I Nephi 11-14

1

• I Nephi 11-14
• I Nephi 111
• President Boyd K. Packer, President of the
  Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, spoke of Heavenly
  Fathers desire to give us the righteous desires
  of our hearts No message appears in scripture
  more times, in more ways than Ask, and ye shall
  receive (C.R., Oct. 1991, 26).

2

• Quiet study and meditation are how one comes to
  know the mysteries of God!
• Righteous Time-outs!
• (Doctrine and Covenants 76 138 are good
  examples of this process)

3
I Nephi 116

• The Hosanna Shout (DC 10979)
• Well wash, and be washd, and with oil
  anointed
• Withal not omitting the washing of feet
• For he that receiveth his penny appointed
• Must surely be clean at the harvest of wheat
• Well sing and well shout etc.
• Old Israel that fled from the world for his
  freedom
• Must come with the cloud and the pillar, amain
• A Moses, and Aaron, and Joshua lead him,
• And feed him on manna from heaven again.
• Well sing and well shout etc.
• (Verses 4 and 5 of the original hymn, The Spirit
  of God ).

4

• In Hebrew Hosanna means Save us we beseech
  Thee!
• Save us please!

5

• Nephis vision of the tree of life is a vision
  about the Son of God.
• 13 times in the vision Nephi is told to look
  each time he will learn something new about the
  Lord

6
The 13 Looks

• Look 1
• I Nephi 118-10
• The white fruit of the tree was precious above
  all.

7
I Nephi 1111

• This is the only place in the scriptures where
  this happens.
• Spirit of the Lord is mentioned 40 times in
  the Book of Mormon and all have reference to the
  Holy Ghost.

8

• Is the Holy Ghost a spirit man?
• The Holy Ghost is not tabernacled in a body
  of flesh and bones, but is a personage of spirit
  yet we know that the Spirit has manifested
  Himself in the form of a man (James E. Talmage,
  Articles of Faith, 38).

9

• Look 2
• I Nephi 1112-18
• In Nazareth was the most beautiful virgin of
  all. She was the mother of the Son of God.

10
I Nephi 1116, 26

• Behold the Condescension of God!
• Elder Bruce R. McConkie commented on the two
  different senses of the condescension of God in
  this way
• The condescension of God (meaning the Father)
  consists in the fact that though He is an
  exalted, perfected, glorified Personage. He
  became the personal and literal Father of a
  mortal offspring born of mortal women. And the
  condescension of God (meaning the Son) consists
  in the fact that though He himself is the Lord
  Omnipotent, the very Being who created the earth
  and all things that in it are, yet being born of
  mortal woman, He submitted to all the trials of
  mortality, suffering, temptations, and pain of
  body, hunger, thirst, and fatigue, even more than
  man can suffer, except it be unto death (Mosiah
  35-8), finally being put to death in a most
  ignominious manner (Mormon Doctrine, 155).

11
How Did the Son Condescend? I Nephi 1126

• Remember, condescension means a voluntary
  descent from rank or dignity.
• In Birth
• The Savior descended below all thingsThere
  never was a child born on this earth with any
  less capacity than dwelt in the child that was
  born in a manger of his mother Mary There never
  was a child that descended lower in capacity, or
  that knew less(Brigham Young, JD, 7286).

12

• In Baptism
• The place of Jesus baptism was a Bethabara,
  near the place where the Jordan River empties
  into the Dead Sea. When a person stands in these
  waters he is standing at the lowest point on the
  earth, about 1,300 feet below sea level.
  Therefore, at his baptism, when Jesus was lowered
  in the waters of Jordan, he physically descended
  below all living things on earth.

13

• In Life
• As a God, He descended below all things, and
  made Himself subject to man in mans fallen
  condition as a man, He grappled with all the
  circumstances incident to His sufferings in the
  world(John Taylor, Mediation and Atonement,
  151).

14

• In the Atonement
• The Almighty must descend below all things
  To suffer both body and spirit, bleeding from
  every pore, as He takes upon himself the sins of
  all men (Elder Bruce R. McConkie, Millennial
  Messiah, 16).

15

• In Death
• (Jesus) submitted to all the trials of
  mortality, suffering temptations, and pain of
  body, hunger, thirst, and fatigue, even more than
  man can suffer, except it be unto death (Mosiah
  35-8), finally being put to death in a most
  ignominious manner (Bruce R. McConkie, Mormon
  Doctrine, 155).
• Isaiah 5312

16

• Look 3
• I Nephi 1119-23
• The woman was still called a virgin after the
  birth of the child. The child was the Lamb of
  God, the Son of the Eternal Father.

17

• Look 4
• I Nephi 1124-25
• The Son of God lived among men. Many believed
  and worshiped him.

18

• Look 5
• I Nephi 1126-29
• The Son of God is the Redeemer of the world.
  John the Baptist was a prophet who prepared the
  way for Jesus and baptized him. The people
  rejected Jesus, he called 12 to assist him.

19

• Look 6
• I Nephi 1130
• The ministering of angels assisted in the
  ministry of the Savior.

20

• Look 7
• I Nephi 1131
• The Savior healed the sick and cast out devils.

21

• Look 8
• I Nephi 1132-36
• Jesus was judged by the world. He was crucified
  and slain for the sins of the world.

22

• Look 9
• I Nephi 121, 6-8
• Jesus visited the Nephites after his
  resurrection and organized his Church among them.

23

• Look 10
• I Nephi 1211
• The righteous were forgiven of their sins
  through the blood of Jesus Christ.

24

• Look 11
• I Nephi 131, 34-36
• The Nephites writings of the visit of Jesus
  would help facilitate the restoration of the
  Lambs true Church.

25

• Look 12
• I Nephi149, 12
• The true Church of the Lamb would start small
  and grow to cover all the face of the earth in
  spite of great wickedness. The Lord would
  fulfill His covenants with Israel.

26

• Look 13
• I Nephi 1418-19, 21-22
• At the end of the world Jesus Christ will come
  again.

27
Nephis Vision Found in 1 Nephi 12-14 Has the
Following Chronological Pattern

• 1. The ministry and atoning sacrifice of the
  Lord.
• 2. Future history of Nephis descendants.
• 3. A great gentile nation in the land of
  promise.
• 4. The great and abominable church that makes
  war with the church of the lamb.
• 5. Future events seen by Nephi which were to
  be written by the Apostle John.

28

• I Nephi 13
• Apostasy in Greek means rebellion or revolution,
  mutiny.

29
I Nephi 1310-22

• That man, of course, was Christopher Columbus,
  who testified that he was inspired in what he
  did. Our Lord, said Columbus, unlocked my
  mind, sent me upon the sea, and gave me fire, for
  the deed. Those who heard of my enterprise called
  it foolish, mocked me, and laughed. But who can
  doubt but that the Holy Ghost inspired me?
  (Jacob Wasserman, Columbus, Don Quixote of the
  Seas,19-20,) (The Teachings of Ezra Taft Benson
  (1988), 577).

30

• President Gordon B. Hinckley revered Columbus as
  being inspired of the Lord A host of critics
  have spoken out against Christopher Columbus. I
  do not dispute that there were others who came to
  this Western Hemisphere before him. But it was
  he who in faith lighted a lamp to look for a new
  way to China and who in the process discovered
  America. His was an awesome undertaking --- to
  sail west across the unknown seas farther than
  any before him of his generation. He it was who,
  in spite of the terror of the unknown and the
  complaints and near mutiny of his crew, sailed on
  with frequent prayers to the Almighty for
  guidance. In his reports to the sovereigns of
  Spain, Columbus repeatedly asserted that his
  voyage was for the glory of God and the spread of
  the Christian faith. Properly do we honor him
  for his unyielding strength in the face of
  uncertainty and danger (C.R., Oct. 1992, 73-74).

31

• God inspired the founders of America to
  establish a new nation with religious freedom for
  all in preparation for the restoration of the
  gospel.
• Under Gods hand they secured religious freedom
  for every citizen with an inspired Bill of
  Rights.
• Fourteen years later, on December 23, 1805, the
  Prophet Joseph Smith was born.

32
I Nephi 1313

• Out of Captivity, how would Nephi have known
  this?
• They indeed fled from captivity.

33

• Under such kings as James 1 of England, there
  was hardly a semblance of freedom. He was the
  supreme dictator in government, in economics, in
  education (what there was of it), and in the
  state religion. He controlled the detailed lives
  of his people.
• France, Spain, England, and Portugal were the
  principal powers involved in the discovery and
  exploration of America, and this is significant,
  as we shall point out later. All were ruled by
  despots, and when immigrants finally were allowed
  to leave the mother countries, they indeed fled
  from captivity. The history of the Pilgrims and
  Puritans give ample evidence of this fact
  (Peterson, Great Prologue, 32-33).

34

• 1 Nephi 1315-19
• The Establishment of America
• This great American nation the Almighty raised
  up by the power of His omnipotent hand, that it
  might be possible in the latter days for the
  kingdom of God to be established in the earth.
  If the Lord had not prepared the way by laying
  the foundations of this glorious nation, it would
  have been impossible (under the stringent laws
  and bigotry of the monarchical governments of the
  world) to have laid the foundations for this
  coming of His great kingdom. The Lord has done
  this. His hand has been given over this nation,
  and it is his purpose and design to enlarge it,
  make it glorious above all others, and to give it
  dominion, and power over the earth, to the end
  that those who are kept in bondage and serfdom
  may be brought to the enjoyment of the fullest
  freedom and liberty of conscience possible for
  intelligent men to exercise in the earth (Joseph
  F. Smith, Gospel Doctrine, 409).

35

• 1 Nephi 1319
• Delivered by the Power of God
• Elder Spencer W. Kimball spoke of the Lords
  hand in the preservation of the early colonists
  of America and their deliverance from an army
  that was seemingly far superior to them
• I have a firm conviction that the Lord led the
  Pilgrims and the Puritans across the ocean,
  perhaps permitted the persecutions that would
  bring them here, so that when they came to the
  American shores with their righteous blood and
  their high ideals and standards, they would form
  the basis of a nation which would make possible
  the restoration of the gospel. I am sure that
  since there was not religious liberty, not
  political liberty here, the Lord permitted these
  few poorly-armed and ill-clad en at valley Forge
  and elsewhere to defeat a great army with its
  trained soldiery and its many mercenaries, a few
  against the many, but the few had on their side
  the Lord God of heaven. That gave them victory.

36

• And there came political liberty and religious
  liberty with it, all in preparation for the day
  when a young boy would come forth and would seek
  and make contact with the Lord and open the doors
  of heaven again. Following the great
  manifestations to Joseph Smith came the opening
  of Cumorah Hill and the speaking of the dead from
  the dust (C.R., Oct. 1950, 64).

37

• I Nephi 1317-19
• Their mother Gentiles were gathered.to battle
  against them.
• Washington, during the.Revolutionary
  Warexpressed himself repeatedlyThat the
  American armies by themselves were altogether too
  weak to bring about the Independencebut that
  independence came as a gift of God to these
  American colonies (Mark E. Peterson, BYU
  Speeches of the Year, February 20, 1968).

38
I Nephi 1326-29

• The translation process had done this. We know
  of lost books of the Bible and some manuscript
  changes in the New Testament. Joseph Smith said,
  I believe the Bible as it read when it came from
  the pen of the original writers. Ignorant
  translators, careless transcribers, or designing
  and corrupt priests have committed errors
  (Teachings, 327).

39

• Apparently the original manuscripts of the
  Bible disappeared very early. This seems
  particularly true of the New Testament. Sir
  Frederic Kenyon, one of the greatest textual
  scholars of the early twentieth century,
  commented thus The originals of the several
  books have long ago disappeared. They must have
  perished in the very infancy of the Church for
  no allusion is ever made to them by any Christian
  writer. Kenyons statement is particularly
  important to us because it means that for
  centuries there has not been an original Bible
  manuscript to guide the reader. Even in the
  early decades of the original Christian church,
  the original texts seem to have been absent

40

• As we read the words of the angel, we discover
  that the world never has had a complete Bible,
  for it was massively --- even cataclysmically ---
  corrupted before it was distributed.
• There have been two processes at work
• 1. A major, sudden, and deliberate editorial
  corruption of the text.
• 2. A gradual promulgation of variants that has
  occurred as a natural consequence of copying and
  translation.
• (Robert J. Matthews, A Bible! A Bible! 1990,
  74-75)

41

• The Standard Works have been the principal means
  of restoring lost truths!

42
I Nephi 148

• Dont forget!
• We must know the Abrahamic Covenant!

43
I Nephi 1410 The Church of the Devil

• Elder Bruce R. McConkie defined the church of
  the devil in the following way
• The church of the devil is the world it is
  all the carnality and evil to which fallen men is
  heir it is every unholy and wicked practice it
  is every false religion, every supposed system of
  salvation which does not actually save and exalt
  men in the highest heaven of the celestial world.
  It is every church except the true church,
  whether parading under a Christian or pagan
  banner. As Moroni will say in a later era of
  Nephite history, and we shall ascertain in our
  evaluation of Revelation 181-24, it is secret
  combinations, oath-bound societies, and the
  great world force of Godless communism (DNTC
  3551).

44

• I Nephi 1413 A Final Battle
• President Hugh B. Brown spoke of the final
  battle between Satan and his followers and the
  followers of God
• I hope that every young man under the sound of
  my voice will resolve tonight, I am going to
  keep myself clean. I am going to serve the Lord.
  I am going to prepare every way I can for future
  service, because I want to be prepared when the
  final battle shall come.
• And some of you young men are going to engage
  in that battle. Some of you are going to engage
  in the final testing time, which is coming and
  which is close to us than we know (C.R., Oct.
  1967, 115).

45

• I Nephi 1414
• Armed with Righteousness
• To be armed with righteousness is to be armed
  with the power of God and to be worthy of the
  Lords protecting care. The Lord has made it
  clear that those who have received the truth,
  and have taken the Holy Spirit for their guide
  (DC 4557).

46

• President Harold B. Lee taught
• By faith in God you can be attuned to the
  Infinite and by power and wisdom obtained from
  your Heavenly Father harness the powers of the
  universe to serve you in your hour of need in the
  solution of problems too great for your human
  strength or intelligence (Church News, 15 Aug.
  1970, 2).
• With the power of the priesthood, faith, and the
  guidance of the Holy Spirit, the Saints of the
  last days will be armed sufficiently to withstand
  all opposition.

47

• I Nephi 1421-27
• What is the book that John wrote about the last
  days?
• His mission as the writer of the Gospel and of
  the Book of Revelation was assigned to him
  hundreds of years before he was born. This
  knowledge was revealed to Nephi nearly six
  hundred years before the birth of Christ (Joseph
  Fielding Smith, Man, His Origin and Destiny, 527).