Latest / Scripture Central / Revelation 16-22: New Testament with Lynne Wilson (Come, Follow Me)

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Revelation 16-22: New Testament with Lynne Wilson (Come, Follow Me) · Scripture Central

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Hello, I'm Lynn Hilton Wilson, part of the Scripture Central
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team with Come Follow Me, and I am thrilled to be able to talk
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about the last few chapters in the Book of Revelation.
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This is our day and age. This is a fabulous period of
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time where we finish up the horrific calamities and the
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natural disasters and the challenges of the last days
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prior to the Savior's return. And then comes and we have the
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Millennium, and then another battle and the finally the
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celestialized Earth. And all of this is described
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with great symbols. It's apocalyptic literature.
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And so I would encourage you as you study to look at Section 77,
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look at the messages of the prophets, look at the plan of
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salvation. And the temple initiated can get
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more out of this and get on your knees and ask the Lord to help
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you understand it. A lot of the symbols come out of
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John's era and so you have to sort of step back in history
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too. But it's a fabulous book and we
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are so fortunate to have these keys to unlock it because I
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think we will be held responsible for not following
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some of the council's chapter 16.
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Verses 1 to 22 all refer to a call to action from a heavenly
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temple. God's wrath is mentioned 25
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times in the in the New Testament and a whole bunch of
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them are right here. Now we have these, these vials
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that are filled with the plagues.
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And remember, in the Old Testament, the temple included
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these golden bowls, these little vials.
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It's almost a sacred offering that is being described here,
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But the first one in chapter 16, verse two is a grievous sore.
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And then the sea is turned to blood.
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Verse three, and then the rivers are turned to blood in verse
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four. And the scourging heat from
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verse 8 to 9. And the darkness and the pain,
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you know, it's described like scorpions.
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It's horrific. And it's even the time period of
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a scorpion's life cycle. It's really quite interesting.
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That's verse 10. And then they describe the
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droughts and the water driving up in in verse 12.
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And then from verse 17 to 21, there's the lightnings and the
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earthquake and the hail and the the islands and the mountains
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are moving. It's it's just the worst
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disasters you can imagine. And at the end of those horrific
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disasters, chapter 16, verse 16, describes the battle of
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Armageddon. Now traditionally it's described
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that this is happening in the area up in central Galilee.
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It's in Megiddo, just due east of the Mediterranean, and this
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has been one of the most fertile valleys of the land of Israel
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throughout the history of time, and many a war were fought
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there. We read about Ahab being there,
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we read about other people in that area, but it's absolutely
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lush and green, so it makes sense that wars would be fought
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there. Verse 19 says that the great
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city was divided into 3 parts. And I mentioned earlier, it's a
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portion we it's not exactly 3 to 3%, you know, it's their numbers
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are a little different than the way we use them.
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But the cities of the nations fell.
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And then chapter 17 introduces another one of these horrific
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satanic figures, the great whore.
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And we've already had the woman who's expecting, who represents
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the church, who is like the sun and the moon.
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This is the antithesis of that she represents Babylon.
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She represents the worldliness and some of the words that are
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used to describe her dominion, power, apostasy, persecution,
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wealth, materialism, abominations, you know, and this
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beast is filled with sin. She causes fear.
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She's an anti God, powerful. She's proud, even referred to as
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perdition. But all of these horrific things
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are overcome by the lamb. So no matter how horrific the
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Satanic forces are, God will prevail.
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It's interesting sometimes to look at the parallels between
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John's Revelation and others who saw similar visions.
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And I want to just go for a minute and go back to Nephi's
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vision of the Tree of Life. In first Nephi chapter 14, verse
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10. It reads, Whosoever belongeth
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not to the Church of the Lamb of God belongeth to the Great
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Church, which is the mother of Abominations.
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That's the horror that we just read about.
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And she is the whore of all the earth, and she sat upon many
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waters and she had dominion over all the earth, among all nations
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and kindreds and tongues and people.
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We're not talking just about a small community, a gang of some
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sort somewhere, or an ideology. We are talking about something
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that is pervasive. This is satanic that is
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completely overrunning the earth at this time.
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And as this happens, the kingdoms of the earth began to
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fall. Chapter 18, verse two says
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Babylon the Great is fallen. Now.
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Babylon actually did fall. You know, we've got some
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beautiful remnants of the old gorgeous walls that are now in
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Berlin of all places. But you can go and visit the
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ruins that are left of the old city of Babylon.
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But I think this is more figurative for all the wealthy,
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noble and great cities. And it represents a lot more
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than just the ancient cities. It it represents our day and age
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as well. But as Babylon is falling, we
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have a commandment from God, And in verse four it reads, come out
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of her, my people, that he may not be partakers of her sins and
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that you receive not her plagues.
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This is the hope of those that follow the prophet, that we can
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hear the voice of the Lord, that we will not be succumbed to the
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tragedies of these last date, pornography and gambling and and
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and worshipping false idols. We worship sports, we worship
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cars, we worship money, We worship our own time rather than
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God. We worship leisure.
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We worship travel. I mean, there's just so many
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things that we put our time and energy on rather than building
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the Kingdom of God. This is a powerful message, and
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it's repeated in the Restoration in section 133.
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I don't know if you remember that one, but verse five and
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seven and 14 all talk about this, that we right now are
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living on the earth in a very, very wicked time.
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But the Lord is giving us messages.
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Come out of her. Do not partake of her sins.
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We have been warned of these sins for years and years and
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years. Babylon is just a symbol of
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worldliness that he goes on now the last portion of chapter 18
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verses 8 to 19 and laments. It's as bad as Jeremiah's
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lamentation. He laments the kings of the
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earth lament and then the merchants and then the maritime.
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You know everybody is mourning that the worldliness is being
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destroyed. I'll just read a couple of them.
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Verse nine of chapter 18. The kings of the earth who have
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committed fornication and lived deliciously with her, shall
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bewail her and lament for her when they shall see the smoke of
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her burning. In the ancient world a city is
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always a her. So Zion is a her, Jerusalem is a
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her, Babylon is a her. But what they're talking about
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is the fall of the wickedness, so that her represents the fall
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of all those people. And I love some of these words.
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The fornication is not just referring to the law of
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chastity. The fornication is referring to
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the removing from the covenant with God.
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Because God in the Old Testament is married to Zion and
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Jerusalem, and in the New Testament God is married to the
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church as her bride. But this lamentation of the
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burning in the smoke is just horrific.
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Verse 10 continues on. Alas, alas, that great city
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Babylon, that mighty city. For in one hour is thy judgement
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come and I think whether or not we live in a city that will
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happen on all of our death, we will end our second state and
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the Lord will call us to accountability.
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But fortunately the atonement is still intact on the other side
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of the veil, and repentance is always process and possible.
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Finishing up in chapter 18, we get to verse 20 and all the
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morning is finally finished and the Saints are able to say,
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rejoice, thou heaven for God hath avenged you.
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All the torture and persecution is finally avenged, and the
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chapter ends with just reviewing the six witnesses of
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destruction. There is no more Babylon, no
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more music, no more Craftsman, no more manufacturing, no more
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light, and no more voices. That's 1821 to 23, beautifully
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written in a poetic fashion to describe the death of
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wickedness. And as I mentioned before, God
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does everything out of love, and removing us from one place to
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another is not necessarily bad, and it's allowing us to continue
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to learn and grow. And I I still feel like he is a
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God of mercy. Now.
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When you combine the writings in the New Testament and the Old
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Testament and the restored scripture, there's a lot of
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prophecies on the Second Coming. And so I've just written a few.
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You can get a lot more in the Bible dictionary, but the Book
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of Revelation discusses most of these.
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The first one, though, we get out of Isaiah, Isaiah 29, the
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Book of Mormon will be brought forth.
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And then we've got the restoration of Christ's gospel,
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the restoration of priesthood keys, the gathering of the
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tribes of Israel, the return of Judah to Jerusalem, the building
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of temples, and the genealogical research.
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All this is Malachi and Section 110 of the Doctrine Covenants.
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And my slide in my handouts. I have all the references for
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each of these the plagues of flies and maggots and boils,
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etcetera, etcetera. The desolation by earthquake and
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fire and floods and sinking cities and famines.
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The wickedness, wars and rumors of wars, including Armageddon.
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The appearance of Christ to the church leaders in Missouri, and
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that is Section 116, as well as teachings of the Prophet Joseph.
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Then we have the signs and wonders in heaven, the two
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prophets they'll be preaching in Jerusalem.
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The wicked will be burned and Christ will return in red on the
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Mount of Olives. These are horrific things that
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are going to happen, but for the Saints, they are times of joy
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because we know our Savior is coming.
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Continuing on in chapter 19, we have some more beautiful
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descriptions of our Savior. In fact, chapter 19 is my
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favorite chapter in the Book of Revelation.
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There are some wonderful things about this, and I think it's in
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part because it is right before the Savior's coming.
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Verse one and two read in the BLB translation.
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I heard something like a loud voice of a great multitude in
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heaven crying out Hallelujah, the salvation and glory and
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power of God. For his judgements are true and
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righteous. You know when your judgement is
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filled with mercy as well as justice, it is a marvelous way,
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especially when you have other plans.
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Then he goes on and gives 4 hallelujahs and if you look for
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the number four like we looked for the #7, you'll find a lot of
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continuity. We had four living creatures or
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beasts, 4 seals, four horses, 4 horsemen, 4 statements, 4
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accounts of destruction, as well as now our four hallelujahs in
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chapter 19, verse three and four, it reads a second time.
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They said Hallelujah. And the smoke goes up from her
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forever and ever. And the 24 elders, remember
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those are the Saints who had been part of John's church, who
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had been martyred or killed and are now serving in God's throne.
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These elders and the four living creatures that are there at the
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throne of God bowed down and worshipped.
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Amen. Hallelujah.
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You know, think of John receiving this vision and these
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praises and the music that would have accompanied them.
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I hope it was as good as the Hallelujah Chorus in Messiah,
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but it was probably even better. And I have a lot more to learn.
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In chapter five we read a voice came out of the throne and then,
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skipping down a little bit, praise our God, all ye servants,
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both small and great, and servants is crossed out and
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Saints is put in. But as Saints we are still
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servants of God. Even as heirs we are still
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servants of God. We will always serve God.
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I want to read from the NIV in chapter 19, verses 6 and seven.
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Hallelujah, for our Lord God Almighty has begun to reign.
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Let us rejoice. So the end is insight.
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And we read in verse seven that the marriage of the Lamb is come
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and his wife has made herself ready.
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This is such a poignant and important verse.
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The marriage supper can happen when?
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Well, as soon as the bride's ready.
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And that is why we were taught over and over again that the
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Church has got to be living the law of consecration.
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The Church has got to be a Zion society.
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The Church has got to get ready for the last days because the
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Saviour cannot come until the bride, the Church has made
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herself ready. This is very interesting as we
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look as the Bride of the Church. How does the bride make herself
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ready? How do we adorn ourselves?
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Are we more worried about our physical attire?
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Are we more worried about our service?
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Are we more worried about coming into Christ or fitting in
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culturally to our societies? You know, it says that the wife
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hath made herself ready. I believe that this is talking
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about our covenants and the way we are living and the way we are
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gathering Israel. We are following our prophet and
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our God. The Savior will come as soon as
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we are ready. That is powerful doctrine, and
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Joseph even spoke about it at the dedicatory prayer of the
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Kirtland Temple. I'll read from section One, O 9,
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verse 59. The gathering of Thy people may
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roll on in great power and magistry.
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That they work may be cut short in righteousness.
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As soon as the bride is ready, we will be able to have the
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Savior come. It is not a matter of how wicked
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the world is. We are wicked enough, we've been
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told in general conferences. The problem is the Church is not
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ready. In section 52, verse 11, the
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Savior taught Joseph, for thus saith the Lord, I will cut my
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work short in righteousness, for the days come that I will send
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forth judgment unto victory. So if the Church moves forward
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at good speed, we can bless the whole earth with less
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calamities. This is powerful message.
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And recently, Elder Todd Christopherson has said what is
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crucial for the Lord's to return is the presence on the earth of
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a people prepared to receive him at his coming.
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We cannot be burned. We have to have.
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It was sometimes playfully called the fire insurance of our
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covenants. But we have to have soft meat
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carts and we have to become like Him.
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This is powerful. Our own prophet has said do the
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spiritual work to find out for yourselves and please do it now.
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Time is running out, and so our Savior, as well as John the
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Beloved and our modern prophets are asking us to live lives that
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will be worthy of the Savior Second Coming.
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Continuing on in verse eight, it says to her the bride was
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granted that she should be arrayed in fine linen, clean and
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white. Now linen is a favorite word
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used by John both in his Gospel, his letters and here, and it
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represents the beauty of the temple garment that was used in
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the ancient temples. It's also referring to an
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initiation and an investiture. The words are interesting and
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when you look them up in the Greek, this is talking about a
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time when we are going to be closed and permitted to serve in
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the House of the Lord in a new way with robes of righteousness,
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he says. Actually in verse eight in the
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NR translation, the new rendition for the fine linen is
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the righteous deeds of the Saints.
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So just a few definitions here. The bride is the Church, the
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white robes who are purity or the Saints purity.
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Those who have repented and repent daily to have the gift of
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prophecy is having the gift of testimony that Jesus is the
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Savior and Redeemer of the world.
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A servant is a St., and the marriage supper of the lamb is
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when he will come again. And we have in the New Testament
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2 parables about marriage suppers with the with the
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bridegroom coming. And remember, everyone's
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invited, but not everyone comes. We only have those coming to the
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lamb who are taken off the street, the poor, the lame, the
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meek, you know, But everyone is invited and this marriage supper
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is going to be a time of covenant.
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Section 58 of the Doctrine Covenants describes in verses 6
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to 12 that the rich and the learned and the noble will not
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come into both the poor and the lame, and the blind and the deaf
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will be coming and returning back to the chapter 19, verse
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nine reads in the CSB translation.
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Blessed are those invited to the marriage feast of the lamb.
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Now, he doesn't refer to the parable of the 10 virgins here,
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but I just want to pause for a minute and say that Parable is
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talking about this time. Right now, they're waiting for
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the bridegroom to come and take the bride, and the Church will
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be ready when the Saints have enough oil.
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We're told in the Doctrine Covenants that the oil
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represents the Spirit of God. This is why the Prophet said,
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what would you do with more faith that we will see the
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greatest manifestations of the spirit the world has ever known?
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We will see the gifts of the Spirit, the gift of faith and
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healing and revelations and administrations poured out like
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never before. This is an exciting time to
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live. I was fascinated to learn that
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the idea of waiting on the Lord has nothing to do with
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passiveness. It's actively working.
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I was also interested when I looked up the parable of the 10
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virgins in restored scripture that there are at least six
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references in our Doctrine and Covenants that hint at the
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parable or that reference the parable of the 10 virgins.
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That does not happen with any other parable.
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This is a sign for our times, and well over half of the
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references in of the sections of the document covenants refer to
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preparing for the Lord's second coming.
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Either they're talking about Zion or they're talking about
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our covenants. This is a powerful message for
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us today. Chapter 19, verse 10 reads for
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the testimony of Jesus is the spirit of prophecy.
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I've tried to reference this many times throughout this year
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when we refer to prophecy in the New Testament.
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Here's our definition. This is John's definition.
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It is the spirit of prophecy. And that phrase, the spirit of
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prophecy becomes one that we use in the Restoration.
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It's the only mentioned here once.
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It's only in the Bible one time, never in the Old Testament, only
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once in the New Testament, right here.
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But that phrase is mentioned 17 times in the Book of Mormon, and
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if you add to it, the spirit of prophecy and Revelation is
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mentioned twice, including the title page of the Book of
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Warren, which was written by Moroni.
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The Doctrine Cabinets, It's only mentioned twice.
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But in the history of the Church, when Joseph's journals
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are being compiled and some of his sermons are being written,
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we find it 10 times and the phrase spirit of prophecy in
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Revelation four more times. So this is an important message
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from the Prophet Joseph Smith that this spirit of prophecy and
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revelation that is going to allow the Savior to come again
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is part of our assignment to strive for now we need to
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prepare for personal revelation. And in fact, Joseph used the
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same definition from the Revelation 19 when he was in a
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court of law. It's 1843, January 1st.
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And he's in Springville, Illinois, in a court of law.
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And someone asks him, are you a prophet?
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And he says, if anyone person should ask if I were a prophet,
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I should not deny it. For according to John, the
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testimony of Jesus is the spirit of prophecy.
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If I be a true teacher and witness, I must possess the
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spirit of prophecy, and that constitutes a prophet.
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So I feel like many of you have the gift of prophecy in this
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definition. And the spirit of prophecy.
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Anyone who falls on their knees and comes before our Lord and
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seeks forgiveness and honors him and obeys his commandments is a
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recipient of this, just as described by John the Revelator
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and our latter day prophets. Now, if you want to learn more
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about these destruction, the terrible times, there are a lot
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of resources. I've got a few on my handout,
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I've got a few here on my slide. But the topical guide has even
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more. The Doctrine and Covenants has
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the most. As I said earlier, those
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revelations were given to a people who are looking forward
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to the second coming. Our generation, not so much so,
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but they were really excited about then.
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They had a lot of questions and the Lord gave a lot of answers.
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I think another reason why he gave a lot of information on the
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Second Coming is because the purpose of the Church was to
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prepare a people worthy of receiving him at his coming.
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We have got to be temple worthy. We have got to have our our
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garments spotless. The linen needs to be white.
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We need to be repenting daily and coming before our Lord so
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that we can be sanctified. It's really a powerful message.
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Chapter 19, verse 11 continues on.
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I saw heaven opened and behold a White Horse.
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And remember the White Horse is the conquering horse.
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That's the the Roman Caesar. Whoever gets to ride the horse
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is the Conqueror and he that sat upon him was called faithful and
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true and in righteousness he doth judge and make war.
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This is now our conquering Messiah.
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The Second coming is here and the rider on the White Horse is
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no longer on a donkey, the peaceful domestic animal of
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Jesus of Nazareth who came down into Jerusalem on Palm Sunday.
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We now have the conquering Messiah on a White Horse, and in
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verse 12 we can read His eyes were like the flames of fire.
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This is the NLT translation And his head were many crowns, and
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he wore a robe dipped in blood. And then the Joseph Smith
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translation adds there out of his mouth precedeth the word of
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God, and his name is called the Word of God.
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Do you make that link between John's Gospel chapter One, verse
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one through 4? His little preface there in the
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beginning was the Word, and the word was God.
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He's He's making all these beautiful connections between
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the Savior's first coming and His Second Coming, continuing on
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in verse 14. And the armies which were in the
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heaven followed him upon white horses.
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Those are the righteous who have received him, and they will be
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coming back. This is why vicarious word for
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the dead is so important. We are empowering the armies of
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heaven. And it says that not only are
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they on white horses in verse 14, but they will be clothed in
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fine linen, white and clean, and in verse 15 out of the mouth.
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This is our saviour, The the Redeemer's mouth go with a sharp
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sword and with it it should smite the nations and he should
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rule them with a rod of iron. Now remember, the word of God is
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the sword. According to Paul's imagery of
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the armor of God, this is really significant.
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We can combat wickedness with the word of God and his voice
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will be sharp like a sword. We also have a Joseph Smith
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translation there that says he will rule them with the word of
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his mouth, which is the commandments of God, which we
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are blessed to have. Also verse 15 says He treadeth
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the winepress of the fierceness and wrath of the Almighty God.
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Now the winepress can represent blood.
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And you remember in Isaiah when he says that the Savior will
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come and tread the winepress alone, but instead of the gentle
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little soft crushing of the grapes to make sweet wine, the
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Savior says, my cup is bitter. He will have to crush the seeds
24:40
and his wine will be bitter and the wrath of God is going to
24:43
flow forth. It's a beautiful imagery, it
24:45
says in verse 16 on his robe and on his thigh.
24:48
He has a name written The King of Kings and Lord of Lords, and
24:53
Handel's Messiah has turned these verses into beautiful
24:57
music to honor and praise our God.
25:00
Chapter 19 then begins with verse 17 clear to verse 21 on
25:04
the defeat of the beast. So as the Savior comes in in all
25:08
of his glory with the white horses and those coming from
25:10
heaven also on white horses, the first thing they do is destroy
25:14
the adversary, the beast. The false prophets are all taken
25:19
down. I'm fascinated with a talk that
25:22
was given by Elder Larry Y Wilson of the 70 at BYU in
25:27
December of 2015, and he recalled it The Return of the
25:31
King. And he does have some images to
25:33
Tolkien in his talk as well, but he's really talking about
25:37
preparing for the Second Coming. It's a fabulous talk and I'd
25:40
just like to read a portion of it with you.
25:41
Each of us faces a choice. We can choose to see ourselves
25:45
as the Lord's servants and humbly seek to know what he
25:48
wants us to be doing with our talents and time that he has
25:52
given us. And as such we can seek to
25:54
enlarge his Kingdom and prepare it for his return.
25:57
Or we imagine that the story is all about us.
26:01
Too many fall into this trap. They forget that they are His
26:05
servants and begin to imagine that He is theirs.
26:09
They think, erroneously, that Christ came to make all their
26:13
dreams come true. Those that will survive the
26:16
fires are those who will serve our God.
26:19
And then John introduces a second feast.
26:22
We have the marriage supper of the lamb or a feast of the
26:25
fowls. And Chapter 9, verses 18 to 21
26:29
describe this awful time when the dead will be eaten by the
26:34
ravenous birds. And it's also described in
26:36
Ezekiel and section 29 of the Doctrine Covenants.
26:40
And the Lord says that the beast was taken, and with him the
26:43
false prophet that wrought miracles before him, which
26:46
deceived them, and they had received the mark of the beast,
26:50
And then who worshipped his image into a lake of fire.
26:54
Now they always describe hell that way.
26:56
But remember, we receive in modern revelation the wonderful
27:00
message from God. It is not eternal damnation.
27:05
It is God's. Eternal is another name for God.
27:09
It is God who will present things and we know he is a God
27:13
of love. We know that there are kingdoms
27:15
of glory for all who come to earth except those few who are
27:19
the sons and daughters of perdition.
27:21
We finally get to the millennial reign once Satan is bound.
27:25
Once he is taken down, the millennial reign of our Savior
27:28
starts. So let's read chapter 20, verse
27:31
one. I saw an Angel come down from
27:33
heaven having the key of the bottomless pit and a great chain
27:36
in his hand. Now we know that Satan can't be
27:38
chained because he's a spirit, he never got his body, but the
27:42
image is powerful and as I mentioned earlier, the key
27:45
holder is someone who is is very important.
27:49
Keys are bulky, they're wood, they're usually worn around
27:51
someone's neck on a chain or something and they're hand
27:55
carved just like the locks are hand carved and and the
27:58
bottomless pit just refers to the place where Satan will be
28:01
bound. But we are taught in the
28:02
restoration that Satan is bound by the righteousness of the
28:05
Saints, that it is not a literal binding.
28:08
It is because he has no power over our hearts or the hearts of
28:13
those who are left to live in this time.
28:15
In verse two and three it continues on and we were told in
28:18
verse one it's the Angel. But two and three say the Angel
28:21
laid hold on the dragon, that old serpent which is the devil
28:24
and Satan, and bound him 1000 years and cast him into the
28:28
bottomless pit and shut him up there.
28:29
And this is interesting, they set a seal upon Satan as well.
28:33
These seals are very interesting, aren't they?
28:35
But I want you to remember that in the book of Genesis we don't
28:39
have any reference to Satan or the devil or temptation.
28:45
It's here in the Book of Revelation that we learned the
28:48
old serpent was the devil. So Christians have a better
28:52
understanding of this and this binding of Satan is also
28:55
described in the Restoration section 88 and in first Nephi
28:59
chapter 22. Christ's millennial reign begins
29:02
in verse four of chapter 20. Now we as Latter Day Saints
29:06
believe that Christ will come before the Millennium, so the
29:10
rest of the world refers to us as a pre millennius.
29:14
Christ comes before the Millennium and after the
29:17
horrific tribulations of the last days.
29:19
Jesus we believe, will physically return before a
29:23
literal Millennium, which will be his reign in peace of about
29:26
1000 years. And the earliest church fathers
29:29
believe this too. But most Christians are post
29:32
millennialists and they had to deal with the fact that Christ
29:35
kept saying he's coming, he's coming, and then he doesn't
29:38
come. And so the theology behind post
29:41
millennialists, which is almost about 80% if not higher of the
29:46
traditions of Christianity. They believe that Jesus
29:48
established his church and that it will prosper for a golden age
29:53
about 1000 years or so, and that Christian ethics will prosper
29:57
and that will be called the Millennium.
29:59
And then after the Millennium Christ will come for the
30:02
judgement. So without the guiding and
30:05
directing of living prophets, we have very different views of
30:07
here. But first four also says in the
30:10
NIV that Christ is given the authority to pass judgement,
30:15
that he is not only our witness, he can read our hearts, but he
30:18
will be our judge. We're told that other people are
30:21
going to be at the judgement bar as well.
30:22
Do you remember? Nephi says he's going to be
30:24
there. Mormon says he's going to be
30:26
there. Moroni says he's going to be
30:28
there. And I am so looking forward to
30:31
thanking them for their records and to seeing them and to giving
30:37
them our full gratitude for the sacrifices that they had to make
30:41
so that we would enjoy the gospel of Jesus Christ on the
30:45
earth, Chapter 20, verse 4 continues.
30:47
I saw Thrones and they that sat on them which had not worshipped
30:51
the beast, neither had they received his mark upon their
30:54
foreheads or in their hands. And he goes on and talks about
30:58
the first resurrection. From verses four to six.
31:01
They came to life and they reigned with Christ 1000 years.
31:05
So the departed dead who were noble, who have repented, who
31:08
have received their ordinances and their covenants with God,
31:12
they will come back and live on the earth during this millennial
31:15
period. This is the first resurrection.
31:18
Blessed and holy are those who shall share in the first
31:21
resurrection. This is a wonderful promise.
31:25
It doesn't matter when you lived on the earth before early or
31:29
late. If you have received the
31:31
Saviour, you will be able to come back with him as that great
31:35
host. And then chapter 20 changes in
31:38
verse 7 to 8 to talk about the final battle after the
31:41
Millennium. That's it.
31:43
The Millennium is those 6 verses.
31:44
That's it. That's all we have.
31:46
And the rest now are this period of time where Satan is loosed.
31:50
It reads. When the 1000 years are over,
31:52
Satan will be released from his prison and will go out to
31:55
deceive the nations in the four corners of the earth.
31:58
Again, it's the MIV translation. And then there's one last final
32:02
battle that is referred to in the King James as Gog and Magog.
32:06
And there's a lot of speculating on what those names are and what
32:09
they mean and where it will happen.
32:11
In verse nine it reads they went up upon that breadth of the
32:14
earth and compass, the camp of Saints about and the beloved
32:18
city and the fire came down from God out of heaven and devoured
32:22
them. At the end of that horrific
32:25
battle with Gog and Magog, we then have the final judgement.
32:29
That's chapter 20, verse 11 to 14.
32:32
Verse 11 and chapter 20 reads, I saw a great white throne and him
32:37
that sat on it. And then the books are opened
32:41
and verse 12 reads another book was opened, which is the book of
32:46
life. And the dead were judged out of
32:48
those things which were written in the books according to their
32:52
works. So our works are recorded in
32:54
heaven, our works are recorded on earth and out of those books
32:59
we will be judged. And the book of life is
33:00
referenced many times in the restoration and sometimes
33:04
Brigham will say things like if you are living your covenants
33:07
your name will record in the book of life.
33:09
Joseph one time said if you are donating your pennies women to
33:13
the temple cause your name will be written in the book of life.
33:17
You know when you sacrifice the Lord is going to acknowledge
33:20
this, this. Then with the judgment day the
33:25
righteous will be saved and it says that wicked will go to a
33:28
second death. Continue on in verse 14.
33:31
Whosoever was not found written in the book of life was cast
33:35
into a lake of fire. Now people ask Joseph Smith, who
33:39
is this talking about? Because remember much of the
33:41
Puritan world believed there was a heaven and a hell.
33:45
You were either saved or you were damned.
33:47
And it was only a very few 144,000 that were saved.
33:51
And it was not even your choice. It was God's choice.
33:54
So Joseph wanted to clarify this.
33:56
A lot of people had questions. What must a man do to commit the
33:59
unpardonable sin? He must receive the Holy Ghost
34:04
and have the heavens open unto him and know God and then sin
34:10
against him. There is no repentance for him.
34:13
He has got to say that the sun does not shine while he sees it.
34:18
He has got to deny Jesus Christ when the heavens had been opened
34:24
unto him, and to deny the plan of salvation with his eyes open
34:28
to the truth of it. From that time he begins to be
34:33
an enemy. Chapter 21 now moves forward on
34:36
the celestialized earth and these are beautiful chapters.
34:41
Interestingly, the 1st 5 verses of chapter 21 are perfect little
34:46
chiasmus. Verse one talks about the new
34:48
heaven and earth and verse five talks about God creating
34:51
everything new. First one also talks about the
34:53
sea passing away and verse four talks about the first things
34:57
that passed away. Verse one ends by the sea no
35:00
longer exists. The central point is that the
35:02
holy city descends from heaven. The most important part of these
35:05
5 verses is verse three and four that God will dwell with his
35:09
people. So let's look at those for a
35:11
minute. First one I saw a new heaven and
35:13
a new earth. For the 1st heaven and the first
35:16
earth were passed away and there was no more sea.
35:19
And then in verse 2 John says that he saw the holy city, the
35:22
new Jerusalem, coming down from God out of heaven, prepared as a
35:26
bride adorned for her husband. So this is the second reference.
35:30
Christ comes the first time before the Millennium, when the
35:33
Bride, the Church is ready, and now, at the end of the
35:37
destruction, after the final judgment before the earth
35:40
becomes the celestial Kingdom. Those who are there are also
35:44
like the Bride, and this time the New Jerusalem will come.
35:48
Verse three says that God will dwell with them and they shall
35:52
be his people, and God himself shall be with them and be their
35:56
God again, he repeats. God will wipe away their eyes
36:00
and their tears, and they will need no more death, neither
36:04
sorrow nor crying. They shall have any more pain.
36:07
The former things are passed away, you know.
36:09
John promised that back in the beginning before we were even
36:12
opening up the 7th seal, and now it's happening again.
36:15
There will be no more death, there will be no more pain.
36:18
The caiasmus ends. He that sat on the throne said,
36:21
behold, I make all things new. This image is exciting.
36:27
It's clean. It's purified.
36:29
Interestingly, God gives 7 statements.
36:32
You know this whole book, the favorite number is 7.
36:34
And I forgot to mention that when we were talking about all
36:36
the wickedness of the beast. The beast number is 666.
36:40
It's not perfect. It's not 7.
36:42
He's a counterfeit. But here God once again uses 7
36:47
statements and John records them and numbers them.
36:50
Talks about making all things new and that God's words are
36:54
trustworthy and they are done. All these are statements from
36:57
God just combined together. I will give to those who are
37:01
thirsty freely from the fountain of living water.
37:04
He who overcomes will inherit these things, and I will be his
37:08
God and He will be my son. But As for the and he talks
37:12
about the liars and everybody, and then He talks about the
37:14
second death in chapter 21, verse five and six.
37:17
The Lord comes to talk to John and gives him instructions to
37:20
write. Write, for these words are true
37:23
and faithful. For he said unto me, It is done,
37:27
and I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end.
37:30
So the Angel initially told John in the middle of a vision, get
37:33
out your quill and start recording.
37:36
And now it's the Savior who comes and says, keep writing.
37:39
I want people to know about this.
37:41
In fact, he says, verse six I will give unto him that is
37:45
athirst the fountain of waters of life freely.
37:50
And these waters of life were prophesied by the Savior to the
37:53
woman of Samaria living water. If you come to me, I will giving
37:58
you living water. Now that was a long time ago
38:01
historically, but it is within the grasp of not just that woman
38:05
at the well, but all of us who come unto Christ.
38:08
It reminds me also of Nephi's vision that describes something
38:11
similar in first Nephite Chapter 11.
38:13
In verse 25 it reads, I beheld that the rod of iron, which was
38:17
the word of God, which led from the fountain of living waters,
38:22
or to the tree of life, which waters are a representation of
38:26
the love of God. So not only is the fruit of
38:30
representation of the love of God, but these waters, this
38:33
fountain of living water that that comes from the tree of
38:36
life, is also a representation of God's love.
38:39
So when we are thirsty spiritually, let us receive His
38:43
love. And for me, the best way to
38:45
receive God's love is by repenting look in my life,
38:49
what's wrong? What thoughts, what words, what
38:52
actions have I done that have offended the Spirit?
38:54
And once repentance is there, God's love comes in in
38:59
abundance. Verse 7 in chapter 21 reads from
39:02
the NIV. Those who are victorious will
39:04
inherit all of this, and I will be their God, and they will be
39:08
my children. He's describing now the
39:10
celestial Kingdom. And then in verse eight he
39:13
describes another. He says, But the fearful, the
39:16
unbelieving and abominable, the murders and whoremongers and
39:19
sorcerers and idolaters, all the liars shall have their part in a
39:23
lake, which burneth with fire, and brinstone, which is the
39:27
second death. And then in verse 9 in chapter
39:30
21 he reads There came unto me one of the seven angels which
39:34
had the seven vials full of the seven last plagues.
39:37
And he talked to me saying, come hit her and I will show thee the
39:41
bride, the lamb's wife. Verse 10 now reads.
39:45
And he showed me that great city, holy Jerusalem descending
39:50
out of heaven from God. And we get lots of verses trying
39:54
to describe this amazing city having the glory of God.
39:59
And her light was like unto stone, most precious even like
40:02
Jasper stone clear like crystal. Continuing on to verse 12.
40:06
It had a wall great and high. It had 12 gates, and all the
40:10
gates had 12 angels. And the names were written
40:13
thereon, which were the names of the tribes of Israel.
40:16
And the wall of the city had 12 foundations, and in them were
40:22
the names of the 12 apostles. So we have this, this number of
40:26
God's order, of God's organization, and it's being LED
40:30
from before his birth and then after his reign.
40:33
And throughout the history of the world, we have seen the same
40:36
teachings of Jesus Christ. It's just beautifully described
40:40
in the same manner that we see. Do you remember in the Old
40:42
Testament, Aaron, as the high priest was given a piece of
40:46
metal that he wore over his chest called the breastplate
40:49
that had the 12 Stones to represent the tribes of Israel.
40:52
Many of those stones are used to the same words here to describe
40:55
the holy city. They're the covenant.
40:57
And remember, Aaron is representing our Savior.
41:00
Jesus is the Great High Priest. Jesus is the one who actually
41:04
will take our sins upon him. It wasn't Aaron, it wasn't the
41:07
lamb, it was a representative of our Savior, and so we have a lot
41:11
of images that are the same between those two.
41:14
The New Jerusalem is also discussed in the Doctrine
41:16
Covenants. So if you're interested in more
41:18
information, Section 42, verse 945, verse 66, section 84, right
41:24
at the beginning two through four, section 133, verse 56, We
41:28
read about it in 3rd Nephi. The Lord describes it in chapter
41:31
21, verse 24, as well as in the Book of Ether, chapter 13, verse
41:35
10. But it interestingly, one of the
41:37
angels comes and tells John he wants him to measure the city.
41:40
Now in those days they used to measure with very long reeds,
41:44
but this Reed is gold. That was their measuring rod and
41:47
so they do them in different types of lengths.
41:49
And so your different translations will give you
41:51
whatever was being used by the translator at that time as a
41:54
measuring rod. Verse 17 and chapter 21 says he
41:57
measured the walls thereof, 144 cubits.
42:01
We are not surprised. I think these numbers are
42:03
symbolic. If it's 144, it's symbolic.
42:06
And a cubit was the King's measurement from the elbow to
42:09
the tips. So it's about a foot and 1/2 or
42:11
something. But because this number is 12
42:13
^2, it represents God's order perfected.
42:16
Now, if you read in some modern translations, they'll tell you
42:19
this cube is made-up of either 1500 miles or 2400 kilometers,
42:26
but each section is that long. So you have the length and the
42:29
width and the height. When you do the math, you come
42:32
up with different numbers because nothing's exact, but
42:34
it's like half the size of the United States.
42:37
This city, the new city, is larger than the nation of India.
42:41
It's absolutely enormous. And if you count up how many
42:43
flights of stories high it's coming, it's over a million
42:46
stories high. So I think it's symbolic.
42:48
I think he's saying there is room for all who are worthy to
42:53
come in, and it's a perfected place.
42:56
It says in verse 18 the city was pure gold like in the clear
43:00
glass, and the foundations of the walls of the city are
43:04
garnished with all manner of precious stones.
43:07
Continuing on in verse 23, the city had no need for the sun,
43:11
neither the moon to shine in it, for the glory of God did lighten
43:15
it, and the lamb is the light thereof.
43:18
And then skipping down to verse 27, there shall be no wise enter
43:22
into anything that defileth that they which are written in the
43:26
Lamb's book of life. And this is so important to do
43:30
those things that are required to have our name written in the
43:33
Lamb's book of Life, or Jesus's servants that he will honor.
43:40
It's hard to imagine not needing the Sun.
43:43
I don't know if this means the Earth will be taken and be near
43:46
cologue so that we can receive the light from God.
43:49
I do not know what this means, but it is referenced often in
43:52
the Doctrine Covenants as well. So finish up now.
43:55
Chapter 22, describing the Tree of Life.
43:58
The Tree of Life wears 12 manners of fruits and they
44:01
yielded her fruit every month, and the leaves of that tree were
44:04
for the healing of the nations. That's chapter 22, verse two.
44:08
One of our good Christian scholars on this is Margaret
44:12
Barker, and she describes what the early priest used to think
44:16
about the Tree of Life and how that ties into the Book of
44:19
Revelation. She says that it's a beautiful
44:22
connection. She said that the tradition of
44:24
the ancient priests in the temple thought themselves as
44:28
angels or messengers from heaven, and the Tree of Life
44:31
gave wisdom and eternal life. But the human pair disobeyed.
44:36
That's Adam and Eve, and they chose knowledge that could be
44:39
used for good or evil. And only then did they discover
44:43
that they were barred from the Tree of Life.
44:45
Satan's deception in Eden was to imply that both trees, the Tree
44:50
of Life and the Tree of Knowledge of good and Evil, had
44:52
the same benefit that both made humans like angels.
44:56
It was disobedience that was the problem, not the state they
45:00
aspired to. In the Book of Revelation this
45:03
is reversed. The faithful Christian is
45:05
promised access again to the Tree of Life, and this meant
45:09
access to the angelic state. So she may not have the whole
45:13
story, but she's got some great history that was part of the
45:16
earlier traditions. There's no more curse on the
45:18
land in verse 3. The throne of God and the Lamb
45:22
will be in the city, and his servants will serve him.
45:25
He will always be our God, and his name will be on our
45:28
forehead. And you remember, back in
45:30
Chapter 7 of Revelation, the righteous had their foreheads
45:34
sealed so that they did not have to endure all the calamities.
45:37
But now those who follow the prophets, those who've come unto
45:40
Christ, will have Christ's name on their foreheads.
45:45
Continuing on in chapter 22, I want to read from verse 6 the
45:49
NIV reads that the Lord sent his Angel to show his servant the
45:53
things that must soon take place.
45:55
The idea of soon is interesting and the idea of Angel is
45:59
interesting. An Angel is a messenger and
46:01
whether they are messengers who are physical or immortal, we can
46:05
all work to serve God. Verse 7 says, I am coming
46:08
quickly and blessed is the one who keeps the word of prophecy
46:12
of this book. Now poor John, At this point he
46:14
falls down and worships the Angel, and the Angel says to him
46:17
see that thou do it not, for I am thy fellow servant and have
46:21
thy brethren the prophets. Verse 10 says that John was told
46:26
seal not the sayings of the prophecy of this book.
46:29
He wants him to write it, he wants it to send it out, he
46:31
wants it the churches to know this information.
46:34
He ends the chapter 22 now with some witnesses and warnings and
46:39
exhortations. Starting in verse 16, He is this
46:41
beautiful name for the Savior. I am the root and the offspring
46:45
of David and the bright morning star.
46:48
And then in verse 17 the spirit and the bride say, Come, and let
46:54
him who hears say come, and let him who is thirsty come.
46:58
But then verse 18 is our tricky one.
47:01
If any man shall add unto these sayings, God shall add unto them
47:05
the plagues that are written in this book.
47:07
Now people who use this against the need for another book of
47:10
scripture like the Book of Mormon and the Doctrine
47:12
Covenants do not understand how the Bible was put together.
47:16
You know John's book is being written at a time before there
47:19
was a canonized scripture. When he's talking about don't
47:22
add to this book, he's talking about his scroll and and the
47:26
order that the scriptures were placed was by length and and
47:30
things like that. It it had nothing to do with
47:32
John being the last one to write.
47:34
And in fact we read the same kind of messages in Deuteronomy.
47:37
Deuteronomy 4. Deuteronomy 12.
47:39
Thou shalt not add there unto or diminish from it, even in
47:42
Proverbs add thou not unto this word.
47:45
The Old Testament wasn't canonized at this time, not even
47:49
any of Paul's. And John, no one else's writings
47:52
was canonized or stops. You know, it's a
47:54
misunderstanding of how the Bible came to be when that is
47:57
used against us. But of course Satan is just
47:58
using it against us. Verse 20 Now ends.
48:02
He who is a witness of these things says, yes, I come soon.
48:06
Amen. Reminds me of the promises given
48:09
elsewhere. John ends in verse 21.
48:13
Grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you all.
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Amen. And as we close this book, I too
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would like to say that I believe that Jesus is the Savior of the
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world and that he is coming, and that he has invited us to help
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prepare the way. In the name of Jesus Christ,
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Amen.