I’ve just finished reading 3 Nephi on my latest read-through of the Book of Mormon. I’m always amazed at how much more I gain from this magnificent book of scripture each time I read it, and marvel at how much more there must be to learn, if I could only have eyes to see.

Christ begins speaking to the people in the land from chapter 9 of 3 Nephi, then appears to them in chapter 11. The last words we have from Christ to the Nephites are in chapter 28, so it makes about 20 chapters in total containing the direct teachings of Jesus.

Book of Mormon editor/compiler/prophet Mormon tells us that, ‘… there cannot be written in this book even a hundredth part of the things which Jesus did truly teach unto the people.’ (3 Nephi 26:6) If we take that at face value, then 20 chapters x 100 = 2,000 chapters. So, even if we had 2,000 chapters of Jesus’ direct teachings to the Nephites while He was among them, it still wouldn’t be everything.

Imagine you had that volume of records of Jesus’ sayings and doings (over 2,000 chapters) and had to select just 20. How would you choose? To me, it seems impossible. I can only conclude that Mormon must have had the holy spirit giving him some pretty specific direction.

When considering this, it becomes fascinating as to what he chose to include for us. For example, we know that the Nephite prophets knew about the Bible that we would have – Nephi had seen it in vision – so why do we have a variation of the Sermon on the Mount (Matthew 5-7), Malachi 3-4 and Isaiah 54? Think about that; there are just 20 chapters of material and 6 of those are mostly repeating scriptures we already have.

There are a couple of other sayings of Christ in 3 Nephi I also want to highlight. The first is His command for us to study Isaiah. This is so important, He says it twice: ‘… ye have [the words of Isaiah] before you, therefore search them …’ (3 Nephi 20:11); ‘I say unto you, that ye ought to search these things. Yea, a commandment I give unto you that ye search these things diligently; for great are the words of Isaiah. For surely he spake as touching all things concerning my people which are of the house of Israel; therefore it must needs be that he must speak also to the Gentiles. And all things that he spake have been and shall be, even according to the words which he spake.’ (3 Nephi 23:1-3).

Have you diligently studied the words of Isaiah? Maybe you’ve tried in the past and given up because you couldn’t understand it. I get that, really. But there are resources now that help us make sense of this book of scripture. One such is found at the Isaiah Institute, and I really encourage you to investigate that if you haven’t already.

In addition to this commandment to study Isaiah, and His quoting of Isaiah 54, Jesus also expounds the teachings of Isaiah in at least 4 other chapters of 3 Nephi (16, 20-22). These are essential chapters for us – we all need to understand them much better than we do.

There are so many other important things the Saviour taught the people that I could highlight here, but it’s another comment from Mormon I want to discuss. You see, Mormon wanted to include more than the 20 or so chapters he wrote down for us. He was about to do so, but says, ‘… the Lord forbade it.’ Why? ‘I will try the faith of my people.’ (3 Nephi 26:11)

‘…when they [that’s you and me] shall have received this, which it 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 manifest unto them. And if it so be that they will not believe these things, then shall the greater things be withheld from them, unto their condemnation.’ (3 Nephi 26:9-10)

Have we received those greater things that are promised here? No. How do we know this? Because these are the same things that Mormon’s son, Moroni, is later told to seal up. ‘They shall not go forth unto the Gentiles until the day that they shall repent of their iniquity, and become clean before the Lord. And in that day that they shall exercise faith in me, saith the Lord, even as the brother of Jared did, that they may become sanctified in me, then will I manifest unto them the things which the brother of Jared saw …’ (Ether 4:6-7)

Reading these passages in conjunction with each other is really interesting. The Lord says that we need to repent of our iniquity and exercise faith in Him. If we do, we’ll receive the greater things the Lord has prepared for us; but if we don’t we’re condemned. That’s pretty harsh language, and the fact that the Book of Mormon has been published for nearly 200 years and we still haven’t received the greater things should be troubling to each of us. Is it any wonder that Nephi said, ‘…wo be unto him that is at ease in Zion! Wo be unto him that crieth: All is well!’ (2 Nephi 28:24-25)

The Lord told the church in 1832 that we were under condemnation, and that condemnation has never been lifted. The absence of these ‘greater things’ from the Book of Mormon is proof of that.

‘… your minds in times past have been darkened because of unbelief, and because you have treated lightly the things you have received – which vanity and unbelief have brought the whole church under condemnation. And this condemnation resteth upon the children of Zion, even all. And they shall remain under this condemnation until they repent and remember the new covenant, even the Book of Mormon and the former commandments which I have given them, not only to say, but to do according to that which I have written – That they may bring forth fruit meet for their Father’s kingdom; otherwise there remained a scourge and judgment to be poured out upon the children of Zion.’ (D&C 84:54-58)

Ouch.

Again we get told to repent. All is definitely not well in Zion.

Vanity and unbelief – those are the two things highlighted by the Lord for our treating lightly the Book of Mormon and our condemnation.

Vanity = taking the Lord’s name in vain. We use His name without the authority to do so, or with no real intent or real faith.

Unbelief = false beliefs replacing true ones. These might be false traditions of our ‘Fathers’, or of our society, or our upbringing. They might be false teachings about the gospel. Our unbeliefs become stumbling blocks for us, because truth has no chance to get past them.

I began praying to the Lord about a year ago that He would help me to remove the veil of my unbelief, to help me see those falsehoods that I believed were true and that were blocking my spiritual growth. That was the start of a remarkable spiritual journey for me – one that still has a very long way to go, but which has opened my mind, eyes and heart to beautiful truths. I don’t for one second think that I’ve removed all the unbelief I carry, but I’ve made a start at least.

And that is what we each need to do – repent of our vanity and our unbelief. Start to truly study (diligently) the Book of Mormon and Isaiah. Do we want these greater truths promised to us in the Book of Mormon, or do we prefer to remain under condemnation, with a scourge and judgment to be poured out on us?

The gospel is far more beautiful that we can comprehend. Let’s each of us reach for it with everything we have.

© Copyright 2025, Jeffrey Collyer