Latest / Scripture Central / 3 Nephi 8-11 | Sept 22-29 | John W. Welch and Lynne Hilton Wilson | Come Follow Me Book of Mormon

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3 Nephi 8-11 | Sept 22-29 | John W. Welch and Lynne Hilton Wilson | Come Follow Me Book of Mormon · Scripture Central

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Hello, Welcome back to Scripture Central.
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I'm Lynn Hilton Wilson. And I'm Jack Welch, and we're so
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glad that you're here. You're being so diligent and
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following through. We're now entering the fourth
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quarter. We're in 3rd Nephi chapter 8
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through 11. These are the wonderful chapters
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that talk about the hours of the Lord's death and the horrific
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destructions, and then over the time, the coming of the Lord.
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And then next week and the next week.
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We'll stay in 3rd and E5 for three weeks.
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And we're actually now at the beginning of the fourth quarter
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of this come follow me year. And you know, I always like to
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say when I'm watching football or baseball or whatever, it
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really gets exciting in the fourth quarter and you know,
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it's finally coming down to the the last play and what's going
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to happen and how will it work out and here in these chapters
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for today. It is exciting.
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And we have, in Chapters 8 to 11, the contrast of, first of
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all, three chapters of horrific ultimate destruction and people
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not knowing what is going to happen.
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Now, it had been prophesied that these things would occur, but
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there wasn't a lot said about how they're going to recover
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from this. It's always worse when you have
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to endure it yourself. Yes, it's horrific.
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It's absolutely worse than they can imagine.
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And it's hard to imagine living through that.
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And then the contrast in Chapter 11.
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When our Savior's voice is heard and comes down.
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Personally there and the relief of that alone would have been
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amazing. But it's much more than just
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wow. We got through that game, you
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know, it is such an eternal, powerful and unusual experience.
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Nothing like it had ever been experienced before.
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Here we'll encounter natural disasters and also continuing
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social chaos and eventually the vindication of centuries of
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Nephite prophecies. Of course Mormon has this record
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in front of him that he makes a point being sure that every one
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of those prophecies that was fulfilled is in the record for
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US. Mormon's editing of this area is
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amazing, isn't it? And let's take a look at that as
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we go through as well. And you might say, so why has
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Mormon presented this contrast for us in this way?
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And I, I think it's because not only has he experienced some of
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this himself, but he knows the importance of the doctrine that
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Lehigh taught, that their needs must be an opposition in all
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things. And the greater the joy, the
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greater the pain, that opposition will stay in balance.
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And of course, we have opposition in many things in our
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life. And if we didn't have light and
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dark, if we didn't have soft and loud, you know, it would be very
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hard to discern and know. Appreciate the sweetness of.
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It right And so the joy. Is so much greater because they
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have come from such the depths of sorrow.
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We we see that in our own lives and in the world today and.
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And the Nephite Kingdom has fallen apart.
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It's being replaced with the the Kingdom of God.
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And so there's that contrast as well of man and God and how
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exalted Jesus is. And then we're reminded of the
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nothingness of man. Let's start.
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Let's just jump into Chapter 8. But like you say, Lynn Mormon's
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influence is strongly felt here, and I think the details that we
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are given amplify our trust in Mormon as a record keeper, as an
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abridger. He has.
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He introduced himself. We know that, you know, a lot of
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editors and abridgers like to just remain in the background.
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But he's come out. He is honest about tellings.
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And I appreciate that we begin Chapter 8 with an exact date as
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well. He's very careful with his
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record and the timing of everything.
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And we saw that all through the book of Helaman, where, yes,
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everything he wanted to be sure we knew the precise days on
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which things happened, and that was partly because of the
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fulfillment of prophecy. And so Mormon begins by telling
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us that the 30 and 3rd year had passed away.
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Now there was no prophecy telling people how long it would
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be. Before the darkness, they just
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knew that from Samuel the Lamanite there would be
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darkness. There would be darkness.
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For three days. That could have happened in 20
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years, in 30 years, in 60 years. They didn't know how long the
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mission and life of the Messiah would be in the old world,
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although Nephi was following along and may have gotten the
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sense as things were coming. I think he did have a sense
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because you remember last week we read that he had visions of
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the Lord's ministry in Galilee. So I think he did have some sort
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of a sense. He, of course, is keeping very
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careful records. Yes.
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And when that sign comes, the people looked with great
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earnestness as they're thinking, well, maybe the time is now
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coming. And indeed it was.
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So our exact dates are interesting.
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We've got 10 in the Book of Mormon, but this is the only one
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in 3rd Nephi. And this one chapter 8 verse 5
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tells us that on the first month of the year, our Savior died.
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So this is how we know that this springtime is their first month
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of the year. And we know from the biblical
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accounts that this was right at Passover season.
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Yes. And so it must be springtime in
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chapter 8. Then verses 5 to 23 just go
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through one aspect of the darkness and the destruction
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after another. I think it's partly because they
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want us to understand that there were many aspects to the
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prophecies that had been given. Prophets had talked about
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earthquakes and tempests and floods.
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I also think they repeat it because it's so much more
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horrific than it had ever been, and I think they want us to.
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They're not exaggerating. They're trying to say you have
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no idea how horrific this was. Well, there's that personal
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dimension. When I read through this.
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I'm looking for each one of these elements that we've talked
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about before in the prophecies of Samuel, who is also relying
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on the prophets before him, Zenus and Zenoch and Isaiah.
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And King Benjamin. And what we said before, we will
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now see that every single one of those prophecies is fulfilled,
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and Nephi and Mormon want us to know that the prophecies were
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that precise and that complete. And some of these are in the
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footnotes and some of them aren't.
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So it's helpful to take a look at some of these that Jack has
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got organized here. So in verse 19, when the
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thunderings and the lightnings and the storm and The Tempest
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and the quakings of the earth did cease, or behold, they did
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last for three hours, and then behold, there was darkness upon
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the face of the land. You can almost feel the vapor
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that he's talking about. You know, you've read accounts,
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I'm sure as I have, of people who have been in areas of
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volcanoes and strong earthquakes where fumes have come up.
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Even Mount Saint Helens eruption in last century they discussed
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this vapor of darkness. And the three hours, of course,
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parallels the three hours on the cross in the crucifixion on on
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the Golgotha. But it's really touching to me
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in the Book of Mormon account that the whole earth is
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violently, violently expressing their sorrow at the death of
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their creator. And we don't see that in the old
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world. We do see earthquakes and we do
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see, we do see even the soldiers saying a God has died.
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So there was something happening, but not to the extent
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that it was here in the Book of Mormon.
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The the darkness then continues as Jesus's body is placed in the
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tomb. And so we do have an extended
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period of darkness that we have in the new world.
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We can look at the prophecies once again here of Samuel.
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We've highlighted on this screen some of the things that we've
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just mentioned, the the lightnings and thunderings and
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tempests and the mountains made low.
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That's from Isaiah, the highways being broken up.
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That's interesting that Samuel, the Lamanite prophesied that
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that would happen. And of course, we do have
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through Lidar, the identification of lots and lots
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of highways. In fact, the Lidar has shown
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that the cities are connected with these bridges and highways
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and freeways and that they had been broken down.
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I mean, there's evidence of this stuff now all over.
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It's just amazing. So Samuel the Lamanite's
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prophecies are strong, and in addition we see that he was
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relying on Zenith. And once again, Zenith talks
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about the opening up of the earth, the rocks rending
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nature's suffering and things things like.
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That yeah, that's in first Nephi 19.
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That's where Nephi is quoting the ancient zenith text, and
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Isaiah is where the words come from.
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On every valley shall be exalted in every mountain, and he'll be
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made low. And we mentioned last time that
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Abinadi is the one who most prominently includes that in his
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his prophecies. But all these prophecies are
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fulfilled in careful, meticulous writing.
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I mean, Mormon is a phenomenal editor.
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So here on this chart you just have a list of the the things
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that are mentioned in 3rd Nephi in chapters 8 and 9, and there
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are many others as well. You do have groanings, rocks,
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vapor, and other things. Now look what happens when we
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combine all of these and we can see that some of these
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prophecies were actually mentioned by more than one.
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Of course, because Samuel is quoting Zenith.
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So we often have Zenith and Samuel together, but not always.
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Sometimes Samuel is the only one to give us the city's becoming
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desolate, and Zenith is the only one to mention the vapor.
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And the. Fire.
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The many indications of fire, as you say, and but when you put
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them all together, what you get is a complete record of the
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fulfillment of all of those prophecies.
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I think it's significant that Christ says he talks as soon as
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he comes about the fulfilling of the prophecies, and we see that
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prior to his even statement right here by Mormons editing.
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Absolutely. Now, as you can imagine, you can
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go anyone would like to. You can go and create your own
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collection of the prophecies and fulfillments.
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It took me quite a while to put all this together.
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And that again, made me appreciate that Mormon has done
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that. He knows these prophecies.
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He's pulled this together. And it's not like he's making
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this up, but he's probably got an even more extensive record.
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And he wants to be sure, for one thing, that all the prophecies
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are fulfilled. And indeed, there are a few
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other details that Mormon will mention that aren't in the
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prophecies. He didn't have a computer to do
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a word search on fire. He had to go through these
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plates. It's just an amazing amount of
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work. So it is another validation of
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the reliability of this record that we have been blessed to
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begin. Amen.
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As we enter Third Nephi, I just want to remind everyone of the
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wonderful know why is that are available in case you want to
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use this information for a family home evening or if
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seminary lesson or whatever even your own personal study we've
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got #429 on the sunken cities and 198 on the importance of a
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broken heart and contrite spirit.
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And as we go through Chapter 9 the voice of the Lord is heard.
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There was a voice heard upon the face of the land crying, Whoa,
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whoa, whoa, unto this people whoa unto the inhabitants of the
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whole earth, except they repent for the devil laughs.
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So this is during the time of darkness.
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I'm sure it was very frightened, but the voice goes on in verses
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3 through 23 with 30 references of I burned, I caused to be
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sunk, I covered the earth. You know this repetition over
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and over again. I just want to read verse 11.
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I did send down fire to destroy them, that their wickedness and
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abominations might be hid from before my face, and the blood of
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the prophets and the Saints whom I sent among them might not cry
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unto me from the ground against them.
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This horrific destruction goes on then and and encourages those
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that did not sin. And the Lord says in verse 13, O
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all you that are spared because you were more righteous than
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they, will ye not now return unto me, and repent of your sins
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and be converted, that I may heal you?
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And he says, come unto me. And he identifies himself.
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Now this voice as in verse 15, I am Jesus Christ, the Son of God,
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the Creator of heavens and earth.
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And as we've just been hearing about all these horrific
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destructions of Earth, he is saying I'm the creator and they
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are destroyed by me as well. It's it's just so, it's such a
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powerful testimony of who our savior is.
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And it's beautiful how the the nature of this voice that is
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being heard is described. It sometimes says that it's a
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soft voice it but it pierces. Now we have this voice of God
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here mentioned several times. Back in Helaman chapter 5, a
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voice was heard, and in Helaman 10 Nephi also hears the voice of
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the Lord. And verse 15 ends, I was with
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the Father from the beginning, and I am in the Father, and the
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Father in me, and in me hath the Father glorified his name, Jack.
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This defines the Godhead so beautifully.
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This is just a beautiful description of it.
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I just feel like this is our best verse on it.
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And he gives some beautiful I am statements that we hear also in
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the New Testament. I am the light.
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And of course, the I am is is the name of God.
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I am that I am, and that Jesus is.
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When he says this, I am Jesus Christ.
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Well, to them they would have recognized that holy name
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beginning. In these records of his
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destructions, I got out. I just used this map from the
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church, but I was fascinated to see if all the cities that are
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named that the Lord says were destroyed.
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Only three of them we have mentioned elsewhere in the Book
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of Mormon, so I assume most of them were up in the land
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northward and they say that the destruction was worse up there.
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But of these cities, Zaheemla, Moroni and Jerusalem are the
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three that we have. But the burning and the burying
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and the sinking into the water are described to 16 cities,
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which means there were many cities that were perhaps not
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near the epicenter or not as dangerously affected, so that
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there were some survivors. And that's why he gives that
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beautiful call. Those of you who have not been
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destroyed, will you now return and repent?
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I love his definition of repentance.
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As I mentioned last week on this definition of repentance, the
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Book of Mormon has that as one of our themes, 359 references of
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repentance. And we learn more about what it
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really means here in the Book of Mormon.
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It's to return in verse 13. It's beautiful.
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But I want to move ahead to verse 20 as the Lord calls on
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those who are listening to have a broken heart and a contrite
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spirit. The idea of being contrite to be
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ground up, to be torn into powder, crushed into powder, to
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become meek and humble is interesting.
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Contrite is not just quiet and peaceful, it is to you know we
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are just tearing our heart open to seek the Lord.
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We are all of our might, mind and strength is divorcing
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ourselves from our own self-interest to only hear and
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do God's will. Broken hearted over the things
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we've done that were wrong and that we're offensive to God and
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we recognize that that was a problem for Him and we've done
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something if you can imagine offending the Almighty God and
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this expression to have a broken heart and a contrite spirit
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which Jesus uses here is also found in the Psalms that this is
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not the first time they might have known this idea.
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There is we mentioned last time this this particular book on 3rd
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Nephi, an incomparable scripture, and in it there's a
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chapter by Dana Pike on Psalm 51 and how it contains the similar
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language. For example, he says Psalm 51
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verses 16 to 17 provides the best evidence of this teaching
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in the Old Testament. It reads for thou God desirous
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not animal sacrifice, else would I give it.
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Now delight us not in burnt offerings.
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The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit, a broken and a
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contrite heart. O God, thou wilt not despise.
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And we also have in Psalm 34 something fairly similar.
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The Lord is nigh unto them that are of a broken heart, and
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saveth such as be of a contrite spirit.
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When I think of a broken heart, I think of a broken horse.
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It takes a while to take a wild animal and to break them so that
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they will move forward as their master gives them a little nudge
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and they know exactly what every sound and click and turn of the
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left hand and the right hand means.
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That's a broken horse when they obey their master.
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And you have to learn that and submit, Yes, and that's that's
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important. Now this statement in verse 20,
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in verse 20, of course, it's preceded by verse 19.
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And there it says, You shall OfferUp unto me no more the
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shedding of blood. Yeah, your sacrifices and your
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burnt offering shall be done away.
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Yeah. Then you shall offer a sacrifice
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for me, a broken heart and a contrite spirit.
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Very important. But I think, as Dana Pike
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rightly explains, Jesus is not saying you shall now begin.
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This is a new law of sacrifice, of broken heart and contrite.
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Spirit. No, it's now you shall end the
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blood sacrifice. The contrite spirit has been all
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along. Yeah.
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But that is to be continued. Yes, that's powerful.
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And that will be, I think, significant when we get to
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Chapter 12, where this instruction will then be explain
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further by Jesus. But that's not until next week,
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so right now we'll continue on. In Chapter 9, the Lord says,
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Therefore, whoso repenteth and cometh unto me as a little
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child, Kim, will I receive, For such is the Kingdom of God.
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Behold, for such I have laid down my life, and I've taken it
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up again. Therefore repent and come unto
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me, ye ends of the earth, and be saved.
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This is the in a nutshell. What we need to strive for every
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day of our lives are we being meek and humble and contrite.
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That would have been extremely reassuring to these people, and
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as we then turn to Chapter 10, after those sayings, it says
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there was silence in the land for the space of many hours.
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Isn't that interesting? Many hours.
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They were so stunned. It sounds like a reverend.
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And also the the contrast between the noise of the
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destruction and now the silence. I think this is the time when
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Jesus would have been laid in the in the tomb.
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But it's still dark. It's dark.
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Completely pitch black. Dark for days.
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Whether that's connected or not, I think as people became aware
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of the burial of Jesus in the old world, this silence now
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gives a kind of loneliness. They still don't know how this
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is going to turn out. And people as they wept and laid
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the body of Christ in the tomb, some of them, well, they, they
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had some faith about things that he had said, but they still
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don't know really how this is all going to turn.
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Out it was all the women, Joseph of Arimathea and Nicodemus that
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were there, the Galilean women. So there's that silence that
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that happens, and then again a voice comes.
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So we have another time that the Lord speaks.
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And here in verses 4 through 6, we have Jesus saying something
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beyond what he had said as he wept and lamented over Jerusalem
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a couple days before the crucifixion.
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There's a a church there on the side of the Mount of Olives.
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That is the traditional place where Jesus wept over Jerusalem.
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And he did say there how he would have gathered them as a
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hand gathers her chicks. And what happens here?
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It's more, it's better. Not only does he say how I would
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have, but it begins in verse 40. Ye who are of the House of
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Israel, how OFT have I gathered you as a hen?
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Now remember, what does it mean for a hen to gather their
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chicks? My mom's described it to me.
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They make a clucking sound and they could she could identify
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the clucking sound was different.
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And those chicks just scrambled underneath her wings to her
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feet. My mom's watched it.
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She's told me about it. We watched it a lot over in
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Hawaii where there were a lot of chickens.
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They're actually protected and but we would see this happening
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as we began walking up and the the hand would become frightened
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and would start flapping our wings.
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And the little chicks, they all knew right what to do, but they
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had to. The chicks still had to come.
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If one of them decided they didn't want to and wandered off,
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well, they might be exposed to a risk.
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But here Jesus is saying how how often he has done this, and he
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wants people to remember the many times that the Nephites
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have been protected by the power of the Lord.
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You know Jack, he repeats that phrase.
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How OFT have I four times in these verses?
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Not only does Jesus look back and say how often has he
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gathered them, but in verse 5, how OFT would I have gathered
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you? Even though you you haven't
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always seen this, I would have been there to help.
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You there's slight variations in each time he says it.
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But you would not, he says. And then in verse 6, O ye House
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of Israel, how OFT will I gather you, if you will repent and
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return unto me with full purpose of.
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Heart. And that's for us even now.
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So beyond what we have in the New Testament, we have here
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Jesus Speaking of this gathering function, seeing himself as a
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hen protecting his chicks. I love the fact that he's
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choosing a female hen. This is such a powerful image
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because what's really going on here with the hen?
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She sees some kind of of danger, but she hunkers down and she
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puts her body at risk. She says, all right, if you want
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my chicks, you've got to come through me.
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And she's very defensive, but she's willing to lay down her
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life to protect those little chicks.
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I also see Christ as saying, let's realize that the
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characteristics of nurturing and protection and loving and
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calling need to be when we're coming into Christ.
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We need to develop that kind of maternal feelings for those that
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we are in our humanity as well. Do you think they understood
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this? They must have had chicks
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around. Oh yes, I think they totally
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understood it, although it is interesting that he repeats it
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so many times. But I appreciate your
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perspective on the timing. This article about the hen here
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in this book happens to be written by Jane Pike and it's
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about the wife of Dana Pike. So you get husband and wife
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right back-to-back in that. And we also have no why #200
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This summarizes all of this about hen gathering her chicks.
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We then learned that three days had passed away and the darkness
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finally begins to disperse off the land.
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So the three days is now compatible with the resurrection
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and the light coming back into the world.
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And the sign of Jonah that Christ said would come.
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And then in chapter 10 verse 18 it says it came to pass in the
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ending of the 34th year. So the destruction was on the
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first month, the 4th day, and now we have a time frame.
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We're already to the end of the years.
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People have been able to probably have time to build back
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some structures and have some safety and perhaps even find
26:16
some food sources and whatever. But it's at the end of the 34th
26:20
year. He's very careful to give us
26:21
this time. Then I like what you've said
26:23
here about being sure that people realize that there's
26:27
actually quite a bit of time between the destructions and the
26:31
appearance of Jesus. And there kind of must have
26:33
been, because they do have to put their life back together
26:36
again and they have to figure out even what's happened.
26:38
And our artwork sometimes shows that it's happening immediately.
26:41
That's probably not accurate, but it does combine the
26:44
suffering with the coming, which is an appropriate thing to do.
26:48
We also know that there must have been some time allowed for
26:52
them to gather because they're coming together and we have
26:55
only. 2000, yeah. They have 2500 people and they
27:00
come. So there's a little bit of time
27:02
that would be helpful there. And but more than that, I
27:06
wonder, with the meticulous record keeping that we have
27:09
emphasized before, why didn't they keep meticulous records
27:14
during those weeks or months or whatever time it was before the
27:19
coming of the Savior? Or perhaps he just didn't record
27:22
it. He wanted to get on to the
27:23
Lord's message, Maybe. Well, there might be that.
27:25
I also think that the destructions had been so severe,
27:30
everybody is just pitching in to pick up the pieces, work with
27:35
the burying the dead, healing the those that can be taking
27:40
care of them and just figuring it out to say I now have the
27:45
peace and quiet to sit down and report all of this.
27:48
I'm sure Nephi was saying I'll get to this and I will at least
27:52
by the ending of the 30 and 4th year and that's when I think he
27:56
sits down and does that and then we can go on into what happens.
28:01
Behold, I will show you this is Mormon editing again, that the
28:05
people of Nephi who were spared, and also those who had been
28:08
called Lamanites who had been spared, did have a great favor
28:12
showed unto them, and great blessings were poured out upon
28:14
their heads in so much that soon after the ascension of Christ
28:17
into heaven, He did truly manifest Himself unto them.
28:20
And that's where we now turn to Chapter 11 when our Savior comes
28:24
to visit them. Jack, do we have references of
28:32
the temple being in Bountiful? Before this point we only had a
28:36
temple in Zerahema, but now in verse Chapter 11, we have a
28:40
temple in Bountiful and the multitude is gathered at the
28:43
temple. Is that because Zerahema was
28:45
burned they've had to build a temple or did they already have
28:48
multiple temples? I think there were temples in
28:51
other places. We do have a mention of some of
28:54
them. I think there are three cities
28:55
that are referred to that had temples.
29:00
That doesn't have to be a very big temple.
29:01
This temple in Zarahemla was an older one and probably larger.
29:08
When we think of them coming to the temple, they're just
29:10
gathering around the temple. It's not going to be inside the
29:13
temple, which could have been a fairly small building.
29:16
But the multitude gathers in bountiful.
29:18
So it's a northern city. It's not mentioned as one whose
29:22
destruction, and we're told that they were marveling and
29:27
wondering. Of course they were marveling
29:29
and wondering. You know they're talking to each
29:31
other about what happened. Well, they have and, and, but
29:33
they've come. And I think we often see the
29:37
Book of Mormon being used as a pattern for the way in which we
29:40
should worship and organize the the gospel and our lives and
29:48
that they would all gather together on this event.
29:55
I wonder if Joseph Smith wasn't inspired when he decided we're
29:59
going to have a general conference and we're going to
30:03
call together the general membership of the church.
30:08
If this pattern, we know when Jesus came and what he taught.
30:14
Let's bring all of ourselves together at the temple.
30:18
And so today when we gather for General Conference, we're
30:23
following that same pattern of gathering to hear the mind and
30:27
will of the Lord. And it comes with great relief
30:31
after, you know, six months worth of struggle.
30:34
And now, once again, we get to hear the the words of our living
30:39
prophets. And in verse 3, they're already
30:42
a little bit gathered, but that's when they hear this voice
30:44
again. It came to pass that while they
30:46
were thus conversing one with another, they heard a voice as
30:50
if it came out of heaven. They cast their eyes round
30:53
about, for they understood not. The voice they heard was not a
30:57
harsh voice, neither was it a loud voice.
31:00
Nevertheless, and notwithstanding it being a small
31:03
voice, it did Pierce them that they did hear to the center in
31:09
so much that there was no part of their frame that did not
31:13
'cause to quake. Yet it did Pierce them to the
31:17
very soul, and it caused their hearts to burn.
31:21
Isn't that a vivid description? Yeah, and they it, they hear it
31:25
three times. The nature of the sound, yeah,
31:29
it's volume, it's timber. It's it's so accurately
31:34
described and then that Iercing when you hear that and all of a
31:39
sudden I think they would have recognized we've heard this
31:42
voice before. And they then wonder, well,
31:45
what's going to happen next? And I don't think they knew.
31:48
Well, they didn't even understand the voice until the
31:50
third time it was repeated. But do you think maybe they were
31:53
worried that it was going to be another round of destruction?
31:56
Yeah, maybe because if that's what they had heard earlier in
31:59
the year. Well, they must have been
32:00
relieved. When the Father said in verse 7,
32:03
Behold, my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased, in whom I
32:08
have glorified my name, hear ye him.
32:12
So the Father introduces the Son as He did at the baptism, as He
32:17
did on Mount of Transfiguration, as He did in the Sacred Grove.
32:21
And right here the Father is witnessing of the Son, and then
32:26
the Son will turn to witness of the Father.
32:28
In the baptismal recognition, this is my beloved Son in whom I
32:35
am well pleased. It doesn't say in whom I've
32:38
glorified my name, because that hasn't happened when the
32:42
baptism. That's just at the very
32:44
beginning. But we now have the attestation
32:49
that the Father has glorified his name in, in Jesus Christ.
32:56
And Jesus isn't taking this upon himself.
32:59
The Father himself is recognizing that and thanking
33:03
Him for doing that. And as a part of what we will
33:05
see here and later in this chapter, how how the members of
33:11
the Godhead support and work with each other, testify of each
33:17
other, glorify each other, and so.
33:19
On I think it's another evidence of Mormon's careful editing that
33:22
he repeats this over and over. He also had shown us a witness
33:27
of hearing, and then in verse 8 he shows a witness of seeing a
33:31
man descending out of heaven. And he was clothed in a white
33:35
robe. And he came down and stood in
33:38
the midst of them, and the eyes of the whole multitude were
33:40
turned upon him. And they durst not open their
33:42
mouths, even one to another, and with not what it meant, for they
33:46
thought it was an Angel that had appeared unto them.
33:49
But then our Savior identifies himself.
33:53
This is so powerful to me. The first thing the Lord does is
33:56
He shows them his hands. Behold, I am Jesus Christ, whom
34:01
the prophets testified shall come into the world, and behold,
34:04
I am the light and the life of the world.
34:07
And I have drunk out of the bitter cup which my Father hath
34:09
given me. And I have glorified the Father
34:12
in taking upon me the sins of the world, in the which I have
34:17
suffered the will of the Father in all things from the
34:21
beginning. What do you think you would do
34:25
if you had heard this self identifying testimony of Jesus
34:31
Christ? It just be overwhelming all of
34:36
the things, what he has done, the light and the life of the
34:39
world as the Creator. I've drunk out of that bitter
34:44
cup, obeying the Father and on through having suffered the will
34:51
of the Father in all things from the beginning.
34:53
Well, they all fall. Down, of course.
34:57
When it says they fall down, it doesn't just say they kneel
35:00
down. It says they fell to the earth
35:02
in verse 12. They fall down and I think what
35:05
they are doing is just falling and becoming like the dust of
35:09
the earth. A sign of their humility.
35:11
It's a sign of humility. It is also in the ancient world
35:15
of very normal. I mean, this is not a normal
35:18
experience, but when you come into the presence of the king.
35:22
You prostate. You do, and that the Greek word
35:25
is prostinasis, where you actually level yourself with the
35:31
ground. I am as the dust of the earth,
35:33
and you don't get up until you're asked and bidden and
35:36
given permission to stand up. But you are there where you can
35:40
kiss the feet of the king and where you are recognizing the
35:45
King's magnitude and majesty and and omnipotence and your
35:53
weakness and lowliness and your need.
35:58
Now when we bow our head, we think we're bowing down and we
36:03
do. We bow our head, and that's an
36:05
important gesture, but it only symbolizes the much greater
36:10
bowing down that you see here. Obviously, in the presence of
36:15
God himself, this is a perfectly appropriate and instinctive
36:21
response that I think also validates the and and brings to
36:27
life how we might have felt if we were there.
36:32
This is such an authentic account of how people would have
36:35
been felt. And of course, it's been all
36:39
this time and trouble and they've, I'm sure they're all
36:42
still traumatized. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.
36:44
I'm sure they're all still traumatized, Yeah.
36:46
What a relief. And then what happens?
36:48
This Savior asks them to rise, and it's just amazing what he
36:53
says in verse 14. Come forth unto me, that you may
36:57
thrust your hands into my side, and also that you may feel the
36:59
Prince of the Nails in my hands and in my feet, that you may
37:03
know that I am the God of Israel and the God of the whole world,
37:07
and have been slain for the sins of the world, which is the
37:10
second time. This is now emphasized in this
37:12
short few verses. And this specific reference to
37:16
hands and feet. Yes, come and touch and feel and
37:20
know. Identify.
37:21
He's identifying himself by these signs on his of his
37:25
crucifixion. Correct.
37:27
And I wonder if they knew Psalm 22O This is a Psalm that Jesus
37:33
will refer to on the cross. My God, my God, why has thou
37:38
forsaken me? And about halfway through that
37:40
Psalm, it says they Pierce my hands and my feet.
37:44
And Isaiah also says that the hands have been pierced in
37:50
Isaiah 49 discusses this. So it's in two places.
37:53
I I think they would have known those verses, Jack.
37:56
And now they see it and they are.
37:59
And having seen it, they might say, OK, that's enough.
38:02
But he says no, I want you to come and touch.
38:06
And he of course allows the apostles to do that during the
38:11
40 day ministry in the old world, in the old world and the
38:14
doubting Thomas who wasn't there, he then also gets to be
38:19
able to do this. And I think Jesus says, well who
38:23
will I choose? Haven't chosen the 12 yet.
38:27
He brings up all of them. All of them get the chance,
38:32
which is just wonderful. That's verse 15.
38:35
When all had gone forth and did see with their eyes and feel
38:39
with their hands, and know of a surety, and did bear record that
38:44
it was he of whom it had been written to me.
38:46
We now have our third witness, the hearing, the seeing, and now
38:50
the touching. And this would have been so
38:54
memorable, especially to the young children.
38:58
They were there. And I imagine that what's going
39:04
on would have been even more terrifying to them than all the
39:07
lightning and Thunder and things they'd lived through.
39:11
But they would have been reassured.
39:13
And just as Jesus says, suffer the little children to come unto
39:16
me. They would have come up.
39:18
And I think they came up as families.
39:21
They would have come up with their whoever they were.
39:23
With with. You know their who.
39:26
Are still surviving. Survivals, yeah, they've,
39:28
they've probably lost several people in their families.
39:32
We don't know that. But here they are all brought
39:37
up, and even the little ones are able to do that.
39:41
The Christus statue, which we all see and enjoy as one of the
39:45
great images that we use in the church these days, has also
39:49
marks in the hands and in the feet.
39:53
They don't always show up in the pictures because of the angle
39:56
and other things, but if you get a chance to be close to a good
40:00
replica of the Christu statue, you'll see the marks of the
40:04
hands in the hands and the feet there too.
40:06
And This is why the audience then shouts out in praise and
40:10
adoration. They're the first things out of
40:13
their mouth. It says in verse 17 are Hosanna
40:16
blessed be the name of the Most High God?
40:19
And this is the Hosanna, shout hosanna, hosanna, hosanna.
40:24
And it's at the temple. And we, of course, when we
40:28
dedicate a temple, also wave that white handkerchief and
40:35
shout hosanna. And it's of course an
40:39
invitation. Save us now.
40:42
We are now ready tell us what we need to do next.
40:47
And So what did Jesus say? Well, he calls forth the
40:49
prophet, he calls forth Nephi. He spake to Nephi, and Nephi in
40:54
verse 19, bows down before him, kisses his feet.
40:58
And in 21 the Lord said to him, I give unto you power, that you
41:02
may baptize this people, when I am again ascended to heaven.
41:05
Isn't that interesting? I thought that he had been given
41:09
the sealing power by his father, who had the sealing power.
41:13
He certainly has been acting as the high priest.
41:16
Why does he have to be given the power to baptize?
41:19
There's new authority for some reason, because we've been
41:21
baptizing since Alma. At least we know of Alma the
41:25
Elder at the Waters of Mormon. But there will be now a new
41:29
dispensation of baptismal ordinance and power.
41:33
There's a new prayer that will be offered and now the baptism
41:38
is not just forgiveness of sins or washing away, but we are
41:44
buried in the water. As the Lord was buried.
41:48
And coming out and that's why I think it's now a new ordinance,
41:53
the new covenant. And John the Baptist said, I
41:56
come to baptize with water, but he who cometh after me will
42:00
baptize with the fire, with baptism of fire.
42:03
So this the Savior is going to put the two together in
42:08
conjunction. Although I think the Spirit was
42:10
present before, I think baptism was present.
42:12
But I love your point. This is a new ordinance as we
42:15
are now re enacting the burial, death and resurrection of our
42:19
Savior. Of course, John the Baptist had
42:21
the authority to baptize. As an ironic priesthood holder.
42:25
But he also said he who comes later will, as you've said, have
42:29
a higher authority. But it's combined here where
42:34
first of all Jesus says I will give you the power to baptize.
42:38
Later at the end of Third Nephi 18, we will learn that he will
42:43
give the power to give the gift of the Holy Ghost before he
42:47
departs at the end of this first day.
42:50
But also in verse 22, the Lord calls others and there will be
42:54
11 others that he will call to form the first Quorum of the 12
42:58
among the Nephites. We won't learn their names until
43:01
chapter 19, verse 4. But we do know that he now
43:05
creates a a body, a quorum of 12 with Nephi as the prophet or the
43:11
head of the quorum of the 12 and.
43:13
In the same verse, he asks them to have no disputations.
43:17
So he's just formed this group of people to work together and
43:20
he asks them to not only baptize, but to do it his way
43:25
and not have contention about it.
43:28
And in in addition to that, remember that Nephites and
43:32
Lamanites had combined against the Gadiantin robbers.
43:36
So I like very much the painting that Minerva Teichert will give
43:40
us of the administration of the sacrament by Jesus in chapter 18
43:44
later on this day, where she has 6 Lamanites and six Nephites who
43:49
are then passing the sacrament. And so no disputations.
43:53
He's putting everyone at peace with each other in all possible
43:57
ways. I'm really grateful that our
43:58
prophet has also reminded us to be a people of peace, to be
44:01
peacemakers. In verse 29 he says, Verily,
44:04
verily, I say unto you, He that hath the spirit of contention is
44:08
not of me, but is of the devil, who is the father of contention.
44:12
And he wants people to know exactly how baptism should be
44:15
performed, because there was a lot of differences of opinion
44:18
even in the ancient world. What should baptism look like?
44:22
Well, here, of course, of course, Jesus gives back in
44:25
verse 25 the actual instructions on how to be baptized.
44:29
And these are the words which he shall say, calling them by name,
44:33
saying, having authority given me of Jesus Christ, I baptize
44:37
you in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy
44:40
Ghost. Amen.
44:42
We do this exactly so it's the the full Godhead is present and
44:46
being part of validating this act by priesthood that has been
44:51
given to them to act on behalf of not just Jesus, but because
44:57
the Father and the and the Holy Ghost will ratify this, the
45:01
whole Godhead participates in these kinds of ordinances where
45:04
the three members of the Godhead are named.
45:08
Moving on to verse 32, we read about Christ's doctrine and it's
45:12
clear and it's simple, but it is profoundly deep and I find that
45:17
the simplicity of it does not make it simple to live.
45:21
As we study this deeper and deeper, we realize how much room
45:27
for growth there is in this beautiful message.
45:29
Verse 32, This is my doctrine, and it is the doctrine of the
45:33
Father has given me, and I bear record of the Father.
45:35
We talked about this earlier and he bears record of the Holy
45:38
Ghost. They were all working in
45:39
harmony. The Father has commanded all men
45:41
everywhere to repent and believe in Me.
45:45
If we're going to believe in Christ, we need to learn to love
45:48
Him. And when we love Him, we want to
45:51
become like Him. And that's why He says in verse
45:55
35 that He will visit us with fire and with the Holy Ghost.
46:00
We can be cleansed if we want to become like Him, and He will
46:04
allow us to be purified so that we can be one with Him.
46:09
And this reminds me of the Last Supper in John's intercessory
46:13
prayer, The recording in John's Gospel of Christ intercessory
46:17
prayer. In John chapter 17.
46:19
Where he discusses being one. Book of Mormon adds to that a
46:24
little more information about how they are one.
46:29
They first of all testify of each other in verse 32, Jesus
46:35
says I bear record of the Father, and the Father beareth
46:39
record of me, and the Holy Ghost beareth record of the Father and
46:43
of me. So we have this triangular
46:46
witnesses and remember from the very beginning the law of Moses
46:49
had said in the mouth of two or three witnesses shall all things
46:54
be established. That was a type of the
46:56
understanding of the Godhead that we now see.
47:00
And so when anything is done by any one of these members of the
47:05
Godhead, the others will bear record of that.
47:09
They are united not just in purpose that one goes off and
47:12
does one thing and they all say, yeah, that's a good idea.
47:15
They are all three, of course, united in carrying out the plan
47:19
of the Father. But more than just going and
47:22
carrying it out, they bear record of each other and that
47:27
importance of testimony and receiving that testimony and
47:32
knowing that when we repent and become as a little child, then
47:38
this can open up for us the doctrine and the promises that
47:44
we will be able to be built upon the the rock upon which we
47:51
should build. And that takes us to the only.
47:54
Possibly the only almost a parable in the third Nephi
47:58
account. You know, Christ's account in
48:00
the old world was filled with parables, at least in the
48:03
synoptic Gospels. But here this is the only hint
48:07
of one that we have. And I really don't think it's a
48:09
parable. He's giving us a teaching, but
48:10
it's the wise man built his house on the rock teaching.
48:13
And that will come up at the end of Chapter 14.
48:15
And he says it right here in 39 and 40 and 41 as well.
48:18
What's coming in the lesson for next week will be chapters 12 to
48:24
16. And what Jesus has said here, if
48:28
you declare more or less than this, this is not my doctrine
48:32
and you are not a build, not build upon my rock.
48:35
And then he will turn and begin describing his teachings.
48:39
And so in in chapters 12/13 and 14, we have the main teachings,
48:44
which we'll talk about next time.
48:46
And it ends with this being built upon the rock.
48:51
So it begins and ends with the same message.
48:53
Like you say, it's a kind of parable because it does give us
49:00
an understanding that if you don't build on a strong
49:04
foundation, the winds will come and the rains will blow.
49:08
And they knew. They understood that at that
49:10
point this was so clear. And they had seen buildings that
49:13
had crumbled under the force of those things.
49:16
So what a vivid thing for him to have brought up.
49:20
And it's kind of a little preview saying you need to build
49:24
upon this rock. And now I'm going to give you
49:26
the building instructions. So come back next week and we'll
49:31
have the rest of the building plans.
49:34
But let us testify that we believe that Jesus Christ is the
49:38
Son of God, the Savior of the world.
49:41
And not only did he come to redeem his people in Israel, He
49:44
came to redeem you and me and the Gentiles and those who
49:51
haven't heard the word and those who need to repent from our
49:54
mistakes. Every daughter and son of Adam
49:59
and Eve he has suffered for, and we honor and praise His name
50:05
today as we study these beautiful chapters.
50:07
And as he has submitted to the will of the Father, Jesus and
50:13
Heavenly Father are clearly here together.
50:18
Isn't it wonderful that we we can almost imagine the words of
50:21
the Father speaking out of the settled dust or the gathered
50:26
crowd? This is my beloved Son, in whom
50:32
I am well pleased, in whom I have glorified my name.
50:37
Hear ye Him. And then to have the Holy Ghost
50:43
testify of that as well. Jesus is our Savior, our
50:49
Redeemer, and He does the will of our Father that we can all
50:55
become one with Him as He is one with us and with the members of
51:03
the Godhead. I testify too that this doctrine
51:09
of unity be 1 something that Jesus commands us to do will be
51:17
something we can do. I know we can do it.
51:20
We can be one, but we have to follow the doctrine that He's
51:26
given, and we have to be willing to lay our own selfish interests
51:32
aside and do the will of the Father, which of course means
51:38
more than just a casual thing now and then.
51:44
It requires our all. I testify that that is all of
51:53
the gospel in the name of Jesus Christ, Amen.
51:56
Amen.