3 Nephi 20-26 (part two) and Malachi

If you have access to a recording of Handel's "Messiah," you may want to play the selections of "The Lord Whom Ye Seek" through "And He Shall Purify," as prelude to the lesson as class members enter.  These are musical settings of the text of Malachi or 3 Nephi 24.

THE IMPORTANCE OF MALACHI

When Lehi left Jerusalem, he took with him the Brass Plates.  These plates contained many of the same books that we find in our Old Testament.  But there was a very important book that was not included, and that was the book of Malachi.  The name Malachi means "messenger," and that's about all we know about the authorship of the book.  The reason it wasn't in the Brass Plates was very simple:  It wasn't written yet.  It wasn't written until nearly 200 years after Lehi left.  but the Lord felt that this scripture was so important that he brought it to the Nephites personally.  On the second day of his visit to America after his resurrection, after reciting a passage from Isaiah, he recited chapters 3 and 4 of Malachi to them.  We find them recorded as 3 Nephi 24 and 25.  This passage is so important and so relevant to us of the latter days that Moroni recited it to Joseph Smith three times on the night he first visited him in his bedroom.  This is the passage we get to study today.

 This is what happened after Jesus recited the words of Malachi:

"And now it came to pass that when Jesus had told these things he expounded them unto the multitude; and he did expound all things unto them, both great and small."  (3 Nephi 26:1)

So what did Jesus tell them about this scripture as he "expounded" upon it?  We can read the whole chapter and not find out.  

"And now there cannot be written in this book even a hundredth part of the things which Jesus did truly teach unto the people; but behold the plates of Nephi do contain the more part of the things which he taught the people."  (3 Nephi 26:6-7)

If we had the big plates, the Plates of Nephi, we could read about it, but we don't have them yet.  Yet!  This scripture is a test for us.

"And when they shall have received this, which is expedient that they should have first, to try their faith, and if it shall so be that they shall believe these things then shall the greater things be made manifest unto them."   (3 Nephi 26:9)

This photo comes from lds.org and may be

copied and used for the classroom

If we totally exhaust the Book of Mormon with our study, then we will get the Plates of Nephi and that will be a great blessing.  But that's not the only consequence of the test.  There is a bad one as well, if we flunk.

"And if it so be that they will not believe these things, then shall the greater things be withheld from them unto their condemnation.  Behold, I was about to write them, all which were engraven upon the plates of Nephi, but the Lord forbade it, saying: I will try the faith of my people."  (3 Nephi 26:10)

If we don't "use up" the Book of Mormon and never get the Plates of Nephi, we're going to be in big trouble. President Spencer W. Kimball said, "I have had many people ask me through the years, 'When do you think we will get the balance of the Book of Mormon records?' and I have said, 'How many in the congregation would like to read the sealed portion of the plates?'  And almost always there is a 100-percent response.  And then I ask the same congregation, 'How many of you have read the part that has been opened to us?'  And there are many who have not read the Book of Mormon, the unsealed portion.  We are quite often looking for the spectacular, the unobtainable.  I have found many people who want to live the higher laws when they do not live the lower laws" (The Teachings of Spencer W. Kimball, p. 531-532).

So, we are left to try to figure out Malachi for ourselves, and our willingness to try is part of our test.  So let's see what we can do with it today.

MALACHI 3--THE ACCUSATIONS

"Thus said the Father unto Malachi--Behold, I will send my messenger, and he shall prepare the way before me, and the Lord whom ye seek shall suddenly come to his temple, even the messenger of the covenant, whom ye delight in; behold, he shall come, saith the Lord of Hosts.

"But who may abide the day of his coming, and who shall stand when he appeareth?  For he is like a refiner's fire, and like fuller's soap, and he shall sit as a refiner and purifier of silver; and he shall purify the sons of Levi, and purge them as gold and silver, that they may offer unto the Lord an offering in righteousness." (3 Nephi 24:1-3)

This passage tells us the Lord is going to come again, and asks the question, "Who may abide the day of his coming?"  The answer is those who have been purified by His Atonement.  

And in this chapter, the Lord makes two accusations of wrongdoing.  Since this chapter was given to Joseph Smith and is about the latter days, these accusations apply to us.  We've got to take care of these wrongs in order to qualify to be purified.  After each accusation, the children of the Lord (us) ask the Lord a question, the kind of question kids often ask their parents when they are in trouble, a "what do you mean? what did I do?" kind of a question.  The Lord answers and explains, and then tells what blessings will come if we change and correct the wrong.

(Divide the class in two and have half of the class study the first accusation [verses 7-12] and the other half study the second accusation [verses 13-17].)

The first accusation is found in verse 7:

"Even from the days of your fathers ye are gone away from mine ordinances, and have not kept them.  Return unto me and I will return unto you, saith the Lord of Hosts.  But ye say: Wherein shall we return?"  The word "return" might more clearly be translated as "turn" or "change."  So Team One needs to find out what actions we need to change, or in what ways we need to turn toward the Lord, and what blessings we will get if we change.  I found 4 distinct blessings; see what you find.

(Write on the board: "What did we do wrong?")

The second accusation is in verse 13:

"Your words have been stout against me, saith the Lord.  Yet ye say: What have we spoken against thee?"
Team Two can find out what we have said that is wrong, and what 3 blessings we will receive if we change.

(Write on the other side of the board:  "What did we say wrong?")

What Did We Do Wrong?
We've been lax in paying our tithing.  Howard W. Hunter compared not paying tithing to embezzlement.  "The Lord's share came into his hands lawfully, but he misappropriated it to his own use."  (April 1964 General Conference)  Ezra Taft Benson said, "Tithing is not a donation.  It is not optional...It is a commandment."  (Teachings of Ezra Taft Benson, p. 470)  Dean L. Larsen said, "For many who live in conditions of poverty, there may be no other way to escape their impoverishment than to give obedience to this law."  (October 1994 General Conference)

The blessings:  1) Opening of the windows of heaven, 2) the rebuking of the devourer, 3) the growth and preservation of crops [or possibly other types of profits], 4) being respected by all nations.

Money from Philippines,

in honor of my reader who teaches there

Regarding the blessings that come to tithe-payers, Harold B. Lee said, "The opening of the windows of heaven, of course, means revelations from God to him who is willing thus to sacrifice."  (Harold B. Lee, October 1971 General Conference.)  One clear evidence of this blessing is found in temple-building.  Tithing builds temples, and it is my understanding that areas with a majority of full tithe payers are the areas considered for temples.  Of course, the temple is a really big "window to heaven."

What Did We Say Wrong?
We've been jealous of those with the "easy" life of entertaining themselves on the Sabbath, not keeping the commandments, living by their own rules, spending their money on luxuries precluded by our tithes and donations, wearing what they like, eating and drinking what they like, living unmarried if they like.  It looks like they are having fun all the time.  (Think:  beer commercials.)  Sometimes, when we get tired of doing our duties or when our trials get hard, we look with envy on the neighbors without them.  We say, "What good is it to live the gospel, when those people look so happy?"  But, "When all of the evidence is in, the world's graduate school of hard knocks will teach what you young men were taught in the kindergarten of your spiritual training.  'Wickedness never was happiness'" (Glenn Pace, October 1987 General Conference)

The blessings:  1) their names are recorded in the Lord's book of remembrance, 2) they will belong to the Lord's family and fall under his protection, 3) they will be spared (at the judgment, and also from the trials of sin in this life).

MALACHI 4--THE JUDGMENT

Now, Malachi tells what is going to happen if you are on the right side or the wrong side at the judgment day.  It may not be readily apparent in this life that things go better if you're righteous, but there will be no doubt that the Lord rewards the righteous there and makes all things fair.

"For behold, the day cometh that shall burn as an oven; and all the proud, yea, and all that do wickedly, shall be stubble; and the day that cometh shall burn them up, saith the Lord of Hosts, that it shall leave them neither root nor branch.

"But unto you that fear my name, shall the Son of Righteousness arise with healing in his wings; and ye shall go forth and grow up as calves in the stall."  (3 Nephi 25:1-2)  Calves in the stall are provided with shelter, with food, with a caring owner, with every need met.  Besides being "burned as [in] an oven" the wicked will be left "without root or branch:"  without their parents and ancestors, without their children and descendants.  We occasionally hear stories in the news of people whose homes burn to the ground, "but," they say, "we still have each other; all our family got out safely," and that makes it a happy ending.  The wicked will suffer the fire as well as losing their family, so they will truly lose everything.  Families are the real treasures, one of the few treasures we can take with us to the next life.

 The copyright of this photo of my brother 
Gary Wyatt's family is held by him, 

but you may use it for teaching purposes.

In the Old Testament, Malachi is the very last book, and these are the very last verses we read before we start reading about the Savior's birth in Matthew of the New Testament:

"Behold, I will send you Elijah the prophet before the coming of the great and dreadful day of the Lord.  And he shall turn the heart of the fathers to the children, and the heart of the children to their fathers, lest I come and smite the earth with a curse." (3 Nephi 25:5-6 or Malachi 4:5-6)

The Prophet Joseph Smith said that the word "turn" here could better be translated as "bind" or "seal."  This is the blessing that will be of great worth to the righteous; the opportunity to belong to our families in the eternities.

ISAIAH 54--THE LATTER DAYS

This would be a good point to backtrack a little and overview what the Lord quoted to the Nephites from Isaiah, recorded in chapter 22 because there are a few real gems here.  I'll elaborate on four:

First, (verse 2-3) the church will spread over the earth, and that church organization can be a protection and a strength to us, as a tent is in a storm.

This photo of the Brigham City temple

was taken by my friend, Debbie Raymond,

who holds the copyright.

It may be used for church or home purposes.

Second, the Savior takes care of those who are without family or spouse in this life:

"For thy maker, thy husband, the Lord of Hosts is his name; and thy Redeemer, the Holy One of Israel--the God of the whole earth shall he be called.  For the Lord hath called thee as a woman forsaken and grieved in spirit...For a small moment have I forsaken thee, but with great mercies will I gather thee...for the mountains shall depart and the hills be removed, but my kindness shall not depart from thee, neither shall the covenant of my peace be removed, saith the Lord that hath mercy on thee."  (3 Nephi 22:5-6, 10)

Although we in the church often refer to our Savior, Jesus Christ, as our Brother, He never refers to Himself as such in the scriptures.  He refers to Himself as our Father, the one whose name we take upon ourselves when we come into His kingdom/family.  His perfection and Atonement put Him on a peak so far above us that we hardly seem to be siblings. He calls us friends, He calls us His children if we qualify, but He never calls us siblings.  And it seems too casual, almost, for us to do so.  

BUT, here in 3 Nephi, to those who are bereft of a companion here on the earth, who are alone, who feel rejected, who have been widowed, abused, divorced, or never married, He refers to Himself in an even more intimate association: Husband!  And to emphasize the incredible power of this Husband, he flanks that title with several other mighty identities:

• "Thy Maker"--the God of the universe, the Creator 
• "The Lord of Hosts"--the all powerful leader of the heavenly army, the one in charge of the outcomes of earthly battles as well
• "Thy Redeemer"--a title in ancient Israel that refered to a kinsman who would cover the debts of a family member in trouble, saving them from slavery
• "The Holy One of Israel"--the one who is perfect and without sin, and is the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, whose works are well-known throughout the Old Testament

(See Susan Ward Easton [now Black], "Names of Christ in the Book of Mormon," Ensign, July 1978)

This photo from lds.org and free to copy for class.

And thirdly, to those who are have been challenged by, unsuccessful in, unsure of, or helpless in their roles as righteous parents, whose children may have wandered, He gives this wonderful promise:

"And all thy children shall be taught of the Lord; and great shall be the peace of thy children."  (3 Nephi 22:13).  Many translations of the Bible clarify this verse by substituting "all thy children shall be taught by the Lord," which does work very well with Hebrew word usage.  In the last days, through the Holy Ghost, through our temple covenants, the Lord will teach all of the children of the righteous, not just those who are at church each week or who are agreeable at family home evening, but even those who have strayed.

 President Hinckley teaching children.

This photo from lds.org and free to copy for class.

And lastly, although there will be a lot of trouble of all sorts in our day, we can take comfort in the final verses of this passage, which President Ezra Taft Benson always carried in his wallet, and which he displayed on his desk:

"No weapon that is formed against thee shall prosper; and every tongue that shall revile against thee in judgment thou shalt condemn.  This is the heritage of the servants of the Lord, and their righteousness is of me, saith the Lord."  (from his funeral, reported in the July 1994 Ensign, p. 82)

THE IMPORTANCE OF RECORD-KEEPING

Jesus, in chapter 23, emphasized how important record-keeping is to him.  He asked Nephi to bring their records forth, and he went through them and said, "Why can't I find the story of Samuel the Lamanite here?  Didn't he come?  Didn't he prophesy a lot of important things?  Didn't these things all come to pass?  Didn't a lot of the righteous rise from the dead?"  And he commanded those things to be written.

Likewise, can we imagine Jesus saying to us, "Didn't I answer your prayer?  Didn't I heal you when you were sick?  Didn't you feel my Spirit in that fast and testimony meeting?  Didn't I tell you the Book of Mormon was true?  Why have these things not been written down?"  If we record the workings of God in our lives, our journals can become our personal scriptures, through which we can strengthen our own testimonies as we re-read them, and through which we can teach our children's children's children long after we are gone.

Old Testament Lesson #48 "The Great and Dreadful Day of the Lord"

Zechariah 10-14; Malachi

INTRODUCTION

What do a coin, an argument, and the state line have in common?  (Wait for response.) They all have two sides--which leads us right into our topic, the Second Coming.  "Behold, I will send you Elijah the prophet before the coming of the great and dreadful day of the Lord" (Malachi 4:5).  The Second Coming will have two sides:  it will be great on the one side, and dreadful on the other.

It is reported that President Faust was speaking at a regional Priesthood meeting.  At the end of the meeting he opened up the session for questions.  Someone raised his hand and asked what the Brethren knew about when the Second Coming would occur.  President Faust asked the man what priesthood he held.  The man said he was a high priest.  President Faust said, "Then I will fill you in on what the Brethren know:  (pause)  We haven't a clue."  But then he added, "Go to your High Priest's quorum next Sunday; I'm sure someone there will know."  (Story told by Scott B. Marsh at BYU Education Week, August 2001)

But even though President Faust didn't know when the Second Coming would be, it can't be too far away.  President Benson said, "This is the last and great dispensation in which the great consummation of God's purposes will be made, the only dispensation in which the Lord has promised that sin will not prevail.  The Church will not be taken from the earth again.  It is here to stay.  The Lord has promised it and you are a part of that Church and kingdom--the nucleus around which will be builded the great kingdom of God on the earth.  The kingdom of heaven and the kingdom of God on the earth will be combined together at Christ's coming--and that time is not far distant.  How I wish we could get the vision of this work, the genius of it, and realize the nearness of that great event.  I am sure it would have a sobering effect upon us if we realized what is before us."  This was originally said in the '80's and was repeated by President Hinckley in 1992 in the October General Conference.  (Ensign, Nov. 1992, p. 4)

THE NEW APOSTACY

The Second Coming is called "the great and dreadful day of the Lord."  It is two-sided, just like the coin and the argument.  On the one side, it will be great for the righteous, and on the other it will be dreadful for the wicked.  Of course, it's going to be great for all of us, because we are members of His Church, right?  Well, that depends on what kind of members of the Church we are. 

Christ told many parables about the Second Coming and one of them was the Parable of the Ten Virgins.  (Read Matt. 25:1-13.)  The most important thing to remember about this parable is that it is the Parable of the Ten Virgins, not the Parable of the Five Virgins and the Five Harlots!  All ten were members of the Church, members of the "wedding party."  All ten had lamps of testimony.  But five had let their lamps get low on oil, and while waiting for the "bridegroom" (the Second Coming), they were extinguished altogether.  They were drifting off to sleep and didn't even realize it was happening until it was gone!  They were victims of what Lynn Scoresby calls "The New Apostacy" (A. Lynn Scoresby, BYU Education Week Lecture, August 19, 1999).

Malachi warned of this type of apostacy.  "A son honoureth his father, and a servant his master: if then I be a father, where is mine honour? and if I be a master, where is my [respect]? saith the Lord of hosts unto you, O priests, that despise my name.  And ye say, Wherein have we despised thy name?  Ye offer polluted bread upon mine altar; and ye say, Wherein have we polluted thee?  In that ye say, The table of the Lord is contemptible.  And if ye offer the blind [lamb] for the sacrifice, is it not evil? and if ye offer the lame and sick [animals], is it not evil?" (Mal. 1:6-8) 

What is the accusation?  Perverted obedience.  It's no sacrifice to give the Lord the leftovers, the things that we didn't need anyway, the sick animals that we couldn't have eaten or sold.

"Even from the days of your fathers ye are gone away from mine ordinances, and have not kept them.  Return unto me, and I will return unto you, saith the Lord of hosts.  But ye said, Wherein shall we return? [What did we do wrong?]  Will a man rob God?  Yet ye have robbed me.  But ye say, Wherein have we robbed thee?  In tithes and offerings" (Mal. 3:7-8). 

What is the accusation?  It's more than just not paying tithes.  It's not recognizing that everything belongs to God and should go for the good of His kingdom; that we are not entitled owners, but simply stewards.

"Your words have been stout against me, saith the Lord.  Yet ye say, What have we spoken so much against thee?  Ye have said, It is vain to serve God; and what profit is it that we have kept his ordinance, and that we have walked mournfully before the Lord of hosts?  And now we call the proud happy; yea, they that work wickedness are set up; yea, they that tempt God are even delivered" (Mal. 3:13-15). 

What is the accusation?  Envying those who are not members of the church, or who are not active in their membership.  Who would do that?  Most of us at one time or another.  We get tired of church service and look at the "easier" lives of our nonmember neighbors who get to sleep in on Sunday mornings and don't have as many rules to follow.  We don't recognize the tremendous blessings that have entered our lives through our service to the Lord and our obedience to His commandments.  When something happens to us that we term to be a tragedy, we shout angrily at the Lord, "Hey!  I've been active in the church all my life!  I've read the scriptures, said my prayers, served a mission, gone to the temple, lived the Word of Wisdom!  Why did I get cancer?  Why did my house burn down?  Why did my daughter die in a car crash?  Why did my son go astray?  Look at my neighbor:  His life is perfect, and he's never gone to church!  I have been cheated!"  Instead of trusting the Lord's long-term plan for our lives and looking for lessons and blessings in trials, we blame Him for what we view as injustice or inattention.

THE DANGER OF HYPOCRISY

Let's look at another parable.  "A certain man had two sons; and he came to the first, and said, Son, go work to day in my vineyard.  He answered and said, I will not: but afterward he repented, and went.  And he came to the second, and said likewise.  And he answered and said, I go, sir: and went not.  Whether of them twain did the will of his father?" (Matt. 21:28-31).

Brother Scoresby defines the First Apostacy as getting angry and leaving the Church in a huff.  The Second Apostacy, he says, is to pervert the Church from within.  The Third Apostacy, or the New Apostacy, is much more subtle.  It's not really new, but it has experienced a resurgence in recent years.  It's like a virgin with not quite enough oil.  It's like a sacrifice of a lamb, but a blind one.  It's like paying 8% tithing.  It's like accepting a Church calling and never getting around to doing it.  The New Apostacy is to not do what you say you believe.  It is half-heartedness.  It is hypocrisy.  It is a lack of spiritual integrity.  If the integrity of a building is compromised, it may look fine, but in a hurricane or an earthquake, it will crumble.  So with the faith of one whose spiritual integrity is not solid.

Elder Joseph B. Wirthlin said, "Some people are weak in their faith and testimonies but are not even aware of how precarious their situation is.  Many of them likely would be offended at the suggestion."  He explains what their problem is: "They raise their right hand to sustain Church leaders and then murmur and complain when a decision [made by those Church leaders] does not square with their way of thinking.  They claim to be obedient to God's commandments but do not feel at all uncomfortable about purchasing food at the store on Sunday and then asking the Lord to bless it.  Some say they would give their lives for the Lord, yet they refuse to serve in the nursery.

"The Savior spoke very explicity about people who 'draw near me with their mouth, and with their lips do honour me, but have removed their heart far from me' (Isa. 29:13).  His words were: 'Not every one that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven."  (Joseph B. Wirthlin, "Spiritual Bonfires of Testimony," Ensign, November 1992)

Brother Scoresby notes that when there is a conflict between your belief and your action--in other words, hypocrisy--the action wins; the brain will eventually adjust the belief to match the action.  The value of other beliefs in the brain are also compromised when one belief is overridden by action.  Over time, the individual continues to lose control over his own behavior.  This is why Christ condemned hypocrisy so soundly.  It is a powerful sin because it decreases integrity and eventually leads to apostacy.  It compromises the soundness of the spirit, it undermines the foundation of faith.

DEVELOPING SPIRITUAL INTEGRITY

How can we develop spiritual integrity, or help our children do it?  Most of us as children, if we were in good homes, developed the foundation for integrity, which forms the foundation upon which we can build spiritual integrity.  (This chart is my interpretation of the principles taught by Lynn Scoresby.) 

Keep in mind, these stages overlap, and we are often working on several of them at once.

Development of Personal and Spiritual Integrity
1. Adapting emotional behavior
    First, we learned to adapt our emotional behavior to the situation. 
    As infants we were more excited to see our mothers than to see a
    stranger, for example.
2. Adjusting language to situation
    Then we learned to adjust our language to different situations,
    such as learning to be reverent in Primary.
3. Self-regulation
    And we learned how to regulate ourselves in sports or in playing
    games or in restaurants to adhere to the rules or the social
    expectations.  Most children have reached this stage by about
    age five.  

At stage 4, we can begin to develop our spiritual integrity:

4. Formation and application of conscience
    "Put your trust in that spirit that leadeth to do good..."
     (D&C 11:12)
    The next step is to learn to listen to our conscience and recognize
    the direction of the Spirit.  This is the stage we would hope to
    have children reach by the age of accountability when they are
    baptized.  We continue to build on the ability to hear and follow
    the guidance of the Spirit throughout our lives.
5. Accurate view of self
    "I show unto men their weakness..." (Ether 12:27)
    We must also be able to recognize the truth about ourselves,
    without being afraid of what we might find, and then go to the
    Lord with repentant hearts.
6. Practice and internalize beliefs
    "Write it in your hearts..." (Prov. 3:1-4)
    Over the course of our lives, we must daily internalize our beliefs
    through our experiences; we must practice obedience to God
    until it becomes "second nature."
7. Change circumstances to match belief
    "Faith to move mountains..."  (Prov. 3:5; Matt. 21:21)
    Then we gain the ability to change circumstances based on our
    beliefs, rather than changing our beliefs to fit the circumstances;
    we use our faith in Jesus Christ to work for improvement in our
    world, to heal, to receive answers to prayer, to exercise the gifts
    of the Spirit, to change lives, even to work miracles.
8. Integrity and compassion
    "This is my work and my glory..." (3 Ne. 28:9-10; Moses 1:39)
    Finally, we reach a state of spiritual integrity: behavior that is
    consistent with belief.  In this stage, we truly live with charity
    and peace, wherein we love God so much that, not only do we
    trust Him, but we are one in purpose with Him, meaning that our
    top priority is always the temporal welfare and spiritual growth of
    those within our influence.  This is the effect of a celestialized
    person.

If we look carefully at ourselves, we may be able to find what is holding us back.  Instead of the positive development noted above, we may be stymied by acting in ways that are detrimental to our spiritual integrity, such as in the examples below.

4. Formation and application of conscience.
    We don't always listen to the Holy Ghost, trust what it says to do,
    or follow through on promptings.
5. Accurate view of self. 
    We are too prideful to recognize any error, or don't want to go
    through the storm of repentance to get to the peace of
    forgiveness.
6. Practice and internalize beliefs.
    We pick and choose which commandments to keep, or we keep
    them under our own terms like Cain did when he sacrificed grain
    instead of a lamb (Gen. 4:3-5).  We keep the commandments
    only if it doesn't require us to give up anything important, like
    offering a blind lamb as a sacrifice (Mal. 1:8).  We don't think the
    Brethren know what they're talking about it regarding some of
    their counsel to us, or we think we are an exception.
7. Change circumstances to match belief.
    We say we have faith in Jesus Christ, but we don't believe He
    can or will help us with this particular problem/church calling/
    weakness/sin/relationship. We look at our planner each morning
    and freak out, rather than trusting the Lord to guide us to do the
    most important things.  We second-guess the Lord's wisdom,
    and try to tell Him what to do in our prayers, rather than seeking
    to know His will.  We interpret unplanned events (accidents,
    illnesses, financial losses, etc.) to be tragedies, rather than
    potential blessings and stepping stones in our progression.  We
    look to the future fearfully, not remembering that our lives and
    our earth are cradled in God's hands. 
8. Integrity and compassion.
    We go to church, we read the scriptures, we carry out church
    callings, but we can't stand our relative/neighbor/coworker.  We
    gossip or judge.  We are jealous or judgmental.  We feel a
    constant sense of competition, as if to "win the prize" of celestial
    glory (Mosiah 4:27) we must beat our ward members to it, as if
    the Lord graded on a curve.  We continually break the great
    commandment to "love our neighbor as ourselves."

THE IMPORTANCE OF INTEGRITY AT THE GREAT AND DREADFUL DAY OF THE LORD

Read Malachi 3:1-4.  Do we want the Second Coming to be great for us, or to be terrible?  It's a no-brainer, but it's a question we need to ask ourselves every day in order to avoid the New Apostacy.  Do we want to be one of the five wise virgins, or one of the five unprepared virgins?  The days ahead will be a challenge to testimony, and those that are just a flicker will go out.  Those who have been hypocrites and not realized it will find that their "hearts fail them."  They will not be able to abide the Day of His Coming.  Their compromised foundations will crumble.  But those who have the integrity to stay on the Lord's side, who have built their lives upon the Rock, will be saved. 

"Then they that feared the Lord spake often one to another: and the Lord hearkened, and heard it, and a book of remembrance was written before him for them that feared the Lord, and that thought upon his name.  And they shall be mine, saith the Lord of hosts, in that day when I make up my jewels; and I will spare them, as a man spareth his own son that serveth him.  Then shall ye return, and discern between the righteous and the wicked, between him that serveth God and him that serveth him not" (Mal. 3:16-18).

"And at that day, when I shall come in my glory, shall the parable be fulfilled which I spake concerning the ten virgins. For they that are wise and have received the truth, and have taken the Holy Spirit for their guide, and have not been deceived—verily I say unto you, they shall not be hewn down and cast into the fire, but shall abide the day. And the earth shall be given unto them for an inheritance; and they shall multiply and wax strong, and their children shall grow up without sin unto salvation. For the Lord shall be in their midst, and his glory shall be upon them, and he will be their king and their lawgiver" (D&C 45:56-59).

CHALLENGE

The New Year is upon us.  What better time to examine ourselves prayerfully, determine where our spiritual integrity is lacking, and make a resolution to strengthen that foundation?