3 Nephi 12-14
The Book of Mormon brings clarity and meaning to the Sermon
on the Mount.
The Sermon on the Mount (Matthew 5-7) is the most quoted
and least understood of all the Saviors teachings!
Be Attitudes! To be fortunate, to be happy, or to be blessed.
Webster’s dictionary defines the word as “a state of utmost
bliss.”
Constitution for a perfect life! (Harold B. Lee)
Blue print for perfection! (Harold B. Lee, Decisions for
Successful Living [1973], 55-56).
These verse by verse chapters are the greatest of all Christian
3 Nephi 12-14
In March 1978, a prominent Lutheran minister participated in a
symposium on the BYU campus.
He accepted the task of comparing the Savior’s sermon in 3
Nephi with the Sermon on the Mount found in the book of
Matthew. By the tools and procedures of textual criticism, he
discovered several interesting differences between the two
sermons. He gave an astute and perceptive analysis. He said
that compared to the New Testament, 3 Nephi is much clearer,
the Savior’ teachings are the more precise; they are stronger,
bolder and offer considerably more information than can be
gained from the New Testament. He found also that the
personality of Jesus is more commanding in 3 Nephi than in the
New Testament. He noted that in the New Testament, Jesus
speaks as a teacher but in 3 Nephi he speaks as a God.
As he continued, he tried to discredit the Book
of Mormon by saying that new religions and
cults always have an insatiable thirst for
answers and for knowledge, whereas spiritual
maturity brings a more ascetic view. He
preferred the New testament to 3 Nephi
because it was not so definitive and allowed
him more choice of interpretation. He
acknowledged that the New Testament was
less clear, and less dramatic, but felt that was
the beauty of it. It did not seem to occur to
him that the New Testament has suffered at
the hands of copyists, translators, and textual
critics and so was now only a shadow of its
former self.
Elder Orson F. Whitney
“I lay upon my bed in the little town of Columbia, Lancaster
County, Pennsylvania. I seemed to be in the Garden of
Gethsemane, a witness of the Savior’s agony, I see Him as plainly
as I have seen anyone. Standing behind a tree in the foreground.
I beheld Jesus with Peter, James and John as they came through
a little wicket gate at my right. Leaving the three Apostles there
after telling them to kneel and pray, the Son of God passed over
to the other side, where he also knelt and prayed. It was the
same prayer with which all Bible readers are familiar: ”Oh my
father if it be possible, let this cup pass nevertheless not as I will
but as Thou wilt.”
“As He prayed the tears streamed down his face, which was
toward me. I was so moved at the sight that I also wept, out of
pure sympathy. My whole heart went out to Him as I longed for
nothing else.”
Presently He arose and walked to where the Apostles were
kneeling fast asleep! He shook them gently, awoke them and
in a tone of tender reproach un-tinctured by the least show of
anger or impatience asked them plaintively if they could not
watch with Him one hour. There He was with the awful weight
of the world’s sin upon his shoulders with the pangs of every
man, women and child shooting through His sensitive soul and
they could not watch Him one poor hour!” “Returning to His
place, He offered up the same prayer as before: then went
back again and found them sleeping. Again He awoke them, readmonished them, and once more returned and prayed. Three
more times this occurred until I was perfectly familiar with His
appearance - face, form and movements. He was a noble of
noble stature and majestic men - not at all the weak,
effeminate being that some painters have portrayed: but the
very God that He was and is, as meek and humble as a little
child.”
“All at once the circumstances seemed to change, the scene
remaining just the same. Instead of before it was after the
crucifixion and the Savior with the three Apostles now stood
together in a group at my left. They were about to depart and
ascend into Heaven. I could endure it no longer. I ran from
behind the tree, fell at his feet, clasped Him around the knees
and begged Him to take me with Him.”
I shall never forget the kind and gentle manner in which He
stopped, raised me up, and embraced me. It was so vivid, so
real. I felt the very warmth of his body, as He held me in His
arms and said in the tenderest of tones:
“No my son: these have finished their work: they can go with
me: but you must stay and finish yours.” Still I clung to Him
gazed up into His face for He was taller then I was. I besought
him fervently: ‘Well, promise me that I will come to you at last.’
Smiling sweetly, He said: ‘That will depend entirely upon
yourself.’ I awoke with a sob in my throat, and it was morning”
(In the Bryant S. Hinckley, the Faith of Our Pioneer Fathers,
211-12).
3 Nephi 12:1;15-12
Were the twelve Nephite
leaders called to be Apostles?
“While in every instance the Nephite
twelve are spoken of as disciples, the
fact remains that they had been
endowed with divine authority to be
“special witnesses” for Christ among
their own people. Therefore , they
were…Apostles” (Joseph Fielding
Smith, Answers to Gospel Questions,
1:122).
President Harold B. Lee taught
that the Beatitudes embody the
“constitution for a perfect life”:
“Four of them have to do with
our individual selves,” and four
“have to do with man’s social
relations with others”
(Decisions for Successful Living
[1973], 57, 60).
3 Nephi 12:5
What relationship is there between “meek” and “weak”?
If the Lord was meek and lowly and humble, then to become
humble one must do what he did in boldly denouncing evil,
bravely advancing righteous works, courageously meeting
every problem, becoming the master of himself and the
situations about him and being near oblivious to personal
credit.
“How does one get humble? (2 Corinthians 7:10)
To me, one must constantly be reminded of his dependence…
on the Lord. How does one remind one’s self? By real,
constant, worshipful, grateful prayer” (Spencer W. Kimball,
232-33).
3 Nephi 12:13
Who is “the salt of the earth?”
The great value of salt is seen in its use over
time. Salt has been used as an antiseptic and
cleanser, food flavoring, food preservative,
religious offering, and even currency. “When
men are called unto mine everlasting gospel,
and covenant with an everlasting covenant,
they are accounted as the salt of the earth and
the savor of men; they are called to be savor of
men; therefore, if that salt of the earth loses its
savor, behold, it is thenceforth good for
nothing only to be cast and trodden under the
feet of men” (D&C 101:39-40).
3 Nephi 12:14-16
“Let Your Light So Shine”
How dangerous is a fallen lighthouse! How
devastating is a lighthouse whose light has
failed!
3 Nephi 12:17-19, 46-47; 15:2-9
When did Jesus fulfill the law of Moses?
“The law of Moses…continued until the
resurrection of Jesus Christ, when this carnal
law was fulfilled it was replaced by the fullness
of the gospel” (Joseph Fielding Smith,
Doctrines of Salvation, 3:84).
3 Nephi 12:22
What is the meaning of the word “Raca?”
“In the original Semite tongue raca means vain or empty.
Thus, the Savior is telling us not to call other people by such
derogatory titles” (Daniel H. Ludlow, Companion, 265;
emphasis in original).
“Profane and vulgar epithets and expressions --- for such, in
the Jewish culture, were the nature of the words here recited
(Raca) --- when hurled at our fellowmen lead to damnation…
Profane, vulgar, contemptuous, and unholy expressions
degrade their author more than they taint the soul of the
hearer” (Bruce R. McConkie, Mortal Messiah, 2:136).
What is the meaning of “thou fool?”
(Psalms 14:1, J.S.T. Psalms 14:1-7)
3 Nephi 12:30
“Take Up Your Cross”
Elder Maxwell explained the phrase “take up your cross.”
The daily taking up of the cross means daily denying ourselves
the appetites of the flesh.
If we entertain temptations, soon they begin entertaining us!
Turning these unwanted lodgers away at the doorstep of the
mind is one way of giving “no heed.” Besides, these would be
lodgers are actually barbarians who, if admitted, can be evicted
only with great trauma (C.R., Apr. 1987, 88).
The Lord wants us to be diligent
but prudent. We are not to give
our cross a hurried heft merely
to see if we can lift it and then
put it down --- we are to carry if
for the balance of our lives (Neal
A. Maxwell, Not Withstanding My
Weakness, 4).
3 Nephi 12:31-32
“Whoso Shall Merry Her Who Is Divorced
Committeth Adultery”
Divorces are permitted in the Church for a
number of reasons other than sexual
immorality, and divorced persons are permitted
to marry again and enjoy all of the blessings of
the gospel” (Doctrinal New Testament
Commentary, 1:548-49).
It would appear that one of the
purposes of the Savior’s words
was not to condemn those who
marry divorced people, but to
teach the people not to turn to
divorce as the solution to all
the minor irritations that come
up in marriage.
3 Nephi 12:48
“If a man gets a fullness of the
priesthood of God he has to get it
in the same way that Jesus Christ
obtained it, and that was by
keeping all the commandments
and obeying all the ordinances of
the house of the Lord” (Joseph
Smith, Teachings, 308).
Elder Joseph Fielding Smith offers this counsel:
“Salvation does not come all at once; we are commanded to be
perfect even as our Father in heaven is perfect. It will take us
ages to accomplish this end, for there will be greater progress
beyond the grave, and it will be there that the faithful will
overcome all things, and receive all things, even the fullness of
the Father’s glory.
“I believe the Lord meant just what he said: that we should be
perfect, as our Father in heaven is perfect. That will not come
all at once, but line upon line, and precept upon precept,
example upon example, and even then not as long as we live in
this mortal life, for we will have to go even beyond the grave
before we reach that perfection and shall be like God”
(Doctrines of Salvation, comp. Bruce R. McConkie, 3 vols. [Salt
Lake City: Bookcraft, 1954-56], 2:18-19
I am also convinced of the fact that the speed
with which we head along the straight and
narrow path isn’t as important as the direction
in which we are traveling. That direction, if it is
leading toward eternal goals, is the allimportant factor!
Worthiness is a process, and perfection is an
eternal trek. We can be worthy to enjoy
certain privileges without being perfect.
“I would that ye should be perfect”
“In both His Old and New World ministries, the Savior
commanded, ‘Be ye therefore perfect.’ A footnote explains that
the Greek word translated as perfect means ‘complete,
finished, fully developed.’ Our Heavenly Father wants us to use
this mortal probation to ‘fully develop’ ourselves, to make the
most of our talents and abilities” (Joseph B. Wirthlin, Ensign,
May 1998, 14).
Of course no one is wholly perfect, but we find some who are a
long way up the ladder (Teachings of Spencer W. Kimball,
165).
“If Joseph Smith translated the
Book of Mormon from the
Golden Plates thousands of
years old, how come they used
the identical language of the
King James Version, which was
written in 1611?”
Huge Nibley answered that question in the following manner:
“As to the passage lifted bodily from the King James Version,
“we first ask, ‘How else does one quote scripture if not bodily?”
‘And why should anyone quoting the Bible to American readers
of 1830 not follow the only version of the Bible known to
them?'
“Actually the Bible passages quoted in the Book of Mormon
often differ from the King James Version, but where the latter
is correct there is every reason why it should be followed.
When Jesus and the Apostles and for that matter the Angel
Gabriel quote the Scriptures in the New Testament do they
recite from some mysterious Urtext?
Do they quote the prophets of old in the ultimate original? Or
do they give their own inspired translations? No, they do not.
They quote the Septuagint, a Greek version of the Old
Testament prepared in the 3rd Century B.C. Why so? Because
that happened to be the received standard version of the Bible
accepted by the readers of the Greek New Testament.
“When ‘holy men of God’ quote the scriptures it is always the
received standard version of the people they are addressing.
“We do not claim that the King James Version (or) the
Septuagint are the original scriptures – in fact nobody on earth
today knows where the original scriptures are or what they say.
Inspired men have in every age been content to accept the
received version of the people among whom they labored with
the Spirit giving correction where correction where correction
was necessary.
“Since the Book of Mormon is a translation,… into English for
English - speaking people whose fathers for generations had
known no other scriptures but the standard English Bible, it
would be both pointless and confusing to present the scriptures
to them in any other form so far as their teachings were
correct” (Literary Style Used in the Book of Mormon Insured
Accurate Translation, Church News, 29 July 1961, 10).
“I am… convinced of the fact that the speed with
which we head along the straight and narrow path
isn’t as important as the direction in which we are
traveling” (Marvin J. Ashton, Ensign, May 1989, 21).
Notice the difference in this verse and Matthew 5:48.
Jesus did not include himself as perfect until after he
was resurrected. “Begin with the first, and go on until
you learn all the principles of exaltation. But it will be
a great while after you have passed through the veil
before you will have learned them… It will be a great
work to learn our salvation and exaltation even
beyond the grave” (Joseph Smith, Teachings, 348).
“As members of the Church, if we chart a course
leading to eternal life; if we begin the process of
spiritual rebirth, and are going in the right direction; if
we chart a course sanctifying our souls, and degree by
degree are going in that direction; and if we chart a
course of becoming perfect, and, step by step and
phase by phase, are perfecting our souls by
overcoming the world, then it is absolutely guaranteed
there is no question whatever about it --- we shall
gain eternal life. Even though we have spiritual
rebirth ahead of us, perfection ahead of us, the full
degree of sanctification ahead of us, if we chart a
course and follow it to the best of our ability in this
life, then when we go out of this life we’ll continue in
exactly that same course” (Bruce R. McConkie,
Sermon and Writings, 54). (Moroni 10:32-33)
It was a heavenly mandate to rise up to our full
potential and become like God our Father. C.S. Lewis,
an articulate advocate of this simple but glorious truth,
wrote:
“The command ‘Be ye perfect’ is not idealistic gas. Nor
is it a command to do the impossible. He is going to
make us into creatures that can command. He said (in
the Bible) that we were ‘gods’ and He is going to make
good His words….The process will be long and in parts
very painful; but that is what we are in for. Nothing
less. He meant what he said….Those who put
themselves in His hands will become perfect, as He is
perfect---perfect in love, wisdom, joy, beauty, and
immortality” (Lewis, Mere Christianity, 176-77).
3 Nephi 13:5-13
How should we pray?
“Our prayers should be simple, direct, and
sincere.
“…I am sure that our Heavenly Father, who
loves all of his children, hears and answers all
prayers, however phrased. If he is offended in
connection with prayers, it is likely to be by
their absence, not their phraseology” (Dallin H.
Oaks, Ensign, May 1993, 17).
The Lord’s Prayer
3 Nephi 13:9-13
3 Nephi 13:34
“Sufficient is the day unto the evil thereof”
“The men and women, who desire to obtain
seats in the celestial kingdom, will find that
they must battle with the enemy of all
righteousness every day” (Brigham Young, JD,
11:15).
3 Nephi 11-20
“Pray always”
Learning to pray as Jesus prayed!
Speaking to an Area Conference in Taiwan in 1975, President
Marion G. Romney stated that “there isn’t any commandment
from the Lord that is repeated more often than the
commandment to pray to the Lord.”
Nowhere in all the Book of Mormon is the subject of prayer
taught and emphasized in such concentrated fashion as it is in
3 Nephi 11-20, wherein approximately sixty verses are
dedicated to the subject of prayer and some eleven prayers
are offered.
Definitions of Prayer
In that light is to be found sure answers to all our
needs” (Romney, “Prayer and Revelation” 50).
Further, prayer is the passport to spiritual power”
(Kimball 115). To live without prayer is to live a mere
animal existence.
It is to leave the best part of our natures in a starving
condition; for without prayer the spirit is starved, and
men dwindle in their feelings and die in their faith”
(Cannon 2:170).
Prayer is the goal of an individual to place him or herself in
spiritual harmony with God the Father and Creator of all.
According to Latter-day prophets and apostles, prayer
consist of much more than directing “mere words” or
thoughts towards deity, but represents “the pulsation of a
yearning, loving heart in tune with the Infinite.” Prayer is “a
message of the soul sent directly to a loving Father…(it is)
spirit vibration” (McKay 308).
Prayer is having “a consciousness that there is something
within us which is divine, which is part of the Infinite, which is
the offspring of God, and until we can fill that harmony with the
Infinite, we have not sensed the power of prayer” (302).
Prayer, accompanied by works, “is the invisible switch to tune
us with the infinite” (Kimball 62), it is placing ourselves “in
harmony with divine forces” (Widtsoe, “The Articles of Faith”
288), it is attuning ourselves “with the spirit or light which
‘proceedeth forth from the presence of God to fill the immensity
of space’ (D&C 88:12).
While using appropriate prayer pronouns, (thy, thee,
thou, thine) individuals should converse with Heavenly
Father as they converse with friends and family
members.
Joseph Smith’s admonition regarding prayer is helpful:
“be plain and simple and ask for what you want, just
like you would go to a neighbor and say, I want to
borrow a horse and go to the mill” (quoted in
“Recollection” 151-52).
The Prophet Joseph Smith provided guidance in this
area, teaching us that we must pray three times a
day. “You must make yourselves acquainted with
those men who like Daniel prayed three times a day
toward the House of Lord” (Teachings of Joseph
Smith, 161).
(Daniel 6:10, Alma 34:21)
There is evidence that Joseph Smith and his family practiced
this teaching.
Elisa R. Snow recorded that “three times a day he had family
worship; and these precious seasons of sacred household
service truly seemed a foretaste of celestial happiness” (quoted
in Payne, 65).
Hyrum Smith also learned the principle regarding daily prayers.
According to Eliza Ann Carter, “When I was living at Hyrum
Smith’s I thought that he was the best man I ever saw, he was
so kind to his family and he prayed his family three times a
day" (Snow, 134).
Family prayers are perhaps as essential to one’s spiritual
progress during mortality as are individual prayers .
President Hinckley advances several thoughts on the matter:
I know of no single practice that will have a more
salutary effect upon your lives than the practice of
kneeling together as you begin and close each day.
Somehow the little storms that seem to afflict every
marriage are dissipated when, kneeling before the
Lord, you thank him for one another, in the presence
of one another, and then together invoke his blessings
upon your lives, your home, your loved ones, and
your dreams.
God then will be your partner, and your daily
conversations with him will bring peace into your
hearts and a joy into your lives that can come forth
from no other source. Your companionship will
sweeten through the years; your love will strengthen.
Your appreciation for one another will grow.
3 Nephi 14:1-2
“Judging”
The key is to understand that there are two kinds of judging,
final judgments, which we are forbidden to make, and
intermediate judgments, which we are directed to make, but
upon principles…
“First, a righteous judgment, by definition, be intermediate…
“Second, a righteous judgment will be guided by the Spirit of
the Lord, not by anger, revenge, jealousy, or self-interest….
“Third, to be righteous, an intermediate judgment must be
within our stewardship….
“Fourth, we should, if possible, refrain from judging until we
have adequate knowledge of the facts” (“’Judge Not’ and
Judging,” Ensign, Aug. 1999, 7, 9-10).