Lehi Counsels His Sons

Event 20

Reference: 2 Ne. 1:28-32; 2:1-30

And now my son, Laman, and also Lemuel and Sam, and also mysons who are the sons of Ishmael, behold, if ye will hearken untothe voice of Nephi ye shall not perish. And if ye will hearken untohim I leave unto you a blessing, yea, even my first blessing. 29 Butif ye will not hearken unto him I take away my first blessing, yea,even my blessing, and it shall rest upon him.LehiLand of firstinheritance592 to 571 B.C.30 And now, Zoram, I speak unto you: Behold, thou art the servantof Laban; nevertheless, thou hast been brought out of the land ofJerusalem, and I know that thou art a true friend unto my son,Nephi, forever. 31 Wherefore, because thou hast been faithful thyseed shall be blessed with his seed, that they dwell in prosperitylong upon the face of this land; and nothing, save it shall beiniquity among them, shall harm or disturb their prosperity uponthe face of this land forever. 32 Wherefore, if ye shall keep thecommandments of the Lord, the Lord hath consecrated this landfor the security of thy seed with the seed of my son.1 AND now, Jacob, I speak unto you: Thou art my firstborn in thedays of my tribulation in the wilderness. And behold, in thychildhood thou hast suffered afflictions and much sorrow, becauseof the rudeness of thy brethren. 2 Nevertheless, Jacob, my firstbornin the wilderness, thou knowest the greatness of God; and he shallconsecrate thine afflictions for thy gain. 3 Wherefore, thy soulshall be blessed, and thou shalt dwell safely with thy brother,Nephi; and thy days shall be spent in the service of thy God.Wherefore, I know that thou art redeemed, because of therighteousness of thy Redeemer; for thou hast beheld that in thefulness of time he cometh to bring salvation unto men. 4 And thouhast beheld in thy youth his glory; wherefore, thou art blessedeven as they unto whom he shall minister in the flesh; for the Spiritis the same, yesterday, today, and forever. And the way is preparedfrom the fall of man, and salvation is free. 5 And men areinstructed sufficiently that they know good from evil. And the lawis given unto men. And by the law no flesh is justified; or, by thelaw men are cut off. Yea, by the temporal law they were cut off;and also, by the spiritual law they perish from that which is good,and become miserable forever. 6 Wherefore, redemption cometh inand through the Holy Messiah; for he is full of grace and truth. 7Behold, he offereth himself a sacrifice for sin, to answer the endsof the law, unto all those who have a broken heart and a contritespirit; and unto none else can the ends of the law be answered.8 Wherefore, how great the importance to make these thingsknown unto the inhabitants of the earth, that they may know thatthere is no flesh that can dwell in the presence of God, save it bethrough the merits, and mercy, and grace of the Holy Messiah,who layeth down his life according to the flesh, and taketh it again by the power of the Spirit, that he may bring to pass theresurrection of the dead, being the first that should rise. 9Wherefore, he is the firstfruits unto God, inasmuch as he shallmake intercession for all the children of men; and they that believein him shall be saved. 10 And because of the intercession for all,all men come unto God; wherefore, they stand in the presence ofhim, to be judged of him according to the truth and holiness whichis in him. Wherefore, the ends of the law which the Holy One hathgiven, unto the inflicting of the punishment which is affixed,which punishment that is affixed is in opposition to that of thehappiness which is affixed, to answer the ends of the atonement—11 For it must needs be, that there is an opposition in all things. Ifnot so, my firstborn in the wilderness, righteousness could not bebrought to pass, neither wickedness, neither holiness nor misery,neither good nor bad. Wherefore, all things must needs be acompound in one; wherefore, if it should be one body it mustneeds remain as dead, having no life neither death, nor corruptionnor incorruption, happiness nor misery, neither sense norinsensibility. 12 Wherefore, it must needs have been created for athing of naught; wherefore there would have been no purpose inthe end of its creation. Wherefore, this thing must needs destroythe wisdom of God and his eternal purposes, and also the power,and the mercy, and the justice of God. 13 And if ye shall say thereis no law, ye shall also say there is no sin. If ye shall say there isno sin, ye shall also say there is no righteousness. And if there beno righteousness there be no happiness. And if there be norighteousness nor happiness there be no punishment nor misery.And if these things are not there is no God. And if there is no Godwe are not, neither the earth; for there could have been no creationof things, neither to act nor to be acted upon; wherefore, all thingsmust have vanished away.LehiLand of firstinheritance592 to 571 B.C.14 And now, my sons, I speak unto you these things for your profitand learning; for there is a God, and he hath created all things,both the heavens and the earth, and all things that in them are, boththings to act and things to be acted upon. 15 And to bring about hiseternal purposes in the end of man, after he had created our firstparents, and the beasts of the field and the fowls of the air, and infine, all things which are created, it must needs be that there wasan opposition; even the forbidden fruit in opposition to the tree oflife; the one being sweet and the other bitter. 16 Wherefore, theLord God gave unto man that he should act for himself.Wherefore, man could not act for himself save it should be that hewas enticed by the one or the other. 17 And I, Lehi, according tothe things which I have read, must needs suppose that an angel ofGod, according to that which is written, had fallen from heaven;wherefore, he became a devil, having sought that which was evilbefore God. 18 And because he had fallen from heaven, and hadbecome miserable forever, he sought also the misery of allmankind. Wherefore, he said unto Eve, yea, even that old serpent,who is the devil, who is the father of all lies, wherefore he said: Partake of the forbidden fruit, and ye shall not die, but ye shallbe as God, knowing good and evil.The DevilLand of firstinheritance592 to 571 B.C.19 And after Adam and Eve had partaken of the forbidden fruitthey were driven out of the garden of Eden, to till the earth. 20And they have brought forth children; yea, even the family of allthe earth. 21 And the days of the children of men were prolonged,according to the will of God, that they might repent while in theflesh; wherefore, their state became a state of probation, and theirtime was lengthened, according to the commandments which theLord God gave unto the children of men. For he gavecommandment that all men must repent; for he showed unto allmen that they were lost, because of the transgression of theirparents. 22 And now, behold, if Adam had not transgressed hewould not have fallen, but he would have remained in the gardenof Eden. And all things which were created must have remained inthe same state in which they were after they were created; and theymust have remained forever, and had no end. 23 And they wouldhave had no children; wherefore they would have remained in astate of innocence, having no joy, for they knew no misery; doingno good, for they knew no sin.Lehi24 But behold, all things have been done in the wisdom of himwho knoweth all things. 25 Adam fell that men might be; and menare, that they might have joy. 26 And the Messiah cometh in thefulness of time, that he may redeem the children of men from thefall. And because that they are redeemed from the fall they havebecome free forever, knowing good from evil; to act forthemselves and not to be acted upon, save it be by the punishmentof the law at the great and last day, according to thecommandments which God hath given. 27 Wherefore, men are freeaccording to the flesh; and all things are given them which areexpedient unto man. And they are free to choose liberty andeternal life, through the great Mediator of all men, or to choosecaptivity and death, according to the captivity and power of thedevil; for he seeketh that all men might be miserable like untohimself.28 And now, my sons, I would that ye should look to the greatMediator, and hearken unto his great commandments; and befaithful unto his words, and choose eternal life, according to thewill of his Holy Spirit; 29 And not choose eternal death, accordingto the will of the flesh and the evil which is therein, which giveththe spirit of the devil power to captivate, to bring you down to hell,that he may reign over you in his own kingdom. 30 I have spokenthese few words unto you all, my sons, in the last days of myprobation; and I have chosen the good part, according to the wordsof the prophet. And I have none other object save it be theeverlasting welfare of your souls. Amen.