LESSON PLAN FOR 2 NEPHI 26-30

Watch the full video presentation at:https://youtu.be/S-_Iw8QC0EA

ICEBREAKER

Joke: Do you know the definition of a good high councilor talk?

It should have a good beginning. It should have a good ending. And they should be as close together as possible.

Discussion Question: Well what about you? How do you like to give a sacrament meeting talk?

• Write everything out word for word and read it

• Memorize your talk

• Use a notecard with bullet points to guide you along

• Totally wing it. Just say what comes to mind in the moment.

Q: Why do you do it the way that you do?

TRANSITION

The Book of Mormon is a book of talks or sermons. You’ll have a couple of chapters of history and then a sermon, then more history, then another sermon, all the way throughout the Book of Mormon. In 2 Nephi 25-30, Nephi gives a talk to his people. Since I’m the type of person that likes to use a notecard with bullet points, I often wonder what the prophet’s notecard for that talk would have looked like. And for these chapters, this is what I came up with.

• 2 Nephi 25:9-16 The Jews will reject the Savior and fall into a state of apostasy

• 2 Nephi 26:1-11 The Nephites/Lamanites will reject the Savior and fall into a state of apostasy

• 2 Nephi 26:12-22 The Gentiles will reject the Savior and fall into a state of apostasy

• 2 Nephi 27 BUT, in the Latter-days, the Lord will give the world a Second Chance: The ____________________________

• 2 Nephi 28-29 Satan’s Counterattack

• 2 Nephi 30 The Final Victory

So the portion that I’m not going to spend much time on is that beginning part. Nephi explains that all three groups of people, the Jews, the Nephites, and the Gentiles will all fall into a state of apostasy. And we all know the name we give to that period of earth’s history right? We call that, the Great Apostasy. And you can see why, all three major groups are lost. And at this point in Nephi's talk we might throw our hands up in despair and say “But Nephi, this can’t be how the story ends! Tell me there’s more to this talk than doom and gloom. Isn’t there any hope? ”.  And to this Nephi begins to smile a little and says “Yes, you’re right, that isn’t the end of the story”.

SUMMARIZE THE MESSAGE

Then he reminds us all of a critical truth at the end of chapter 26. I want you to examine 26:24-28, and 33, and be prepared to summarize in one sentence what you feel the major message of these verses is.

Possible answers:

• All are alike unto God.

• The gospel is for everybody.

• God invites all people to come unto him.

Therefore what? How should that truth change us?

Possible answers:

• Racism/bigotry/discrimination and hatred are appalling to our Father in Heaven. It should be appalling to me too.

• I can invite all people to come unto Christ. I must not exclude anyone from my missionary efforts.

• I can strive to see all people as God sees them, as His beloved children.

JEFFREY R. HOLLAND QUOTE

"There is room for those who speak different languages, celebrate diverse cultures, and live in a host of locations. There is room for the single, for the married, for large families, and for the childless. There is room for those who once had questions regarding their faith and room for those who still do. There is room for those with differing sexual attractions. In short, there is a place for everyone who loves God and honors His commandments as the inviolable measuring rod for personal behavior, for if love of God is the melody of our shared song, surely our common quest to obey Him is the indispensable harmony in it. With divine imperatives of love and faith, repentance and compassion, honesty and forgiveness, there is room in this choir for all who wish to be there.”

So, not only is it important for us to sing “I am a Child of God”, I believe it is equally important for us to be able to look at others and say “You are a child of God, and He has sent you here, has given you an earthly home with at least Heavenly Parents, kind and dear, so I’ll lead you, guide you, walk beside you, and help you find the way, I’ll teach you all that you must do, to live with Him someday”.

EXPERIMENT

For one day, look around and for every person you see or interact with, remind yourself: They are a beloved child of God.

And then ask yourself:

Does that change things?

THE WORLD’S SECOND CHANCE

Well, because God loves all of His children so much. He is going to offer all of them, Jew, Gentile, and Lamanite a second chance. And what is that second chance?

See if you can figure it out by reading the following verses.

• 2 Nephi 25:17

• 2 Nephi 26:16

• 2 Nephi 27:6

• 2 Nephi 27:26

• 2 Nephi 29:1

Q: So what is the world’s second chance? What will he do to reach out his "hand again the second time to recover [his] people”? What is this marvelous work and a wonder?

A: The Book of Mormon. The Book of Mormon is God’s evidence that he loves all people. Because who was the Book of Mormon written for? Remember the Title Page of the Book of Mormon. It is written to the Lamanites, the Jews, and the Gentiles. All are alike unto God, and the Book of Mormon is for all.

Now we can go back to Nephi’s Notecard and fill in the blank.

2 NEPHI 27

Read through 2 Nephi 27 and identify all the major events in the coming forth of the Book of Mormon. See if you can find where it talks about Moroni delivering the plates to Joseph, the translation of those plates, the visit to Professor Anthon, and the testimony of the Three Witnesses.  Also, if you’ve ever wondered what's written in the sealed portion of the Book of Mormon, the answer is in this chapter. See if you can find that as well.

BLESSINGS OF THE BOOK OF MORMON

Q: What can the Book of Mormon do for us?

And you can approach this in two ways. You could either list the following references and ask your class members to find the blessings, OR you could approach it with a crossword puzzle.

• 2 Nephi 27:29 It will bring us understanding and light

• 2 Nephi 27:30 It will bring us joy

• 2 Nephi 28:2 It will be of great worth to us

• 2 Nephi 29:2 It shows that God remembers his promises

• 2 Nephi 30:5 It will restore knowledge of the gospel of Jesus Christ

• 2 Nephi 30:6 It will remove scales of darkness from our eyes, It will help us to become pure and delightsome

• 2 Nephi 30:7 It will make us delightsome

• 2 Nephi 30:8 It will bring about the restoration of God’s people upon the earth.

CROSSWORD PUZZLE ANSWERS

Crossword puzzle available for download at https://www.etsy.com/shop/TeachingWithPower

Across

2. The Book of Mormon restores _________________ of Jesus Christ (2 Nephi 30:5). KNOWLEDGE

3. The Book of Mormon will bring THIS to people (2 Nephi 27:30). JOY

4. The spiritually ________ will SEE the light the Book of Mormon brings (2 Nephi 27:29). BLIND

6. The Book of Mormon will be of great ________ to the people of the Latter-days (2 Nephi 28:2). WORTH

8. The Book of Mormon will prepare the earth for the ____________________. (2 Nephi 30:9-18 What time period is this section describing?). MILLENNIUM

9. The Book of Mormon will make us ________________ if we follow its teachings (2 Nephi 30:6). DELIGHTSOME

10. The spiritually _________ will HEAR the words of the Book of Mormon (2 Nephi 27:29). DEAF

Down

1. The Book of Mormon will help bring about the ________________ of God's people (2 Nephi 30:8). RESTORATION

5. The Book of Mormon removes ________________ (2 Nephi 30:6). DARKNESS

7. The Book of Mormon proves that God will always ______________ his promises (2 Nephi 29:2). REMEMBER

Discussion Question: What has the Book of Mormon done for you?

PURPOSE OF THE BOOK OF MORMON

All of this because of the Book of Mormon.  And, actually, I take that back a bit. We need to be careful to not get so wrapped up in the Book of Mormon that we forget its purpose. When you stop and think about it, it’s not really the Book of Mormon itself that is the world’s second chance. The Book of Mormon doesn’t save people. The Book of Mormon doesn’t redeem. We don’t worship the Book of Mormon.  We must be careful not to admire the beautifully wrapped box so much that we forget the gift inside. The reason the Book of Mormon is so important to us is because of WHO it testifies of and WHO it points us to. So let’s go all the way back to chapter 25:18 to discover why the Book of Mormon will be such a powerful force for good in the last days. What is it?

18 Wherefore, he shall bring forth his words unto them, which words shall judge them at the last day, for they shall be given them for the purpose of convincing them of the true Messiah, who was rejected by them; and unto the convincing of them that they need not look forward any more for a Messiah to come, for there should not any come, save it should be a false Messiah which should deceive the people; for there is save one Messiah spoken of by the prophets, and that Messiah is he who should be rejected of the Jews.

The reason the Book of Mormon is so powerful is because of its witness of Jesus Christ. That is its subtitle right. Another Testament of Jesus Christ. Which will lead Nephi to conclude in 25:26

26 And we talk of Christ, we rejoice in Christ, we preach of Christ, we prophesy of Christ, and we write according to our prophecies, that our children may know to what source they may look for a remission of their sins.

And also in 25:29

29 And now behold, I say unto you that the right way is to believe in Christ, and deny him not; and Christ is the Holy One of Israel; wherefore ye must bow down before him, and worship him with all your might, mind, and strength, and your whole soul; and if ye do this ye shall in nowise be cast out.

APPLY

The Book of Mormon will convince us of the true Messiah. So some questions for you:

• Do you talk of Christ?  Is he part of your conversations both casual and formal? Does his name come up throughout your week, or only on Sunday?

• Do you rejoice in Christ? Are you a gospel optimist? Are you able to maintain your joy in the face of trial and tragedy? Do you look forward with happiness to spiritual things?

• Do you preach of Christ? Do you take your responsibility to proclaim the gospel seriously? Do you look for opportunities to share your faith with others?

• Do you prophesy of Christ? Remember from Revelation 19:10 that the spirit of prophecy is the testimony of Jesus. Do you bear your testimony of Jesus frequently? Do your life and example testify of Him? Do you seek to strengthen your testimony?

• And do you write of Christ? Do you keep a journal of your experiences with Him and do you pass those things on to others and your posterity?

2 NEPHI 25:23 NOTE

“It is by grace that we are saved, after all we can do” and the relationship between faith, works, and grace.

For my thoughts on that idea see my Romans 1-6 video. https://youtu.be/2KSWy_kU3pQ.  Time Stamp 22:40

To hear Brad R. Wilcox’s talk “The Atonement: After All We Can Do”: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LVUPWd7s-4c

ICEBREAKER

Perform a Magic Trick. Use this one or one of your own.

Professors Nightmare Instructions: Make your own with a piece of thin cord. Cut three different lengths. One should be 11 inches (28 cm, for our international listeners), the second one should be 21 inches (53 cm), and the third should be 31 inches (79 Can you call me when you have a minute?).

To perform: One at a time, place each of the cord in a line into the crook of your thumb and hand, starting with the smallest, then medium, then longest cords. Then, one at a time, place the other end of the cords in a line next to them. BUT, when placing the small cord next to the long cord, cross them. Then grip the ends of the three cords on the right and pull until all cords appear to be the same size. Keep the crossed cords hidden behind your hand. To finish the trick, flick the cords back out in a quick movement,  displaying that they have all returned to the same size.

After trick ask: Did I really magically cause the ropes to stretch and change size? And they should say no. And then you can admit to them. "Your right, I didn’t, I deceived you. I tricked you into thinking that I did.”  And if you mess up, or they figure out how you did it. No big deal. You can say “That’s great! You guys can’t be deceived. That’s a good thing.”

TRANSITION

Q: Well who is the greatest magician of all time, the greatest deceiver ever?

Satan. Satan is the greatest magician. He is a master of illusion. He’s very skilled in tricking people into believing certain things that just aren’t true or fooling them into doing things that are to his liking.

Well, the scriptures are one of our best tools to not being deceived.  They reveal the greatest magician’s tricks. You won’t fall for them the next time he tries them on you.

SATAN’S TRICKS

See how many of Satan’s tricks you can find in 2 Nephi 28, it’s chock full of them. And, for each, can you think of an example of that trick being used today?

Here is a sampling of some of the ones I can see.

:3-4

One of Satan’s Tricks is confusion. He will fill the world with so many contending voices that people won’t know what to believe. This is a trick Joseph Smith was very familiar with and why I think his story resonates with so many people. It’s estimated that there are about 4200 different religions in the world. When it comes to religion or life philosophy, we live in a very contentious and confusing world.

:7

This is the Hedonist philosophy. The purpose of life is the pursuit of pleasure. This philosophy can be summed up with the recently popular acronym YOLO, or you only live once. Whatever feels good do it. So drinking alcohol and doing drugs makes you feel good, so do it! Lust and sexual indulgence provide pleasure, give in! Greed, gluttony, and partying are enjoyable, yield to them! It will make you happy! But, it’s a trick. Satan advertises the pleasure, but masks the hangover, the addiction, the aimlessness, the shallow and short-lived relationships, the diseases, and the negative impacts on family and children.

:8

This philosophy is a slight variation of the last. This one basically says “I want to be good, but not that good”. I’ve actually heard students say that phrase. It’s the lie that God doesn’t expect much from his children. It’s discipleship with no vision, no commitment to improvement, and a propensity for rationalizing away sin. It’s the “no big deal” attitude. And you see, this is a much more subtle and tricky deception of the devil than the first and I feel that there are members of the church who have been fooled by this one. Now on the opposite side of that spectrum, you have people that feel they will never measure up, and that God isn’t merciful, which causes them to become discouraged and want to give up. Well, that trick works too. Satan doesn’t care how he makes you miserable, he’ll use either side and he always operates on the extremes.

:9-15

Now there’s a theme to this next trick over the next 8 verses or so. And it’s one of the big ones. One of Satan’s finest tricks. His showstopper. Can you see what it is? What idea is repeated over and over in this section?

It’s pride right?! They’re puffed up. I think there is a reason why he spends so many verses on this one. This trick is so effective that almost all of us are fooled by it now and then. In magic, one of the most delightful types of tricks to perform is to lead the spectator into a false sense of security and confidence. To make them feel like they have you, to fake that you’ve messed up or that they’ve figured out the gimmick, only to spring it back on them at the last moment and pull the rug out from under them, so to speak. I think that’s what it’s going to be like for a lot of people with Satan. They feel prideful and confident, and in control, when really, Satan had them in the palm of his hand all along. God has made us all different. No two people on this earth are the same. That is a glorious truth, and what our Heavenly Father wants for us is to recognize those differences and appreciate them. To say “You’re different than I am, you have different strengths and talents, and gifts than I do, isn’t that great! Let’s celebrate that diversity of being”. Satan, on the other hand, wants us to say “You’re different than I am, and my way of being different is better than your way of being different.  Any difference between us and others is an invitation to pride. Or if somebody has something more than another, it is very difficult for us not to come to the conclusion that we are better. And these verses seem to suggest that there are three major areas in those verses that seem to particularly tempt people to pride. Riches, outward appearance, and learnedness. I’m richer than you, I’m better looking than you, or I’m smarter than you. We’ve got to learn to not come to the conclusion that because we have more than somebody else, that we are better than somebody else.

:20

Anger is a powerful trick of the devil. There is a lot of anger out there directed at the church and the gospel.  I’m often shocked at how worked up people get about those of us that live our religion. Sometimes I’ve had to delete some of the comments on this channel because of that kind of thing.  People that are offended, upset, and just downright irritated with faith and belief. It makes me wonder why they don’t have better things to do with their time. And it’s not just anger at religion. Anger in general. I see it everywhere. Online, on the news. People are angry at this and angry at that. Our political discourse is full of anger, social media is often full of anger. And I appreciate this quote from Mark Twain. "Anger is an acid that can do more harm to the vessel in which it is stored than to anything on which it is poured.”

:21

This is directed mainly at members of the church. Satan will pacify and lull people into carnal security. And will lead them “ carefully” down to hell.  Carefully is a good magician word. You can’t be too brazen in magic, you have to be extremely careful and measured in your deception. And what’s the trick here? Casualness and complacency. Sometimes we may get complacent in our Sunday worship, our dedication to our callings, our language, our media choices, our scripture study. He says that Satan will pacify us and lull us away in carnal security. One of the greatest inventions ever created for parents is a small object called a pacifier. When my infants were upset or fussy, I'd often give them a pacifier and lo and behold they would go to sleep. Or I would sing them a lullaby and again, this would help them to sleep. Apparently, this is what Satan wants to do with us. He wants to put us to sleep, spiritually. And once he has us asleep, it's much easier to manipulate us, much easier to wrap us up in his chains. You all know this, when you were at scout camp or girls camp, when was the best time to play pranks on people? When they were asleep. That is when we are at our most vulnerable. And that descent into sleep is usually slow and imperceptible. Don’t let Satan put you to sleep. Stay vigilant, stay watchful, stay awake.

:22

Another trick of Satan is to tell people that he doesn’t exist. Which seems rather strange. Why would he not want people to believe in him? Isn’t he self-centered and proud? However, it’s actually diabolically clever. If there’s no devil or hell, that means there are also no eternal consequences to our decisions. No right or wrong, no future judgment, no accounting for our behavior. One of the techniques of magic is to tell people you are not doing something at the exact moment that you are doing it. It’s amazing how effective that can be in deflecting attention away from the trick you are trying to perform. I’ll often begin a magic trick by presenting an object and saying “Here’s an ordinary deck of cards”, or an ordinary coin, or an ordinary pencil, when I know full well that those objects are anything but ordinary.

There are others in these chapters as well.

SATAN’S TRICKS REVEALED

Well, you can see, Satan is a great magician with a whole lot of tricks up his sleeve. But now that you know what to look for, you shouldn’t be fooled. A number of years ago there was a Television show entitled “Magic’s Greatest Secrets Finally Revealed”. It was put on by a masked magician who was afraid of the backlash he would get from the magic community for revealing their secrets, which is exactly what happened. Magicians were angry. Their craft was being destroyed. I like to hold up my scriptures and say “Satan’s greatest secrets finally revealed”, or hold up a conference edition of the Ensign and say “Satan’s greatest secrets finally revealed”.

So please. Don’t be fooled. Satan is a phony, a charlatan, a cheat. Keep your eyes on the scriptures and the brethren, and the next time Satan tries one of these tricks on you, you can look back at him with a smug look on your face and say “I know how you do it. You’re not going to fool me. That trick may have worked on Laman and Lemuel, but it won’t work on me. You might have gotten away with that with King Noah, but I’m smarter than that. Judas Iscariot was tricked by that one, but I already know the secret.”

THE DIRECT ATTACK ON THE BOOK OF MORMON-2 NEPHI 29

One of Satan’s biggest attacks against the Book of Mormon and its power will be a direct attack on its legitimacy in the last days. That attack is described in Chapter 29. And what will people say?

3 And because my words shall hiss forth—many of the Gentiles shall say: A Bible! A Bible! We have got a Bible, and there cannot be any more Bible. And maybe you’ve heard that argument before. I know I have, especially on my mission. The Bible is all there is, the Bible is all we need. The Book of Mormon can’t be true.

WHAT WOULD YOU SAY?

And I want you to imagine something. Imagine you’re sitting on a bus and you strike up a conversation with the person sitting next to you and the fact that you are a member of the Church of Jesus Christ comes up. And they look at you and say How would you respond to that?

Did you struggle? If so, I feel 29:7-11 has some great responses to that charge.

WHY THE BOOK OF MORMON

1. God remembers all nations  (2 Nephi 29:7, last half of 8, and 11)

Why would God only speak to one people? Doesn’t he love everybody equally? And if you look closely at a map of the world, there are really two connected landmasses. The Old World, and the New World. Doesn’t it make sense that God would give those in the new world a chance to know him, and hear his word, and be taught his Gospel?  God remembers all nations and all people.

2. Are you upset to receive more of my word? (2 Nephi 29:8,  last half of 9, and 10)

I wonder about this one too. Why are people so averse to receiving more of God’s word. I find it hard to believe that all God would do for us is send the Bible, then say, now you figure it out on your own, and then turn and walk away.  It’s obvious that the Bible all by itself has not been enough to clarify God’s truth. There are so many different ways to interpret the Bible. I can quote you one verse and say “See, this is the truth”, but then you can pull out a different Bible verse and say “No, no, you’re wrong, see the Bible says this”. In fact two people can be looking at the same verse and come up with two completely different meanings from it. What’s an honest seeker of the truth to do? Well, with the Book of Mormon, with two witnesses, we can rest assured what the proper interpretation is. And the Book of Mormon will lead us to His church which can teach us the fullness of the gospel message.

3. God is the same forever. (2 Nephi 29:9)

If God spoke to living prophets in the past, what makes us think that he would stop now. Why would that major means of communication change after the early apostles died.

So the next time somebody asks you why we need the Book of Mormon instead of just the Bible, you’ll know what to say.