Scattered throughout the scriptures are "three word sermons", directives so to speak, to the true seekers of truth. They resonate with such, consciously and subconsciously, because their purpose is to bring men unto Christ. Such "three word sermons" as the following:
Look and behold
Worship the Lord
Remember the Lord
Hearken and hear
Rebel no more
Awake my soul!
Hearken unto me
Put on strength
Remember my words
Prepare your souls
Follow thou me
Look unto God
O be wise
Come unto Christ
Awake and hear
Believe in God
O man remember
Come unto me
Do good continually
O repent ye!
Pray unto Him
Behold and remember
Cry unto God
Remember these words
Keep my commandments
O remember, remember
Consider this simple, yet powerful example of the effect of His words: "Now in the morning as He returned into the city, He hungered. And when He saw a fig tree in the way, he came to it and found nothing thereon, but leaves only, and said unto it, Let no fruit grow on thee henceforth and forever. And presently the fig tree withered away. And when the disciples saw it, they marveled, saying, how soon is the fig tree withered away!" (Matthew 21:18-20). What followed this incident, however, is one of the most powerful teaching moments of His ministry. Not only did He tell the disciples that if they have faith and doubt not, they can by the power of their words move mountains, but something even more significant than mountains: "And all things, whatsoever ye shall ask in prayer, believing, ye shall receive" (Matthew 21:22). And what is prayer? Words.
Words are power. I hear a lot about the law of attraction and how it is put into motion through words. They say whatever we speak, we bring about and I fully agree. However, I also believe that words are most powerful when they express faith in God. Through the medium of words we can express faith to be delivered, to be healed, to be comforted, to be made to understand, to be given revelations, to foster testimony, to believe. We can manifest God's power, mercy and love towards us through the words that we speak. When the chief judge of Ammoniahah came to Alma and Amulek in prison questioning them and receiving no answer, he said to them: "...Know ye not that I have power to deliver you up unto the flames?" (Alma 14:19). Alma however was familiar with flames. He stared at the fires of hell during the three days of his anguish and because of it he knew that God possessed far greater power than the pitiful judges of Ammoniahah. So Alma sat in prison with Amulek for many days suffering abuse of every kind from anyone who wished to visit them. And he said nothing. Finally when all had had a turn, their patience and long suffering was rewarded for 'the power of God [came] upon them and they rose and stood upon their feet' (Alma 14:25). This should have been a cue for all present to clear the cell. Alma however did not evoke any calamity upon his accusers but then he didn't have to. He instead spoke the most powerful words in scripture when he said: "O Lord, give us strength according to our faith which is in Christ, even unto deliverance" (Alma 14:26). The cords were broken, the earth shook, the walls came tumbling down and those who despised the words of Christ were no more. Nephi, like Alma, when needed delivering from his brothers murderous' designs, spoke the same words and received the same results: "O Lord, according to my faith which is in thee, wilt thou deliver me from my brethren; yea, even give me strength that I may burst these bands with which I am bound" (1 Nephi 7:17). Nephi testifies: "And it came to pass that when I had said these words, behold the bands were loosed from off my hands and feet, and I stood before my brethren, and I spake unto them again" (1 Nephi 7:18). We like Alma and Nephi can have the power of deliverance to free us from our sins, addictions, weaknesses, worldly lusts and pursuits, and to help us to overcome the world one temptation at the time, daily, monthly, yearly. All it takes is faith in Christ and appealing to His power to save through the words that we speak.
Our words either confirm or negate our faith. It is useless praying for something and then not showing forth our faith in our daily conversations and thoughts. If the Saviour told His disciples that through the power of their word they can exercise faith to move mountains, then it is so. So often we murmur and complain and stay on the negative course after we have prayed for good things to be manifested in our lives. This is a disaster because the power of our words destroy the power of faith. The following true story is a perfect example of this. Notice how Lucy Mack Smith demonstrated her faith through the words she spoke as opposed to other saints who destroyed their faith through murmuring and complaining:
"Shortly after the Church was organized in Palmyra, New York, Joseph Smith's mother, Lucy Mack Smith, remained in Waterloo, New York, with a large group of Saints while her husband, Joseph Sr., and some of their sons, including Joseph Jr., departed before her for Kirtland, Ohio. Her responsibility was to bring this group to Ohio when she received word from her son, the Prophet. Word came in early spring 1831. Lucy, with the help of some of the brethren, began to move the group to Buffalo, New York, with the intention of making passage to Ohio by ship on Lake Erie. She said: 'When the brethren considered the spring sufficiently open for travelling on the water, we all began to prepare for our removal to Kirtland. We hired a boat....;and....we numbered eighty souls'. Then, as they pushed off into the Erie Canal and headed to Buffalo, she said: 'I then called the brethren and sisters together, and reminded them that we are traveling by the commandment of the Lord, as much as Father Lehi was, when he left Jerusalem; and, if faithful, we had the same reasons to expect the blessings of God. I then desired them to be solemn, and to lift their hearts to God continually in prayer, that we might be prospered'.
About halfway to Buffalo from Waterloo, passage along the canal became impossible. Conditions for the 80 Saints were uncomfortable, and murmuring began almost immediately. Lucy, relying on the Lord, had to unite their faith. She told them: 'No, no,.....you will not starve, brethren, nor anything of that sort; only be patient and stop murmuring. I have no doubt but the hand of the Lord is over us'. When they arrived in Buffalo on the fifth day after leaving Waterloo, the harbor leading to Lake Erie was frozen. They took passage on a ship with Captain Blake, a man acquainted with Lucy Smith and her family. After a couple of days, although conditions on the ship were not conducive for all of them to stay while awaiting notice of departure, Lucy reported, 'Captain Blake requested the passengers to remain on board, as he wished, from that time, to be ready to start at a moment's warning; at the same time he sent out a man to measure the depth of the ice, who, when he returned, reported that it was piled up to the height of twenty feet [6 m], and that it was his opinion that we would remain in the harbor at least two weeks longer'. This was devastating news to the group. Supplies were low and conditions were difficult. Lucy Mack Smith further recorded her admonition to the Saints: 'You profess to put your trust in God, then how can you feel to murmur and complain as you do! You are even more unreasonable than the children of Israel were; for here are my sisters pining for their rocking chairs, and brethren from whom I expected firmness and energy, declare that they positively believe they shall starve to death before they get to the end of their journey. And why is it so? Have any of you lacked?....Where is your faith? Where is your confidence in God? Can you not realise that all things were made by Him, and that He rules over the works of His own hands? And suppose that all the Saints here should lift their hearts in prayer to God, that the way might be opened before us, how easy it would be for him to cause the ice to break away, so that in a moment we could be on our journey! Now, brethren and sisters, if you will all of you raise your desires to heaven, that the ice may be broken up, and we be set at liberty, as sure as the Lord lives it will be done'. At that instant a noise was heard, like bursting thunder. The captain cried, 'Every man to his post'. The ice parted, leaving barely a passage for the boat, and so narrow that as the boat passed through, the buckets of the waterwheel were torn off with a crash, which, joined to the word of command from the captain, the hoarse answering of the sailors, the noise of the crash, and the cries and confusion of the spectators, presented a scene truly terrible. We had barely passed through the avenue when the ice closed together again, and the Colesville brethren were left in Buffalo, unable to follow us.
'As we were leaving the harbor, one of the bystanders exclaimed, 'There goes the Mormon company! That boat is sunk in the water nine inches deeper than ever it was before, and mark it, she will sink - there is nothing surer.' In fact, they were so sure of it that they went straight to the news office and had it published that we were sunk, so that when we arrived at Fairport we read in the papers the news of our own death.' (Elder Gary E. Stevenson, With All Thy Getting Get Understanding, Ensign Jan 2017, excerpt from Lucy Mack Smith, History of Joseph Smith by His Mother, Lucy Mack Smith (1979), 195-99, 202-5)
Do I believe that Lucky Mack Smith broke that ice with the words of her faith? Absolutely. Even as the brother of Jared moved Mount Zerin when he said, 'Remove' - and it was removed (Ether 12:30). Were these people unique people who had certain powers? No. They were faithful people who performed special deeds through the power of their spoken word.
I love discovering the "three word sermons". They say so much with so little. I am a writer. Expression is my passion. To say much with few words is an art in my estimation. Not only an art, but something of great worth for how we speak and what we say is an indication of the inner man. Nephi was a man of utmost faith. The greatest indication of his faith was his obedience. Therefore, there is no greater "three word sermon" in the holy scriptures that describe Nephi better than the one he closed his account with and the words of that sermon are: I must obey.
