2 Nephi 28-30

1. 2 Nephi 28-30 3 Nephi 9:2The devil laughs! 4th Nephi 4:1, 4 (Satan’s Mission Statement) Reveals Enemies to Christ! In Hebrew “wo” means sorrow! “Wo” is a condition of deep suffering from misfortune and affliction, or grief. It is used seven times in verses 24-32 of chapter 28.

2. What is Satan’s best approach? The one that works best on you!

3. 2 Nephi 28:3 Why are the many churches in the world only forgeries of the truth? “The Church, we may say, is His, only if He (Jesus Christ) is the founder of it. No painter, no matter how much of an artist he is, can make a genuine Rembrandt” (George Reynolds and Janne M. Sjodahl, Commentary on the Book of Mormon, 1:403).

4. Why is leading people “away carefully down to hell” such an effective method? 2 Nephi 28:21-22 It does not matter how small sins are… The safest road to Hell is the gradual one --- the gentle slope, soft underfoot, without sudden turnings, without milestones, without signposts” (C.S. Lewis, Screwtape Letters, 64-65).

5. “Satan’s Top 10” 2 Nephi 28:5-22 1. v. 5 “There is no God” 2. v.6 “He is not a God of miracles”

6. 3. v.7 “Planned repentance” 4. v.8 “Everybody’s doing it” 5. v.8 “Little sins aren’t that bad” a. “Take advantage of one because of his words” b. “Dig a pit for thy neighbor”

7. 6. v.8 “God will beat us with a few stripes, or will make an exception with you” 7. v. 9 “Works shall be in the dark, or hide sins from God” 8. v.21 “All is well, All is well” 9. v.22 “There is no hell and there is no devil” 10. v.22 “There is no deliverance from sin”

8. Honolulu Star Bulletin One example of this is a November 2nd, 1983 article in the Honolulu Star Bulletin, entitled “She Teaches Women How to Cheat” It reports on the work of psychologist Cynthia Silverman, who conducts workshops “for married women who are having, or thinking of having extramarital affairs.” The following excerpt from the article reveals its teachings:

9. “This is not advice on free love…Men and women both have affairs and the frequency of women having affairs is now almost as great as the men. The goal is to educate women to make a meaningful decision. Workshop participants are given practical advice such as remembering to cover absences with excuses a husband cannot check, and to resist the temptation to confess because “a white lie is better than a black truth.” The one hour and 45 minute workshop stresses enjoyment without guilt. “I was a basket case when I went in there,” says one wife… “I still feel a little bit guilty, but not to the same degree. “The workshop, she added, “helped me set my priorities differently. I always made sure that my family came first, especially my children, but now I realize I have a right to happiness also.”

10. In 1929 George Herbut Betts published the results of a fifty-seven doctrinal question survey he sent out to 500 ministers and 500 theological students. The questions were structured to gain either “yes,” or “no” or “uncertain” answers. Two of the questions were: 1. “Do you believe that hell exists as an actual place or location?” 2. “Do you believe that the devil exists as an actual being?”

11. Concerning the existence of hell, 53% of the ministers said “yes,” 34% “no,” and 13% were “uncertain.” The theological students’ responses were: 11% “yes,” 76% “no,” (they did not accept the reality of hell), and 13% were “uncertain.” Regarding the existence of the devil, 60% of the ministers surveyed said “yes,” 38% “no,” and 2% were uncertain. Only 9% of the theological students said they believed in the reality of Satan, while 82% denied his existence, and 9% were uncertain (Guide to Religions, 237).

12. 2 Nephi 28:15 Joseph F. Smith saw 3 dangers to the Church in the 20th Century: 1. Flattery of prominent men in the world. 2. False educational ideas. 3. Sexual impurity (Gospel Doctrine, 312-313)

13. 2 Nephi 28:24-25 What is the problem with being “at ease in Zion?” “Some people… are basically unrepentant because they are not ‘doing the commandments.’ They are Church members who are steeped in lethargy. They neither drink nor commit the sexual sins. They do not gamble nor rob nor kill. They are good citizens and splendid neighbors, but spiritually speaking they seem to be in a long, deep sleep. They are doing nothing seriously wrong except in their failures to do the right things to earn their exaltation” (Spencer W. Kimball, Miracle of Forgiveness, 211-12).

14. 2 Nephi 29:2 “and my words shall “Hiss” forth unto the ends of the earth. We members of the Church, and particularly missionaries, have to be the hissers, or the tellers and testifiers of the Book of Mormon unto the end of the world (C.R., April 1975).

15. Three reasons for studying the Book Of Mormon 2 Nephi 29:7-11 1. Know ye not that there are more nations than one? If the word of the Lord is to be established by two chosen witnesses, then we may well look for two chosen nations to stand as a witness for Jesus Christ. One such nation is Israel, the other America. Judah speaking from the Old World and Joseph from the new (Joseph Fielding Smith, Doctrines of Salvation, 1:278).

16. 2. v. 8 Know ye not that the testimony of two nations is a witness unto you that I am God. 3. v.11 For out of the books which shall be written I will judge the world. President Romney said, “For me there could be no more impelling reason for reading the Book of Mormon than this statement that we that have the Book of Mormon shall be judged by what is written in it (April C.R., 1980).

17. 2 Nephi 29:13 When will we have the words of the Jews, the Nephites, and the lost tribes? “Now the Lord has placed us on probation as members of the Church. He has given us the Book of Mormon, which is the lesser part… Then the Lord is ready to bring forth the other record and give it to us, but we are not ready now to receive it. Why? Because we have not lived up to the requirements in this probationary state in the reading of the record which had been given” (Joseph Fielding Smith, C.R., October 1961, 20).

18. 2 Nephi 30:6 Why did “pure and …delightsome” replace “white and …delightsome” in the 1981 edition? “Except the 1840 edition of the Book of Mormon, in all editions prior to 1981 this verse read ‘a white and delightsome people.’ The 1981 change was made in conformity with the 1840 edition (the only one personally revised by Joseph Smith)… Robert J. Matthews wrote: ‘…This correction does not negate the concept that future generations of Lamanites will become white, but it removes the concept that one has to be white to be delightsome to the Lord” (Rodney Turner, in Monte S. Nyman and Charles D. Tate Jr., eds., 2 Nephi, 156, 8).

19. 2 Nephi 30:16-18 How much more will “be made known” in that day? “For the future, there is to be new revelation that will dwarf into comparative insignificance all the knowledge now revealed from heaven.When the sealed portion of the Book of Mormon comes forth it will ‘reveal all things from the foundation of the world unto the end thereof” (Bruce R. McConkie, Mormon Doctrine, 649).

20. 2 Nephi 30:11 What are the “girdle” and “reins?” “A ‘girdle’ is a belt or sash that wraps around the waist. The ‘loins’ and ‘reins’ stand for a man’s moral character. Christ will be completely wrapped in righteousness and faithfulness” (Thomas R. Valletta, ed., Book of Mormon for Latter-day Saint Families, 145).