Book of Mormon Lesson #4: 1 NEPHI 12-14*

*In the interest of time, our class discussion will focus on 1 Nephi 13-14.

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Ponder 1 Ne. 13:37  “And blessed are they who shall seek to bring forth my Zion . . . for they shall have the gift and the power of the Holy Ghost; and if they endure unto the end they shall be lifted up at the last day . . .”

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Regarding 1 Nephi 13:4-5, “the great and abominable church is a symbol of apostasy in all its forms. It is a representation of all false doctrine, false worship, and irreligious attitudes. It does not represent any specific church…” (Book of Mormon Gospel Doctrine Teacher’s Manual.)

Regarding 1 Nephi 13:8, see Alma 39:14; D&C 6:7 & 11:7; AofF #13.

Regarding 1 Nephi 13:9, “To seek after the praise of men, the scriptures caution us, is to be led carefully away from the only safe path to follow in life" (President Packer, April 2007 CR).

1 Nephi 13:24–26) What did “the great and abominable church” do to the Bible?

           vs. 27) Why?

Regarding 1 Nephi 13:29 . . .

. . . President Joseph F. Smith said: ““Our hope of salvation must be founded upon the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth, for we cannot build upon error and ascend into … the kingdom of our God”(Gospel Doctrine, 1).

. . . Elder Boyd K. Packer said: ““[B]ehavior begins with belief…. True doctrine, understood, changes attitudes and behavior. The study of the doctrines of the gospel will improve behavior [better] than a study of behavior will improve behavior.” (See October 1986 General Conference.)

1 Ne. 13:34–36) How did the Lord ensure that His words would be restored?

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1 Ne. 14:1-2, 7) What blessings are promised to those who hearken to those words?(See also D&C 59:23)

vs. 6) What ‘heart condition’ must we avoid/overcome to obtain those blessings? 

  

 What are some sources and symptoms of, and treatments for, a hard heart? (Ether 8:25; Mosiah 11:29; Duet. 15:7, Hebrews 3:13.)

         

. . . Elder Dallin H. Oaks has said: “If we harden our hearts, reject continuing revelation, and limit our learning to what we can obtain by study and reason on the precise language of the present canon of scriptures, our understanding will be limited to the ‘lesser portion of the word’(Alma 12:11).  If we seek and accept revelation and inspiration … we will have ‘the mysteries of God unfolded unto [us] by the power of the Holy Ghost’ (1 Ne. 10:19).” (See January 1995 Ensign, 7.)

2 Nephi 2:7) What kind of heart is essential to prevent/overcome hardheartedness?

 Elder Robert D. Hales has said: “We humble ourselves with a broken heart and a contrite spirit as we recognize our sins and seek forgiveness” (“To Be in the Kingdom and of the Kingdom,” October 2000 Conference Report). 

President Howard W. Hunter said, “Contrition is costly—it costs us our pride and our insensitivity … [and] our sins. . . [T]his is the price of true hope” (Teachings of Presidents of the Church: Howard W. Hunter, 41.)

President Dieter F. Uchtdorf has said: “[R]epentance … includes a change of mind … ‘a broken heart and a contrite spirit,’ giving up sin and becoming meek and humble. . . . When we continue to have a ‘broken heart and a contrite spirit’ we may trust that God will ‘remember [our sins] no more’”( April and October 2007 Conference Reports).

When do we need to have a broken heart and contrite spirit?

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 Regarding 1 Nephi 14:10 . . .

. . . . “President John Taylor spoke of the necessity of going beyond simply being members of the Lord’s Church … ‘It is not enough for us to embrace the Gospel . . . and be associated with the people of God, attend our meetings and partake of the Sacrament … for notwithstanding all this, if our hearts are not right … we shall not, unless we repent, participate in these blessings … of which the Prophets bear testimony.’” (See Book of Mormon Student Manual, 26.)
. . . Brother Hugh Nibley suggested: “You can always find somebody who is worse than you are to make you feel virtuous … those awful terrorists, perverts, communists—they are the ones who need to repent! Yes, indeed they do, and for them repentance will be a full-time job, exactly as it is for all the rest of us….  You are either repenting or not repenting and that is … the whole difference between being righteous or being wicked.”(Collected Works of Hugh Nibley 1:217.)  In what sense are there 2 'churches' only?

           

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1 Nephi 14:14) With what did Nephi see the Saints would be armed?

How can we ensure that we are so armed?

President Spencer W. Kimball said, “We are easily distracted from our assignment of preparing for the coming of the Lord. When enemies rise up, we commit vast resources to [man-made weapons] and depend on them for protection and deliverance…. [W]e become anti-enemy instead of pro-kingdom of God … We forget that if we are righteous the Lord will either not suffer our enemies to come upon us or he will fight our battles for us.” (“The False God’s We Worship,” June 1976 First Presidency Message.)

Elder Neal A. Maxwell, “[T]he people of God will be ‘armed with righteousness’ —not weapons ….  This will happen, but only after more members become more saintly and more consecrated in conduct” (April 1988 and October 1991 Conference Reports).