2 Nephi 9:41 - 9:45

2 Nephi 9:41 O then, my beloved brethren, come unto the Lord, the Holy One. Remember that his paths are righteous. Behold, the way for man is narrow, but it lieth in a straight course before him, and the keeper of the gate is the Holy One of Israel; and he employeth no servant there; and there is none other way save it be by the gate; for he cannot be deceived, for the Lord God is his name.

Therefore one should come to God because it is the only true path to lasting happiness. However the path is consists of limited activities you can engage in and there are no deviations. Being righteous means keeping the commandments and not deviating from them in even the slightest way. The person who will judge you on how well you kept to the path will be Jesus himself. We will all have a personal interview with him on our lives to see if they were efforts to do what is right or if we did not care whether we did right or wrong. No one else is to interview us. It will be Jesus himself and He cannot be lied to or talked out of

2 Nephi 9:42 And whoso knocketh, to him will he open; and the wise, and the learned, and they that are rich, who are puffed up because of their learning, and their wisdom, and their riches—yea, they are they whom he despiseth; and save they shall cast these things away, and consider themselves fools before God, and come down in the depths of humility, he will not open unto them.

So anyone who is seeking righteous will be helped as much as they want. Those however who think they do not need God, who think they are smart enough to do it on their own or have money so they think they are superior to others and don’t need God or they are wise enough that they can figure out how to get back to God are not the ones who will find heaven a comfortable place to be in. Only those who know they don’t know how to return to God and that they lack the knowledge to make their way back and who are seeking to learn how to be righteous will be the one who make it.

2 Nephi 9:43 But the things of the wise and the prudent shall be hid from them forever—yea, that happiness which is prepared for the saints.

In the end the wise, the rich and the learned who don’t want God’s help will find the way back to God hidden from them because only He can reveal it to them. The is no other way to find it. Since they want to find it on their own God will give them ways which will not work but will make them happy because they think they are now on the right path. God will give them what they want, that is, more of the same they sought for in this life and will never find the way back to God or the happiness that is for those who sought for God in the proper way.

2 Nephi 9:44 O, my beloved brethren, remember my words. Behold, I take off my garments, and I shake them before you; I pray the God of my salvation that he view me with his all-searching eye; wherefore, ye shall know at the last day, when all men shall be judged of their works, that the God of Israel did witness that I shook your iniquities from my soul, and that I stand with brightness before him, and am rid of your blood.

Jacob wants to make sure he has done what the Lord has asked him to do, that is, testify to the people that there is only one way back to God. That all men will be judged by their actions and what they sought for all their lives.

Jacob wants to make sure, in addition, that the people cannot say they were not warned about this upcoming judgment. He uses the metaphor of shaking his garments before the people to indicate that he has testified to of their iniquities. He does not want to be personally held accountable for not pointing out their sins.

2 Nephi 9:45 O, my beloved brethren, turn away from your sins; shake off the chains of him that would bind you fast; come unto that God who is the rock of your salvation.

He pleads for them to change their sinful ways and return to the right way to peace and happiness. Satan can get a hold so powerful that you will find it almost impossible to escape not becoming like him.