10:4 - "...Blessed art thou, Nephi, for those things which thou hast done; for I have beheld how thou hast with unwearyingness declared the word, which I have given unto thee, unto this people..."
It is our responsibility to share the gospel - not only with people not of our faith, but also with members.
We will be blessed as we do so (verse 5).
10:4-11 - "...And now, because thou hast done this with such unwearyingness, behold, I will bless thee forever...And now behold, I command you, that ye shall go and declare unto this people, that thus saith the Lord God, who is the Almighty: Except ye repent ye shall be smitten, even unto destruction..."
The Lord in these verses comforts Nephi, blesses him, and then commands him to go and preach. This shows that Nephi had great faith in the Lord, but also that the Lord had great faith in Nephi.
The more we are faithful, the more the Lord can have faith in us and trust us to be effective instruments in His hands.
10:13 - "...Now behold, notwithstanding that great miracle which Nephi had done in telling them concerning the death of the chief judge, they did harden their hearts and did not hearken unto the words of the Lord..."
Even though Nephi had shown them a great sign, they hardened their hearts.
We can't use great miracles to base our faith, but they can help open ourselves up to receiving more of the gift of faith.
It is interesting, because this was a major event among the Nephites, that should have convinced the people that they needed to repent, yet they didn't.
We need to repent daily and not need the 'big events' to make us repent.
9:1-5 - "...yea, even there were five who went, and they said among themselves, as they went: Behold, now we will know of a surety whether this man be a prophet and God hath commanded him to prophesy such marvelous things unto us. Behold, we do not believe that he hath; yea, we do not believe that he is a prophet; nevertheless, if this thing which he has said concerning the chief judge be true, that he be dead, then will we believe that the other words which he has spoken are true..."
These five men did find the chief judge dead, and to their credit, they believed Nephi's words.
Sometimes a sign can do a lot of good.
We need to already believe so signs build our faith instead of attempting to create it. However, in this case, for these five men, the sign was enough for them to change their ways and vigorously defend Nephi and the gospel.
9:39 - "...And there were some of the Nephites who believed on the words of Nephi; and there were some also, who believed because of the testimony of the five..."
New converts have a great zeal and testimony. It is important to keep that up through the rest of our lives, and not become complacent in our church worship or quest to increase in study and prayer.
The missionaries can do a lot of good work, but when we combine missionaries with localized members, there is a great progression in the work.
9:39-42 - "...And there were some of the Nephites who believed on the words of Nephi..."
There were some who believed Nephi, and many who did not. This shows that signs don't necessarily produce faith. It can strengthen faith, but not necessarily create it. There may be a few exceptions, but that is the general case. It could be because we aren't seeking to increase our faith when the sign comes. If we are, then a reason is given and more of the gift of faith can be received. If not, then something wondrous happens, and we just don't care.
We need to make sure that when these signs come that we let them help bolster our faith instead of just being complacent.
8:9 - "...Yea, and behold, if he had not been a prophet he could not have testified concerning those things..."
This example shows the faith of Nephi, as well as the faith of these few people that made this statement. It seems that it isn't the strongest thing to base your faith upon, but it was enough that they stopped the wicked people from laying their hands on Nephi.
There is a great power that comes with faith, even the smallest seed of faith.
8:14-15 - "...And as many as should look upon that serpent should live, even so as many as should look upon the Son of God with faith, having a contrite spirit, might live, even unto that life which is eternal..."
This is amazing, because all they had to do was look and they would be healed.
We look and live today by looking upon the Son of God with faith and a contrite spirit.
We humble ourselves and repent.
We must look and live or we will die spiritually.
8:22 - "...Our father Lehi was driven out of Jerusalem because he testified of these things. Nephi also testified of these things, and also almost all of our fathers, even down to this time; yea, they have testified of the coming of Christ, and have looked forward, and have rejoiced in his day which is to come..."
One of the signs (or fruits) of a true prophet is that he will testify of Christ. The prophets have testified of Christ throughout the years, and we must learn from their testimonies and come unto Him.
7:7-9 - "...Oh, that I could have had my days in the days when my father Nephi first came out of the land of Jerusalem...Yea, if my days could have been in those days, then would my soul have had joy in the righteousness of my brethren..."
Nephi at this point is saying "Oh if I could have lived 'back in the day' - it would have been more joyful." But remember that Laman & Lemuel were murmuring pretty consistently and threatened to kill their brother Nephi multiple times throughout the journey out of Jerusalem.
That probably wouldn't have been so enjoyable.
Times are never 'easy' - we just need to be as Alma and be grateful for what the Lord has given us, including our present situations (Alma 29:3) and live after the 'manner of happiness' (2 Nephi 5:27).
7:20 - "...O, how could you have forgotten your God in the very day that he has delivered you?"
We see this in another example in Moses where Satan came among the children of Adam and tempted them saying, "Believe it not" - and they believed it not! (Moses 5:13, see also Alma 46:8).
We need to always remember Him and be an example. If we do this, we will be blessed.
7:29 - "...but behold, I know that these things are true because the Lord God has made them known unto me, therefore I testify that they shall be..."
Nephi didn't ask for a sign, but he studied and prayed in faith. There's a big difference - and exercising faith brings testimony as well as knowledge.
That's a great power!
6:3 - "...the people of the church did have great joy because of the conversion of the Lamanites, yea, because of the church of God, which had been established among them..."
We receive this joy as we are acting in faith to accomplish our work and glory. We help others come unto Christ as we do the same.
And it does bring us joy, and opens us up more to the gift of faith.
6:4-5 - "...Yea, and many [Lamanites] did preach with exceedingly great power and authority, unto the bringing down many of them into the depths of humility, to be the humble followers of God and the Lamb..."
This shows another example that God is not a respecter of persons (Acts 10:34, D&C 1:35, D&C 38:16). He will give to all who are worthy the Holy Ghost and the power and authority needed to preach.
The point though, is to stay worthy of that blessing..
6:35 - "...And thus we see that the Spirit of the Lord began to withdraw from the Nephites, because of the wickedness and the hardness of their hearts..."
It's important to not drive the Spirit away. He will go because of iniquity and when we don't listen.
We must listen at all times, because it is very easy to fall and be deceived.
5:6 - "Remember"
This is an interesting word. Nephi and Lehi had their names given to them so that they would remember what the first Nephi and Lehi had done. When they remembered, they would act more like them.
Similarly in the sacrament prayer, we covenant to "always remember Him," which means that we remember what He did and act more like Him.
5:18 - "..And it came to pass that Nephi and Lehi did preach unto the Lamanites with such great power and authority, for they had power and authority given unto them that they might speak, and they also had what they should speak given unto them...."
Even after all we can do, we are still unprofitable servants (Mosiah 2:21). We are very blessed to have the Holy Ghost to translate and teach what we cannot do with our own power. It is essential to have the Holy Ghost teach and realize that it is not our own strength.
5:19 - "...baptized unto repentance..."
After we are baptized, we do not stay clean forever. We are baptized unto repentance so we can have the plan of Mercy take hold upon us (Alma 42:31).
If we don't repent, justice has full sway.
5:40 - "...And it came to pass that the Lamanites said unto him: What shall we do, that this cloud of darkness may be removed from overshadowing us?"
What shall we do?
The Lamanites wanted to know what to do to be rid of the darkness.
We need to know what we need to do to be rid of spiritual darkness.
The way is through keeping the commandments.
5:47 - "...Peace, peace be unto you, because of your faith in my Well Beloved, who was from the foundation of the world..."
If we want true peace, we need to open ourselves up to more of the gift of faith in Christ. We do this through keeping the commandments.
We must act on the faith that we have and come unto Him.
5:51-52 - "...And as many as were convinced did lay down their weapons of war, and also their hatred and the tradition of their fathers. And it came to pass that they did yield up unto the Nephites the lands of their possession..."
Swords and fighting didn't bring the Lamanites to yield up the lands of their possession - it took the conversion, faith, and acts of faith of the missionaries and Lamanites to bring the necessary peace.
Our own conflicts are much more likely to be resolved through faith and peaceful actions than through fighting - whether it is physical or spiritual.
5:52 - "...And it came to pass that they did yield up unto the Nephites the lands of their possession..."
This was so much more effective than years of war!
Moronihah, through war, gained half of the lands back (Helaman 4:16).
The preaching of the word of God had a more powerful effect than the sword or anything else (Alma 31:5).
When we truly understand true doctrine, our attitudes and behavior improve - President Boyd K. Packer.
We must understand true doctrine so we do what is right in God's eyes, and it will be much more effective than contention, which is of the devil (3 Nephi 11:29).
4:11-12 - "...Now this great loss of the Nephites, and the great slaughter which was among them, would not have happened had it not been for their wickedness and their abomination which was among them; yea, and it was among those also who professed to belong to the church of God..."
The great loss of Nephites was because of pride and wickedness. Very often we have our own personal losses that can be avoided if we just leave our pride and serve others.
This does not mean that EVERY loss comes because of pride - sometimes we go through difficult experiences and trials that are not a result of wickedness.
We need to live our lives in a righteous manner so that when we go through trials, we know it is not because we have been wicked, but that it is an opportunity to learn and grow.
4:15-16 - "...And it came to pass that they did repent, and inasmuch as they did repent they did begin to prosper..."
When the people repented, they did prosper and also won their battles.
When we are righteous, we receive blessings (D&C 130:20-21). The end result of every good action is that we will be blessed for it. It may not come immediately or in the way that we expect, but it will happen.
When we do what it takes, we are blessed.
4:15-16 - "...And it came to pass that they did repent, and inasmuch as they did repent they did begin to prosper..."
As we are trying to live the gospel, repent of our sins, and come unto Christ, we can have that faith and confidence that we can be on the Lord's side. He will help us in our physical and spiritual battles.
