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.
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.
“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.
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