Latest / Scripture Central / 2 Nephi 6-10 | Feb 19-25 | Book of Mormon Matters with John W. Welch and Lynne Hilton Wilson

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2 Nephi 6-10 | Feb 19-25 | Book of Mormon Matters with John W. Welch and Lynne Hilton Wilson · Scripture Central

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Hello, welcome back to Scripture Central.
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I'm Lynn Hilton Wilson and this is John W Welch with our come,
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follow me in second Nephi chapter 678910 and it's a two
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day sermon by Jake. Nephi has asked Jacob to record
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this huge six section of space in his scripture, and as part of
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that, Nephi also asks Jacob to quote specifically some verses
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on Isaiah. So let's start with Chapter 6.
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OK, Lynn, would you say that this is easy reading or hard
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reading? You know all a second Nephi is
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for a mature spirit who is seeking to understand a deeper
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connection with our Savior as our Redeemer.
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I think Chapter 9 is probably some of the best messages we
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have on the Atonement of Jesus Christ in all Scripture.
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So this is some of my favorite reading, but it requires a
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little more than someone who's looking for a storyline in speed
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reading. And I think this material is
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about as dense as it gets in terms of profound doctrine,
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references to aspects of the plan of salvation, the
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covenants, the temple. And it's interesting to me that
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this may be Jacob's first really major public sermon as the high
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priest in the new temple there in the city of Nephi.
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You know, this is interesting that you said the high priest,
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because we just finished the temple last week in chapter 5
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that's built. And he said 30 years have passed
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since we left Jerusalem and now 40 years have passed.
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And Jacob was born sometime in that first eight years of
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leaving Jerusalem. So he would have been over 30.
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And 30 is the age where a priest can begin serving in the Temple.
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He's worked in the temple, but probably not as the high priest.
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I'm sure they're formalizing and adopting things.
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Who has the right to build a temple?
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We talked about this a little bit last week, but starting in
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chapter six we learn that they had the right to build the
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Temple, even though they weren't from Aaron, even though they're
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not from the Levitical tribe, because of the Holy Order.
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Behold my beloved brethren, which he repeats over and over.
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I love this as the beloved brethren sermon.
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I Jacob, having been called of God and ordained after the
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manner of His Holy Order, and having been consecrated.
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OK, I think He is set apart, He sustained.
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And the Holy Order is what? It would be the Melchizedek
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Order of the High Priesthood. Yeah, and and they don't have to
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name it. It's not Melchizedek, you know.
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We refer to it that way, but it's God's order.
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Well, it's higher than the ironic order.
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And so this holy order of priesthood will be something
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that Alma will talk a lot about in Alma chapter 13.
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But this little phrase, it's not mentioned very often.
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As you point out, Holy Order, we can kind of skip right over
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that. But it's important for Jacob now
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to be a full-fledged high priest and running the temple according
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to all of its procedural and administrative and spiritual
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requirements. And I think that that's the way
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we run a temple. You can't just build a temple
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and declare yourself all right now I'm the the high priest.
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It's all done according to the order of God.
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Well, and this order is interesting because in the Book
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of Mormon when we talk about the priesthood, not very often, but
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we talk about the holy order or ordination or consecrated or
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even the gifts of the priesthood, such as the oath and
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the covenant that the the power of the priesthood, the commands,
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saturates the Book of Mormon. And this is our first reference
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to the holy Order. But if we look at this broader
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definition for priesthood, looking for callings and offices
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and the power of God, the Book of Mormon is filled hundreds and
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hundreds of references. I've even done the research,
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divide them up by chapter, and these segments that refer to the
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priesthood start in First Ephite and go clear through Moroni.
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And it is fascinating to see how many times they are calling on
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the power of God in the Book of Mormon.
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I think this is really important what you're saying, because we
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kind of take priesthood as a given.
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But for Nephi to establish now the holy order of the priesthood
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that will be followed throughout the Book of Mormon sets a
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fundamental pattern which will of course be replicated and
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implemented by Joseph Smith in sections of the Doctrine and
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Covenants like Section 20 and Section 84, Section One O 7.
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And we've got them and others. But we we don't take it upon
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ourselves to officiate in the in these ordinances.
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As Hebrews says, no man take it upon himself, save he is called
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of God by prophecy and by the laying on of hands.
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But my research on the priesthood in the Book of
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Mormon, it is beyond those who are ordained in that call to
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include, as Joseph Smith did, the gifts of the Spirit and the
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blessings of the Spirit, because you cannot receive the gift of
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the Holy Ghost until you have these other blessings.
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And I see the power of godliness under the umbrella of priesthood
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just from beginning to end in the Book of Mormon.
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But before we get to Chapter 9, we need to look at chapters 7:00
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and 8:00 for a minute where Jacob quotes Isaiah 4922 through
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Isaiah 52 two. I'm fascinated that so many of
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these verses from Isaiah that he quotes are actually referring to
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our Messiah as the Redeemer as the Anointed 1.
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Jacob would have been especially attracted to, and maybe Nephi
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asked him to read these because you have the only time in the
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Book of Mormon that Jesus is called the Mighty One of Jacob.
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And I think Jacob must have loved that that the Redeemer,
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Jesus Christ is the Mighty One of Jacob, and how reassuring
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that would be to have a personal connection.
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There also, I think we have in these chapters, in chapter 6,
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verse 17, the promise that God would protect his people.
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The mighty God shall deliver his covenant people.
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And I think how fragile this little society, this little
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group of followers of Nephi, must have felt.
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And to know that they're right off the bat that they have the
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promise that God will protect them.
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In second Nephi chapter 6, Jacob describes that he's had a vision
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and he points out different things in this vision, and one
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of them is that of Jesus's death and verse 8:00 and 9:00 and
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10:00 I'll talk about the crucifixion and he's going to be
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smitten and then the people are scattered after that.
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And then he goes on in Chapter 7 to quote the Isaiah chapters
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that describe the same thing. And as we look at 7, verse six,
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you'll recognize this, I think Jack from Handel's Messiah.
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I gave my back to the smiter and to my cheeks to them that
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plucketh out the hair I hid not my face from shame and spitting,
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But the Lord God will help me. Therefore I will not be
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confounded. You know, he he had this vision
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himself that he describes in chapter 6, and now he giving a
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witness of it from Isaiah, the same thing, a second witness
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again being described. I can just see Jacob striving to
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add another voice to his on this message.
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We have got to prepare for this day.
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But remember too that Nephi has suggested that neph, that Jacob
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should read these chapters. Yes, he did.
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That's why he's seeing him in his talk.
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I wonder if Jacob hadn't already been discussing with Nephi some
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of these things Nephi could have said.
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Jacob, what you have seen goes beyond what I mentioned back in
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my vision in first Nephi Chapter 11.
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But it was clear that to me that something would happen to the
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Savior. And now you're seeing this and
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it was spelled out in Isaiah. Maybe Nephi and Jacob had been
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doing some scripture study together and ran across this and
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now understand it better and that will then lead to even
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further information that Jacob will get during the night
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between these two days of his speech.
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Yeah, he is a visionary man and he has visions that are reported
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in chapter 6 and visions that are reported in Chapter 9 and
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10. I I am really touched by the
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idea, though, that these visions probably came from the scripture
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study, and those two verses in Isaiah 50 are so remote and
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obscure that the people that have the New Testament didn't
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even realize that they were the Messiah.
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And yet Jacob did, and the Lord expanded it for him.
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I hope the Lord expands our scripture study.
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Exactly. Yeah.
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Yeah. One other thing that I think is
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present in these passages. I've enjoyed looking at all of
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the different names that are used for Jesus Christ throughout
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the New Testament. There are a lot of them, but
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there are some that are unique to Jacob and he as a priest you
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might understand why he uses some of these.
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A unique name that Jacob uses is Jesus is the Mighty God.
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He likes the fact that that Jesus is God for one thing, but
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he is mighty. He then talks about three ways
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in which God uses this might. He calls him at one point the
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Maker and also the Great Creator.
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Those are the ones that are unique to Jacob.
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And when you think of what the Temple is based on, it's a model
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of the creation and how we go through the steps of creation
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and the Fall. And so if Jacob is giving this
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sermon at the temple and as a newly called priest.
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And He will then call the Lord by this name, giving primacy to
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His role as the Creator, the one who comes and creates this
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earth. God is creating in a way, but
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through the work of Jesus Christ.
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And I'm really touched by, again, the emphasis on Jesus as
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our Redeemer. You know, we think of our say,
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as we mentioned, these names of the Lord.
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I, you know, the 101 or however many there are in the Book of
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Mormon. He chooses those of a redemptive
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nature. And it's it to me this is the
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whole point of the sacrament. It's not.
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Yes, he's a Good Shepherd. Yes, he's the kind way.
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Yes, he is the Living Water. But his redemptive nature is the
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message of the sacrament. It's the message of the
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atonement. And he's leading up to the
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greatest part of the sermon, which is will be the atonement.
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But even in chapter 8, when he's quoting Isaiah, he's quoting the
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redemptive verses. Look at verse 11, Chapter 8.
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Therefore the redeemed of the Lord shall return and come with
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singing to Zion and everlasting joy.
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You know, Jack, when I have fallen on my knees in
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repentance, and I have felt forgiveness from the Lord, have
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felt redeemed, that's how I feel.
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I feel this way. And you felt joy.
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And what else does he say? And holiness.
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And holiness again, Jacob is so interested in the holy becoming,
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Holy becoming pure. To feel the joy is is of course
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a wonderful, exhilarating thing. But to feel the holiness.
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To feel that you're clean and that you're worthy.
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And that's the whole idea of the temple.
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It is the altar. The the great and last sacrifice
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will be taken our sins, and we then can be cleansed.
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And when, when we experience this, carry on with verse 11,
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that joy and holiness shall be upon their heads, and they shall
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obtain gladness and joy, sorrow and mourning shall flee away.
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And he's still quoting Isaiah. I know, but how relevant that
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is? It's not just randomly selected.
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Again, Nephi has said. Jacob, why don't you read this?
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This will be a perfect choice for your.
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Your sermon I love verse 12. I am he meaning God, Jehovah.
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Here I am he that comforteth you.
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Behold, who art thou? And thou should just be afraid
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of man. And who shall die?
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And the Son of man, who shall be like unto grass.
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And I don't think he's referring to Jesus there as the Son of
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Man. That's just the Son of humanity.
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Yeah, so he's saying let's keep our focus on God and not be so
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worried about peer pressure, about fashion, about things of
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the world. Right now it's not even
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politically correct to talk about Christianity.
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And yet we've been told that as a Christian, we need to speak of
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Christ. Chapter 9 verse one begins with
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the overview. Now behold, my beloved brother,
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I have read these things. Why has he read these Isaiah
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passages? He tells us in verse one that ye
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might know concerning the covenants of the Lord, that he
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has covenanted with all the House of Israel.
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And he goes not just through the time of the Savior's life and
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death, but in verse two he says. And that they shall be restored
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to the true church and fold of God, that they shall be gathered
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home to the lands. Because I think in their memory
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Israel has just been destroyed by the Assyrians 100 years
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before, and by the Babylonians right now.
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What's already happened? They happened before.
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And so he's saying no. They're going to be gathered to
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the lands of their inheritance, to the lands of their promise in
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verse 6, as the death has passed upon all men to fulfill the
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merciful plan of our great Creator.
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You already mentioned that wonderful name of the Lord.
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There there must needs to be a power of resurrection.
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So this is our first reference to that ideology in the Book of
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Mormon. The resurrection must needs come
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upon man. This is not something that's in
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the Old Testament that we have, but it may have been in the
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brass plates. But he certainly learned it from
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an Angel or someplace, because he talks about the resurrection
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quite a bit. He says it must needs come and
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man by reason of the fall, and the fall came by reason of
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transgression. Because man became fallen, they
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were cut off from the presence of the Lord.
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This is why we need in verse 7 an infinite atonement and it has
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to be an infinite atonement which is can avoid this
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corruption, this problem that happens as we become entangled
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with sin and our bodies are going to grow old and our spirit
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and our body are connected and so our sins even affect our
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bodies sometimes and. This is the first time I think
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that the phrase infinite atonement is used in the Book of
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Mormon. Now it will be used especially
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by Alma later on. But it's not a limited
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atonement, which the Calvinists thought in the 19th century.
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This is an atonement for everyone.
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And it's not the kind of atonement that was being
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performed in the Temple of Solomon, the ancient Israelite.
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Which had to be repeated over and over.
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Every every year you had to come back and do the Day of Atonement
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again. This would be an eternal
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atonement that will be done once and for all.
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And why does it have to be eternal?
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Well, it has to be eternal. Verse 7 says save.
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It should be an infinite atonement.
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This corruption could not put on incorruption.
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What Jacob now is introducing is the idea that this atonement
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will be an infinite atonement and it can be infinite in an
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infinite number of ways. And what it will prevent, among
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other things, during this life or whenever, is the natural
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inclination for all things to degenerate physical matter?
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That there is a principle that all things that are material
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tend to become disorderly, to tend toward chaos.
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If it weren't for some power holding physical matter
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together, keeping it from entropy, we would be
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degenerating all the time. But the atonement holds us
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together now, not just physically, but also spiritually
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and and so the power of the atonement is infinite in its
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reach and time. It's not just something that's
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going to apply later when we're resurrected, it's operating
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right now. And in fact, Jacob, as he's
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talking about this, we're not going to lay down and rot and
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crumble to Mother Earth. He he's so excited.
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Oh, the wisdom of God, His mercy, His grace.
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I mean, I can just see Jacob pleading with them to understand
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how wonderful this gift is. Do we comprehend it?
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For behold, the flesh should rise no more our spirits Anyway.
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He talks then about the devil and our spiritual falling again.
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And the first parents being beguiled is in verse 9.
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But in verse 10. Oh how great the goodness of our
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God. And I know you're going to say
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something, Jack, because I just read 2O's in a row without you
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commenting yet. Verse 8 and 10 are our first two
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though, right? In this section there there are
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six OSO, the wisdom. That's verse 8.
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O how great the goodness. Verse 10 O how great the plan,
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which is our plan of salvation. That we refer to. 10 And then
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fourth verse 17 O, the greatness and the justice of our God.
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And then in verse 19, O, the greatness of the mercy of our
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God, And finally verse 20 Oh, how great the holiness of our
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God. So you can see those
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progressions after praising God for his great goodness and
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mercy, and all that he has done to save all men.
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And notice in verses 2021, he knoweth all things, saves all
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men, suffers the pains of all men.
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So we have in this first section the six OS and now we have the
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six Alls that are kind of clustered there.
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Oh, all the suffering pains all. He is a master writer.
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He's careful with his composition, there's no question
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about that. After all the times where he
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says suffered for all men and all the family of Adam, he says
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in verse 26, For the Atonement satisfieth the demands of
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justice upon all those who have not the law given unto them,
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that they are delivered from the awful monster of death and hell.
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So even if you didn't know of the Bible or you have never even
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heard of the man named Jesus, those who did not have the law
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will still be delivered. I mean, this is the most
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gracious. The Restoration completely opens
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the door to heaven, more than any other faith tradition I've
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ever studied. And I think as Latter Day
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Saints, we recognize this, that if you're not accountable, like
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if for whatever reason some inability punished children who
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die who are not accountable, they are delivered because his
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justice comes upon all who have not the law given to them.
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And there will now be 10 woes. Now in the temple, the Temple of
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Solomon, there was a plaque that was posted that had the 10
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commandments on it. Under Jewish records, we know
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that there were several of these kinds of plaques that were
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posted so that men and women would know the laws that pertain
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to them when they come into the temple.
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But the 10 commandments were posted right near the door, and
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they were kind of used as a temple.
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Recommend thou shalt not take the name of the Lord thy God in
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vain. Thou shall not have any other
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God before me, thou shalt. And so on.
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If you are in violation of any of those, you're asked to go
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home and kind of work things out or or bring sacrifices to
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rectify that problem. But it's clear that those are
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things 10 No Nos. And so the 10 woes here in
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second ephi Chapter 9. Do they have any?
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I I don't know. I've never looked at them in
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light of the 10 commandments. Are they like the 10
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commandments? Yeah, well when we get down to
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verse 34, Woe's numbers 678 and nine are related to the 10
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commandments, but they start before the 10 commandments.
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Woe unto him that has the law given that has all the
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commandments, not just the 10, but all of them in verse 30.
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But woe unto the rich who are rich, as to things of the world.
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And because they are rich, they despise the poor.
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And they are. They persecute the meek.
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And yeah, their treasure is their God.
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That is our day and age. And the third woe is woe unto
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the deaf that will not hear. But it's not the deaf, it's the
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deaf that will. Not.
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Hear I I love that. Voluntarily, yeah, that will not
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hear, for they shall perish the the 4th 1:00 Woe unto the blind
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that will not see, for they shall parachute, seeing that
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they see but see not. Jesus uses the hearing that they
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hear, but they hear not seeing, but they see not.
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They don't really see or understand.
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Because it's we're all blind to things of the Spirit, is what
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he's suggesting here, and we need to change.
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And #5 woe unto the uncircumcised of heart.
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Which I also think means keep your thoughts intact as well as
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your emotions and your desires. Absolutely, as it says, for a
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knowledge of their iniquities shall smite them at the last
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day. And now we get to the 10
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commandments ones the 6th. Woe that's right, Woe unto the
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liar. Thou shalt not bear false
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witness. And woe unto the murderer.
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Thou shalt not kill, but notice well under the murderer who
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deliberately kill us. That's verse 35.
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Right, but what's that deliberately word?
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Yeah, that's very important. Put in there for.
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Because sometimes things happen when it is not deliberate.
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Right. And it means when you haven't
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deliberated or pre planned, Does Jacob know of anyone?
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Who kills? I am sure Nephi has preached
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this very, very much. Yeah.
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I'm sure that's why that's added, yeah.
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So Jacob doesn't want to say just thou shalt not kill.
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But premeditated. That would put Nephi in A.
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Talked about. In an unfavorable light and an
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improper light because the Law of Moses in Exodus 21 provided
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an explanation. For those who had.
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For those that don't. We talked about before.
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And next we'll run to the 30. Six commit whoredoms is that I
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assume, adulteries. Well, it's more than adultery,
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isn't it? Adultery under the law of Moses
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was a married man and a married woman.
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OK. And whoredoms is any infraction
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of the law of chastity. Well, it's going to a prostitute
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and and if the prostitute was not a married woman.
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It it could, yeah. Fornication is still a whoredom.
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Yeah, it was not good, but it was done.
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And it wasn't at the same level as adultery.
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You commit adultery. The man and the woman who have
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committed adultery and it takes 2 would be stoned.
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And. That's under Deuteronomy.
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I think this is interesting. Yeah, go ahead.
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Deuteronomy chapter 22, verse 22.
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Oh yeah, that is interesting. It's a couple problem, right?
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It's a couple. You can remember it that way.
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And then verse not, 37 Woe unto those that worship idols, so
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that goes back to the 10th commandment.
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And 38 Woe unto all those who die in their sins.
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And that is so tragic because we can repent.
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So the positive would be Thou shalt repent, and the woe then
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naturally comes upon us. If we don't.
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And why? Well, we'll return to God,
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behold his face, and we'll remain in our sins.
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But he takes that all those woes and he now gives us hope again.
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He's so good about immediately turning in verse 39.
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My, oh oh, here's another oh, Jack, Oh, my beloved brethren.
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Now there will be 50 my beloved Brethrens right now.
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Great. And five is if you like to think
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of numbers. You have 5 fingers and so the
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number 5 becomes the number of generosity and kindness.
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Oh, OK, That's lovely. I didn't know that.
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OK. And mercy.
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And so on. And so.
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And now we have these five Remember, Remember my words, and
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remember that God will be kind, that he is the keeper of the
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gate. And Jack, I love this imagery of
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the Keeper of the Gate. It's not just Peter at the
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Pearly Gates here when Christ says I am the way.
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Any time I think of a gate, I like to think of the temple, the
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separation between the Holy of Holies and the Holy Place.
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You know this, this veil that in Solomon's Temple was made out of
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wood like a gate. But when Christ says I am the
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gate and I am the way and I am the path, you know all of these
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fit into this. The way that we back return back
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to the presence of the Lord, that we can partake of the tree
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of Life without our sins, is by going to the keeper of the Gate.
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And who is that? Well, that's at the veil, and
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that is Jehovah, our Savior, Jesus of Nazareth.
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He employeth no servant there, because there is none other way
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to save it be by the gate. And then in verse 42 he said,
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Whosoever knocketh to him, will he open.
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Now if I've just described this imagery at the temple.
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And we're at the veil of the temple, and the veil represents
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the the Lord. The Savior or or Jehovah at this
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point, yeah, we we cannot enter into His presence unless we are
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going to knock. I'm so sad about this, but the
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wise and the learned and the rich and those that are puffed
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up. This is all verse 42 because of
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their learning and their wisdom and their riches.
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Yeah, they whom he despises, you know, we are not going to get
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there by the things of the world.
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We are not going to buy our way in.
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Instead he says, O my beloved brethren, and I like to imagine
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him actually taking off his garment when he says remember my
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words, Behold, I take off my garment, my outer cloak here and
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I shake them before you and I pray to God, Jack, what is he
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talking about here? What's this taking off?
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Was there a a practice where they used to take off their
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outer cloak and shake it? Verses like this indicate that
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there was a practice of taking off your cloak.
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Now it's your outer garment. You still have on your tunic,
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yeah. But the symbolism of shaking the
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dust, it's like shaking the dust off your feet, but also when you
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shake off your garment, you are riding yourself of
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responsibility because you have warned the people.
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And King Benjamin says the same thing, doesn't he?
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And that's at the temple. Also so he ends up that verse 44
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by saying I stand with brightness before him and I'm
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rid of your blood. So he starts by cleansing by
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teaching his family and now at the temple he talks another O in
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verse 45. 45 SO, my beloved brethren, turn away from your
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sins, and you should shake off the chains of him that would
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bind you fast. Come unto him who is the rock of
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your salvation. We do not have to remain in the
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cage from servitude to Satan. If we can repent, which we can,
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We can? We can.
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And oh thou rock of our salvation, it's right out of the
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psalms again, Temple Psalms. He knew his scripture, and in
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verse 46 he goes back to that idea of remembering that you
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mentioned so many times before, remember your awful guilt in
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perfectness and be constrained to exclaim holy, holy are Thy
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judgments, O Lord God Almighty. But I know my guilt.
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I I think this is so important to see these great leaders
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saying there is a constant need for repentance and turning to
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our Savior for that cleansing. I really like in this section
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where there are so many references encouraging us to
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remember. Remember, remember, you can
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count how many there are. There.
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Quite a few. But when we listen carefully to
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the sacrament prayers, we first and foremost covenant that we
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will remember Christ always. And if we remember him, of
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course, that means more than just a.
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Flashing thought. Yeah, or intellectually
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remembering that he was there. But to remember also means to
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obey. In Hebrew the the word for
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remember means more than just think about it, also do it.
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Yeah, if you're really going to remember, you will change your
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behavior because he has suffered for you and he has called you
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and we want to be with him. We want to obey him.
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And so Chapter 9, this beautiful first day of his sermon ends by
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him saying in verse 54. And now, my brethren, I would
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speak unto you more, but on the Morrow I will declare unto you
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the remainder of my words, Amen. So he's had a long day of
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sharing their words. And in the ancient world, I know
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sermons would go from far more than two or three or four hours.
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And everyone goes home. And the next day is our last
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chapter in today's Come Follow Me, Chapter 10, Jacob's second
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sermon. And here Jacob tells us that
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during the night he received another visitation.
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And he is now referred to at least two or three visions in
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this sermon of these two days, which I think is fascinating.
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Before we prepare, before we give, before we serve.
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Are we seeking that God's revelation?
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And so he tells us in verse three that he had this vision.
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Wherefore I say unto you, it must needs be expedient that
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Christ. For in last night the Angel
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spake unto me that this should be his name.
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So up until this point, I just did a quick check There are no
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other references to that title for our Savior, even though
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we've had dozens of references to Jehovah and to Messiah.
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And lots of other names. Here is the first reference in
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the Book of Mormon to the word Christ.
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And from here on forward Christ is mentioned regularly, and I
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think it's fascinating that his vocabulary is of course a mix of
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Hebrew and a little bit of Egyptian and possibly some, you
32:44
know, other things tied in over time.
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But Jacob's still coming out of a family whose mother tongue was
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speaking Hebrew, and so this means the anointed one.
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But he then talks about how he's going to be crucified.
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He had that in his earlier vision.
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He quoted it from Isaiah, and now he's citing it here.
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But it all ties the redemptive nature of our Savior.
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That's why I say this section has more on the Atonement than
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any other section in the Book of Mormon.
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When you check these passages that Nephi and Jacob have
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received about the crucifixion, it's coming like Nephi will say,
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line upon line, precept upon precept.
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Well, first Nephi learns in back in first Nephi Chapter 11 that
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he will be crucified for sins, but doesn't say very much about
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how or why. And then in, as we've already
33:35
said in this lesson earlier, Second, Nephi chapter 6, verse
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nine will also say that he will be crucified, but doesn't go
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into the details. And then here, now in chapter
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10, verse three, he will learn several things.
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First of all, that no other nation would crucify their Lord.
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Absolutely tragic, and it says that they didn't recognize even
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with the mighty miracles in verse 4.
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And that's the next thing. It will be because of these
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miracles that he will work, that they will be suspicious that
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maybe he is using some improper power.
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And it's because of those miracles that those who are in
34:14
charge and are concerned because of priest crafts and iniquities,
34:20
they will stiffen their necks against him and he will be
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crucified. So Jacob has learned a few more
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things that make sense, and he must have wondered, why will
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this happen? And going on into verse seven, I
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think this comes out of his vision.
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What do you think, Jack? Right, it says.
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Thus saith the Lord God, When the day cometh that they shall
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believe in me that I am Christ or Messiah or the anointed One,
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then have I covenanted with their fathers, that they shall
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be restored in the flesh upon the earth, and unto the lands of
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their inheritance. I think this is so important for
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them because of their situation of being an outcast, but it's so
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important for us because we are a restored organization who is
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to do the exact same thing so that we can be prepared to come
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before our Savior. That's right, Jacob is thinking
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about even the ones who will reject Jesus.
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But if the day comes when they believe in him, then they will
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be restored to their lands of inheritance.
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Jacob, now in verse 10, wants to speak about the land that they
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are in. The land of thine inheritance.
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That's right. Now speaking to his people, and
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verse 11 And this land, the land that Jacob is in, shall be a
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land of liberty unto the Gentiles, and there shall be no
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kings upon the land, who shall raise up unto the Gentiles, And
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I will fortify this land, strengthen this land.
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And that's looking way, far ahead because obviously in the
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history of the Book of Mormon that is not the case.
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So this is looking way in advance, and by gentiles he's
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referring to the people who are not there now.
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And I assume that the land had other people there as well, but
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we'll talk about that more when we get some references to it.
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And in that fortification of the nations and the lands I want to
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read from verse 19, I will have all men that dwell thereon, that
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they shall worship me saith God. Now, unfortunately, we live in a
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time where not everyone living in in the Western hemispheres
36:32
are worshipping God, and I think that's one reason why we have to
36:36
have another purging. That's what we're trying to
36:38
gather, Israel. And I think what this is saying
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when he says I will have all men that dwell.
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The word will there means want. I will it.
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It is my wish, I will that all, I think that this open door
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where God will consecrate the land forever for Jacob's seed,
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so it will be a land for their inheritance.
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And it's a choice land, because not only them, but all who will
37:15
worship the Lord will be blessed in this land as well.
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Moving ahead to verse 23, therefore, cheer up your hearts.
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So we should be happy, Is that right?
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Well, this is so fascinating to me because usually I've looked
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at every single time this is used in scripture.
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Cheer up or or be of good cheer is used in devastating, horrific
37:35
times. You're in prison.
37:36
You're drowning. You're the Lord has just
37:38
announced his death. You know, he's saying we can
37:41
always find hope and trust in our saviour.
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And remember, in addition to being cheerful, be positive
37:50
about things, and then remember that ye are free to act for
37:56
yourselves. This is why you can cheer up.
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It's because you have mental and emotional capabilities to to
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think, to control your mind. And then the next few words.
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Where does Jacob get these words from to?
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Choose the way of everlasting death or the way of eternal
38:12
life. Who has said that before?
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Lehigh. Lehigh.
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He's remembering back to the blessing.
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Whose blessing? His own, exactly.
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This is where Lehigh Blessed and we read that, talked about that
38:24
A. Few weeks ago, yeah.
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Jacob remembered that blessing. Well, they probably could have
38:28
read it if they, if Nephi was able to write it down.
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I presume it was also recorded by others too.
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Oh, and I'm sure Jacob memorized that.
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They were so phenomenal at memorization.
38:35
And this would have been his personal blessing.
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It must have been a a guidepost, you know.
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It must have been a, you know, a a light to his path throughout
38:45
his life. And he ends this beautiful
38:48
sermon back on the topic of the Resurrection, verse 25.
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Wherefore May God raise you up from dead by the power of the
38:56
resurrection, and also from everlasting death and the power
39:00
of the Atonement. He This is the best chapter in
39:04
the whole Book of Mormon on the Atonement.
39:06
It's just set and no one else understands it like Jacob
39:10
explains it to us. But this then became the
39:12
foundation of our understanding of the Restoration because of
39:17
this great sermon by our dear new priest, Jacob.
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It is so complete and so articulate of all these nuances
39:28
and details. And it it speaks to everyone.
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And there's something that everyone can find inspiration
39:35
here. Wherever you are on the path,
39:38
wherever you are, find a word or a phrase.
39:42
You can ponder these things, and Jacob will be a light to you,
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and he will then help you to reconcile yourselves to the will
39:55
of God and not to the will of the devil again.
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There is so much hope in coming to our Savior.
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That's the choice. And his arms are outstretched
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for us all. In the name of Jesus Christ,
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Amen.