21 And there are many churches built up which cause
envyings, and strifes, and malice.
22 And there are also secret combinations, even as in
times of old, according to the combinations of the devil, for he is the founder
of all these things; yea, the founder of murder, and works of darkness; yea,
and he leadeth them by the neck with a flaxen cord, until he bindeth them with
his strong cords forever.
23 For behold, my beloved brethren, I say unto you that
the Lord God worketh not in darkness.
24 He doeth not anything save it be for the benefit of
the world; for he loveth the world, even that he layeth down his own life that
he may draw all men unto him. Wherefore, he commandeth none that they shall not
partake of his salvation.
25 Behold, doth he cry unto any, saying: Depart from me?
Behold, I say unto you, Nay; but he saith: Come unto me all ye ends of the
earth, buy milk and honey, without money and without price.
The day will come when the Gentiles will face challenges and stumbling blocks. One of these will be the churches. There will be many churches built, but they will not be built unto the Lord. In fact, these churches will be responsible for the problems they face. They will be responsible for envyings, strifes, and malice.
Paul warned: “Now I beseech you, brethren, [beware of] them
which cause divisions and offences contrary to the doctrine which ye have
learned; and avoid them. For they that are such serve not our Lord Jesus
Christ, but their own belly; and by good words and fair speeches deceive the
hearts of the [innocent]” (Romans 16:17-18).
In addition to the problems that will be caused by the
churches, secret combinations will continue to plague society. The devil the
founder of these groups, groups involved in murder and works of darkness. They
devil leads them “by the neck with a flaxen cord, until he bindeth them with
his stronger cords forever” (2 Nephi 26:22).
Nephi would later write:
“For the kingdom of the devil must shake, and they which
belong to it must needs be stirred up unto repentance, or the devil will grasp
them with his everlasting chains, and they be stirred up to anger, and perish;
“For behold, at that day shall he rage in the hearts of the
children of men, and stir them up to anger against that which is good.
“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” (2 Nephi 28:19-21).
Richard Rust discussed secret combinations.
“The nature, rise, and effect of secret combinations is a
third significant type of narrative that is reinforced and confirmed by
repetition. Jacob anticipates the problem of Gadiantonism when he warns the
Nephites about the devil's stirring up secret combinations (2 Nephi 9:9).
Likewise, Nephi's prophecies of secret combinations among the Gentiles and
Alma's testimony that the Jaredites were destroyed because of their secret
works (2 Nephi 26:22; Alma 37:30) prefigure the effect such works of darkness
will have on the Nephite nation. The character of secret combinations is
presented dramatically and frighteningly in the detailed accounts of Kishkumen
and Gadianton and their band (Helaman 2–16) and of Akish's machinations (Ether
8). One account confirms the other.”[1]
Secret combinations work in secret. They hide their
membership; the do their works in secret. Nephi reminds us, unlike the secret
combinations, “the Lord God worketh not in darkness” (2 Nephi 26:23).
The Lord has one purposed. He does nothing unless we
benefit. Ammon would proclaim, “Now my brethren, we see that God is mindful of
every people, whatsoever land they may be in; yea, he numbereth his people, and
his bowels of mercy are over all the earth. Now this is my joy, and my great
thanksgiving; yea, and I will give thanks unto my God forever” (Alma 26:37).
Christ made clear that “God so loved the world, that he gave
his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but
have everlasting life” (John 3:16). He explained “if I be lifted up from the
earth, will draw all men unto me” (John 12:32).
Jacob taught, “Yea, I know that ye know that in the body he
shall show himself unto those at Jerusalem, from whence we came; for it is expedient
that it should be among them; for it behooveth the great Creator that he
suffereth himself to become subject unto man in the flesh, and die for all men,
that all men might become subject unto him” (2 Nephi 9:5).
The beauty and power of Christ’s offer is that salvation is
an offer, nothing more; nothing less. Lehi taught, “men are free according to
the flesh; and all things are given them which are expedient unto man. And they
are free to choose liberty and eternal life, through the great Mediator of all
men, or to choose captivity and death, according to the captivity and power of
the devil; for he seeketh that all men might be miserable like unto himself” (2
Nephi 2:27).
Christ welcomes all people. He turns none who come to Him
away.
Elder Neal Maxwell told us:
“Nephi tells us that God "doeth not anything save it be
for the benefit of the world" (2 Nephi 26:24). The knowledge concerning
God's plan of salvation, repeatedly and carefully set forth in the Book of
Mormon, can counter the hopelessness and despair of some who lament the human
predicament in which they feel mortals are ‘conceived without consent’ and ‘wrenched
whimpering into an alien universe.’ So many mortals desperately need to
know there is divine design. No wonder the Lord told Joseph Smith that the
Restoration came to increase faith in the earth! (see Doctrine and Covenants
1:21).”[2]
[1] "To
Show unto the Remnant of the House of Israel" - Narrators and Narratives, Richard
Dilworth Rust, Maxwell Institute.
[2] By
the Gift and Power of God, Neal Maxwell, Maxwell Institute.
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