Because of the Rock upon Which Ye Are Built

Book of Mormon Notes - Wednesday, November 29, 2023, Helaman 5 (continued)

As I was studying the early chapters in the Book of Helaman, I also began to wonder about another aspect of the comparison between Alma’s decision to forfeit the judgment seat to Nephihah and Nephi’s decision to forfeit the judgment seat to Cezoram. We learned about Alma’s preparation for his prophetic role throughout the Book of Mosiah and the Book of Alma, and Alma’s sermon in Alma chapter five - with the numerous and poignant questions - is a chapter that we need to review and respond to frequently. In the fifth chapter of Helaman we learn of Nephi’s and Lehi’s preparation for their joint prophetic roles, but the first directly quoted sermon is Helaman’s teachings to his sons. The question that came to my mind during my study this morning regards how Nephi’s and Lehi’s teachings among their predominantly wicked and proud people differed from Alma’s teachings to his predominantly proud and wicked people.

There are probably many answers to this question. I wondered why Nephi and Lehi didn’t simply share the same sermon that Alma had once given to his people in Zarahemla. In our own time, for example, Elder Uchtdorf and others have echoed the teachings of President Benson from his classic talk “Beware of Pride”. I don’t know all of the answers to this question. But perhaps one answer is that the majority of the Nephites had grown in wickedness since even the time of Alma. If the people had forgotten Alma’s teachings by the time that Nephi and Lehi set forth to preach the word of God, they could have shared the exact same sermon that Alma shared among his own degenerate people. Of course there are many similarities between the things that Alma taught among his people and the things that Nephi and Lehi taught. However, we can also observe the power of continuing revelation in the progression from the teachings of Alma about 83 BC and the teachings of Nephi and Lehi about 30 BC. In only 50 years the Nephites had grown even more wicked than they had been in the days of Alma, and although Alma’s teachings certainly still applied, Nephi and Lehi required new revelation and special power in order to reach their people who were rapidly ripening in iniquity and descending toward destruction.

Like Alma, Nephi and Lehi had been uniquely prepared for their prophetic missions by their great father. Nephi and Lehi took their father Helaman’s teachings to heart. They remembered what he had taught them, and they built their ^bfoundation upon the ^arock of their Redeemer, who is Christ, the Son of God. (Helaman 5:12) In connection with the principle of continuing revelation that we can observe throughout the Book of Mormon, even from the time of the original Lehi and Nephi to their great descendants Nephi and Lehi, we learn from Helaman’s sons that building upon the Rock of our Redeemer Jesus Christ means building upon the Rock of Revelation, and particularly the Rock of Continuing Revelation. Jesus Christ is now Resurrected, and He is the Living Christ who guides His Living Church. Therefore, like Nephi and Lehi, sons of Helaman, we need Living Revelation.

In other words, as true and as enduring as the teachings of Alma were and are, the people in the time of Helaman’s sons needed the revelation and guidance that the Lord provided through these great servants of God. It certainly wouldn’t have hurt for these ancient Nephites, or for us, to review the teachings of Alma in Alma chapters 5-7. I’m sure that Helaman’s sons Nephi and Lehi had studied, remembered, and lived by Alma’s teachings, as well as the teachings of other previous prophets, including their father Helaman. But the teachings of the past prophets, as important and as necessary as they were and are, pale in comparison to the Living Rock of Continuing Revelation. This is not to juxtapose or contrast the teachings of past and present prophets, but to trace the golden thread of revelation that runs from the past to the present. We can clearly see how past revelations, including Helaman’s teachings, were the catalyst or the spark for the continuing revelation that Nephi and Lehi received so frequently:

And in the seventy and ninth year there began to be much strife. But it came to pass that Nephi and Lehi, and many of their brethren who knew concerning the true points of doctrine, having many ^arevelations daily, therefore they did preach unto the people, insomuch that they did put an end to their strife in that same year. (Helaman 11:23)

I make this point, not just because of the confusion regarding the teachings of past and present prophets that afflicts many in our own time, but because when we understand how continuing revelation worked in the past, we can better understand how continuing revelation works today. Remember that Nephi drew from the teachings of Moses and other past prophets to instruct his brothers. This was good and necessary. But Nephi knew that he and his people also needed fresh, flowing, and living waters, or continuing revelation:

Now it came to pass that I, Nephi, did teach my brethren these things; and it came to pass that I did read many things to them, which were engraven upon the ^aplates of brass, that they might know concerning the doings of the Lord in other lands, among people of old.

And I did read many things unto them which were written in the ^abooks of Moses; but that I might more fully persuade them to believe in the Lord their Redeemer I did read unto them that which was written by the prophet ^bIsaiah; for I did ^cliken all scriptures unto us, that it might be for our ^dprofit and learning. (1 Nephi 19:22-23)

Notice that Nephi wanted to more fully persuade his brothers and us to believe in Jesus Christ. This is certainly what Alma desired, and it is certainly what Nephi and Lehi desired as well. Although the prophet Isaiah also died long ago, we can see how his words, though ancient, have a special living quality because of their application during multiple periods of time. No wonder the Lord Himself commanded us to search the words of Isaiah:

And now, behold, I say unto you, that ye ought to ^asearch these things. Yea, a commandment I give unto you that ye search these things diligently; for great are the words of ^bIsaiah.

For surely he spake as touching all things concerning my people which are of the house of Israel; ^atherefore it must needs be that he must speak also to the Gentiles.

And all things that he spake have been and ^ashall be, even according to the words which he spake. (3 Nephi 23:1-3)

How can we build upon the Rock of Continuing Revelation, and what do we learn from the way in which Nephi and Lehi built upon this Rock? The Lord’s teachings to His contemporaries and apostles come immediately to mind:

When Jesus came into the coasts of Cæsarea Philippi, he asked his disciples, saying, Whom do men say that I the Son of man am?

And they said, Some say that thou art John the Baptist: some, ^aElias; and others, Jeremias, or one of the prophets.

He saith unto them, But whom say ^aye that I am?

And Simon Peter answered and said, Thou art the ^aChrist, the ^bSon of the ^cliving God.

And Jesus answered and said unto him, Blessed art thou, Simon ^aBar-jona: for flesh and blood hath not ^brevealed it unto thee, but my Father which is in heaven.

And I say also unto thee, That thou art Peter, and upon this ^arock I will build my ^bchurch; and the gates of ^chell shall not ^dprevail against it.

And I will ^agive unto thee the ^bkeys of the ^ckingdom of heaven: and whatsoever thou shalt ^dbind on earth shall be bound in heaven: and whatsoever thou shalt loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven.

Then charged he his disciples that they should tell no man that he was Jesus the ^aChrist. (Matthew 16:13-20)

This is another place in scripture where we learn about what Helaman meant when he taught his sons to build their foundation upon the Rock of our Redeemer. Whereas a variety of men gave a variety of opinions and answers concerning Jesus Christ’s identity, Simon Peter truly recognized our Savior because Heavenly Father revealed His true identity to Him by the power of the Holy Ghost. We call this testimony, and it is testimony that comes by Continuing Revelation through the Living Rock, Jesus Christ. The Lord blessed Peter, and the Lord blessed Nephi and Lehi, because they were building their lives upon the Rock. They were building their lives, not on what other people told them about Jesus or even exclusively upon what past prophets had written or taught. They were building their lives upon what the Spirit of the Lord revealed to them about Jesus Christ, the Way, the Truth, and the Life. Listen carefully to the Lord’s teachings to Peter and consider the parallel in Helaman’s teachings to his sons:

And I say also unto thee, That thou art Peter, and upon this ^arock I will build my ^bchurch; and the gates of ^chell shall not ^dprevail against it. (Matthew 16:18)

A footnote in the LDS edition of the King James Bible is very helpful:

Here is a subtle wordplay upon “Peter” (Greek petros = small rock) and “rock” (Greek petra = bedrock). Christ is the Stone of Israel. John 1:42; 1 Cor. 3:11 (9–11); 10:4; D&C 50:44; 128:10. TG Rock.

In other words, the Lord taught his chief apostle: “thou art petros (small rock), and upon this petra (bedrock), I will build my church…” Thus as much as Peter was a rock of a man, the bedrock upon which the Church is built is not Peter (or any other man), but Jesus Christ Himself, the Chief Cornerstone and the Fountain of Living Waters and Continuing Revelation. The Rock upon which the Church is built, the Rock upon which Peter built, the Rock upon which Nephi and Lehi built, and the Rock upon which we are invited to build is the Living Rock, the Living Christ, and the Continuing Revelation that flows from Him by the Holy Ghost.

In light of this, the Lord’s parable makes more sense:

¶ Therefore whosoever ^aheareth these sayings of mine, and ^bdoeth them, ^cI will liken him unto a ^dwise man, which ^ebuilt his house upon ^fa rock:

And the ^arain descended, and the floods came, and the winds blew, and ^bbeat upon that house; and it fell not: for it was founded upon a ^crock.

And every one that heareth these sayings of mine, and doeth them not, shall be likened unto a ^afoolish man, which built his house upon the sand:

And the rain descended, and the floods came, and the winds blew, and beat upon that ^ahouse; and it ^bfell: and great was the fall of it. (Matthew 7:24-27)

And,

¶ And why ^acall ye me, ^bLord, Lord, and ^cdo not the things which I say?

Whosoever cometh to me, and heareth my sayings, and ^adoeth them, I will shew you to whom he is like:

He is like a man which built an house, and digged deep, and laid the foundation on a rock: and when the flood arose, the stream beat vehemently upon that house, and could not shake it: for it was founded upon a rock.

But he that ^aheareth, and doeth not, is like a man that without a foundation built an house upon the earth; against which the stream did beat vehemently, and immediately it fell; and the ruin of that house was great. (Luke 6:46-49)

In the most recent General Conference of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, Brother Jan E. Newman, Second Counselor in the Sunday School General Presidency shed greater light on the meaning of these passages:

Recently, a good friend taught me something I hadn’t noticed before about the parable of the wise man who built his house upon a rock. According to the account in Luke, as the wise man laid the foundation for his house, he “digged deep.”⁵ It wasn’t a casual or simple endeavor—it took effort!

To build our lives on the rock of our Redeemer, Jesus Christ, we need to dig deep. We remove anything that is sandy or superfluous in our lives. We keep digging until we find Him. And we teach our children to bind themselves to Him through sacred ordinances and covenants so that when the oppositional storms and floods come, as they surely will, they will have little effect upon them “because of the rock upon which [they] are built.”⁶

This kind of strength doesn’t just happen. It is not passed on to the next generation like a spiritual inheritance. Each person must dig deep to find the rock.

Brother Newman digged deep, Peter digged deep, Lehi and Nephi digged deep… and we can learn a lot from each one of them. But in order for us to enjoy the same freshness of Living Waters and joy of Continuing Revelation, we too must dig deep, even to the Bedrock, to the testimony of Jesus Christ that flows from His Spirit and to the conversion to Christ that flows from our sincere and diligent efforts to put into practice the Doctrine of Christ and whatever the Lord reveals to us through His Spirit:

Wherefore, I am in your midst, and I am the good shepherd, and the stone of Israel. He that buildeth upon this rock shall never fall. (Doctrine and Covenants 50:44)

And did all drink the same spiritual drink: for they drank of that spiritual Rock that followed them: and that Rock was Christ. (1 Corinthians 10:4)

Perhaps some of these things can help us to better understand what Helaman meant when he taught his sons:

And now, my sons, remember, remember that it is upon the ^arock of our Redeemer, who is Christ, the Son of God, that ye must build your ^bfoundation; that when the devil shall send forth his mighty winds, yea, his shafts in the whirlwind, yea, when all his hail and his mighty ^cstorm 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. (Helaman 5:12)

To be continued…