Book of Mormon Lesson 42: "This Is My Gospel"

3 Nephi 27-30 & 4 Nephi

3 Nephi Chapter 27
After the ministry of the Savior among the Nephites the disciples went about teaching and baptizing. They met together and "were united in mighty prayer and fasting" (verse 1) "And Jesus again showed himself unto them, for they were praying unto the Father in his name; and Jesus came and stood in the midst of them, and said unto them: What will ye that I shall give unto you?" (verse 2) The disciples asked, "Lord, we will that thou wouldst tell us the name whereby we shall call the church; for there are disputations among the people concerning the matter" (verse 3). The Lord responded with a simple explanation. For it to be His church it must be named after Him. He did qualify this answer though... it could not only bear His name to be His church, it must be "built upon His gospel" (verse 8).

Why is it so important that the church bear the Savior's name? In the New Testament we read how it is only by the name of Jesus Christ and "none other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved". (Acts 4:10-12)
Here is a quote from President Spencer W. Kimball: "This is not a church. This is the Church of Jesus Christ. There are churches of men all over the land and they have great cathedrals, synagogues, and other houses of worship running into the hundreds of millions of dollars. They are the churches of men. They teach the doctrines of men, combined with the philosophies and ethics and other ideas and ideals that men have partly developed and partly found in sacred places and interpreted for themselves. But there is just one church which Jesus Christ, himself, organized by direct revelation; just one church that teaches all of his doctrines; just one church which has all of the keys and authorities which are necessary to carry on the work of Jesus Christ. And you would, of course, expect it to be the Church of Jesus Christ and not carry any other name." (Teachings of Spencer W. Kimball, p421)
We have latter-day revelation concerning the name of the church. Doctrine and Covenants 115:4 instructs us the name shall be The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. This settles the matter on what the name of the church should be.

The Savior continues in verse 6 He instructs us, with the fewest of words, "And whoso taketh upon him my name, and endureth to the end, the same shall be saved at the last day". This sounds simple but gets ever so complicated at times. It gets complicated when we lose our perspective on our eternal goal. Elder Neal A. Maxwell, one of my favorites, said "Patient endurance is to be distinguished from merely being 'acted upon.' Endurance is more than pacing up and down within the cell of our circumstance; it is not only acceptance of the things allotted to us, [it is] to 'act for ourselves' by magnifying what is allotted to us..."Therefore, true enduring represents no merely the passage of time, but the passage of soul....To endure in faith and do God's will therefore involves much more than putting up with a circumstance." (Men and Women of Christ, p69).
This quote helps us realize there is more to "enduring" than gritting our teeth and waiting out this life. There is a progression which should be taking place as we grow in the gospel and understanding our Father in heaven. We are always better served when we are serving others. My life has grown the most when I am engaged in serving and thinking of others before myself. This is the way the Savior spent his life and the example for all of us to follow. By giving this type of service, we are no longer just "gritting our teeth" but we are actively pushing forward to a day of reward.

Chapter 28

The three Nephites is one of my favorite parts of the Book of Mormon. There are many stories and lore which follow these three disciples. Large stories and legends abound with many descriptions surrounding their activities. The Sunday School Manual is plan in explaining we are not to discuss them in class. In keeping with this direction, there are no stories included in the blog. It is sufficient to say any stories or legends surrounding them is not church doctrine.

Chapter 29 & Chapter 30

Mormon gives insight and counsel relative to the coming forth of the Book of Mormon in the last days. It is important to value the scriptures, especially the Book of Mormon, in our lives by reading, studying and pondering it precepts in our actions and thoughts. How better to avoid the condemnation discussed in the 84th section of the Doctrine and Covenants, there the Lord decreed that the whole Church was under condemnation, even all the children of Zion, because of the way they treated the Book of Mormon. “And they shall remain under this condemnation until they repent,” said the Lord, “and remember the new covenant, even the Book of Mormon.” (Doctrine and Covenants 84:57)

4th Nephi

This is a special time in the history of the descendants of Lehi. A time of peace is established and the people as a whole strive to follow the gospel. This time period is a direct result of the Savior's personal ministry among the descendants of Lehi and a sharp contrast from the effect on those in Jerusalem. There are differences here to point out. This is by no means all the differences, but it is some of those we have discussed in Sunday School classes before. The most obvious to me is the difference between the perfect, yet mortal Savior in Jerusalem and the resurrected glorified Savior in America. Additionally, in America the "more righteous" were spared during the calamities before the Savior's appearance. (3 Nephi 9:13) This made the descendants of Lehi a better prepared people for the ministry of Christ.

This society was similiar to that of the City of Enoch. The key to this society is explained in verses 2 and 3. "And it came to pass in the thirty and sixth year, the people were all converted unto the Lord, upon all the face of the land, both Nephites and Lamanites, and there were no contentions and disputations among them, and every man did deal justly one with another. And they had all things common among them; therefore there were not rich and poor, bond and free, but they were all made free, and partakers of the heavenly gift." The key is they "did deal justly one with another". This would not and will not work if there is lying, stealing, greed and envy.

Yet, this society fell apart. How can such a wonderful set of people fall away? How could it happen? Mormon outlines the destuction of the society for us. Here they are:

A group of Nephites revolted from the Church and called themselves Lamanites (verse 20)
The people became proud of their exceeding prosperity and began wearing costly clothing and adornments (verse 24)
The law of consecration was abandoned (verse 25)
The people began to be divided into social classes (verse 26)
False churches are organized to get gain (verses 26-28)
Believers are persecuted (verses 29-34)
There is a great division among the people (verses 35-38)
The children are taught to reject the truths of the gospel (verses 38-39)
The wicked became more numerous than the righteous (verse 40)
Secret oaths and combinations are started again (How can they go back to this?) (verse 42)
The righteous people begin to be proud and seek the things of the world (verses 43-45)
The Gadianton conspiracy takes over the whole land (verse 46)

And here we go again... back to the society they had overcome. Mormon warns us. We should take his counsel to heart and remember these words were written for our day. This is a type of things to come.