Who's Cause Will You Follow?

In the Book of Mormon, there is a wicked man named Amalickiah who conspires to overthrow the government and place himself as a king. During this time in the Book of Mormon, there are judges appointed over the land by the voice of the people, and the chief judge is the "head cheese." There were many lower judges that were seeking for power, and with Amalickiah's cunning, he persuaded them to his cause: the cause of captivity under a wicked king. Amalickiah promised these judges that if they would follow and help him take the government over, he would place them as rulers in the kingdom. Despite the exhortations of the prophet Helamen at the time, "there were many in the church who believed in the flattering words of Amalickiah, therefore they dissented even from the church" (Alma 46:7). It's incredible that all these in the church, and out of it, followed after ONE wicked man. It only takes one wicked person to lead many astray.

There is another man, named Moroni, that is the head captain over all of the Nephite armies, and he is a very righteous person who keeps the commandments of God. He hears of the great dissensions caused by Amalickiah and "he was angry with Amalickiah" (Alma 46:11). Moroni, when he heard of these things, "he rent his coat; and took a piece thereof, and wrote upon it--In memory of our God, our religion, and freedom, and our peace, our wives, and our children--and he fastened it upon the end of a pole" (Alma 46:12). After he made the "title of liberty" (Alma 46:13) he put on all of his armor for war. He then, and this is hugely important, "bowed himself to the earth, and he prayed mightily unto his God for the blessings of liberty to rest upon his brethren" (Alma 46:13). After Captain Moroni had done this, he took the Title of Liberty with him throughout the land and called for those who desired to come forth in the strength of the Lord to "maintain their rights, and their religion, that the Lord God may bless them." Now, when the people had heard these things that Moroni had said, the people "came running together with their armor girded about their loins." The people knew that the cause of Moroni was greater than that of Amalickiah, and they literally ran to defend their liberty.

Moroni and those that desired to maintain their rights went to stop the rebellion that Amalickiah had caused. Those that had dissented to follow Amalickiah were "doubtful concerning the justice of the cause in which they had undertaken." Amalickiah saw this amongst his followers, and he went to leave the land to go to the Lamanites (the enemies of the Nephites), therefore Moroni went to head them off so that their enemies, the Lamanites, wouldn't gain any more strength. Moroni accomplished his cause, although Amalickiah and a small band escaped, the majority of the dissenters had been captured and the "title of liberty [was] hoisted upon every tower which was in all the land that was possessed by the Nephites."

There is so much to learn here. If anything, I hope that the message that you received was that the cause of righteousness and liberty by far defeat the cause of captivity and evil. Follow the cause of God, He will lead us towards the light and towards that which is everlasting life. Don't let the flatteries of the wicked turn us away from that which is righteous, recognize their cause, and know that the cause of God is greater.

With love,
Elder Brennan Edwards

Tape Measure Living

We have been taught to follow the example of Jesus Christ, and to walk on the path that leads to eternal life. But, this path is not a broad or wide path, but it is a straight and narrow one. Jesus teaches us in the Book of Mormon, "because strait is the gate, and narrow is the way which leadeth unto life, and few there be that find it" (3 Nephi 14). He said that there are FEW that find the end of this path and the reward that awaits, which is eternal life. Why don't very many people make it to the end? Well, it's because they push the boundaries that have been established by God and try to "measure" how far they can stray from the path.

Shouldn't we try to walk right down the middle of the path? There is even an iron rod to hold on to (1 Nephi 8) that will lead us directly to our reward at the end. If we just held fast to this iron rod (which is the word of God) then we would be perfectly fine and be able to walk in Jesus' footsteps all the way to eternal life. But, because we are human, we like to push the limits. Why? Well, it's too hard to live God's commandments, we're lazy, we like to rebel, and there are many more. We will not receive the fullness of joy that comes from living the gospel if we are using a tape measure to see how far from the middle of the path we can stray. God's laws are never-changing, and in a world where morals are ever-changing, it can be hard to stay in the middle of the path. Are we expected to be perfect? No. BUT, we are expected to try the best that we can and aim for the middle of the path. We cannot change the commandments of God, neither can we bend them. Those that live that way hurt themselves every time that they try to measure how far from the middle of the path they can stray, and eventually Satan will "[lead] them by the neck with a flaxen cord, until he bindeth them with his strong cords forever" (2 Nephi 22).

Stay in the middle of the path, follow the Savior's example because He will not lead us astray. If we hold fast to His teachings, and if we obey the commandments that we have been given, we will receieve eternal life. I know that to be true with all my heart.

With love,
Elder Brennan Edwards