Lesson
38: “Old Things Are Done Away, and All Things Have Become New”, Book of Mormon
Gospel Doctrine Teacher’s Manual, (1999),168
1) Introduction
a) 3 Nephi 12-15
b) Includes Sermon on the Mount
i)
We have 3 versions
(1) Bible
(2) Book of Mormon
(3) Joseph Smith Translation
(4) Some differences between
these versions
(a) Given to different groups of
people
(i) "More righteous
part" of the Nephites
(ii) The Book of Mormon version
makes clear when Christ is speaking only to his 12 Disciples and when He is speaking
to the larger group
(b) Given at different times
(i) Before and after Christ's
resurrection
(c) Given at different locations
(i) Book of Mormon – Sermon at
the Temple
(5) Different
writers/translators
(a) Book of Mormon – Mormon – a
prophet
(i) Translated by Joseph Smith –
a prophet
(b) JST – Joseph Smith – a
prophet
(c) Matthew – Uncertain who may
have contributed to original account
(i) Uncertain who translated
from Hebrew to Greek to English
(ii) Luke has a similar sermon -
Luke 6: 20-49
1. Luke 6:20 - 20 ¶ And he lifted up his eyes on his disciples,
and said, Blessed be ye poor: for yours is the kingdom of God.
2. Matthew 5:3 - 3 Blessed are
the poor in spirit: for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
c) Among the most valuable
words ever written
i)
READ – Erastus Snow said, “[The Book of Mormon] makes clear many dark
sayings of the Jewish Scriptures, as they have come down to us. It sheds
a flood of light over the Bible; it contains the key of knowledge and
understanding; and it is more precious than all the works of modern times, and
is worth more. (Journal of Discourses, Vol.23, p.300 p.301, Erastus Snow,
October 7, 1882)”
d) Reading 1 - President Harold
B. Lee wrote: "Christ came not only into the world to make an atonement
for the sins of mankind but to set an example before the world of the standard
of perfection of God's law and of obedience to the Father. In his Sermon on the
Mount the Master has given us somewhat of a revelation of his own character,
which was perfect, or what might be said to be an 'autobiography, every
syllable of which he had written down in deeds,' and in so doing has given us a
blueprint for our own lives." (Stand Ye In Holy Places, pp341-342)
2) Beatitudes
a) Reading 2 – Beatitudes
–Bible Dictionary – page 620
Name given to certain declarations of blessedness in
the Sermon on the Mount (Matt.
5: 3-11, cf. Luke 6:
20-22). They describe certain elements that go to form the refined
and spiritual character, and all of which will be present
whenever that character exists in its perfection. Rather than being
isolated statements, the Beatitudes are interrelated and progressive in
their arrangement. A more comprehensive and accurate listing is
found in 3 Ne. 12 and JST
Matt. 5, where a greater spiritual emphasis is given.
i)
Beatitudes are a description of a happy life
b) Book of Mormon contains an
introduction to this sermon
i)
Reading 3 – 3 Nephi 12:1-2
1 And it came to
pass that when Jesus had spoken these words unto Nephi, and to those who had
been called, (now the number of them who had been called, and received power
and authority to baptize, was twelve) and behold, he stretched forth his hand
unto the multitude, and cried unto them, saying: Blessed are ye if ye shall
give heed unto the words of these twelve whom I have chosen from among you to
minister unto you, and to be your servants; and unto them I have given power
that they may baptize you with water; and after that ye are baptized with
water, behold, I will baptize you with fire and with the Holy Ghost; therefore
blessed are ye if ye shall believe in me and be baptized, after that ye have
seen me and know that I am.
2 And again, more blessed are they who
shall believe in your words because that ye shall testify that ye have seen me,
and that ye know that I am. Yea, blessed are they who shall believe in your
words, and come down into the depths of humility and be baptized, for
they shall be visited with fire and with the Holy Ghost, and shall receive a
remission of their sins.
ii) ASK – To whom was this
sermon directed?
(1) 12 Nephite Disciples
(2) Those who were covenant
members of the Church
(a) Those who “come down into
the depths of humility” and are baptized and have received the Holy Ghost.
iii) READ - Daniel Ludlow has
written: "This more complete version of the sermon changes the
entire emphasis of the Beatitudes.
Here the Savior is not saying 'you are more blessed if you mourn than if
you do not mourn,' but he is saying 'If you are called upon to mourn,
then you are blessed if you come unto me, and are baptized, receive the Holy
Ghost, etc.' Thus, if you do truly hunger and thirst after
righteousness, you shall be filled 'with the Holy Ghost.' (A Companion to Your
Study of the Book of Mormon, p263)
c) Note also that each of the
Beatitudes in the Sermon at the Temple is preceded with the term “And”, which
ties them together – we are expected to do all of them, not just one or two.
d) READ - Verse 3 Yea, blessed
are the poor in spirit who come unto me, for theirs is the
kingdom of heaven.
i)
Poor in spirit = Humility
ii) Key change in Book of Mormon
is “who come unto me”
iii) Reading 4 – Moroni 10:32-33
32 Yea, come unto Christ, and be
perfected in him, and deny yourselves of all ungodliness; and if ye
shall deny yourselves of all ungodliness, and love God with all your might,
mind and strength, then is his grace sufficient for you, that by his
grace ye may be perfect in Christ; and if by the grace of God ye are
perfect in Christ, ye can in nowise deny the power of God.
33 And again, if ye by the grace
of God are perfect in Christ, and deny not his power, then are ye
sanctified in Christ by the grace of God, through the shedding of the blood of
Christ, which is in the covenant of the Father unto the remission of
your sins, that ye become holy, without spot.
iv) Coming unto Christ is key
(1) Many of the requirements of
the Sermon on the Mount/Temple seem impossible.
They are impossible unless we come unto Christ.
(2) Later, we will hear Christ
command us to be perfect.
(3) “Blessed are the poor in
spirit who come unto me” – 3 Nephi 12:3
(4) Moroni says – “Come unto
Christ and be perfected in him. . . . by his grace ye may
be perfect in Christ . . . . ye sanctified in Christ by the grace
of God, through the shedding of the blood of Christ
(5) We cannot be perfect, we
cannot approach God, without the Atonement of Christ.
v) Christ gives us the
Beatitudes because he is the only way we can live these important commandments.
(1) READ – “I am the way, the
truth, and the life” (John 14:6)
e) Mourning
i)
READ - Verse 4 And again, blessed are all they that mourn,
for they shall be comforted.
ii) ASK – Is the Savior saying
that it is good to mourn for anything bad?
How does this tie into the idea that the Beatitudes are a description
for a happy life?
iii) Tie together with the
previous – “Blessed are the poor in spirit – the humble – who come unto me” and
the preface talking about baptism
iv) If I am humble and preparing
for baptism, what am I mourning about? – My sins – being sorry
for my sins is a vital part of repentance
(1) Only if I repent of my sins
can I have a happy life
f) Meekness
i)
READ - Verse 5 And blessed are the meek, for they shall
inherit the earth.
ii) Meekness is vital to dealing
with the great sin of pride.
iii) Reading 5 - Elder Neal A. Maxwell has written, “In daily
discipleship, the many ways to express selfishness are matched by many ways to
avoid it. Meekness is the real cure, for it does not merely mask
selfishness but dissolves it! Smaller steps could include asking
ourselves inwardly before undertaking an important action, Whose needs am I
really trying to meet? Or in significant moments of self expression, we can
first count to 10. Such thoughtful filtering can multiply our offering by 10 as
a mesh of reflective meekness filters out destructive and effusive ego.”
(Neal A. Maxwell, "Repent of [Our] Selfishness" Ensign, May 1999, p.
23, emphasis added)
iv) READ - President Gordon B.
Hinckley said, “Meekness implies a spirit of gratitude as opposed to an
attitude of self-sufficiency, an acknowledgment of a greater
power beyond oneself, a recognition of God, and an acceptance of his
commandments” (“With All Thy Getting Get Understanding,” Ensign, Aug. 1988,
3–4).
g) Hunger and Thirst After
Righteousness
i)
READ - Verse 6 And blessed are all they who do hunger and thirst
after righteousness, for they shall be filled with the Holy Ghost.
(1) Spiritual hunger that causes
us to turn back to Christ
(2) ASK – Do we have this hunger
for righteousness? Is it as powerful as
our physical hunger is?
h) Merciful
i)
READ – Verse 7 And blessed are the merciful, for they shall obtain
mercy.
ii) Once we are forgiven by
Christ, He asks us to forgive others
i)
Pure in Heart
i)
Verse 8 And blessed are all the pure in heart, for they
shall see God.
ii) Our humility
and our repentance and our meekness and our longing
for righteousness and our mercy will, through the Atonement
of Christ make us pure.
iii) READ - D&C 93:1 -
1 Verily, thus saith the Lord: It shall come
to pass that every soul who forsaketh his sins and cometh unto me, and calleth
on my name, and obeyeth my voice, and keepeth my commandments, shall see
my face and know that I am;
iv) Reading 6 – Hugh Nibley has
written, “Zion is the pure in heart, the pure in heart, not merely the pure in
appearance. It is not a society or religion of forms and observances, of pious
gestures and precious mannerisms: it is strictly a condition of the heart.
Above all, Zion is pure, which means ‘not mixed with any impurities,
unalloyed’; it is all Zion and nothing else. “(Collected Works of Hugh Nibley,
Vol.9, Ch.2, p.26)
3) Perfection
a) The commandment to be
perfect – Verse 48 – causes a lot of people great concern because they may view
it as impossible to obey.
b) See if you can see a
difference between these verses in the Sermon on the Mount and the Sermon at
the Temple
i)
Sermon on the Mount – Matthew 5:48 Be ye therefore perfect, even as
your Father which is in heaven is perfect.
ii) Sermon at the Temple - 3
Nephi 12:48 Therefore I would that ye should be perfect even as I, or your
Father who is in heaven is perfect.
iii) Differences
(1) Christ is resurrected and
has completed his earthly ministry, so now He is like his Father – perfect
(2) “I would that ye should” is
added in the Book of Mormon version – implies that this is something we move
toward with the help of Christ and His Atonement
c) Reading 7 - President
Brigham Young explained that "we all occupy diversified stations in the
world and in the kingdom of God. Those who do right, and seek the glory
of the Father in heaven, whether they can do little or much, if they do the
very best they know how, they are perfect .... 'Be ye as perfect
as ye can,' for that is all we can do .... To be as perfect as we
possibly can according to our knowledge is to be just as perfect as our father
in Heaven is. He cannot be any more perfect than he knows how, any more than
we. When we are doing as well as we know in the sphere and station which we
occupy here we are justified." (Journal of Discourses, 2:129-130)
d) Reading 8 - Joseph Fielding
McConkie & Robert L. Millet have written:
"We are perfect when we are whole, fully formed, finished. The
word finished is most important here. We cannot through discipline and
self-will be perfect in the sense that we are finished. We cannot conquer the
flesh, overcome the trials and tribulations and sins of this world, on our own.
We become finished only in and through Christ. Moroni explained that
the Saints of God are ‘continually watchful unto prayer, relying alone upon the
merits of Christ, who was the author and the finisher of their faith’ (Moroni
6:4, italics added). In short, we become perfect, fully formed, finished, in
Christ (Moroni 10:32). His grace is a divinely given enabling power, a
sacred source of strength which enables us to accomplish what we could never
accomplish, worlds without end, on our own. We become perfect in Christ
to the degree that we trust perfectly in his infinite ability to make of us,
now unworthy creatures, persons capable of and comfortable with celestial
society. In speaking of that celestial glory, the revelation attests: ‘These
are they who are just men made perfect through Jesus the mediator
of the new covenant, who wrought out this perfect atonement through the
shedding of his own blood’ (D&C 76:69, italics added)." (Doctrinal
Commentary on the Book of Mormon, 4:78)
e) READ - President Joseph
Fielding Smith observed,
"I believe the Lord meant just what he said: that we should be
perfect, as our Father in heaven is perfect. That will not come all at once,
but line upon line, and precept upon precept, example upon example, and even
then not as long as we live in this mortal life, for we will have to go even
beyond the grave before we reach that perfection and shall be like God.
"But here we lay the foundation. Here is
where we are taught these simple truths of the gospel of Jesus Christ, in this
probationary state, to prepare us for that perfection. It is our duty to be
better today than we were yesterday, and better tomorrow than we are today.
Why? Because...if we are keeping the commandments of the Lord, we are on that
road to perfection, and that can only come through obedience and the desire in
our hearts to overcome the world. It is the duty of every man to try to be like
his Eternal Father." (Doctrines of Salvation, 2:18-19.)
4) Salt and Light
a) READ – 3 Nephi 12:13 – 13
Verily, verily, I say unto you, I give unto you to be the salt of the earth;
but if the salt shall lose its savor wherewith shall the earth be salted? The
salt shall be thenceforth good for nothing, but to be cast out and to be
trodden under foot of men.
i)
Salt is a powerful symbol for those familiar with the Jewish temple
ii) Reading 9 - Elder Bruce R.
McConkie has written: “Among the ancient
Hebrews salt … was used as a preservative, in seasoning food, and in all animal
sacrifices. (Lev. 2:13; Ezek. 43:24; Mark 9:49–50. [Leviticus 2:13; Ezekiel
43:24]) So essential was it to the sacrificial ordinance that it was the symbol
of the covenant made between God and His people in connection with that sacred
performance. (Lev. 2:13; Num. 18:19; 2 Chron. 13:5.) Accordingly, our Lord’s statement, made first
to the Jews and then to that other great body of Hebrews, the Nephites, that
they had power ‘to be the salt of the earth,’ takes on great significance. …
They had power, in other words, to be the seasoning, savoring, preserving
influence in the world, the influence which would bring peace and blessings to
all others” (Mormon Doctrine, 2nd ed. [1966], 667–68).
b) Light
i)
READ – 3 Nephi 12:14-16
14 Verily, verily, I say unto you, I give unto you
to be the light of this people. A city that is set on a hill cannot be hid.
15 Behold, do men light a candle and put
it under a bushel? Nay, but on a candlestick, and it giveth light to all that
are in the house;
16 Therefore let your light so shine
before this people, that they may see your good works and glorify your Father
who is in heaven.
ii) Reading 10 – Doctrine and
Covenants 101:39-40, Doctrine and Covenants 103:9-10
D&C 101 - 39 When men are called
unto mine everlasting gospel, and covenant with an everlasting covenant, they
are accounted as the salt of the earth and the savor of men;
40 They are called to be the savor of men; therefore, if
that salt of the earth lose its savor, behold, it is thenceforth good for
nothing only to be cast out and trodden under the feet of men.
D&C 103 9 For they were set to be a
light unto the world, and to be the saviors of men;
10 And inasmuch as they are not the
saviors of men, they are as salt that has lost its savor, and is thenceforth
good for nothing but to be cast out and trodden under foot of men.
iii) Savor = Savior
c) READ - In a Mission
President's Seminar (June 1999), President Gordon B. Hinckley observed,
"Our message is so imperative, when you stop to think that the salvation, the
eternal salvation of the world, rests upon the shoulders of this church.
When all is said and done, if the world is going to be saved, we have to
do it. There is no escaping from that. No other people in the history
of the world have received the kind of mandate that we have received. We are
responsible for all who have lived on the earth. That involves family history
and temple work. We are responsible for all who now live upon the earth, and
that involves missionary work. And we are going to be responsible for all who
will yet live upon the earth."
5) Calling Us to a Higher Level
a) In the Sermon on the Mount
and the Sermon at the Temple
i)
Christ explains what sort of person He is
ii) Christ asks us to become
like Him through His Atonement
iii) Christ asks us to help Him
in His great work to save all mankind
(1) We will want to do this if we
have become like Christ
b) Christ is calling us to a
higher level
c) READ - C.S. Lewis said, The
command Be ye perfect is not idealistic gas. Nor is it a command to do the
impossible. He is going to make us into creatures that can obey that command.
He said (in the Bible) that we were “gods” and He is going to make good his
words. If we let Him — for we can prevent Him, if we choose — He will make the
feeblest and filthiest of us into a god or goddess, dazzling, radiant, immortal
creature, pulsating all through with such energy and joy and wisdom and love as
we cannot now imagine, a bright stainless mirror which reflects back to God
perfectly . . . His own boundless power and delight and goodness. The process
will be long and in parts very painful; but that is what we are in for. Nothing
less. He meant what he said. [Mere Christianity (New York, Macmillan, 1952) pp.
172-175)xx
6) Testimony
