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3 Nephi 1–7 | Scripture Study Insights with Tyler Griffin | A Come Follow Me Resource · Scripture Central

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Hello there, My name is Tyler Griffin and this is Scripture
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study insights by Scripture Central Today, third Nephi
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chapters one through 7. I want to introduce these
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chapters today with with one lifelong learning overlay
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perspective that I learned from a good friend and colleague
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named Robbie Eaton. He he shared this concept of his
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wife and him planting some some apple trees and they were all
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excited that first spring that they saw many, many blossoms
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appear on those those trees. And they didn't realize that
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leaving all of those blossoms in place would lead to a lot of
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fruit, but all of the fruit would be small and not quite as
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sweet or as flavorful as it otherwise could have been had
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they done some thinning. That principle, when it applies
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to scripture study is powerful because you look at these
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chapters, chapter one through 7 in 35, and there are 1000
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blossoms, all of which can produce fruit.
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And the Book of Mormon and the Bible are such that they have
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the capacity to to be fruit bearing.
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The problem comes when we as teachers or leaders or as
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parents try to cover everything and try to have all of those
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fruit blossoms produce fruit. It ends up with a whole bunch of
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smaller, smaller fruits. So the principle here is to
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prayerfully, as you're teaching or leading or parenting or
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ministering or doing missionary work, is not to try to teach
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every possible principle that you could in a block of
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Scripture. It just doesn't work well and
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you end up doing 100 things kind of poorly as opposed to reading
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all of the the chapters that are available, prayerfully
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considering what might these students or these children or
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this friend or this colleague or this companion, whatever it may
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be in your situation, what principles here would be the
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most beneficial or the most helpful, the most fruitful, if
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you will, in helping connect this, this group of people or
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this individual with the Savior and help them to become a
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lifelong covenantily connected individual with the Lord.
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Which means you have to make some decisions.
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You might have to prune some branches.
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You might have to thin some of those blossoms and not pay much
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attention to those or remove them so that you can focus on
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those that you feel most inspired to spend your time on.
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Now let's illustrate this. Let's show you what this might
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look like if you if you take just one chapter as an example.
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Third Nephi chapter one. Let me and this list is is not
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exhaustive. It's you might go through every
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verse of 35 one and come up with a completely different list of
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principles or doctrines. Then then I'm going to cover
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here and that's totally fine. That's the amazing thing about
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the Scriptures. They are deep enough and they
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are broad enough to take whatever you throw at them.
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Whatever approach you want to take, they, they can take it.
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The trick is trying to figure out how to use them in the most
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effective and powerful ways to influence enduring discipleship
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with those that we work with. And by the way, one of the most
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important things to remember with all of those people that
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you're working with, all those people that you're leading, all
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those people you're building relationships with, don't forget
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the person staring at you in the mirror every day.
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These same principles apply to that person as well.
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So even if you don't have a church calling to teach or to
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lead or a companion in some setting to study with, you
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always have the Lord and the Holy Ghost to guide you in your
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own efforts to dig into these scriptures and help them to
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become fruitful for you on an individual basis, let alone with
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how we interact with other people.
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So let's dive in. Just just listen for a moment to
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some of these these principles or these blossoms that could end
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up producing fruit in, in a lesson or in a scripture study
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experience. Verse one through 3 Nephi
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departed from the land and then he disappeared.
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Nobody ever saw him again. So you could spend time
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developing that concept of of people like him or his ancestor
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Alma the younger who had the same experience was was
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translated. They assume or extend that out
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to John the Beloved or the three Nephites.
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And you could have a a fun discussion about translated
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beings. That may be what the Lord wants
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for the group of people that you're thinking about and maybe
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not. Maybe that's a blossom that you
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can skip over or thin out. The next one, verses 4 through
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8, it's all about the prophecies being fulfilled and then some
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believing and some choosing not to believe.
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So you could develop some lesson elements about what do we do
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when we see signs fulfilled, prophetic words coming to pass,
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being validated by by the Lord performing some sort of a
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miracle. Another one, verse 9, there's a
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day on the calendar that is marked for the execution of
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those that believe the prophecies of Samuel Lamanite.
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So for some of you in certain settings, you may look at that
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particular blossom on, on your tree and say, wow, that would be
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very relevant for my group to talk about religious freedom and
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the need to defend religious freedom.
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Because if you live in a society with zero religious freedom,
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those are the kinds of things that happen.
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So that might be a fruitful discussion to develop that
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principle. Verse 10 through 12, you get a
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prophet's pleadings in behalf of his people as Nephi goes out and
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and pours his heart out to the Lord and all day long pours that
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heart out and the Lord waits until the evening to give him an
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answer. A lot of principles in there, a
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lot of little blossoms in that cluster of verses that you could
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develop and put more energy into producing more fruit for your
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for your setting. It could be about the role of a
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prophet pleading in behalf of his people as a beautiful symbol
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for what Jesus Christ does for all of us, the ultimate
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intercessor, the one pleading our cause before the Lord.
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You could also have a fruitful discussion there about the
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timing factor of revelation, that it's not always dependent
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on your level of sincerity. The the unselfish requests that
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you're making, your intent, your purpose in praying.
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Sometimes the Lord delays the response for reasons known to
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him and to Him alone. And the point is that you keep
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pleading, you keep asking in meekness, and your heart is
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being shaped and honed, and your faith is being deepened in the
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process. As you watch Nephi doing that in
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verse 10 through 12, that might be a fruitful discussion if you
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feel inspired that your family or your group that you're
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thinking about could benefit from that.
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That idea of of ongoing pleading, even in the face of,
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Oh no, these people that I love, they're in trouble and we need
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an answer right away. And the Lord still delayed that
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response until the evening. Verse 13 through 14 might be a
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very fruitful area for you to develop these principles of God
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giving his answer and what we can learn about Revelation and
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verse 13 through 14 he he opens it with lift up your head and be
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of good cheer. That's a beautiful way to
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introduce this idea of when God speaks.
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It's usually in a a lift up your head and be of good cheer kind
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of a context for behold, the time is at hand, and on this
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night shall the sign be given, and on the Morrow come I into
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the world to show unto the world that I will fulfill all that
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which I've caused to be spoken by the mouth of my holy
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prophets. You could you could have an
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incredibly fruitful discussion about God sustaining and
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upholding his prophets, his holy prophets, those whom he has
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chosen and called and anointed and set apart for this mission
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that he won't abandoned their words.
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He won't abandoned their their mission.
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And you, you see this, this beautiful fulfillment of Samuel
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Lamanite's prophecy and now Nephi having carried that banner
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for the last five years with the people and they're facing
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certain death if the sign isn't given.
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And here is the Lord himself saying, be of good cheer,
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because that sign is going to be fulfilled, so that the words of
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my prophets will actually come to fruition.
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And he goes on to say, I come unto my known to fulfill all the
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all things which I have made known under the children of men
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from the foundation of the world.
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And how does he usually do that? Through prophets?
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So again, you could spend significant time just on that
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one blossom alone and help your students or your children or
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your group to produce incredibly sweet and and large fruit in
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that area. The next one, verse 15 through
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21, he, he goes through a whole section of describing all of the
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signs and wonders being fulfilled, which ties in very
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similarly to what we just talked about with the prophets words
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not being forsaken by God. He fulfills every prophecy that
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Samuel and others had given regarding his coming.
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And then you get verse 22, the counter response to all of these
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signs and wonders and miracles. You get lying being sent forth
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by the devil among the people. You get the opposition, the
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counter voices to what the prophets are trying to do this
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this incredible effort of the devils to push back against
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faith, against people turning to God.
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And you could have a discussion and develop that principle of
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what to do when you're faced with those deceptions that come
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your way from the devil. Or you could go to 23 through 26
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where we see the positive response, how people that see
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the signs don't just stop and say, oh, I saw that sign.
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It's wonderful. Now I know Jesus was born
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somewhere in a different part of the world.
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The sign was given. So I I know with a surety good.
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And then they go back to their life and don't change anything
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versus using those signs or those wonders to not just
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increase their belief in God or their faith in Christ.
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That is assurance that he was born, but to get them to that
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next level that Elder Bednar has talked about of assurance
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leading to action, faith that that turns into to verbs, action
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words. I live differently because I
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believe and you could have a fruitful discussion in verse 23
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through 26 looking for what the people did.
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And you see signs of them being convinced in many cases and not
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maybe deeply converted because you'll notice this conversion
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they're they're still going to have some ups and downs in, in
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subsequent chapters that we're going to come to.
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And then you could come to this last section, verse 27 through
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30, where you get the rising generation who struggles to
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believe, who struggles to engage with the gospel, who choose not
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to believe the prophets. And you get phrases such as
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behold, they, they had many children.
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This is now Speaking of the Lamanites who did grow up and
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began to wax strong in years that they became for themselves.
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You could have a fruitful discussion about what it means
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to become for yourself versus to grow up in years and to become
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for the Lord or to become more like God or to connect with him
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and say thy will not mine be done.
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Another phrase is it says verse 30, and thus were the Lamanites
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afflicted also began to decrease as to their faith in
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righteousness because of the wickedness of the rising
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generation. So in your setting, in your
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group, you may feel inspired by the Lord that you should
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probably spend more time in this section, perhaps talking to
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older members of the church or more the the older generations
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who might be struggling because the rising generation, their
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children or grandchildren are struggling and it might be
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causing them to start eroding their faith or their belief or
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their faithful actions, their devotion to the Lord.
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So you could talk about what we can do as a covenant community
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to help each other stay strong, even if certain in the rising
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generation or struggling because we don't help that rising
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generation. If they're struggling by
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struggling ourselves, that isn't going to help them, that isn't
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going to connect them with Christ.
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If we think celestial, that isn't going to lead to long term
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solutions for them if we just commiserate with them and
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struggle alongside them, so to speak.
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So again, I just broke up Chapter 1 into what was that
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8910 different little sections, each with kind of its own little
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set of principles and and practices and doctrines that
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could lead to certain outcomes or certain behaviors.
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And the beauty of these scriptures is such that no one
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of those is the end all be all for everybody.
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The the scriptures are strong enough.
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They are inspired enough. They are.
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The Lord can use them in such a way that you can literally open
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them up at random, drop your finger down and start reading
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with a prayerful heart and you can find to 1° or another.
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You can find solace to your soul.
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You can find principles, doctrines, ideas to help you
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with whatever question, whatever struggle you're facing.
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They're that good. And so the the trick here isn't
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to say, well, this part is clearly better than that section
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that you picked or to sit in a class and think, I wonder why
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the teacher picked that or why the speaker spending so much
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time on that. They should have covered this.
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It's OK. Enjoy the fruit that is being
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produced by whatever the teacher or the speaker or the leader has
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selected. And realize that you have a
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lifetime to keep diving into these same chapters.
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And maybe thin out some of those other blossoms that maybe might
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not be as relevant or quite as applicable at this particular
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time in your life. And focus on those that are
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going to be the most fruitful for you and your setting.
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And it's beautiful. It's wonderful.
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Now that was just one chapter, and we could do the same thing
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with Chapter 2 all the way through Chapter 7 and keep going
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all the way to the end. But again, there's no time to to
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go into every single concept or every single verse.
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Nor is it our purpose, especially in a in a program
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like this or in a gospel doctrine lesson or in a youth
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lesson or in a family home evening, to cover every single
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possible blossom on that tree. The trick is to say, Lord, here
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are my questions, here are my concerns, here are my struggles.
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So we take our questions into the scriptures and we ask the
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Lord, what would thou have me do?
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I want thy will to be done. I want to be guided in this.
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And then we find multiple verses talking about a lot of different
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things, but we're looking first to identify and then understand
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those principles and doctrines that the Lord has in store for
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us at this time as dictated by or as inspired by the Holy
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Ghost. And the amazing thing when you
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when you approach your scriptures this way as a teacher
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or as a leader, as a parent, is it helps.
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It helps take the anxiety out of the process.
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You don't have to feel this pressure looking at the clock
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feeling like, Oh no, I have to teach all of this and help but
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be relevant and meaningful for for these students.
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No, you don't have to teach all of it.
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You need to be inspired with what the Lord.
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Wants you to focus on which principles and doctrines are the
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most relevant, urgent and timely for that group right then and
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realize they're going to have many opportunities on their own
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and in other settings like yours to come back to these scriptures
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and go in deeper and produce fruit.
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And that fruit is produced by the Lord of the vineyard, not by
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the teacher. So it, it's a, it's an
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encouragement for all of us to just breathe.
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It's OK there. There are 1000 principles here.
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Just find a small handful, 2, maybe 3.
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Develop them well enough that the Holy Ghost can, can teach
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those principles and doctrines in a way that they can be
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translated into faith filled action that will help connect
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those individuals more with the Savior with a, with a greater
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connection to him in their covenants because of those
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principles that you've taught. Now that's chapter 1 and we did
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it. You'll notice in in flyby mode,
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in this overview mode. That would be a breadth lesson.
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I, I didn't go into depth in any one of those, those areas, but
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you could with, with any one or two or three of those.
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Now as you go over to chapter 2, this is a fascinating chapter
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where you could go through the entire chapter and look at how
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people choose to use their agency.
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Keep in mind everybody in this group saw and was a witness, a
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personal witness of the day, a night and a day with no
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darkness. Every one of these people saw
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the new star. Now the devil has sent forth his
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lines among the people meant to harden their heart for the
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intent that they might not believe in those signs and
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wonders which they had seen. Which, by the way, is another
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reminder to people that if you're looking for miracles,
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tangible, physical, observable phenomena in order to then
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believe it, it doesn't last. These people saw something that
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was beyond remarkable, astronomically big, and yet you
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get to chapter 2 and you saw their initial response.
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It came to pass that thus passed away, the 90 and 50 year also.
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And the people began to forget those signs and wonders which
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they had heard, and began to be less and less astonished at a
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sign or a wonder from heaven in so much that they began to be
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hard in their hearts, blind in their minds, and began to
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disbelieve all which they had heard and seen.
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So you now see human nature in full display here in verse one
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that it's very easy to forget. It doesn't matter how big, how
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grand, how glorious the miracle or the phenomenon was that you
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saw. Human nature has a hard time
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remembering. Hence the reason why so many
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Book Mormon prophets encourage and invite people to retain in
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remembrance certain things, captivity of their fathers, the
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fallen state that they're in, their complete need for the
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Savior, how they've been delivered all of these things.
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To remember the goodness of God in their life.
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To look to the past in order to count their blessings, to see
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God's hand, to see these miracles.
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So that in the present they don't respond with a lack of
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faith. So that they can build their
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present actions based on past assurances.
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So that those signs aren't wasted, but they become a
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foundation for faith filled action today.
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So you can go through the rest of chapter 2 having this
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profound discussion or pondering session.
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If you're alone as an individual where you're, you're considering
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this concept that faith is not something that that hits US
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upside the head. It doesn't drop down on us out
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of the blue and and wake us up now.
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Now, there might be some occasions and some exceptions to
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that, but we're talking about the general rule.
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Faith is not something that usually happens in spite of me
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or in spite of my desires or efforts.
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Faith in many cases is a choice. And what you see in chapter 2 is
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a whole bunch of people who are choosing not to believe.
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They're choosing to have blind eyes and hardened heart.
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Now that's not an invitation for the believers to hate them or to
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argue with them or to try to convince them that they're bad.
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It all the more need to love them and to to work with them
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and to be patient through this process of time.
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But what we're doing is you now get to a global problem with
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these people in chapter 3, because so many individuals have
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made a choice not to believe, have made a choice to turn their
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eyes from God's miracles and the prophets words, to harden their
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hearts and to stop up their ears to the point you get to chapter
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3 where you have this major problem.
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So Laconius is the governor of the land and he received an
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epistle from the leader or the governor of the band of robbers.
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These these Gadiant and robbers. 35 three has some incredibly
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profound contrasts going on. You get what the devil is trying
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to do and then you get a heavenly response.
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So you could then say, well here we are trying to do the work of
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the Lord. We need to be careful that we
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never do the work of God using the tools of the devil.
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We don't want to use his tactics, his techniques, or
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especially his teachings. So let's look at chapter 3,
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verse two through 10. We get this letter from it's
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basically a letter from the devil.
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I know it's written by Gideon High, who is the leader, but he
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is, he is profoundly inspired by the devil in what he's writing
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here. You, you see these these
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tactics, these techniques oozing from the page.
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So you look at for, for instance, verse two, he opens
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his letter Laconius, most noble and chief governor of the land.
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So if you're, if you're working with, with a group of people and
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you're studying this together, you could say, let's see if we
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can identify what are the tools and tactics that the devil is
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using here through Gideon High that we want to avoid like the
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plague #1 Most noble and chief governor of the land.
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Sounds a lot like flattery. Sounds a lot like false praise.
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Puffing somebody up with this, these, these false accolades.
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Behold, I write this epistle unto you, and do give unto you
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exceeding great praise because of your firmness.
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He he's not really praising him, he's flattering him, and also
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the firmness of your people in maintaining that which he
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supposed to be your right and liberty.
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Now watch, here come those seeds of doubt.
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You suppose that you have these rights and these liberties and
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Yeah. And you do stand well as if you
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were supported by the hand of a God.
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Notice the devilish doubt that's being planted here in fields of
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faith, that if we're not careful, those seeds of doubt
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will then begin to overpower those fruitful plants that we
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have in in our soul or in our organization.
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And he says as if you were supported by the hand of a God
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in the defense of your liberty and your property and your
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country, or that which you do call.
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So again now he's calling into doubt or into question their
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very ownership, their their very liberty and their their rights
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to not just govern, but to own what they have.
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And verse three. Now you get this condescending
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tone, and it seemeth a pidion to me most noble laconious.
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Insert more flattery that you should be so foolish and vain as
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to suppose you can stand against so many brave men.
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And he goes on with more threatening who do at this time
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stand in their arms and do await with great anxiety for the word
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go down upon the Nephites and destroy them.
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He he continues. I'm not going to to spend more
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time. You can do that the same thing
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and look for what are the tools? What are the techniques?
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What is he doing here that we want to avoid?
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I will just say that he ends up making this invitation for
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Liaconius and all of the people to join with them.
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These gadiant and robbers. Look at verse 7.
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Or in other words, yield yourselves up unto us and unite
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with us and become acquainted with our secret works.
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Brothers and sisters is dark and as deep and as heavy as this
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section of Scripture may feel and, and as as much as many of
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you may say, I, I just don't like that.
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I, I, I'm going to avoid that kind of a section in the
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Scriptures. There's something powerful about
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recognizing the principle being that every time you and I are
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tempted by the devil, it's basically that invitation.
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It's an invitation to yield yourselves up unto them, the
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devils, and unite with them and become acquainted with their
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secret works and become their brethren, that you may be like
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unto them, that that's the invitation.
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Temptation is an invitation to become more like the devil.
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Inspiration is an invitation to become more like the Lord.
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So it's this, this incredibly powerful contrast that we find
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in Scriptures. So if if this doesn't work for
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you, toss it out for now, come back to it later.
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But I'm just saying it might be worth taking a second look at
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some of these more difficult passages of the Book Mormon and
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analyzing, OK, how can I better recognize these devilish
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techniques being used on me? And secondly, how can I be sure
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that I'm never acting in these ways, that I'm never treating
31:54
people with using these techniques, threatening,
31:59
speaking in condescending tones, planting seeds of doubt, using
32:04
flattery or feigned concern, false love or giving flat out
32:10
lies and deceptions to them? Those are important things to to
32:15
avoid. Again, we can't strive to do
32:20
God's work by using the devil's tools.
32:23
It just doesn't work that way. So then his invitation
32:28
ultimately is unite with us, that you can become one with us.
32:34
Not our slaves, but our brethren and partakers of all our
32:38
substance. There's a a deep rooted reality
32:42
here. Gideon High is inviting these
32:46
people to come and join with them so they can all become
32:51
united and all become Gadiant and Roberts together, partakers
32:54
of our substance. One reality with Satan and those
32:59
that follow him is they're not interested in giving you
33:03
anything that they have that that would cost them anything.
33:08
They're not interested in sharing power or any, any of the
33:14
things that this world has to offer.
33:17
What they're interested in is robbing from you.
33:20
So if everybody joins, do you think all of a sudden that the
33:23
Gadiant robbers are going to say, oh, now we're all going to
33:26
share equally versus this being a ploy to get them to come out
33:33
of their fortifications and make it so that the Gadiant robbers
33:38
can murder them and steal all of their possessions more easily?
33:44
Something to consider. Then it goes down to verse 10,
33:51
where he finishes, and he tells them that if you don't deliver
33:55
up your lands and your possessions, that we will come
34:00
down among you, and we will take back the rights of the
34:05
government, and avenge the wrongs that have been done to
34:08
these that are following me. Mormon jumps in here and he
34:12
can't resist. It says verse 11.
34:14
It came to pass. When the Conus received this
34:16
epistle, he was exceedingly astonished because of the
34:20
boldness of Gideon High demanding the possession of the
34:23
land of the Nephites and also threatening the people and
34:26
avenging the wrongs of those that had received no wrong save
34:32
it were they had wronged themselves by dissenting away
34:36
unto those wicked and abominable robbers.
34:40
Now thankfully Mormon doesn't leave the narrative here on a on
34:44
a downer kind of a note in in a dark loathsome part of this
34:50
story. He then shows you the contrast.
34:53
OK, so this is the the opposition we're facing.
34:57
Therefore, what what do we do now you and a group or a family
35:03
or an individual can go through the rest of chapter 3, starting
35:07
in verse 12, looking for how do I stand up in the full armor of
35:14
God? How do I move forward in faith
35:18
in the present, looking forward to a bright future where the
35:23
Lord is going to give me those those miracles that are promised
35:29
if I'm faithful to to that covenant connection with him.
35:34
So now you see principles such as this starting in verse 12.
35:39
Now behold this Laconius the governor was a just man and
35:43
could not be frightened by the demands and the threatenings of
35:48
a robber. That first principle, that deep
35:52
rooted faith, you, you choose faith.
35:56
You don't choose to react in fear, you choose to act in
36:01
faith. Laconius is showing us this
36:03
pattern. It's beautiful that I could not
36:07
be frightened. Therefore he did not hearken to
36:11
the Epistle of Gideon High, but he had caused that his people
36:14
should cry unto the Lord for strength against the time that
36:17
the robber should come down against them.
36:19
So he turns the people not downward or outward in fear, but
36:24
upward in faith. Pray, turn to the Lord that
36:27
he'll deliver you. That's a powerful leadership
36:31
principle, turning people vertically rather than
36:35
horizontally and downward. Then in verse 13, he gathers the
36:41
people. They gathered their women and
36:43
their children, their flocks and their herds and their substance
36:47
unto one place. There's this great gathering
36:51
effort. And brothers and sisters, we are
36:53
seeing this in beautiful global proportions with the Church of
37:01
Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints.
37:03
What God is doing through his prophets, his beloved prophets
37:09
who he has chosen. They are emphasizing this
37:12
gathering into one this Zion society scattered out across the
37:18
world. We see this verse 14.
37:21
What do you do? He caused the fortification
37:24
should be built round about them.
37:26
How many operating and announced and under construction temples
37:30
do we have these fortifications being built all around the world
37:35
to strengthen people to give them a gathering place where
37:38
they no longer need to fear the threatenings of a robber or the
37:42
devil, but they can increase their faith in their devotion in
37:46
Christ. It's I, sometimes I have to
37:49
pinch myself to think, wow, I, I get to live on this earth at
37:57
this time when the Lord is fulfilling so many of these
38:03
these prophecies and we, we get to see the, the world being
38:08
blessed by so many of these miracles that the Lord is
38:13
performing in these days more than ever before.
38:16
It's it's amazing. And it says that he placed as
38:22
guards roundabout them to watch and to guard them from the
38:25
robbers day and night. So we put leaders in place, we
38:28
put ministers in place, we put family members in place,
38:31
companions in place to watch over and protect because some
38:36
might be more prone to fall into the clutches of those robbers
38:40
than others. So there's this companionship
38:42
principle and this leadership watchman, the power of
38:48
presidencies working with their different organizations, the
38:52
primary, the young women, the relief Society, the elders
38:56
quorum, the young men it it's such a beautiful principle.
39:00
And then what do we do? What do we teach them verse 15
39:04
he said unto them, as the Lord liveth, except you repent of all
39:07
your iniquities and crying to the Lord, you will in no wise be
39:10
delivered out of the hands of those gadiant robbers.
39:13
So it's this reminder of those principles and ordinances of the
39:17
gospel. It's not just faith to gather.
39:20
You have to also repent. I would say individually and
39:24
collectively as a group, we keep moving forward, turning,
39:27
changing the way we see things, the way we look at God, the way
39:32
we look at each other, the way we look at ourself in the
39:34
mirror. And then we follow those
39:37
inspired leaders verse 16 and we're organized in verse 17 and
39:42
and on it goes. So all of these terrible things
39:47
were still going on out there among the robbers, but it only
39:54
caused the the believers to strengthen their desires for
39:59
that unity and want us and all these beautiful principles going
40:02
on in verse 12 through through 26 the rest of the chapter.
40:08
And they, they are armed, they are ready, they've got their
40:12
provisions for. All of these up to seven years
40:18
and they've gathered into the center of their lands and
40:22
they've got their armies together and they believe.
40:24
I love the bottom verse 21 when he says therefore, as the Lord
40:29
liveth, if we do this, he will deliver them into our hands.
40:35
We won't fall into theirs. He will deliver them into our
40:38
hands. This is a powerful section to
40:41
remind us of that principle from the Old Testament with Elisha
40:44
and his servant, that beautiful experience.
40:47
When that servant hears the words, fear not, for they that
40:51
be with us are more than they that be with them.
40:55
But the ones that are with us are often from the unseen world.
40:59
And you have to have eyes to see.
41:01
And many times I don't have those eyes.
41:05
That's why I follow a prophet. Not because I'm blind, not
41:10
because I don't see problems, not because I'm just a blind
41:14
sheep following the prophet. I follow them.
41:17
I seek to to hearken to their words because I know that they
41:22
see things from their elevated position as Watchmen on the
41:26
towers that the rest of us may not be able to see.
41:31
And this this chapter is a beautiful manifestation of how
41:35
we can fortify ourselves and our families by following and
41:42
heeding and even amplifying the words of our of our prophet,
41:47
seers and revelators. Which now brings us to chapter
41:51
4. There is a an amazing principle
41:54
here in chapter 4 where it says verse 3 the robbers could not
42:00
exist save it were in the wilderness for the want of food
42:04
because the Nephites have left their lands desolate.
42:06
They burn their crops, they took their their animals, they've
42:09
left no food behind. And now verse 5 says it came to
42:14
pass in the 19th year Gideon High found that it was expedient
42:17
that he should go up to battle against the Nephites in their
42:20
intense fortification. Why?
42:24
For there was no way that they could subsist save it were to
42:27
plunder and rob and murder brothers and sisters.
42:32
Evil is not self-sufficient. The devil never gives, he never
42:40
inspires for for building things.
42:44
He only takes what God has given to us and he takes it.
42:51
He turns it, he rests it. He tries to tempt us to use it
42:56
in ways that God didn't intend, so that eventually it will be
42:59
taken away from us and we will be destroyed.
43:02
That is his whole intent. He doesn't offer anything of
43:07
substance or of value or of anything lastingly good in
43:12
return. Oh, he can give temporary
43:15
pleasure. He can offer temporary worldly
43:20
gain in a variety of formats, but it never lasts.
43:25
So just like these Gadiant robbers could not subsist save
43:29
it were to plunder and rob and murder to take away from those
43:33
who are willing to do the work. So it is with the devils and
43:38
those who are tempting us to to do evil.
43:42
They they're not they're not able to to offer us anything of
43:47
value for themselves. So they're just trying to take
43:50
away what God has given you. So thus the battle begins and in
43:54
chapter 4 you see this conflict which if you look for symbols
43:59
you will see themes and variations in the rest of
44:02
chapter 4 from a battle that you've already been a part of
44:08
and quite frankly that you are currently a part of.
44:11
You will see variations on a pre mortal theme from the war in
44:17
Heaven and you'll even see symbols such as verse 7.
44:22
The Gadiant robbers came girded about after the manner of
44:26
robbers. They had a lamb's skin about
44:30
their loins and they were dyed in blood.
44:33
A lamb's skin covering them, they're dyed in blood.
44:38
It's this symbolic awful mockery of the Lamb of God who would
44:44
shed his blood to save us. They're coming to destroy, just
44:50
like Lucifer and those who followed him were seeking to
44:53
destroy God's planet and in the process destroy you and me,
44:57
spiritually speaking, eternally speaking.
45:00
Well, those same individuals are fighting against the work of God
45:06
on the earth today. And what a marvelous privilege
45:09
it is to be on this earth at this time in this Kingdom and to
45:16
not be a passive victim of what's going on around us in, in
45:20
the Lord's vineyard, but to be an active participant to say,
45:24
Lord, what would that have me do to push back against these
45:29
forces of, of the devil seeking to destroy us and, and, and
45:35
people of faith throughout the world, not just in our church,
45:39
not just in our tradition, but but believers of, in God
45:43
throughout the world. So you see that this chapter
45:47
isn't just a a story from this group of people shortly after
45:53
the birth of Christ in the Americas.
45:55
It is that, but it's more it becomes a window to our past as
46:00
well as a a mirror to our present struggles against the
46:07
powers of darkness. But we don't need to cower down
46:10
in fear because of this group. And you see them being overcome
46:15
and destroyed and look at the people's response when they
46:19
finished the battle and they've they've killed Zemna Rayha who
46:24
had taken the place of Gideon High.
46:26
Their statement is in a loud voice.
46:29
The whole group of people says, may the Lord preserve his people
46:32
in righteousness and in holiness of heart, that they may cause to
46:36
be fell to the earth. All who shall seek to slay them
46:39
because of power and secret combinations, even as this man
46:42
hath been fell to the earth. Zimmer Raha hung from the tree
46:45
and then they cut the tree down. They they finish in verse 32
46:50
Hosanna to the most high God and they did cry.
46:53
Blessed be the name of the Lord God Almighty, the most high God.
46:58
You're going to see a very similar cry in 3511 when they're
47:04
after they've had this experience with the Savior,
47:06
Jesus Christ, the resurrected Lord, they're going to make a
47:10
very similar cry. The difference is that group of
47:14
people is going to stay faithfully connected to the Lord
47:17
in covenant for four generations, for 200 years.
47:21
They are going to have that unity and oneness that we call
47:24
Zion. This group that is saying that
47:28
and you're thinking, wow, look, look at these words, verse 33.
47:31
Their hearts were swollen with joy with the gushing out of many
47:34
tears because of the great goodness of God and delivering
47:37
them out of the hands of their enemies.
47:39
You'd think, wow this group is going to to last forever in the
47:43
faith. Well, keep in mind this is all
47:48
happening somewhere around 21 or 22 AD and by the time you get
47:55
over to chapter 6 and seven, most of these people are going
48:01
to be struggling and caught up in wickedness and destruction.
48:06
Why? Because they are going to
48:10
forget. They're going to forget God's
48:13
deliverance. And it's not just the next
48:15
generation, it's it's these people.
48:17
Within a matter of a handful of years, they're going to turn
48:21
their back on God, which is a powerful place to pause and
48:26
reflect, not only individually or as a companionship or as a as
48:31
a group, but as a whole world, a global community of believers to
48:37
say, what can we do to better retain in remembrance God's
48:43
goodness to to not just have those things that in the moment
48:48
we, we pled for a miracle and it was granted.
48:52
And then we forgot to even pray to thank Heavenly Father for
48:57
giving us the very thing that we poured our hearts out for,
49:00
fasted for united with a whole bunch of faithful people and,
49:05
and poured our hearts out to God and received it.
49:08
And then we very quickly or very soon forget all those great
49:14
things that God has done for us. So perhaps one of the lessons
49:18
from 35 one through 7 that you might ponder is what could I do?
49:24
What could we do to better remember, to better retain and
49:29
remember it's God's goodness and all these incredible things that
49:33
He's done. Which now brings us to chapter
49:36
5. It says in verse one.
49:39
Now behold, there was not a living soul among all the people
49:41
in the Nephites who did doubt in the least the words of all the
49:45
holy prophets who had spoken, for they knew that it must needs
49:47
be, that they must be fulfilled. So everybody's converted, every
49:51
soul, not a single one that's left has a doubt.
49:55
But again, give it 6-7 years and you're going to see most of
50:01
these people headed in a different direction.
50:05
So you can also dive in. In chapter 5 in this middle
50:10
section where Mormon introduces himself, he he he stops being
50:15
just a third person narrator in the wings, in the background
50:20
behind the red curtain, so to speak.
50:22
And he comes out center stage spotlight, saying, behold, I am
50:28
called Mormon, being called after the land of Mormon, the
50:31
land in which Almid had established the church among the
50:34
people. Yeah, the first church which was
50:35
established among them after their transgression.
50:38
Behold, I am a disciple of Jesus Christ, the Son of God.
50:44
That's a powerful statement. I am a disciple of Christ.
50:48
And he goes on to say, I have been called of him to declare
50:51
his word among his people that they might have everlasting
50:53
life. And he tells that he's making
50:56
this record and after he's done making this abridgement, he's
50:59
going to give us the account of his people from his observation
51:03
and his time down the road. He he finishes in verse 20 by
51:06
saying, I am Mormon and a pure descendant of Lehi.
51:11
I have reason to bless my God and my Savior Jesus Christ.
51:14
It's beautiful this this description of his identity.
51:21
I'm a pure descendant of Lehi, which implies that there are
51:25
many people among the Nephites who aren't direct descendants of
51:30
Lehi, that there are other groups of people over here who
51:33
are marrying into this group of people called Nephites and
51:38
Lamanites. And he, he describes verse 22.
51:44
In as much as the children of Lehi have kept his commandments,
51:48
he has blessed them and prospered them according to his
51:50
word. It's such a simple statement
51:54
those, and this is coming from the the person who is abridging
51:58
1000 years of Nephite history, giving us less than 100th part
52:02
of the proceedings among all the people.
52:04
He has seen example after example after example of what
52:07
happens when people are faithful and obedient to God and what
52:12
happens when they're not. And he's giving this powerful
52:16
testimony, this prophetic testimony that if you, if you
52:21
are struggling in life, if you're feeling like you're not
52:25
having the kinds of blessings you want, I think Mormon would
52:28
say, don't complain that you're not getting more blessings and
52:33
go to God in more meekness and humility and more of a spirit of
52:38
faith and faith in Christ and repentance to say, what could I
52:43
do better to keep those commandments more completely
52:47
knowing that his promises are certain.
52:49
He doesn't tell you when and how and where those promises are
52:53
going to be fulfilled, but they will be fulfilled.
52:55
You can have absolute assurance in that and consequently move
53:02
forward in more deep rooted action that is rooted in faith
53:08
in Christ today. So now he he focuses his
53:13
testimony before he jumps back into the narrative in verse 26
53:16
by saying, and then shall they know their Redeemer, who is
53:20
Jesus Christ the Son of God, And then that shall they be gathered
53:24
in from the four quarters of the earth unto their own lands from
53:27
once they have been dispersed. Yeah, as the Lord liveth, so
53:31
shall it be. Amen.
53:34
The Lord loves his prophets. This is one of those prophecies
53:39
from Mormon that has been repeated by multiple prophets
53:42
through many ages of of the earth's history.
53:45
It will happen. This great gathering effort that
53:49
you and I are a part of will be fulfilled.
53:53
We're not building a building halfway only to have it be torn
53:57
down again. The Kingdom of God will roll
54:01
forward triumphantly, despite all of the earth's and the the
54:07
devil's efforts to the contrary. Now you get to chapter 6.
54:12
And thus begins the downward journey on that pride cycle for
54:18
these people. So you could take chapter 6 and
54:22
go through it looking for what led them from this.
54:27
Everybody's convinced not a soul among them had any doubt what
54:31
led them from their praising God to that awful condition that
54:36
they're going to be in right before the death of Jesus
54:39
Christ, which is going to lead to incredible astronomical
54:44
destruction and death among these these very people.
54:49
When we get to 3rd Nephi chapter 8, so chapter 6, you can read
54:55
and mark that general descent towards the destruction that
55:01
awaits them. What did they do?
55:03
What did they not do that led to that end?
55:07
So that not just so we, we wanted to learn that, not just
55:10
so we can know the history of the Nephites and the Lamanites,
55:14
but so that we can learn from them, so that we don't repeat
55:18
that same pattern in our own life, either as an individual or
55:21
as a family or as a ward or, or any group.
55:24
Verse 18 in chapter 6 is a pretty powerful summation of the
55:29
entire chapter of their decline. Now they did not sin ignorantly,
55:34
for they knew the will of God concerning them, for it had been
55:37
taught unto them. Therefore, they did willfully
55:40
rebel against God. That's important to note that
55:44
this isn't just happening to them externally.
55:48
This is an inward turning away from God, which is the opposite
55:52
of repentance. Repentance is to turn towards
55:55
God, to change our perspective and our vision and our our mind
56:00
towards God. They're willfully making choices
56:04
to to do the opposite and turn away.
56:07
And Chapter 7 opens with their chief judge being murdered, and
56:12
verse 2 saying the people were divided one against another, and
56:16
they did separate one from another into tribes, every man
56:20
according to his family and his kindred and friends.
56:22
And thus they did destroy the government of the land.
56:25
So we destroy that which unified them, which now causes distinct
56:32
distinctions, divisions, these tribes among the people, where
56:37
there's no longer this sense of coming together as one.
56:41
There's there's no striving for Zion going on at this point.
56:45
I love Mormon's commentary here that he gives to this situation.
56:49
In the bottom of verse 7 and verse 8, he says the more
56:52
righteous part of the people had nearly all become wicked.
56:57
Yeah, there were but few righteous men among them.
57:01
And then he gives you the time stamp.
57:04
And thus six years had not passed away since the more part
57:08
of the people had turned from their righteousness like the dog
57:11
to his vomit, or like the sow to her wallowing in the mire.
57:15
What could we do to create durable discipleship, to create
57:22
lasting, committed consecration to the Lord and connection with
57:28
Christ? What can I do to suppress those
57:32
natural tendencies and to let God know that I'm on His side
57:40
regardless of what happens externally?
57:43
Because I know His promises are sure.
57:46
Doesn't guarantee that my life will be easy.
57:48
Doesn't guarantee I'm going to have perfect health or perfect
57:51
children or perfect prosperity or the perfect house in a
57:55
perfect neighborhood with perfect vehicle with no problems
57:58
and no struggles to ever have to deal with.
58:00
That is not what the Scriptures promise, but what they do
58:04
promise is that there are incredible amounts of power that
58:10
we can tap into in those covenants with the Lord in in
58:14
Nephi's context, it looks like this Chapter 7 verse 15 came to
58:19
pass that Nephi having been visited by angels and also the
58:23
voice of the Lord there have. Therefore having seen angels and
58:26
being eyewitness and having had power given unto him that he
58:30
might know concerning the ministry of Christ and also
58:32
being eyewitness to their quick return from righteousness under
58:36
their wickedness and abominations.
58:39
And he goes on to describe how he turned to the Lord and he did
58:43
minister many things unto them. All of them cannot be written in
58:47
a part of them would not suffice.
58:49
Therefore they are not written in this book.
58:51
And if I did minister with power and great authority, that to me
58:57
is a beautiful lesson. Looking at this story in its
59:01
historical setting, its context, Nephi is surrounded by
59:06
wickedness. So instead of choosing to give
59:09
up or disengage or to become more wicked himself, he stands
59:15
up to it. And it came to pass that they
59:18
were angry with him even because he had great power, had greater
59:22
power than they. For it were not possible that
59:26
they could disbelieve his words. For so great was his faith on
59:31
the Lord Jesus Christ that angels did minister unto Him
59:33
daily. And then it goes on to say that
59:36
in the name of Jesus Christ he did certain things.
59:39
You can see all those in in verse 19 and 20.
59:43
Powerful. But it's not Nephi doing it.
59:46
It's the Lord Jesus Christ doing it through Nephi.
59:49
Ironically, this is all happening in the Americas with
59:54
Nephi. The Lord is doing this work
59:56
through him at the same time that he's performing his
1:00:02
miracles and teaching his parables and organizing his
1:00:06
disciples and his apostles in his public ministry in the old
1:00:11
world, at the same time that this is happening in the new
1:00:14
world. Another reminder that God isn't
1:00:17
just the God of a small group of people.
1:00:20
Our God is the God of the universe.
1:00:25
He holds worlds without number in His hands.
1:00:28
And He holds your world in His hands.
1:00:32
It doesn't matter where you live, what your struggles are,
1:00:36
what you're facing in life. If you choose to turn your life
1:00:41
to the Lord, your world is held in His hands.
1:00:47
And He will protect you. He will shape you.
1:00:50
He will comfort you. He will guide you.
1:00:52
He will give you His power. Ironically, when you're held in
1:00:59
the hand of the Lord, It's those very hands that have the marks
1:01:06
of His infinite atonement engraving on the palms of those
1:01:11
hands to remind Him of all that we're going through.
1:01:15
Let us never forget what He went through for us and consequently
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that might help us be more willing to devote our life to
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Him more fully. So as you read the last few
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verses of Chapter 7, notice the prophetic invitation.
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Notice how Nephi exhorts the people to connect with Christ
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and to to connect with God through covenant, through
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baptism, through that those faith filled actions that will
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help them tap into His power and to be held in His Almighty and
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all loving hands of mercy, of power and of grace.
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I love Him with all my heart and hope with all of that heart that
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He will help all of us build up His Kingdom in our little part
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of the vineyard. That He'll help us see all of
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the different aspects of life that we could be involved in.
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But to under inspiration, find those areas that need our most
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attention, not just in our scripture study, but in our
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relationships and in our discipleship to be able to
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produce the greatest amount of fruit because we love Him.
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And that is my prayer and my testimony in the name of Jesus
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Christ, Amen. Know that you're loved.