Latest / Scripture Central / ”Stand Forever” Ep. 1 | Will You Stand, or Will You Go Away? | Elder Lawrence E. Corbridge

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”Stand Forever” Ep. 1 | Will You Stand, or Will You Go Away? | Elder Lawrence E. Corbridge · Scripture Central

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  It doesn't matter how faithful you once were if you don't get
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  to the end. While it is not an easy path, it
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  is the only path worth pursuing and everyone is capable of
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  traveling and finished the course with the help of the
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  Lord. Jesus tenderly turns to the 12
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  and asks, will you also go away? Will you?
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  Hello, my name is Larry Corbridge and this is the Stand
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  Forever series which is about believing and following Christ
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  to the end, engaged in his work and helping others do the same.
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  This first episode is an introduction and overview of the
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  series. I served for several years as a
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  General Authority 70 for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter
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  Day Saints following a 30 year career in business and
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  commercial law. When I was given emeritus status
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  as a General Authority, I wrote a book titled Stand Forever that
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  may or may not ever be published.
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  The book is a broader umbrella to a narrower message I gave at
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  Brigham Young University in 2019, also with the title Stand
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  Forever, through a convergence of events including a
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  recommendation to present the book content in smaller segments
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  through a digital channel, and also the offer of Scripture,
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  Scripture Central and others to help with that.
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  I stand before you now in this first episode of the Stand
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  Forever series, again designed to inspire, instruct and
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  encourage anyone and everyone to believe and follow Christ to the
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  end, engaged in His work and help others do the same.
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  This is not something I would have done on my own.
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  I fear it may be misperceived as self promotional, as though
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  somehow I didn't get enough attention as a general authority
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  and need to continue to be in the public eye now.
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  But heaven knows I would have preferred to simply publish my
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  book and go fishing. There is no income motive
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  associated with this, in fact it it will cost a lot of money to
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  produce. But that's OK, whatever people
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  may think. My only objective is to persuade
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  people to believe and follow Christ as active, contributing
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  members of His church and help others do the same.
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  If it helps someone to that end, it will be reward enough.
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  This work overlays and amplifies Stand Forever, the BYU
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  devotional message. The primary assertions of that
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  talk about how to navigate the sea of disbelief and doubt, are
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  critical pieces to a larger puzzle.
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  My intent with this series is to piece together the larger
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  puzzle, the big picture. The big picture is a big deal.
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  Few things provide greater comfort, confidence, and clarity
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  than looking beyond present cares to see and remember the
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  big picture. Except for maybe the Holy
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  Spirit, there may be nothing more helpful to brave life's
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  perils than seeing and remembering the big picture, the
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  whole map. We may live life in the weeds,
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  but if we don't see beyond them, we will think life is only
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  weeds. When we stand back, the big
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  picture looks like this. The essential problem in life is
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  separation from God our Father. Without God, chaos, darkness and
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  death prevails. That's the first principle or
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  premise. The second is Jesus Christ
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  bridges the gap. If we will believe and follow
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  Him to the end and help others do the same.
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  He is the way offsetting chaos. He is the truth offsetting
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  darkness and the life offsetting death.
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  Therefore, the conclusion. Cross the bridge and close the
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  gap. Believe and follow Christ to the
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  end and again help others do the same.
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  That is the big picture in the primary framework for this
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  series. But before we go there, we need
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  to believe. And so believe is the focus of
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  the next two episodes, and then we will explore the big picture
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  in greater depth. The heart of all of this is
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  Jesus Christ as the way, the truth and the life.
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  General Authorities are commissioned to be special
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  witnesses of Jesus Christ. That does not mean.
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  It does not mean I am better or know more than anyone else, not
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  hardly. It does mean, however, I have
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  been given a charge to especially talk of Christ.
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  Rejoice in Christ prophecy of Christ and write according to
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  those prophecies that our children may know to what source
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  they may look for every mission of their sins.
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  As Nephi said, that charge to be a special witness of Jesus
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  Christ did not expire with emeritus status.
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  The Stand Forever series is my special witness of Jesus Christ.
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  The content of this series is grounded in truth.
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  Truth is the standard. The springs from which the BYU
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  devotional and now this series flow are the Scriptures, the
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  words of living prophets, and My life experience.
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  And two assignments as a general authority.
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  I'll explain those two assignments.
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  The first was what is called the Restoration and Cancellations
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  Committee. It is comprised of a group of
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  general authority, a small group who make recommendations to the
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  First Presidency about requests from Church members for a
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  restoration of temple and priesthood blessings previous
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  previously withdrawn, or when circumstances require special
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  permission to be sealed to a spouse.
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  The First Presidency makes those inspired decisions, but taking
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  into account and considering recommendations of the
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  committee. Reading those requests almost
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  every day for several years revealed a broad panorama of
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  human drama, heartache, conflict, redemption, truth, and
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  triumph, out of which clear realities and patterns emerged
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  which are not theory or someone's ideas, rather the
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  actual lived experiences of thousands of people revealing
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  what works and what does not. Some of those patterns and
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  lessons inform the content of this series.
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  In some instances I have used their own words to describe
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  their experiences, but to preserve their privacy and
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  anonymity, I have no record of their names, domicile, or any
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  other identifying information. The second assignment which
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  influences this series was a committee called the
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  Strengthening Church Members Committee.
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  It is comprised of a few people, primarily general authorities,
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  who consider ways the Church may further help and strengthen
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  members. A part of that charge was to be
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  aware of material antagonistic to the Church of Jesus Christ of
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  Latter Day Saints, its members, leaders, history, and teachings.
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  There may not be anything of that nature to which I've not
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  been exposed. Since that assignment changed,
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  however, I have not returned to wallow in that mire again.
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  As I said before in the BYU devotional, reading that
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  material always left me with a feeling of gloom, and one day
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  that sense of darkness inspired me to write a partial response
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  to all such antagonistic claims. Those reflections ultimately
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  became the framework for Stan Forever and now influence this
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  series as well. As I said in that devotional
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  address, although what I wrote was for my own benefit, I hope
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  it will help you as well. People say life is a journey.
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  Enjoy the journey, which is great.
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  But life is also about getting to the end, getting to the
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  destination to receive God's greatest gifts, His Son, his
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  Spirit, and his life, and help others do the same.
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  The destination is the fruit which is desirable to make one
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  happy. Even more than the journey, the
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  course is the gospel of Jesus Christ.
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  But it doesn't matter how far you go, how faithful you once
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  were, or how much you enjoy the journey if you don't get to the
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  end, Paul said. I have fought a good fight, I
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  have finished my course, I have kept the faith.
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  Henceforth there is laid up for me a crown of righteousness.
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  But fighting the good fight is not enough if you don't finish
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  the course and keep the faith. The Stand Forever series is
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  about finishing the course and keeping the faith, finishing
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  what you started when you agreed to come here in the first place.
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  Smelling the roses along the way is wonderful, but some are so
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  intent on living the dream and smelling roses, they don't go
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  anywhere. They have no idea or they forget
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  where they are going. The journey, however fragrant,
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  is merely meandering if you don't know where you are going.
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  Yes, there can and should be joy along the way, but the journey
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  is also fraught with opposition, deception, disillusion, mists of
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  darkness, peril, suffering, loss, betrayal, discouragement,
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  air abuse, temptation, pride and sorrow.
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  It is not the yellow brick road we merrily skip along while on
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  our way to Oz. It is a straight and narrow path
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  on which we press forward through through the mist of
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  darkness, clinging to the rod of iron as our life depends on it,
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  and make our way to the tree of life.
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  While it is not an easy path, it is the only path worth pursuing
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  and everyone, every last one, is capable of traveling and finish
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  the course with the help of the Lord.
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  We are all weak and incapable of finishing alone, but we're not
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  alone, or need not be. The Lord provides the strength
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  to finish if we will but lean on Him.
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  God's work will not fail. His Kingdom will prevail and
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  stand forever, as Moroni said, for the eternal purposes of the
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  Lord shall roll on until all His promises shall be fulfilled in
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  our day as well. The Lord revealed, saying, The
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  keys of the Kingdom of God are committed unto man on the earth,
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  and from thence shall the gospel roll forth unto the ends of the
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  earth, as the stone which is cut out of the mountain without hand
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  shall roll forth until it has filled the whole earth.
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  The prophet Daniel said the God of heaven would set up his
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  Kingdom at the in the last days, which would fill the whole earth
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  and never be destroyed. And continuing on, he said, And
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  the Kingdom shall not be left to other people, but it shall break
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  in pieces and consume all these kingdoms, and it shall stand
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  forever. The Kingdom of God on earth is
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  the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints.
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  It will stand forever. But will you?
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  And I? The day following the miracle of
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  the feeding of the 5000, Jesus said to the same people who were
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  fed the day before, I am the bread of life.
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  He said, He that cometh to me shall never hunger, and he that
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  believeth on me shall never thirst.
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  When they hear this, along with even the more difficult
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  statement saying, Whoever eateth my flesh and drinketh my blood
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  hath eternal life, many then say, Hearing that this is and
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  hard saying, who can hear it? And from this time forward, many
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  of his disciples go back and walk with him.
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  No more heartbroken, I think. Jesus tenderly turns to the 12
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  and asks, Will you also go away? That is one of the central
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  questions of life. It echoes down through the ages
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  to our day. Will you also go away?
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  Will you? Peter immediately gives the
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  perfect answer. Impetuous Peter, the Peter who
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  more than once airs in his discipleship, answers
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  instinctively and with stunning clarity, cutting through the fog
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  like a sharp knife, and says, Lord, to whom shall we go?
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  Thou hast the words of eternal life, and we believe and are
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  sure that thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God.
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  It was simple and clear cut for Peter, although he may not have
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  fully understood the Bread of Life sermon either.
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  Although he was troubled and confused from time to time, he
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  knew the primary truth and knowing that he was not
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  disaffected by lesser things. That was the difference between
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  Peter and the many of the Lord's disciples who went back and
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  walked no more with him. That was the difference.
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  The fact that those other disciples once walked with the
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  Lord is of little consequence now because they didn't finish.
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  They quit. They turned away, and turning
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  away, they went back. You can't simply step aside from
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  Christ without going back. Peter stayed the course.
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  Peter finished, not because he knew everything, but because he
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  knew the most important things. The question is, will you and I
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  stand? Will you stand forever or will
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  you go away? And if you go, where will you
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  go? Will you waver like a wave of
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  the sea, as Paul said, driven with the wind, tossed to and
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  fro, and carried about with every wind of doctrine, in this
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  sleight of men and cunning craft craftiness whereby they lie in
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  wait to deceive? Or will you rather discern
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  between truth and air, see through deception, and muster
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  the will to live the truth, come what may?
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  Will you be lukewarm? Or will you have the Lord's word
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  in your heart, as Jeremiah said, as a burning fire shut up in
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  your bones? Will you know and remember where
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  you're headed and muster the will to go there without
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  quitting, without backing off a way or out, not giving up in or
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  out, not pulling back or out, not retreating or surrendering,
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  not wimping out? Will you stand firm and unbroken
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  against the winds of opposition? Will you stand now, tomorrow,
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  and forever above the clouds of doubt and disbelief?
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  Finally, while you may pick and choose among the various
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  episodes of this series, I encourage you to take them in
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  their order. It's up to you.
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  But this is not a random collection of religious musings,
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  rather a carefully orchestrated series that leads to a
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  particular conclusion. And if you take the pick and
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  choose approach, you will miss the overarching message because
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  the whole is greater than the random sum of its parts.
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  I invite you to join me on this journey and stand forever.