This is about covenants with God; the blessings and consequences of breaking that covenant. The new and everlasting covenant is the fullness of the gospel of Jesus Christ.
Institute Manual: The Laminates came to accept as truth a distorted version of events concerning their original journey from Jerusalem. These false traditions were handed down from generation to generation, creating deep prejudices or an eternal hatred among the Lamanites against the Nephites. In latter day revelation the Lord warned that Satan uses false traditions to take away truth and light. Because of these traditions the Laminates felt justified in murdering, robbing and attempting to destroy or enslave the Nephites.
"Life never was intended to be easy. Rather, it is a period of proving and growth. It is interwoven with difficulties, challenges and burdens...Yet these very forms, if squarely faced, provide opportunity for tremendous personal growth and development. The conquering of adversity produces strength of character, forges self-confidence, engenders, self-respect, and assures success in righteous endeavor." Richard G. Scott
Elder Soares- Seek Christ in every thought.
Conduct life in harmony the gospel of Christ.
Don't allow inappropriate thoughts to stay.
Be prepared to experience our privileges, promises and responsibilities
Be prepared to have spiritual insights and awakenings that we need in this life.
Orson Pratt Whitney
-God works outside as well as inside His church and uses big things and little things for the accomplishment of His purposes.
-Be part of the necessary preparations for the coming of the Lord.
Religion 121-122 Maual
When the remnant of Israel and such as are escaped of the house of Jacob have learned to trust the Lord rather than man, they shall return and overflow with righteousness.
President Joseph F. Smith: The testimony of Jesus is the spirit of prophecy. It is not only the privilege but the duty of each member of the church to know the truth which will make him free. The he cannot know unless it is revealed to him.
Now is the period where the Lord and his servants will make the final great effort to take the message of truth to all the peoples of the earth and to reclaim the descendants of ancient Israel who have lost their true identity. The prophet Zenos, whom Jacob quotes in the Book of Mormon, compares this effort to the work of the laborers who price and nurture a vineyard and gather its fruit for the last time. Sense likens the Saviors to the master of the vineyard who says to those are his helpers, wherefore, let us go to and labor with our might this last time, for behold the end drawers nigh, and this is the last time that I shall prune my vineyard. You have come to earth when the foundation has been laid for this great work. The gospel has been restored for the last time. The church has been established in almost every part of the world. The stage is set of the final dramatic scenes to be enacted. You will be the principal players. You are among the last laborers in the vineyard. This is the yoke that is set upon your necks. This item service for which you are chosen. -Elder Dean L. Larsen
Prayer-
This kind goeth not out but by fasting and prayer
The devil doesn't want me to pray.
I need prayers of faith to obtain revelation
The brother of Jared was chastised for hours for forgetting to pray. It's important!
My most meaningful prayer: Remember that? Of course, He remembers.
Elder Eyring: Revelation comes for us in proportion to the degree to which we have sought to take the doctrine of Christ into our hearts and implement it in our lives.
Elder Maxwell: The meaning of offering ourselves to the Lord,"Real, personal sacrifice never was placing an animal on the alter. Instead, it is a willingness to put the animal in us on the alter and letting it be consumed."
The Lord expects us to be as faithful, as devoted, as courageous as those who went before us. They were
called to give their lives for the gospel. We are called to live our lives for the same purpose....All dispensations
prepared the way for the first coming of the Lord and His Atonement. Similarly, history and prophecy laid the
groundwork for the Restoration of the gospel through the Prophet Joseph Smith. Do we have eyes to see that the
events and prophecies of our time are preparing us for the Savior’s Second Coming?
Robert D. Hales, “Preparations for the Restoration and the Second Coming: ‘My Hand Shall Be Over Thee,’” Liahona and Ensign, Nov. 2005, 91-92
Nephi continued his prophecy in 2 Nephi 26, where he described conditions among the Gentiles of the last days. It is a description of spiritual poverty, because the Gentiles (1) would be “lifted up in the pride of their eyes”; (2) would stumble spiritually, as noted earlier, because of their stumbling block; (3) would preach for religious doctrine their own ideas gained through their own wisdom and learning; (4) would preach for financial gain; (5) would deny the miracles and power of God: (6) would be filled with envy, malice, and strife; and (7) would support secret combinations from the devil. All this can be classified as priestcraft. (2 Ne. 26:20-31.)
Robert J. Matthews, “Two Ways of the World,” Studies in Scripture, Vol 1 p. 152Among the things that Nephi makes clear is that the Lord works in plainness, in truth, and in goodness for the benefit of the world, whereas the devil deals in deception and cunning, appealing to people’s pride and physical appetites until he captures their souls in chains and destruction. This is not a pretty prospect, but it is a fair warning that our enemy is clever and will employ every deceptive and devilish means to accomplish his desires.
In this selected portion of Nephi’s prophecy, possibly more than in any other place in the scriptures, particular detail is given about the devil’s manner of operation and about how he carefully traps people. It may seem strange that a book of God would contain so much about the devil and his ways, but it is necessary in order that mortals might recognize evil when they see it and know how to prepare against it. The Book of Mormon not only shows us what the gospel of Christ is, but it also shows us what it is not.
Robert J. Matthews, “Two Ways of the World,” Studies in Scripture, Vol 1 p. 149-1502 Nephi 26:29
What is priestcraft?
Priesthood and priestcraft are two opposites; one is of God, the other of the devil. When ministers claim but do not possess the priesthood; when they set themselves up as lights to their congregations, but do not preach the pure and full gospel; when their interest is in gaining personal popularity and financial gain, rather than in caring for the poor and ministering to the wants and needs of their fellow men—they are engaged, in a greater or lesser degree, in the practice of priestcrafts.
Apostasy is born of priestcrafts (2 Ne. 10:5; 3 Ne. 16:10; D&C 33:4), for those who engage in them follow vain
things, teach false doctrines, love riches, and aspire to personal honors. (Alma 1:12, 16.) Men are commanded to
repent of their priestcrafts (3 Ne. 30:2), and eventually, in the millennial day, these great evils will be done away. (3
Ne. 21:19.)
Bruce R. McConkie, Mormon Doctrine, pp. 593-942 Nephi 26:29
Something to think about—
Priestcraft (selfishness) in our homes is our need to defend ourselves instead of the welfare of Zion or our family. Scott Anderson, CES Instructor at UVSC
so-called neutrality by an able-bodied person is an aid and advantage to the enemy. Neutrality under such circumstances renders comfort and assistance to the opposite side. Such feigned neutrality is twice measured, not only in the help it gives the opposition, but in the lack of help that could have been given had the person chosen a side. Not to take a stand is in effect taking a stand for the opposition.
Robert J. Matthews, “Two Ways of the World,” Studies in Scripture, Vol 1 p. 150
Why should Christ have volunteered to make this sacrifice? What was the motive that inspired and sustained him from the time of that council in heaven until the moment of his agonized cry “It is finished”? (John 19:30.)
...His supernal and all-embracing love for mankind. Hugh B. Brown, in Conference Report, April 1962, 10
Lucifer...will use his logic to confuse and his rationalizations to destroy. He will shade meanings, open doors an inch at a time, and lead from purest white through all the shades of gray to...black.
Spencer W. Kimball, Teachings, 151-152
