The last portion of the Sermon on the Mount deals with principles of judgment and discernment. Don’t judge other people harshly. Don’t share spiritual treasures with people who won’t respect them. Remember that God responds to your prayers and that you should respond similarly to other people. Build your foundation on good works, not on empty rhetoric or on following the crowd down convenient paths.
Chapter Outline
- Judge not (v. 1-5)
- Discernment (pearls before swine) (v. 6)
- Ask, seek, knock (v. 6-12)
- Foundation of works (gates, fruits, and houses) (v. 13-27)
My Takeaways
- Be generous, fair, and kind in your evaluation of other people.
- Be careful what you share, with whom, and in what context.
- God loves His children and will answer when they call.
- Don’t benchmark your decisions against popular opinion.
Featured Blog Posts
❖ Judge not – 3 NEphi 14:1-5
“With What Judgment Ye Judge…” – 3 Nephi 14:2
What does it mean to judge? It means to form an opinion or to make a decision. Mormon said, “I show unto you the way to judge” (Moroni 7:16), and then explained that we ought to make decisions according to what is right and good, which we can know by the light of Christ. “See…
❖ Pearls and swine – 3 NEphi 14:6
Pearls
Jesus wants us to share the gospel with everyone. We would wise to focus on the fundamentals, and to be careful when and with whom we share our most sacred experiences. He wants to share them with everyone, but not everyone is prepared to receive them yet
❖ Ask, Seek, knock – 3 Nephi 14:7-12
Ask…Seek…Knock – 3 Nephi 14:7-8
7 Ask, and it shall be given unto you; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you. 8 For every one that asketh, receiveth; and he that seeketh, findeth; and to him that knocketh, it shall be opened. (3 Nephi 14:7-8, Matthew 7:7-8) When the Savior visited the Nephites and…
This Is the Law and the Prophets – 3 Nephi 14:12
12 Therefore, all things whatsoever ye would that men should do to you, do ye even so to them, for this is the law and the prophets. (3 Nephi 14:12, Matthew 7:12) After teaching the principle which we commonly call the Golden Rule, the Savior said, “This is the law and the prophets.” What did…
❖ Foundation of works – 3 Nephi 14:13-27
Enter Ye in at the Strait Gate – 3 Nephi 14:13-14
13 Enter ye in at the strait gate; for wide is the gate, and broad is the way, which leadeth to destruction, and many there be who go in thereat;14 Because strait is the gate, and narrow is the way, which leadeth unto life, and few there be that find it.(3 Nephi 14:13-14) In order…
Old Testament Foundations
His Offspring
We are all children of God. We have not only a divine heritage but also a divine potential. An awareness of that fact can give us confidence as we navigate the challenges of life, confidence that our Heavenly Father loves us and wants to bless us.
If With All Your Hearts
God will answer your prayers. Jesus promised that in the Sermon on the Mount: “Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you” (Matthew 7:7, 3 Nephi 14:7). Moses taught the same principle to the children of Israel. After prophesying that they would one day turn away from…
Hagar and the Hidden Well
Be’er Sheva is a city in southern Israel, with a population of about 200,000. It’s so far south, in fact, that Old Testament authors spoke of the land of Israel extending “from Dan even to Beer-sheba.” (See Judges 20:1, 1 Samuel 3:20, 2 Samuel 3:10, 2 Samuel 17:11, 2 Samuel 24:2, 15, 1 Kings 4:25, 1…
Thorns and Thistles
Eating the forbidden fruit in the Garden of Eden had immediate consequences. One of them was that it became harder to eat. Instead of living in a garden full of beautiful trees with delicious fruit, Adam and Eve entered an existence which would demand more from them. “Cursed is the ground for thy sake,” said God;…
New Testament Parallels
“Is It I?”
There is a human tendency to see faults in others and to ignore or rationalize away our own faults. To overcome this tendency, we need to ask introspective questions like: Is it I? What lack I yet? What is keeping me from progressing?
Church History Connections
The Work, the Sword, the Sickle, and the Prayer
In the first half of 1829, Joseph Smith received a number of revelations on behalf of other people. Four of those revelations begin almost identically, with a set of four biblical concepts, all of which also appear in the Book of Mormon. Why did those four concepts warrant such frequent repetition, and why did the…
I Never Knew You – 3 Nephi 14:21-23
21 Not every one that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that doeth the will of my Father who is in heaven. 22 Many will say to me in that day: Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in thy name, and in thy name have cast out…
A Wise Man, Who Built His House upon a Rock – 3 Nephi 14:24-27
24 Therefore, whoso heareth these sayings of mine and doeth them, I will liken him unto a wise man, who built his house upon a rock— 25 And the rain descended, and the floods came, and the winds blew, and beat upon that house; and it fell not, for it was founded upon a rock.…
All Posts Referencing 3 Nephi 14
- The Hebrew Bible: Origins and Structure (1/1/2026)
- I, the Lord, Will Feel After Them (10/10/2025)
- Why Celestial Is Better (7/12/2025)
- That Ye May Not Be Deceived (5/27/2025)
- Preface to Four Revelations, April-May 1829 (2/19/2025)
- “Pretend to No Other Gift” (1/29/2025)
- “I Judge Better Things of You” (12/12/2024)
- Doing Good and Being Good (12/10/2024)
- Quoting from the Sermon on the Mount (10/23/2024)
- “Built Upon My Gospel” (10/22/2024)
- Treasures, Rewards, and a Singular Focus (10/3/2024)
- Founded Upon a Rock (10/2/2024)
- “Seek, and Ye Shall Find” (9/18/2024)
- Springless Bows and the Blame Game (2/1/2024)
- “I Stand at the Door and Knock” (12/5/2023)
- James and the Sermon on the Mount (11/16/2023)
- Ask Not Amiss (11/14/2023)
- Vain Jangling – Part 2 (10/28/2023)
- That Rock Was Christ (8/30/2023)
- His Offspring (7/25/2023)
- “Is It I?” (5/31/2023)
- Sermonettes on the Mount (5/4/2023)
- Pearls (2/26/2023)
- The Discussion on the Mount (2/24/2023)
- If With All Your Hearts (10/22/2022)
- Hagar and the Hidden Well (2/17/2022)
- Thorns and Thistles (1/12/2022)
- The Work, the Sword, the Sickle, and the Prayer (1/28/2021)
- “Every Good Gift” – Moroni 10:18 (12/18/2020)
- “Hid up unto the Lord” – Mormon 1:2, 4:23, 5:12 (10/31/2020)
- “With What Judgment Ye Judge…” – 3 Nephi 14:2 (9/25/2020)
- What Can We Learn about Children from the Savior? (12/17/2019)
- What Is Wisdom? (12/13/2019)
- What Does It Mean to “Cast Out Devils?” (10/24/2019)
- Why Do the Scriptures Use the Phrase “Your Father, Which,” Instead of “Your Father, Who?” (1/25/2019)
- This Is the Law and the Prophets – 3 Nephi 14:12 (12/11/2018)
- I Never Knew You – 3 Nephi 14:21-23 (12/10/2018)
- A Wise Man, Who Built His House upon a Rock – 3 Nephi 14:24-27 (6/24/2018)
- Ask…Seek…Knock – 3 Nephi 14:7-8 (12/20/2017)
- Enter Ye in at the Strait Gate – 3 Nephi 14:13-14 (10/19/2015)
- Judge Not – 3 Nephi 14:1-5 (10/19/2015)
- Ask, and It Shall Be Given unto You – 3 Nephi 14:7-11 (10/15/2015)
- 3 Nephi 14:24-27 It Fell Not, For It Was Founded Upon a Rock (12/6/2014)