Sunday School Lesson #36

So I've decided that since I teach Gospel Doctrine every week, I'm going to try to do a post each week with some of my early thoughts on that week's lesson. The thoughts probably won't be organized very well and will probably ramble quite a bit, but hopefully they will help me begin to get organized as I start to actually get the lesson together. Feel free to skip the post if you'd really rather not read it, since I'm sure they could get a bit lengthy. If you decide to read the post, feel free to add comments with thoughts you've had or questions that come to mind; they could help me organize my thoughts even further and you may have an insight I didn't even think of. Or if you had the lesson already, there might have been something brought up in your class that you think might be good to share.

This week's lesson (covering 3 Nephi chapters 1-7) begins with a fable told by Elder George A. Smith, who was a member of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles. I'll just put the story in as he told it, since it is probably clearer that way.

“A man, traveling through the country, came to a large city, very rich and splendid; he looked at it and said to his guide, ‘This must be a very righteous people, for I can only see but one little devil in this great city.’

“The guide replied, ‘You do not understand, sir; this city is so perfectly given up to wickedness, corruption, degradation and abomination of every kind that it only requires one devil to keep them all in subjection.’

“Traveling on a little further he came to a rugged path and saw an old man trying to get up the hill side, surrounded by seven great, big, coarse looking devils.

“ ‘Why,’ says the traveller, ‘this must be a tremendously wicked old man, only see how many devils there are around him!’

“ ‘This,’ replied the guide, ‘is the only righteous man in the country and there are seven of the biggest devils trying to turn him out of his path and they all cannot do it’ ” (in Deseret News, 11 Nov. 1857, 7:287).

I think it would do well for all of us to consider how many devils it would take to turn us out of our paths.

As a little review, last week's lesson talked about Samuel the Lamanite's prophecy to the Nephites in Zarahemla. He prophesied of the signs of the Savior's birth and told them that they would come in 5 years.

There were basically two groups of Nephites; those who believed Samuel the Lamanite and those who did not. The group who did not believe was the larger of the two groups. The ones who did not believe had decided that the time was past for the sign to be given of the Savior's birth and began to openly mock those who continued to watch for the signs. They even set a date where they would kill those who believed if the sign didn't occur by then.

How hard would it be to remain faithful under those conditions? Imagine yourself going out every evening to watch the setting of the sun, hoping that this would be the night that it would stay light. Your hopes would fall each time the darkness came. And imagine that your next door neighbor was one of the unbelivers; that every night he would watch you go back into your house, a little fallen, and yell out to you, "Give it up! Can't you see that it's not going to happen? Come join us. Think of your children and your family. Are you really willing to let them die because you're holding onto a belief that's so foolish?" Imagine this happening night after night. Would you be tempted to give up hope? I think some of us may be living under these conditions, in a way. We may have people at work, neighbors, friends, even family members who tell us we're being foolish for believing what we do. They may mock us and make fun of us, or even just tell us, "Oh, it's not a bad thing. Why won't you just come with us this once?" (As an aside, last week we talked about Satan being kind of a salesman with only one product to sell: misery. He packages it in ways to make it look desirable. One of those ways is by making it look like something everyone is doing, something that will make us happy. But ultimately, it is just misery. "Just this once" can cause us to buy into Satan's pitch.)

Then imagine that one night you go out and watch the sun go down, but it stays light. Imagine the joy you'd feel as you'd realize that your belief and your hope wasn't all in vain. One day we will all be able to feel that same joy. We will know that our belief and our hope wasn't in vain. It may or may not come in this life, but it will come.

I always think it's interesting what it says first about the unbelievers when they saw the sign. 3 Nephi 1:16 says, "And there were many, who had not believed the words of the prophets, who fell to the earth and became as if they were dead, for they knew that the great plan of destruction which they had laid for those who believed in the words of the prophets had been frustrated; for the sign which had been given was already at hand." Their first thought wasn't that they were wrong and that Christ really was coming, it was that their plans were all messed up. They weren't going to be able to get rid of all the believers after all.

They did eventually think of what the sign meant and began to repent and do what was right. Peace came into the land, at least for a little while. It didn't take long before the people began to make excuses for the signs, saying that they were made by men or that it was by the power of the devil, to deceive the people.

President Ezra Taft Benson in referring to the beginning chapters of 3 Nephi said, “The record of the Nephite history just prior to the Savior’s visit reveals many parallels to our own day as we anticipate the Savior’s second coming” (in Conference Report, Apr. 1987, 3; or Ensign, May 1987, 4). As we study this part of the Book of Mormon, we can find things that will help us to remain strong and faithful in a world where the majority are living in ways contrary to what we believe. The next few chapters give us some good tips for doing this.

"Lachoneus, the governor, was a just man and could not be frightened" (3 Ne. 3:12). We need to not let fear govern our choices. How would your choices be affected if you made them based on your fear of losing friends or a job? Would it be easy to give in and not remain faithful?

Lachoneus also told the people to cry to the Lord for strength. Prayer can be one of the biggest helpers we have. When we have the strength of the Lord with us, nothing can overcome us.

The people gathered themselves together in the center of their land. As we surround ourselves with others who share our beliefs, we can gain strength from their support. I think it's significant that they gathered in the center of their land. It's much harder to fight Satan on his land than when we are firmly in the right.

They built fortifications and placed guards around to keep watch. What fortifications can we make in our lives? We have the scriptures, the words of modern-day prophets, prayer, service, church activity, etc. All these things can make us stronger and help us resist the temptations that may come. I personally believe that one of the strongest of these is studying the scriptures, especially the Book of Mormon. As we study the scriptures, we can learn God's will for us and we can feel his Spirit more. Great promises have been given to us as we seriously study the Book of Mormon.

They did all they could to obey the words of their govenor, Lachoneus. As we strive to follow inspired leaders, we will be protected.

They repented of their sins. Last week we talked about how one of the most important steps in repenting is turning to the Lord. We can stop doing things that we're not supposed to do, such as smoking or drinking, and still not repent. It's when we truly humble ourselves and turn to the Lord to align our wills with His that we really gain the blessings that come with repentance. And as we repent, we gain strength to help us resist all temptation.

They were "strong with armor" (3 Ne 3:26). What armor are we commanded to wear? Why is it important to put on the whole armor of God and not just parts of it?

When the Nephites and the righteous Lamanites did all this, they were able to defeat the Gadianton robbers and lived in peace for a while longer. But again, they began to forget and contentions arose and the more part of them fell away. As we read later, the more righteous part of them are the ones who survived the destruction at the coming of the Savior. If they had remained faithful, they would have been able to see Him come and would have been able to hear His words and feel His love.

We are waiting for the coming of the Savior today. While we wait, Satan is going to try to turn us to wickedness as he did the Nephites. Will it take just the one little devil as in the story to make us turn from the path of righteousness or will it take a whole army to try? We can be successful. We can remain on the path. If we find ourselves straying off, we can find the help and the strength and the answers to find our way back, where we will be welcomed with open arms.