LESSON PLAN FOR 2 NEPHI 31-33

Watch the video presentation at: https://youtu.be/d5rQmBnwHXc

ICEBREAKER

2 Nephi 31-33 are Nephi’s final sermon to his people.

Bring a football as an object lesson. Tell the story about Vince Lombardi, the legendary football coach of the Green Bay Packers and considered to be one of the greatest coaches of all time. At the beginning of every training season, Coach Lombardi would stand in front of his players, hold out a football and say “Gentleman, this is a football”. Then, he would proceed to describe every aspect of the game in the most simple way possible. The dimensions of the field, the object of the game, the basic rules. He started at the very beginning and was committed to the fundamentals. Consequently, he was one of the most successful coaches in history.

TRANSITION

Well, I get the sense that Nephi, here in his final sermon is doing the same kind of thing. He wants to get down to the basics of the gospel. Perhaps in a way admitting that some of his book, 2 Nephi,  has been a little tougher to understand. He’s quoted his father, Lehi, and maybe some of you struggled a little bit with the heavily philosophical 2 Nephi 2.  He’s quoted his brother, Jacob, and maybe some of you struggled a bit with his deeply doctrinal 2 Nephi 9. And he’s quoted his prophet hero, Isaiah, and I’m sure that many of you struggled with his symbolism and figurative speaking. But now, he wants to be as straightforward and simple as he can possibly be. He says, in vs. 2 Wherefore, I shall speak unto you plainly, according to the plainness of my prophesying. For my soul delighteth in plainness. So, “Brothers and Sisters, I know that some of my past talks have been a little tougher to understand. But, today, I’m going to keep it simple. Let me be plain with you.

Q: What is Nephi’s “This is a football” phrase?

A: It’s in vs. 21. He says "This is the doctrine of Christ". Here’s what it means to be a Christian. And that’s exactly what he’s going to teach us in 2 Nephi 31 and 32. The doctrine of Christ. He ends with the phrase in vs. 21, and he begins with that phrase in vs. 2. So what would you expect to find in the middle? The doctrine of Christ. And besides the Sermon on the Mount, this chapter is perhaps the best description of discipleship you will find anywhere in the scriptures. And we get it in plain, straightforward language.

STUDY SHEET (Available for Download at https://www.etsy.com/shop/TeachingWithPower)

I’d like to approach this chapter as a study guide and I encourage you to have a personal experience with this chapter before you listen to my thoughts on it. But I’m going to give you some help. I want you to approach this as a personal Q and A with Nephi. As you examine chapter 31 and 32, it almost reads like a conversation. It’s like Nephi is anticipating our questions and concerns. So I want you to imagine a type of dialogue taking place between you and Nephi. I’ll provide the questions that I think Nephi is trying to answer for us, and you interpret what you think Nephi is saying in response to those questions. And this study guide is available as a handout if you would like at my shop, but you could also just do them here from the screen. And, as a teacher, I wouldn’t approach this is a “one answer fits all” kind of assignment either. We’re not going to go through and “correct it” and see if you got the answers right. I’ll share my answers and my thoughts, but yours may be different. And that’s ok.

Questions:

Me: What is the purpose of my life? What is my end goal or final destination?

Nephi: (2 Nephi 31:15, 20, 21)

Me: How do I gain eternal life then?

Nephi: (2 Nephi 31:10, 12, 13, 16, What is the repeated idea or phrase in each of these verses?)

Me: What did Christ do that I need to do? What is God’s path to eternal life?

Nephi:

2 Nephi 31:7, 10, 14                                  K______  ____   ________________

2 Nephi 31:4-8, 11, 12, 13, 14, 17          Be  B_________________

2 Nephi 31:8, 12, 13, 14, 17, 18              Receive the   H________   __________

2 Nephi 31:11, 13, 17                               R______________

2 Nephi 31:19                                           Have  F______

2 Nephi 31:15, 16, 20                               E_________  ___  ___   _____

Me: How should I walk that path?

Nephi: (2 Nephi 31:13, 19, 20)

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Me: But Nephi, how will I know exactly what to do in each moment and each decision in my life? Life is complicated. This is too simple!

Nephi: (2 Nephi 32:1-5)

Me: Ok. But how do I get the Spirit?

Nephi: (2 Nephi 32:8-9)

POSSIBLE ANSWERS

What is the purpose of my life? What is my end goal or final destination?

(2 Nephi 31:20, 21)

Answer: Eternal life, or in vs. 21 to be saved in the kingdom of God. That is our end goal. And, it’s also God’s end goal for each of his children. Remember the famous verse in Moses 1:39 where God expresses his eternal mission statement. “For behold, this is my work, and my glory, to bring to pass the immortality and eternal life of man”. Eternal life, that’s our desired destination.

Well, that prompts my next question for Nephi then.  If that’s my purpose, How do I gain eternal life then? If somebody asked you that question and you had to answer in one sentence, in the most simple way you know how, what would you say? What would Nephi say? Look for the idea that is repeated in each of the following verses that answers that question.

:10, 12, 13, 16

The answer: Two words. Follow Christ. That’s it! That’s Nephi’s plain answer to how to gain eternal life. Is it any wonder why this entire program of scripture study we’re currently engaged in, is called “Come, follow me”. It is THE invitation of the gospel. That’s what it means to be a Christian. It’s to follow the example of Christ. To live like he lived, love like he loved, and sacrifice like he sacrificed.

And you can see that idea expressed in different terms as well. What phrases in the following verses express the same idea but in different words?

:9 Having set the example before them

:17 Wherefore, do the things which I have told you I have seen that your Lord and your Redeemer should do.

Now, that may be too simple. So Nephi is going to go a little deeper for us. But he’s still going to keep it plain. And maybe we ask Him. Ok. What did Christ do that I need to do? What is Christ's path to eternal life?

Nephi has a lot to say about that path and repeats a number of ideas over and over again here.

If you look in the following verses and compare them, what ideas pop up repeatedly in them? And I’ve given you the first letter to help you out a bit.

The first one here. Keep his commandments. That’s what Christ did. He always followed his Father’s will, and kept his commandments. And Nephi gives us a prime example of that mindset of Jesus. What did Jesus do that showed how willing he was to keep his Father’s commandments?  Look in those next verses.

Answer. His baptism. Now don’t get too caught up in the doctrinal message of Christ’s baptism from these verses that we miss the reason he’s describing it here. It’s an illustration. This isn’t a section so much about Christ’s baptism as it is about Christ’s attitude when he was baptized.  He wanted to show that he was willing to make a covenant with God to obey every one of His commandments. He was witnessing before the Father that he would be obedient. Without excuse. And if there was anybody who ever had somewhat of a valid excuse not to be baptized, Jesus would be it. He could have said, "Look, I don’t need my sins washed away, I haven’t got any". But Christ wanted to fulfill all righteousness. So Nephi says in vs. 7

7 Know ye not that he was holy? But notwithstanding he being holy, he showeth unto the children of men that, according to the flesh he humbleth himself before the Father, and witnesseth unto the Father that he would be obedient unto him in keeping his commandments.

And then in vs. 10

“Wherefore, my beloved brethren, can we follow Jesus save we shall be willing to keep the commandments of the Father.

That’s one of the most important ways we follow Christ. We approach God’s commandments with the same mindset. We make a commitment or covenant of obedience to our Father’s will. We make no excuses or rationalizations even when we feel we might have a legitimate claim to ignore them. Jesus fulfilled ALL righteousness and that should be our desire too.

And part of that is to be baptized, so that is mentioned a number of times here. But there’s more.

Not only do I need to be baptized but I need to

Receive the Holy Ghost

Repent

Have Faith

Endure to the End

And these things should look familiar to you. They remind you of the 4th article of faith right? Or the first principles and ordinances of the gospel. But I don’t think it serves us to look at these as steps, a checklist, or a linear progression. I don’t think it’s, ok now I have faith, and next I need to repent, and then I get baptized, and so on, and leave the former steps behind you as complete them. I believe each of those principles is a way of life. They ARE the path altogether. The fact that Nephi doesn’t really express these ideas in a neat 1, 2, 3, 4, order speaks to that idea. You see him going back and forth talking about baptism, and repentance, and the Holy Ghost, and then back to repentance, and baptism again. I mean, he doesn’t even mention faith until vs. 19 which is what we usually associate with being the first step.  But, I always need to maintain faith as I follow Christ. Like Alma teaches in Alma 32, our faith is like a seed that we must continually water and nourish, helping it to grow larger and larger each year until it becomes a great tree of faith. Also, the more I study repentance, the more I come to the conclusion that it too is a way of life, an attitude, or condition of the heart. It’s not a matter of steps I take every time I sin, although the steps of repentance help my heart to return to that state, they are not repentance itself. It is a humble, submissive, and contrite heart with a deep desire to do all that the Father requires and I carry that repentant soul all throughout my life. Baptism too, in a way is a continual process. Now yes, there is the actual moment of baptism, the gate by which we enter the path is that single act of commitment. But, the covenant of baptism, the cleansing effect of baptism is a continual renewal each week through the ordinance of the sacrament. Again, a lifetime process. Then the gift of the Holy Ghost. The relationship we nurture with him, the guidance we receive from him, that too, most certainly is an integral part of the rest of our lives after we have received him as a gift and Nephi has more to say about that in chapter 32. Then we have the step that is most often associated with the way we live the rest of our life, we endure to the end. But I see that exhortation is a fusion of all the rest. I endure to the end with faith, a repentant heart, a commitment to obey weekly, all the while receiving and following the promptings of the Holy Ghost. If I do that, then at the end of that path, lies salvation and eternal life.

Still, maybe we want a little more detail on how to walk that path, so we ask Nephi.

But how should I walk that path of faith, repentance, baptism, following the Spirit and enduring to the end?

What do you see in the following verses that we could add? (excluding the ideas above that we have already mentioned like faith and baptism)

Follow the son:

• :13 with full purpose of heart

• :13 Acting No hypocrisy or deception before God.

• :13 Real intent

• :19 Relying wholly upon the merits of him who is mighty to save

• :20 Press forward with a steadfastness in Christ

• :20 Having a perfect brightness of hope

• :20 Love of God and all men

• :20 Feasting upon the word of Christ

And here, I would invite you to ponder what each of those statements means. How would you explain these to an investigator of the church?

My thoughts:

With full purpose of heart.

What does it mean to follow the son with full purpose of heart?  Well, is your purpose, your devotion, your commitment full? If you had describe it in terms of a glass of water, is it full? Or is it half full, is it 3/4 full, or is it almost empty. Are you trying to serve two masters? Hopefully, we can follow with FULL purpose of heart.

Acting no hypocrisy or deception, but with real intent.

What does that mean. Is your commitment sincere? We don’t want to be hypocritical. A hypocrite is somebody who preaches one thing, but believes and does another. The root word for hypocrite in Greek means stage actor or pretender. Do you act one way on Sunday, or in front of your parents, or other people, but then act completely different around your friends, or by yourself. Maybe ask yourself if you were to move to a foreign country, where there was no Church of Jesus Christ, none of your family and friends, or community or church leaders around. Would you still live the gospel? Maybe that’s what Nephi means by “real intent”. Not fake intent, or pretended intent.  If our obedience is built solely on a foundation of social pressure, that’s not real. We want Christ as that foundation and rock.

Relying wholly upon the merits of him who is mighty to save.

I love this one. We need to rely on Christ, but not just partly, rather, wholly, totally, completely. Remember, Christ pays our debt in full. We don’t earn our way into heaven. Christ’s merits, his sacrifice, and his mighty grace, saves me, wholly. And that grace, should change me. In appreciation for his complete gift, I follow him, and rely 100% on that grace, and that reliance, allows me to make my life and character as much like Christ’s as possible. Do you rely wholly on Christ’s merits? Or are you trying to do it on your own?

Press forward with a steadfastness in Christ.

Press forward suggests work, effort, and difficulty. It’s not ease forward, or glide forward, but press forward, like your pushing against something, like deep snow. God’s path is not the path of least resistance.

Having a Perfect brightness of hope.

Sometimes I think we follow with despair or discouragement. We say things like "Oh, I’ll never make it. I’m not good enough, I always fall short." No press forward with hope. A brightness of hope. Follow with joy, and trust, and confidence. I am going to make it, I know I’ll make mistakes, but he’ll forgive me! I feel that we all have great reason to be optimistic about our eternal future.

And a love of God and of all men.

I need to have both. If all I do is love God, I may excuse the mistreatment of others in the name of religious zeal, and if all I do is love my fellowman, I might be tempted to tolerate and accept all manner of sinful behavior. I need to be properly balanced between the two. Love God, and my fellowman. It'll be hard to err if I constantly keep both in mind.

Feasting upon the word of Christ.

Feast on his words, like a buffet when your starving, like Thanksgiving dinner. Go back for seconds and thirds. Don’t nibble, don’t graze, don’t snack, Indulge, feast. Have more than one dessert, Lick up your plate. Eat until you're stuffed. And the wonderful thing is, there is always more left over for future feasts. What’s the feast? It’s the words of the living prophets, it’s the scriptures, it’s Patriarchal Blessings, it’s the promptings and direction of the Holy Ghost. Feast on it.

2 NEPHI 32 (Continuation of Questions)

And it seems like Nephi just wanted to end there with his talk. I mean, he says Amen. Right. Like that should be enough, I don’t know how to make it any simpler. You know what to do, follow Christ, do what he did, you’ll have eternal life.

But the first verse in chapter 32 seems to suggest that Nephi is about to walk away from the “pulpit” so to speak, and he stops and realizes that they still have a question.

1 And now, behold, my beloved brethren, I suppose that ye ponder somewhat in your hearts concerning that which ye should do after ye have entered in by the way. But, behold, why do ye ponder these things in your hearts?

So they still have a question. I think they’re asking: But Nephi, how will I know exactly what to do in each moment and each decision in my life? Life is complicated. This seems too simple!  And maybe you have wondered that. The gospel provides us with commandments and principles and standards, but they don’t give us all the details, there isn’t a 500 page long rule book for us. They don’t print out a list of all the movies, and music, and Television shows that are church approved for members to watch.  So the Lord says “Keep the Sabbath Day Holy”. And we say, but how? What exactly is ok to do on the Sabbath. Is it ok to watch television on the Sabbath, is it ok to do homework on the Sabbath. Give me the rule book”. Or the Lord says. Be modest. And they give us some general principles on how to apply that. But then we ask, well, how short is short? How tight is tight? How am I going to know exactly how to apply these commandments in every situation?

And Nephi answers us and says:

2 Do ye not remember that I said unto you that after ye had received the Holy Ghost ye could speak with the tongue of angels? And now, how could ye speak with the tongue of angels save it were by the Holy Ghost?

3 Angels speak by the power of the Holy Ghost; wherefore, they speak the words of Christ. Wherefore, I said unto you, feast upon the words of Christ; for behold, the words of Christ will tell you all things what ye should do.

And then later he repeats himself:

5 For behold, again I say unto you that if ye will enter in by the way, and receive the Holy Ghost, it will show unto you all things what ye should do.

So, how are you going to know what to do? Feast upon the words of Christ. And yes, the words of Christ include the scriptures, and the words of the prophets, and it certainly can mean that here. But it seems to emphasize the role of the Holy Ghost in these verses. In short, Nephi’s answer is “Get the Spirit”. Once you have the gift of the Holy Ghost, feast on its promptings, listen to them, follow them, IT is going to tell you all things what you should do.  So God says "If you are willing to make that commitment of obedience, and press forward, then I’m going to put something inside of you that will tell you what to do. I’ll give you the Spirit. You don’t need the rule book, the law will be written on your hearts."

BRIGHAM YOUNG-JOSEPH SMITH QUOTE

When Brigham Young was leading the church West and the Saints were suffering in Winter Quarters Nebraska, he had a dream or a vision where he saw Joseph Smith. And in the dream, Brigham asked Joseph for advice on what to do and how to lead the people. So of all the advice Joseph Smith could have given the new prophet from beyond the grave, what do you think it would be? The most useful information he could pass on. Well, here is Joseph’s answer. See if you notice a theme.

Joseph stepped toward me, and looking very earnestly, yet pleasantly said, "Tell the people to be humble and faithful, and be sure to keep the spirit of the Lord and it will lead them right. Be careful and not turn away the small still voice; it will teach you what to do and where to go; it will yield the fruits of the kingdom. Tell the brethren to keep their hearts open to conviction, so that when the Holy Ghost comes to them, their hearts will be ready to receive it. They can tell the Spirit of the Lord from all other spirits; it will whisper peace and joy to their souls; it will take malice, hatred, strife and all evil from their hearts; and their whole desire will be to do good, bring forth righteousness and build up the kingdom of God. Tell the brethren if they will follow the spirit of the Lord, they will go right. Be sure to tell the people to keep the Spirit of the Lord; and if they will, they will find themselves just as they were organized by our Father in Heaven before they came into the world. Our Father in Heaven organized the human family, but they are all disorganized and in great confusion."

Joseph then showed me the pattern, how they were in the beginning. This I cannot describe, but I saw it, and saw where the Priesthood had been taken from the earth and how it must be joined together, so that there would be a perfect chain from Father Adam to his latest posterity. Joseph again said, "Tell the people to be sure to keep the Spirit of the Lord and follow it, and it will lead them just right."

Oscar W. McConkie, Angels [Salt Lake City: Deseret Book Co., 1975], 119.)

Did you notice it? What does he say over and over again? Keep the Spirit of the Lord and listen to it, and all will be well. Simple, plain, straightforward.

ELDER BEDNAR QUOTE

Elder Bednar spoke to all Seminary and Institute teachers and his main topic was recognizing and following the Spirit. And he said something that has stuck with me since. He said “We often make it hard on ourselves to receive personal revelation. By that I mean, a covenant promise is that as we honor our covenants, we may always have the Holy Ghost to be our constant companion. But we talk about it and treat it as if hearing the voice of the Lord through His Spirit is the rare event,  And that just strikes me as a little curious. It’s like I have to follow these four steps . .  and the Holy Ghost is going to speak to you.  . . And I go, Wait a minute, We shouldn’t be trying to recognize it when it comes, we should be recognizing what happens that causes it to leave.” It ought to be with us all the time.”

It’s like your life is represented by a large room. And when you are given the gift of the Holy Ghost, A light comes on in that room, and you can see things, and do things, and make decisions with more clarity and understanding because of that light. So what I think Elder Bednar is suggesting here, is it shouldn’t be that I spend the majority of my time in the darkness and then I do certain things and then the light comes on to help me once in a while. But hopefully the light is almost always on and I need to be watching for the things I do that cause it to turn off. That’s what I should be recognizing more often than not. We want the Spirit to be our constant companion. And there are probably going to be a lot of times that we are being led by the Spirit, and we don’t even realize it, because it’s such a part of our everyday experience. And I think that’s ok.

So back to Nephi. Again he begins to walk away, but once more, perceives there is another question.

And he says in vs. 8

8 And now, my beloved brethren, I perceive that ye ponder still in your hearts; and it grieveth me that I must speak concerning this thing.

They're still wondering about something. And the question is “Ok, how do I get the Spirit?”

Nephi’s answer:

8 And now, my beloved brethren, I perceive that ye ponder still in your hearts; and it grieveth me that I must speak concerning this thing. For if ye would hearken unto the Spirit which teacheth a man to pray, ye would know that ye must pray; for the evil spirit teacheth not a man to pray, but teacheth him that he must not pray.

9 But behold, I say unto you that ye must pray always, and not faint; that ye must not perform any thing unto the Lord save in the first place ye shall pray unto the Father in the name of Christ, that he will consecrate thy performance unto thee, that thy performance may be for the welfare of thy soul.

So how do you get the Spirit? You pray for it. You pray always. And that doesn’t mean you are constantly on your knees or even saying a prayer in your heart always. We can’t live that way. We have to have conversations with other people, we have to work, and play, and focus our minds on other things. But to pray always, I feel, is to have a mind and heart continuously open to the mind and will of our Father in Heaven, ever guided, ever illuminated. You still focus on various tasks on any given day, but you are sure you always have the light shining on all that you do. And you do pray physically often. It’s like recharging the  batteries that keeps that light on. And when you do that, and live like that, God will consecrate your performance, whatever performance that is. Whether it’s school, or work, or sports, or art, or giving a talk, or spending time with your family or 5 billion other possible things you can do in your life, God will consecrate that performance for the welfare of your soul.

APPLY

And I don’t know if you noticed this, but there are a lot of absolutes in these chapters. It’s a pattern. Full purpose, real intent, rely wholly,  perfect brightness, all men, feast upon the word, pray always.  Do you see a message in that? I see commitment. We’ve got to be willing to commit ourselves to Christ’s path. And so I would ask you before we leave the doctrine of Christ: Are you all in? Are you 100%? Are you committed to these fundamentals? And I can promise you that if you will commit yourself fully to that path, then Christ’s Atonement will wholly and completely save you.

2 Nephi 33

FAMOUS LAST WORDS

• Leonardo Da Vinci: “I have offended God and mankind because my work did not reach the quality it should have."

• Benjamin Franklin: “A dying man can do nothing easy.”

• John Wayne: Turned to his wife and said: “Of course I know who you are. You’re my girl. I love you.”

• Steve Jobs: O wow! O wow! O wow!

• Harriet Tubman: Swing low, sweet chariot.

• Joseph Smith Jr: O Lord My God.

• Brigham Young: Joseph, Joseph, Joseph.

Q: Well, what are Nephi’s last words,?

A: I must obey. Isn’t that the perfect way for Nephi to end his record. That was his character and his identity. Always obedient, right to the end.  And this entire last chapter is bittersweet. It’s his final testimony. We’ve spent a long time with him and it’s sad to see him go isn’t it. I’m not going to elaborate too much on his words, because they are testimony. But I invite you to read it and enjoy it on your own.

Ask yourself, what is Nephi’s testimony of the Book of Mormon.

Then, what is your testimony of the Book of Mormon? And then remember that one day you will stand before Nephi. He says:

11 And if they are not the words of Christ, judge ye—for Christ will show unto you, with power and great glory, that they are his words, at the last day; and you and I shall stand face to face before his bar; and ye shall know that I have been commanded of him to write these things, notwithstanding my weakness.

Share what you would say to Nephi