O Ye My Fair Ones
How is it that ye could have fallen!
The scriptures are full of analogies which at times can be hard to understand. The irony is that although they may be difficult to discern, their meanings are understood only as they are searched and pondered. For this purpose the Savior said, “I perceive that ye are weak, that ye cannot understand all my words which I am commanded of the Father to speak unto you at this time. Therefore, go ye unto your homes, and ponder upon the things which I have said, and ask of the Father, in my name, that ye may understand” (3 Nephi 17:2-3). I have been vividly taught by my seven year old daughter that something more is needed and that is a personal desire to do the thing. Often it is like pulling teeth to get her to do things, she is so determined to only do those things that are fun and that she wants to do. This is the very topic that I would like to discuss in my paper. I will use The Book of Mormon to uncover a set of keys that can be used to unlock our ability to identify, control and align our desires to those of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. To accomplish this we must learn some of the ways and symbols that the scriptures use to teach the children of Christ how to develop a pure desire for righteousness. It is my humble prayer that the conclusion of this paper; will only be the beginning to the divine learning that every one of us will embark, with the Holy Ghost as our guide and exaltation our destiny.
Near the end of The Book of Mormon is found the account of the great Prophet-historian, Mormon, of who’s name this book bears as a memorial to this remarkable man. The days of Mormon and his son Moroni, who became the last Nephite Prophet, were filled with “an awful scene of blood and carnage” (Mormon 5:8). For approximately a thousand years the Nephites lived here on this land of North and South America, and during this period of time they experienced an ever rotating cycle of great prosperity by their yielding their hearts unto God and then destruction because of their swift return to their wicked ways. Satan finally gained absolute control over the hearts and the desires of the Nephites and he caused hatred and revenge to blacken every heart until the Nephites were all slaughtered by the Lamanites. As Mormon looked out at the slaughter of his people and their love of all that is evil he cried:
17 O ye fair ones, how could ye have departed from the ways of the Lord! O ye fair ones, how could ye have rejected that Jesus, who stood with open arms to receive you!
18 Behold, if ye had not done this, ye would not have fallen. But behold, ye are fallen, and I mourn your loss.
19 O ye fair sons and daughters, ye fathers and mothers, ye husbands and wives, ye fair ones, how is it that ye could have fallen!
20 But behold, ye are gone, and my sorrows cannot bring your return.
22 O that ye had repented before this great destruction had come upon you. (Mormon 6:17-20, 22 emphasis added)
Mormons great anguish is so exquisite and his words wrench my heart every time I read them. His pain can only be more fully understood as our perfection in God approaches the level he had achieved. He knew the state of the wicked and because of that his words still piece my very heart. Mormons ability to rise above the desires of the flesh came from the love he had for the Lord. “I, being fifteen years of age and being somewhat of a sober mind, therefore I was visited of the Lord, and tasted and knew of the goodness of Jesus.” (Mormon 1:15 emphasis added). God was Mormon’s strength and the source of his desires, thoughts, and actions. Now, this does not mean that every thought that Mormon had, came from the Lord but rather he had by his righteousness brought the spring of living water unto himself. He was constantly being nurtured by the fountain because he had qualified himself and the fountain had been brought unto him. Here in lies the key or principle and that is that this spring or fountain of righteousness can be either found (temporary) or be brought unto the righteous (permanent).
The journey to come unto the fountain of righteousness has two important aspects. First, that it is not the fountain that moves away from us but it is us that move away from the fountain. Secondly, if the journey is not embarked and strictly pursued then the light they once had will be taken away and Satan’s power over us will increase until all is dark. I look at this as an exchange of gifts. As long as we are willing to exchange our spirituality for something of a lesser kingdom or value then we are blind and know not that what we feel in our hand is the rod of iron or the hand rail leading up the stairs to the large and spacious building. Nephi wrote “And it came to pass that I beheld that the rod of iron, which my father had seen, was the word of God, which led to the fountain of living waters” (1 Nephi 11:25). There is a reason, in my opinion why the Lord used a rod of iron instead of a compass to find the tree of life, and that is because a compass changes based on your location whereas a rod of iron never changes and is straight and immovable. Alma talking about the Liahona or compass prepared by god to help Lehi cross the wilderness, taught:
40 And it did work for them according to their faith in God; therefore, if they had faith to believe that God could cause that those spindles should point the way they should go, behold, it was done; therefore they had this miracle, and also many other miracles wrought by the power of God, day by day.
41 Nevertheless, because those miracles were worked by small means it did show unto them marvelous works. They were slothful, and forgot to exercise their faith and diligence and then those marvelous works ceased, and they did not progress in their journey; (Alma 37:40-41 emphasis added)
No, a compass is only sufficient for the Nephi’s but the rest of us are too wishy-washy, always on the lookout for something worth trading for one of our coins of spirituality; after all we have a few left. Enos explains this unsteady roller coaster many seem to be on:
23 And there was nothing save it was exceeding harshness, preaching and prophesying of wars, and contentions, and destructions, and continually reminding them of death, and the duration of eternity, and the judgments and the power of God, and all these things—stirring them up continually to keep them in the fear of the Lord. I say there was nothing short of these things, and exceedingly great plainness of speech, would keep them from going down speedily to destruction. (Enos 1:23 emphasis added)
Moroni was commanded to teach us the way to come unto the fountain,, “I, Moroni, am commanded to write these things, that evil may be done away, and that the time may come that Satan may have no power upon the hearts of the children of men, but that they may be persuaded to do good continually, that they may come unto the fountain of all righteousness and be saved” Either 8:26 emphasis added). Persuasion to do good continually is the key to coming unto the fountain. We have to persuade ourselves not to trade any of our coins of spiritually for anything that “moth and rust doth corrupt, and thieves break through and steal” (3 Nephi 13:19). This persuasion comes by our thoughts and the source that our thoughts are coming form. If they come from the Savior we must heed them and if they come from below we must shun them and replace the thoughts with thoughts that will edify and bring us closer to the fountain and not farther away. If we fail to persuade ourselves than we will trade the light that we once had, which means the Spirit is withdrawn and Satan has full power. This is what happened in the time of Christ, the time of Mormon and is now happening in our time. Jesus taught the Nephites when he visited them instructing them of dangers of failing to persuade themselves to love righteousness:
32 But behold, it sorroweth me because of the fourth generation from this generation, for they are led away captive by him even as was the son of perdition; for they will sell me for silver and for gold, and for that which moth doth corrupt and which thieves can break through and steal. And in that day will I visit them, even in turning their works upon their own heads. (3 Nephi 27:32 emphasis added)
The fourth generation of which the Savior prophesied of is those of Mormon’s day. Alma the Younger also prophesied of Mormon’s day:
10 And these are the words: Behold, I perceive that this very people, the Nephites, according to the spirit of revelation which is in me, in four hundred years from the time that Jesus Christ shall manifest himself unto them, shall dwindle in unbelief.
11 Yea, and then shall they see wars and pestilences, yea, famines and bloodshed, even until the people of Nephi shall become extinct—
12 Yea, and this because they shall dwindle in unbelief and fall into the works of darkness, and lasciviousness, and all manner of iniquities; yea, I say unto you, that because they shall sin against so great light and knowledge, yea, I say unto you, that from that day, even the fourth generation shall not all pass away before this great iniquity shall come. (Alma 45:10-12, emphasis added)
Take note of the last verse here and compare it with what the Savior said, and you will see that they are the same. Notice the words of the Savior, “for they will sell me for silver and for gold, and for that which moth doth corrupt.” This is interesting because the Savior will not visit them in their wickedness so they could sell him, but they will sell him in their hearts which is the same as if he were there. They crucify him anew in their hearts and their state is dreadful. Now we will see the fulfillment of the Saviors word in the words of Mormon:
14 And they did not come unto Jesus with broken hearts and contrite spirits, but they did curse God, and wish to die. Nevertheless they would struggle with the sword for their lives.
15 And it came to pass that my sorrow did return unto me again, and I saw that the day of grace was passed with them, both temporally and spiritually; for I saw thousands of them hewn down in open rebellion against their God, and heaped up as dung upon the face of the land. And thus *three hundred and forty and four years had passed away. (Mormon 2:14-15 emphasis added)
The depravity continues:
8 And the husbands and fathers of those women and children they have slain; and they feed the women upon the flesh of their husbands, and the children upon the flesh of their fathers; and no water, save a little, do they give unto them.
9 And notwithstanding this great abomination of the Lamanites, it doth not exceed that of our people in Moriantum. For behold, many of the daughters of the Lamanites have they taken prisoners; and after depriving them of that which was most dear and precious above all things, which is chastity and virtue—
10 And after they had done this thing, they did murder them in a most cruel manner, torturing their bodies even unto death; and after they have done this, they devour their flesh like unto wild beasts, because of the hardness of their hearts; and they do it for a token of bravery.
18 O the depravity of my people! They are without order and without mercy. Behold, I am but a man, and I have but the strength of a man, and I cannot any longer enforce my commands.
19 And they have become strong in their perversion; and they are alike brutal, sparing none, neither old nor young; and they delight in everything save that which is good; and the suffering of our women and our children upon all the face of this land doth exceed everything; yea, tongue cannot tell, neither can it be written. (Moroni 9:8-10, 18-19 emphasis added)
Even putting these verses in my paper pains my heart but it shows the fulfillment of prophecy, the slippery slope in not persuading ourselves to love righteousness, and lastly the opposition in all things that is needed to comprehend the glorious state of those who willingly choose to dedicate their whole souls unto Christ. Now to investigate the key that will help us in bringing the fountain of righteousness unto ourselves. The Savior taught “the water that I shall give him shall be in him a well of water springing up into everlasting life” (John 4:14). The Savior taught Mononi, “Behold, I will show unto the Gentiles their weakness, and I will show unto them that faith, hope and charity bringeth unto me—the fountain of all righteousness.” The fountain brought unto us is that it becomes a part of us. Requoting Nephi, “And it came to pass that I beheld that the rod of iron, which my father had seen, was the word of God, which led to the fountain of living waters, or to the tree of life; which waters are a representation of the love of God; and I also beheld that the tree of life was a representation of the love of God” (1 Nephi 11:25 emphasis added).I added three spate marks blocking together the symbol with its interpretation. The rod of iron is the word of God. Nephi was given the sealing power and the Lord said, “yea, even that all things shall be done unto thee according to thy word, for thou shalt not ask that which is contrary to my will” (Helaman 10:5 emphasis added). Next the fountain of living waters which is represented as the tree of life also, is a representation of the love of God. We learn from Mormon:
47 But charity is the pure love of Christ, and it endureth forever; and whoso is found possessed of it at the last day, it shall be well with him.
48 Wherefore, my beloved brethren, pray unto the Father with all the energy of heart, that ye may be filled with this love, which he hath bestowed upon all who are true followers of his Son, Jesus Christ; that ye may become the sons of God; that when he shall appear we shall be like him, for we shall see him as he is; that we may have this hope; that we may be purified even as he is pure” (Mormon 7:47-48).
If we truly have charity then shall the fountain of righteousness brought unto us. Moroni said, “if a man be meek and lowly in heart, and confesses by the power of the Holy Ghost that Jesus is the Christ, he must needs have charity; for if he have not charity he is nothing; wherefore he must needs have charity. . . .Wherefore, my beloved brethren, if ye have not charity, ye are nothing, for charity never faileth. Wherefore, cleave unto charity, which is the greatest of all, for all things must fail—” (Moroni 7:44,47). If we have charity then we will have perfect faith, and our hope will be perfect and if we are possessed with those three then we will be one in purpose as our Father and His Christ are one. Then we “may become the sons of God; that when he shall appear we shall be like him, for we shall see him as he is; that we may have this hope; that we may be purified even as he is pure.” I say these things in the name of Jesus Christ. Amen.
Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. The Book of Mormon. Intellectual Reserve, Inc., 2006.
Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. The New Testament. Intellectual Reserve, Inc., 2006.
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