Look With Faith - Helaman 8:13-17

... Moses ... had such great power given unto him [that] he hath spoken concerning the coming of the Messiah. Yea, did he not bear record that the Son of God should come? And as he lifted up the brazen serpent in the wilderness, even so shall he be lifted up who should come. And as many as should look upon that serpent should live, even so as many as should look upon the Son of God with faith, having a contrite spirit, might live, even unto that life which is eternal. And now behold, Moses did not only testify of these things, but also all the holy prophets, from his days even to the days of Abraham. Yea, and behold, Abraham saw of his coming, and was filled with gladness and did rejoice.

I have written of this before - that all prophets, including Moses prophesied of the Messiah. In the instance mentioned here, Israel was plagued with "fiery serpents" and many who were bitten were dying. Moses was commanded to fashion a fiery serpent made of brass to a pole and raise it up. Those who would look upon the pole did not die of the venom of the serpents. (Numbers 21:6-9)

Moses' healing staff which he lifted up for the children of Israel to look upon, was in similitude to Jesus Christ being lifted up on the cross. In the act of being lifted up, Jesus became the object to be looked upon for healing; and being in that position, He is able to draw all who look upon Him in faith unto healing and eternal life:

And my Father sent me that I might be lifted up upon the cross; and after that I had been lifted up upon the cross, that I might draw all men unto me, that as I have been lifted up by men even so should men be lifted up by the Father, to stand before me, to be judged of their works, whether they be good or whether they be evil— (3 Nephi 27:14)

He doeth not anything save it be for the benefit of the world; for he loveth the world, even that he layeth down his own life that he may draw all men unto him. Wherefore, he commandeth none that they shall not partake of his salvation. (2 Nephi 26:20)

... it behooveth the great Creator that he suffereth himself to become subject unto man in the flesh, and die for all men, that all men might become subject unto him. (2 Nephi 9:5)

In essence, He said to men: Go ahead, have your turn first, and then I'll have mine. And when it was men's turn, they hated Him and all of his creations and killed Him. They caused war, slavery and insurrection - in His name no less! And then He says - now it's my turn, and he quietly walks into a garden at midnight, with no pomp, no fanfare and no malice, rather with love - and saves them. It is done meekly, and quietly, and yet the act is so enormous that it blows the chains and gates of hell clean off, and continues to ripple through time.

Beauty for ashes.

Faith Centered in Christ - Helaman 5:45-47

And behold, the Holy Spirit of God did come down from heaven, and did enter into their hearts, and they were filled as if with fire, and they could speak forth marvelous words. And it came to pass that there came a voice unto them, yea, a pleasant voice, as if it were a whisper, saying: Peace, peace be unto you, because of your faith in my Well Beloved, who was from the foundation of the world.

The Spirit of God rests upon those of faith. Even at times when we have a fleeting thought - when that thought has an essence or undertone of truth, we can feel it. There are occasions in my personal life, when I am suddenly filled with the Spirit. When that happens, I usually ask myself: What was I thinking just now? And I almost invariably find that my thoughts were centered on some true principle.

In the subject verse, the sons of Nephi were actually in prison, put there for preaching the gospel. But the words spoken by the Voice was to all of the prisoners. When marvelous things started happening in the prison, one of the prisoners came to himself and told the other prisoners:

You must repent, and cry unto the voice, even until ye shall have faith in Christ...

And after they prayed until they had faith, they received the answer:  ...peace be unto you, because of your faith in my Well Beloved...

Notice who we are talking about; prisoners. We may assume that many of them were there because of crimes committed, some may have been falsely accused, or under a varying amount of circumstances, but regardless of their past, when they cried unto God with faith in Christ, they received the Spirit in great abundance.

The repentant soul is always salvageable, if the owner of the soul has faith in Christ.

Another important point is that their faith was centered in Christ. It cannot be otherwise, or it has no power. An analogy to this is that of idol worship. Now I may try to exercise faith in a piece of rock. I may pray to it all the day long, but that rock cannot do anything for me no matter how deep my devotions. Remember Elisha's mockery of the priests of Baal:

And they took the bullock which was given them, and they dressed it, and called on the name of Baal from morning even until noon, saying, O Baal, hear us. But there was no voice, nor any that answered. And they leaped upon the altar which was made. And it came to pass at noon, that Elijah mocked them, and said, Cry aloud: for he is a god; either he is talking, or he is pursuing, or he is in a journey, or peradventure he sleepeth, and must be awaked. And they cried aloud, and cut themselves after their manner with knives and lancets, till the blood gushed out upon them. And it came to pass, when midday was past, and they prophesied until the time of the offering of the evening sacrifice, that there was neither voice, nor any to answer, nor any that regarded.

In our day, many worship money in a similar manner. Somehow we just don't feel secure when we don't have money. This is the primary reason for the existence of the insurance industry. The biggest hoax of all is life insurance. As if money could really replace a loved one. Now, I am not implying that those in the industry are bad, just that the underlying sentiment is false; that we should ever feel security based on money.

Money will not come to our aid when we're in trouble. It does not care whether it's buying groceries or weapons of mass destruction. It is an inanimate object, and yet many of us spend our life's focus on it. We contort ourselves to get that higher salary, we swindle each other, produce schemes and hold get rich quick seminars (where usually the only ones that get rich are the people producing the seminar).

My assertion is that our focus should never be on money other than as a means to an end, to provide the necessities of life.

Faith in Jesus Christ is the only type of faith that will produce life unto salvation:

But we believe that through the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ we shall be saved (Acts 15:11)

I am the resurrection, and the life: he that believeth in me, though he were dead, yet shall he live. (John 11:25) 

I am come that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly. (John 10:10)

And moreover, I say unto you, that there shall be no other name given nor any other way nor means whereby salvation can come unto the children of men, only in and through the name of Christ, the Lord Omnipotent. (Mosiah 3:7)

...there is no other way or means whereby man can be saved, only in and through Christ. Behold, he is the life and the light of the world. Behold, he is the word of truth and righteousness. (Alma 38:9)

Behold, Jesus Christ is the name which is given of the Father, and there is none other name given whereby man can be saved; (D&C 18:23)

For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ: for it is the power of God unto salvation to every one that believeth. (Romans 1:16)

And now, my beloved brethren, I would that ye should come unto Christ, who is the Holy One of Israel, and partake of his salvation, and the power of his redemption. Yea, come unto him, and offer your whole souls as an offering unto him, and continue in fasting and praying, and endure to the end; and as the Lord liveth ye will be saved. (Omni 1:26)

If thou wilt turn unto me, and hearken unto my voice, and believe, and repent of all thy transgressions, and be baptized, even in water, in the name of mine Only Begotten Son, who is full of grace and truth, which is Jesus Christ, the only name which shall be given under heaven, whereby salvation shall come unto the children of men, ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost, asking all things in his name, and whatsoever ye shall ask, it shall be given you. (Moses 6:52)

Therefore, I would that ye should be steadfast and immovable, always abounding in good works, that Christ, the Lord God Omnipotent, may seal you his, that you may be brought to heaven, that ye may have everlasting salvation and eternal life, through the wisdom, and power, and justice, and mercy of him who created all things, in heaven and in earth, who is God above all. Amen. (Mosiah 5:15)

Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me. (John 14:6)

Preservation by Faith - Alma 57:26

...according to the goodness of God, and to our great astonishment, and also the joy of our whole army, there was not one soul of them who did perish; ... And now, their preservation was astonishing to our whole army, yea, that they should be spared while there was a thousand of our brethren who were slain. And we do justly ascribe it to the miraculous power of God, because of their exceeding faith in that which they had been taught to believe—that there was a just God, and whosoever did not doubt, that they should be preserved by his marvelous power.

This is the story of the "stripling warriors", so-called because of their youth. They were sent to war to defend their fathers at a young age. Their fathers had all made solemn promises to God of non-violence, but when they became the object of their enemies' hatred, the Nephite army stepped in to protect them. Seeing the Nephite's suffering in their behalf, against an enemy against which they were outnumbered, they were about to break their oath, but the Nephites wouldn't have it. Instead, the younger generation who had never made the oath were sent to war.

The Nephite leaders did not intend to use the youths on the front lines out of respect to their fathers, but during several campaigns, the youths stepped forward and fought "undaunted", because "they did not fear death", and were the means of saving the entire army on many occasions.

These youths were raised on true principles by their parents, and likely had a hard life, but were full of faith. And because of their faith in promises received, were continuously preserved in battle. In their faith, there was no room for doubt - an invariant that must be met for faith, since faith and doubt cannot exist in the soul at the same time.