Latest / Scripture Central / 3 Nephi 17-19 | Book of Mormon Insights: Revisited

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3 Nephi 17-19 | Book of Mormon Insights: Revisited · Scripture Central

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All right, let's jump right in today with a very, very quick
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overview of the Savior's visit among the Nephites and the
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Lamanites. You got the destruction in
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chapters 8 through 10. Then sometime thereafter we get
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his his appearance in Chapter 11.
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Then he gives that famous sermon at the temple in 12 through 14,
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followed by his discourse on the House of Israel, the Jews, the
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scattered Israelites, the Gentiles, and how the gospel is
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going to be moving through and and among those different groups
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as time progresses. Then right at the very end of
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chapter 16, here's Jesus. He's got this multitude at the
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temple in front of him, and he's been.
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It's been a long day. So.
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Starting here. This is where the day begins.
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You can imagine all of the experiences in Chapter 11 alone
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being emotionally and cognitively just fulfilling and
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then eventually overwhelming as far as them trying to stay stay
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focused and concentrating on everything that he's teaching.
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Then you get to the end of chapter 16 and what happens?
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He quotes a little section from Isaiah.
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So you'll notice at the finishing point of this little
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quotation, at the end of chapter 16, he opened 17 by saying,
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Behold, now it came to pass. When Jesus had spoken these
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words, he looked round about again on the multitude, and he
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said unto them, Behold, my time is at hand.
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I perceive that ye are weak, that you cannot understand all
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my words, which I am commanded of the Father to speak unto you
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at this time. So.
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Notice this pattern. He's in the middle of teaching
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the people things that he was commanded of the Father to teach
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unto them at that time. It's as if he had a a lesson
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outline, so to speak, but that. Lesson outline was given to him.
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By the Father, I love the fact that here's Jesus.
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He's perfect, he's complete, he's finished, he's resurrected,
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he's a God, he's exalted, he's arrived.
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And what is he doing? He's keeping commandments.
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He's still keeping commandments of Heavenly Father.
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I love that that he doesn't seem to see commandments as burdens
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or as as distractions of what he wants to do, but rather it's the
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focal point of his life. Even as a resurrected glorified
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God, he's still honoring and obeying the commands of Heavenly
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Father. I love that for my own life and
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for our life to not see commandments as a burden, but to
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see them as a as a means whereby we can put God first and in so
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doing, watch what he does to to magnify and multiply our efforts
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and our lives and our joys and our blessings and our prosperity
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and our peace. Jesus has made it somewhere to
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about this point in what he was commanded to teach the people.
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And now after quoting this little Isaiah block and this
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long section, after an incredible discourse, the sermon
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of the temple, he notices that they're weak.
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We don't know exactly what that means, but being a human being
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ourselves, we can probably relate to the situation where
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you've been in a classroom setting or in a conference
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setting where you want desperately to to pay close
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attention and to hang on every word, but your body might be
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physically weak or your mind might be cognitively overloaded.
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You might be a. Little.
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Bit exhausted and you can picture maybe some people
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looking a bit weary in the crowd and maybe some zoned out looks.
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I don't know if that's what was happening here with the Nephites
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and Lamanites, but whatever it was, Jesus perceived it.
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A good teacher, a good parent, a good leader doesn't just go
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through a Lesson plan. They don't just dump out
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everything that they want to do. They're perceiving the needs of
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the audience in front of them, whether it be their child or
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children or a flock, a congregation.
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In a work setting, you're constantly getting a pulse.
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How are people doing with what I'm sharing?
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Where are they? So Jesus recognizes that they're
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weak, and so he says, verse 3. Because of that, therefore go ye
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unto your homes. Notice you didn't say, go to
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your clubs, go to your organizations, go hang out with
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your friends. He said, go to your homes and
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ponder upon the things which I have said, and ask of the Father
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in my name, that you may understand and prepare your
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minds for the Morrow. And I come unto you again,
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because you'll notice Jesus isn't going to disregard the
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commands of His Father in heaven.
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He will fulfill those commandments.
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He will teach them everything that He's been asked to teach
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them. He's just going to.
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Delay it a little bit. This reminds me of something
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that I love from President Monson when he was the prophet.
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The phrase that he used on a couple of occasions.
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There is no problem to be solved.
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That's more important than a person to be loved.
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People are always more important than programs and procedures and
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practices. And Jesus is tuned into people
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and what their needs are, realizing it's not going to do
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any good. He could force his way through
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this entire list of teachings. He could do that.
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But it wouldn't be effective and it wouldn't bless lives the way
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it could if he waits until they're ready for it.
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So that's just something for us to consider in our parenting and
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in our leading and in our friendships that we have is you
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may be absolutely right and you may absolutely want to cram
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something down somebody's throat, so, so to speak, but it
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won't likely change any hearts or minds or lives if we do it
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that way. But if we follow the Savior's
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example, we perceive where people are and we adapt and we
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adjust dynamically with a focus and a care and concern on the
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people themselves. What's so beautiful about these
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stories is what happens in chapter 17 of what does Jesus
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do? So he is following the commands
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of the Father. He also understands.
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He's talking to real people who have real needs.
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This will meet their needs. But we encourage you to pay
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attention closely to chapter 17. What does He choose to do?
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He eventually does get through all this, but does it happen
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here in chapter 17 or are there other activities that happen?
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So as you think about it in your own life, if you're ever in a
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situation where you're called to teach or to parent or to provide
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friendship, and you have a plan for what you're going to do,
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great, right? It's really hard to succeed
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without a plan. But also be willing to be
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perceptive and to think through how can I put a pause here?
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Look at 17 and look at the example that Jesus provides of
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how does he actually meet the needs of the people right then
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and there so that they are more fully prepared to receive the
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word. Jesus got their attention by
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telling them that he was leaving and going to come back tomorrow
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and go to your homes and prepare your minds at that point.
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If there had been, we don't know for sure, but if there had been
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anybody who was kind of nodding off or or looking a little.
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Distracted or or zoning out in any degree, Nobody's doing that
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now. He's got their attention.
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They're all looking at Him, and notice that verse 5 says it came
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to pass. When Jesus had thus spoken, he
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cast his eyes round about again on the multitude, and behold,
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they were in tears and did live steadfastly upon Him, as if they
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would ask Him to tarry a little longer with them.
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Brothers and sisters, I, I don't know, I don't have any authority
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for these things, but I can't imagine these people sitting
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there looking at Jesus with tears in their eyes and the
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thoughts and the feelings coming from them being, oh, Jesus,
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please stay a little longer and tell us more about the House of
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Israel or preach more about the Jews and the Gentiles and the
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scattered Israelites and how it's all going to come together.
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As important as that is. And we we're going to get that.
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Like Taylor said, it's going to come in subsequent chapters.
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But I don't think they were those tears were communicating.
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We want more for our mind at this point.
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I think personally that those tears are communicating Jesus,
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we just want to be with you more, more of this kind of an
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experience, not necessarily this kind of an experience.
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They're they're probably a little bit on cognitive overload
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at this point with the the the enormity of all these things
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that they've been learning from him.
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So I love the fact that Jesus responds as follows verse 6 And
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he said unto them, Behold, my bowels are filled with
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compassion towards you. Have you any sick that are among
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you? Bring them, hit her.
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Have you any that are lame or blind or halt or maimed or
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leprous, or that are withered, or that are deaf, or that are
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afflicted in any manner? Bring them, hit her, and I will
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heal them. For I have compassion upon you.
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My bowels are filled with mercy. So then this beautiful
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opportunity for the people to to bring their sick and their
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afflicted to Christ, for him to perform his miracles that the
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people in the New Testament account had witnessed on
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multiple occasions. Now these Book Mormon people are
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going to get to experience a different aspect or a different
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side of the Savior's love and mercy and grace, not just in His
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teachings and in His testifying, but now at a very deep level.
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He's going to open his heart and they're going to feel some
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things and they're going to experience some things that are
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really profound. In this chapter.
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Notice what happens verse 8. For I perceive that you desire
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that I should show unto you what I've done unto your brethren of
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Jerusalem. There it is again.
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It's just this little word. Perceive.
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It showed up over at the beginning of verse 2.
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Here it is again in verse 8. To me, this is the essence of
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parenting. Good leadership, good teaching
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is perception of the needs of the audience, the target
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audience that you're you're working with.
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Verse 9. It came to pass, that when he
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had thus spoken, all the multitude with one accord, did
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go forth with their sick, and their afflicted, and their lame,
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and with their blind, and with their dumb, and with all them
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that were afflicted in any manner and notice.
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How He did it, He did heal them, everyone, as they were brought
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forth unto Him. Implication of the language
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there is that he didn't have a big crowd of sick folk and say
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in mass you're all healed. That isn't how he usually does
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things, right? It seems that he healed them,
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everyone as they were brought forth unto him, that one by one
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care and concern for the individual.
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I love that because yes, it's an infinite atonement that covers
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everyone, but the power for me lies in the personal nature of
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that atonement, that Jesus knows me personally, independently of
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everybody else. And he knows you and he knows
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what you're struggling with, and he perceives exactly what you
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need in order to be healed and to be made whole.
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And that's what's happening with these people following that
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remarkable experience. Verse 11 says he commanded that
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their little children should be brought.
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So they brought their little children, and set them down upon
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the ground round about him, and Jesus stood in the midst, and
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the multitude gave way, till they had all been brought unto
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Him. There's a little.
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Subtle teaching buried in that verse that sometimes we
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overlook. We would all love dearly to be
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close to Jesus. But brothers and sisters,
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there's one thing I would love more than that, and that would
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be to have my children be close to Jesus.
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Which means the multitude gave way.
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Don't read too much into this. It's not like they're departing
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from Jesus. The reality is is the Savior's
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in the middle and the crowd makes room for these children
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and then the adults and the the people who we've been talking
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about, they make way so that Jesus.
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Can stand in the midst. Of all these little children
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that are around him. And thus begins, in my opinion,
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one of the sweetest and most tender parts of the entire Book
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of Mormon story in all 531 pages.
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This, to me, gives us a glimpse into.
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The Heart of the. Savior, as well as any any other
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place in the book can from my perspective.
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Notice verse 13. It came to pass when they had
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all been brought. Jesus stood in the midst.
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He commanded the multitude. That they should kneel down upon
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the ground. And verse 14 it came to pass
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when they had knelt upon the ground.
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Jesus groaned within himself and said, Father, I'm troubled
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because of the wickedness of the people of the House of Israel.
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Isn't that interesting? He's surrounded by little
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children and his heart is groaning within him.
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He's troubled because of the wickedness, not because of the
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wickedness of the little children, but he sees this
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purity sitting in front of him. He sees their smiles.
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He sees the look in their. Faces and it troubles him.
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Concerning the wickedness of the House of Israel.
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And he's groaning. He's going to give you glimpses
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into his heart in these next few verses that are beautiful.
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How do you come to know somebody that you've never met before?
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How do you emulate their example if you've never met them
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personally in life? In mortality, I think you learn
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their stories. You see how they act in certain
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situations. You see how they treat people.
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You see how they respond when when certain situations arise.
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And in this case, I think we're going to see the Savior's
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character revealed. His heart is going to be
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revealed in ways that it's pretty hard to find a better
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example than this as to what kind of a person, the man, the
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the, the God, this exalted being named Jesus Christ.
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As far as trying to come to know him better and understand him
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better. Pay close attention as we
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proceed here. Verse. 15 When he had said these
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words, he himself also knelt upon the earth, and behold, he
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prayed unto the Father. Here is an exalted, glorified
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God, and he's not just keeping commandments, He's also
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continuing to. Pray to the Father.
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So prayer isn't just this thing that we we do because it's a
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checklist thing for members of the church to to mark off every
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day. Yep, I said my prayers.
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Prayer is this essential connecting thread that binds us
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to the God who gave us life and Jesus is still doing it right
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here. The things which he prayed
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cannot be written, and the multitude did their record who
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heard him. And after this manner do they
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bear record. The eye has never seen, neither
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hath the ear heard before so great and marvelous things as we
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saw and heard Jesus speak unto the Father.
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And it goes on to say, No tongue can even speak these words.
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That's how profound his prayers. Now notice verse 18.
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It came to pass. When Jesus had made an end of
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praying unto the Father, He arose.
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So great was the joy of the multitude that they were
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overcome. And it came to pass, the Jesus
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spake unto them and bade them arise, and they arose from the
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earth. And he said unto them, Blessed
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are you because of your faith. And now behold, my joy is full.
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That's profound that the audience is overwhelmed.
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I think you and I can probably relate to this in the sense of
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being in a crowd where you're just overwhelmed with joy and
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everybody feels it together, unified.
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They're all in the same wrapped up feeling of the Lord's love of
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the Spirit, hearing him pray and they're overwhelmed and he says
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my joy is full. Now notice verse 21.
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When he had said these words, he wept.
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And the multitude. By record of it.
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And he took their little children 1 by 1, And he blessed
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them, and he prayed unto the Father for them once again for
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me. To have a personal experience
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with the Savior like these people have had would be
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remarkable. The only thing better that I can
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imagine would be to witness and watch a personal experience of
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the Savior blessing and praying to the Father while holding my
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children 1 by 1 by 1. And notice when he had done this
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verse 22 he wept again. Interesting.
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He weeps, then takes their children 1 by 1 and ministers to
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them and prays to the father and then he wept again.
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I'm just going to ask a really simple question here.
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How would you describe the world's perspective on children?
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And I mean when I say the world, I mean society and and culture.
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And in some ways the, the popular media, the popular
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aspects of our of our culture. How is family portrayed?
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How are children portrayed? How are they seen?
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In some circles, you might see them as expensive in the way
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annoying, loud. They prevent you from fulfilling
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all of the things that you want to self fulfill and they bind
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you down. All of these negative aspects
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can come out sometimes in the way children are viewed or
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portrayed in media or in the cultural conversations.
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Now let me ask a second question.
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How does the Savior, based on the text here in chapter 17, how
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does Jesus feel about children? How does he feel about little
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ones, brothers and sisters? For me, verse 21 and 22 teach me
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more about the character of Christ than if He had given this
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long 20 chapter sermon and discourse about how He feels
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about children. The fact that you see Him
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standing in the midst of children and weeping as He looks
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at them, and then taking them one by one and blessing them and
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praying to the Father for them. And then once He had done that,
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he weeps again. Those tears to me, speak volumes
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about what kind of a person, what kind of a being Jesus is
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and how he feels about children. And consequently, I want to be
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more like him, and I want to reflect more of his attributes
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and characteristics and perfections as I strive through
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mortality. And so if you analyze that from
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that perspective, as a culture, we have a lot of room to grow
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and improve in how we treat. Children and little ones, and
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how we see them and perceive them.
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Once he had finished this verse 24, as they looked to behold,
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they cast their eyes towards heaven, and they saw the heavens
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open, and they saw angels descending out of heaven, as it
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were, in the midst of fire. And they came down and encircled
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those little ones about, and they were encircled about with
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fire, and the angels did minister unto them.
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You'll notice how heaven feels about little children.
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My wife and I have had ten children.
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People have asked Brother Griffin, how do you and your
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wife take care of and love sufficiently 10 children?
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I don't have a good answer for you other than we have
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experienced a phenomenon with every birth that it's not a
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matter of saying I only have this much love to give.
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And now it's going to have to be divided one step even further
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than it was before. Love doesn't get divided in the
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gospel of Jesus Christ. Love gets multiplied with each
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child coming into the home they bring with them.
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It's as these angels coming down, descending from heaven,
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ministering. It's that same idea these
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children bring with them, this package of love that multiplies
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and there's enough and to spare in a family, regardless of what
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that family size is, whether it's just a husband and wife or
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husband and wife with one child or 10 children or adopted
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children, it doesn't matter. Heaven isn't looking at things
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the way we are. God loves little children.
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And can I just add something here?
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You don't have to be a parent or even married to nurture and care
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for little children, to be a ministering Angel to the little
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ones. Let me illustrate this with a
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few real life examples. My wife has an aunt who's never
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been married. We affectionately call her
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Auntie Karen. Karen has been a blessing in my
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wife's life. Ever since the day she was born.
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She's been there celebrating the successes, crying through the
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struggles. She's been there giving counsel,
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encouragement and advice. Auntie Karen has become a
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ministering Angel in many ways to our children.
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She's a part of our family and and we feel of God's love coming
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to our children now through her in so many ways.
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And it's beautiful to watch that, to watch those those
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relationships being being forged and strengthened with this
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incredible daughter of God. Another example, my wife has an
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uncle named Reed, and he has been such a blessing to our
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family and to many other families in so many ways.
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He knows everything about science, about the animal
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Kingdom and the plant Kingdom, and every time he starts
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explaining things about how they work and telling stories, it's
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amazing to watch my children just come and gather around him.
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And as I sit back and watch those experiences, I can see
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God's love and God's goodness and His light and His truth
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being brought into the lives of my children through Uncle Reed,
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who in all of those moments is in every way, shape, and form a
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ministering Angel. And yet, some of the greatest
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lessons that we have learned from Uncle Reed have come
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through watching him endure intense physical pain and
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setbacks with his health. 1/3 And final example, my my wife
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has a dear friend, a college roommate from years ago named
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Susan that my children now call Aunt Susan.
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She has come as our adopted aunt.
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She visits every year, she loves, she nurtures, she reads
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too, she blesses, she feeds and helps our children for a for a
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short week or a few days every year.
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And they have grown to look forward to those visits, and
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they love her and they feel of God's love through her, even
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though they're not technically related to her.
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That doesn't matter. She's still a ministering Angel
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to them. The point is, whatever our
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circumstance in life, married, unmarried, with children,
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without children, with children on this side or on that side of
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the veil, the point is we can participate with Christ in this
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effort to bless the little ones around us in that sphere of
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influence that God has granted to us.
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And as we move forward, our world desperately needs more
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people focused on how to help and bless and minister to these
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rising generations of children and youth and young adults as we
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move forward in the work. I want to echo what Tyler says,
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that families come in all shapes and sizes and it's a matter of
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the Lord's will. And we shouldn't just be looking
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to the world for how we manage our families.
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We should be looking to God. And in my situation, my wife and
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I, we got married a little late. She happily says that she was
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29, I was 31, so we were a little bit older.
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We actually both came from families of seven.
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We're like, we're going to have at least seven kids and didn't
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happen. We had infertility and for many
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years couldn't have kids. And then through the miracle of
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adoption, we were able to bring 2 lovely children into our home.
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And it's amazing that whether by natural birth or by adoption,
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children are a miracle. And it's interesting, the love
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that expands. So our kids have birth parents
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who we're still in contact with who love these children.
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And we love them. And our children are loved by
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us. They're loved by God, and we
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tell our kids, you're kind of lucky because you guys get all
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this extra love from so many people.
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Even tell them, you know Jesus was adopted, so you're in good
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hands. The point here is that all of us
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are in a variety of circumstances, and it's
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beautiful to look at how Jesus treats the children.
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Whether we're in a family of many or few or none, ultimately
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God doesn't count. Except he does count.
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Where's our heart? Are we looking towards Him?
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And on that note, let's remind ourselves that though we are
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reading Scripture, Scripture means written words.
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Jesus is revealed not only by words, but also by deeds.
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Now we are in many ways from the ancient past dependent on the
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words of witnesses about the deeds of Jesus.
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And one of the beautiful things about Scriptures, one of the
27:07
reasons we love reading the Scriptures with you is to hear
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the words of God and through those words to have his deeds
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revealed. And we're seeing here in chapter
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17 that, yeah, he taught all these words, but then we have
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these amazing deeds where his character is revealed to us.
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But we invite you to think about it's not only are the deeds of
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God or Jesus revealed in Scripture, they are revealed in
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our lives. And Jesus has promised that the
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expanding of the Kingdom of God is done through deeds of
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righteousness, through his deeds of righteousness and through the
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deeds of righteousness that He inspires us.
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Encourage you to look around your life.
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What deeds have you seen where God has done incredible things
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in your life that reveals his character?
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How have you seen Him bless the lives of others?
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What other deeds has He done to bring joy and salvation to
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people that reveals God? So as we continue on in these
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chapters, we want you to think about what are the words and
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deeds that are revealed that help us to better understand and
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see the character of God. Then we invite you to then
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ponder deeply which of those actually will help you in the
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next day or week. Have greater trust in the Lord
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so you can feel the joy as the people felt here, which again is
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tied right back into His joy, or He will have those tears,
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fullness of joy. And I have to say, I've looked
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at that passage where he says I have a fullness of joy.
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I thought I would have thought when he got resurrected, he
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would have said, now I have a fullness of joy.
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Or when the atonement was complete, fullness of joy.
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And it's interesting, he says, and I don't mean to make too
28:47
much of this. It's when he sees the joy of the
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people, His joy is full. And in some ways that's what
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family and that's what the church is about.
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So this chapter 17 closes with Mormon telling us that there
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were 2500 people in the audience at the end of this experience.
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So that's everybody who was involved in 3511, plus any that
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they might have added through the sick and the afflicted and
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the children in chapter 17 who may or may not have been there
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originally. Point being, by the time we're
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finished here, 2500 people have had one-on-one experience with
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Jesus. And by the way, their day isn't
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over yet. The day started here in the
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morning and we're still not over.
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We've got one more chapter to go before day one is going to end.
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And he opens up chapter 18 by commanding that the disciples
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should bring some bread and wine unto him.
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Brothers and sisters, Jesus could have miraculously created
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and made for them bread and wine on that occasion, like he's
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going to do the next day on Day 2, He's going to provide bread
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and wine miraculously for them. So it's interesting when we try
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to pigeonhole Jesus or try to create a one-size-fits-all for
30:11
how he always does things. It's pretty hard to do because
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sometimes if you look at his miracles in the New Testament.
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He uses a variety of ways to heal different people with
30:20
different infirmities at different times and different
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needs. Same thing here with the
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sacrament. In chapter 18, He asks them to
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bring bread and wine. In the next chapter, He's going
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to provide it miraculously. Jesus does for us whatever is
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going to provide the greatest growth and development period.
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That's what he always does. But it sometimes changes the
30:42
practice or it looks different on the outside.
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And we've got to be comfortable with that as members of the
30:48
church when when things change, either in our worship services
30:52
or in the temple ordinances or in our missionary service or the
30:56
way we are instructed to do certain things, it's OK.
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It's getting us another opportunity to reach out and
31:04
help lift people to a new level. So in this case, you can picture
31:08
these disciples in verse 2. They were gone to get the bread
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and wine. He commands that the multitude
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should sit upon the earth. Now I need to just point this
31:15
out. If you're one of those disciples
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who ran home to get bread and wine to bring back to Jesus,
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let's just be really honest for a minute.
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I would feel really silly going home and getting any loaves of
31:30
bread that I might have at home to then bring them and put them
31:34
in front of Jesus. I would feel really inadequate.
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Regardless of how good the bread is and how how nice it looks or
31:40
how freshly it was made, I would still feel inadequate putting it
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in front of Jesus. Isn't this fascinating if you
31:47
consider this altar symbolism? So.
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Here are these. People that go home, they come
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back and they place an offering, so to speak, on the altar in
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front of Jesus. In this case, let's focus first
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on the bread. So they put the bread there.
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Look, if you picture any loaf of bread and you put it in front of
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you on a table and just look at it for a minute, the reality is,
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is what you've placed there is extremely mortal.
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It's flawed. What do I mean by mortal and
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flawed? I mean that if you just leave it
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there for 6789 days, just just give it time and eventually
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what's going to happen sooner than later, that bread is going
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to start growing things and decaying and breaking down.
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And ultimately and eventually you leave it there long enough
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and it becomes unrecognizable. It returns to dust.
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Sounds an awful lot like everything else in mortality.
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It has a clock ticking. It's, it's going to eventually
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break down and return to its basic elements, regardless of
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how good it looks today. Now where am I going with this?
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Brothers and sisters? Jesus is the only one who has
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the capacity to take our mortal offerings, our imperfect
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offerings, bless them, sanctify them, and then He doesn't keep
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them for Himself. You'll notice what He did with
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their bread. He took it in verse 3.
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When the disciples had come with bread and wine.
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He took of the bread and he break and blessed it, and he
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gave unto the disciples and commanded that they should eat.
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Jesus wasn't sitting there waiting for them to bring bread
33:33
so He could eat. He was asking them to bring
33:36
bread so that He could feed them in a way that they would be
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filled, not in a mortal way. So Jesus takes their offering
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and He gives it back to them and commands that they give it to
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the multitude. But you'll notice the
33:52
difference. He gives them the bread with
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eternal capacities attached to it.
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He gives them this Sacramento bread, which when they
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internalize it, that need never turn to dust, that need never
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die or decay or go away, that can keep propelling them to
34:17
higher and higher positions on the covenant path through the
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rest of their life. You and I, we do things for the
34:26
Lord all the time. But in reality, brothers and
34:30
sisters, Jesus is asking us to bring those mortal offerings,
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whether it be our time, our tithes and offerings, our money,
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our donations to the poor in whatever format they may come,
34:42
our energies, our devotions. We put all of those things that
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are very mortal on the altar, and what happens is that Jesus
34:50
consecrates them, and through those they then get given back
34:54
to us as well as spread to the multitude, but in ways that
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eternally feed our soul, help us to grow up to become things that
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we aren't. Yet, but that we're striving to
35:05
be more like Jesus. So I love the fact that here
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they're eating this bread. Verse 4, it says when they had
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eaten and were filled, He commanded that they should give
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unto the multitude. So now they're giving it out to
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the multitude. Notice what he tells them about
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that bread eating experience, that Sacramento experience.
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Look closely at verse 7. And this shall you do in
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remembrance of my body, which I have shown unto you.
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I think what's happening here is Jesus is opening up our minds to
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multiple ways of looking at this bread, not just one.
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We're very, very comfortable with and accustomed to looking
35:47
at the sacrament bread as a representation of Jesus's
35:50
bruised, broken, and torn flesh through the infinite atonement,
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which is wonderful. Keep celebrating the fact that
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He endured that for us. Don't, don't throw that away,
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but bring all that good that you have and add to it what he the
36:04
added instruction here that he gives them that you're doing
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this in remembrance of my body, which I have shown unto you.
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The body he's shown unto them is his resurrected glorified body
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of flesh and bone, which ironically is the only
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resurrected body that we know of doctrinally that has any kind of
36:22
scars in it. There's no, no way he can forget
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us. Isaiah says, because I have
36:28
engraved in thee upon the palms of my hands, thy walls are
36:32
continually before me. Beautiful imagery.
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So Jesus is saying, eat that bread and remembrance of the
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body which you see before me, which was bruised and broken and
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torn as part of the atoning process.
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But now we also eat that bread in remembrance of this
36:48
resurrection promise. The fact that that which was
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mortal can actually be eternal and will be through through His,
36:58
His merits and mercy and grace alone.
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And notice the promise at the end of verse 7.
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And it shall be a testimony unto the Father that you do always
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Remember Me. And if you do always Remember
37:08
Me, you shall have My Spirit to be with you.
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Beautiful promise. Then he takes the wine.
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Look at verse 11. This shall you always do to
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those who repent or baptized in My name.
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And you shall do it in remembrance of My blood which I
37:24
have shed for you, that you may witness unto the Father that you
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do always Remember Me. And if you do always Remember
37:29
Me, you shall have My Spirit be with you.
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There He repeats it so. Isn't that interesting?
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Here's the bread in remembrance of the body which I've shown
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unto you. And now here's the wine in
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remembrance of the blood which I have shed for you.
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So blood representing mortality, He has shed.
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He gave up his mortality for you.
37:52
I've shed that blood for you. So between these two, you get
37:57
the bread and the the wine, one representing his immortal body
38:01
standing there in front of them. The other, the mortal aspects
38:05
that have been shed for you. You bring them together in this
38:08
culminating experience of the sacrament.
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The symbolism is beautiful that Christ is saying, yes, there's a
38:15
lot that's that's filled with with pain and disease and death
38:22
and decay, all that which is mortal.
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But the promise is always Remember Me.
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You'll have my spirit to be with you.
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And all these incredible things that have been done for you that
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you couldn't do for yourself are embodied and symbolized in these
38:38
sacraments, these Sacramento symbols of bread and wine.
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I just have to throw out here 1 little thing.
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When Jesus instituted the sacrament with the apostles at
38:49
the Last Supper, they're celebrating either a Passover
38:53
meal or the day before the Passover, depending on whether
38:55
you go with Matthew, Mark, and Luke, or whether you go with
38:57
John's timing. We're not going to get involved
38:59
in that right now in that part of the discussion.
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The reality is, is as part of that Passover meal, every year
39:07
since Moses brought the children of Israel out of Egypt, they've
39:10
been celebrating this Passover meal.
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And during one part of that Passover meal sequence, there's
39:16
a time when you take herbs. The closest herb we would have
39:20
to hiss up might be parsley, and you dip it in really bitter
39:24
herbs. Some families do it mild.
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When we do a Passover Seder service, we do it really, really
39:29
hot. Horseradish sauce is what we
39:31
use. When you put that in and then
39:34
you put that in your mouth, it creates tears.
39:37
It's painful, it's not fun. Then the next part of that
39:40
sequence in the Seder services, you take a piece of matzo bread,
39:44
these matzos, this unleavened bread, and you put it in
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Brothers and sisters. It's remarkable how quickly that
39:52
bread absorbs the bitterness out of out of your.
39:56
Mouth it absorbs it and you can't feel the pain anymore.
40:00
It takes the tears away. Then when you swallow that
40:03
bread, then you take a drink of that grape juice and it.
40:06
Replaces that kind of that bad taste in your mouth with this
40:09
sweet taste. That's what I see happening
40:13
here. Every week I go to the sacrament
40:15
table. I bring in the bitterness of
40:17
bondage to slavery, of things mortal, The pain, the tears, the
40:22
anguish, the frustrations, the struggles.
40:24
And the first thing he offers us is a piece of bread, the bread
40:28
of life. We put that in our mouth, and
40:31
brothers and sisters were eating a lot more than just a piece of
40:34
bread. We're taking into us this token
40:40
of his perfected sacrifice in our behalf, and it absorbs the
40:45
bitterness, and then he replaces that residue with this fresh
40:52
drink to wash it all down, to remind us of who we can become.
40:58
To me, it's remarkable to see this process take place over and
41:02
over and over again, and to stop seeing the tray as just a little
41:07
piece of bread and the other tray is just a cup of water.
41:11
But to see a glorious promise of what Jesus is offering in
41:17
exchange for what I brought to the sacrament table that day.
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Because everything I placed on the table is mortal.
41:23
And it's painful and it hurts, but I, I walk away with that
41:29
sweet forgiveness, that sweet hope, that sweet renewed faith
41:34
that life is precious and it is worth fighting on.
41:38
It is worth trying to to live more in accordance with the way
41:43
he showed us the example to live.
41:45
So as we partake of the sacrament, God gives that to us
41:48
so that we can become like him. And let's look again at those
41:51
promises in verse 7, verse 11. It's quite simple what Jesus
41:55
asks us. There's many things to do in the
41:58
gospel, but fundamental to all is to remember what does He ask
42:03
us to remember? To remember Him.
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And if we do that, you get the Spirit.
42:09
And as we've talked in past videos, when you have the Spirit
42:12
of God that is prospering, it's part of that covenant of
42:17
context. If we want to prosper in the
42:20
land, we need to remember Him, and we'll always have His
42:23
Spirit. And if you have the Spirit with
42:26
you, it's a member of the Godhead, You will retain a
42:29
remission of your sins. That is what God wants for us.
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He's like, listen, it's quite simple.
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Obviously we know it's very hard, but truly, if we are
42:39
remembering Him in all things, it's much harder to be LED
42:45
astray. It's much harder to do wrong.
42:48
It's much harder to commit sin if we are remembering Him.
42:51
But sometimes we forget. Sometimes we choose to forget.
42:54
And the power is that every week, every week, we are freely
42:59
invited to return to this symbolic sacrificial table
43:03
called the sacrament table, where God, priests, and his
43:08
people join together in a sacred meal, where we put our mortality
43:13
on the altar. Jesus has put his mortality on
43:17
the altar, and all of that becomes eternal nature through
43:22
the power of the atonement and the resurrection.
43:25
Again, as we look at these verses, there's a lot going on
43:28
in Scriptures, but these are some of the most crucial and
43:31
important for our salvation. For the sake of time, I want to
43:35
just focus on one other verse in this incredible chapter that is
43:39
worth your time to dig deep and study in depth.
43:44
Look at verse 24. Therefore hold up your light,
43:48
that it may shine unto the world.
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Behold, I am the light which ye shall hold up, that which ye
43:56
have seen me do. Behold, you see that I have
43:59
prayed unto the Father, and ye all have witnessed.
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I love this. He's commanding us to hold up
44:05
our light. And then he clarifies, by the
44:07
way, I'm the light that you're holding up.
44:09
I am the light of the world. And back in the sermon of the
44:12
temple, he told him, I give unto you to be the light of the
44:15
world. So ultimately we become these
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reflecting lights for the ultimate light of the world.
44:24
He promises us that. Verse 25.
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You see that I have commanded that none of you should go away,
44:30
but rather have commanded that you should come unto me that you
44:34
might feel and see. Even so shall ye do unto the
44:38
world. That is what our message to the
44:41
world is. Brothers and sisters, it's this
44:43
simple yet most important and most profound invitation we can
44:48
give is to people all over the world, and especially those
44:54
closest around us to come and see, to come and see of God's
44:59
goodness, to come and taste of his goodness and to hold up that
45:02
light. I love a statement that Jeffrey
45:05
R Holland used many, many years ago in a General conference talk
45:07
when he said we must never let our faith be difficult to
45:13
detect. That's the end of day one.
45:18
That's an amazing day you you can imagine.
45:22
Putting all of that into one day and experiencing, wow, well,
45:27
this cloud comes and overshadows Jesus and his disciples, and
45:30
while it's there he ascends to heaven.
45:32
That night this multitude disperses and they're going all
45:36
over the place trying to get people because he promised he
45:38
was going to come tomorrow. So they're gathering people from
45:40
all over. So this from 11 to 18 is day
45:46
one. When day 2 begins, Jesus isn't
45:50
there right at the beginning, but they've been going all
45:53
around gathering people and there's a huge multitude that
45:57
were introduced to in chapter 19 and they gather.
46:01
They split into twelve groups because there are too many of
46:04
them. These are the 12 apostles listed
46:06
in verse four that Jesus has chosen among the Nephites and
46:09
Lamanites, and they're teaching the things that Jesus taught
46:14
yesterday. Notice verse 7.
46:17
The disciples did pray unto the Father also in the name of
46:20
Jesus. Then they go down into the
46:22
water. Verse 11 Nephi went down and was
46:24
baptized, and he came up out of the water and began to baptize.
46:27
And then they start baptizing all the people.
46:31
After the disciples, angels come down again and minister.
46:35
And then Jesus came down, verse 15 and stood in the midst and
46:40
ministered unto them. So thus begins day 2, the
46:43
ministry of Christ. Verse 17.
46:46
And it came to pass it. When they had all knelt down
46:48
upon the earth, he commanded his disciples that they should pray.
46:51
And behold, they began to pray. And they did pray unto Jesus,
46:55
calling him their Lord and their God, which causes a lot of
46:58
people to pause and ask a lot of questions.
47:01
This isn't overly complicated here.
47:04
Jesus is going to say later on why they're praying to him.
47:08
So hold that thought. Verse 19 It came to pass that
47:11
Jesus departed out of the midst of them, and went a little way
47:14
off from them, and bowed himself to the earth.
47:17
And then he says his own prayer. So he removes himself a little
47:20
bit from the group, and then bows down and and offers his
47:22
prayer. Notice what he says.
47:24
Verse 20 Father, I think thee that thou has given the Holy
47:28
Ghost unto these whom I have chosen.
47:30
And it is. Because of their belief in me
47:32
that I have chosen them out of the world.
47:34
Sometimes we get this tendency to want to pat ourselves on the
47:37
back thinking we're so good. Look at me, I chose the Lord.
47:42
What he's basically saying here is I chose you because of your
47:47
belief in me, and I chose you first and you responded to that
47:52
choosing second, which it's not a big deal.
47:56
But lest we start thinking that we're doing all of these things
47:59
on our own brothers and sisters, I can't take one step on the
48:04
covenant path without Jesus helping me through His merits
48:08
and mercy and grace. There's never a time when I can
48:11
look at heaven and say, I don't need your help on this one.
48:14
I got this. Never can I do that.
48:17
I can't do anything worthwhile. I can't go anywhere worthwhile
48:20
without His help first and foremost.
48:23
And throughout that process, notice he then goes on in verse
48:27
21. Father, I pray thee that thou
48:30
will give the Holy Ghost unto all them that shall believe in
48:34
their words. You could write it next to verse
48:35
21. That's me, that's us.
48:38
We're included in verse 21. He's praying for us because
48:40
we're believing in his words through the words of these
48:42
people who've come to us through the book.
48:44
Woman, look at the bottom part of verse 22.
48:47
They pray unto me because I am with them.
48:52
You'll notice the basic elements of prayer are to to thank for
48:55
things and to petition for things, to ask for things that
48:59
you want. Well, they're doing that with
49:01
Jesus. He's he's standing there with
49:03
them. Notice that he says in verse 25,
49:06
it came to pass that Jesus blessed them as they did pray
49:09
unto Him, and his countenance did smile upon them, and the
49:12
light of his countenance did shine upon them.
49:14
And behold, they were as wide as the countenance and also the
49:16
garments of Jesus beautiful, as He's smiling at them, as they're
49:21
connecting with him, as they're communing with Him, and then
49:24
Jesus himself. Verse. 27 Turned from them
49:29
again, and went a little way off, and bowed himself to the
49:31
earth. As it's starting to sound
49:33
familiar. Remember, Jesus in Gethsemane
49:37
went a little ways away from his disciples and prayed.
49:41
How many times? 3 occasions in Gethsemane.
49:44
Look at verse 31. And it came to pass that he went
49:47
again a little way off, and prayed under the Father.
49:50
And tongue cannot speak the words which you prayed.
49:53
Neither can be written by men, the words which you prayed, but
49:56
they did understand in their hearts.
49:59
So three times he's going to separate himself from the
50:01
multitude. And there are other elements
50:03
here that bring our minds back symbolically to Gethsemane and
50:08
even some events on the cross. If you read chapter 19 through
50:12
that lens. In closing here, Speaking of
50:15
prayer, brothers and sisters, when I kneel down and pour my
50:20
thoughts and my heart out to God, I'm not teaching God
50:23
anything he doesn't already know.
50:25
God's not up in his heavens saying, oh, I sure hope Tyler
50:29
will talk to me today. I wonder, I wonder what he's
50:31
really feeling. Brothers and sisters, God knows
50:34
what I'm feeling better than I know what I'm feeling.
50:36
He knows my past, He knows my present, and He knows my future.
50:40
I'm not commanded to pray because God's curious about what
50:43
I'm going through. I'm commanded to pray not for
50:47
God's sake, but for my sake. He has given me that command
50:52
because it gives me an opportunity to commune with Him
50:56
and to learn some things about Him and about myself.
51:00
My prayers don't teach God anything.
51:03
My prayers teach me a great deal.
51:07
And by the way, there are sometimes in life when you're
51:11
going to kneel down to pray and you won't have the words your
51:17
tongue can't express what you feel, what you want to share or
51:22
what you want to ask of God. Some of my most profound
51:28
experiences with prayer in life have involved very, very few
51:33
words. I'm not in every case, but in
51:36
enough that I've noticed a pattern.
51:38
There's sometimes when I just groan within my soul when I
51:42
kneel down and it's I just need to cry on his knees.
51:46
I need to pour out my heart with feeling and connect in ways that
51:52
don't involve the tongue speaking or the mind thinking
51:55
through sentences of of common phrases that we use in prayer,
52:00
but where we really connect with the God who gave us life, who
52:04
loves us more than we'll ever love ourselves in this life, who
52:08
understands us far better than we understand ourselves.
52:11
Those sisters, the command from Jesus that He gives to us to
52:14
pray unto the Father in His name isn't for God's benefit
52:19
directly, it's for ours. We have the God of the universe
52:24
who holds worlds without number in His hand, but He holds you in
52:30
His heart because you're His child and He loves you.
52:34
And I leave that with you in the name of Jesus Christ, Damon.