instruction he gives
pertains to baptism.”[3]
To be baptized is to follow the Savior’s example.
Mormon’s final words telling us if we follow Christ and His
commandments, “it shall be well with you in the day of judgment. Amen” (Mormon
7:10).
And here ends the record of Mormon.
[1] The True
Points of My Doctrine, Noel B. Reynolds, Maxwell Institute website.
[2] Reduction
and Enlargement: Harold Bloom's Mormons, Alan Goff, Maxwell Institute
website.
[3] Feasting
on the Word, “At the Judgment-Seat of Christ” - Larger Perspectives,
Maxwell Institute website.
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