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LESSON #1 A PRICELESS PROCESS (3 NEPHI 17:1-3)
ICEBREAKER
I want to begin by asking if anybody knows what a Rube-Goldberg machine is? And these are really fun. They are these highly complicated and impractical contraptions where one action triggers the initiation of the next which triggers another and another and so on and so on. I’ll provide a video link here for you to see a good example of one of these and when I teach this particular scripture study skill, I might show a class a short clip of one (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nORRgU8sGdE). Now Rube-Goldberg machines are a good example of a working process where one step leads to another, all culminating in an ultimate goal. I then like to make the point to my classes that when you study the scriptures, it’s also good to look for processes and break down instructions into steps that you can apply in your own life. The beginning of 3 Nephi 17 is a good example of one of these scriptural processes.
So let’s set the stage here. Jesus has just finished teaching the people the Sermon at Bountiful, which we studied last week, with its numerous profound truths and principles and doctrines. The people have been drinking from the spiritual fire hose (so to speak) so in verse 1-2, we read:
1 Behold, now it came to pass that when Jesus had spoken these words he looked round about again on the multitude, and he said unto them: Behold, my time is at hand.
2 I perceive that ye are weak, that ye cannot understand all my words which I am commanded of the Father to speak unto you at this time.
LIKEN THE SCRIPTURES
Have you ever felt that way? Weak in your understanding or comprehension of spiritual things? I when Jesus says that they’re weak, I don’t think that’s a dig or a criticism. He means mortal, human. So, have you ever listened to a talk or a lesson at church and you went home feeling like everybody else seemed to get it but you? Have you ever come away from General Conference feeling overwhelmed? I mean, 10 hours of spiritually powerful messages covering numerous different topics and gospel principles can be a lot to take in, in such a short amount of time. Have you ever felt overcome with pressure at the prospect of a new calling or responsibility? Have you ever had a time when you sincerely tried to grasp a certain section of the scriptures but still came away confused? Like reading Isaiah or the Book of Revelation? When you go to the temple, are you puzzled by the symbolism and the ceremony? If you can relate to those feelings in any degree, Jesus Christ has a solution for us here, when we feel that way.
SEARCH
From 3 Nephi 17:3, see if you can put together a sequence of actions suggested by the Savior when this happens. A scriptural process. I see five steps. What do you see? Here’s mine.
“Go ye unto your homes.” Well that’s easy enough. I think we can all handle that one. But it is an important step. Sometimes we just need to put a little distance between us and the material to give our minds and our spirits a break and a little room to breathe. But, is that all we do? Just the first step. We simply go home—after church, general conference, or the temple. But Jesus has some additional steps for us to take in this process. What’s next?
“Ponder upon the things which I have said.” It’s hugely valuable to spend some time thinking about what we’ve heard. Reflecting on the experience we’ve had. Mulling things over in our minds. Asking questions. Considering possible solutions. It’s a revelatory process. When we ponder, we give the Spirit space and time to influence and inspire us. At that may be a little hard for us in the 21st century because we’ve probably grown a little too accustomed to having immediate answers to almost everything we wonder about. When the mass of all human knowledge is available at our fingertips and in our pockets and all we have to do is simply "google” and voila, we have instantaneous information. But God doesn’t really work that way. Joseph Smith once said, “The things of God are of deep import; and time, and experience, and careful and ponderous and solemn thoughts can only find them out.” Joseph Smith Teachings p.137. Pondering is a critical step in learning spiritual things.
“Ask of the Father, in my name, that ye may understand.” This step can’t be underestimated. One of the most common promises we find in the scriptures is "Ask and ye shall receive”. And that makes sense. If you want a certain gift for your birthday or Christmas, you have to ask. If you want help from a teacher to understand a difficult concept, you have to raise your hand and ask. If you want to go on a date with that special someone, you have to ask. If we want to better understand things of a spiritual nature, we need to ask. It’s the James 1:5 solution. The scripture that set in motion the entire Restoration. “If any of you lack wisdom, let him ask of God, . . . and it shall be given him.” Make it a matter of prayer. Your Father in Heaven will hear it and added understanding is promised.
“Prepare your minds for the morrow.” How can we prepare our minds? Give them plenty of rest and nourishment so they will be fresh and ready for a new experience. Open them and our hearts to receiving added knowledge. We can go with specific questions and objectives in mind. We can seek to clear our minds of the adversary’s doubts and fears and go forth with faith and trust in a God that can and will increase our understanding.
Finally, Christ says, “I come unto you again”. But we also need to make the effort to be there. We need to go back so that he can teach us again. All our pondering, and prayer, and preparation won’t get us very far if we don’t continue to give him a chance to teach us. So we go back to the temple, frequently, we revisit those general conference talks, we reread that chapter of scripture, we revisit that difficult gospel question in our ponderings. God won’t give up on us as long as we continue to seek understanding. Again, think of Joseph’s Smith’s search from truth as a 14-year-old boy. He said about his particular question, “I reflected on it again and again” (Joseph Smith-History 1:12)
TRUTH
When I struggle to understand God's word, if I go home, ponder, pray, and prepare myself for added instruction, then Christ will return unto me again and continue to teach and help me to understand.
TAKING IT TO HEART
Have you ever felt like any of the steps of this process have helped you to increase your understanding of God’s truth? What happened?
And I’d like to give you just one example of this from my own life. I remember feeling very overwhelmed by the temple endowment experience the very first time I went. There was so much to take in, and so much I didn’t understand. In my mind I kept asking myself questions that began with why? Why am I dressed this way? Why are we watching that? Why are we praying like this? Why are we doing that particular thing? And I’ll admit that it was a little troubling at first. It was very different from anything else I’d ever experienced in the Church. It wasn’t until later that I realized that this is exactly what my Father in Heaven wanted me to do. That’s why the temple experience is designed the way it is. Because of its unique nature, it naturally leads us to ask questions, therefore giving God the opportunity to answer them, through the influence of the Spirit. I’m so glad that I didn’t give up on trying to understand the temple experience after that initial visit. I mean, I hate to think of how things might be different if I had just gone home and dismissed it all with a, “Well, that was interesting” kind of attitude. But over the years of applying this process of going home, pondering, praying, preparing and then returning to the temple, I’m happy to tell you that my understanding and appreciation for the endowment has grown immensely over the years and been a great source of inspiration and comfort in my life.
THE TAKEAWAY
The takeaway then is here is to keep this inspired process in mind whenever we feel overwhelmed, lost, or confused by any gospel question, doubt, or experience. And I feel confident in promising you that in time, the understanding, the knowledge, the answer will come.
LESSON #2 THE HEART OF CHRIST (3 NEPHI 17:4-25)
ICEBREAKER
The rest of Chapter 17 is really beautiful. I can’t think of many other places where you truly get a sense of the Heart and Soul of Christ. It’s not so much doctrine and instruction like last week’s chapters, but a demonstration, an illustration of his character. So for an icebreaker, I like to put up on my white board a picture of Jesus. I then invite my students to come to the front of the class and write down one attribute, personality trait, or characteristic of Jesus Christ that they love or admire about him around the picture. If you don’t have a whiteboard, a chalkboard will do, or even a piece of poster board with the picture pasted to the center. Then, when everyone has had a chance to write theirs down, you could point to some of the attributes and ask the person who wrote it to tell you a little bit more as to why they chose that particular thing. This is a good way to get your students thinking about the nature of Christ. You can then transition them to the scriptures by saying that Chapter 17 provides us with an opportunity to glimpse right into the soul of the Savior and shows us the kind of being that Christ is. And maybe it will help us to add to or to emphasize some of the things that we’ve already put on the board.
SEARCH
For a search activity then. I’m going to point you to a couple of verses that I want you to study and ponder. As you study, the question I want you to consider is, “What does this teach you about Christ’s character?” You may not have something to share for each one, but try to be prepared to share from at least two of them. The verses are:
17:5-6
17:7
17:14
17:17-20
17:21-22
And then, just give your students at least 5-10 minutes to ponder those verses and then ask for volunteers to share. As they share their thoughts, add those ideas to the board, or circle ones that are already there that the verses seem to emphasize. Now there are many things these verses could reveal about the Savior to the individuals in your classes, so just allow them to share and perhaps that will spark a deeper discussion amongst your students.
But here are some of my thoughts to aid you in that discussion. Or, if nobody has something to share from a particular reference, you might consider taking the opportunity to share a few thoughts of your own.
17:5-6
5 And it came to pass that when Jesus had thus spoken, he cast his eyes round about again on the multitude, and beheld they were in tears, and did look steadfastly upon him as if they would ask him to tarry a little longer with them.
6 And he said unto them: Behold, my bowels are filled with compassion towards you.
So, when Jesus says that he needs to go, in vs. 5 he senses that they really don’t want him to leave. They’re in tears, and they look steadfastly upon him as if they would ask him to tarry a little longer with them. Have you ever felt that way before? Have you ever been in a testimony meeting where the Spirit was so strong, that you just didn’t want it to end? Have you ever been listening to a talk or been engaged in your scripture study so deeply or felt the Spirit so strongly in the temple, at church, in nature, that you wished it could stay forever? Have you ever felt the warm, comforting influence of the Holy Ghost during a challenging time in your life that you longed for the reality and intensity of that moment to remain indefinitely? If you’ve had that kind of experience before, you’re having an "Abide With Me" moment. I think that God gives us those little touches of heaven from time to time in our lives when he opens the windows of the Celestial Kingdom just a crack and casts a beam of that brilliant light on us, to help us to move forward, to confirm our faith, to assure us of his love and awareness. In a class I would ask if anyone would be willing to share a time when they had one of those moments. Some of the big ones of my life would be the day that I was married and the days that each of my children were born. But sometimes they can be more subtle as well. A recent one of mine came while standing on top of a mountain in the Wasatch Front as the sun was coming up, and off in the distance an approaching storm gave a backdrop of the most beautiful soft gray sky I've ever seen. And I just felt this closeness to my Father in Heaven at that moment like he was smiling down on me and giving me encouragement. It was almost, dare I say, casual in its impression, familiar, close. Just a little hint from heaven that communicated “Yes, I’m here, I’m aware of you, and I love you”. And then, eventually it subsided, and I started my hike back down the mountain.
We just don’t want those kinds of moments to end do we. That’s why one of my favorite hymns in our hymn book is hymn #166 Abide with Me. A teaching suggestion here. Have somebody sing it, or sing it together, or watch a video of it. One suggestion. I love this video of the hymn performed by Audrey Assad. Which actually , gives us two additional verses that doesn’t appear in our hymnbooks that are really beautiful. However, that version does omit the last verse that is in our hymnbooks. I’m not sure why. But as they watch, or listen, invite your students to pick out their favorite line and to be prepared to share why it’s their favorite. (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=84YASWe3_2Q) Mine, I love in verse 3 where it says, “Through cloud and sunshine, Lord, Abide with Me!” I believe that we’re all going to have our fair share of both cloud and sunshine in our lives. But, can we invite Christ to be a part of both types of experiences. It often comes more naturally for me to call upon him through the clouds of trial, temptation, and tragedy, but do I also call upon him in the radiant light of successes, blessings, and happiness's. I want Christ to be my constant companion through both, through cloud and sunshine.
The wonderful thing about this desire that the people feel in chapter 17 is that Christ does "abide with them" a little longer. He has compassion on them, he heals their sick, he prays for them, and he takes their little children one by one and blesses them, and then he offers them the sacrament and teaches them more. Christ is the kind of being that always gives and then goes the extra mile like he taught us to do in the Sermon on the Mount. The principle to me is clear. Jesus Christ is never too busy for us. He has time and to spare to abide with us and bless us and strengthen us, if we ask him. Now he may not be able to abide forever, but he is a lingering Savior, a staying Savior, and Abide with Me Savior. I sometimes wonder if that was what was happening in the New Testament when Mary Magdalene is weeping in the Garden when she sees the empty tomb. And Jesus abides to speak with her, comfort her, and give her that personal moment that she needed. He tells her, “hold me not” (meaning, I can’t stay long, I do need to go soon) because he still needed to ascend to the Father to report that he had accomplished the most important act in history. But, he couldn’t just leave her there crying. He felt compelled to give her that experience. The individual is what matters to Christ. When Christ was on his way to heal Jairus’s daughter, an urgent request, he stops to give the woman with the issue of blood her personal moment with him. He was not in too much of a hurry to abide with her. I believe he will give us those special experiences from time to time as well. Jesus is a perceiving Savior, an abiding Savior.
In 17:7 look what Jesus does next.
7 Have ye any that are sick among you? Bring them hither. Have ye any that are lame, or blind, or halt, or maimed, or leprous, or that are withered, or that are deaf, or that are afflicted in any manner? Bring them hither and I will heal them, for I have compassion upon you; my bowels are filled with mercy.
Here we learn that Christ loves to alleviate suffering. He heals the sick and the afflicted. Again, a demonstration of his compassionate, benevolent character. His ultimate act of sacrifice, the atonement and resurrection, I believe were done out of the same desire to remove both physical and spiritual pain from our lives. I sometimes like to ask my students, that if they were in the crowd that day, who would they bring to the Savior? Who would they desire that he heal? Just think of how healing that would have been, not just for those that were healed, but for those who loved those that were healed. Jesus is compassionate. He is merciful.
17:14
14 And it came to pass that when they had knelt upon the ground, Jesus groaned within himself, and said: Father, I am troubled because of the wickedness of the people of the house of Israel.
Now what does that tell us about the soul of our Savior. He groans within himself as he thinks of the wickedness of the House of Israel. And if you look back in verses 11-12 you see that this happens right after he has brought all the little children to him, and he’s surrounded by them. I think that’s significant. As he looks at the innocence and purity of those little children, perhaps he groans to think that so many of his children throughout the history of the world would have to grow up surrounded by the influence of a wicked world. Now these children wouldn’t. They’re going to grow up in a millennial type peace and happiness and prosperity. But, perhaps Christ is thinking of how sad it was that so many of his beloved children would not grow up under the same circumstances. I know that I’ve had that experience before when I look at my own children. It pains me to think of some of the things they will have to face. And so I pray for them. Which is what Jesus does here as well. And we know just how deeply he feels for them, and us, because it says he “groans within himself”. That’s deep emotion, right from the bowels. Jesus is a deeply empathetic Savior.
I love 17:17-20 where we find out what brings Jesus a fullness of joy. What makes Him happy?
17 And no tongue can speak, neither can there be written by any man, neither can the hearts of men conceive so great and marvelous things as we both saw and heard Jesus speak; and no one can conceive of the joy which filled our souls at the time we heard him pray for us unto the Father.
18 And it came to pass that when Jesus had made an end of praying unto the Father, he arose; but so great was the joy of the multitude that they were overcome.
19 And it came to pass that Jesus spake unto them, and bade them arise.
20 And they arose from the earth, and he said unto them: Blessed are ye because of your faith. And now behold, my joy is full.
And what is it? It’s when he sees their joy. That’s the kind of being Christ is. He finds joy in our joy. He rejoices with us. I imagine that will be the emotion we most see in Him at the Second Coming—his joy in knowing the great happiness he is bringing to the inhabitants of the earth, to the righteous. Jesus is a joyful Savior.
And then 17:21-24
21 And when he had said these words, he wept, and the multitude bare record of it, and he took their little children, one by one, and blessed them, and prayed unto the Father for them.
22 And when he had done this he wept again;
23 And he spake unto the multitude, and said unto them: Behold your little ones.
24 And as they looked to behold they cast their eyes towards heaven, and they saw the heavens open, and they saw angels descending out of heaven as it were in the midst of fire; and they came down and encircled those little ones about, and they were encircled about with fire; and the angels did minister unto them.
He weeps tears of joy as he blesses each one of those little children. You can just sense his deep love for those little children. What a beautiful moment to visualize. What a powerful reminder of the worth of souls. I try to imagine how I would feel if I was able to bring up each one of my own children one by one for Jesus to bless. How grateful I would be for that. This scene amplifies and even improves on the scene with the little children that we find in the New Testament. His blessing them, weeping for joy over them, praying for them, and then having angels and fire surround them. It gives new meaning and depth to His command to “become as a little child”. Jesus is a loving Savior.
And how can we not help but love a being like that.
TRUTH
Jesus is a perceiving, compassionate, merciful, empathetic, joyful, and loving Savior. If I call on Him to abide with me, he will.
TAKING IT TO HEART
What is a characteristic of the Savior that you are personally grateful for?
THE TAKEAWAY
I bear witness of the beauty of Christ’s character that we’ve all just experienced in this magnificent chapter. Do you feel you know Him better? I hope we do. And I hope we love Him all the more for it. No wonder that the story of Jesus Christ has had such a profound effect on so many millions of people throughout the ages. People who have never met him personally, in the flesh, but that feel a closeness, and an awe, and a love for this most amazing of beings. He truly will “Abide with us” in spirit until the day that he will abide with us in person, and oh, how wonderful it will be to experience his character firsthand.
LESSON #3 IN REMEMBRANCE (3 NEPHI 18)
OBJECT
For an object, if possible, see if you can borrow a bread and water tray from the chapel to bring into your classroom. I realize that this may not be possible for everyone, especially if you’re not teaching your lesson in a Church building. But if not, you could just bring in a cup of water and a piece of bread, or even just display a picture of the sacramental emblems.
ICEBREAKER-HANDOUT
But for an icebreaker/search activity, I like to cover 3 Nephi 18 as a handout. It’s a secret phrase activity where class members can work together or on their own to fill in the boxes with the answers and then use those boxes to discover the secret phrase. But the handout is really just a tool to get them familiar with the material. The real lesson comes as you go through the answers and hopefully inspires a deeper discussion about making the ordinance of the sacrament a more meaningful experience. I think there’s a lot in these verses that can help us to magnify what can be one of the most special spiritual experiences we can have each week. If we’re not careful, it could possibly become routine and hollow if we allow it to be. I know that I’m guilty of that at times. Each question on the handout can act as a starting point for a discussion on making the sacrament more significant.
1.What’s the first thing Jesus commanded the multitude to do?_____ ____________ ________ (18:2) To “SIT THEMSELVES DOWN" upon the earth.
Why do you think he had them do that? I think that suggests reverence and reflection. In life, we are almost always up and doing, as we should be anxiously engaged in a good cause, and putting our shoulder to the wheel. But the sacrament is a different kind of time. It’s a time to reflect, to pause, to sit down and focus on spiritual things. So this is a preparatory step to a more meaningful sacramental experience. Sit down, not just physically, because you already will be. But mentally. We are so used to having inputs and stimulation from cell phones, television sets, music, news, work, social media from sun up to sun down that when we finally have a moment of silence, sometimes it becomes a challenge to quiet our minds and get them to stop racing, and thinking about what we have to do, or humming a tune, or thinking about the game, or writing our next social media post, or contemplating the movie we watched last night. Our world is so filled with noise and distraction that we don’t often get many opportunities for silence and reflection. The sacrament is one of those precious opportunities we get each week. If we want to make the sacrament more meaningful, the first thing we can do is have that overworked, overstimulated, overanalyzing consciousness inside our heads pause, and sit down. We can strive to clear our minds of all those inputs and just focus on the ordinance. All the other suggestions here won’t work if we can’t do that first.
2. The breaking and blessing of the bread is to be done in remembrance of his ________. (18:7) The answer here. His BODY. A question though. Why do you think we have two emblems for the sacrament? Why not just one? Perhaps it’s because there are two specific aspects of Christ’s sacrifice that we CAN focus on. The first is his body. But which body? The body that was broken on the cross, or his resurrected body? In verse 7 which is it? He says to do this in remembrance of the body which he had shown unto them. The body he had shown unto them was his resurrected body. Which do you think of when you partake of the sacrament? And I think it can be both. After all, the priests do break the bread in remembrance of his body that was also broken. I can think of Christ’s body on the cross and the pain he suffered on my behalf. But, I can also rejoice in the resurrected body of Christ. So, to make the sacrament a more meaningful experience, during the blessing and the passing of the bread, ponder on what Christ’s victory over death means personally to you. We could think of those that we love that we’ve lost temporarily to the grave. Christ’s victory over death will return them to us. We can think about the physical pains and challenges that a mortal body brings us and others that we love and rejoice and feel gratitude for the fact that Christ’s resurrection will one day eliminate all those pains and sorrows. We could think about the eternal nature of our souls that resurrection makes possible. WE are eternal and will live forever. And how does that eternal perspective change the way we view the challenges and tasks of our past week? The sacrament experience can then become a grounding, revelatory experience that puts all things into perspective.
3. Partaking of the sacrament “shall be a _____________ unto the Father that ye do always remember me.” (18:7) . TESTIMONY,
And then number 4 lies in a similar vein.
4. “This doth __________ unto the Father that ye are willing to do that which I have commanded you” (18:10). The answer is WITNESS. So with this answer I always like to follow it up with this question, “When was the last time you bore your testimony in sacrament meeting?” Sometimes people will get to the pulpit on fast Sunday and say that they haven’t borne their testimony in public for years. But they would be wrong in saying that. The answer to that question is always, the last time you partook of the sacrament. The sacrament is a way of bearing testimony. Unto the father, and, in a way, to yourself, and all those around us”. What are we testifying of? Our belief in Christ. Our trust in Him, in his words, in his sacrifice. How could this understanding make our sacramental experience more meaningful? Well the next time we bring that piece of bread to our lips, or that cup, in our minds, we bear testimony. I like to repeat to myself as I do that the words “I believe in Christ”. I testify that it changes that act and deepens its meaning. We bear testimony or witness every time we partake of the sacrament.
5. The blessing and drinking of the water is to be done in remembrance of his _________. (18:11) BLOOD
Here’s the second aspect of his sacrifice. The bread was to remind me of his victory over physical death. The water is to remind me of his victory over spiritual death or sin. So my thoughts and ponderings can change for the second emblem. And I’d like to link the answer to this particular emblem with one of the promises we make in the sacramental covenant.
So the answer to the next question.
6. What is it that we are witnessing unto the Father when we partake of the bread AND the water? That we do ____________ __________ ______ (18:7, 11) ALWAYS REMEMBER HIM
And with that, something to ponder. Can you list the three promises we make each week in the sacrament? Think of the prayer on the bread. What are they? That we are willing to take upon ourselves the name of Christ, and always remember him, and keep his commandments which he has given us. But in the two prayers on the sacrament which we’ve probably all heard hundreds of times in our lives, you may have noticed that the blessing on the water is shorter. Do you know why? It’s because only one of those three promises is repeated a second time in that blessing. Do you know which one it is? To always remember Him. I think the reason for that is to emphasize the importance of that promise. We do always remember him. But how do we do that? Does that mean I need to have Christ on my mind continuously throughout my life? If that’s what it means, none of us is keeping that. And it’s impossible. We have to put our focus on other things in life. We can’t sit and think about Christ all the time. So what does that mean? How do we keep THAT covenant? Two thoughts.
I think I used to look at that promise in terms of generalities. I need to overall, think about Christ and remember Him. So I’d sit there, during the sacrament, and think of pictures of Jesus that I’d seen. Christ on the cross, in the garden, teaching the Sermon on the Mount, or just a picture of him, his face. And that would only last for a while before my mind would start to wander. Instead, now, I’ve found it more meaningful to think in specific terms, to aspects of Christ’s character that I feel I need most In my life. So during the blessing and passing of the water, which represents his atoning blood, I ponder the areas of my life where I need to remember him more, where I need the help of his atoning blood, more specifically. To remember his example. So I think back over my week and the areas where I need to be more like Him. What part of His character do I need more of? Maybe I think, I’ve been a little impatient this week with my children, and I think of Christ who said, “Suffer the little children to come unto me,” and in that I find a resolve to be more patient. Or I think, I need more of Christ’s forgiving nature, and so I remember him on the cross saying, “Father forgive them, for they know not what they do”. And that gives me more strength and resolve to be forgiving. Perhaps I feel I need to be more kind, and aware of those that are on the margins of society, and so I remember Him with Zacchaeus and how he made him the focus even though everyone else had cast him out. And so you see, every time I come up with a specific example, I think back on what I know about Christ, and learn from his example.
That’s one way of approaching it. I think there’s another way we can always remember Him. If I’m looking at myself and comparing myself to Christ, I imagine that sometimes it’s possible for us to become discouraged with our progress. There have been times in my life where I’ve been sitting in sacrament meeting thinking of my shortcomings, all the mistakes I made that week, the times when I didn’t remember his example, when I got impatient, when I wasn’t kind, when I was disobedient. And at those times, I think the Savior whispers to us “Always remember me”. And maybe we react by trying harder to think about him and to be more grateful for him. And he repeats, “No, Always remember me”. And we say, “I do Lord, I do remember you, I’m grateful for you, I’m trying to be more like you”. And he gently repeats himself again. “No, you don’t understand, always remember me”. And I look down at that bread, or that water, and I realize what those emblems made possible. It made forgiveness and mercy possible. So when he says to always remember him, it’s not just to remember him in gratitude. But I think it’s to remember him in hope. We don’t want to just sit there and think about how bad we are, and how far we fall short of his example, but instead, think about how good He is. To always remember him in hope.
And when I look at it that way, his promise to me changes as well from generalities to specifics. What’s his promise to us if we always remember him.
Our final question.
7.Christ promises us that if we always remember him, that “ye shall have my __________ to be with you”(18:7,11). I used to think of that in general. I’ll have the Holy Ghost. Which is true. But specifically, I will have whatever element of his Spirit that I’m needing at that time. I will have his Spirit of patience. I will have his Spirit of Forgiveness. I will have his spirit of kindness. I will have his spirit of obedience and trust. Let THAT spirit always be with me. If I approach the sacrament like that each week, then it will be a unique and growing experience every time. It won’t be routine or hollow anymore. I think it can become the profound self-examination and weekly recommitment that I think it was always intended to be.
And that leads us to our secret phrase. Right. What is it? THE SACRAMENT WILL FILL MY SOUL. That’s perhaps my favorite word in the whole chapter. You’ll see it in 4, 5, and 9. They partook of the sacrament and were FILLED. So I ask you. What does the sacrament fill us with? Many answers to that question. It fills us with hope, it fills us with gratitude, it fills us with resolve, it fills us with love, and perhaps most important of all, it fills us with his Spirit.
AND, another great blessing that flows from partaking of the sacrament. Look at verse 12.
12 And I give unto you a commandment that ye shall do these things. And if ye shall always do these things blessed are ye, for ye are built upon my rock.
How do we build upon the rock of our redeemer, like we mentioned back in Helaman 5? One of the ways we build ourselves upon that rock, is to purposefully take of the sacrament, and keep the covenants we make as we participate in that sacred ordinance.
TRUTH
As I partake of the sacrament thoughtfully, I will be filled. (with all those phenomenal things we just talked about)
TAKING IT TO HEART
What things help you personally to make partaking of the sacrament more meaningful?
I WILL GO AND DO
What can or will you do to make the sacrament a more meaningful experience this coming Sunday?
THE TAKEAWAY
I’m very grateful for the sacrament and I find that I do need frequent reminders like this to continue making the sacrament a significant weekly spiritual experience for me. I do believe in its power to bring us closer to Christ. May we always remember him in gratitude, in hope, in inspiration to follow his example, in victory over death, in love, and as we do that, I believe we will find ourselves filled by the experience. It may just be a tiny piece of bread, and an itty-bitty cup of water, but it may just prove to be the most satisfying and satiating meal of our entire week.
PRAYER
Quick Note: There are some really great thoughts on prayer in each of these chapters. I won’t spend much time there, but I’ll quickly point out 18:20 where Christ adds what I think to be a very important qualification for the oft repeated scriptural promise, “Ask, and ye shall receive.” He says, “whatsoever ye shall ask the Father in my name, which is right, believing that ye shall receive, behold it shall be given unto you”. Prayer isn’t so much about bending God’s will to ours, as it is about bending our will to his, and discovering what is right for us”.
And, I also like 18:21 which is one of the only places in scripture that I can think of that specifically asks us to pray as families. Family prayer can be powerful.
But I’d like to move on and go a bit deeper on the message of chapter 19.
LESSON #4 THE LIGHT OF HIS COUNTENANCE DID SHINE UPON THEM (3 NEPHI 19)
ICEBREAKER
As an icebreaker to this chapter, I like to give my students the following recognition quiz. I’m going to display some pictures of a number of famous individuals. And the challenge is to name them. To recognize them just by their faces. So I hand out the following paper and invite my students to write down the names as they go and then tell them that we’ll correct it after we’ve gone through all twelve. Here they are, and for our purposes here, we’ll correct it as we go.
1. Lebron James
2. Taylor Swift
3. The Rock-Duane Johnson
4. Elon Musk
5. Donald Trump
6. Tom Cruise
7. Gary E. Stevenson
8. Dallin H. Oaks
9. Neil L. Andersen
10. Henry B. Eyring
11. David A. Bednar
12. Russell M. Nelson
So how did you do? And if you do this activity, you may wish to pick different individuals based on who your audience is and where you’re from in the world. But usually, in my experience, especially with young people, most do really well on the first six, and then not so great on the last six. And I like to ask them why they think that is? Why do we so easily recognize movie, music, political, and sports stars but not the Apostles of God? And I like to point out that my purpose with this activity is not to make anybody feel guilty, but it is an interesting phenomenon to think about. And I hope you don’t mind my boldness in suggesting that I feel it is a significant thing to be able to recognize the brethren by name and to be familiar with their teachings.
And then I like to share this little story related by Elder Andersen long before he was ever called as an apostle.
He said:
“I once found myself among a group of deacons in the southeastern United States. The subject turned to the Atlanta Braves. The boys knew each of the players on that baseball team. They knew the starting lineup, the home-run leader, the pitcher with the best record, and those on injured reserve. My questions then turned to the First Presidency and Quorum of the Twelve Apostles. I asked if the boys knew the names of those Church leaders. Silence. Finally the name of the prophet was spoken. With some encouragement, the last name of one of the counselors in the First Presidency surfaced. No other names were known.
Some might say it is not the leaders who are important, but the message they bring. Yet, if our children do not know the names of the members of the First Presidency and the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, they most likely will not know their messages either. Others might say there are so many General Authorities that our children cannot know them all. However, our focus must rest with those we sustain as prophets, seers, and revelators. While the Church has grown, that number—fifteen—has remained the same.”
Neil L. Andersen
(Ensign April 1996)
Well, I believe that through what Jesus taught the Nephites in 3 Nephi chapter 19 and what he showed them through a powerful visual lesson, we can all learn a lot about the importance living prophets. And how wonderful a coincidence it is that this lesson falls so close to this year’s October General Conference. When Jesus came the Nephites, he called twelve apostles, just like he’d in the old world. And, they are even named! In verse 4. There they are. Perhaps suggesting the importance of knowing them by name, as individuals.
SEARCH-MARKING ACTIVITY
And, one way to approach this chapter is to read it in its entirety looking for Prophet Principles. Choose a color to represent everything you learn about apostles and prophets from this account. And remember that although we usually refer to the President of the Church as “THE” prophet, every single member of the first presidency and the quorum of the twelve have been set apart as prophets, seers, and revelators. We actually have 15 prophets on the earth today. And what does Jesus want us to know about them? And I specifically invite you to pay close attention to the visual aspect of what happens here.
If you want to be more specific and you don’t feel you have time in class to read the entire chapter, take a closer look at the following verses:
19:6, 8, 9,13, 14, 20, 21, 25, 28, 30
What did you find? Here are some of my thoughts:
:6 They teach. That’s one of their primary responsibilities. Since Jesus can’t be with us personally at all times, he sends special witnesses to teach in his place. How can we know they won’t lead us astray?
:8 Because they teach the “same words which Jesus had spoken—nothing varying from the words which Jesus had spoken”. We can have confidence in them because they speak the words of Christ, nothing varying. They aren’t teaching their own thoughts and ideas. They represent Christ. Like it says in Doctrine and Covenants 1:38
38 What I the Lord have spoken, I have spoken, and I excuse not myself; and though the heavens and the earth pass away, my word shall not pass away, but shall all be fulfilled, whether by mine own voice or by the voice of my servants, it is the same.
Did you catch that? The voice of his servants is the same as his voice. What if there was a general announcement to the church and world that at the next general conference, Jesus himself would be the final speaker. Would that change things? Would people pay closer attention? Would there be more excitement? Would attendance be higher? The thing is, Jesus is going to speak at the next general conference. Actually, he’s going to speak 15 times. How? Through the voice of his servants. It is the same. We would do well to pay attention.
:9 What do they desire most? The Spirit. They desire that closeness and guidance of the Holy Ghost.
Consequently, :13, they are filled with the Holy Ghost and with fire. God grants them that desire. Do you get that sense from them? Do you sense that they are filled with the Spirit when they speak. I do! There is a special power in their words that you don’t feel anywhere else. Not from celebrities, politicians, great eloquent speakers, or world figures. There is a special spirit that accompanies the words of the prophets. It’s the Holy Ghost.
Here, Jesus seems to want to communicate that point with a visual object lesson. So in :14 what happens to the apostles? They are encircled about by fire. Can you picture that? This wonderful, glowing, brightness and warmth surrounding those men. What would that say to you? They truly are filled with the Spirit. The Spirit of God like a fire is burning. And then also in that verse. Angels come down and minister to them. Heavenly beings communicating with and helping them.
:20 Why are they chosen? Because of their belief in Christ. Their faith sets them apart. Do you sense that faith in them?
And speaking of the Holy Ghost and belief. Since the brethren are filled with it, what happens when we believe in their words? :21 We are filled with the Holy Ghost. The Spirit accompanies us as well. If you feel like you don’t have the companionship of the Holy Ghost much in your life, listen to the brethren. It will come.
And then my favorite part. :25 whose ideas are repeated again in :30.
25 And it came to pass that Jesus blessed them as they did pray unto him; and his countenance did smile upon them, and the light of his countenance did shine upon them, and behold they were as white as the countenance and also the garments of Jesus; and behold the whiteness thereof did exceed all the whiteness, yea, even there could be nothing upon earth so white as the whiteness thereof.
And then verse :30
30 And when Jesus had spoken these words he came again unto his disciples; and behold they did pray steadfastly, without ceasing, unto him; and he did smile upon them again; and behold they were white, even as Jesus.
Can you visualize that? What does that say about God’s prophets and apostles. Imagine yourself in that kind of situation. You go to general conference and lo and behold, Jesus shows up. And he just emanates such light, and warmth, and power. His glory is brighter and lighter than anything you’ve ever seen before. But then, you notice something. And you nudge your neighbor and say, “Look! Do you see that?” Because, you notice, the brethren are all beginning to glow and brighten with that same exceedingly white light, brighter than you’ve ever seen. They too, just like Jesus are surrounded but that glorious. They glow with the exact same illumination and magnificence. And then Jesus turns around and looks at them, and his face brightens into the most wonderful smile and approval. He just literally beams at them. At President Nelson, and Elder Eyring, and Elder Holland, and Elder Soares, and all the others. What does that communicate to you? Visually? To me, it tells me that I can follow them with the same confidence and comfort and trust as I would following Jesus himself. They are LIKE Him!
And if I do follow them. One more verse. :28 I can be purified as they are pure. If we want to be pure as they are, we need to listen to and heed their words. Faith on their words will lead to that purity. And that’s because they will teach us how to apply the power of Christ’s atoning sacrifice in our lives.
TRUTH
The prophets and apostles reflect the light and power of Jesus. If I look to them and heed their words, they will lead me to Christ, and I will have the Spirit.
TAKING IT TO HEART
Some statements to ponder here and not to share out loud. Just a few things to consider as we think about the way we feel about the brethren. How accurate are these statements in your life? If you had to rank yourself on a scale from 1-10 on each, where would you fall.
I can recognize the First Presidency and the 12 apostles by name and face.
I feel the Spirit when they speak.
I listen to each of their talks at General Conference.
I have a testimony that they are men called of God.
I strive to apply what they teach in my life.
CONCLUSION
I’m so grateful for the brethren; for Apostles and Prophets. We are certainly spoiled with great leadership in the Church. I remember on my mission speaking to a man who was rather confrontational about our beliefs. We were kind of going back and forth on Bible passages that seemed to be contradictory. He would share his verse, then we would share ours and we didn’t seem to be getting anywhere. At one point, it seemed like it was starting to turn into more of an argument than a discussion, and I just stopped, and I said, “We could go back and forth all day, but what it really comes down to is how these specific verses are interpreted. We could both read the exact same verse and come to completely different conclusions. That’s why we need living prophets. God calls special witnesses to help us understand the correct interpretation of the scriptures”. And he just stopped for a second, and his face softened, and he looked at us very intently and asked, “You mean, if there was something you didn’t understand in the Bible, you could go to the prophet, and he would tell you what God meant by it?” And I said, “in a way, yes. The prophets teach and communicate to us God’s intent in the scriptures, so that there’s no way for us to err in their interpretation”. And I’ll never forget this, but he just kind of leaned back in his chair, and looked up and said very sincerely, “Wow, I long for something like that”. And then he kind of snapped back to himself and returned to his arguments. But the idea resonated with him, and he couldn’t help but see the beauty and the wisdom of that kind of arrangement between God and man. We have that longed-for blessing as members of the Church of Jesus Christ. I pray that we won’t take it for granted but that we will bask in the exceeding brightness and glory that radiates from Christ THROUGH them!
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