3 Nephi 19-23 3 Nephi 19:1-3 Family Home Evening ! I don’t think they slept much in anticipation !

1. 3 Nephi 19-23 3 Nephi 19:1-3 Family Home Evening! I don’t think they slept much in anticipation! If I told you that I knew the names of the “Three Nephites” would you believe me?

2. 3 Nephi 19:4“Disciples” Disciple is used ten times in the Book of Mormon, and nine references are towards apostles (The exception is Alma 45:14). There is no question that they acted as Apostles because they were special witnesses of Christ. “He organized His church with twelve apostles called disciples, to whom were given the same priesthood, authority and keys that their contemporaries Peter, James, and John held in the other land (Pres. Kimball, Faith Proceeds the Miracle, 334).

3. The twelve apostles in America were probably called disciples because they will be judged by the twelve apostles who had been with Jesus in Jerusalem and were still living at the time (1 Nephi 12:8-9). Joseph Smith said in 1832 that they were Apostles. According to Oliver Huntington, the following men are the 3 Nephites: Jeremiah, Kumenonhi, and Zedekiah. He said that Joseph Smith had told him so (Oliver Huntington’s Journal, Feb. 16th, 1895).

4. 3 Nephi 19:11 “RE-BAPTISMS” Nephite Day of Pentecost (Acts 2) Did Nephi baptize himself? “When Christ appeared to the Nephites on this continent, he commanded them to be baptized, although they had been baptized previously for the remission of their sins… Then we read that the Savior commanded Nephi and the people to be baptized again, because He had organized a new the Church under the gospel… “For the same reason Joseph Smith and those who had been baptized prior to April 6, 1830 (that baptism was for the remission of sins), were again baptized on the day of the organization of the church… “They had to be in order to come into the Church by the door" (Joseph Fielding Smith, Doctrines of Salvation, 2:336).

5. Members and nonmembers alike question why re-baptisms were entered into by early Church members. Before considering their reasons for being re-baptized, it should be understood that it is not necessary for anyone to be baptized again unless they were not baptized by proper authority or if they have been excommunicated or if their records of baptism have been lost. With this in mind, it may be more easily understood why early members if the Church re-entered the waters of baptism.

6. Until the pioneers entered the Salt Lake Valley and began colonizing the West, they had been rather consistently mobbed, plundered, and driven from place to place. In short, their existence had been anything but routine and peaceful. Under these trying circumstances it was very difficult for them to live some parts of the gospel as completely as they wanted to. For instance, even though they wanted to keep the Sabbath Day holy, mobs pursued them just as much on Sunday as on any other day of the week.

7. Consequently, they often were not able to make Sunday a holy day of peaceful worship and service to the Lord. After several years of such treatment, many of the Saints found themselves out of the habit of keeping the Sabbath Day holy. The Saints had lived such a hectic life for so long that they had become remiss in observing many areas of gospel living. When they finally were able to settle down in relatively peaceful circumstances, as was the case after they came West, they had an intense desire to rededicate themselves to the Lord and were determined to attain a much higher level of spirituality than they had achieved theretofore.

8. In light of this desire of significantly raising the level of gospel living, and in view of the fact that many records of baptism had been lost as a result of mobbings, most of the faithful Saints throughout the Church, including the First Presidency, presented themselves for re-baptism as a witness to both the Lord and other members of the Church that they would adhere more strictly to the commandments of God. They recommitted themselves not to the letter of the law but to the spirit of the law as well. The question might be asked, Why don’t we get re-baptized like that today? The answer was summarized by George Q. Cannon in 1897 as follows:

9. “We hear a good deal of talk about re-baptism, and the First Presidency and the Twelve have felt that so much re-baptism ought to be stopped. Men, when they commit sin, think if they can only get the Bishop to re-baptize them, they are all right and their sins are condoned. It is a fallacy; it will lead to destruction. There is no such thing in the Gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ. It is repentance from sin that will save you, not re-baptism. If you have been baptized, then, if you commit sin, repent of the sin… and do not imagine that when you commit sin you can slip in to the waters of baptism and you are all right. Do not delude yourselves, brethren and sisters. Sinners, be not deceived by such a fallacy. Some think more than this is necessary. We need to repent of our sins” (C.R., Oct. 1897, 68-69). For the same reason Joseph Smith and those who had been baptized prior to April 6, 1830, were again baptized on the day of the organization of the Church (Joseph Fielding Smith, Doctrine of Salvation 2:336).

10. 3 Nephi 19:18Why did they pray unto Jesus? Under the influence of the Spirit they prayed to Jesus “calling him their Lord and their God.” He was and is the Redeemer and God. In reverential worship they directed their prayers to the Savior, and he did not stop them nor correct them. It appears that, in this case, it was appropriate because the resurrected God stood in their very presence (v. 22). Elder McConkie has written: “Jesus was present before them as the symbol of the Father. Seeing him, it was as though they saw the Father, praying to him, it was as though they prayed to the Father. It was a special and unique situation as far as we know that has taken place only once on earth during all the long ages of the Lord’s hand-dealings with his children” (Promised Messiah, 561).

11. 3 Nephi 19:24 “It was given unto them what they should pray” “Perfect prayers are those which are inspired, in which the Spirit reveals the words which should be used” (Bruce R. McConkie, Mormon Doctrine, 586).

12. 3 Nephi 19:32 “Tongue cannot speak” “So great and marvelous were the words which he prayed that they cannot be written.” Bruce R. McConkie was present in June 1978 when the First Presidency and Twelve importuned the Lord for a revelation and subsequently learned that the priesthood would be available to all worthy males.

13. Bruce R. McConkie said: “The Lord in his providence poured out the Holy Ghost upon the First Presidency and the Twelve in a miraculous and marvelous manner.” Speaking of this and other revelations, he continued, “There is no way to describe in words what happened” (Bruce R. McConkie, Sermon and Writings, 167-69, D&C 76:115-116). 3 Nephi 19:20-23, 28-34 “The Savior prayed!” 3 Nephi 20:13, 15, 27; 21:2, 24 “What is one reason the Lord scattered Israel?”

14. “Thus through this scattering the Lord has caused Israel to mix with the nations and bring the Gentiles within the blessings of the seed of Abraham… It is by this scattering that the Gentile nations have been blessed, and if they will truly repent they are entitled to all the blessings promised to Israel” (Joseph Fielding Smith, Answers to Gospel Questions, 2:57). 3 Nephi 20:25-26 “Because you are the Children of the Covenant!” 3 Nephi 20:29“The Land of Jerusalem” It was not until 1948, 118 years later the publication of the Book of Mormon, that the modern state of Israel was established and these people could gather home to the land of their inheritance. 3 Nephi 20:30-31 Partially fulfilled in 1830 with the publishing of the Book of Mormon.

15. 3 Nephi 20:43-45 Who is this servant? “Isaiah’s prophecy about the marred servant is clearly Messianic and applies to Jesus who was crucified….But…as with many prophecies, the divine word has a dual fulfillment. In this setting we may properly say that Joseph Smith --- whose voice declared the word for this dispensation --- was marred, as his Lord had been, and yet should be healed” (Bruce R. McConkie, Mortal Messiah, 4:354).

16. 3 Nephi 21:9-11 How will the gospel become “a great and marvelous work” in the world? Count Leo Tolstoi, speaking to Dr. Andrew D. White, said: “The Mormon people teach the American religion; their principles teach the people not only of Heaven and its attendant glories, but how to live so that their social and economic relations with each other are placed on a sound basis. If the people follow the teachings of this Church, nothing can stop their progress – it will be limitless. There have been great movements started in the past but they have died or been modified before they reached maturity. If Mormonism is able to endure, unmodified, until it reaches the third and fourth generation,it is destined to become the greatest power the world has ever known” (Thomas J. Yates, Improvement Era, February 1939, 94).

17. 3Nephi 21:24-26 The New Jerusalem being Jackson County, Missouri. “The great day of the return of the Ten Tribes, the day when the assembling hosts shall fulfill the prophetic promises, shall come after our Lords Return” (Bruce R. McConkie, Millennial Messiah, 323). 3 Nephi 22:1 Who are “the children of the desolate” and “the children of the married wife?” The “barren” and the “children of the desolate” are “those who for generations have lived without the light of the gospel… The children of the married wife (are) the members of the Church” (Joseph Fielding McConkie and Robert L. Millet, Doctrinal Commentary, 4:155).

18. 3 Nephi 22:16 “Smith” = teachers “Instrument” = students “Joseph was surely the smith who forged the instrument by which the Lord’s people continued to prepare individually and collectively for the Savior’s return – and that instrument is The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints” (Gerald N. Lund, Ensign, January 1997, 52). 3 Nephi 23:1“Great are the Words of Isaiah” “It just might be that my salvation (and yours also!) does in fact depend upon our ability to understand the writings of Isaiah as fully and truly as Nephi understood them” (Bruce R. McConkie, Ensign, October 1973, 78). A person can read the scriptures casually. But when a person searches scriptures the following words apply: meditate (Joshua 1:8), study (2 Tim 2:15), heed (1 Nephi 15:25), hear (1 Nephi 19:24), ponder (2 Nephi 4:15).

19. President Packer said, “Isaiah is the most quoted prophet in the New Testament. The Lord Himself quoted Isaiah seven times, the Apostles forty times more. In addition there are ninety partial quotes of paraphrases of Isaiah’s words. “Isaiah is the most quoted prophet in the Doctrine and Covenants. Sixty-six quotations from thirty-one chapters of Isaiah attest to the singular importance of this great prophet. “All of this confirms that the Lord had a purpose in preserving Isaiah’s words” (Let Not Your Heart Be Troubled [1991], 280).

20. 3 Nephi 23:7, 11-14 “Are there things we have not written that the Lord might want recorded”? “Do not Suppose… that your experiences will not be interesting to your posterity. … What could you do better for your children and your children's children than to record the story of your life, your triumphs over adversity, your recovery after a fall, your progress when all seemed black, your rejoicing when you had finally achieved? Maybe the angels may quote from it for eternity" (Spencer W. Kimball, Teachings, 350-51).

21. Joseph Smith encouraged the Saints to search the scriptures in order to receive an independent witness of the truth and to obtain direct instructions from God: “Search the Scriptures --- search the revelations which we publish, and ask your Heavenly Father, in the name of His Son Jesus Christ, to manifest the truth unto you, and if you do it with an eye single to the His glory, nothing doubting, He will answer you by the power of His Holy Spirit. You will then know for yourselves and not for another. You will then be dependent on man for the knowledge of God; nor will there be any room for speculation. No; for when men receive their instruction from Him that made them, they know how He will save them. Then again we say: Search the Scriptures, search the Prophets, and learn what portion of them belongs to you” (History of the Church, 1:282).