[Moroni Records Extinction of the People]
[Moroni Sees The Three Nephites]
[Moroni Hides Up the Records]
[Records Will Come “out of the earth”]
[Secret Combinations, Envying, Insensitive, Etc.]
[Churches Built to Get Gain]
[Your Reward Will Be the Best You Want]
220 Mormon 8:1 Now we’re going to get down to cases. Here you’ll notice Moroni takes up the story. He picks up the record at his father’s command and takes over the record at this time. And here’s a sad picture. This has all happened after Cumorah. It’s all over now, and Moroni has been running for about fifteen years. This is about A.D. 401, so this is fifteen years after Cumorah. He writes the rest of Mormon’s book. He’s had plenty of time to think it over—we can understand that.
220 Mormon 8:3 [Some of] the Nephites escaped southward and were hunted by the Lamanites—everything is in confusion, and his father has been slain and the rest of them. “I even alone remain to write the sad tale of the destruction of my people.” They are all gone.
220,221 Mormon 8:3,7 It’s a sad situation, but they [the Nephites] are all gone. Mormon 8:3: “I fulfill the commandment of my father, and whether they will slay me, I know not [infinitely forlorn, but are not all ruins so? This is what happened]. ... I am alone. My father hath been slain in battle, and all my kinsfolk, and I have not friends nor whither to go.” Is this survival you look forward to? Verse 7: “And behold, the Lamanites have hunted my people, the Nephites, down from city to city and from place to place”—they’re all gone, but it hasn’t settled anything. Notice, the military solution is no solution; it certainly isn’t here.
221 Mormon 8:8 The Lamanites have hunted them down. He says, “And behold it is the hand of the Lord which hath done it.” Well, this is the condition of the world. Moroni’s going to launch into the story of the Jaredites next, which is even more tragic and horrendous, but in a different setting and a totally different culture. It takes us way out of things.
221 Mormon 8:9 There’s nothing left but Lamanites and robbers. You’ll notice the robbers are important here, the looters and outlaws. The place is swarming with them. When things break up like that, you’re not going to stay around to be drafted for anything. The pickings are rich.
221 Mormon 8:10,11 Notice again that here we have that little group, the disciples of Jesus. They’ve always been there discreet from the rest. He says they weren’t involved. Verse 10: “And there are none that do know the true God save it be the disciples of Jesus, who did tarry in the land until the wickedness of the people was so great [notice he uses the present tense here; he doesn’t know whether they’re gone or not] that the Lord would not suffer them to remain with the people; and whether they be upon the face of the land no man knoweth.” I don’t know, he says. That refers to the Three Nephites, of course. They belong to that same group, but they were of another nature from ours. They talk about that; we’re going to have more talk about the Three Nephites. He doesn’t know what they are, what condition they’re in, or anything else. But here he’s talking about some of those disciples. But Zion is fled—you have to grant that. The Lord wouldn’t suffer them to remain here. The prophets mourned and withdrew, we’re told. That eloquent term is in the book of the Sethians. The principle is as it starts out in the Book of Mormon—he leadeth the righteous away into precious lands. If they can’t get along and there’s no hope for reforming the rest of the world, you just take them out. Hence went forth the saying, “Zion has fled” and is taken away. The man who walked with God and was not, for God took him, etc. This is why the world today knows so little about Zion. Every time Zion gets really built up, it’s taken away and is not there anymore.
221,222 Mormon 8:12 Then he asks us to receive this record with an open mind, and that’s what people don’t do. They condemn it. All they have to do is hear the words angel and gold plates, and the issue is settled. There’s no further discussion necessary. So nobody reads the Book of Mormon, including those who criticize it, because you don’t have to go any further. It would be a waste of time talking about angels and things like that [they feel].
222 Mormon 8:14-16 “And I am the same who hideth up this record.” I’m making an end of speaking concerning this people. So much for the Nephites then. Now I’m going to talk to you, he says, and that is why I’m doing it [hiding the record]. That’s why we’ve been spared. And [regarding] the plates, “no one shall have them to get gain.” If we only had the plates, it would cause a terrible lot of mischief—all the argument about translating them. The best thing is not to have them; we have something far better. We have the inspired translation, and this can be tested.
222 Mormon l8:16,17 Now [we have] these marvelous passages about how the Book of Mormon will come forth again and under what conditions. He traces it right down to our time with the wondrous, haunting refrain, “it shall come in a day.” Then these are old Hermetic themes: “For it shall be brought out of darkness unto light, according to the word of God . . . [to] shine forth out of darkness. . . . And if there be faults they be the faults of a man. But behold, we know no fault; nevertheless God knoweth all things” (Mormon 8:16).
222 Mormon 8:19,20 This is the final lesson of the Book of Mormon: Verse 19: “For behold, the same that judgeth rashly shall be judged rashly again.” He’s talking about the people to come. Don’t judge this book. But, of course, this is a nice commentary on his own people who have just been destroyed. “For according to his works shall his wages be; therefore, he that smiteth shall be smitten again, of the Lord [if there is any lesson in the Book of Mormon to us, this is it]. Behold the scripture say— man shall not smite, neither shall he judge.” We tell other people what to do, we lay down our moral rights. We go out and police them and back it up with physical force. Is anything more futile than that?
222 Mormon 8:17 [Question:] “I have a Moslem friend, and when I mentioned to her that we believe the Book of Mormon has imperfections in it, she was very concerned about that. “Well, of course, there’s all the trouble this raises with the Bible. What are you going to do? Different translations of the Bible keep coming out now that all read differently. This is supposed to be a perfect book—every word in the book is absolutely perfect. We have to admit that [some people claim], because if we say there are imperfections in the Bible, how do we know which verses are imperfect and which aren’t? How do we know whether we’re on the right track? It means we can’t use the Bible itself as an absolute guide if we acknowledge mistakes in it. That’s fatal, so the Christian world can’t afford to admit that. But we can afford to admit that. Of course, there are mistakes in the Bible. They admit it, too. The latest Revised Standard Translation has come out by the Protestants. What are they doing revising this perfect word of God? This is a new standard translation, and there will be more in another ten years or so. We have to admit the faults of men in there—that’s necessary, and we admit it freely. All sorts of things are explained that way. If you don’t do that, you’re absolutely stuck with this one document.
222 [Question:] “What kinds of errors did Moroni admit to?” Oh, all kinds of errors could come in. Remember when he’s talking about the chronology, Mormon says we think this is correct because the man who gave us the chronology was an honest man, but anybody can make mistakes. So he says you just have to accept it that way. We’re not perfect in what we report here. So don’t judge this, but “man shall not smite, neither shall he judge”—the two things we are best at.
223 Mormon 8:22,23 But “the eternal purposes of the Lord shall roll on” anyway, whatever happens here. And “those saints who have gone before me . .. shall cry, yea, even from the dust will they cry unto the Lord. ... He will remember the covenant which he hath made with them.” See, we all have the same community. The thing to remember all the way through this that keeps coming back all the time is that Moroni really came. He talked to Joseph Smith. He came to him many times. They conversed with each other. [An angel] did the same thing with Zacharias. If that’s so, that changes the whole picture; that’s what we’re talking about. These people are all still there, all still alive, and still very much concerned with us, etc. We’re still in the same community. We’re going to have to join together with them to live together for a long time a little later on. That doesn’t sound too fantastic. We’ll see more of that in the Book of Mormon now.
223 These things they could do. They could, in his name, remove mountains; they could cause the earth to shake, etc. As I have said before, miracles are always a matter of timing. The Lord will tell you when it’s going to shake and then it shakes. But the point is [that it’s] in his name and at his word. He would give them the signal, and the miracle would take place.
223 Mormon 8:25 “And behold their prayers were also in behalf of him that the Lord should suffer to bring these things forth,” referring to the Prophet Joseph Smith and, unknown to them at this time, what he would have to go through. It wasn’t going to be easy. These are the conditions in the time of Joseph Smith, and they follow right down to the present and terminate here in verse 26. Well, here we go, “Out of the earth shall they come, by the hand of the Lord, .. . and it shall come in a day [here’s this awesome refrain] when it shall be said that miracles are done away.” Of course, that’s why they rejected the Book of Mormon—such things can’t happen. We cite angels and gold plates, and that’s utter absurdity. So it’s rejected first on the grounds that miracles don’t happen—that is things with which we’re not familiar. See, a miraculum is a little thing that makes you wonder because you don’t understand it—that’s all. They say they “are done away; and it shall come even as if one should speak from the dead.” It is a voice from the dust; it does speak from the dead.
223 Mormon 8:27,28 “And it shall come in a day when the blood of saints shall cry unto the Lord, because of secret combinations and the works of darkness. “... secret combinations, and the works of darkness. Yea, it shall come in a day when the power of God shall be denied, and the churches become defiled and be lifted up in the pride of their hearts, yea, even in a day when leaders of churches and teachers shall rise in the pride of their hearts, even to the envying of them who belong to their churches.”
223 Mormon 8:28 Now, what is envying. Is that a subjective participle or an objective participle? The envying of the people. Are they envying him, or he envying them? They envy him. He doesn’t envy them. They envy him, his success and wealth probably. That’s what it may be. In Arabic they’re always arguing whether a participle like this is subjective or objective.
223,224 Mormon 8:29,30 What are we onto here now? What’s wrong with vapors of smoke? They can’t hurt anybody, a little smoke in the air. This means something different today, doesn’t it? Verse 29: “Yea, it shall come in a day when there shall be heard of fires, and tempests, and vapors of smoke in foreign lands.” It tells us elsewhere in the Book of Mormon a vapor of smoke shall cover the earth. That could only be the outfall from something or other, couldn’t it? Verse 30: “And there shall also be heard of wars, rumors of wars [there are 47 wars raging at present on the earth], and earthquakes in diverse places.” We’re now going into a period of increased earthquake activity recorded in places where it hasn’t happened for a long time. And they’re expecting the big one, of course, on the Wasatch Front.
224 Mormon 8:31 They’re insensitive, unperturbed. All sense of fair play is forgotten in this “me” generation. Notice verse 31: “Yea, it shall come in a day when there shall be great pollutions upon the face of the earth.” Well, that’s the number one problem today, pollution. It’s not just pollution like impurities and things like that, but pollutions on the face of the earth. The earth itself is being defiled, the face of the earth, not just in the Church or something like that. These are the pollutions we’re dealing with today on the face of the earth. And needless to say, “there shall be murders, and robbing, and lying, and deceivings, and whoredoms, and all manner of abominations [and there] shall be many who will say [again, our lowering of standards, our very permissive society here; we accept our lower standards], Do this, or do that, and it mattereth not, for the Lord will uphold such at the last day. But wo unto such, for they are in the gall of bitterness and in the bonds of iniquity.” They’re going to say it’s all right, you see, because you’ll be justified.
224 Mormon 8:32 “Yea, it shall come in a day when there shall be churches built up that shall say: Come unto me, and for your money you shall be forgiven of your sins.” Just the other night I heard an evangelist say, give money, give money, give money, and Jesus will accept you. He will accept you if you give money, and that’s exactly what it says here. “Come unto me, and for your money you’ll be forgiven of your sins.” But who are you giving the money to? To him, the person who says come unto me. It doesn’t say come unto Jesus. That’s what they call it, of course. You come to Jesus, but you send the money to me.
224 Mormon 8:33 “O ye wicked and perverse and stiffnecked people, why have ye built up churches unto yourselves to get gain? [and adjust the scriptures to allow for that sort of thing, you’ll notice]. Why have ye transfigured the holy word of God, that ye might bring damnation upon your souls?” The misreading of the scriptures is deliberately transfiguring. “The scriptures are before you,” the Book of Mormon says. You arrest them at your peril. So we transfigure “the holy word of God, that ye might bring damnation upon your souls. Behold, look ye unto the revelations of God; for behold, the time cometh at that day when all these things must be fulfilled”—at the time the Book of Mormon comes forth.
224 Mormon 8:34-39 Notice it says here [verse 34]: “Behold, the Lord hath shown unto me great and marvelous things concerning that which must shortly come, at that day [they will soon follow the coming forth of the Book of Mormon] when these things shall come forth among you.” Yes, it’s not very long, dating it by sequence now. We follow certain sequences here. “Behold, I speak unto you [now here is a ringing verse] as if ye were present, and yet ye are not. But behold, Jesus Christ hath shown you unto me, and I know your doing. And I know that ye do walk in the pride of your hearts; and there are none save a few only who do not lift themselves up in the pride of their hearts; unto the wearing of very fine apparel, unto envying [competitiveness], and strifes, and malice, and persecution [it’s a highly competitive society], and all manner of iniquities; and your churches, yea even every one, have become polluted because of the pride of your hearts. [And then it comes down to this payoff sentence here:] For behold, ye do love money, and your substance [which is the same], and your fine apparel, and the adorning of your churches [these are not pagans; in chapter 9 he talks to the unbeliever; he is talking to the people who profess to believe in Christ] more than ye love the poor and the needy, the sick and the afflicted.” That’s an understatement, you see.
228 Mormon 8:39 Well, that’s the way it was long ago, and it hasn’t changed too much, has it? So he’s talking about this, and it strikes home. Mormon 8:39: “Why do ye adorn yourselves with that which hath no life, and yet suffer the hungry, and the needy, and the naked, and the sick and the afflicted to pass by you, and notice them not?” You don’t afflict them. You don’t go out of your way to hurt them or anything. You just don’t notice them.
229 Mormon 8:40 What is the result? War, of course. What happens? What causes widows and orphans to mourn before the Lord? Of course, the killing of their husbands and their [fathers]. “And also orphans to mourn before the Lord, and also the blood of their fathers and their husbands to cry unto the Lord from the ground, for vengeance upon your heads?” This is the end result of war, of course. Families are not only broken up in this tragedy, and it’s a direct result of this verse. The secret combinations to get gain have led to it.
229 Mormon 8:41 Let’s go on. This is for us, and if we’re guilty of these things, what’s going to happen? What is our condition? The last verse, says what this is all pointing to. “Behold, the sword of vengeance hangeth over you; and the time soon cometh that he avengeth the blood of the saints upon you, for he will not suffer their cries any longer.” So soon it’s going to be the same thing that happened to the Nephites and the others—the sword of vengeance. There’s something up there that’s going to fall down. It’s going to come on us.
229 Mormon 9:1,2 In the next chapter are those that don’t believe. These are the unbelievers. Do we have anything particularly sharp to say about this? What percent of the world does not believe in God? With many of them it doesn’t make any difference. Everywhere so far the theme has been addressed to the Christian nation. You notice here in the next verse this hint of a period of extermination. We’re living on the frail edge of an ecosystem right now that, as we know, is collapsing, and here it goes. Verse 2: “The earth shall be rolled together as a scroll, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat.” Well, there is a quietus. There is a real extermination period, and there have been such.
229,230 This is not fear of death. No one can survive this sort of thing. This is what comes after. We recognize here that there is more to come. This is what we have to look forward to in the end. This is to make us behave, and I hope we do. When that curtain comes down, then you’ll see the real stage. Then the whole thing will open out to us and we’ll see what it is. Will you deny then that Christ is real, “or can ye behold the Lamb of God? Do ye supposed that ye shall dwell with him under a consciousness of your guilt?” This is what we’re going to do—to shift to this other world here. It’s all working up to this.
230 Mormon 9:3 Well, it can’t be because you wouldn’t receive it, you see. You rejected it frantically. Notice he says here, “a consciousness of your guilt.” You’ll know then that the only reason you weren’t able to enjoy what you had a right to is that you wouldn’t have it. Notice: “ye could be happy to dwell with that holy Being,” but not “when your souls are racked with a consciousness of guilt.” You throw yourself out of it. It doesn’t have to be a particular hell. When a book is opened and they say particular crimes you’ve committed, you’ll know perfectly well what the crimes were. It’s your guilt that will accuse you. If you have ever abused his laws, you’ll know that. No accuser will be necessary.
230 Mormon 9:4-7 “Behold, I say unto you that ye would be more miserable to dwell with a holy and just God.” He’s going to give you the best you want. You’re getting let off as easy as [possible]. You’d prefer hell a thousand times so that you won’t have to [be in his presence], so that’s what you get, if you want it. You know the kind of people you like and you want to be with. Everyone’s going to get the easiest possible sentence here. You’ll be far “more miserable to dwell with a holy and just God,” so they’re not going to make you. You’ll say thank heaven for that. God, you’re being very kind, not making me dwell here. It’s like not being forced to take a certain class that’s so far beyond you you’d be utterly miserable. You wouldn’t know what was going on there. It’s the same thing. We’re adjusted to what we’re willing to take and what we’re able to take. There’s justice and mercy all the way here. Notice he says we would much prefer “to dwell with the damned souls in hell [they’re you’re people]. For behold, when ye shall be brought to see your nakedness before God.” You can imagine that embarrassment. You’d want anything to happen—the mountains to cover you, the rocks to fall on you, etc. So this is a very good reason, he says. “O then ye unbelieving, turn ye unto the Lord.” The whole trouble is people just don’t believe this. There’s not going to be any heaven. There’s not going to be anything like that hereafter [they say]. This is a point that we come to now—”. . . that perhaps ye may be found spotless, pure, fair, and white, having been cleansed.” It’s still not too late. You’re not clean now, but you can still do it, “having been cleansed by the blood of the Lamb, at that great and last day. And again I speak unto you who deny the revelations of God.”
231 Mormon 9:8-13 “He that denieth these things knoweth not the gospel of Christ; yea, he has not read the scriptures.” Joseph Smith said everything you teach must square with the scriptures. We have them. And so [verse 11], “I will show you a God of miracles.” Then he talks and sums up the atonement here: “Because of the fall of man came Jesus Christ, even the Father and the Son; and because of Jesus Christ came the redemption of man... . They are brought back into the presence of the Lord [that’s what atonement means—brought back into the presence of God]; yea, this is wherein all men are redeemed, because the death of Christ bringeth to pass the resurrection, which bringeth to pass a redemption from an endless sleep.”
231 Mormon 9:13 Notice, the Book of Mormon recognizes—and this is recognized earlier by Nephi—that entropy is a real thing. It would be an endless sleep if there wasn’t somebody who knew more about it. Nature is impersonal and lets you do anything you want. The expression that Alma uses is that we would die to rot and disappear and rise no more in the normal order of things. That’s what nature would have us do, and that’s true. They frankly admit it, and he admits it here—”a redemption from an endless sleep.”