3 Nephi 3-10

Please stand up– and then sit done once you feel that 1 minute of time

has passed.

How is this like the Second Coming?

3 Nephi 3:11–4:33Lachoneus’s people prepare to defend themselves, and they defeat the Gadianton robbers

3 Nephi 3:12• 3 Nephi 3:13–14• 3 Nephi 3:15• 3 Nephi 3:17–19

a. How can you fortify your home against the attacks of the adversary?b. How does gathering together in families, branches, or wards provide protection for us?c. Why is daily scripture study a vital way to strengthen yourself?d. When has prayer helped you gain spiritual strength against adversity or danger?e. How can repentance be a form of preparation for the future?f. Why do you think choosing to follow those who have the spirit of prophecy and revelation is especially important today?

To see what happened when the Gadianton robbers attacked Lachoneus and his people, read 3 Nephi 4:7–12.

“What we read about in the Book of Mormon is the ‘Nephite disease’—and we have it! . . . We can be most grateful, therefore, regardless of how sick others may be, that God in the Book of Mormon has diagnosed our sickness for our special benefit, and prescribed a cure for us” (Hugh Nibley, Since Cumorah [1967], 354).

What is the “Nephite disease”?Read 3 Nephi 6:10, 13, 15 looking for the Nephite disease.  3 Nephi 7:8 Eww, gross. Totally.

“Christ says, ‘Give me All. I don't want so much of your time and so much of your money and so much of your work: I want You. I have not come to torment your natural self, but to kill it. No half-measures are any good. I don't want to cut off a branch here and a branch there. I want to have the whole tree down. I don't want to drill the tooth, or crown it, or stop it, but to have it out. Hand over the whole natural self, all the desires which you think innocent as well as the ones you think wicked—the whole outfit. I will give you a new self instead. In fact, I will give you Myself: My own will shall become yours.’" (Lewis, C. S. Mere Christianity. 1952. New York: Macmillan, 1960, 153)

3 Nephi 4Guerilla Warfare

When the Gadianton robbers start off, they are an urban terrorist group, involved in assassinations. But they eventually have to flee into the mountains. Then they make lightning raids out of the mountains to attack settled civilizations. The guerrilla then chooses the place to fight from.  At a certain point (3 Nephi 4), the Gadianton robbers come down out of the mountains; they issue an ultimatum to the leaders of the Nephites and tell them to surrender, but the Nephites don't surrender. What they do, under the leadership of a governor named Lachoneus, is withdraw into their cities. They destroy or carry away all of the food down in the agricultural areas and they take it and hole up in their fortified cities.

What happens now is that the Nephites are in their strongholds. It's the guerrillas, the Gadianton robbers in this case, who are out exposed on the plain, and they can't find any food because none has been left and the crops have been destroyed. So they are forced, at times that are not suitable to them, to attack the Nephites to try to get food, or they are forced to disperse themselves to look for game. But every time they disperse or scatter themselves, the Nephites make lightning raids out of the fortress, out of the city, and attack them. The Nephites now choose the time of attack. What they've done is reversed the situation so the Nephites become, in effect, the guerrillas, and the Gadianton robbers are trying to hold territory. It's a disaster for the Gadianton robbers, and they lose.

3 Nephi 4Execution

After Zemnarihah’s execution (3 Ne. 4:28), the tree upon which he had been hanged was ritually chopped down, just as ancient Jewish law required. 

3 Nephi 6:10City Life

 If Joseph Smith were describing what he knew of Native American culture in the frontier of upstate New York, why would he introduce such foreign ideas into his text? Attributing merchants, officers, lawyers, costly learning, and so forth to ancient Americans was outlandish if he were using his own knowledge of the natives in the land. But these verses accurately describe aspects of Mesoamerican society. Was this just a lucky guess? It certainly wasn't common knowledge in 1830.

3 Nephi 8-10Volcanic Action

Benjamin R. Jordan, who is completing a Ph.D. at the University of Rhode Island involving research on volcanic ash layers in Central America, wrote, "Volcanic Destruction in the Book of Mormon: Possible Evidence from Ice Cores," was published in the Journal of Book of Mormon Studies, Vol. 12, No. 1, 2003, pp. 78-87. Examining reputable, peer-reviewed publications of ice core data from Greenland and Antarctica, Jordan shows that there are spikes in sulfate content that are consistent with significant volcanic activity around the time of the death of Christ. "There is evidence for large eruptions, within the margin of error, for the period of A.D. 30 to 40."

3 Nephi 8-10Christ’s Prophecy

Unknown to Joseph Smith, it appears that Nephi was not the only ancient prophet who knew of the dramatic upheavals in nature that would accompany the crucifixion of Christ. An ancient document, the Book of the Rolls (available in Margaret D. Gibson, Apocrypha Arabica, London: Clay and Sons, 1901), contains a remarkable prophecy said to be from Adam that correlates well with the Book of Mormon. The Book of the Rolls is attributed to Clement, a disciple of the apostle Peter. Christ, long before his mortal birth, tells Adam:

"I will come down to thee, and in thy house will I dwell and with thy body will I be clothed. . . . i will fast forty days; . . . I will receive baptism; . . . I will be lifted up on the cross; . . . I will endure lies; . . . I will be beaten with the whip; . . . I will taste vinegar; . . . my hands will be nailed; . . . I will be pierced with a spear; . . . I will thunder in the height; . . . I will darken the sun; . . . I will cleave the rocks; . . . after three days, which I have spent in the grave, I will raise up the body which I took from thee."  (Book of the Rolls in Gibson, f.100b-101a, p. 16)

3 Nephi 6:15-18

“Satan Tempted Them to Willfully Sin against God”

Elder Neal A. Maxwell observed: “Surely it should give us more pause than it does to think of how casually we sometimes give to [Satan] who could not control his own ego in the pre-mortal world such awful control over our egos here. We often let the adversary do indirectly now what we refused to let him do directly then” (We Will Prove Them Herewith [1982], 45).

“There is a big difference between an honest mistake made in a moment of spiritual weakness and a willful decision to disobey persistently the commandments of God. Those who deliberately choose to violate Gods commandments or ignore the standards of the Church, even when promising themselves and others that someday they will be strong enough to repent, are stepping onto a dangerously slippery slope upon which many have lost their spiritual footing” (M. Russell Ballard, November 1997, 40).

It is your first semester of your first year in college. You are excited to be in your first “grown-up” class. The teacher looks dynamic and exciting. He begins walking you through the syllabus, explaining the reading and other assignments due for the class. There are quite a few projects and papers to write, all of which are supposed to be organized into a single portfolio.

You notice that there is not a due date assigned for the homework collection. “When is all of this due?” someone asks. The teacher then says, “I am not going to tell you exactly, part of this class is going to be a little test of your personal responsibility. If I were you I would begin working on it now, and do a little at a time. Consistency is going to be the key to getting this all done. It will come due before the end of the semester that I will ask you to turn it in.”

How would you feel about the teacher’s challenge?Are you responsible enough to pass the class? What would be the wisest course of action?What would be the more likely course of action?

How is this scenario like the Second Coming?

Restoration, Temples, Science and Technology, missionaries

Church few, but powerful – 1 Nephi 14:10-17 Temples Cover the earth – Isa. 2:1-5, Micah 4:1-7 Adam-Ondi-Ahman 144,000 - who are they What will be the highlight? (D&C 27:5) Who’s invited? Who would you meet? Who would be the speakers? Subjects?

“Like the dog to his vomit”

Proverbs 26:11, 2 Peter 2:22

3 Nephi 7:17-20 Nephi & Timothy

How could Nephi teach so powerfully that his listeners could not “disbelieve?”

(2 Nephi 33:1)

Performing Miracles Worthily!

Bishop Vaughn J. Featherstone once spoke of that need of worthiness:

I know a great man who held his dead son in his arms, and said, “In the name of Jesus Christ and by the power and authority of the holy Melchizedek Priesthood, I command you to live. And the dead boy opened his eyes.

“This great brother could not have possibly done that had he been looking at a pornographic piece of material a few nights before or if he had been involved in any other transgression of any kind” (CR, April, 1975, 100).

The Priesthood has to have a pure conduit to operate!

Which signs of the times scare you? Armageddon - Megiddo (Map1, b3) 200,000,000 (Rev 9:16) 2 Prophets (Rev 11:2-3) Power (Rev 11:5-6) Celebration over their death (Rev 11:7-10) But the party ends (Rev 11:11-12) Judah converted in 1 day (Zec 14:4-5) 7 months to bury dead 7 years to destroy the

weapons (Ezekiel 39:9-12)

3 Nephi 8:6

“The Lord uses the weather sometimes to discipline his people for the violation of His laws” (Spencer W. Kimball, Ensign, May 1977, 4).

3 Nephi 8:8-10

D&C 84:114

(New York, Boston and Albany)

In Logan Utah on 22nd, August. 1863, Elder Wilford addressed a conference saying that New York will be destroyed by an earthquake. Boston will be swept into the sea and Albany destroyed by a fire. President Brigham Young then got up and said it is revelation and will be fulfilled (Temples of the Most High, 97-98).

Darkest place you’ve ever been?3 Nephi 8:19-23 How are the effects of sin like being in

darkness? How is repentance like allowing light into a

darkened room?

Elder Oaks: “Signs of the Second Coming are all around us and seem to be increasing in frequency and intensity. For example, the list of major earthquakes in The World Almanac and Book of Facts, 2004 shows twice as many earthquakes in the decades of the 1980s and 1990s as in the two preceding decades. It also shows further sharp increases in the first several years of this century. The list of notable floods and tidal waves and the list of hurricanes, typhoons, and blizzards worldwide show similar increases in recent years. Increases by comparison with 50 years ago can be dismissed as changes in reporting criteria, but the accelerating pattern of natural disasters in the last few decades is ominous” (C.R., Apr. 2004, 5-6).

The devil laugheth and his angels rejoiced! Why?

How does the Lord heal us today?

“The greatest miracles I see today are not necessarily the healing of sick bodies, but the greatest miracles I see are the healing of sick souls” (Harold B. Lee, Ensign, July 1973,123).

According to the scriptures (not your own ideas), how can the a wicked person be destroyed?

Have you experienced a natural disaster. What was it like? 3 Nephi 8:5-23

Look at the destroyed cities in 3 Ne 9. Mark all the I’s. Why??

3 Nephi 9:10–14 How did the darkness and destruction affect the righteous? the wicked? How does the Devil react? (Vs2)

Elder C. Scott Grow: “Jesus Christ is the Great Healer of our souls. With the exception of sins of perdition, there is no sin or transgression, pain or sorrow, which is outside the healing power of His Atonement.“When we sin, Satan tells us we are lost. In contrast, our Redeemer offers redemption to all—no matter what we have done wrong—even to you and to me” (“The Miracle of the Atonement,” Ensign or Liahona, May 2011, 109).

Hail (D&C 29:16) 75lbs 16 ½" diameter Travel at 200 mph

Christ’s appearance to the world Why all the burning? 3 Nephi 10:4-6 and the

hen Who will be burned?

Malachi 4:1 3 Ne 10:12 - follow the prophet!

While we are powerless to alter the fact of the Second Coming and unable to know its exact time, we can accelerate our own preparation and try to influence the preparation of those around us.

What if the day of His coming were tomorrow? If we knew that we would meet the Lord tomorrow—through our premature death or through His unexpected coming—what would we do today? What confessions would we make? What practices would we discontinue? What forgivenesses would we extend?

If we would do those things then, why not now? Why not seek peace while peace can be obtained? If our lamps of preparation are drawn down, let us start immediately to replenish them.

Elder Dallin H. Oaks, CR April 2004, 7

Brigham Young: “Let our anxiety be centered upon one thing, the sanctification of our own hearts, the purifying of our own affections, the preparing of ourselves for the approach of the events that are hastening upon us. This should be our concern, this should be our study, this should be our daily prayer, and not to be in a hurry to see the overthrow of the wicked. (Journal of Discourses 9:3)

3 Nephi 3-10