Moroni 10:33

And again, if ye by the grace of God are perfect in Christ, and deny not his power, then are ye sanctified in Christ by the grace of God, through the shedding of the blood of Christ, which is in the covenant of the Father unto the remission of your sins, that ye become holy, without spot.

Here is hope! Moroni's final words are of hope. We can hope to be spotless and holy and acceptable to God because Christ has ransomed us and paid our price. God can be merciful because of Christ, which fills both the Father and the Son with joy. Their joy is our one true hope.

Moroni 10:32

Yea, come unto Christ, and be perfected in him, and deny yourselves of all ungodliness; and if ye shall deny yourselves of all ungodliness, and love God with all your might, mind and strength, then is his grace sufficient for you, that by his grace ye may be perfect in Christ; and if by the grace of God ye are perfect in Christ, ye can in nowise deny the power of God.

We are perfected, or completed, only by Christ. We cannot do it on our own. All the self-help books in the world cannot change us enough to meet God's standards. Only Jesus and the atonement and the power of the Holy Ghost can make the kind of changes in us that qualify as perfection.  We must try and do our best, but we must always remember where the power to please God comes from.

Moroni 10:21

And except ye have charity ye can in nowise be saved in the kingdom of God; neither can ye be saved in the kingdom of God if ye have not faith; neither can ye if ye have no hope.

We cannot be saved without faith, hope, and charity because we will not be like God without these three attributes. The Savior can wipe away our sins, but he cannot change us against our wills. If we have not done the work to develop faith, hope, and charity, we will fall short of the full hope of Christ. He offers the gifts of the Spirit, but we must receive them for them to work in our lives.

Moroni 9:25

My son, be faithful in Christ; and may not the things which I have written grieve thee, to weigh thee down unto death; but may Christ lift thee up, and may his sufferings and death, and the showing his body unto our fathers, and his mercy and long-suffering, and the hope of his glory and of eternal life, rest in your mind forever.

The bleak events of the world can weigh us down and overwhelm us. But they do not have to crush us. Christ can lift us, strengthen us, and comfort us, even in the midst of turmoil.

Moroni 7:47

But charity is the pure love of Christ, and it endureth forever; and whoso is found possessed of it at the last day, it shall be well with him.

In this context, charity is not an action or an attitude, it is the pure love Christ has for each of us. His love is eternal. We must open ourselves to it and allow it to possess us and fill every fiber of our beings. When we are possessed by Christ's love, it will influence us in profound ways that will change our very natures. We won't have to worry about overcoming temptations and keeping the commandments and magnifying our callings, for those things will come naturally to us through Christ's grace. Living the gospel will not be a trial and a challenge, for it will be simply who we are. It will indeed be well with us at the last day, for we will be at peace with God and with ourselves.

Moroni 7:42

Wherefore, if a man have faith he must needs have hope; for without faith there cannot be any hope.

Faith leads inevitably to hope. Without faith we cannot have hope. With faith, hope is inescapable. How could we have abiding faith in Christ and not have an abiding hope in forgiveness,  redemption, resurrection, and exaltation? Such a paradox would be illogical and unsustainable.

Ether 12:11

Wherefore, by faith was the law of Moses given. But in the gift of his Son hath God prepared a more excellent way; and it is by faith that it hath been fulfilled.

The love of God is his greatest gift, and the coming of his Son is the ultimate expression of his love.

For those who think they can obey their way into heaven, the message is clear: obedience is insufficient without faith. Faith in Christ is the most excellent way to God.

Ether 6:3

And thus the Lord caused stones to shine in darkness, to give light unto men, women, and children, that they might not cross the great waters in darkness.

Christ is the rock of redemption and the chief cornerstone, which shines in the darkness of a fallen world so we do not have to navigate mortal life in the dark.

Mormon 9:27

O then despise not, and wonder not, but hearken unto the words of the Lord, and ask the Father in the name of Jesus for what things soever ye shall stand in need. Doubt not, but be believing, and begin as in times of old, and come unto the Lord with all your heart, and work out your own salvation with fear and trembling before him.

Salvation is an individual thing. No one else can work out my salvation for me. Ultimately, I cannot rely on anyone's testimony but my own. I cannot ride on the faith of others. I must be baptized for myself, receive the gift of the Holy Ghost myself, receive my own temple endowments, be sealed to my spouse, and keep the commandments. My parents' conversion is not my conversion. My wife's charity is not my charity. I can learn from the good example of others, but I cannot depend on their works to bring me to Christ and sanctify me. I must come to Christ for myself, repent for myself, exercise my own faith. Working out my salvation does not mean that I save myself. Only Christ can save me. But I have to apply to him for salvation, and that application must be personal.

Mormon 9:21

Behold, I say unto you that whoso believeth in Christ, doubting nothing, whatsoever he shall ask the Father in the name of Christ it shall be granted him; and this promise is unto all, even unto the ends of the earth.

If we want power from God, we begin with belief in Christ, as evidenced by our submitting to the first principles and ordinances of his gospel, which are faith and repentance, followed by baptism and the conferring of the Holy Ghost by one holding the proper authority.

We must trust with our whole heart and soul in Christ. He holds our very salvation and eternal life in his hands. When we trust him, we do not try to wrestle our salvation away from him as if we can save ourselves. No, we do not doubt in the least that he can and will redeem us.

With that trust and faith in Christ, we go to the Father in his name and ask for the help we need to strengthen and increase our faith. We ask him to change our hearts and minds from the squalor of the natural man to the humility of a disciple of Christ. Such a prayer will God always, always answer.

And his answer will be a miracle, for it is only by the miracle of the Christ's Atonement that a sinner can be washed clean and spotless.

God excludes no one from the promise of hope in this formula, to the ends of the earth and the end of time. Everyone can receive his grace. If we do not, it is only because we exclude ourselves by trying to get it some other way than how God has prescribed. He has the right to set the conditions by which we come to him. We have the choice to accept or reject those conditions. We do not, however, have the right to override the consequences of our choices.

Mormon 9:11

But behold, I will show unto you a God of miracles, even the God of Abraham, and the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob; and it is that same God who created the heavens and the earth, and all things that in them are.

The greatest miracle of God is Christ's Atonement and the plan of salvation. God must be a God of miracles to pull off our salvation. If we don't think God does miracles, then we don't think he can save us. And if that were the case, what good is he, and what good is life itself?

Mormon 9:6

O then ye unbelieving, turn ye unto the Lord; cry mightily unto the Father in the name of Jesus, that perhaps ye may be found spotless, pure, fair, and white, having been cleansed by the blood of the Lamb, at that great and last day.

Even the most rebellious, wicked and unbelieving can turn around. Right up to the last day they can come to themselves and seek the Lord. The pure miracle of the Christ's Atonement is that it can make even the worst of sinners spotless, pure, white, and thoroughly clean. We do not have to appear before our Father stained with our sins.  Christ holds out boundless hope for everyone. No one is lost  who will come to him and have faith in him.

Mormon 7:7

And he hath brought to pass the redemption of the world, whereby he that is found guiltless before him at the judgment day hath it given unto him to dwell in the presence of God in his kingdom, to sing ceaseless praises with the choirs above, unto the Father, and unto the Son, and unto the Holy Ghost, which are one God, in a state of happiness which hath no end.

Because Christ has redeemed us, we can in fact pass before the judgment bar of God totally guiltless. We can be perfect in Christ. And then note the next phrase: it will be given to us to dwell with God. To live in the presence of the Father and the Son is a gift. First, Christ has to erase our sons, which is totally a gift of his love and mercy. And then when he has cleaned us all up through his perfect sacrifice, he gives us the gift of eternal life with him in the presence of Heavenly Father, which we totally do not deserve! The whole idea is beyond comprehension and truly humbling. As Elder Holland once said, how thrilling it must be for God to be merciful to those who least expect it and don't think they deserve it. Of course we won't really have time to stand around all day and sing songs of praise in a heavenly choir,  but we will feel like it as we are filled to overflowing with gratitude as we begin to comprehend the gift we have received.

Mormon 7:5

Know ye that ye must come to the knowledge of your fathers, and repent of all your sins and iniquities, and believe in Jesus Christ, that he is the Son of God, and that he was slain by the Jews, and by the power of the Father he hath risen again, whereby he hath gained the victory over the grave; and also in him is the sting of death swallowed up.

As Mormon writes his final words to the posterity of a destroyed civilization, the shares a powerful lesson with a promise. He tells his readers to "come to a knowledge of [their] fathers," thus echoing the commandment to "remember", which appears often in the Book of Mormon. Remembering means not only knowing who our fathers were, but also knowing what they knew. In other words, it is to regain the knowledge the fathers had about God, Christ, and the Plan of Salvation, which was lost through apostasy. It is to discover again what we should have known all along. Once the knowledge is restored, we can recognize our sins and repent, believe in Christ, and accept him as our Savior. That is Mormon's whole purpose and his labor of love.

Mormon 5:18

But now, behold, they are led about by Satan, even as chaff is driven before the wind, or as a vessel is tossed about upon the waves, without sail or anchor, or without anything wherewith to steer her; and even as she is, so are they.

Christ is both sail and anchor in our lives. A boat serves us when it can carry us forward in fair winds and shelter us in the storms. Without a sail, the wind does not help us; and without an anchor, the storms can carry us far off course. When we have faith in Christ, he will carry us forward and keep us on course, and he will not let the storms destroy us.

Mormon 5:11

For I know that such will sorrow for the calamity of the house of Israel; yea, they will sorrow for the destruction of this people; they will sorrow that this people had not repented that they might have been clasped in the arms of Jesus.

Because the Nephites willingly and intentionally turned away from Christ, he could do nothing for them. He cannot embrace those who do not want to be embraced. I do not understand why anyone would not want to be clasped in the arms of Jesus. To be warm and safe in his arms is the most comforting experience I can imagine. I make lots of mistakes and fail constantly to live up to the life I know I should live, but I repent when I realize my mistakes. And so I have hope in Christ.

3 Nephi 22:11

O thou afflicted, tossed with tempest, and not comforted! Behold, I will lay thy stones with fair colors, and lay thy foundations with sapphires.

Though we have been afflicted with guilt, the Lord can make our lives beautiful through his Atonement.

3 Nephi 22:7

For a small moment have I forsaken thee, but with great mercies will I gather thee.

Elder Jeffrey R. Holland taught: “The imagery of Jehovah as bridegroom and Israel as bride is among the most commonly used metaphors in scripture, being used by the Lord and his prophets to describe the relationship between Deity and the children of the covenant. … Christ has, on occasion, been rightfully angry with backsliding Israel, but that has always been brief and temporary—‘a small moment.’ Compassion and mercy always return and prevail in a most reassuring way. The mountains and the hills may disappear. The water of the great seas may dry up. … But the Lord’s kindness and peace will never be taken from his covenant people. He has sworn with a heavenly oath that he will not be wroth with them forever” (Christ and the New Covenant 1997, 290).

3 Nephi 21:22

But if they will repent and hearken unto my words, and harden not their hearts, I will establish my church among them, and they shall come in unto the covenant and be numbered among this the remnant of Jacob, unto whom I have given this land for their inheritance;

This prophecy is about those who accept the gospel and enter into the covenants of baptism and the temple. We are added to the Lord's chosen people because of our covenants, regardless of our birth heritage or DNA. We therefore share in the inheritance of the promised land with the rest of Lehi's descendants. The same is true of our spiritual homeland. We can be accepted into the celestial kingdom because of covenants, and because of the covenant Christ made with the Father to be our Redeemer, Mediator, and Savior.

3 Nephi 20:24

Verily I say unto you, yea, and all the prophets from Samuel and those that follow after, as many as have spoken, have testified of me.

The primary message of every prophet is his testimony of Jesus Christ. Not all spoke of him directly or by name, but all have testified one way or the other of the Redeemer, the Savior, our Advocate with the Father, the sacrificial Lamb, the resurrected Lord. All prophetic messages point us to Christ. Christ is the only One who can bring us to the Father, and true prophets always lead us to Christ. We thank the, O God, for a prophet, to lead us to Christ in these latter days.