Latest / Scripture Central / 3 Nephi 20–26 | Scripture Study Insights with Tyler Griffin | A Come Follow Me Resource

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3 Nephi 20–26 | 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
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this is Scripture Study Insights by Scripture Central today.
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Third Nephi chapters 20 through 26.
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Now as we dive into this incredible set of chapters, it's
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important to remember a couple things.
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Number one, this is the majority of his of the Savior's teachings
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on his second day visiting the Nephites and the Lamanites in
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the land Bountiful. The first day went from Chapter
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11 through the end of chapter 18.
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Here we started in chapter 19 and we go to chapter 2526 when
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he then leaves. This is all happening in one
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day. Everything that we're we're
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talking about here, plus the elements from chapter 19 from
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last week's set of scriptures. So the lifelong learning overlay
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that I want to use as we approach these chapters is one
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of looking at at these through the lens of covenant community
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and belonging in a a covenant community.
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We live in a world today that is dominated largely by Greek
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thought by by a Greek worldview. And what is that?
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The Greek thought process puts the focus on the individual.
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It's it's about me. That's where we get democracy.
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That's where we get voting. And thank heaven for for that
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Greek transition away from many of the other forms of government
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in in the antiquities. But the problem can sometimes be
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that if we're not careful, we get so caught up in the ME that
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we put all of the emphasis and all of the focus here.
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And if we're not careful, what happens when you are here in the
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center and you're focused on what can I get?
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How can I build my Kingdom? How can I acquire riches or
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honor or power or glory, whatever it may be?
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If we're not careful, we can become so turned in on building
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our Kingdom that we no longer see the Lord and his Kingdom or
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people around us and how we can lift and build them.
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Because we're turned inward. The the the ultimate definition
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of self-centered. We put ourselves at the middle
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of everything and consequently when all of these outward things
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start pressing in on us, before we know it, the the little
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circle that defines me gets smaller and smaller and smaller.
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So that the irony is, is the more I've tried to build my
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Kingdom, the less of a Kingdom I end up having in the end.
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It doesn't last versus let's let's do the opposite.
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If we put the focus not on me, but rather me as a part of a
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covenant community. And that could be a
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companionship. It could it could be as simple
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as a a husband and wife in a marriage covenant.
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It could be a family extended family.
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It could be a quorum of the priesthood or a class in church.
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It could be a Relief Society group of sisters.
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It's a stake. It's the whole church, It's
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ultimately the whole world. But the point is that we put the
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focus not just solely on me, but on how I can benefit people and
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others in that covenant community.
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The focus is on we and now that expands the soul.
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And there are a lot of causes you can take up in the world
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where where you are part of a bigger organization, bigger,
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bigger efforts, humanitarian, philanthropic efforts.
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And those are wonderful and I hope everybody keeps engaging in
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those. But there's even a better sense
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of the we and it's in a covenant community where you find that
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true sense of belonging that then takes us to another level
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altogether, which is that covenant community focused on
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the OR in, in Christ, in God that we turn outward and we turn
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upward. And so we're all part of this
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group. Now you might be wondering, So
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what does this have to do with 3518 through 26?
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As we go through these chapters, notice it doesn't matter whether
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we're talking about the Isaiah chapters or the sacrament being
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instituted, or the gathering of Israel, or the signs of the
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second coming of Jesus Christ, or tithing or the ceiling keys.
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Every single one of these chapters, all of these concepts
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are ways that you and I can now focus outside of our self how we
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can turn upward and outward. How it it, the analogy, the
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object lesson to consider would be if you look at a, at a
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campfire, if you take a, a stick or a log that's on fire and you
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pull it out of that community of, of the other logs, so to
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speak, and you put it on its own.
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It may continue to burn for a seat for a short while, but
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eventually it it will probably die down and just start to smoke
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and and no longer burn and produce the same kind of heat or
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light and and warmth. There's something amazing about
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putting yourself in a place where you're surrounded by other
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people who are in in the covenant on the path, striving
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to move forward. Hence, everything in these
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chapters is helping us to see this vision of how the Lord is
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doing His work, and His work is done in a covenant community.
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That's what the gathering of Israel is all about.
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We're bringing them in now. They have their agency.
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Everyone gets to choose, and not everybody will choose to come
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into that covenant community, and not everyone who's in it
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will choose to stay. Some will choose to go out, but
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it's important to note as we, as we study these chapters today,
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that you don't help somebody who's not in the fire of that
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faith by leaving the fire of faith yourself.
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You won't you won't help them if you yourself start to diminish
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your own flame of, of conversion and testimony.
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If we stay more rooted in the and in the we, we're going to
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meet be more capable of being instruments in the hands of the
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Lord in that gathering effort in bringing people into the safety
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of that covenant community where the fire of that faith can catch
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hold again and produce that light and that heat that we so
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desperately need. So with that foundation, let's
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jump in to chapter 20. So he begins here.
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Remember in the previous lesson he asked them in chapter 18, at
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the very ending of the first day's visit to bring bread and
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wine, and he administered among them for the first time the
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sacrament of the Lord's Supper. He, he gave them the that new
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ordinance. Now at the beginning of day 2,
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they've been baptized in chapter 19, many of them.
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And now he he, he performs that sacrament ordinance one more
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time. The the subtle difference here
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is he didn't ask them to bring the bread and wine.
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It is provided miraculously for them.
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There's a, a beautiful principle here.
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Sometimes Jesus Christ will ask you and me in a covenant
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community to contribute things, to sacrifice things, to bring
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certain things to the altar for them on on that first instance
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it was bring bread and wine. Sometimes he expects us to bring
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certain things in in our discipleship and other times He
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simply provides it miraculously and we don't know where it came
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from. And that's OK.
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It's beautiful to see these contrasts in the scripture so
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that we realize once again, you, you can't paint the Savior into
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a corner and say one-size-fits-all.
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He always does things exactly the same way.
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He doesn't he, he does exactly what is needed for that
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individual or that group at that time.
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So he provides the the sacrament for them.
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And then he says, verse 10, it came to pass that when they had
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all given glory unto Jesus, he said unto them, Behold, now I
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finish the commandment which the Father hath commanded me
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concerning his people who are a remnant of the House of Israel.
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So if you'll remember back in chapters 15 and 16, he started
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into this discussion about the House of Israel and the
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scattering and the gathering, and he quoted some verses from
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Isaiah 52. And then he perceived that the
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people were weak. And so he stopped fulfilling
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temporarily that commandment that had been given to him by
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the father to teach these things.
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And he, he assured them he would come back to that.
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And he had told them to go to their homes.
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You'll remember that from from chapter 17.
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And then instead of continuing with that speech, at that point,
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he had that beautiful experience with them, with healing their
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sick and blessing their children and then administering the
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sacrament to them in chapter 18. He didn't pile on more doctrinal
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discussions or more theological principles.
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He he paused. Now he begins this day, two set
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of teachings with the sacrament. And then he says, now I'm going
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to fulfill the commandment given to me by my father.
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I think there's a principle there for you and me.
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In a covenant community, sometimes you receive a
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direction or an inspiration revelation from the Lord to do
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something and you start doing it.
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And for one reason or another, it might not get completed, you
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might get interrupted. And it seems to be OK as long as
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our intent is we are going to fulfill that covenant, that
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commandment given to us by the Lord.
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But it may not happen on our time frame, just like it didn't
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happen with them. It was the next day in this case
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where he says, OK, you're rested.
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I've given you the sacrament. We've we've refocused on that
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which matters most, this covenant connection.
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Now I'm going to finish this message and he addresses
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beautifully what it means to be a part of the House of Israel
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and to come into the House of Israel, into this covenant
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community and find your true sense of belonging there within
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the fire of that faith. So he, he starts by saying, Ye
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remember that I spake unto you, and said, that the words, that
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when the words of Isaiah should be fulfilled, behold, they are
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written. You have them before you,
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therefore search them. There's your first hint at this
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command to search Isaiah's words.
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He says, And verily, verily, I say unto you, that when they
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shall be fulfilled, then is the fulfilling of the covenant which
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the Father hath made unto his people, O House of Israel.
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So he's assuring us that when the words of Isaiah are
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fulfilled, that's the time when we can know, OK, God is now
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fulfilling that covenant that he made with all of the House of
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Israel. And we're going to see elements
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of that throughout the rest of this this set of chapters.
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Again, remember last time there are three major groups to
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consider when talking about the scattering and the gathering and
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the House of Israel. You have the Jews in Jerusalem.
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The second group is you have the scattered Israelites, which the
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Nephites and Lamanites are a part of that group.
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They were broken off. They're a remnant of the people
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who are taken away to a different part of the world.
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And they at times are wondering, have we been broken off from the
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covenant? Have we been?
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Has has our physical scattering spiritually cut us off from the
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promises of that covenant? And they keep getting that
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promise again and again and again that they are not cut off.
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It's even on the title page. They're not eternally separated.
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They're scattered physically, but not spiritually.
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And so you get the Jews, scattered Israelites, and then
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the biggest group of all the Gentiles.
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And you see all of those coming into play here in chapter 20 and
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21. Look at verse 15, for instance.
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And I say unto you that if the Gentiles do not repent after the
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blessing which they shall receive after they have
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scattered my people. So the scattering of the House
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of Israel was caused by people like the Assyrians, the
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Babylonians in in ancient times and the Romans in in the after
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the New Testament time period. These Gentiles scattered those
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children of Israel and they took with them their scriptures and
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their knowledge of God. And that spreads, and the
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Gentiles then are the ones to pick that up and now carry that
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message forth in return back to the scattered Israelites and
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ultimately, eventually all of the Jews in the House of Israel.
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And so if you look at chapter 20 through the lens of God doing
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his work of gathering for the Jews in Jerusalem, then you see
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this interesting pattern emerge. He will give you multiple
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prophecies and promises and he will say this is going to happen
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and then this is going to happen.
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So look for the word. Then in chapter 20, you can do
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an electronic search on it or you can do a physical search
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with with paper scriptures and circle the word then.
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And what you get is an ongoing timeline of Jesus Christ telling
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you what is going to happen before He comes again and how he
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is going to restore and gather the Jews to Jerusalem and gather
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them into the covenant and fulfill all of those promises
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which have been made to the ancient patriarchs and and
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matriarchs in the Old Testament. So this is this is a beautiful
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chapter for the Old world, for the Jews that he's giving to the
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Nephites. And some would say, well, why?
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Why do the Nephites and Lamanites in the New World care
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about what's going to happen with the Jews in the latter days
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2000 years down the road? It's a good.
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Question and I don't have the ultimate answer for you, but I
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have some some ideas. That because of the nature of
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their mindset that they find their identity not as an
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individual, but as a collective community, as a.
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Tribe as a family, the House of Israel, that it's giving
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incredible hope to them for their past, present and future
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as this identity of the House of Israel, that the Lord is not
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going to forsake the Jews any more than he is going to forsake
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them, these scattered Israelites.
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And we get the scattered Israel prophecies in chapter 21.
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So he, he's going to shift gears from the Old world, Jerusalem
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and the Jews and then focus on the new world, the new
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Jerusalem. So you can do the exact same
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thing in chapter 21 that you did in chapter 20.
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Look for the words when and then these connecting words for these
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prophecies that will unfold in the latter days.
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And you can see what the Lord is laying out in preparation for
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His second coming. Now He begins chapter 21 with
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multiple verses, setting the stage as follows.
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And verily I say unto you, I give unto you a sign that ye may
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know the time when these things shall be about to take place,
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that I shall gather in from their long dispersion my people,
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O House of Israel, and shall establish again among them my
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Zion. So he says, I'm going to give
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you a sign that the gathering has begun, the final latter day,
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ultimate gathering of the House of Israel.
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And what is the sign? Behold, this is the thing which
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I will give unto thee for a sign.
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For verily I say unto you that when these things which I
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declare unto you, when these things, these words that we're
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now reading in the Book of Mormon, when these things which
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I shall declare unto you, and which I shall declare hereafter.
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And then he he takes a tangent and talks about some other
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elements of the Gentiles and the power of the Father and the
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scattering that's taking place. And then he comes back to it in
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verse 3, Verily, verily, saying to you that when these things
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shall be made known unto them of the Father, and shall come forth
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of the Father from them unto you, from the Gentiles, to you
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from the Father, giving them to the Gentiles to bring them to
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you. When you see the these words
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coming forth to you, he says, verse 5, When these works and
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the work shall be wrought among you hereafter shall come forth
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from the Gentiles unto your seed.
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He's clarifying and wait for. And we finally get the answer in
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verse 7. And when these things come to
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pass, that thy seed shall begin to know these things, it shall
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be a sign unto them, that they may know that the work of the
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Father hath already commenced unto the fulfilling of the
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covenant which he hath made unto the people who are of the House
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of Israel. So it's the Book of Mormon is
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the sign that the Savior gave to these Nephites and Lamanites,
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that when the Book of Mormon will come forth, then you can
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know that the Lord is doing His incredible gathering effort for
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the final time. Bringing all who are willing to
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come into the. Fire of that faith, that
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covenant community of belonging. And he, he talks about the
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coming forth of the Book of Mormon.
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You can imagine Joseph Smith and Oliver Caldari as they're
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translating this part when it says, but behold, the life of my
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servant shall be in my hand. Therefore they shall not hurt
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him, although he shall be marred because of them, yet I will heal
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him, for I will show unto them that my wisdom is greater than
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the cunning of the devil. If you think of the last 116
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pages and. All of the opposition that the
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Prophet Joseph faced throughout his life, not just after he
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established the church, but long before that as well.
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All of these promises being fulfilled in him, this
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instrument, who would bring forth this great gathering tool,
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the Book of Mormon? So he says in verse 11,
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Therefore it shall come to pass that whosoever will not believe
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in my words, who am Jesus Christ, which the Father shall
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cause him to bring forth unto the Gentiles, and shall give
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unto him power, that he shall bring them forth unto the
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Gentiles. Joseph Smith serving among
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people who've come largely from Europe, which the Book of Mormon
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sees. If you go back to Nephi's
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vision, those Gentile nations that come over and and start
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populating the new world, and then he says, And my people who
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are a remnant of Jacob shall be among the Gentiles.
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So the scattered Israel will be literally scattered among the
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Gentiles. Yeah, in the midst of them as a
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lion among the beasts of the forest.
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And then he goes on to talk about the Gentiles in the latter
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days. Woe be unto the Gentiles, except
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they repent, for it shall come to pass in that day, saith the
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Father, that I will cut off thy horses out of the midst of thee,
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and I will destroy thy Chariots. He's giving us signs of the
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times, that the nations of the world, the Gentiles, will
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eventually get cut off if they turn their back on the Lord.
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Or in this case, when they turn off, turn their back on the
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Lord. And I will cut off the cities of
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the thy land, and throw down all thy strongholds, and I will cut
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off witchcrafts out of thy lands, for they shall have no
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more soothsayers. And he goes on to describe all
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of the things that are going to be destroyed by the Lord.
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And then if you turn the page over, he says, I will.
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Verse 21. Execute vengeance and fury upon
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them. Verse 22 But if they will
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repent, and hearken unto my words, and harden not their
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hearts, I will establish my church among them, and they
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shall come in unto the covenant, and be numbered among.
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This the remnant of Jacob, under whom I have given this land for
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their inheritance. Gentiles are welcome to come
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into the covenant. They will become a part of the
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remnant of Jacob. Well, the 10 tribes that were
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carried away. Captive that become the lost
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tribes. That's everybody but Judah and
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Benjamin down South. Ephraim and Manasseh are two of
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those ten who get carried away. And many people who are coming
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in to the gospel of Jesus Christ from the Gentile nations of the
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earth are being adopted into often those two tribes as well
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as the others, but those two who were given this blessing by
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Father Israel to have the responsibility for the
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gathering. Of Israel and all of his family
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in the latter days. Because again, Israel or Jacob
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back in Egypt wasn't defining his identity based on himself as
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an individual. He found his identity in his
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family both. Past, present, and especially in
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his case, future and so. There's this this.
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Powerful invitation to the Gentiles to come and become a
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part of that covenant, which now, even though the promises
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weren't made to their ancestors, they are adopted into the tribes
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of Israel so that they are now a remnant of.
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Israel and they have full access to those covenant promises made
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so many millennia ago. And then it says verse 23.
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And they shall assist my people. These Gentiles who come in are
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going to assist my people, the remnant of Jacob.
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And also as many of the House of Israel as shall come, that they
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may build a city, which shall be called the New Jerusalem.
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And then shall they assist my people, that they may be
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gathered in, who are scattered upon all the faces of the land
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in unto the new Jerusalem. So chapter 20 was the old
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Jerusalem in the Old World. Chapter 21 is the new Jerusalem
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and this gathering effort for the remnant for the scattered
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tribes to come to the new Jerusalem, the Jews to come to
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the old Jerusalem, and then shall the power of heaven come
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down among them. And I also will be in the midst
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that is the essence of covenant belonging in the in this
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community of, of what the Lord has set up.
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In the House of Israel and being adopted into the House of Israel
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is he is at the center. He will be in the midst in the
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middle of this this gathering effort.
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It's it's the Lord Jesus Christ who's doing this work and we get
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to assist in it. That's the word that that gets
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used in verse 23 and 24 is assist my people in doing this
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work. And then verse 26 says, Shall
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the work of the Father commence at that day, even when this
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gospel shall be preached among the remnant of this people?
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Verily I say unto you, at that day shall the work of the Father
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commence among all the dispersed of my people, these scattered
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people, and they're going to be brought back in they who were
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lost. And then verse 28, Yeah.
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And then shall the work commence, which the Father, with
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the Father among all the nations, in preparing the way
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whereby his people may be gathered home.
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To the land of their inheritance, and this beautiful
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conclusion, verse 29. And they shall go out from all
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nations, and they shall not go out in haste, nor go by flight.
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For I will go before them, saith the Father, and I will be.
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Their rear word? We will go out not in haste.
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We're going to go out from all nations in this great gathering
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effort. Don't be shocked as time passes
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to see more and more and more emphasis put on covenants, on
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the gathering of Israel, on the House of Israel, on this
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covenant community of belonging. If you look at the General
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Conference in April 2024, many are calling it the Covenant
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Conference because although just a small handful of talks
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mentioned covenants and some had their entire talks focused on
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them, covenants are really important when they're
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established, when they're kept, and then when they're fulfilled.
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And you and I live in the day and age when God is now
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fulfilling his promises, His covenants.
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He's turning his blessings and showering his his grace on the
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Gentiles in the House of Israel who are willing to enter into
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this covenant with Him in that that community of belonging,
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that fire of faith that grows as we love, share, and invite all
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around us to come and participate in the blessings of
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that of that connection with the Lord.
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And now it brings us to chapter 22, which is the Lord Jesus
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Christ quoting to them. Isaiah 54.
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If you're keeping track, Isaiah 54 comes right after that
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incredible chapter, the Suffering Servant chapter of
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Isaiah 50. Three, where it describes the
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Lord being despised and rejected of men, a man of sorrows and
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acquainted with grief. We his it were our face from
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Him. He's despised, He's rejected.
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He takes all of our pains and sickness and affliction and all
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of the pains of hell upon him, and that's how he overcomes.
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And then the triumphant chapter 54 comes next.
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And that's what he's now quoting to these people, putting that in
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the context of this covenant community of belonging, not
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seeing it as just me building my Kingdom.
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But what can I do to help the Lord build his Kingdom?
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By loving him and loving you and loving those around me and
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turning outward, which is the most Christ like thing we can
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do. It's not to turn inward and say
29:44
what's in it for me, what can I get from you, but rather what
29:48
can I give you? How can I serve you?
29:51
What do you need? And some of you may be saying,
29:54
but I don't have a lot to give. That may be true, but what we
29:58
have, if we're willing to give it, we'll find that we receive
30:02
more in return in the long run. So chapter 22 is one of my
30:08
favorite all time chapters of Scripture.
30:12
Think of it in this context of the Lord teaching these Nephites
30:15
and the Lamanites these incredible words from Isaiah, he
30:20
says. And then, then shall that which
30:24
is written come to pass. Sing, O barren, Thou that didst
30:29
not bear, break forth into singing, and cry aloud Thou that
30:33
didst not travail with child. For more are the children of the
30:37
desolate than the children of the married wife, saith the
30:41
Lord. If you go back to Old Testament
30:43
times, when the Kingdom of Israel was destroyed by Assyria
30:48
and all of her children were carried away captive or put
30:50
captive in their own land, if they weren't carried away and
30:53
scattered, Israel is left feeling desolate, feeling like
31:00
she's been forsaken, when in reality she's the one who.
31:03
Forsook the Lord, and then it says in the latter days that the
31:09
promises that you're going to have more children.
31:13
Verse 2 Enlarge the place of thy tent and let them stretch forth
31:17
the curtains of thy habitations. Spare not lengthen thy cords and
31:23
strengthen thy stakes. He's saying to Israel, your,
31:29
your dwelling place isn't big enough, you need to make it
31:32
bigger. Stretch forth your curtains,
31:35
strengthen the stakes of Zion. He even says you're going to
31:40
break forth on the right hand and on the left, and thy seed
31:44
shall inherit the Gentiles and make the desolate cities to be
31:46
inhabited. Fear not, for thou shalt not be
31:50
ashamed. Neither be thou confounded, for
31:53
thou shalt not be put to shame. He's making incredible promises
31:58
about this gathering effort in the latter days.
32:01
Why can he make those promises for thy Maker?
32:04
Thy husband, the Lord of Hosts, is his name, and thy Redeemer,
32:09
the Holy One of Israel, the God of the whole earth, shall he be
32:13
called. The House of Israel, can make
32:16
these bold claims and not be ashamed because the Father of
32:20
that house is the Maker of all. It's the Lord Jesus Christ, it's
32:27
the Savior who's doing that gathering work, bringing people
32:31
into this tent that needs to be enlarged, called the covenant,
32:37
the House of Israel. And then he, he goes on to
32:40
describe what's happened through these thousands of years, from
32:45
when the covenant was first established until our day, the
32:48
latter days. For the Lord hath called thee as
32:51
a woman forsaken and grieved in spirit, and a wife of youth,
32:54
when thou was refused, saith thy God, for a small moment have I
33:00
forsaken thee, but with great mercies will I gather thee.
33:05
He allowed the Assyrians to scatter Israel.
33:07
He allowed the Babylonians to scatter Judah.
33:10
He allowed the Romans to scatter Judah later on in 70 AD for a
33:17
small moment in the eternal scheme of things.
33:20
If we think celestial here, He allowed these these consequences
33:26
to fall upon these people. But then his promises with great
33:32
mercies will I gather thee. We we are on the earth at the
33:38
most exciting time. President Nelson made it clear
33:40
there is nothing happening on the earth on the earth that is
33:43
more important than this gathering effort bringing people
33:46
into the House of Israel. Verse eight In a little wrath I
33:50
hid my face from thee for a moment.
33:54
But with everlasting kindness will I have mercy on thee, saith
34:00
the Lord thy Redeemer. Now you look at verse 10.
34:03
For the mountain shall depart, and the hills be removed, but my
34:08
kindness shall not depart from thee, neither shall the covenant
34:12
of my peace be removed. Saith the Lord that hath mercy
34:15
on me. His promises are more firm and
34:19
more everlasting than the mountains and the hills.
34:23
They'll depart. But his, his loving kindness,
34:27
his mercy, his promises will not depart.
34:30
And he tells the people, O thou afflicted, tossed with Tempest,
34:33
and not comforted, behold, I will lay thy stones with fair
34:35
colors and lay thy foundations with sapphires.
34:38
You'll notice all these things that the Savior is doing for us
34:43
and for you as an individual and for us as a, as a covenant
34:47
community. We don't need to be concerned
34:51
that our needs might go unmet. He says, I will be your God.
34:57
You will be my people, and when you come into that covenant
35:00
community and you trust Him, and you connect with him, and you
35:05
keep those covenants with him, His promises are short.
35:09
They cannot fall. They will not fail us.
35:13
And he says, verse 14 in righteousness shalt thou be
35:18
established. That's how we do it is we come
35:22
in and we do that which is right, and that which is right
35:24
is that which comes from Him. If we love Him, we keep his
35:29
commandments. That's righteousness, that's
35:32
covenant belonging in Christ. Which brings us to chapter 23.
35:37
He just finished quoting to them Isaiah 54.
35:41
And he says, now behold, I say unto you that you ought to
35:43
search these things. Yeah, commandment, I give unto
35:46
you that you search these things diligently for greater the words
35:50
of Isaiah. If you're spending a lot of time
35:52
on social media or if you're spending a lot of time watching
35:54
the news and getting really discouraged about latter days,
35:58
can I just recommend that maybe you spend more time reading
36:02
chapters like Isaiah 5253 and 54 and other sections of Isaiah?
36:08
Because there's, there's this very clear message of hope.
36:13
The Lord is laying out what is going to happen.
36:17
He's making clear what his work is and we know who's going to
36:22
prevail in the end. And it it builds hope rather
36:26
than fear and anxiety. So he gives us this commandment
36:30
to search diligently the words of Isaiah.
36:32
It's kind of nice, isn't it, to know that as you study chapters
36:37
like 30 Nephi 22, you're fulfilling something that the
36:41
Lord Jesus Christ has commanded us to do.
36:45
But don't just read it. Search it diligently.
36:48
Dig. In ask questions, turn it from
36:51
every angle you can and look for what you can learn.
36:55
From the the power of the Holy Ghost bringing those messages
36:59
and those principles to life for you and then the Savior
37:02
clarifies why he's giving this command for us to search
37:06
Isaiah's words diligently for surely he spake is touching all
37:11
things concerning my people which are of the House of
37:14
Israel. Isaiah was more focused on
37:17
Israel and on the covenant than any Old Testament prophet, and
37:21
consequently his prophecies are quoted everywhere.
37:26
And the Savior himself is giving this, this command for us to
37:31
search those words diligently. And it says, therefore, it must
37:34
needs be that he must speak also to the Gentiles.
37:38
We've got to get Isaiah's words out to the Gentiles too, because
37:41
they're the ones who are going to assist in this work of
37:45
gathering the family of Israel in our day, in the latter days.
37:50
And then the Lord promises, and all things that he spake have
37:53
been and shall be, even according to the words which he
37:56
spake. Isaiah is, is going to be
37:59
absolutely fulfilled. And then he makes an invitation
38:05
to Nephi to bring forth the records, and he looks through
38:07
the records, and he asks this interesting question.
38:10
Verily I say unto you, I commanded my servant Samuel the
38:14
Lamanite, that he should testify unto this people, that at the
38:18
day that the Father should glorify His name in me, that
38:21
there were many Saints who should arise from the dead, and
38:24
should appear unto many, and should minister unto them.
38:27
And he said unto them, Was it not so?
38:29
Of all the things that Samuel and I prophesied, and he
38:32
prophesied incredible things. Some of some of our favorite and
38:36
most specific prophecies ever come in Samuel's speech, but the
38:42
one that the Savior emphasizes here is this promise of the
38:46
graves being open and people being resurrected and being seen
38:50
by many. This promise of life after this,
38:57
this life ends. That they would be.
38:59
Resurrected this glorious promise, which puts into focus
39:05
all of these efforts we're working on in the Vineyard.
39:07
All of this gathering, all of this emphasis on the we and on
39:11
the V and, and trying to bring everybody into this.
39:15
It's not just for this life, the Lord's giving this, this eternal
39:21
stamp of importance to the work of the gathering.
39:25
We're gathering them in, not so we can get numbers, but so that
39:31
we can help them build their identity in this covenant
39:37
community of belonging as children of God, children of the
39:42
covenant, and disciples of Christ.
39:46
So now he asks Nephi why it's not there.
39:51
And of course, Nephi says it, we'll fix that.
39:54
And thank heaven that this happened because because of
39:58
that, we now have Sammy the Lamanite's experiences and
40:03
especially his teachings in the end of the Book of Human.
40:06
Which brings us now to chapter 24 when the Lord turns to them
40:10
and says, now there are some scriptures that you don't have
40:14
that didn't come over on the brass plates.
40:17
Because they weren't given yet by the time Lehi and and Nephi
40:21
and Soraya and the family left Jerusalem, they were given later
40:25
by the prophet Malachi. And it so happens that he gives
40:29
the last two chapters of our our Old Testament Malachi chapter 3
40:36
and Malachi chapter 4. Interesting chapters.
40:39
Because in chapter 3 he gives this this incredible a lesson on
40:50
tithing and you might be thinking to yourself, of all the
40:54
things Jesus Christ could teach them, he fights in Lamanites.
40:56
Why would he quote Malachi 3, which seems to emphasize tithing
41:00
in the in the middle verses here we often jump to the tithing and
41:07
we miss the part that gives the reason why tithing is so
41:12
important. Let's look at verse 6 for I am
41:16
the Lord. I change not.
41:19
Therefore, ye sons of Jacob are not consumed by all of these
41:24
things that are that are happening up in verse.
41:26
Five that the bad judgments you're not consumed they're
41:30
they're you're under a covenantal protection here and
41:33
then verse 7 even from the days of your Father's you are gone
41:36
away from mine ordinances and have not.
41:39
Kept them. So here's the Lord who has been
41:44
showering down blessing after blessing after blessing on the
41:48
people. And instead of receiving those
41:52
and turning heavenward, these people have gone off on their
41:56
own and turned inward. They have forsaken the covenant
42:02
as they leave that that protection of the covenant
42:07
community belonging, and they have become unto themselves or
42:11
become for themselves turned inward, and they've broken the
42:14
covenant. They haven't kept the ordinances
42:18
as He has given them to them. And then he gives this
42:22
invitation at the second-half of verse 7.
42:25
Return unto me, and I will return unto you, saith the Lord
42:30
of hosts. But ye say, wherein shall we
42:34
return? This is fascinating.
42:37
The Savior saying come back, be gathered in every time we sin,
42:43
we're there's a there's a scattering taking place every
42:47
time we repent and return. There is a gathering taking
42:51
place to to that degree that we're repenting and returning to
42:55
the covenant, returning to those ordinances, returning to that
42:58
connection with the Lord. And so his promises come back to
43:02
me, return to me and I will return to you.
43:05
I will be your God again. You will be my people.
43:07
Remember the story from the Old Testament, Hosea and Gomer, she
43:11
forsakes him. He reaches out, brings her back,
43:14
re establishes that covenant. That's what he's doing here.
43:17
Return to me so that I can return to you as well.
43:22
And they say, well, how do we return?
43:25
And then he says, will a man rob God?
43:28
Yet you have robbed me. But you say, and where have we
43:31
robbed thee? And his answer in tithes and
43:35
offerings. This is not the answer most
43:38
people would would have assumed would be given.
43:42
For how do I return to the covenant that the Savior himself
43:48
through Malachi and now repeating this to the Nephites
43:52
and Lamanites as saying you return to this covenant through
43:57
your tithes and through your offerings.
44:00
You see, if we're not careful, most of us will look at the
44:03
money that we earn or that we have the the goods, the
44:08
possessions that we own as power.
44:13
It builds up our Kingdom. It's about me and if I turn to
44:17
money and make it my God, I will never have enough.
44:23
I will always want more. I will never arrive when I say
44:28
it's enough. Now how can I use this to bless
44:31
other people? I will constantly be pursuing
44:34
money. Whereas isn't it interesting
44:38
that the Savior through Malachi is saying, if you want to return
44:43
to me, come back to this covenant through the payment of
44:47
your tithes and your offerings. It's not because the Lord in
44:51
heaven needs your money. He needs your heart.
44:56
Tithing is not about dollars and cents or or the currency
45:00
wherever you may live in the world.
45:02
Tithing is about your heart being turned heavenward and your
45:07
offerings turned outward. How can I lift those around me
45:13
rather than constantly seeking to turn all those errors in on
45:18
myself? How?
45:19
How can I get more from me? How can I build my Kingdom is
45:23
not the question. It's how can I build his Kingdom
45:27
and how can I build you within this covenant community of
45:30
belonging because we're in this together.
45:33
And the beautiful response to anybody who questions, but I
45:40
can't afford to pay. Tithing comes in these next few
45:43
verses. Ye are cursed with a curse, for
45:47
you have robbed me even this whole nation.
45:52
Bring ye all the tithes into the storehouse, that there may be
45:55
meat in my house, and prove me now.
45:59
Herewith. When God says test me, try me,
46:04
put, put me to the test here, Prove me now.
46:06
Herewith, saith the Lord of hosts, if I will not open you
46:10
the windows of heaven and pour you out a blessing, that there
46:13
shall not be room enough to receive it.
46:16
If we can put our focus on Thee and on the we and pay our tithes
46:24
and offerings, not with, not with a grudging heart, but as a
46:30
sign to say, dear God on high, I love thee more than I love this
46:36
money. I want to build thy Kingdom far
46:40
more than I want to build my Kingdom.
46:43
And consequently, tithes and offerings takes on a lot more
46:48
than just money. It becomes things like your
46:52
time, your talent, your energy, your gifts, your abilities, your
46:58
possessions, your vehicles, your house, your lands.
47:03
Everything that you have that you you've received from the
47:09
Lord is now consecrated to Him for the building up of His
47:16
Kingdom on the earth. That is an amazing transition in
47:22
a gathering effort when people can let go of the me and embrace
47:28
the the and the we aspects of this covenant community,
47:33
realizing that in that community, our needs and many of
47:38
our wants are going to be taken care of by the Lord.
47:41
So it's it's a powerful reminder that if we do that, look at this
47:47
other promise, verse 11, I will rebuke the devourer for your
47:51
sakes, and he shall not destroy the fruits of your ground,
47:55
neither shall your vine cast your fruit before the time in
47:58
the fields saith the Lord of hosts.
48:01
Have you noticed that when he says saith the Lord or saith the
48:05
Lord of hosts, it's a way to put the stamp of, of authority and
48:09
authenticity and power on what just was was shared or what was
48:13
spoken. So he's making it as sure and
48:17
firm and steadfast as possible. This isn't some person making
48:21
this up. This is the Lord of hosts making
48:23
this promise directly to us. And all nations shall call you
48:27
blessed, for you shall be a delightsome land, saith the Lord
48:31
of Hosts. There it is again.
48:33
All these promises, they will be fulfilled.
48:35
But the amazing thing is, he won't reach into your heart and
48:40
force you to pay tithing. He won't force you to consecrate
48:44
everything that you have to Him. He will invite.
48:49
And isn't it interesting that if, if I am willing to give all
48:53
that I have to the Lord, if I'm willing to enter that covenant
48:58
with him and return to that relationship in a way that says
49:04
everything that I have is thine Lord all of a sudden paying
49:10
tithing is a delight. It's, it's no longer a, a duty
49:16
or a begrudging commandment that I have to keep against my my
49:21
better thinking or against my desires.
49:24
I do it because I recognize who I'm doing it for.
49:29
I'm doing it for him, the Lord of the vineyard, and for all of
49:33
those around me, trusting that in this covenant community, all
49:37
of my needs are going to be taken care of.
49:40
That's a beautiful transition that we can all continually
49:45
strive to make. Is is to not keep these
49:50
commandments half heartedly, but to do it with faith, absolute
49:55
trust that the Lord will keep his promises.
49:58
Which now brings us to chapter 25 where he quotes the final
50:03
chapter of the Old Testament, Malachi chapter 4.
50:07
And in this one, most people are very familiar with Malachi 4
50:12
because of verse 5 and 6, the last two verses of the Old
50:15
Testament. So let's jump to those.
50:17
Verse 5 says, behold, I will send you Elijah the prophet
50:21
before the coming of the great and dreadful day of the Lord.
50:26
Many Jewish rabbis through through centuries have have
50:31
commented on this verse and the rabbinical tradition in many
50:35
circles is the Elijah will come to fulfill this prophecy of
50:40
Malachi on a Passover on that first major festival of their of
50:46
the Jewish holidays in a year. And it's a a beautiful thing to
50:51
see that on April 3rd, 1836 in the Kirtland Temple, Elijah did
50:57
return with keys. That day, April 3rd of 1836
51:03
happened to be Passover. It also happened to be Easter
51:07
that year. Occasionally Passover and Easter
51:09
line up on the same day as it did in 1836.
51:14
So he did return. And why did he return?
51:17
And what did he bring? Verse 6.
51:19
And he shall turn the heart of the fathers to the children, and
51:23
the heart of the children to their fathers, lest I come and
51:28
smite the earth with a curse. Often here's what happens.
51:33
We read this verse and we say, oh, the heart of the children
51:38
will turn to the fathers and the heart of the fathers will turn
51:42
to the children. And we often stop in in thinking
51:49
about these these concepts. We stop at family history.
51:56
So we are the children looking to the roots of our family,
52:02
looking to to our ancestors to learn of them.
52:06
And our ancestors then get turned to us as we do their work
52:12
for them and become saviors on Mount Zion through opening those
52:15
doors of covenantal connection for them.
52:20
Which, if you stop and think about it, temple work hopefully
52:26
is not just hard work. Hopefully temple work becomes a
52:31
delight. Why?
52:34
Because we're turning outward. And in this case, we're turning
52:40
backward in time to our ancestors who came before us,
52:45
that their DNA is in every cell of our body.
52:48
Their blood courses through our veins.
52:51
Who we are today is made-up of largely the life that we've been
52:56
given by these people who have gone before.
53:00
And the more we learn about them, the more we're learning
53:04
about ourselves. So as we as children turn our
53:09
hearts to the fathers and our fathers then turn their hearts
53:13
to us, we we are getting blessings from the unseen world.
53:18
You are, you are accessing power.
53:22
You are inviting angels to minister to you, not just in
53:28
your family history and temple work, but in all aspects of your
53:31
work as you move forward because the Father's hearts are turned
53:34
to you as you turn to them once again.
53:38
Kind of the same notion as the tithing.
53:41
When we sacrifice or give certain things and turn outward,
53:47
it's there that we discover that we received the most in return,
53:51
way more than if we retain that money or that time or that
53:55
energy or those work efforts for building up my Kingdom rather
54:00
than our Kingdom, the Kingdom of God with the Savior of the
54:04
sender. So here's another thing to
54:07
consider. If you look at this like a
54:11
family tree, you have those roots, those ancestors that came
54:19
before generations, that provide that foundation for our life
54:25
today. In that context, we're the
54:28
children, they're the fathers. But what happens if you look at
54:33
yourself here as the trunk? You have both ancestors and you
54:39
have future posterity, the fruit of family, so to speak.
54:45
Now, for many in the church today and throughout the history
54:49
of time, marriage and having children was not an option for a
54:55
variety of reasons. But the Lord's promises are
54:58
sure. If we keep our covenants,
55:01
nothing will be withheld from us in the future.
55:04
And for some, those promises won't be fulfilled until the
55:07
eternities, as painful as that is, to reconcile with
55:11
immortality. But the promise is this.
55:16
If we keep those covenants, we will have posterity that will
55:24
continue to grow. There will be eternal increase.
55:28
And in that case, you and I now take the role of the the word
55:35
fathers, or we might say fathers and mothers.
55:40
The question is, are we so excited about our family history
55:45
that we might at times overlook our family present and the
55:50
relationships and the experiences and the teaching and
55:54
the lifting and the building and being a savior on Mount Zion for
55:58
our current family? Doing work for the living, not
56:02
just for the dead? And do we spend so much time on
56:07
family history efforts that maybe we don't think about
56:11
family future efforts? Part of turning the hearts of
56:16
the fathers to the children could be wherever you are today
56:20
in your life, however old you may be, to turn your heart to
56:26
future posterity or posterity that has come after you in the
56:32
family tree. And how can you enrich and
56:37
strengthen the fruit in the tree branches that are there and the
56:43
branches and and fruits that are yet to come?
56:47
Decisions you and I make today can have powerful positive
56:53
impact on our future posterity. Unfortunately, the world we live
56:58
in today doesn't encourage any of this.
57:01
In fact, quite the opposite. Often family is discouraged.
57:07
Don't get married, don't have children.
57:10
They get in the way of you fulfilling your dreams and they
57:16
put the word self in front of all these words.
57:19
Self fulfillment and self actualization.
57:23
Self realization. It's all about me in our world.
57:28
But isn't it interesting that the Lord teaching these Nephites
57:31
and Lamanites focuses our attention outside of the ME and
57:36
puts it to my roots and my fruits?
57:40
Helps me to see how I could be the means in the Lord's hands to
57:46
be both the children in some cases in family history work and
57:51
the Father's in family present and family future work in
57:55
helping to build this covenant community of belonging, of
58:00
bringing people in to those relationships with the Savior
58:04
Jesus Christ into the because of the fire of our faith that now
58:09
spreads to them and keeps spreading onward and outward.
58:14
Which now brings us to chapter 26.
58:17
It says now it came to pass through when Jesus had told
58:19
these things, he expounded unto or expounded them unto the
58:22
multitude, and he did expound all things unto them, both great
58:26
and small. So apparently he's giving all
58:29
kinds of other scriptures and other doctrines and teachings,
58:33
and we don't get them in the Book of Mormon, but we trust
58:37
that the Lord inspired Mormon on what to include and what to
58:40
exclude. So grateful for what we have.
58:43
And he says these scriptures, which she had not with you, the
58:47
Father commanded that I should give unto you.
58:49
For it was wisdom in him that they should be given unto future
58:53
generations. You'll notice that the more you
58:56
focus on Christ, the more you think about Him, the more you
59:00
study about Him, the more you become like Him, the more you
59:04
see things the way He sees them. Not bound by time, not caught up
59:09
with the anxieties of our current day, but seeing the hope
59:15
in the future and in the rising generations.
59:18
You start to see potential and fruit production down the road
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in in young children and youth and young adults instead of
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seeing the way the world sees the problems with them.
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It's it's this beautiful hope filled perspective that the Lord
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grants us as we get more and more into that connection with
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him in this covenant community of belonging.
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And then notice he says here verse 6 Mormon clarifies now
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there cannot be written in this book.
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Even 100th part of the things which Jesus did truly teach unto
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the people. And then you notice in the rest
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of Chapter 26 the young children.
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Even the babes spoke things that were marvelous, that couldn't be
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written, and the people marvelled.
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This is setting the stage for 200 years of a perfect Zion,
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righteous society. And these little children that
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are there and the adults, they're all this foundation, the
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roots for that 200 years of a perfect society.
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What an amazing thing it would be if you and I could find ways
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in our own family tree to provide deeper roots than ever
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before as the Lord performs His greatest miracles in the history
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of the world in preparation for a second coming.
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That we don't just become observers passively sitting on
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the sideline watching this happen, but we roll up our
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sleeves, we work with him, we assist him in these efforts in
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the vineyard of the Lord. What a beautiful promise.
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And by the way, this isn't rocket science.
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This coming into a covenant community.
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He gives a very simple description of what that entails
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in verse 21. And they who were baptized in
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the name of Jesus were called the Church of Christ, this
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covenant community of belonging brothers and sisters.
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This isn't about building our Kingdom individually. 10,000
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years from now, I can guarantee nobody will look back and say, I
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wish I would have earned more money.
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I wish I would have had a bigger house.
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I wish I would have had more possessions.
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Nobody's going to say that. What we will say is I am so
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grateful for the Lord giving all that He had to us and then in
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response, how willing am I to take all of that?
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My health, my money, my strength, my gifts, my
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abilities, my possessions, all of it given to me by God and
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could be taken away at a moment. But what an amazing thing when I
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don't have to have the Lord take anything away from me because
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it's all His. I give it to Him freely.
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It's sitting on the altar. He can have whatever he wants
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and it will be a delight to serve Him because I want to be
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more like Him and He who gave everything for us.
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I want to be more like Him. So I'm going to strive to give
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everything I have to Him and to those around me.
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Not perfect at it, but that's the the goal.
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That's the striving to come further into the center of this
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covenant community belonging and to assist him in this most
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important gathering effort. In these the latter days, he
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lives, He stands at the head of this work, and his promises are
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sure and they will all be fulfilled.
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And I leave that with you. In the name of Jesus Christ,
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Amen. Know that you're loved.