And now, my sons, remember, remember that it is
upon the rock of our Redeemer, who is Christ, the Son
of God, that ye must build your foundation; that when
the devil shall send forth his mighty winds, yea, his
shafts in the whirlwind, yea, when all his hail and his
mighty storm shall beat upon you, it shall have no
power over you to drag you down to the gulf of
misery and endless wo, because of the rock upon
which ye are built, which is a sure foundation, a
foundation whereon if men build they cannot fall.
In this Helaman Chapter 5, Nephi, who used to be a judge in the land, gives up his political appointment to go preaching repentance through the land with his brother Lehi. The reason he does this is interesting. Verses 2-3 say:
"For as their laws and their governments were established by the voice of the people, and they who chose evil were more numerous than they who chose good, therefore they were ripening for destruction, for the laws had become corrupted.
Yea, and this was not all; they were a stiffnecked people, insomuch that they could not be governed by the law nor justice, save it were to their destruction."
It then recounts the words of his father, Helaman, who tells them that he gave these brothers their names to remind them of their first parents who came out of Jerusalem, and to remind them that they were good, and that they should likewise be good.
Helaman gives his testimony of the Savior, saying that only through Christ and his atonement can men be saved. He would come to redeem his people from their sins, but not in their sins. The only way he has power to redeem is through the power of repentance.
Insert verse 12.
Nephi and Lehi remember the words and devote themselves to preaching throughout the land. They speak with great power and have success in turning both Nephites and Lamanites to repentance.
They are afflicted, thrown into prison, go hungry and attempts are made to execute them.
They are surrounded by angels and protected. A cloud of darkness falls among the people while a pillar of fire surrounds Nephi and Lehi.
A voice is heard calling the dissenters to repent. Verse 30 describes the voice:
"And it came to pass when they heard this voice, and beheld that it was not a voice of thunder, neither was it a voice of a great tumultuous noise, but behold, it was a still voice of perfect mildness, as if it had been a whisper, and it did pierce even to the very soul"
The voice comes again commanding them to repent, and again a third time, adding in marvelous things which cannot be uttered.
The people ask what they need to do so that the darkness will lift. They are told they must repent and cry unto the voice until they have faith in Christ.
They do so, and the darkness disperses and is replaced with a pillar of fire surrounding every soul. They are filled with joy.
In verse 47 they hear the voice saying:
"Peace, peace be unto you, because of your faith in my Well Beloved, who was from the foundation of the world."
When they look to the heavens from where they heard the voice, they see angels who come minister unto them. They are told "to go forth and marvel not, neither should they doubt" in verse 49.
They go forth and minister and bring about the conversion of the more part of the Lamanites, who then lay down their weapons of war and yield up the lands of the Nephites to them.
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