The theme of “repent or be destroyed” was preached and demonstrated throughout the Book of Mormon. The Jaredites and the Nephites fulfilled the Lord’s prophecies given through His prophets in that they did not repent and were destroyed. Sin leads to destruction. There is physical destruction when men, women, and children perish as a consequence of sin. There are also unleashed destructive forces that undermine a life of happiness and productivity because of sin. Many times the sins of individuals will damage or destroy the lives of innocent people around them. The lives of unrighteous individuals not only bring about self-destruction but destroy the lives of the people they victimize and abuse. Here is an inventory of just some of the perils of iniquity:
• Abusive and vindictive men: Those who lust and seek for power literally destroy and damn their own souls. Their behavior will often destroy another’s very existence, whether in death or in the inability to function as a human being.
• Pornography: This is one of the most insidious and destructive sins today. Millions are affected by this heinous sin. Values are destroyed. Virtue and purity are lost. Families are destroyed. Deviant behavior is precipitated, resulting in rape and even murder.
• Drugs and drunkenness: Think of the thousands of lives lost through drugs and drunkenness and especially the broken homes that suffer for generations to come as a result of such influences.
• Infidelity: Families are destroyed. Children become lost without honorable and righteous parents to set an example and lead them.
• Gossip and evil speaking: The outcomes are manifest: a reputation destroyed from an untrue statement cast about with little concern for the welfare of others. Can one ever call it back?
In sin, many souls are destroyed. The sinner becomes even as king Noah—responsible for the destruction of lives by encouraging and facilitating sin. The prophets truly speak for the Lord: Repent or be destroyed. (Ed J. Pinegar)
“Your Days of Probation Are Past Because Ye Have Procrastinated the Day of Your Salvation Until It is Everlastingly Too Late and Ye Have Sought for Happiness in Doing Iniquity”
Let us consider this ominous verdict in its context. Despite the Lord’s promises to the Nephites that He will bless the penitent and favor those who return to His pathways, they turn a deaf ear and persist in their iniquities. At the same time, the Lamanites strictly observe to keep the commandments of God (see Helaman 13:1). It is thus that Samuel, the great Lamanite prophet, is sent by the Lord to call the Nephites to repentance. He warns them from the walls of their great city of Zarahemla that if they do not repent they will be destroyed. Speaking the words taught him by an angel of the Lord, he adjures his listeners to change their iniquitous patterns of living lest the Lord carry out His awesome promise: “Except they repent, I will take away my word from them, and I will withdraw my Spirit from them” (Helaman 13:8). Samuel makes clear that it is only for the sake of the remaining righteous that the nation is being spared for now.
Then comes the frightening word that it is even now too late, because “your days of probation are past; ye have procrastinated the day of your salvation until it is everlastingly too late” (verse 38). The people have aspired to attain something inimical to the principles of truth: they have “sought for happiness in doing iniquity” (verse 38). They are guilty of the same mistake made by Alma’s son Corianton, to whom Alma said: “Do not suppose, because it has been spoken concerning restoration, that ye shall be restored from sin to happiness. Behold, I say unto you, wickedness never was happiness” (Alma 41:10).
Everyone seeks happiness; it is the object of our existence, but it is important to realize the difference between short-term pleasure and lasting joy. For many, happiness in mortality is fleeting because the perceived source of happiness is rooted in a worldly value system. Pleasure-seeking tends to be short term in nature and must be re-experienced continually because it is not happiness. We can feel good, but it is not true happiness. This does not preclude us having an enjoyable time with friends and associates. We are truly happy, however, only when we have the love of God in our hearts (see 4 Nephi 1:15–16), which results in a myriad of blessings in our lives. Such happiness comes from righteousness (see Mosiah 2:41). As we seek joy in mortality, we will never find it without the eternal perspective of the plan of happiness uppermost in our mind. The Lord will have us become truly penitent, humble seekers of eternal happiness (see Alma 27:18). Wickedness cannot give us lasting happiness (see Alma 41:10). “Men are, that they might have joy,” stated the prophet Lehi (2 Nephi 2:25). Such joy or enduring happiness flows from the love of God as the Atonement of the Lord Jesus Christ is internalized in our lives through repentance and righteousness.