Book of Mormon Commentary CofC - Odessa, Missouri Community ...

Book of Mormon Commentary
1 Nephi Chapter 3
stumbling blocks are to be removed, provided they "harden not their hearts against the Lamb of
God." (See also vs.213)
This promise, like most of God's promises, is conditional. It is well for the Saints to remember that
"when ye do not what I say, ye have no promise" (D. and C. 81:3 b). We also have the pressing
obligation to get this message across to all citizens of this land who can be heirs of this promise.
1 Ne 3:214 For the time cometh, saith the Lamb of God, that I will work a great and a marvelous work
among the children of men;
1 Ne 3:215 A work which shall be everlasting, either on the one hand or on the other;
1 Ne 3:216 Either to the convincing of them unto peace and life eternal, or unto the deliverance of them
to the hardness of their hearts and the blindness of their minds, unto their being brought down into
captivity and also unto destruction, both temporally and spiritually, according to the captivity of the
devil, of which I have spoken.
3:214-216 This prophecy refers particularly to the Restoration movement of latter days (D. and C.
4:1a; 6:1a; 10:1a; 11:1a; 12:1a). With every opportunity there comes a choice and a responsibility.
It will be better for those "who died without law” (D. and C. 76:6c) than for those who ignored or
disobeyed it (D. and C. 76:7b). Those who reject the gospel message will be "brought down into
captivity and also unto destruction, both temporally and spiritually ."
THERE ARE ONLY TWO CHURCHES, VER. 220-237
1 Ne 3:221 The one is the church of the Lamb of God, and the other is the church of the devil;
3:221 All who are not in Christ's church are of that great church which has dominion over all the
earth (225). In contrast the numbers of the church of the lamb "were few." Jesus once referred to
these two groups as the "broad way" and the "narrow way" (Matt. 7:22, 23). Nephi says the church
of the lamb "were the saints of God" (227). He refers to all others as "the kingdom of the devil
...those who seek the lusts of the flesh and the things of the world, and to do all manner of
iniquity” (7:49, .50).
Nephi also saw that this "mother of abominations" among the Gentiles fought against the "church
of the lamb" (229, 230). God's wrath in the form of war and disturbing rumors of wars will be
poured out on the nations which were serving the devil, the "mother of harlots" (234). Some have
interpreted this as descriptive of a particular denomination. This does not seem logical, for if this
"church” which is the "mother of abominations" (222) is one of the two churches, then all other
denominations must be grouped together as "the church of the lamb of God."
JOHN, THE APOSTLE WHO SHOULD TARRY, VER. 238-256
1 Ne 3:239 And the angel said unto me, Behold one of the twelve apostles of the Lamb!
3:239 Nephi was shown a man in a white robe. He should write "concerning the end of the world"
(242). This refers to John, the beloved disciple, and to his book, "The Revelation of St. John the
Divine."