Latest / Scripture Central / Come Follow Me Insights (May 22 - May 28)Joseph Smith—Matthew 1; Matthew 24–25; Mark 12–13; Luke 21

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Come Follow Me Insights (May 22 - May 28)Joseph Smith—Matthew 1; Matthew 24–25; Mark 12–13; Luke 21 · Scripture Central

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  Hello everyone. Thanks for listening to come.
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  Follow me, insights with Taylor and Tyler, presented by
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  scripture Central. We use a lot of visuals in our
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  videos. So if you want to see the
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  visuals, we invite you to find us on YouTube.
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  Thanks for listening and enjoy. I'm Taylor and I'm Tyler.
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  This is scripture Central's. Come follow me insights this
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  week. Joseph Smith, Matthew 1, Matthew
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  24 through 25, Mark 12 to 13 and Luke 21.
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  Now, we probably should say that, Reason we have so much
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  content here is that all of these gospel writers are focused
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  on these crucial events in the last week of Jesus life.
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  And we have all this additional perspective.
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  It's super helpful. That's why it's such a long
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  reading list. So, for this first episode this
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  week, we're going to focus on Matthew 24, and Joseph Smith,
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  Matthew for the second half episode for the next episode.
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  This week, we'll do Matthew 25. So episode 1 will focus on What
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  is called the Olivet discourse? It's also been referred to as
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  Jesus has little Apocalypse episode where he's he's going to
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  give some end time prophecies to his disciples back then.
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  And you'll notice, this is the one chapter out of the New
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  Testament that shows up in the pearl of great price.
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  Matthew 24, becomes Joseph Smith, Matthew, why is that?
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  We were talking beforehand and you shared some insights that I
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  hadn't even known. Yeah.
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  So over in England when Franklin d-- Richards member of The
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  Twelve is putting together this collection of writings and
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  prophecies and works attached to the Prophet Joseph Smith and
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  calling it the pearl of great price.
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  The intent was to give those Saints over in England.
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  Just this collection of here are some of the fruits of having a
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  prophet. So when he gives the book of
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  Moses in the pearl of great price, that's Moses, One through
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  eight that was Joseph Smith's biggest translation changes from
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  the Old Testament, from Genesis chapters 1 through 6:13.
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  And then he gives the the chapter with the most
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  significant and the highest number of Joseph Smith,
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  translation changes from the new testament which happens to be
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  Matthew 24. And so these, these two sections
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  in the prologue, Great price coming to us.
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  Out of the Bible are because Joseph made so many significant
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  changes just to give you an idea of that.
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  If you look at Matthew 24, it has approximately 1,000, 50
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  words, And Joseph Smith, Matthew has approximately 1,500 words.
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  So, you're noticing. We're adding 50 percent more to
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  the Olivet discourse than what we get in the New Testament.
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  And quite frankly, the Joe Smith, Matthew version is so
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  much clearer to understand, because it's going to give us
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  these two events, the Of Jerusalem leading up to 70 AD
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  and then the destruction of the certain things in the world in
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  the latter days and Joseph Smith.
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  Matthew makes a very clear breaking point and we'll show
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  you that whereas it all kind of gets muddled together a little
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  bit and becomes more confusing. When you just read the King
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  James version of Matthew 24, So we're very grateful to have the
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  Joe Smith translation here in the pearl of great price that
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  we're going to focus in on. Now, before we dive into Joe
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  Smith, Matthew, let's pick up one story that shows up in Mark
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  and Luke before. Right before we jump into this
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  Olivet discourse and it's the story of Jesus in the temple in
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  the treasury of the temple. If you look at this digital
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  Recreation, Of the temple at the time of Christ.
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  That once again you can find at Virtua scriptures dot-org.
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  The treasury is part of the court of the women.
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  You have these 13 trumpet-shaped chests around the perimeter of
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  this court under the porticos and you'll notice the metal
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  trumpet shape makes it so that if you drop coins into it, it's
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  going to amplify that sound and you've got 13 of these chests.
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  And each one is devoted to a different thing.
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  So you could donate to the the woods.
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  Supply, for the temple sacrifices, you could donate to
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  the poor. You could donate to help the
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  Priestly families continue to run the, the ordinances in their
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  Temple. And so you had all these
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  different options. And so we find Jesus in this
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  story in Mark 12:41 says, and Jesus sat over against the
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  treasury and beheld, how the people cast money into the
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  treasury? And many that were Rich cast in
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  much. Can you imagine how that might
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  have sounded? If you if some rich guy brings a
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  bag of coins and starts dumping it into one of these metal
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  trumpet-shaped chests? Yeah.
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  It's not a bad thing for them to do this but sometimes if you're
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  not careful in these settings it would be very easy to fall into
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  this trap of sounding the trumpets before you to be seen
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  of men. So to speak to get the glory of
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  the world. So everybody turns his wow.
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  Look what a holy righteous generous person.
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  That is Look at verse 42. There came a certain poor Widow
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  and she threw in two mites which make a farthing.
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  Two mites this, this smallest of the small coins and she throws
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  in two of them and you can probably in your mind's eye.
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  Imagine this Widow coming and not wanting to draw any
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  attention to herself and just quietly clapping these, these
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  two mites into the treasury. In this word that is used to
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  talk about. Describing her poverty, is, is
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  Toko sits one who crouches or cowers, or who is bent over.
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  And the, the idea is somebody who's just completely bent over
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  in a begging situation needing things from people, they're
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  completely destitute. Now, it's one thing to be a
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  peasant who doesn't have much, right?
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  There's Kings and the wealthy and then there's a peasant's
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  below the It's are the tacos. The people who are absolutely
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  poor destitute. Have nothing and it's just hard
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  to conceive of just how little she had in comparison to others.
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  Just a very very touching story. I wonder what she would say if
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  we could have a conversation with that Widow today.
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  I wonder if she would say something like, man.
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  Let me tell you how hard it was to part ways with those two
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  mites and to sacrifice those. I was so destitute and yet I
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  gave those to the Lord and I wish I wouldn't.
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  Have you think she would say that today?
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  I think I think sometimes we keep mortal.
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  Blinders on. And we don't see this eternal
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  perspective of The God Who holds worlds without number in his
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  hand, can look at this Widow sacrificing.
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  So little, but for her, which was so much and then rewarding
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  her. So openly perhaps, not with
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  wealth and riches in this life. But with things that are much
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  more, she just made an investment, In an eternal court
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  on high and an eternal Mansion. I love this this, unnamed Widow
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  for her example. Those farthings might be worth
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  10 to 20 minutes of work. So if you and I both worked for
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  10 minutes, we might get a farthing.
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  Now, she probably wasn't aware that day of what she felt like.
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  Was a very meager offering 10 or 20 minutes worth of value, We
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  asked ourselves. How's that multiplied that she
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  has taught over 2,000 years? Faithful Christians wanted to be
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  more like Jesus Christ about humility, more than the 10 or 20
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  minutes. Could have ever ever been X
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  single human? Isn't that fascinating that hurt
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  her too might sacrifice for to might offering was an investment
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  to become an immortalized. Object lesson and teacher for
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  all of us. 2000 years later we are, we are learning from this
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  woman because of that that little investment is she made
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  and in she's inspiring us to become a little bit more
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  consecrated to the Lord in our offerings.
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  I love that verse 43, Jesus called unto him, his disciples
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  and saith unto them verily. I say unto you that this This
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  poor Widow hath cast more in than all they, which have cast
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  into the treasury and all, they is all inclusive.
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  And he's saying that little to might investment was worth more
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  than everything else that was thrown into the treasury today.
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  Interestingly, I don't know if any other record in scripture of
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  anybody else putting money into the treasury besides her, that
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  we know about. And so Jesus is actually right.
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  Right. And notice his notice that the
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  way he qualifies that statement verse 44, for all they did cast
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  in of their abundance, but she of her want did cast in all that
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  she had even all her living brothers and sisters.
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  When you wake up on Sunday and feel poor spiritually, mentally,
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  physically, emotionally, whatever it may be. and if you
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  devote and consecrate what you do have, as little, as it may
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  seem to your calling to your family, to your loved ones and,
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  and it may seem so insignificant The Lord is able to multiply
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  that offering in ways that we can never foresee and never
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  predict even the that it's even noticed.
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  But the angels in heaven are silent notes, taking of all
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  this. So I love this little story as
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  the precursor into this chapter 24.
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  Now in Matthew. If we turn over, and instead of
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  reading it from Matthew 24, we're going to take advantage of
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  our Joseph Smith translation in Joe Smith, Matthew.
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  So again, keep in mind, usually, when we have Joe Smith
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  translations, it's either in the footnote or in the back of your
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  Bible, this is one exception in the New Testament, where this is
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  the jst Joe Smith translation form. 224.
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  So, let's pick it up here in the last verse of Matthew 23, which
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  is verse one of Joseph. Matthew, it says, for, I say
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  unto you, that, ye shall not see me henceforth and know that I
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  am, he of whom it is written by the prophets until you shall
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  say. Blessed, is he who cometh in the
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  name of the Lord in the Clouds Of Heaven and all the Holy
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  Angels with him? Now, some of you will recognize
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  that phrase blessed is he who cometh in the name of the Lord,
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  this is a phrase that comes out of Psalm 118.
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  And it was the phrase that is going, that was shouted.
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  During the triumphal entry, by that, that multitude of people
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  who came down into the Kidron Valley, they were shouting
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  Hosanna blessed, is he who comes in the name of the Lord, the son
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  of David remember our connection back to 1st Kings one, with with
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  Solomon, the son of David. Who's going to take the davidic
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  throne and Rule as a king in Jerusalem?
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  Well, Jesus just told them you're not going to see me again
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  until you shall say. Blessed.
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  Is he who comes in the name of the Lord?
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  Which tells us the Psalm 118 that incredible him for them is
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  a Messianic. Psalm And they thought they were
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  experiencing the coming of the Messiah to fulfill.
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  All those Old Testament prophecies that are alluding to
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  his second coming. Not his first coming.
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  And so now he's saying there will be a day when you're going
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  to sing these words again. And it's so many teen.
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  Verse 26 blessed, is he that cometh in the name of the Lord?
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  Keep in mind, last year in the Old Testament, study of Psalms.
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  We covered this that verse 26, that that triumphal entry
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  section. Starting in verse 25.
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  Save now, which if you read it in, the Hebrew is hoshanah, it's
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  a Hosanna. That's what they're shouting.
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  It is preceeded. Just barely in verse 22 with
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  this phrase, the stone, which the builders refused.
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  It is become The Headstone of the corner.
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  Another way we would say it today is the very rock that the
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  builders looked upon inspected and refused is actually going to
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  become the Chief Cornerstone on which this this kingdom is going
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  to be built. And we all know who that Chief
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  Cornerstone is in Christ. And if you look right after the
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  triumphal entry, the these Verses in Psalm 1. 2018 is says,
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  God is the Lord, which hath showed a slight bind.
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  The sacrifice was chords even unto the horns of the altar.
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  The symbolism is hauntingly beautiful here, that yes, there
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  is a messiah who's coming, who's going to save you.
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  But first, he needs to be rejected and the sacrifice is
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  going to be bound to the altar. ER and he's going to give his
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  life. So let's contextualize Psalm
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  118. Look at the first and second
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  verse in the last verse. O, give thanks unto the Lord for
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  he is good because his mercy endureth forever, that is, will
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  now say that his mercy endureth forever?
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  Now, jumping to verse 29 of Psalm 118.
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  Oh, give thanks unto the Lord for.
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  He is good for his mercy. Endureth forever, everything
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  that Jesus is doing is to secure and to demonstrate that his love
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  endures forever. I think it's worth repeating.
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  Here, there's a really important book that God brought forth as
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  part of the foundation of the restoration called The Book of
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  more men and the name is the lesson in ancient Egyptian.
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  The word Mormon comes from to Egyptian words, it means love
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  endures forever. Let me just get that in there.
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  And we see that right here in Psalm 118.
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  So we talked about the Book of Mormon.
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  It's the book of God's love endures forever.
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  And here we are leading up to that moment that culminating
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  moment where Jesus secures the Eternal foundations of that love
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  through his sacrifice really, really powerful stuff.
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  Another thing to remember from our Study last year in the Old
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  Testament is that Psalm 113 through 118 are the Halal or
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  praise hymns. And they were often sung at
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  Passover and other Festival events of the year and remember
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  in the Last Supper, a few days down the road from where we are
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  and in Matthew 24, and in Joe Smith, Matthew Jesus is going to
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  be singing. A Hymn with his Apostles makes
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  you wonder if Psalm 118 was in that mix, very likely was in
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  that mix right before he goes into Gethsemane.
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  Goodbye the trials and across the next morning on Friday
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  morning. Anyway, the symbolism here is,
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  is beautiful. As you think of this being a
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  chapter of end times. Well, this is a chapter of the
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  Prophecies of the end of the savior's life, which because he
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  stays faithful through all those trials, makes it so that we have
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  something to hope for, and to not be afraid with our own end
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  times. Collectively.
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  Or individually. So verse 1, the second half says
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  then, understood his disciples that he should come again on the
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  earth after he was glorified and crowned on the right hand of
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  God. So you're seeing this, that for
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  the first time, they're connecting some dots saying, oh,
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  wait a minute, you're going to come and get there's going to be
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  a second coming of our Messiah. So you're, you're going to
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  fulfill both sets of prophecies that before, they had pretty
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  much overlooked the suffering servant.
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  The the first coming prophecies in favor of the big.
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  What, what? In biblical studies is called
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  the eschatological prophecies. The end times apocalyptic kinds
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  of things, and they're starting to connect those dots for the
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  first time. Now we go into verse to know
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  when something ends that means. Something else is beginning.
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  So we get talking about the end times.
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  Sometimes we get fixated on just the conclusion and sometimes we
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  forget that the conclusion is the foundation of the starting
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  point for a, much more glorious future.
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  So, sure my life get hard and difficult.
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  Yes, but let's focus on where eventually story goes as we see
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  in the Book of Mormon, there's this powerful phrase and it came
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  to pass. So yes, we are going to go
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  through end times and then we'll have beginning types.
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  So the end times will come to pass so that we can have a new
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  beginning with God Jesus and all the angels of heaven.
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  That's beautiful verse 2 and Jesus went out and departed from
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  the temple and his disciples came to him for to hear him
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  saying master show us concerning the buildings of the temple.
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  As thou Hast said, they shall be thrown down and left unto you
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  desolate. They're looking at this huge
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  Temple mount that has taken 46 years to build.
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  It's had 10,000 workers. According to Josephus, 1,000
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  wagons 1000 priest. This has been a gargantuan
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  building project and he's saying yeah it's all going to be thrown
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  down and not one stone left on another that they're so
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  confused. Tell us about this.
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  It's the largest religious structure in the Roman Empire.
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  So Herod King Herod. The baby killer is called Herod,
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  the Great Neck as he was great, but he was a very great After he
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  was a bit of a megalomaniac. And so he just did things in an
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  outsized way. So he makes this prophecy in
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  verse 3, verily. I say unto you there shall not
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  be left here upon this temple. One stone upon another.
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  That shall not be thrown down. That's a pretty big prophecy.
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  And those are big Stones. Also a huge Stones.
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  If, in fact, if you go to Jerusalem today and go to the
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  southwest corner of Temple Mount into what is called the the
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  Davidson our key. Magical Park.
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  You can look at these pictures here of this street.
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  Going up the western side, these flagstones date back to the time
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  of Jesus. These big stones that you see in
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  the road here, those date back to when the Romans threw them
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  off of the Temple Mount up above and they're still there today.
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  You can see them in climb on them to give you a bit of
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  clarity. Think about, in Salt Lake City,
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  we have the temple building and then you have Of Temple Square
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  and surrounding Temple. Square is a wall and so many of
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  these rocks and stones you're looking at are from the wall
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  that surrounded. What essentially was Temple
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  Square with the temple inside. And sometimes people get
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  confused about the difference between the Temple Mount
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  equivalent to Temple Square and the temple itself just like we
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  have in Salt Lake City today, you have the temple building
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  which is distinct from the wall that surrounds the square
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  itself. Mmm.
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  And they're going to level All the buildings and all the walls
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  on top of the Temple Mount, but they're not going to tear down.
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  Temple Mount verse 4. Jesus left them and went upon
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  the Mount of Olives. And as he sat upon the mound of
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  Mount of Olives, the disciples came unto him privately.
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  Saying, tell us, when these things shall be, which thou Hast
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  said, concerning the destruction of the temple and the Jews, and
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  what is the sign of thy coming, and of the end of the world, or
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  the destruction of the wicked, witch is the end of the world.
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  Now, there is a Oracle element here in verse 4.
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  They're asking two questions. When shall these things?
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  Be the destruction of the temple.
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  The destruction of the Jews in Jerusalem.
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  When is that and what is the sign of thy coming at the end of
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  the world. So they want to things.
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  And Matthew Joseph Smith, Matthew helps us see that
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  distinction, very beautifully if you want to mark, your
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  scriptures verse 1 through 20 is where he's going to be See more
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  on Jerusalem and the Jews and the destruction back then.
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  And then in verse 21 through, 55, he answers their second
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  question, which is about his second coming when when he's
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  going to return to the Earth. So we get the signs of the times
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  in those verses to help make sense of this first section, the
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  destruction of the temple, the destruction of the Jews and
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  Jerusalem and the loss of their their Kingdom.
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  There, it might be helpful. Hopeful to see.
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  Oh, just a little timeline. So in 66 ad, you have Nero.
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  Who is the the Roman Emperor so Miro sends Vespasian to Israel?
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  Why? Because there's been this Revolt
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  that's been growing this. They're refusing to pay tribute
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  there. Starting to rise up in rebellion
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  and you have more zealots and that that influence is spreading
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  and Nero. Saying we can't have this, so
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  This Vision you're going to go and quill that, that Rebellion,
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  it'll be clear. There were many Jews who
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  actually some were actually really pleased to have the
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  Romans there. Others, just dealt with it and
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  some were just so radicalized, they're like, there can't be
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  anything Roman or non-jewish. Where and so Not only was a
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  revolt against Rome, but there was actually also an internal
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  civil war going on among the Jews about do we do we fully
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  assimilate to the Romans? Do we accommodate or do we 100%
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  resist or you can run away and those are kind of your four
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  options and the people who wanted to resist two arms,
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  created this problem and ended up creating serious destruction.
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  That's why Vespasian has to come and bring order back to where
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  they've been Is chaos, then in 68 ad Nero is going to die and
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  Vespasian returns to Rome to take his place as the new, the
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  new leader. This is interesting because one
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  of the great Jewish historians military leaders profit, And
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  priest is a guy named Josephus and Josephus who he actually
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  happened to be one of the Jewish generals fighting against Rome
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  and he realized actually I shouldn't be doing this Rome is
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  going to win and when he first encounters a space IAM A Space
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  Alien, according to her cephas or cephas prophesize that the
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  spacings to become the emperor. And when he does, Vespasian
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  remembers this and later hires Josephus to right, A story of
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  the Jewish people from the time of creation from an Abraham and
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  Abraham all the way down to the time when the Jews lost their
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  Temple. And this becomes a crucially
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  invaluable resource the writings of Josephus.
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  And just personally, I think it's interesting that he's a
• 26:08
  little bit like Mormon in some ways, he's a writer, a
• 26:12
  historian. He lives at the end of times for
• 26:16
  his people, he's a military General.
• 26:19
  He's a bit of a profit of of a priest.
• 26:20
  So, you get the Book of Mormon Josephus are interesting.
• 26:24
  Text at help us to look back on how have different people chosen
• 26:28
  to be faithful, God or not. And what are the consequences
• 26:31
  when people choose not to be faithful to God.
• 26:34
  Thank heaven that happened because Josephus in his, in the
• 26:37
  two big books Antiquities of the Jews and Wars of the Jews
• 26:41
  without him, there would be a lot of empty space in our
• 26:45
  understanding of how things happened and and how the history
• 26:51
  unfolded for these people. Well, when Vespasian returns to
• 26:56
  Rome, he leaves his son Titus in charge and you have three
• 27:02
  Legions of the Roman army in in Israel, fighting against the
• 27:10
  Jews and eventually besieging Jerusalem.
• 27:14
  And finally in 70 AD. Titus overthrows the the final
• 27:22
  group of holdouts in the temple and they carry them away captive
• 27:28
  and you can go to Rome Italy today and see, titus's triumphal
• 27:33
  Arch. I'm on the one side, you can see
• 27:37
  The Spoils of Titus overthrowing Jerusalem and carrying away
• 27:43
  those implements out of the temple in Jerusalem.
• 27:48
  And so if you do the math here, we're just a little over 30
• 27:52
  years after the crucifixion of Christ, all of these prophecies
• 27:58
  are going to come to pass, which we just need to say this.
• 28:02
  If you, if you do, Google searches on dating for the
• 28:06
  Apostle, or for the writings of the New Testament, like Matthew
• 28:09
  Mark, Luke and John, you'll often see the most people in the
• 28:14
  biblical studies realm are going to date the Gospels after 70 AD
• 28:21
  and is precisely because of these prophecies, but many
• 28:26
  people in the scholarly world, don't believe in Prophecy in
• 28:30
  Revelation. I don't believe that Jesus was
• 28:32
  divine, they don't believe in the Miracles and that's that's
• 28:35
  their choice. And so they say it's impossible.
• 28:37
  He could have gotten so much detail, correct, 30 plus years
• 28:42
  before it, it's going to happen. And so they say so Matthew,
• 28:46
  Mark, Luke and John all had to be written.
• 28:48
  After 70 AD, and there are other reasons for that, they give for
• 28:53
  making those those predictions on their dating.
• 28:57
  But as members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day
• 28:59
  Saints, we believe that Jesus is divine, we believe in his
• 29:04
  miraculous power and we believe in his ability to prophesy and
• 29:08
  to see and know the future very clearly until plainly what would
• 29:12
  happen. So we're not, we're not going to
• 29:16
  be held to those same. Dating limitations when trying
• 29:21
  to figure out when the New Testament was was first written
• 29:25
  a couple of additional historical anchors, it is
• 29:28
  interesting. Looking at this picture of the
• 29:30
  Arch of Titus, you can see the menorah all the temple treasure
• 29:33
  yet. To remember for the Jewish
• 29:35
  people, the temple was synonymous with their state with
• 29:39
  their government. The temple treasury was like
• 29:41
  where any government would hold all their money.
• 29:44
  So enormous amount of wealth, so tightest in the Romans did
• 29:47
  several things. Took all this money and they
• 29:49
  enslave the Jews that they captured.
• 29:52
  And they forced the Jews into Rome to build the Colosseum with
• 29:57
  the wealth of the temple. So, whenever you see the
• 29:59
  Colosseum in Rome, just know that was built by Jewish slaves
• 30:03
  from the wealth of the Jewish temple.
• 30:05
  Possibly even the Widow's two mites contributed to that.
• 30:08
  And it's just interesting that instead of work took for God
• 30:13
  where you would sacrifice animals to represent God's love
• 30:15
  for us the Roman sacrifice one. Other in gladiatorial.
• 30:19
  Combats is kind of sad. One final thing is, if you've
• 30:22
  ever heard of Masada, this like this fortress, on top of this
• 30:26
  little Mesa Plateau, those were the very final holdouts from the
• 30:30
  Jewish people, because the Jews who weren't captured in
• 30:34
  Jerusalem, some of them went down here.
• 30:36
  And said, we're going to protect ourselves against the Romans,
• 30:39
  and eventually, the Romans conquered up there as well.
• 30:43
  So let's let's dive into some of these prophecies that he gives
• 30:47
  them regarding the destruction of Jerusalem.
• 30:52
  So starting in verse 5, take heed that no man deceive you.
• 30:58
  There's an implication here that there will be many who are going
• 31:01
  to try to tell you things that are not true.
• 31:04
  I love how our prophets and Apostle's have taught so cling.
• 31:07
  So clearly that truth is truth. There's a Nielsen is made that
• 31:11
  statement multiple times And others have said it's not an
• 31:16
  Apostles job to make up Doctrine.
• 31:18
  Just because people want to hear it that way.
• 31:21
  They are only allowed to teach what God authorizes them and
• 31:26
  asks them to teach and they're not going to deceive You.
• 31:30
  Verse 6 says, for many shall come in my name saying, I am
• 31:34
  Christ and shall deceive many, so they're going to be false
• 31:37
  Christ. I can tell you a brief story.
• 31:38
  I gotta get my details a little bit off, but back during the
• 31:42
  Ottoman Empire, A hundred years ago, what is now turkey?
• 31:45
  There was a Jewish person who rose up and said I am the
• 31:48
  Messiah and convinced a lot of Jews who were still waiting for
• 31:51
  the Messiah to come to deliver them and the ottoman authorities
• 31:55
  were not super pleased with this guy.
• 31:56
  They captured him brought him in and they gave him a choice,
• 31:59
  either convert to our religion or lose your life.
• 32:04
  And it's interesting. He didn't die.
• 32:06
  He converted. And he was essentially lost to
• 32:09
  history after that. But you had all these people who
• 32:12
  have been following Him and I get left out in the cold that he
• 32:15
  had been a false Messiah. Now that's an extreme example
• 32:17
  but we have teacher sent from heaven Apostles and Prophets,
• 32:23
  they teach us to follow Jesus Christ, we live in a world Awash
• 32:27
  in chaos and their safety in knowing what the truth is.
• 32:31
  By listening the prophets, we don't have to be led astray by
• 32:34
  the whims of men. So let's just pick up a couple
• 32:39
  more of these verses verse 9 and many false prophets, shall
• 32:42
  arrive and shall deceive our rise and shall deceive many and
• 32:46
  because iniquity shall abound, the love of many shall wax cold.
• 32:52
  Did you notice the cause and effect that Jesus used their
• 32:55
  because iniquity shall abound, the love of many shall wax cold
• 33:03
  and Nick witty leads to a decrease of love.
• 33:08
  It waxes cold. If you, if you're lacking, love
• 33:13
  increased righteousness, increase your faith in God, turn
• 33:17
  to him more completely. Give your life more fully to
• 33:20
  him, listen to His prophets and love will wax warmer in your
• 33:27
  life. Is the is the unwritten X
• 33:30
  implication here. I love Article of Faith 13.
• 33:34
  There's a variety of principles laid out for Or how we can, stay
• 33:38
  grounded in truth. It says, we believe in being
• 33:41
  honest, true, chaste benevolent, virtuous, and doing good to all
• 33:48
  men and then I'll jump to the end if there is anything.
• 33:52
  Virtuous, lovely or of good report or praiseworthy, we seek
• 33:58
  after these things, that's a pretty beautiful invitation that
• 34:02
  really any one of us has the capacity to do so in your life,
• 34:06
  if you find yourself. Confused or frustrated by
• 34:09
  competing voices. You can ask yourself.
• 34:13
  Am I listening to honest? People, who are benevolent and
• 34:17
  good? Am I seeking to do good?
• 34:20
  Am I seeking to love other people?
• 34:23
  Do I find myself addicted to anger, and frustration with
• 34:28
  others or my willing to practice forgiveness to myself and to
• 34:32
  those around me in, am I seeking what?
• 34:34
  Truly is virtuous and lovely and turning away from those things
• 34:39
  that are not and as Fallen nature human beings.
• 34:42
  If I suffer this to, it's easier to get sucked into.
• 34:47
  It's easy to get addicted Into Darkness and anger, and
• 34:51
  frustration and to not love people.
• 34:54
  But this invitation, we have, from our whole Faith, 13, I
• 34:58
  believe is an antidote and also part of the way that we can help
• 35:03
  ourselves not be deceived, as Jesus said, will happen to those
• 35:07
  who don't have love. So he then describes in in verse
• 35:12
  13 through 17, the actual destruction and where what you
• 35:20
  should do, flee, run Verse 18 for then.
• 35:25
  In those days, shall be Great Tribulation on the Jews and upon
• 35:28
  the inhabitants of Jerusalem, such as was not before sent upon
• 35:31
  Israel of God. Since the beginning of their
• 35:34
  Kingdom, until this time, no nor ever shall be sent.
• 35:39
  Again upon Israel, three Roman Legions, unleashing, the might
• 35:44
  and power of Rome on this little Outpost of the Roman Empire, the
• 35:49
  5th, the 12th, and 15th Legions. You can just imagine the terror
• 35:54
  that these people are going through verse 20.
• 35:56
  And except those days should be shortened.
• 35:58
  There should no. None of their flesh, be saved,
• 36:01
  but for the elects sake, according to the Covenant, those
• 36:04
  days shall be shortened. The Covenant, we're talking
• 36:08
  about Goes back to Genesis chapter 12, 15 18, it's the
• 36:12
  abrahamic. Covenant were God has promised
• 36:15
  Abraham posterity prosperity and land.
• 36:19
  And God is saying, because I've made a covenant to offer that to
• 36:22
  his children. I am not going to allow all
• 36:25
  these people to be cut off and destroyed.
• 36:27
  And interestingly, you could connect this.
• 36:30
  Similarly, to the lamanites, they are children of Abraham and
• 36:34
  that is one of the reasons why God did not allow the entire
• 36:38
  nation. Has to die off but he like he's
• 36:41
  doing for everyone today. Inviting the back in reminding
• 36:44
  them. Here's the cover that I've made
• 36:46
  you all have access to it. Please be loyal to me.
• 36:49
  So that's that's kind of in the background.
• 36:50
  What's going on here? Now we go jump to verse 21,
• 36:53
  which is a very critical point in Joe Smith, Matthew because
• 36:59
  this is the transition Behold these things I have spoken unto
• 37:04
  you concerning the Jews. So I've now answered your first
• 37:08
  question that you asked sitting here on the Mount of Olives.
• 37:12
  Now he transitions to the second question and again, so if you
• 37:18
  just Mark those two words and again it's it's the turning a
• 37:23
  page after the tribulation of those days which shall come upon
• 37:28
  Jerusalem. If any man shall say unto you,
• 37:31
  You Lo here is Christ or there. Believe him not.
• 37:35
  So from this time forward were focused now on what many people
• 37:39
  call the apocalypse. And we'll talk about this at the
• 37:42
  end of the year, when we get to the Book of Revelation, which in
• 37:45
  many English Bibles is called the apocalypse, which is not
• 37:48
  meant to be this fearful, scary word.
• 37:52
  It's men in Greek to reveal to uncover, to make clear to Shew
• 37:58
  you plainly these things that are going.
• 38:01
  To happen. Why?
• 38:03
  Look at verse 22 for in those days, there shall arise, false,
• 38:08
  Christ's and false prophets, are going to show great signs and
• 38:12
  wonders insomuch that if it were possible, they shall deceive the
• 38:14
  very elect who are elected according to the Covenant.
• 38:18
  These would be people who have entered into Covenant.
• 38:20
  With with God, even many of them are going to be deceived.
• 38:25
  Why verse 23, behold, I speak these things unto you for the
• 38:29
  elects sake. And you shall hear of wars and
• 38:34
  rumors of wars. See that ye be not troubled for
• 38:38
  all I have told you must come to pass but the end is not yet.
• 38:43
  Did you catch the significance here?
• 38:46
  The whole point of an apocalypse or of a revelation of an
• 38:51
  uncovering, an unveiling and making things clear isn't so
• 38:54
  that we walk around with our knees shaking together and
• 38:56
  trembling in fear and anxiety of all the bad things that are
• 39:00
  going to happen in little are Around this, it's quite the
• 39:04
  opposite. It's the will calmly put our
• 39:08
  faith in our trust in God and say yep he told us this would
• 39:12
  happen and there is happening. Great Is Our God and he's
• 39:18
  prepared us for this moment. He's given these prophecies for
• 39:23
  the elects sake, so that we don't need to be troubled, be
• 39:27
  not troubled, doesn't sound to me, like Casual suggestion is
• 39:35
  sounds. Like almost a command.
• 39:38
  Don't be afraid. Be not troubled.
• 39:41
  Let me also use this brief metaphor.
• 39:44
  Imagine you are going to watch a movie or read a book.
• 39:46
  That was very dramatic. And without, and somebody told
• 39:50
  you in advance, kind of the plot line that there was going to be
• 39:53
  enormous disaster going on at some point later on in the book
• 39:56
  and it's going to feel really stressful.
• 39:59
  But at the end of all the plot points, get all It up and
• 40:01
  everything works out, and it's beautiful, and all the heroes
• 40:04
  come together and they live happily ever after.
• 40:07
  So when you got to that point the movie or the book, it might
• 40:10
  be kind of intense but you're like, oh, I know how this all
• 40:12
  ends now. Typically I don't like to be
• 40:14
  told in advance how historians because I kind of like to
• 40:17
  experience at the moment. Jesus actually has already
• 40:19
  revealed everything, he doesn't want us to be freaked out in the
• 40:22
  middle of the story, the middle of your life.
• 40:24
  Like what's going to happen? We already know.
• 40:26
  We can just be calm and if will simply follow his progress,
• 40:31
  Prophets. We really don't need to be
• 40:33
  afraid because the profits are preparing us.
• 40:36
  They're talking about preparing the Earth for the second coming.
• 40:39
  Look at the number of temples. Look at the number of
• 40:41
  missionaries. Look at the number of people who
• 40:44
  with with callings and with power from God, our are doing
• 40:49
  his work to prepare the world for the second coming of the
• 40:52
  Savior. It's beautiful.
• 40:54
  We don't need to turn to social media or to false prophets or
• 41:01
  false. Price to get our answers as to,
• 41:05
  when things are going to culminate, just follow the
• 41:08
  prophets. Surely the Lord God will do
• 41:11
  nothing until he Reveals His Secrets unto his servants, the
• 41:14
  prophets from Amos 3:7. So, if you look down at verse
• 41:21
  29, he repeats this idea. Behold I speak for mine, elects
• 41:26
  sake, for nation shall rise against nation and Kingdom
• 41:30
  against Kingdom. Adam.
• 41:31
  There shall be famines pestilence earthquakes in divers
• 41:35
  places, and we're seeing that. And it's growing.
• 41:41
  It's a fun exercise to take justice Matthew starting in
• 41:44
  verse 21, through verse 55 and list.
• 41:48
  If you would like to go into a deeper study lists all of the
• 41:51
  prophecies and then make a note of whether they are unfulfilled,
• 41:58
  partially fulfilled, or completely fulfilled.
• 42:01
  And it's impossible to be more fulfilled.
• 42:04
  At that point what you're going to find as you go through these
• 42:07
  verses, is that many of these things are underway?
• 42:11
  They're partially fulfilled and they're continuing to be
• 42:14
  fulfilled. But the end is not yet there
• 42:17
  still more to happen. So look at verse 31 again, this
• 42:23
  Gospel of the Kingdom shall be preached in all the world for a
• 42:28
  witness unto all nations and then shall the End come or the
• 42:32
  destruction of the wicked? Don't you love the fact that he
• 42:35
  doesn't just put in here? The scary destructive pestilence
• 42:39
  and natural disaster kind of prophecies but he also throws in
• 42:44
  the fact. And and if you put it in the
• 42:47
  context of Jesus sitting on the Mount of Olives, looking to the
• 42:52
  west, to the city of Jerusalem there on Mount Moriah and Mount
• 42:56
  Zion with his Apostles, surrounding him and him saying
• 43:02
  the gospel is going to be preached in all the world for a
• 43:07
  witness unto all nations. Wow, if you zoom out from that
• 43:13
  mountain on that moment and Picture this Latter Day prophecy
• 43:18
  of what you and I today now get to be involved in this great
• 43:24
  Latter-Day Gathering of the House of Israel.
• 43:27
  Preaching, the gospel in all corners of the world.
• 43:31
  And it's only going to grow what a privilege.
• 43:34
  These really are the best of times rather than focusing on
• 43:38
  the negative. Let's recognize there was never
• 43:41
  a better time to live than right now.
• 43:44
  We have more More power, more temples, more abilities that God
• 43:52
  has given us or truth or goodness more opportunities is
• 43:56
  life hard? Yes, yes, their difficulties.
• 43:59
  Absolutely in families and individuals communities.
• 44:02
  And yet across all of human history there's never been a
• 44:06
  more glorious time than right now and if we can just remember
• 44:10
  that we fought a war in heaven, to get down here and of all
• 44:15
  humans, I've ever lived. We have the most tremendous
• 44:18
  opportunities. Let's Embrace that with joy and
• 44:20
  alacrity and move forward with faith and goodness and share
• 44:24
  that love and light with people everywhere.
• 44:25
  Sure, we're aware that there's going to be some chaos.
• 44:28
  But what good story doesn't have a bit of conflict or or
• 44:32
  disruption to the plot line, where people have to exercise
• 44:36
  faith and actually demonstrate their heroic capabilities that
• 44:39
  receive from God. That's just, that's just good.
• 44:42
  A good story of a good story. I love it.
• 44:45
  You'd think that Charles Dickens in A Tale of Two Cities was
• 44:50
  speaking of us. Today, these were the best of
• 44:53
  times. These were the worst of times
• 44:55
  and you get to decide which of those two elements of that,
• 45:00
  couplet you focus on because it's very easy to get
• 45:03
  discouraged and filled with fear and anxiety, and depression
• 45:07
  with, with all the, the worst of times elements that we see going
• 45:10
  on. But, when you stick with God's
• 45:12
  prophets, when you put your faith in Christ, That he's in
• 45:16
  charge and he's not up in the heavens.
• 45:17
  Looking at these wars and rumors of wars and pestilence and
• 45:20
  disease and natural disasters. He's not wringing his hands
• 45:24
  together saying, oh, oh, oh no, what are we going to do?
• 45:27
  He he told us these book that happened.
• 45:30
  It's like it's part of the plan. It's like a director of a movie
• 45:33
  where the director of the movie is actually working through like
• 45:35
  the climactic scenes that the directors not worried.
• 45:38
  Like I wonder if this whole movie is just going to flop, he
• 45:41
  understands where everything's going and it's going to be a
• 45:43
  glorious end and everyone's going to walk.
• 45:45
  Out of the theater saying that was an amazing story and we will
• 45:48
  get to a point in the future will say, that was so amazing,
• 45:53
  what God the director of Our Lives has done and that was the
• 45:56
  most amazing story to participate in.
• 45:58
  And I really wish I hadn't been so sucked into all the drama
• 46:03
  that I'd actually enjoyed and experienced the beauty and
• 46:06
  goodness that God had provided. So, let's jump down to verse 37
• 46:10
  who's so treasure as up. My word shall not be deceived.
• 46:15
  Saved. Can I just say it that if you
• 46:19
  spend more time president Nelson taught us.
• 46:23
  This, this idea that if you spend more time reading social
• 46:27
  media and the and tuning, your ears, and your mind, and your
• 46:32
  heart to the voices of the world, then you do to treasuring
• 46:37
  up the words of Christ in scriptures and the words of his
• 46:39
  living prophets and from truly inspired sources, don't be
• 46:44
  shocked. When you when you find that your
• 46:47
  Ace is starting to struggle and suffer and Wayne don't be
• 46:53
  shocked when you start to be filled with more fear.
• 46:58
  I love this idea. If you treasure up his word, you
• 47:02
  will not be deceived for the son of man shall come, and he shall
• 47:06
  send his angels before him with the sound of a trumpet.
• 47:10
  And they shall gather together, the remainder of his elect from
• 47:14
  the Four Winds from one end of Heaven to the other.
• 47:17
  Other you, and I want to be a part of that army of angels
• 47:22
  working collaboratively on both sides of the veil, to go out
• 47:27
  and, and share this message with the world because it is a
• 47:30
  glorious message in the face of great adversity and building
• 47:33
  upon the idea of treasuring, the good things that God has
• 47:36
  provided. I've ever talking to some
• 47:39
  students at one point and saying would you purposely consume
• 47:42
  really unhealthy food or illicit drugs like drugs?
• 47:47
  Really dangerous. And I know I said, well if
• 47:50
  that's the case, if you wouldn't ingest that into your body, why
• 47:54
  would you ever choose to ingest into your brain?
• 47:57
  Elicit information, destructive information, or information
• 48:01
  that's going to tear you away from God and truth and love and
• 48:04
  beauty. And so this is part of what
• 48:06
  God's asked inviting us. There's never been more
• 48:09
  opportunity than today for access to information, but why
• 48:13
  not just choose the good stuff and just reject the Overwhelming
• 48:17
  onslaught of bad that can dictate us to anger, and
• 48:23
  frustration, and ignorance, and fear when we have so much light.
• 48:27
  These Treasures that God has provided.
• 48:30
  Let us not find ourselves distracted by Darkness, but
• 48:34
  instead he embraced by the Light.
• 48:36
  So now we jump down to verse 38 where he gives a little to verse
• 48:40
  Parable now. Learn a parable of the Fig Tree
• 48:43
  when its branches are yet tender and it begins to put forth
• 48:45
  leaves you know that summer. Is nigh at hand so he sent.
• 48:50
  You don't have to wonder when summer is coming.
• 48:52
  Just look at the fig trees. You can see when the signs are
• 48:57
  leading you to know. Oh, summer is really close.
• 49:01
  So likewise mine elect when they shall see.
• 49:05
  All these things. Everything that we've covered
• 49:08
  from verse 21 up through verse 37.
• 49:11
  All these prophecies. He says that's like the Fig
• 49:14
  Tree. This is a parable.
• 49:15
  You can see oh Oh yep. We're getting closer and closer
• 49:19
  to the coming of Christ and they shall know that he is near even
• 49:24
  at the doors and then he gives a little Caution verse 40 but Of
• 49:31
  that day and hour. No one knows.
• 49:34
  No, not the angels of God in heaven, but my father only
• 49:40
  Recognize that he didn't even include himself in the list
• 49:43
  there. I don't know if that means that
• 49:46
  he didn't know at that moment on the Mount of Olives when his
• 49:49
  second coming was going to be and that wouldn't bother me if
• 49:53
  he didn't know that at that point because it wasn't
• 49:56
  necessary. He had to finish his mortal
• 49:59
  Ministry and to complete his first coming before his Focus
• 50:04
  fully would shift to then preparing the world for his
• 50:07
  second coming. But you'll notice in section 49
• 50:11
  of the Doctrine and Covenants verse 7 in that great prophecy,
• 50:16
  given to the shaking Quakers that in verse 7.
• 50:21
  He doesn't include himself in the list of people who don't
• 50:23
  know the day or the hour of his coming.
• 50:26
  So verse 41, now goes on to say but as it was in the days of
• 50:32
  Noah so it shall be also at the coming of the son of man.
• 50:36
  So he's describing here the wickedness.
• 50:40
  And the struggles at the time of Noah are going to come back
• 50:44
  right before his second coming. For it shall be with them as it
• 50:48
  was in the days which were before the flood.
• 50:52
  So what do we do here? We sit in the latter days.
• 50:57
  With all of these, all of these signs of the Fig Tree putting
• 51:01
  forth heard leaves and some of those initial buds of fruit and
• 51:05
  we say, the summer is nigh at hand.
• 51:08
  We listen to our profits, more than we listen to the voices of
• 51:11
  the world and all of the experts of the blogosphere.
• 51:17
  And we hear more talk of preparing.
• 51:22
  The world for the second coming of the Savior.
• 51:24
  So what do we now do? What is our, what is our job
• 51:28
  verse 46? And what I say unto one, I say
• 51:32
  unto all men watch therefore for, you know, not at what hour
• 51:38
  your lord doth come. I love this.
• 51:42
  Because if we're not careful, we will spend so much time so much
• 51:48
  energy and effort, focusing on an event.
• 51:51
  The coming of Jesus Christ. The second coming, the, this
• 51:56
  Grand and glorious event of at that day.
• 52:01
  And if we're not careful, we're going to miss the entire process
• 52:07
  of becoming more like him and preparing to receive him into
• 52:13
  our own life. To the point where we miss out
• 52:17
  on the joyous Journey, Discipleship because we're
• 52:24
  looking for some event of Salvation and we miss it because
• 52:30
  our Focus has been on the wrong things, it doesn't mean that
• 52:34
  we're not supposed to look forward to his day.
• 52:36
  We do. But we look forward to his day
• 52:40
  by walking, the Covenant path by becoming more firm in our three
• 52:46
  identities. That President Nelson act asked
• 52:48
  us to focus on Child of God. Child of the Covenant disciple
• 52:53
  of Christ. If we focus on those three
• 52:56
  things, then whether it happens today or tomorrow the second
• 53:00
  coming, we're going to be ready. But if we put all of our eggs in
• 53:04
  the event basket, trying to calculate when it's going to be
• 53:07
  and looking at all the prophecies and line them up, and
• 53:10
  we're not loving God and loving our neighbor in the process.
• 53:13
  Well, then when he does come, it won't be a glorious event for
• 53:17
  us. A use a metaphor.
• 53:19
  So I work with a lot of college students and many of them
• 53:22
  appropriately are very excited about graduating.
• 53:26
  That's a big event, but some of them, unfortunately, get stuck
• 53:30
  in and jumping through the hoops.
• 53:32
  And not really embracing The Full Experience of what a
• 53:37
  college education is about, like the learning and they get to
• 53:40
  this event and they graduate and Tada.
• 53:43
  It's like wait a second. Life goes on and I didn't Really
• 53:49
  fully prepare myself because I was just kind of going through
• 53:51
  the motions, trying to rush to get to this vent thinking this
• 53:55
  suddenly everything's done, I'm saved.
• 53:57
  There's an entire life after that and so is life hard.
• 54:02
  Yes, but let's work again with joy and love and alacrity.
• 54:06
  And remember, we know this event is going to happen and even
• 54:09
  better. Yet we know as a bunch of
• 54:11
  awesome events, afterwards of enormous glory and joy, and we
• 54:15
  can be learning for the entire process.
• 54:18
  SS. That is one of the key purposes
• 54:20
  of passivation and why the atonement of Jesus Christ is so
• 54:23
  freely available. It's to underscore all of our
• 54:26
  learning to become more like him.
• 54:28
  So, journey of Discovery and how many prophets have told us
• 54:34
  president, Monson. Really emphasizes phrase, find
• 54:36
  joy in the journey instead of fear and trepidation.
• 54:41
  So now we conclude verse 48, therefore be ye also ready for
• 54:46
  in such an hour as ye think, not Not the son of man cometh.
• 54:51
  And then Jesus asks, a series of questions here in verse 49, who
• 54:57
  then is a faithful and wise servant, whom his Lord.
• 55:01
  Hath made ruler over his household to give them meat in
• 55:05
  due season blessed, is that servant whom his Lord?
• 55:09
  When he cometh shall find? So doing Brothers and sisters.
• 55:15
  That is the key. That is this.
• 55:18
  The foundation .43 Parables that?
• 55:22
  We're going to cover in the second episode for this week.
• 55:26
  Parables given for the elects sake of, how do I prepare to
• 55:33
  meet the Lord? Whether it be at his second
• 55:35
  coming or whether it be in death, what can I do to be a
• 55:39
  faithful? And wise servant he will.
• 55:43
  Come again. Scriptures are very clear about
• 55:46
  that are prophecies are very clear about that.
• 55:50
  And the question is, will I be ready when he comes?
• 55:55
  And it's our prayer that will all more Faithfully engage in
• 56:00
  our covenant path progression, and find joy.
• 56:04
  In that Journey So this this entire chapter is is filled with
• 56:13
  beautiful principles for how to prepare for the Lord's second
• 56:18
  coming and it comes by way of three Parables and remember
• 56:23
  Joseph Smith key to unlocking meaning and being able to better
• 56:27
  interpret Parables is you look at the question, you look at the
• 56:30
  setting, you look at what was on people's mind when Jesus shared
• 56:35
  the parable. And in this case, The Parables,
• 56:38
  So we mentioned in part one that if you go back to Matthew 24
• 56:43
  verse 45, that's where Jesus himself asks, the question that
• 56:49
  he is, then going to answer using those three Parables.
• 56:52
  Here are the questions who then is a faithful, and wise servant,
• 56:58
  whom his Lord. Hath made ruler over his
• 57:01
  household to give them meat in due season.
• 57:04
  So if you, if you unpack some of those words, Is there in verse
• 57:08
  45 for a moment? The implication is that there
• 57:11
  would be not faithful and not wise or foolish servants.
• 57:18
  So we're not talking about enemies of the Lord.
• 57:22
  We're not talking about Outsiders, we're talking about
• 57:25
  Servants of the Lord people who are in a covenant connection
• 57:28
  with him who he has given directions to he's given his his
• 57:34
  Commandments to and they're not staying loyal.
• 57:38
  They're being foolish, they're being unwise.
• 57:41
  And so you get this contrasts in all three of these Parables
• 57:45
  where you're going to see a good example and a bad example
• 57:49
  juxtaposed right next to each other because then it highlights
• 57:53
  the difference between foolish and wise between a faithful and
• 57:59
  an Unfaithful or disloyal servant, as we as we strive to
• 58:05
  then find ourselves on that. Faithful and loyal side of the
• 58:09
  line, it's a powerful teaching technique.
• 58:12
  There's two important things. Jesus is doing actually, I throw
• 58:14
  in a third asking, good questions.
• 58:17
  Let's get prompt questing or thinking teaching with case
• 58:21
  studies or using narratives or stories to illustrate a point
• 58:26
  and then those narratives using contrasts.
• 58:29
  So if you are in a teaching moment or in a teaching
• 58:33
  situation, you might look at what Jesus did ask good
• 58:36
  questions of your audience use. Case studies that are relevant
• 58:39
  to the people. And in those case studies, a
• 58:41
  little narratives, put up to clear contrast, so people can
• 58:45
  see. Good example, bad example, and
• 58:48
  then walk away and see how those principles apply to their own
• 58:50
  lives. So let's jump in.
• 58:53
  Let's, let's see how Jesus answers his own question of who
• 58:58
  is faithful and wise in preparing for his second coming,
• 59:03
  will converse one, we're going to pick up the Joseph Smith
• 59:06
  translation down in the footnote.
• 59:08
  And then at that day before the son of man comes.
• 59:13
  So he's giving an implication here from the Joe Smith
• 59:17
  translation for us to be able to say, whoa he's talking about our
• 59:22
  day, not just speaking to the apostles in their day, which the
• 59:28
  beauty of scripture is you can liken all scripture to yourself
• 59:32
  at any time, the key for us is to not keep these stories locked
• 59:37
  up. In their historical setting 2000
• 59:40
  years ago and Joseph Smith adding that little line there at
• 59:44
  the beginning of verse 1, unlocks with his prophetic key,
• 59:49
  the the power of these Parables to bring them forward to us and
• 59:53
  say okay this is this is just as relevant in the 21st century as
• 59:59
  we're getting closer and closer to the second coming of the
• 1:00:01
  Savior as it was back then more so.
• 1:00:05
  So then shall the Kingdom of Heaven be likened.
• 1:00:08
  Likened unto ten virgins, which took their lamps and went forth
• 1:00:12
  to meet the bridegroom. So let's make some a couple of
• 1:00:15
  things. More clear here, these are ten
• 1:00:19
  virgins. These are pure people.
• 1:00:22
  These once again, our covenant members of the church in this
• 1:00:26
  context, these aren't Outsiders. And so they take their lamps and
• 1:00:31
  they go, the middle, they're not called foolish unwise.
• 1:00:34
  And verse one is they got their lamps, they've all got lamb.
• 1:00:38
  Amps and we're going to we're going to go to meet the
• 1:00:41
  bridegroom now based on this, Parable and other writings from
• 1:00:47
  the first century is seems that what you have is this
• 1:00:52
  progression? Let me get the spelling right,
• 1:00:56
  you have the groom's house, you have the bride's house, And you
• 1:01:04
  have her guests with her and you have his wedding family and
• 1:01:10
  guests with him at his house. And it seems that what happens
• 1:01:15
  is the groom at any time, once the sun sets they usually do
• 1:01:22
  these these weddings in the evening or in the night once the
• 1:01:26
  sun sets, he will take his party and come to the bride's house.
• 1:01:32
  Pick up her group and then they will come back to the groom's
• 1:01:37
  house where the, their marriage ceremony will be performed,
• 1:01:42
  they're not going to the synagogue.
• 1:01:43
  They're not marching down an aisle.
• 1:01:44
  They're not coming to an altar. It's a very different wedding
• 1:01:49
  ceremony than what you might be familiar with in all of our
• 1:01:53
  settings today in the Christian world.
• 1:01:56
  And so people who are going to be invited to come that aren't
• 1:02:01
  in the It circle of friends and family for either the groom or
• 1:02:06
  the bride. They're out here along the way
• 1:02:11
  waiting to be picked up in this wedding, processional to then go
• 1:02:17
  to the groom's house. Problem is you have no idea when
• 1:02:22
  the groom is going to go to pick up the the party over at the
• 1:02:27
  bride's house, to begin the ceremony so you can see the need
• 1:02:32
  for These ten virgins to have their lamps out here.
• 1:02:36
  It's middle of the night. And it says, verse 25 of them
• 1:02:42
  were wise and five were foolish. Hmm.
• 1:02:48
  What is the distinguishing feature?
• 1:02:51
  It tells you in verse three and four.
• 1:02:53
  They that were foolish. Took their lamps and took no oil
• 1:02:59
  with them so they have the mechanism for making light.
• 1:03:03
  But they don't have the fuel for producing that light within that
• 1:03:08
  mechanism. You could compare this to a
• 1:03:11
  variety of things and since it's a parable and it's in symbolic
• 1:03:14
  form, it's beautiful to look at various layers of potential
• 1:03:20
  application. And likening to what could the
• 1:03:23
  oil represent. We've had many talks given in
• 1:03:26
  general conference about this Parable and they're beautiful
• 1:03:29
  all of the different angles and approach.
• 1:03:32
  Churches that people have given us to be able to interpret this
• 1:03:35
  Parable. It's wonderful.
• 1:03:38
  Some have said, the lamp is like the your your testimony but the
• 1:03:44
  oil is deep conversion. Some would say well the lamp is
• 1:03:50
  like getting baptized but the oil is your testimony and
• 1:03:54
  conversion or your commitment to the Lord.
• 1:03:58
  Some would say the lamp is all of the external things.
• 1:04:02
  Things we do in the church, but the oil are the internal
• 1:04:06
  personal religious practices, the the study of the scriptures,
• 1:04:11
  the worship in the temple, the personal prayers, living the
• 1:04:15
  gospel, keeping the Commandments that adds, that, that light to
• 1:04:19
  all of these outward things that we do as members of the church.
• 1:04:24
  Again, the beauty of this is for you to consider prayerfully with
• 1:04:30
  the help of the Lord. What is the oil for me versus
• 1:04:36
  what is the lamp in my life? And how can I distinguish?
• 1:04:40
  Because all of them have a lamp, but only half of them have the
• 1:04:44
  oil. And now you can, you can keep
• 1:04:47
  exploring different levels of application for your own life.
• 1:04:51
  As to what that oil, might represent verse 4 says, but the
• 1:04:55
  wise took oil in their vessels with their lamps, I love this,
• 1:05:03
  the, the wise took oil in their vessels, with their lamps.
• 1:05:11
  So verse 5 says, while the bridegroom tarried, they all
• 1:05:14
  slumbered. And slept Jesus, doesn't pause
• 1:05:17
  here and call them out for falling.
• 1:05:19
  Asleep is at this point, it could be 9:00 10:00 at night.
• 1:05:23
  If you've already had a long work day, hey you'd be kind of
• 1:05:26
  tired waiting then what happens and at midnight there was a cry
• 1:05:30
  made behold. The bridegroom cometh go ye out
• 1:05:34
  to meet him as a reminder weddings were some of the most
• 1:05:38
  joyous anticipated moments in anyone's life and actually in
• 1:05:42
  the community life. So, this is what everybody
• 1:05:45
  wants. It's the big moment of joy and
• 1:05:48
  satisfaction and what happens? 47, then all those virgins arose
• 1:05:53
  and trimmed their lamps and the foolish said unto the wise, give
• 1:05:56
  us of your oil, for our lamps are gone out.
• 1:06:00
  But the wise answered saying, That's so lest there be not
• 1:06:04
  enough for us and you but go ye rather to them that sell and buy
• 1:06:08
  for yourself. So This Is The Moment of Truth
• 1:06:10
  where everyone has arrived, they've all.
• 1:06:14
  They've all been waiting. These are the good people who
• 1:06:17
  understand. We know the bridegroom is going
• 1:06:19
  to come. They're not like everybody else
• 1:06:21
  who's not even joining or attempting to join the wedding
• 1:06:25
  party. They've showed up, they come
• 1:06:27
  with their lamps and almost everything is ready.
• 1:06:31
  Except for five of them don't have enough oil and is Tyler's
• 1:06:35
  pointed out. We have to ask ourselves in our
• 1:06:37
  lives, what lack I yet to be prepared for being with Jesus.
• 1:06:44
  And this is what Jesus is trying to point out for all of us.
• 1:06:48
  So when I was younger, this, this Parable, it bothered me a
• 1:06:52
  little because I thought, man, we're taught to share in the
• 1:06:56
  gospel. Why, why are they being so
• 1:06:58
  selfish? Why are these wise virgins being
• 1:07:01
  I called wise when they're being very selfish and it's not until
• 1:07:06
  you. You analyze what Jesus is trying
• 1:07:09
  to teach this remember, this isn't just a fancy story about
• 1:07:14
  first century Jewish wedding practices.
• 1:07:17
  This is about helping his disciples, learn how to prepare
• 1:07:22
  for his second coming. And you don't know when that
• 1:07:25
  second comings going to be. And I think it's beautiful that
• 1:07:28
  in this Parable, the bridegroom came At midnight, the middle of
• 1:07:33
  the night, the darkest. It's the time when the sun is
• 1:07:36
  the farthest away from you. When it seems like it's the, The
• 1:07:41
  Darkest Hour of the 24-hour cycle, that's when he came when
• 1:07:46
  things were the darkest of all. And it's that idea of at, that
• 1:07:50
  moment, when he does come unexpectedly, because you're not
• 1:07:55
  sure exactly when that's going to be.
• 1:07:57
  It's too late to then say, oh, now Now, I'm going to start
• 1:08:02
  doing all of those personal religious practices.
• 1:08:06
  That prepare me for the coming of the Lord.
• 1:08:09
  So the wise virgins could no more give their oil to the
• 1:08:14
  foolish virgins anymore than a parent can live the Gospel of
• 1:08:19
  Jesus Christ for a child anymore than Taylor could go skiing for
• 1:08:25
  me and then give me that experience because maybe I
• 1:08:28
  didn't get to go or any more than I could eat.
• 1:08:31
  Thanksgiving dinner for you. There's some things you can't do
• 1:08:36
  for other people. They have to experience them for
• 1:08:39
  themselves. They have to do it and living
• 1:08:42
  the gospel and being Covenant. Ali faithful to Christ is
• 1:08:47
  something that cannot be done by anybody but you for your oil and
• 1:08:53
  your lamp and so they couldn't give oil but they could give
• 1:08:57
  wise counsel which was go buy for Selves go work for this, but
• 1:09:04
  you'll notice the time is a little late.
• 1:09:07
  When Jesus is coming for his second coming.
• 1:09:10
  It's probably not the, the, the ideal time to say, oh, I'm going
• 1:09:15
  to, I'm going to start working on my testimony and my
• 1:09:19
  conversion to Christ. I'm going to start working on,
• 1:09:22
  keeping the Commandments. You see that in the rest of this
• 1:09:26
  Parable, we see the sometimes of students.
• 1:09:29
  I confess, when I was a student, I did this, a You times where
• 1:09:32
  you have a whole long time to be involved in a class and then the
• 1:09:36
  final exam time is looming. And some people try to cram and
• 1:09:40
  get all the learning done a day or two before the final exam.
• 1:09:44
  It turns out the human brain takes time to really acquire a
• 1:09:48
  knowledge and wisdom and they did not these virgins.
• 1:09:51
  Did not give themselves enough time to be well prepared.
• 1:09:56
  What was the lesson Elder Dieter ethics or shared in a talk?
• 1:10:00
  One is the The best time to plant a tree.
• 1:10:04
  Like 20 years ago and when's the second best time to plant a tree
• 1:10:09
  today so if you didn't plan it 20 years ago, the best time to
• 1:10:13
  plant it is start today. So for me, one of the take homes
• 1:10:17
  from this, Parable is to say, even if you personally are
• 1:10:23
  analyzing your own testimony, your own discipleship, your own
• 1:10:28
  level of conversion. The reality is, you are not a
• 1:10:32
  victim of your past self. If your past self, didn't do a
• 1:10:37
  great job of putting oil in the lamp, you can start today.
• 1:10:43
  In fact, you can start right now with a prayer in your heart to
• 1:10:48
  say, heavenly father, I want to be better prepared for meeting
• 1:10:54
  the Savior and I want more oil in the lamp of my life.
• 1:11:00
  What could I do today to put more draw?
• 1:11:04
  Drops of oil or to allow the to put more drops of oil into my
• 1:11:09
  lamp and into my vessel. Those are the kinds of prayers
• 1:11:14
  that I think God answers quickly, and completely 100% of
• 1:11:19
  the time. When you are putting your Agency
• 1:11:22
  on the altar of the Lord saying, I'll do whatever you want me to
• 1:11:25
  do. What can I do to deepen?
• 1:11:28
  My conversion, to deepen, my testimony to deepen.
• 1:11:31
  My commitment to thee. And to be more fit for the
• 1:11:35
  kingdom were used, would I be more blessed and holy more
• 1:11:40
  savior like thee. He will answer that prayer and
• 1:11:44
  it gives us hope. Now, we come back to the parable
• 1:11:47
  verse 10 and while they went to buy the bridegroom came and they
• 1:11:53
  that were ready. Went in with him.
• 1:11:58
  I love those those two phrases. They that were ready.
• 1:12:03
  Went in with him, it's that invitation, not that salvation
• 1:12:09
  is all about being in a location.
• 1:12:13
  It's not just about being with Jesus in heaven.
• 1:12:19
  It's feeling like you belong with him, it's filling a
• 1:12:23
  connection with him. It's building this relationship
• 1:12:28
  with with God through multiple choices that are made over long
• 1:12:35
  periods of time where you grow, you learn, you repent.
• 1:12:40
  You allow him to forgive you and polish you in this process to
• 1:12:46
  the point to when he actually. Ali comes.
• 1:12:50
  I love the phrasing in the Doctrine and Covenants.
• 1:12:54
  Section 130 verse 1 through to when the Savior shall appear, we
• 1:13:02
  shall see him as he is. We shall see that.
• 1:13:06
  He is a man like ourselves in that same sociality.
• 1:13:09
  Which exists Among Us. Here will exist.
• 1:13:12
  Among us there only will be coupled with eternal glory,
• 1:13:15
  which Glory? We do not now enjoy.
• 1:13:20
  I love this idea of being able to see him as he is because we
• 1:13:24
  recognize him. We've been working towards
• 1:13:27
  building that connection with him and with our heavenly
• 1:13:30
  father, for a process over a process of time.
• 1:13:36
  And so then they go in with him to the marriage and then five of
• 1:13:41
  the saddest words in the entire New Testament in my view.
• 1:13:47
  Are the ending part of verse 10 and the door was shut.
• 1:13:57
  The door was shut. The time of preparation is
• 1:14:02
  closed. Afterward, came also the other
• 1:14:06
  virgins saying Lord, Lord open to us and he answered and said,
• 1:14:11
  verily, I say unto you, I know you not. the Joe Smith
• 1:14:17
  translation, reverses that and says you know, me not You
• 1:14:26
  haven't you haven't trusted me and you haven't gone through
• 1:14:32
  that process of trying to become like me and getting to know me.
• 1:14:38
  And so now you want salvation at the end without accepting of my
• 1:14:44
  grace all along the way to work on who you were becoming.
• 1:14:50
  This is a very sobering sobering conclusion of this parable.
• 1:14:54
  Look how he finishes it, verse 13, watch therefore for you
• 1:15:00
  know, neither the day, nor the hour, wherein the son of man
• 1:15:03
  cometh. Can you see the warning?
• 1:15:06
  The warning to not eat drink and be merry for tomorrow.
• 1:15:09
  We die and it shall be well with us.
• 1:15:11
  Just go ahead and join the church but then do whatever you
• 1:15:15
  want to do and then when things look like, oh, the end is very
• 1:15:19
  near, okay? Now, I will engage in the Gospel
• 1:15:22
  of Jesus Christ. I will connect with him.
• 1:15:25
  Through my covenants that you knew me not watch therefore for
• 1:15:33
  we don't know the hour and the best time to prepare for the
• 1:15:35
  second coming of the Lord was 20 years ago but the next best time
• 1:15:41
  is today and I would add tomorrow and the next day and
• 1:15:46
  every day thereafter for the rest of our life.
• 1:15:49
  It you'll notice the the wise virgins, they weren't claiming
• 1:15:54
  perfection. So they were prepared, they
• 1:15:58
  weren't perfect. And that's what he's asking us
• 1:16:01
  to do. So, to sum up this Parable,
• 1:16:05
  you'll notice before we had the groom's house here in the
• 1:16:07
  bride's house here, what if you looked at the groom's house as
• 1:16:13
  Heaven and the bride's house? As Earth.
• 1:16:19
  And we don't know when the bridegroom is going to come to
• 1:16:24
  take his bride and go for the ultimate marriage and feast this
• 1:16:32
  Millennial Reign following his second coming.
• 1:16:36
  It's it's a beautiful shifting from just an Earthly story to an
• 1:16:42
  eternal lesson through this Parable.
• 1:16:46
  As we're going to see with with the remaining two pair.
• 1:16:49
  In this in this chapter, they're all teaching the same principle.
• 1:16:54
  How do you be a faithful and wise servant on Earth so that
• 1:16:58
  you're ready when Christ comes again to take us.
• 1:17:04
  Okay, so what's the question that Jesus is answering when he
• 1:17:08
  shares three Parables, again, back in Matthew 24, verse 45,
• 1:17:13
  Who then is a faithful and wise servant, whom his Lord.
• 1:17:17
  Hath made ruler over his household to give them meat in
• 1:17:20
  due season. So he's seen one Parable now,
• 1:17:22
  we're going to see another short case study and this is set up
• 1:17:27
  with a man who is a, who owns a lot of property and he entrusted
• 1:17:32
  to various servants and he's a to go on a journey and he calls
• 1:17:36
  upon them to have an increase. So it gives them a certain set
• 1:17:40
  of resources when he returns. He expects those.
• 1:17:43
  Resources to have been multiplied or magnified or
• 1:17:47
  increased. So, in verse 14, it says for the
• 1:17:49
  Kingdom of Heaven, is as a man travelling into a far country
• 1:17:55
  who called his own servants and delivered unto them his Goods.
• 1:17:59
  So, again, it's a parable, it's symbolic, you can find all kinds
• 1:18:05
  of applications and Lightnings of this Parable on multiple
• 1:18:10
  levels and layers. But if you look at From the
• 1:18:13
  savior's perspective, he's on the earth with his Apostles, he
• 1:18:17
  then goes to a far country. It's as if he's leaving Earth
• 1:18:22
  and going to heaven with the promise, I'm going to come
• 1:18:25
  again. And when I come again, I want to
• 1:18:28
  see an increase in in what I have given you.
• 1:18:33
  And remember these are all servants out of these, these
• 1:18:37
  aren't enemies. They're not Outsiders, these are
• 1:18:40
  insiders there in his household there in a couple.
• 1:18:43
  Covenant agreement with him. And they know him which will
• 1:18:49
  come out later in the parable. They know exactly the kind of
• 1:18:52
  character that their Master is, but one of them doesn't really
• 1:18:58
  know him, as we're going to find two of them really do and the
• 1:19:01
  others, an outlier foolish and wise, we're going to see this
• 1:19:06
  contrast. And on to one, he gave five
• 1:19:09
  talents to another two and to another one.
• 1:19:13
  Now, right? Out of the gate.
• 1:19:16
  Is this starting part of the parable?
• 1:19:19
  It would be easy for us in our world today.
• 1:19:21
  To look at that and say, Jesus this, this story, it's not fair
• 1:19:28
  because you see, we live in a world that seems to want to
• 1:19:32
  demand, equality, and sameness. And so, we would say, well man,
• 1:19:37
  you've disadvantage this guy, and this guy compared to that
• 1:19:41
  guy, of course he's going to succeed.
• 1:19:43
  Of course, he's going to be benefited.
• 1:19:46
  But these two, wow. I mean, we're not even half of
• 1:19:49
  what you gave them, it's not fair.
• 1:19:52
  That's a phrase. You'll hear a lot in our world.
• 1:19:55
  It's not fair. I love the fact that Isaiah 55
• 1:20:01
  says, my thoughts are not your thoughts, because he says, my
• 1:20:08
  ways are higher than your ways and my thoughts than your
• 1:20:12
  thoughts. I see things from a different
• 1:20:15
  perspective than you looking horizontally.
• 1:20:18
  So yes, from an Earthly perspective, there's no
• 1:20:20
  question. That doesn't look Fair.
• 1:20:22
  It doesn't look right. It doesn't look equal because
• 1:20:24
  it's not the same. Look at the rational Jesus gifts
• 1:20:29
  in the second half of verse 15 to every man, according to his
• 1:20:36
  several ability. And straightway took his journey
• 1:20:40
  based on Jesus statement, would it have been merciful would have
• 1:20:44
  been gracious and kind for him to give to this guy, or this
• 1:20:49
  guy, five, talents, or four talents.
• 1:20:53
  Jesus is the one telling the story and he's the one giving
• 1:20:56
  the The rationale, for the different amounts and he's
• 1:20:59
  saying according to their individual capacities, it
• 1:21:01
  doesn't seem like it would be very merciful or kind to give
• 1:21:05
  this man for talents or three talents because you might be
• 1:21:09
  setting him up for failure. And you look at another
• 1:21:13
  principle of the Gospel from Doctrine and Covenants, section,
• 1:21:16
  82 verse 3, where much is given much is required.
• 1:21:22
  And he who sins against a greater light shall receive.
• 1:21:25
  The greater condemnation. It's fascinating to me that,
• 1:21:28
  yes, he's giving more talents to this guy than to the others, but
• 1:21:32
  that means more is required of him according to his individual
• 1:21:36
  capacity. So remember, keep the keep
• 1:21:39
  coming back to this context. We're trying to prepare for the
• 1:21:42
  second coming of the Lord. And many of you watching this.
• 1:21:47
  The Lord has given much into our hands given us great
• 1:21:52
  opportunities. Unity's many talents not just
• 1:21:56
  gifts and abilities kinds of talents.
• 1:21:58
  This is a placeholder talents is a weight and measure for money
• 1:22:03
  and so that's a symbol then can represent all kinds of things.
• 1:22:06
  And the idea being don't get complacent and say, well at
• 1:22:10
  least I'm doing a lot better than all of those people out
• 1:22:12
  there so I can just kind of Coast.
• 1:22:15
  No, we have to figure out what God has given us and magnify and
• 1:22:20
  multiply those because God doesn't grade you on the curve.
• 1:22:26
  He won't bring you to the Judgment bar and put a whole
• 1:22:29
  bunch of people next to you and see how you measure up with
• 1:22:33
  those people be, they faithful or wise.
• 1:22:36
  He's going to judge you based on what you received, and I love in
• 1:22:40
  this, Parable, how the three men are judged independent of each
• 1:22:45
  other, he doesn't bring them in as a group and and say, but, but
• 1:22:50
  you didn't do as well as he did. He doesn't do that.
• 1:22:54
  That's comforting to me. Moving forward.
• 1:22:56
  Yes, let's read the next couple verses.
• 1:22:58
  Then he, that received the five talents went and traded with the
• 1:23:01
  same and made them another five talents.
• 1:23:05
  And likewise, he that received two, he also gained other two,
• 1:23:09
  but he that received one went and digged in the earth and hid
• 1:23:13
  his Lords money. Some interesting thoughts here.
• 1:23:17
  So these to actually go out and take a risk.
• 1:23:20
  What they're doing is risky. It's Able that as they trade
• 1:23:24
  things don't work out and they lose the money in this, in this
• 1:23:27
  Parable. In this case study, they didn't,
• 1:23:29
  they actually increased this guy didn't take a risk.
• 1:23:33
  What did he do? He actually preserved the wealth
• 1:23:36
  that was received. He took no risks, simply made.
• 1:23:41
  Sure that the value of what he received was not eroded at all
• 1:23:45
  and I've interesting it is interesting because if you look
• 1:23:48
  at what was the, what seems to be the motivator, Here versus
• 1:23:53
  the motivator here. Why did he bury his talent?
• 1:23:57
  Was it in? Faith is seems that he's making
• 1:24:02
  his decisions based on fear. These two seem to be moving
• 1:24:09
  forward with a measure of faith. That good.
• 1:24:13
  Things are going to happen and good things.
• 1:24:15
  Cannot happen unless you take action.
• 1:24:18
  If you could write the words up to try to risk, To attempt.
• 1:24:23
  So, I teach classes in entrepreneurship and the
• 1:24:27
  fundamental meaning of the word, entrepreneurship means to risk
• 1:24:31
  to try to attempt. I want you to think about the
• 1:24:34
  Plan of Salvation that we all fought to come down.
• 1:24:37
  Here we are. Now on this Earth, God has
• 1:24:40
  preserved and protected. Our agency, that we can try
• 1:24:45
  things and attempt. Living the gospel.
• 1:24:47
  We take risks. Sometimes we make mistakes and
• 1:24:50
  we get hurt in the process of trying to be like Jesus.
• 1:24:54
  It is impossible to experience faith without risking something,
• 1:24:59
  without trying something, without attempting something.
• 1:25:01
  Absolutely. Now let's come to the Day of
• 1:25:03
  Reckoning. Not losing sight on the reason.
• 1:25:08
  Jesus is telling this Parable it's not it's not a story of
• 1:25:12
  just faith and fear and trying things and investing.
• 1:25:17
  This is a parable to help Disciples of Jesus Christ's
• 1:25:21
  Servants of the Lord to better prepare for his second coming.
• 1:25:26
  Will look at verse 19 after a long time, the Lord of those
• 1:25:30
  servants cometh and reckon us with them.
• 1:25:34
  And so he that had received five, talents came, and brought
• 1:25:37
  other five talents saying, Lord, that would deliver its unto me,
• 1:25:41
  five talents behold. I have gained beside them five
• 1:25:44
  talents more. Now, let's pause here for a
• 1:25:47
  minute. When this five Talent guy comes
• 1:25:50
  in for his moment of Reckoning with the Lord, it seems very
• 1:25:55
  clear in his mind and the way that Jesus is telling the story.
• 1:25:59
  It seems that this man is assuming that these These are
• 1:26:03
  not the man's talents. They are the Lords, these ten
• 1:26:08
  talents, the lord gave him five. He's multiplied them, and he's
• 1:26:12
  not staking claim. He's not saying, okay, here are
• 1:26:15
  your five talents back. I'm going to keep these five
• 1:26:18
  because I did this work. I now earned them I deserve
• 1:26:21
  them. The implication is he's
• 1:26:24
  delivering the ten talents to his, to his Lord.
• 1:26:29
  And I love, I love this next verse His lord said unto him.
• 1:26:36
  Well done thou good and faithful servant.
• 1:26:40
  Remember those words good and faithful servant a wise and
• 1:26:45
  faithful servant it ties in here from his question.
• 1:26:50
  Thou Hast been Faithful over a few things.
• 1:26:54
  I will make thee ruler. There's a difference between a
• 1:26:58
  servant and a ruler. You have proven yourself as a
• 1:27:04
  servant that is faithful and good and we would add wise and
• 1:27:10
  because you did that as a servant, I am.
• 1:27:13
  Now going to give you the necessary things in order to be
• 1:27:19
  a ruler. Not a servant, over many things,
• 1:27:25
  enter thou into the joy of thy Lord.
• 1:27:29
  We find out from the very end of the parable that those 10
• 1:27:32
  talents were not greedily taken by the Lord saying, oh good.
• 1:27:37
  I've look how much richer I am now.
• 1:27:41
  God doesn't take things from you and your discipleship.
• 1:27:45
  He gives things to you as you sacrifice in your discipleship.
• 1:27:51
  The man walks away with the 10 talents.
• 1:27:56
  I can picture. I can picture being a
• 1:27:59
  time-traveling reporter going up to this man and saying, hey, I'm
• 1:28:05
  new here. What can you tell me?
• 1:28:08
  I'm doing an article on your master there.
• 1:28:12
  How would you describe him? What are some words you would
• 1:28:14
  use? To describe the master.
• 1:28:16
  What do you think the the five Talent servant would say, Mercy
• 1:28:21
  love generosity kindness goodness.
• 1:28:26
  He he would be. I can picture this man with a
• 1:28:30
  heart that is bursting with gratitude and love for the Lord.
• 1:28:36
  I think he would say I would do anything he asked me to do.
• 1:28:41
  I I did not deserve this. I didn't think that I was doing
• 1:28:47
  all of this for me. I was doing it for him and now
• 1:28:51
  he's given it all back in abundance to me and made me
• 1:28:55
  ruler over all these things. When I'm not even worthy to be
• 1:28:59
  called a servant, but he's he's elevated me.
• 1:29:06
  Now, that was the first guy and many people would say.
• 1:29:08
  Well, of course, that's what's going to happen because look how
• 1:29:12
  privileged he was. I love the fact that in
• 1:29:16
  Matthew's account, he throws in this Middle Ground servant the
• 1:29:22
  one with two talents. Let's look at his story verse
• 1:29:26
  22. He also that received two
• 1:29:28
  talents came and said, Lord thou delivered son to me.
• 1:29:31
  Two talents behold. I have gained two other talents
• 1:29:34
  beside them. Same thing, here they are.
• 1:29:37
  I've got four talents. Don't you love the fact that the
• 1:29:41
  next verse doesn't say? And the Lord said unto the
• 1:29:45
  servant, really? You've only got four talents?
• 1:29:50
  Well, the man before you the other servant before you, he
• 1:29:53
  brought me ten talents and you've only got four.
• 1:29:58
  I love the fact that God doesn't even mention anybody else.
• 1:30:03
  He's looking at this one man. And what does he say to the to
• 1:30:07
  Talent guy? Well done, good and faithful
• 1:30:12
  servant. I need to pause right here
• 1:30:14
  because if you look closely verse 21 and 23 the entirety of
• 1:30:19
  the verse the dialogue that comes back from the Lord to the
• 1:30:23
  two servants is identical with the exception of one word.
• 1:30:28
  In verse 21, it added the word thou.
• 1:30:31
  But look carefully at the word thou in verse 21.
• 1:30:34
  It's italicized and if you look at all of our Greek texts all of
• 1:30:40
  the different versions of manuscript families of this
• 1:30:43
  story in Greek. You'll notice that there's no
• 1:30:48
  vow in the Greek text, the verse 21 and 23 are identical in the
• 1:30:55
  Greek. I'm not sure why, the King James
• 1:30:57
  translators out of the word thou, because this story is way
• 1:31:01
  more powerful. If you just leave it the way it
• 1:31:04
  was in the Greek, it's identical.
• 1:31:07
  The, the To Talent guy. Here's the exact same thing.
• 1:31:11
  And now he walks out, and if we were to interview him, I think
• 1:31:15
  we would hear identical adjectives to describe how he
• 1:31:19
  feels about the Lord, as the five Talent guy.
• 1:31:23
  But you'll notice that we've now come down to verse 23, the end
• 1:31:28
  of verse 23, which shifts us into the third, man verse 24,
• 1:31:34
  then he which had received the one Talent came and said.
• 1:31:38
  Said Lord. I knew thee that thou art an
• 1:31:42
  hard man. Let's pause right here for a
• 1:31:44
  minute. Let's reverse our our little
• 1:31:47
  interview scenario. What if we were to pull aside,
• 1:31:50
  the one Talent guy as he's walking in holding the the
• 1:31:56
  roughly 75 pounds give or take, who knows how much the actual
• 1:32:01
  weight of this money was as he's bringing it back to Lord, if you
• 1:32:07
  were to interview him, And say, tell me, tell me about your
• 1:32:11
  master, what kind of a person is he?
• 1:32:14
  What are some words that the one Talent guy might say, I knew
• 1:32:18
  thee, that thou art a hard man reaping where thou Hast not,
• 1:32:21
  where thou Hast, not sown, and Gathering where thou Hast got
• 1:32:26
  strawed, What did you basically just say about the master?
• 1:32:31
  He's grasping selfish and actually steals from other
• 1:32:35
  people. You're taking things that you
• 1:32:38
  really don't deserve that. They're not yours reaping where
• 1:32:42
  you haven't straght. You're a harsh hard.
• 1:32:46
  Man, you're scary. Look at verse 25 and I was
• 1:32:50
  afraid and went and hid thy talent in the earth Lo there
• 1:32:56
  thou Hast. That is thine.
• 1:32:58
  Sign. Can you picture the body
• 1:32:59
  language? Can you picture the facial
• 1:33:01
  expressions? As Jesus is telling this parable
• 1:33:04
  of what this man might look like.
• 1:33:06
  If, if we were to make a movie of this, as he puts the talent
• 1:33:09
  down, and he's cowering, he doesn't dare look at the Lord,
• 1:33:13
  because the Lord is so mean, and he's so harsh and hard.
• 1:33:18
  And now, let's pause here for a minute.
• 1:33:22
  What is the 5 and the 2 talent guy are standing off to the side
• 1:33:26
  in the wings. Watching this What would their
• 1:33:29
  reaction be? Is they hear this one Talent
• 1:33:32
  man? Speaking to the Lord, in this
• 1:33:35
  way, I can picture them looking at each other thinking.
• 1:33:39
  Who is he talking about? This is so foreign it, these
• 1:33:44
  words, they, they do not affect. Did you see what the lord gave
• 1:33:48
  us? Did you see what he's done?
• 1:33:51
  And they would be shocked that this man was judging the Lord,
• 1:33:56
  the master, so harshly it actually It makes me think about
• 1:34:00
  Lehigh. So at Lehigh leaves Jerusalem,
• 1:34:03
  he has four Sons to end up being faithful and righteous and to
• 1:34:08
  not who do we blame. I'm not trying to actually
• 1:34:12
  assign blame, but you have one. Father, and two outcomes.
• 1:34:17
  I sometimes actually see this as a teacher where I get students
• 1:34:20
  providing comments at the end of the semester.
• 1:34:22
  It literally, one comment will say this was the best teacher
• 1:34:25
  I've ever experienced and the very next comment will say, this
• 1:34:27
  is the worst teacher I've ever experienced.
• 1:34:30
  And I think well I think I'm still the same person in this
• 1:34:34
  gets back to this. Parable is partly about the
• 1:34:39
  qualities and characteristics of who, God is who our Lord is.
• 1:34:43
  It's also about who we are. And who were choosing to narrate
• 1:34:49
  who Jesus is, are we willing to truly see Jesus as he is Or are
• 1:34:54
  we going to create a false story and live in that false story and
• 1:34:58
  then create that outcome because we predicted it?
• 1:35:03
  We predetermined it because we chose to see things in a
• 1:35:06
  negative light. It's amazing.
• 1:35:08
  It that idea that Jesus teaches the with whatsoever judgment, ye
• 1:35:14
  judge there, with also shall ye be judged.
• 1:35:19
  It's that concept of Judge righteously lest ye be judged.
• 1:35:23
  The unrighteously, if you look at the way these first to judge
• 1:35:28
  the Lord, they judged him as a god, of mercy and power and, and
• 1:35:34
  kindness all of these wonderful rewarding kinds of things.
• 1:35:41
  And what did they get? They found a master who fit how
• 1:35:48
  they judged him. How did this guy a judge?
• 1:35:51
  The Lord. Harsh hard angry.
• 1:35:57
  Well, what did he experience? Look at verse 26, his Lord
• 1:36:01
  answered and said unto him. Thou Wicked and slothful servant
• 1:36:05
  thou knewest that I reap where I sowed not and gather where I
• 1:36:08
  have not strawed that W is therefore to have put my money
• 1:36:11
  to the exchangers and then at my coming I should have received
• 1:36:16
  mine own with usury with interest.
• 1:36:20
  With increase. So now he says, in verse 28,
• 1:36:25
  take therefore the talent from him and give it unto him, which
• 1:36:29
  hath ten talents for unto every one that hath shall be given and
• 1:36:33
  he shall have abundance. But from him, that hath not
• 1:36:37
  shall be taken away. Even that which he hath.
• 1:36:41
  And cast, ye the unprofitable servant into outer Darkness,
• 1:36:44
  there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth.
• 1:36:46
  And at that point, what's our one Talent Guy saying he saying,
• 1:36:51
  see I told you, he's mean, he's angry, he's vengeful.
• 1:36:58
  And the 5 and the 2 talent guy are saying oh oh if only you
• 1:37:02
  knew the Lord, the way we know him.
• 1:37:07
  Let's not lose focus here. This is a parable number two,
• 1:37:12
  about how to prepare for the second coming of the Lord.
• 1:37:15
  And it's about how to be a wise and, and good servant of the
• 1:37:22
  Lord. So now, you know, the question
• 1:37:25
  you might be able to wrestle with is what are the symbolic
• 1:37:31
  applications for the talents that the Lord has given me.
• 1:37:36
  We're no longer talking about the five, Of to in the one guy
• 1:37:39
  from 2000 years ago, in Jesus, a story.
• 1:37:41
  We're now talking about you and me, what might those talents
• 1:37:44
  represent for some it's, it could be money for some, it
• 1:37:49
  could be the way we use the word talents, gifts and abilities for
• 1:37:53
  some, it could be children for some, it could be intelligence
• 1:37:58
  and, and capacities to learn and to teach and to grow in our
• 1:38:03
  intellect for others. It could be health for others.
• 1:38:07
  Could be job opportunities for others.
• 1:38:11
  It could be Church callings. And for some of you it could be
• 1:38:15
  a combination of all of that. The point is to be a faithful
• 1:38:20
  and wise servant implies, we have to give those things that
• 1:38:26
  God has given us in faith. And and sacrifice and serve, and
• 1:38:32
  try to multiply those those various talents that God has
• 1:38:38
  given us. So that when he comes again,
• 1:38:41
  we're not saying oh I I kind of wasted my time on other
• 1:38:47
  Pursuits, rather than focusing on what I had received from
• 1:38:51
  thee. And at that point, if I haven't
• 1:38:55
  focused on those, those things are taken away from me and given
• 1:38:59
  to others. the versus the five in the two Talent guy who have
• 1:39:04
  invested their whole life in faith to serve the Lord, to
• 1:39:09
  return to him that which he has given to them only for them to
• 1:39:13
  find out that he really is more merciful more gracious and more
• 1:39:18
  loving and kind than even we thought possible at the outset I
• 1:39:24
  have thought a lot about this one servant who actually did not
• 1:39:29
  lose His talent. So nobody wants to lose
• 1:39:33
  anything. So he actually preserved and
• 1:39:36
  protected. What he'd been given?
• 1:39:39
  He just didn't grow it. And notice these words what
• 1:39:41
  Jesus says, Thou Wicked and slothful servant.
• 1:39:47
  It's interesting. The ones who are wise and
• 1:39:50
  faithful are those who took the risk?
• 1:39:52
  Went out and tried to do things. I bet they experienced a little
• 1:39:57
  bit of failure, along the way if you ever have used as you've
• 1:40:01
  tried something. Have you ever experienced any
• 1:40:05
  amount of failure or fear along the way?
• 1:40:08
  My guess is all of us have and what God is looking for,
• 1:40:11
  ultimately, is that, we are a profitable servant the word
• 1:40:15
  Prophet is Testing it comes from a Latin word meaning to make or
• 1:40:21
  do. And this is to like be pressing
• 1:40:24
  forward. So the word profit means to
• 1:40:27
  press forward by doing things. We came to this earth to do not
• 1:40:34
  to just sit around and just wait for the end and hope God will
• 1:40:38
  save us. We do have to make the effort to
• 1:40:41
  attempt to live lives of good faithfulness.
• 1:40:45
  And in the process, we will be challenged Find times that our
• 1:40:48
  faith will be challenged and that it will take effort to
• 1:40:52
  multiply our talents. But by so doing we become
• 1:40:55
  profitable servants, not simply servants at preserve the
• 1:40:59
  resources and wealth, but we've increased them.
• 1:41:01
  And then we experience that God, who is the greatest prophet of
• 1:41:05
  all? Well, increase far beyond our
• 1:41:08
  imagination world without number.
• 1:41:10
  So now let's jump into his third Parable.
• 1:41:12
  If you pick it up in verse 31, it says when the son of man
• 1:41:16
  shall come in his glory. Glory can I just interject here
• 1:41:20
  that he didn't use the word? If he didn't say if the son of
• 1:41:25
  man comes in his glory? He said when the son of man
• 1:41:30
  comes in his glory brothers and sisters, there are a lot of
• 1:41:33
  uncertainties in our world but there are some things that are
• 1:41:36
  absolutely certain and true and one of those truth is God Lives,
• 1:41:41
  Jesus is the Christ, and he will return to the Earth again
• 1:41:46
  someday. And when he comes in his glory
• 1:41:49
  and all the Holy Angels with him then shall he sit upon the
• 1:41:53
  throne of his glory. She can picture this.
• 1:41:57
  This moment of Reckoning, this moment of judgment, we've seen
• 1:42:02
  it in. Two other stories already.
• 1:42:05
  One with the coming of a bridegroom in a marriage
• 1:42:08
  metaphor another in Lord, making account with his servants in a
• 1:42:14
  financial setting. Now we At a pastoral setting.
• 1:42:19
  Are you noticing how Jesus he could have finished with just
• 1:42:24
  one Parable but he's giving us three Parables because our
• 1:42:28
  preparation for his second coming is such a big deal
• 1:42:33
  whether we're alive when he comes or whether we die before
• 1:42:38
  the second coming and we experience coming into his
• 1:42:41
  presence at death or or after death the Sorry, the exact same
• 1:42:49
  of, how do we prepare to meet the Lord?
• 1:42:53
  Look at verse 32 before him shall be gathered, all nations
• 1:42:58
  and he shall separate them one from another as a Shepherd,
• 1:43:01
  divideth his sheep from the goats.
• 1:43:05
  And so, he's going to set the sheep on his right hand, but the
• 1:43:08
  goats on his left. And then shall the king say,
• 1:43:13
  unto them on his right hand. Come Ye blessed of my father
• 1:43:17
  inherit the Kingdom, prepared for you from the foundation of
• 1:43:21
  the world. And then he gives this long list
• 1:43:25
  of things that the sheep on his right hand did, I was in the
• 1:43:29
  hungered and he gave me meat. I was thirsty and you gave me
• 1:43:32
  drink. I was a stranger and you took me
• 1:43:34
  in naked. You clothed me.
• 1:43:36
  I was sick and you visited me. I was in prison and you came
• 1:43:39
  unto me and here these sheep these righteous people on his
• 1:43:43
  right hand side saying, I don't get it.
• 1:43:47
  I I never saw you in any of those conditions.
• 1:43:49
  I never did any of what you just described.
• 1:43:53
  And then his amazing answer in verse 40.
• 1:43:56
  And the King shall answer and say unto them, verily.
• 1:44:01
  I say unto you. Inasmuch as ye have done it unto
• 1:44:05
  one of the least of these my brethren ye have done it unto
• 1:44:11
  me. I love that verse.
• 1:44:14
  I love this Parable, I love this concept with the Sheep.
• 1:44:18
  This sometimes, I think we get this idea.
• 1:44:21
  This this image in our mind that if I'm going to prepare for the
• 1:44:24
  second coming, I have to do something big and Grand and
• 1:44:27
  glorious. So the Lord to serve him.
• 1:44:31
  That's that's not how I see him speaking to these people back,
• 1:44:36
  then I see him saying if you want to really prepare for my
• 1:44:40
  coming, look around, you have people who are what are the
• 1:44:44
  classifications here, hungry, thirsty, strangers, naked sick,
• 1:44:51
  imprisoned. You don't have to look very far
• 1:44:55
  to find people in one of those or a combination of those six
• 1:44:59
  categories. And help meet those needs and as
• 1:45:04
  you do. So you're actually serving me
• 1:45:08
  and I love how God is essentially saying, love God, by
• 1:45:13
  loving your neighbor. That's how you be prepared.
• 1:45:16
  And I also point out that these actions here, they're not going
• 1:45:22
  to show up on headlines. They're not going to show up in
• 1:45:26
  the news. They're not going to show up on
• 1:45:28
  Billboard's. They're not going to be the Talk
• 1:45:30
  of the Town. These are the quiet acts of
• 1:45:32
  Love, kindness Mercy, forgiveness and service that you
• 1:45:37
  give to people on a regular basis and we don't do it for the
• 1:45:40
  Limelight. We do it because it's right,
• 1:45:43
  it's a way of increasing love. We are multiplying.
• 1:45:46
  Our talents and we feel more of God's love and we do it.
• 1:45:49
  This reminds me of something that Camilla Kimball wife of
• 1:45:53
  President Spencer W Kimball Campbell said, many, many years
• 1:45:56
  ago, never suppress a generous thought the Lord will whisper,
• 1:46:03
  and give you little nudges in a small directions to meet these
• 1:46:10
  needs that are all around us and it's it's a beautiful thing when
• 1:46:15
  you don't suppress those but you act on them as out of place as
• 1:46:19
  it may seem as unnecessary. And why would they need?
• 1:46:24
  Need me to do that. If we just act on those That's
• 1:46:28
  what the Sheep did. And I also love the fact that
• 1:46:32
  the Lord through his church, the Church of Jesus Christ of
• 1:46:36
  Latter-day. Saints models.
• 1:46:39
  This pair Parable as well as anything.
• 1:46:42
  I know, every calling in this church is an invitation to do
• 1:46:48
  exactly what is described in verse 35 and 36.
• 1:46:53
  Every parent, every sibling, every family relationship is an
• 1:47:00
  opportunity to do those things in verse 35, and 36.
• 1:47:06
  And in the process, it's this this journey of becoming a wise
• 1:47:14
  and faithful servant unto God, the Lord lives.
• 1:47:19
  And he will come again and he's given us a handbook for how to
• 1:47:24
  be ready for that day when we get to meet him.
• 1:47:28
  And what a blessing it is to have this playbook in our hands
• 1:47:34
  today we that with you in the name of Jesus Christ.
• 1:47:37
  Amen. Know that you're loved.