2 Nephi 2

As Lehi teaches his son, Jacob, on what is one of the greatest explanations of the purpose of life and the great plan of salvation, he teaches of the atonement of Jesus Christ -

"Wherefore, redemption cometh in and through the Holy Messiah; for he is full of grace and truth.
7 Behold, he offereth himself a sacrifice for sin, to answer the ends of the law, unto all those who have a broken heart and a contrite spirit; and unto none else can the ends of the law be answered."
(2 Nephi 2:6–7)

Humility and meekness will always be a condition to receive the blessing of His grace.

2 Nephi 1

Lehi warned his descendants -

"...behold, when the time cometh that they shall dwindle in unbelief, after they have received so great blessings from the hand of the Lord—having a knowledge of the creation of the earth, and all men, knowing the great and marvelous works of the Lord from the creation of the world; having power given them to do all things by faith; having all the commandments from the beginning, and having been brought by his infinite goodness into this precious land of promise—behold, I say, if the day shall come that they will reject the Holy One of Israel, the true Messiah, their Redeemer and their God, behold, the judgments of him that is just shall rest upon them.
11 Yea, he will bring other nations unto them, and he will give unto them power, and he will take away from them the lands of their possessions, and he will cause them to be scattered and smitten."  (2 Nephi 1:10–11)

Did this not happen for many years after the Book of Mormon was printed?

1 Nephi 22

As Nephi explains the words of Isaiah to his brethren, he teaches concerning the millennium -

"...behold, all nations, kindreds, tongues, and people shall dwell safely in the Holy One of Israel if it so be that they will repent."  (1 Nephi 22:28)

This suggests to me that even though Satan will be bound, all people will be safe if they repent.  Which suggests to me that there still may be some that will choose not to repent.

1 Nephi 21

As the Lord describes how Israel will be captive and ineffective in the work of the Lord for many generations, He promises that in the latter days a great gathering as promised by Abraham that Israel  -

"...shall feed in the ways, and their pastures shall be in all high places.
10 They shall not hunger nor thirst, neither shall the heat nor the sun smite them; for he that hath mercy on them shall lead them, even by the springs of water shall he guide them.
11 And I will make all my mountains (temple ordinances) a way, and my highways shall be exalted."  (1 Nephi 21:9–11)

For Israel shall have great success for -

"Then shalt thou say in thine heart: Who hath begotten me these, seeing I have lost my children, and am desolate, a captive, and removing to and fro? And who hath brought up these? Behold, I was left alone; these, where have they been?"  (1 Nephi 21:21)

We will be astonished in the last days as we realize His promises... "where did all these come from?"

1 Nephi 20

As the Lord is about to proceed to explain to the Israel that He gave His prophecies long before they were fulfilled so that none could claim their  "idols" did it, He says -

"Hearken and hear this, O house of Jacob, who are called by the name of Israel, and are come forth out of the waters of Judah, or out of the waters of baptism, who swear by the name of the Lord, and make mention of the God of Israel..."  (1 Nephi 20:1)

In my mind, "who swear" are those that made covenants with Him.  Ordinances and covenants only have relationship with the Celestial Kingdom.

1 Nephi 19

Nephi learned from the brass plates -

"...the God of our fathers, who were led out of Egypt, out of bondage, and also were preserved in the wilderness by him, yea, the God of Abraham, and of Isaac, and the God of Jacob, yieldeth himself, according to the words of the angel, as a man, into the hands of wicked men, to be lifted up, according to the words of Zenock, and to be crucified, according to the words of Neum, and to be buried in a sepulchre, according to the words of Zenos, which he spake concerning the three days of darkness, which should be a sign given of his death unto those who should inhabit the isles of the sea, more especially given unto those who are of the house of Israel."  (1 Nephi 19:10)

First and foremost, ancient prophets understood the "God" of the Old Testament was the Savior.  And second, it becomes clear that when ancient prophets were very clear, easily to be understood, in their prophecies that their words were not included in our scriptures today.

1 Nephi 18

It seems that after every witness, Laman and Lemuel begin to repent.  But each time they seem to get harder and harder in their hearts.  Even after being "shocked" by the Lord in the Bountiful, they even get so hard that Nephi records -

"...there was nothing save it were the power of God, which threatened them with destruction, could soften their hearts; wherefore, when they saw that they were about to be swallowed up in the depths of the sea they repented of the thing which they had done, insomuch that they loosed me."  (1 Nephi 18:20)

This time there is no mentioned that they felt remorse or sorrow.

1 Nephi 17

Nephi makes a very interesting point teaching his brothers of God that -

"...he loveth those who will have him to be their God..."  (1 Nephi 17:40)

I don't believe that this suggests that He hates those that will not have Him be their God.  I believe it suggests that He loves and is pleased with those that do where He can bless them.

1 Nephi 16

Nephi records that he went to his father to know where he should go to hunt for food for his family.  I had always thought that Lehi told him but I noticed this morning that Nephi recorded -

"...I, Nephi, did go forth up into the top of the mountain, according to the directions which were given upon the ball.
31 And it came to pass that I did slay wild beasts, insomuch that I did obtain food for our families."  (1 Nephi 16:30–31)

The directions were give upon the ball.

1 Nephi 15

As Nephi answers questions poised by his brethren, he teaches concerning those that will be "saved' and the wicked -

"...wherefore the final state of the souls of men is to dwell in the kingdom of God, or to be cast out because of that justice of which I have spoken.
36 Wherefore, the wicked are rejected from the righteous, and also from that tree of life, whose fruit is most precious and most desirable above all other fruits; yea, and it is the greatest of all the gifts of God..."  (1 Nephi 15:35–36)

The wicked then must include all those that choose not to enter into ordinances and covenants or are not valiant in striving to keep such.

1 Nephi 14

Nephi writes of his vision -

"...the angel spake unto me, Nephi, saying: Thou hast beheld that if the Gentiles repent it shall be well with them; and thou also knowest concerning the covenants of the Lord unto the house of Israel; and thou also hast heard that whoso repenteth not must perish.
6 Therefore, wo be unto the Gentiles if it so be that they harden their hearts against the Lamb of God."  (1 Nephi 14:5–6)

I thought this morning of much of the news has been about the wrongness of "quid pro quo", this statement by the angel is a quid pro quo.

1 Nephi 13

Speaking of the great and abominable church or kingdom of the devil, the angel told Nephi -

"...for behold, they have taken away from the gospel of the Lamb many parts which are plain and most precious; and also many covenants of the Lord have they taken away."  (1 Nephi 13:26)

Covenants are not required to enter the terrestrial or telestial kingdoms.  Thus taking away covenants limited the believers from entering into the celestial kingdom.  /The angel also said that -

"...after these plain and precious things were taken away it goeth forth unto all the nations of the Gentiles..."  (1 Nephi 13:29)

Thus in my mind, this took place before the Holy Bible was compiled.

1 Nephi 13

If you are wondering why there has been such a break in my blogging, I tore my calf muscles and haven't been able to exercise and read.

As the angel foretold events to come, Nephi writes -

"...the angel said unto me: Behold the formation of a church which is most abominable above all other churches, which slayeth the saints of God, yea, and tortureth them and bindeth them down, and yoketh them with a yoke of iron, and bringeth them down into captivity.
6 And it came to pass that I beheld this great and abominable church; and I saw the devil that he was the founder of it."  (1 Nephi 13:5–6)

There have been many that considered this to mean a specific Church.  But we later learn

"...Behold there are save two churches only; the one is the church of the Lamb of God, and the other is the church of the devil; wherefore, whoso belongeth not to the church of the Lamb of God belongeth to that great church, which is the mother of abominations; and she is the whore of all the earth."  (1 Nephi 14:10)

Later Nephi uses the words to describe the Church -

"...it is the kingdom of the devil, which shall be built up among the children of men..."  (1 Nephi 22:22)

When we consider "church of the devil" to be synonymous with "kingdom of the devil" it becomes clear that it is describing the evil institutions and organizations of the devil.