Whosover Will Come, Him I will receive

Whosoever Will Come, Him I will receive
3 Nephi 8-11

These chapters are the most important Mormon gives to us. They describe the coming of the resurrected Lord to the people of Nephi. It is the event that all other events are referenced to. It is what the people have looked forward to from the time their fathers left Jerusalem. This is the apex of the Book of Mormon.

How else would Mormon begin to describe these events than by bearing his testimony of the truthfulness of this record. What he is about to describe REALLY happened. He knows it happened because a prophet of God, a just man, Nephi, has recorded it. Mormon bears testimony of a true event recorded by a true man.

The people of Nephi had received the sign of the savior’s birth, just as Samuel the Lamanite had prophesied. Thirty three years had passed since that sign had been given some of the people began to look with great earnest for the signs of his death- three days of darkness covering the land. Some of the people were involved in great disputations and doubtings.

Which category do you find yourself in as we, in the latter days, look for the signs we have been promised before Christ returns?

3 Nephi 8
5 And it came to pass in the a*thirty and fourth year, in the first month, on the fourth day of the month, there arose a great bstorm, such an one as never had been known in all the land.
6 And there was also a great and terrible tempest; and there was terrible athunder, insomuch that it did bshake the whole earth as if it was about to divide asunder.
7 And there were exceedingly sharp lightnings, such as never had been known in all the land.

These events are not only the fulfillment of Samuel’s prophecy( Helaman Chapter 14) , but also the fulfillment of the prophet Zenos’ prophecies ( 1 Ne 10:10-12)

The reason that these chapters are specifically of interest to us today is that the coming of the Atoning Messiah in the meridian of time to the Nephites is typilogically similar to the coming of the Triumphant Messiah in the latter days to us. Just as His coming to the Nephites was preceded by great destruction, so it will be when he appears again.

Ezra Taft Benson: “In the Book of Mormon we find a pattern for preparing for the Second Coming. A major portion of the book centers on the few decades just prior to Christ’s coming to America. By careful study of that time period, we can determine why some were destroyed in the terrible judgments that preceded His coming and what brought others to stand at the temple in the land of Bountiful and thrust their hands into the wounds of His hands and feet.” (Ensign, Nov. 1986, pp. 6-7 as taken from Latterday Commentary on the Book of Mormon compiled by K. Douglas Bassett, p. 407)

What are we doing to prepare ourselves and our families for these promised events?

Nephi describes tempests, whirlwhinds, thundering, lightening, cities destroyed by fire, sunk in the depths of the sea, storms, quakings, rocks being rent in twain. Nothing like this had ever been experienced by this people. All the destruction continued for the space of 3 hours before the darkness that had been prophesied of came and spread across the land.

In the latter days we will also see a great storm of overflowing rain and great hailstones ( Ezek. 38:22), thunderings and lighnings ( Rev. 8:5), the waves of the sea will heave themselves beyond their bounds ( D&C 88:90), the valleys shall be exalted and the mountains made low ( Isaiah 40:4), so many will lose their lives that seven months shall the house of Israel be in burying them ( Ezek 39:12), Whirlwinds shall take some away as stubble ( Isa 40:24), and the sun shall be darkened ( D&C 29:14)

3 Nephi 8
20 And it came to pass that there was thick darkness upon all the face of the land, insomuch that the inhabitants thereof who had not fallen could afeel the bvapor of darkness;
21 And there could be no light, because of the darkness, neither candles, neither torches; neither could there be fire kindled with their fine and exceedingly dry wood, so that there could not be any light at all;
22 And there was not any light seen, neither fire, nor glimmer, neither the sun, nor the moon, nor the stars, for so great were the mists of darkness which were upon the face of the land.
23 And it came to pass that it did last for the space of three days that there was no light seen; and there was great mourning and ahowling and weeping among all the people continually; yea, great were the groanings of the people, because of the darkness and the great destruction which had come upon them.
24 And in one place they were heard to cry, saying: O that we had repented abefore this great and terrible day, and then would our brethren have been spared, and they would not have been bburned in that great city Zarahemla.
25 And in another place they were heard to cry and mourn, saying: O that we had repented before this great and terrible day, and had not killed and stoned the prophets, and cast them out; then would our mothers and our fair daughters, and our children have been spared, and not have been buried up in that great city aMoronihah. And thus were the howlings of the people great and terrible

What can we learn by the reaction of those who survived this great destruction?

How often and in how many ways must the Lord say it before we will believe His words?- Follow the prophet. Repent, and turn to me.

What will it take for us to humble ourselves to the point that we are prepared to receive our Lord? Will we be among the mourning because it took great desctruction, severe trials, and the loss of loved ones to accomplish this purpose?

3 Nephi 9
1 And it came to pass that there was a avoice heard among all the inhabitants of the earth, upon all the face of this land, crying:
2 Wo, wo, wo unto this people; wo unto the inhabitants of the whole earth except they shall arepent; for the devil blaugheth, and his angels rejoice, because of the slain of the fair sons and daughters of my people; and it is because of their iniquity and abominations that they are fallen!

Over the next few verses, the Lord recounts in detail the fate of each Nephite city that had been destroyed and makes it very clear that HE is responsible for this destruction.

· great city Zarahemla have I aburned with fire
· great city Moroni have I caused to be asunk in the depths of the sea,
· great city aMoronihah have I covered with earth
· the city of Gilgal have I caused to be sunk

What reason did the Lord give for the destruction?

3 Nephi 9
12 And amany great destructions have I caused to come upon this land, and upon this people, because of their wickedness and their abominations.
13 O all ye that are aspared because ye were more brighteous than they, will ye not now return unto me, and repent of your sins, and be converted, that I may cheal you?

Bruce R. McConkie:
“When we say that only the righteous shall abide the day; when we say that there shall be an entire separation between the righteous and the wicked in that day—we must take into account the fact that there are no perfect men. All men fall short of divine standards; none attain the high state of excellence manifest in the life of the Lord Jesus; even the most faithful saints commit sin and live in some degree after the manner of the world. But such worldly works as remain with the righteous shall be burned so that the saints themselves may be saved. The burning that destroys every corruptible thing is the same burning that cleanses the righteous. Evil and sin and dross will be burned out of their souls because they qualify to abide the day, even though all their works have not been as those of Enoch and Elijah. If only perfect
people were saved, there would be only one saved soul—the Lord Jesus. Millennial Messiah, 543-544)

The voice continues by saying:

3 Nephi 9
14 Yea, verily I say unto you, if ye will acome unto me ye shall have beternal life. Behold, mine carm of mercy is extended towards you, and whosoever will come, him will I receive; and blessed are those who come unto me.
15 Behold, I am Jesus Christ the Son of God. I acreated the heavens and the earth, and all things that in them are. I was with the Father from the beginning. bI am in the Father, and the Father in me; and in me hath the Father glorified his name.

So that there is no mistake of whose voice they are hearing, the savior identifies himself and entreats them multiple times, come unto me.

What do we do today to accept His invitation?

Elder Jeffrey R. Holland said: “ ‘Come,’ [Christ] says lovingly. ‘Come, follow me.’ Wherever you are going, first come and see what I do, see where and how I spend my time. Learn of me, walk with me, talk with me, believe. Listen to me pray. In turn you will find answers to your own prayers. God will bring rest to your souls. Come, follow me” (in Conference Report, Oct. 1997, 88; or Ensign, Nov. 1997, 65).

3 Nephi 9
17 And as many as have received me, to them have I agiven to become the sons of God; and even so will I to as many as shall believe on my name, for behold, by me bredemption cometh, and cin me is the dlaw of Moses fulfilled.

J. Reuben Clark: “It is difficult for us today to realize the tremendous revolution involved in altering the ritualism of the Law of Moses into the humble and lowly concept of worship, not with the sacrificial blood of animals, but with this broken heart and contrite spirit of the worshiper…[Animal sacrifice] was always a vicarious sacrifice, apparently with little actual sacrifice except for the value of the animal sacrificed, by the individuals themselves, to cancel the debit, so to speak, against their lives and living in the eyes of the Almighty One. The sinner seemingly, in general, took on no obligation and considered himself under no obligation to abandon his sins, but took on only the obligation to offer sacrifice therefore. But under the new covenant that came in with Christ, the sinner must offer the sacrifice out of his own life, not by offering the blood of some other creature; he must give up his sins, he must repent, he himself must make the sacrifice.” (Behold the Lamb of God, pp. 107-9 as taken from Latter-day Commentary on the Book of Mormon compiled by K. Douglas Bassett, p. 406-7))

No longer does the Lord require us to sacrifice animals, he requires us to sacrifice the animal in us.

Many hours passed away in silence before the people heard the voice of the Lord again. When He finally spoke, what analogy did he use to describe His yearning to gather His people?

3 Nephi 10
4 O ye people of these agreat cities which have fallen, who are descendants of Jacob, yea, who are of the house of Israel, how oft have I bgathered you as a hen gathereth her chickens under her wings, and have cnourished you.
5 And again, how oft would I have gathered you as a hen gathereth her chickens under her wings, yea, O aye people of the house of Israel, who have fallen; yea, O ye people of the house of Israel, ye that dwell at Jerusalem, as ye that have fallen; yea, how oft would I have gathered you as a hen gathereth her chickens, and ye would not.
6 O ye house of Israel whom I have aspared, how oft will I gather you as a hen gathereth her chickens under her wings, if ye will repent and breturn unto me with full purpose of cheart.

From the Book of Mormon Symposium Series: “The image of the hen calling after her chickens to come to the shelter and safety of her wings portrays the love of the Savior, his desire to nourish his children, to keep them safe from their common enemy, Satan, to shelter them from the storms of life, to give them the opportunity to grow and fulfill the promise of their nature. The image suggests other ideas as well. The chickens have strayed away from the hen. They have been lured from safety by their desire for adventure or rebellion, out into the tempting world where danger lurks beside every step. The hen calls to her chickens, but they must come of their own volition. They are not forced under her wings; they are invited, even urged, but they must exercise their own agency. In using this metaphor, the Lord designates his call to those of the fallen cities, who are descendants of Jacob, and to those of the house of Israel, who live at Jerusalem, establishing the right of the Savior to issue the call to repentance-they
are his people who owe him obedience. And his use of the three verbs: ‘how oft have I gathered you; ... how oft would I have gathered you; ... how oft will I gather you’ emphasizes his timeless call to repentance-past, present, and future. The Savior's love is always there. His arms are always extended in mercy as long as there is any hope for his children to return to him. The true nature of repentance is not a test, not an indulgence, but a gift of love. It is one that we must take-it cannot be forced upon us.” (Book of Mormon Symposium Series, 3 Ne 9-30, edited by PR Cheesman, MS Nyman, and CD Tate, Jr., 1988, p. 79))

After calling the people to repent and come unto Him, Christ ceased speaking to the people. Three days of mourning passed. Then, the darkenss dispersed, the noise and destruction stopped and the people’s sadness turned into joy. The more righteous part of the people had been spared.

3 Nephi 10:12
and it was they who received the prophets and stoned them not; and it was they who had not shed the blood of the saints, who were spared—

Pres. Henry B. Eyring
There seems to be no end to the Savior’s desire to lead us to safety, and there is constancy in the way He shows us the path. He calls by more than one means so that it will reach those willing to accept it. Those means always include sending the message by the mouths of His prophets whenever people have qualified to have the prophets of God among them. Those authorized servants are always charged with warning the people, telling them the way to safety (Henry B. Eyring, “Safety in Counsel,” Liahona, Jun 2008, 2–7).

3 Nephi 10
14 And now, whoso readeth, let him understand; he that hath the scriptures, let him asearch them, and see and behold if all these deaths and destructions by fire, and by smoke, and by btempests, and by whirlwinds, and by the copening of the earth to receive them, and all these things are not unto the fulfilling of the prophecies of many of the holy prophets.
15 Behold, I say unto you, Yea, many have testified of these things at the coming of Christ, and were aslain because they testified of these things.

(“Up to the very moment when the terrible destruction began, the unbelievers were sure that the prophets had been wrong. They must have thought the prophets were negative, gloomy, and out of touch with reality. Then suddenly, in one great disastrous moment it became clear just how much in touch with reality the prophets had been. Unfortunately for tens of thousands of those who had previously scoffed, there was no time to reevaluate their skepticism. Is it that much different in our own day? We have been amply warned of the impending judgment, which
will be every bit as terrible and devastating as that which occurred in AD 34. (See DC 29:14-21; 43:19- 25; 45:39-42; 88:87-91; 133:41-49) Yet the world at large either ignores such warnings or condescendingly views the prophets as religious fanatics who are out of touch with the real world. In the preface to the Doctrine and Covenants the Lord warned: ‘And the day cometh that they who will not hear the voice of the Lord, neither the voice of his servants, neither give heed to the words of the prophets and apostles, shall be cut off from among the people’ (D&C 1:14. Italics added.). Note also Mormon’s solemn words: ‘And now, whoso readeth, let him understand’ (v. 14).” (Book of Mormon Student Manual, 1981, p. 393))

3 Nephi 11
1 And now it came to pass that there were a great multitude agathered together, of the people of Nephi, round about the temple which was in the land bBountiful; and they were marveling and wondering one with another, and were showing one to another the cgreat and marvelous change which had taken place.
2 And they were also conversing about this Jesus Christ, of whom the asign had been given concerning his death.
3 And it came to pass that while they were thus conversing one with another, they heard a avoice as if it came out of heaven; and they cast their eyes round about, for they understood not the voice which they heard; and it was not a harsh voice, neither was it a loud voice; nevertheless, and notwithstanding it being a bsmall voice it did cpierce them that did hear to the center, insomuch that there was no part of their frame that it did not cause to quake; yea, it did pierce them to the very soul, and did cause their hearts to burn.
What kind of background noise to we have to put up with today as we attempt to get spiritual impressions from heaven?

Boyd K. Packer
The world grows increasingly noisy. Clothing and grooming and conduct are looser and sloppier and more disheveled. Raucous music, with obscene lyrics blasted through amplifiers while lights flash psychedelic colors, characterizes the drug culture. Variations of these things are gaining wide acceptance and influence over our youth.

Doctors even say that our physical sense of hearing can be permanently damaged by all of this noise.

This trend to more noise, more excitement, more contention, less restraint, less dignity, less formality is not coincidental nor innocent nor harmless.

The first order issued by a commander mounting a military invasion is the jamming of the channels of communication of those he intends to conquer.

Irreverence suits the purposes of the adversary by obstructing the delicate channels of revelation in both mind and spirit. (Boyd K. Packer, “Reverence Invites Revelation,” Ensign, Nov 1991, 21)



Will we be able to hear the small voice over the volume of our lives?


4 And it came to pass that again they heard the voice, and they aunderstood it not.
5 And again the third time they did hear the voice, and did aopen their ears to hear it; and their eyes were towards the sound thereof; and they did look steadfastly towards heaven, from whence the sound came.

It is our responsibility to create an environment where we can hear the voice, open our ears and look steadfastly toward heaven from whence the voice came.

6 And behold, the third time they did understand the voice which they heard; and it said unto them:
7 Behold my aBeloved Son, bin whom I am well pleased, in whom I have glorified my name—hear ye him.
8 And it came to pass, as they understood they cast their eyes up again towards heaven; and behold, they asaw a Man bdescending out of heaven; and he was clothed in a white robe; and he came down and stood in the midst of them; and the eyes of the whole multitude were turned upon him, and they durst not open their mouths, even one to another, and wist not what it meant, for they thought it was an angel that had appeared unto them.
9 And it came to pass that he stretched forth his hand and spake unto the people, saying:
10 Behold, I am Jesus Christ, whom the prophets testified shall come into the world.
11 And behold, I am the alight and the life of the world; and I have drunk out of that bitter bcup which the Father hath given me, and have glorified the Father in ctaking upon me the sins of the world, in the which I have suffered the dwill of the Father in all things from the beginning.
12 And it came to pass that when Jesus had spoken these words the whole multitude afell to the earth; for they remembered that it had been bprophesied among them that Christ should cshow himself unto them after his ascension into heaven.
13 And it came to pass that the aLord spake unto them saying:
14 Arise and come forth unto me, that ye may athrust your hands into my side, and also that ye may bfeel the prints of the nails in my hands and in my feet, that ye may know that I am the cGod of Israel, and the God of the whole dearth, and have been slain for the sins of the world.

Jeffrey R. Holland: “At that invitation, the entire multitude went forth ‘one by one,’ thrusting their hands into his side and feeling the prints of the nails in his hands and feet. Even though the power of the Resurrection could have—and undoubtedly one day will have— completely
restored and made new the wounds from the crucifixion, nevertheless Christ chose to retain those wounds for a purpose, including for his appearance in the last days when he will show those marks and reveal that he was wounded ‘in the house of [his] friends’ (D&C 45:52). The wounds in his hands, feet, and side are signs that in mortality painful things happen even to the pure and the perfect, signs that tribulation is not evidence that God does not love us. It is a significant and hopeful fact that it is the wounded Christ who comes to our rescue. He who bears the scars of sacrifice, the lesions of love, the emblems of humility and forgiveness is the Captain of our Soul. That evidence of pain in mortality is undoubtedly intended to give courage to others who are also hurt and wounded by life, perhaps even in the house of their friends. In spite of the size of the great multitude, Christ nevertheless took time for each one to have that personal experience.” (Christ And The New Covenant, p. 259)

Christ comes personally to each of us. He has no favorites. he is “the keeper of the gate..the Holy One of Israel and he employeth no servant there.” (2 Nephi 9:41) He will personally talk with you and bring you in.

Hugh Nibley
“ He doesn’t stand on the balcony and wave his hand and say “bless you, children” to over a million people, and that takes care of them. No, he’s very personal. Everyone gets this private, individual attention here. “ ( Nibley, Teachings of the Book of Mormon 3:342)

I testify that Jesus is the Christ, that he suffered in Gethsemane and at Calvary for me and for you. I testify that he is the Son of God, the creator of this Earth, our Redeemer. I testify that in a day not far from today He will come clothed in power and great glory with all the holy angels. And if we are prepared, we will go out to meet him. He will know us individually. He will call us by name and we will feel the tremendous love He has for each of us.

May we continually prepare for that day, searching the scriptures, following the prophets and repenting and turning to Him whose gospel this is is my prayer in the name of Jesus Christ, Amen.