3 Nephi 1:7 The people who believed began to be very sorrowful

‘Samuel had prophesied that in five years time there would be a day, a night, and a day without any darkness, and now the wondrous time had come. Those who already hated the Church found in the prophecy an opportunity to terrorize the believers, planning to execute them on the day should the prophecy not be fulfilled.

The scriptures tell us that the people began to be “sorrowful, lest by any means those things which had been spoken might not come to pass” (3 Nephi 1:7). We might see ourselves in a similar circumstance, as sometimes we tremble that God may have forgotten us or that he has overlooked our needs or promised blessings. We sometimes wonder, “Can I trust the Lord to be as good as his word?” So much of our experience is with mortals who mean to do well, but often don’t, whose words are sometimes slippery. We live in a world with people who often break their promises, and so we may be tempted to look at all promises as pie crust-easily made, easily broken.

 But God is a God of truth. He cannot lie. “What I the Lord have spoken, I have spoken, “(D&C 1:38) Often, like the believers in this historical event, we must wait until all looks desperate before the blessing arrives.. God asks us to hold on with patience, so that, in fact, we can develop patience. God has his timing and it is perfect, however much it revises our plans and our thinking.’ (Maurine Proctor, Meridian Magazine)

3 Nephi 1:15-20 The words which came unto Nephi were fulfilled

‘As the prophesied birth of Jesus drew near, there were those among the ancient Nephite and Lamanite peoples who believed, though most doubted. In due course, the sign of His birth arrived—a day and a night and a day without darkness—and all knew. Even so today, some believe in the literal Resurrection of Christ, and many doubt or disbelieve. But some know. In due course, all will see and all will know; indeed, “every knee shall bow, and every tongue confess before him.” (D Todd Christofferson, General Conference, April 2014)

3 Nephi 1:22-30 How does Satan respond to great spiritual experiences?

“I wish to encourage every one of you today regarding opposition that so often comes after enlightened decisions have been made. After moments of revelation and conviction have given us a peace and an assurance we thought we would never lose…Opposition turns top almost anyplace something good has happened.” (Jeffrey R Holland, Cast Not Away Therefore Thy Confidence.)

3 Nephi 2:1 The people began to be less and less astonished

“How quickly [Satan] moves in even where people have had special spiritual experiences, seeking to get people who have seen signs ‘To disbelieve all which they had heard and seen.’ (3 Nephi 2:1-2.) The adversary has a better chance to persuade us that what we believe is foolish if we worry about looking foolish in front of our fellowmen. We read about the subtleties of the devil and that the adversary persuadeth not one man to do good. (Alma 12:4; Moroni 7:17.)” (Neal A Maxwell, Things As They Really Are, p. 41)

“ The obtaining of faith by signs was not God’s way, because ‘faith cometh not by signs, but signs follow those that believe.’…The viewing of signs or miracles is not a secure foundation for conversion. Scriptural history attests that people converted by signs and wonders soon forget them and again become susceptible to the lies and distortions of Satan and his servants (Helaman 16:23; 3 Nephi 1:22;22:1; 8:4)” (Dallin H Oakes, The Lord’s Way.)

3 Nephi 3:8 On the morrow month

“These legal notices declaring war – in effect initiating a law suit between the gods of the respective sides, to be decided through the ordeal of battle – were to be lodged according to jewish law at least two or three days before opening hostilities. Thus, it was consonant with such principles that Giddianhi gave Lachoneus until the ‘morrow month’ to consider his proposal before his armies would come down against the Nephites and make them ‘extinct’ (3 Nephi 3:8).” (John Welch, Law and War).

3 Nephi 3:25 -26 In one land and in one body

‘The Nephite defences took several forms. As already seen, they gathered into a concentrated and defensible area taking all of their supplies and possessions with them. They launched a coordinated effort to arm themselves; and most importantly, they prepared themselves spiritually by praying that Yahweh “would deliver them.” (Brant Gardner, Second Witness)

3 Nephi 4:13-14 Pursue and slay them

‘The Gadianton army, recognizing its defeat, flees toward its homeland. Gidgiddoni follows up the Nephites’ military advantage by ordering pursuit with the goal of continuing to kill. In a weakened state from battle, the Gadiantons would be fleeing for their lives and were probably disorganized. Because fewer Nephite defenders would have been required than Gadianton attackers, it seems possible that the pursuing army had been held in reserve and were fresh troops. The story ends with the death of the Gadianton general, Giddianhi. Mormon communicates some respect for Giddianhi’s prowess (even while he disparagingly calls him a “robber”), since he notes that Giddianhi falls because of weariness, not lack of skill.

This decisive defeat was not the end of the Gadianton robbers. The strength of their position and population is indicated in their ability to quickly mount another offensive.’ (Brant Gardner, Second Witness)

3 Nephi 4:30 Protection

“If we will but cleanse ourselves and covenant before God, to serve him, it is our privilege to have an assurance that God will protect us at all times.” (Joseph Smith, Far West Record.)

3 Nephi 4:33 Their hearts were swollen with joy

“Recollect the deepest moments of marital and familial joy, whether in rejoicings, reunions, or reconciliations, when ‘because of the great goodness of God’ there was a ‘gushing out of many tears’ (3 Nephi 4:33); when your ‘heart [was] brim with joy’ (Alma 26:11). Yet this was but a foretaste of the ultimate homecoming, when our cups will not only be brim but will run over without ceasing.” (Neal A Maxwell, Not My Will But Thine, p. 143)

3 Nephi 5:1 There was not a living soul…who did doubt in the least

“…changing circumstances can likewise affect nearly a whole people’s faith…Listen to this verse: ‘There was not a living soul among all the people of the Nephites who did doubt in the least the words of all the holy prophets who had spoken; for they knew that it must needs be that they must be fulfilled.’ (3 Nephi 5:1.)

“Now, listen to this: ‘There began to be great doubtings and disputations among the people, notwithstanding so many signs had been given.’ (3 Nephi 8:4.)

“As I check the years of these two verses, I note that this decline happened in the space of a mere ten years or less! Circumstances changed from one in which ‘not a living soul’ doubted the prophecies to a time in which there were ‘great doubtings.’ It isn’t very confidence inspiring, is it?” (Neal A Maxwell, We Talk Of Christ, We Rejoice In Christ, p. 64)

3 Nephi 5:13 Declare his word among his people

“We are engaged in the work of the Lord Jesus Christ. We, like those of olden times, have answered His call. We are on His errand. We shall succeed in the solemn charge given by Mormon to declare the Lord’s word among His people…May we ever remember the truth. ‘Who honours God, God honours.’” (Thomas S Monson, Who Honours God, God Honours.)

3 Nephi 5:26 Gathered in from the four quarters of the earth

“The Book of Mormon is central to this work. It declares the doctrine of the gathering. It causes people to learn about Jesus Christ, to believe his gospel, and to join His Church. In fact, if there was no Book of Mormon, the promised gathering of Israel would not occur.” (Russell M Nelson, Gathering of Scattered Israel.)

3 Nephi 6:12 Prosperity and peace can lead to pride

“A little prosperity and peace, or even a turn slightly for the better, can bring us feelings of self-sufficiency. We can feel quickly that we are in control of our lives, that the change for the better is our own doing, not that of a God who communicates to us through the still, small voice of the Spirit. Pride creates a noise within us which makes the quiet voice of the Spirit hard to hear. And soon, in our vanity, we no longer even listen for it. We can come quickly to think we don’t need it” (Henry B Eyring, in Conference Report, Oct. 2001, 16; or Ensign, Nov. 2001, 16).

3 Nephi 6:17 Carried about by the temptations of the devil

“Surely it should give us more pause than it does to think of how casually we sometimes give to him who could not control his own ego in the premortal world such awful control over our egos here.  We often let the adversary do indirectly now what we refused to let him do directly then.

“Thus we can expect no immunity from either trial or temptation, because these are the common lot of mankind.  Mortality without the dimension of temptation or trial would not be full proving, it would be a school with soft credits and no hard courses.  These features of mortality were among the very conditions we agreed to before we undertook this mortal experience.  We cannot renege on that commitment now.” (Neal A Maxwell, We Will Prove Them Herewith, p. 45)

3 Nephi 6:29-30 A covenant given and administered by the devil

‘The seeds of rebellion are now blossoming into revolt. The secret combination does what it has always done. It threatens the government and with it the religion. A clear item on its agenda is establishing a king. Mormon understands that a monarchy represents the destruction of the Nephite political way. Establishing a king would destroy Mosiah’s reforms. Rejecting Mosiah means rejecting his laws and the gospel he preached. There would be no more Nephites.’ (Brant Gardner, Second Witness)

3 Nephi 7:15 Nephi

“There are some Book of Mormon figures whom we glimpse only briefly, whom we can never know well, but who intrigue us immensely because that brief glimpse seems to show us the tip of a remarkable iceberg. Nephi, the grandson of Helaman, is such a figure for me. He moves very quietly onto the scene and backs very quietly out of it, but he is no ordinary record-keeper. This is the man who was the spiritual leader of the Nephites at the time of the birth of the Savior and during the Savior’s ministry on the American continent. This is the man who wrote the account that Mormon abridged as Third Nephi, one of the most powerful sections of the Book of Mormon. So great was his faith and so vigorous his spiritual power that he raised his brother from the dead and communed regularly with angels.

“Rereading Third Nephi, I have become more and more aware that perhaps our only real access to Nephi‘s character is through Mormon’s perception of him as Mormon reads and abridges Nephi’s record. I think Mormon must have been impressed with Nephi because he keeps interrupting his narrative to pay respect, either directly or indirectly, to the earlier prophet. (See, for example, 3 Ne. 7:15–16 and 3 Ne. 8:1.) Since we can, in effect, know Nephi only secondhand, it seems important that we try to look through Mormon’s eyes, try to see Nephi as Mormon saw him. Careful study of Mormon’s abridgement confirms in both subtle and obvious ways that Mormon knew he had encountered a remarkable human being.

“I have often wondered, in reading between the lines, if Mormon might have been a little reluctant to cut and summarize Nephi’s account. It appears that at times he prefers to omit parts of the account rather than attempt to shorten it. Speaking of Nephi’s ministerings, for instance, he says, ’And all of them cannot be written, and a part of them would not suffice, therefore they are not written in this book. And Nephi did minister with power and with great authority.’ (3 Ne. 7:17.)

“Even in making rather casual references to the record, Mormon adds extra praise for Nephi: ’And now it came to pass that according to our record, and we know our record to be true, for behold, it was a just man who did keep the record—for he truly did many miracles in the name of Jesus; and there was not any man who could do a miracle in the name of Jesus save he were cleansed every whit from his iniquity.’ (3 Ne. 8:1.)

“…Interesting as these kinds of observations are, it is nevertheless Mormon‘s perception of Nephi’s great spiritual stature that really stirs our minds and hearts. More concerned about the well-being of his people than about himself, strong in spirit and will, Nephi kept a record chiefly to bear witness to the divine ministry of Jesus among the Nephites. Moving chronologically through Third Nephi, we become more and more aware of Nephi’s spiritual magnitude, largely, I think, because Mormon was keenly aware of that magnitude. It is somewhat difficult to get even a limited understanding of Nephi’s character because there is so little direct description of him and there are so few explicit references to his activities. I find, however, that as I read Mormon’s account, a picture of a dynamic spiritual leader takes shape because the few statements Mormon does make resound through my mind as I read the book of Third Nephi.” (Marilyn Arnold, “The Nephi We Tend to Forget,” Ensign, Jan. 1978, 69)

3 Nephi 7:21-26 Full conversion

“Each of us has observed how some individuals go through life consistently doing the right things. … When difficult choices are to be made, they seem to invariably make the right ones, even though there were enticing alternatives available to them. We know that they are subject to temptation, but they seem oblivious to it. Likewise, we have observed how others are not so valiant in the decisions they make. In a powerfully spiritual environment, they resolve to do better. … Yet they are soon back doing the same things they resolved to abandon. …

“Sometimes the word converted is used to describe when a sincere individual decides to be baptized. However … conversion means far more than that. … President Marion G. Romney explained conversion:

“‘Converted means to turn from one belief or course of action to another. Conversion is a spiritual and moral change. Converted implies not merely mental acceptance of Jesus and his teachings but also a motivating faith in him and his gospel. A faith which works a transformation, an actual change in one’s understanding of life’s meaning and in his allegiance to God in interest, in thought, and in conduct. In one who is really wholly converted, desire for things contrary to the gospel of Jesus Christ has actually died. And substituted therefore is a love of God, with a fixed and controlling determination to keep his commandments’ [in Conference Report, Guatemala Area Conference 1977, 8].

“Stated simply, true conversion is the fruit of faith, repentance, and consistent obedience. Faith comes by hearing the word of God [see Romans 10:17] and responding to it. You will receive from the Holy Ghost a confirming witness of things you accept on faith by willingly doing them [see Ether 12:6]. You will be led to repent of errors resulting from wrong things done or right things not done. As a consequence, your capacity to consistently obey will be strengthened. This cycle of faith, repentance, and consistentobedience will lead you to greater conversion with its attendant blessings” (Richard G Scott, in Conference Report, Apr. 2002).