The Nephite Apostasy

From all this we learn just how false and unsteady people’s hearts are. We learn that the Lord, in His great, infinite goodness, blesses and prospers those who trust in Him.

We learn that at the very moment the Lord gives temporal blessings to His people, they forget Him, because their prosperity makes their lives so easy. For it was the Lord who fed them, making their crops grow and herds increase. It was the Lord who gave them their gold, silver, and precious things, and inspired every kind of art. The Lord saved their lives by delivering them from their enemies, who were softened and did not declare war on them. The Lord did everything to insure the welfare and happiness of His people, but instead of thanking Him, the people considered His words to be worthless.

We also learn that unless the Lord afflicts His people with death, terror, famine, and all types of pestilence, they will not remember Him. Oh how foolish, vain, evil, and devilish are the people. How quick they are to sin—listening to the evil one and setting their hearts upon the vain things of the world—and how slow they are to do good!

How quickly they lift themselves up in pride, boasting and sinning in every way, and how slowly they remember the Lord their God. How slow they are to listen to His counsel and walk in wisdom’s paths! So many people do not want the Lord their God, their Creator, to rule and reign over them. Even though He extends His great goodness and mercy to them, they consider His counsel to be worthless, and they will not let Him be their guide. Oh how great is the nothingness of people, who are less obedient than the dust of the earth. For the dust moves when the everlasting God commands it. At His voice the hills and mountains tremble and quake. By the power of His voice they are broken up and become a smooth valley. By the power of His voice the whole earth shakes, even to the center. If He says to the earth, “Move,” it moves. And if He says, “Stop, and make this day longer,” the earth obeys. It stops and the sun appears to stand still—for it is the earth that moves, and not the sun. If the everlasting God commands the ocean to dry up, it is done. If He says to a mountain, “Rise up, fall over here and bury this city,” then it is done.

If a sinful man hides his treasure in the earth, and the Lord curses it, then that treasure is cursed. If the Lord says, “You are cursed, and nobody will ever find you,” then it is so. If the Lord says to a man, “Because of your sins you will be cursed forever,” then that man is cursed forever. If He says, “Because of your sins you will be cut off from my presence,” then he will be cut off. And the Lord will say this to the sinful—those who will not repent and who cannot be saved. People are told to repent, that they may be saved and return to God’s presence.

This is the salvation and blessing of those who listen to His voice. May God grant, in His great fulness, the chance for His children to repent and do good works, that they may be restored by grace, because of their gracious works.

I, Mormon, would hope that everyone will be saved. But we read that at the great and last day, some will be cast off from the Lord’s presence. Some will be consigned to a state of endless misery, fulfilling these words: “Those who have done good will progress forever, and those who have done evil will be damned.”