FREE TO CHOOSE LIBERTY AND ETERNAL LIFE

Book of Mormon Gospel Doctrine Lesson 6 2nd Nephi 1-2

INTRODUCTION➤ 1st Nephi is story and doctrine

➤ 2nd Nephi is almost all doctrine

➤ Lehi’s final words to his children: watch for counsel and potential blessings

➤ Sariah isn’t mentioned. She was ill on the ship…

➤ Guidance is given to all sons (except Nephi)

➤ Why?

➤ Humility of Nephi? Too sacred? We don’t know.

➤ Full of revolutionary doctrine about the creation, the fall and the atonement.

LEHI EXHORTS HIS SONS TO REPENT, OBEY THE LORD’S COMMANDMENTS, AND PUT ON THE ARMOR OF RIGHTEOUSNESS

➤ 2 Ne 1:4-5, What was the covenant?

➤ 2 Ne 1:6-7, 9-10

➤ What is the consequence of disobedience? 2 Ne 1:10-12

➤ There are multiple quotes from the founding fathers about how divine providence guided us to victory and the need for our country to be obedient to God’s laws to safeguard our independence.

➤ 2 Ne 1:13-14, Awake

➤ What is a deep sleep spiritually? Apathy. How apathy different than outright defiance?

President Spencer W. Kimball: "[There] are Church members who are steeped in lethargy. They neither drink nor commit the sexual sins. They do not gamble nor rob nor kill. They are good citizens and splendid neighbors, but spiritually speaking they seem to be in a long, deep sleep. They are doing nothing seriously wrong except in their failures to do the right things to earn their exaltation…” (Teachings of Spencer W. Kimball, p149)

President Henry B. Eyring: “One of the effects of disobeying God seems to be the creation of just enough spiritual anesthetic to block any sensation as the ties to God are being cut. Not only [does] the testimony of the truth slowly erode, but even the memories of what it was like to be in the light [begin] to seem … like a delusion” (“A Life Founded in Light and Truth,” Brigham Young University 2000–2001 Speeches [2001], 81).

➤ ATOT: After my sister left the church, I had real doubts. I started to question every spiritual experience. I started to question my definition of happiness. Prayer and fasting (and a lot of scripture reading) brought me back into the light.

CHAINS OF HELL➤ What are the awful chains of hell? Sin.

➤ Alma 12:11, Limitations people place upon themselves because of unbelief.

➤ Spiritual knowledge is depleted. The Spirit must retreat.

➤ In their weak state, the Devil is more than happy to fill the void.

➤ They must be awakened and forced to exercise or they will die spiritually.

➤ ATOT: Holocaust movie about suffers of Hypothermia on the march. Why did they stop marching?

➤ Symptoms of hypothermia (next slide)

Notice how the symptoms could easily be ignored at first (or attributed to some other cause). By the time you’re severe, you stop shivering, become confused and do self-injurious things. Satan’s strategy is similar. This is why Lehi is so strong in his speech. He doesn’t just need them to wake up. He needs them to shake and get spiritual life-blood back into their veins.

HOW ARE WE BOUND BY CHAINS? MARVIN J. ASHTON

“ …(Lehi) pleaded with his sons with these words: 'Awake, my sons; put on the armor of righteousness. Shake off the chains with which ye are bound, and come forth out of obscurity, and arise from the dust (2 Nephi 1:23).'    Those words apply to us today. Who among us hasn't felt the chains of bad habits? These habits may have impeded our progress, may have made us forget who we are, may have destroyed our self-image, may have put our family life in jeopardy, and may have hindered our ability to serve our fellow beings and our God. So many of us tend to say, 'This is the way I am. I can't change. I can't throw off the chains of habit.'    Lehi warned his sons to 'shake off the chains' because he knew that chains restrict our mobility, growth, and happiness. They cause us to become confused and less able to be guided by God's Spirit....     Righteous living is a shield, a protector, an insulation, a strength, a power, a joy, a Christlike trait. Yes, living a life of righteousness is a chainbreaker…Shaking off restrictive chains requires action. They cannot be wished away. A declaration will never break chains. It requires commitment, self-discipline, and work.    Chains weigh heavily on troubled hearts and souls. They relegate us to lives of no purpose or light. They cause us to become confused and to lose the Spirit. We need to arise from the dust and enjoy the fresh air of righteousness. We need to move forward in patience, understanding, love, and never-ending commitment." (Be of Good Cheer, p65)

WHAT IS THE ANTIDOTE FOR APATHY AND SIN?➤ 1. Learn! Understand the promises of obedience

➤ 2 Ne 1:14-15

➤ 2. Do! Fulfill the measure of your creation…be men!

➤ 2 Ne 1:21

➤ Don’t you love how his immediate counsel after telling them to be men is to rely on each other?

➤ How do we define Zion? Christ’s way: if ye are not one, ye are not mine (D&C 38:27)

➤ Why is the element of trusting and uniting with others critical to being ‘manly’? How is that different than the world’s view?

➤ 3. Guard yourself! Put on armor against the natural man.

➤ 2 Ne 1:23

➤ Why does he use the term ‘shake’? Why not burst or break?

➤ ATOT: Magic Handcuffs when I was a kid. If you knew the trick they popped right off.

➤ Satan would have us believe it is incredibly difficult, if not impossible, to resist temptation. God knows the limits of his power. If we use God’s method to escape, the weight and strength of the links doesn’t matter. All chains will fall with enough shaking.

INSTRUCTION FOR JACOB➤ Who was he? Nephi’s younger brother who was born in the wilderness (probably at least 17 years

younger)

➤ What was his life like? 2 Ne 2:1-2

➤ It sounds like he was bullied and picked on. How does that cause him to know God?

➤ D&C 98:3, all things shall work together for thy good

➤ ATOT: Think of your best quality (endurance, patience, kindness, organization, etc.).Was it born out of hardship? Almost all of us would say yes. So why do we resist hardship?

➤ Elder Richard G. Scott: “Just when all seems to be going right, challenges often come in multiple doses applied simultaneously. When those trials are not consequences of your disobedience, they are evidence that the Lord feels you are prepared to grow more (see Proverbs 3:11–12). He therefore gives you experiences that stimulate growth, understanding, and compassion which polish you for your everlasting benefit. To get you from where you are to where He wants you to be requires a lot of stretching, and that generally entails discomfort and pain” (in Conference Report, Oct. 1995, 18; or Ensign, Nov. 1995, 16–17).

➤ What else do we know about Jacob? 2 Ne 2:4, 2 Ne 11:3. He saw Christ. Yet Lehi took the bulk of his lesson to Jacob to clarify Christ’s role.

➤ It’s not enough to “see" Him. We must “understand” His role in God’s plan to have a solid testimony.

LEHI TESTIFIES OF THE ATONEMENT OF JESUS CHRIST➤ 2 Ne 2:5, What does it mean to be justified?

➤ Pardoned from punishment for sins committed. Reconciled to God. Declared righteous and guiltless.

➤ How is that different from just being ‘forgiven’ in the traditional sense?

➤ Why can’t we be justified by the law alone? What if we pay for our own sins? Isn’t that enough?

➤ ATOT: Using a debit card and holding my breath until the screen says ‘approved’.

➤ At the gates of heaven we can’t have enough…we will always have insufficient funds. We need him to make up the difference.

➤ Dallin H. Oaks: Salvation does not come from keeping the commandments alone. Man cannot earn salvation. Alma 22:14

➤ 2 Ne 2:6-8, 10, How did he answer ‘the ends of the law’? What are the requirements from us?

➤ Humble yourself. A broken heart and a contrite spirit (7)

➤ Testify. Make these things known (8)

“ …the Atonement is not simply God’s method for righting wrongs and satisfying the demands of justice. The Atonement is rehabilitative, a miraculous power that can help us change who we are: “I once wondered if those who refuse to repent but who then satisfy the law of justice by paying for their own sins are then worthy to enter the celestial kingdom. The answer is no. The entrance requirements for celestial life are simply higher than merely satisfying the law of justice. For that reason, paying for our sins will not bear the same fruit as repenting of our sins. Justice is a law of balance and order and it must be satisfied, either through our payment or his. But if we decline the Savior’s invitation to let him carry our sins, and then satisfy justice by ourselves, we will not yet have experienced the complete rehabilitation that can occur through a combination of divine assistance and genuine repentance. Working together, those forces have the power permanently to change our hearts and our lives, preparing us for celestial life” (The Broken Heart: Applying the Atonement to Life’s Experiences [1989], 7–8).

-Elder Bruce C. Hafen

LEHI TEACHES THE IMPORTANCE OF OPPOSITION

➤ 2 Ne 2:11, why must there be opposition? Is it significant that he teaches this to Jacob?

➤ Lehi uses the story of Adam and Eve to teach how The Fall and opposition benefitted man and allowed the Plan of Salvation to continue.

➤ Most Christians believed ‘The Fall’ was a mistake. This doctrine was revolutionary.

➤ How does daily opposition strengthen us?

➤ 2 Ne 2:22-25

➤ What kind of joy is being referenced? A fullness of joy. It’s not saying we are intended to be ‘happy’…we are intended to be eternal/complete.

➤ ATOT: Leveling the cabinets during installation. I still find joy in their straightness because I remember the struggle. I feel nothing when I look at builder-installed cabinets in my bathroom. They are equally straight but I have experience no opposition with them so I feel no joy.

LEHI TEACHES THE IMPORTANCE OF THE FREEDOM TO CHOOSE GOOD FROM EVIL

➤ 2 Ne 2:16, 26-27

➤ What does our father in heaven want for us? Joy, liberty & eternal life

➤ What does Satan want for us? Misery, captivity & spiritual death (separation from God)

➤ What does it mean to ‘act for themselves and not to be acted upon’?

➤ Neal A. Maxwell: If there is one lament I cannot abide, it is the poor, pitiful, withered cry, "Well, that’s just the way I am." You can change anything you want to change, and you can do it very fast. Only Satan would say, "You can't change. You won't change. It's too long and too hard to change. Give up. Give in. You are just the way you are." That is a lie born of desperation. Don't fall for it. (We Believe in Christ, p. 6-7.)

➤ Boyd K. Packer: The angels of the devil convince some that they are born to a life from which they cannot escape and are compelled to live in sin. The most wicked of lies is that they cannot change and repent and that they will not be forgiven. That cannot be true. They have forgotten the Atonement of Christ. Christ is the Creator, the Healer. What He made, He can fix. (Ensign, May 2006, 28)

➤ Henry B. Eyring: We are not the helpless victims of our circumstances. The world tries to tell us that the opposite is true: imperfections in our parents or our faulty genetic inheritance are presented to us as absolving us of personal responsibility. But difficult as circumstances may be, they do not relieve us of accountability for our actions or our inactions. Nephi was right. God gives no commandments to the children of men save He prepares a way for them to obey. The world might be willing to excuse our bad behavior because those around us behave badly. It is not true that the behavior of others removes our responsibility for our own. (Ensign, Nov 1999, 34)

CONCLUSION

➤ How does Lehi sum up his wishes for his sons?

➤ 2 Ne 2:28

➤ To mediate is to reconcile, to go between two parties and create balance

➤ Christ is our one and only mediator with the Father

➤ No matter how virtuously we live, we will fall short of exaltation. We need his power to gain entrance.

➤ 2 Ne 1:15, Once we get there, the blessings are great. We can’t fathom the comfort and assurance given by the ‘embrace’ of God.