3 Nephi 26-27

3 Nephi 26

The last two chapters were scriptures directly from the Old Testament (Malachi), and before that Jesus quoted a lot of scriptures from Isaiah. Jesus tells the Nephites that the Father had commanded Him to give these scriptures to the Nephites. If you think about it, the Nephites didn’t have these scriptures, and Jesus says specifically that the Father wants future generations to have them. There must be something uniquely important about these books in the Old Testament!

In the time Jesus spends with the Nephites, he teaches them everything from the beginning to the end of the world (there are multiple times in the scriptures where that happens, and I always marvel over how that is possible??). It also says, “And now there cannot be written in this book even a hundredth part of the things which Jesus did truly teach unto the people.” (vs. 6)

Jesus taught the people for 3 days total, and after that He still showed himself to them often. But when the Savior wasn’t there, the disciples whom Jesus had chosen began to teach the people and to baptize everyone who wanted to follow Jesus. Verse 19 is short and sweet, but powerful: “And they taught, and did minister one to another; and they had all things common among them, every man dealing justly, one with another.” Thus begins the greatest period of peace in the Book of Mormon.

3 Nephi 27

In the beginning of this chapter, the disciples are gathered together and Jesus appears to them and asks them what they need. They ask Him what the name of the church should be, because the people in the church are arguing about it. Jesus tells them:

5 Have they not read the scriptures, which say ye must take upon you the name of Christ, which is my name? For by this name shall ye be called at the last day;

7 Therefore, whatsoever ye shall do, ye shall do it in my name; therefore ye shall call the church in my name; and ye shall call upon the Father in my name that he will bless the church for my sake.

8 And how be it my church save it be called in my name? For if a church be called in Moses’ name then it be Moses’ church; or if it be called in the name of a man then it be the church of a man; but if it be called in my name then it is my church, if it so be that they are built upon my gospel.

There are so many Christian churches today called by all sorts of names. This makes sense to me – if a church is genuinely Jesus Christ’s church, it should be called The Church of Jesus Christ. 

But just having the name isn’t enough, of course. Jesus said the church must be built upon His gospel. He also gives this test:

10 And if it so be that the church is built upon my gospel then will the Father show forth his own works in it.

You’ve probably gathered by now that I really love my church. :) That’s because I have felt, seen, and experienced the works of God and the love of God within it over and over again – for myself, for my friends, in the scriptures, and in the miraculous stories of the founding of the church.. I believe with all my heart that this is the true and complete church of Jesus Christ, and it is led by Him today through the direction of living, modern-day prophets, and that it will continue to grow and do more good until the 2^nd Coming of Jesus Christ.

Jesus also teaches that His true church will be “built upon his gospel”. What is the gospel? Well, this is how I would summarize it, and then you can read what Jesus says directly (see vs. 13-21 below) to see how you would interpret it.

Megan’s Summary of "The Gospel":

Because of the sacrifice of Jesus Christ and His perfect obedience to The Father, all men will live again after they die and will stand before Christ to be judged. A person can be clean and worthy at that day of judgment by developing faith in Christ, repenting of his/her sins, being baptized and receiving the Gift of the Holy Ghost after baptism, and then staying faithful.

Jesus's Own Words:

13 Behold I have given unto you my gospel, and this is the gospel which I have given unto you—that I came into the world to do the will of my Father, because my Father sent me.

14 And my Father sent me that I might be lifted up upon the cross; and after that I had been lifted up upon the cross, that I might draw all men unto me, that as I have been lifted up by men even so should men be lifted up by the Father, to stand before me, to be judged of their works, whether they be good or whether they be evil—

15 And for this cause have I been lifted up; therefore, according to the power of the Father I will draw all men unto me, that they may be judged according to their works.

16 And it shall come to pass, that whoso repenteth and is baptized in my name shall be filled; and if he endureth to the end, behold, him will I hold guiltless before my Father at that day when I shall stand to judge the world.

19 And no unclean thing can enter into his kingdom; therefore nothing entereth into his rest save it be those who have washed their garments in my blood, because of their faith, and the repentance of all their sins, and their faithfulness unto the end.

20 Now this is the commandment: Repent, all ye ends of the earth, and come unto me and be baptized in my name, that ye may be sanctified by the reception of the Holy Ghost, that ye may stand spotless before me at the last day.

21 Verily, verily, I say unto you, this is my gospel; and ye know the things that ye must do in my church; for the works which ye have seen me do that shall ye also do; for that which ye have seen me do even that shall ye do;

These are the things taught in my church, because they are the things Jesus taught, and this is His church.

There are 13 Articles of Faith that state the beliefs of my church.

3 Nephi 23-25

3 Nephi 23

I think Jesus is pretty much THE best and biggest endorsement a writer could get, don't you agree? ;) The past 3 chapters Jesus has been quoting Isaiah and expounding on it (which is why the past 3 chapters were particularly difficult to get through – Isaiah isn’t easy stuff). BUT even though Isaiah isn’t easy for us to understand, Jesus makes it clear that it is important.

1 And now, behold I say unto you, that ye ought to search these things. Yea, a commandment I give unto you that ye search these things diligently; for great are the words of Isaiah… 3 And all things that he spake have been and shall be, even according to the words which he spake.

Isaiah writing about the birth of Christ and other events to come

Jesus also teaches the importance of the scripture records when he calls out Nephi for not writing something important down. I can’t think of another time in scripture that Jesus basically says, “Hey this important thing was prophesied… Did it happen? Yes, well did you write it down? No, well… please do.” 

9 Verily I say unto you, I commanded my servant Samuel, the Lamanite, that he should testify unto this people, that at the day that the Father should glorify his name in me that there were many saints who should arise from the dead, and should appear unto many, and should minister unto them. And he said unto them: Was it not so?

10 And his disciples answered him and said: Yea, Lord, Samuel did prophesy according to thy words, and they were all fulfilled.

11 And Jesus said unto them: How be it that ye have not written this thing, that many saints did arise and appear unto many and did minister unto them?

12 And it came to pass that Nephi remembered that this thing had not been written.

13 And it came to pass that Jesus commanded that it should be written; therefore it was written according as he commanded.

3 Nephi 24

The Savior is quoting Malachi 3 (last book of the Old Testament) in this chapter – if you compare, they are pretty much identical.  There are a couple important passages I would like to highlight.

8 Will a man rob God? Yet ye have robbed me. But ye say: Wherein have we robbed thee? In tithes and offerings.

9 Ye are cursed with a curse, for ye have robbed me, even this whole nation.

10 Bring ye all the tithes into the storehouse, that there may be meat in my house; and prove me now herewith, saith the Lord of Hosts, if I will not open you the windows of heaven, and pour you out a blessing that there shall not be room enough to receive it.

11 And I will rebuke the devourer for your sakes, and he shall not destroy the fruits of your ground; neither shall your vine cast her fruit before the time in the fields, saith the Lord of Hosts.

God is basically saying that when we don’t pay tithing, we are robbing him. In my church we pay 10% of our income back to the Lord. When I served as a missionary for the church, at first I was nervous to tell new investigators of the church about this law of tithing. How would they feel about giving money to the church? But it didn’t take long for my perspective to change, because I saw that they weren’t just giving money to the church—they were giving it to God, and He pays them back as he promises! Look at verses 10 and 11! Basically the Lord will pour down more blessings on you then you will have room to receive, and He will protect you from destruction and failure, which I saw fulfilled in so many different ways, over and over again. I’ve seen it happen for lots of people, and I’ve seen it happen for me. I am now a confident lover of the law of tithing. I’m excited for people to try it, so they can see how much more they have in their lives (both physically and spiritually) living on 90% then they used to on 100% --the Lord keeps His promises, always.

I’m not as familiar with these next verses, but they really impressed me while reading them this time:

 13 Your words have been stout against me, saith the Lord. Yet ye say: What have we spoken against thee?

 14 Ye have said: It is vain to serve God, and what doth it profit that we have kept his ordinances and that we have walked mournfully before the Lord of Hosts?

 15 And now we call the proud happy; yea, they that work wickedness are set up; yea, they that tempt God are even delivered.

 16 Then they that feared the Lord spake often one to another, and the Lord hearkened and heard; and a book of remembrance was written before him for them that feared the Lord, and that thought upon his name.

 17 And they shall be mine, saith the Lord of Hosts, in that day when I make up my jewels; and I will spare them as a man spareth his own son that serveth him.

 18 Then shall ye return and discern between the righteous and the wicked, between him that serveth God and him that serveth him not.

Many people have lost their faith because they can’t see the benefits of worshiping and following God, and it often appears that the proud & wicked are prospering and happy. But God is watching and listening to those who “fear him” and think of him. To fear God isn’t to worry that He is going to punish you or strike you down. It means to care more about what He thinks and what He says than what people think and say. Verse 18 says that God –and you—will be able to tell the difference between those that serve him and those that don’t. And He will “spare” those that serve Him. I think this is referring to the 2^nd Coming of Jesus Christ, but I see in so many ways how the Lord strengthens and delivers those who serve Him in the regular challenges of life. I know that the Lord watches over those who remember Him and serve Him.

3 Nephi 25

In this chapter the Lord is quoting Malachi 4.  The first 3 verses continue with the idea from the last chapter – that in the end, the proud & wicked will not prosper (and actually, at the 2^nd Coming of Christ they will be burned), but those who serve God will experience healing from the Son of Righteousness.

In my church we cherish verses 5 and 6:

5 Behold, I will send you Elijah the prophet before the coming of the great and dreadful day of the Lord;

6 And he shall turn the heart of the fathers to the children, and the heart of the children to their fathers, lest I come and smite the earth with a curse.

We believe that families can be forever if they are “sealed” together in our temples –which is one of the primary purposes of our temples—and if they are faithful to God and each other. We believe that Elijah the prophet appeared to Joseph Smith in the first temple that they early members of the church built, and gave him the priesthood authority to seal families together and fulfill this prophecy in Malachi – to turn the hearts of the fathers to the children and the children to their fathers. For this reason, the church is BIG on family history and we have some of the best family history resources in the world that are available for people of any faith to use. This is because we believe in turning our hearts to our fathers, and that we can be together with our families (back generations and generations) forever!

And speaking of family history, I was just on familysearch.org tonight looking at my "Family Tree" and discovered that my mom's dad's mom's dad's mom's line goes all the way back to British Royalty, French Royalty, Roman Emperor Royalty, and finally stopped in the 100's --- no, not the 1100's, the 100's! and I'm related to Charlemagne, the first Holy Roman Emperor. COOL! Certainly I get some bragging rights for that somehow??