Latest / Scripture Central / 3 Nephi 20–26 | Oct 14–20 | John W. Welch and Lynne Hilton Wilson | Come Follow Me Book of Mormon

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3 Nephi 20–26 | Oct 14–20 | John W. Welch and Lynne Hilton Wilson | Come Follow Me Book of Mormon · Scripture Central

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Welcome back to Scripture Central.
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I'm Lynn Hilton Wilson. And I'm Jack Welch.
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And today we get to continue in our Savior's second day.
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We started last week in chapter 19 as He came to visit the
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Nephites in 3rd Nephite. And now today we'll be looking
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at chapters 20 to 26. Welcome to these chapters.
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They are difficult chapters, we grant you that, but it's well
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worth the effort. And we we haven't changed our
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clothes from the recording that we just finished where we ended
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with Chapter 19. And that's because we want you
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to remember the chapter 19 is the beginning of Day 2 and we
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won't get to the end of Day 2 until Chapter 26 is finished.
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So we're trying to give some coherence to that.
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But obviously in chapter 19, just to remember Jesus gave many
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teachings and especially the high priestly prayer, blessing
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the people and wanting them to understand and have the gift of
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the Holy Ghost and its gifts. One of the gifts of the Holy
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Ghost is the the Spirit of prophecy.
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And Jesus wants us to understand prophecy is not only to
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understand the future, but to be able to prophecy about things
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that we need to do right now. What we're getting here in these
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chapters is Jesus going over the history of the covenant and
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prophecies made about the covenant that the Lord made with
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the House of Israel. And he wants these people more
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than anything else, to realize that God will always keep every
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one of his promises. God's covenants are secure.
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Why might he have wanted to emphasize that with these
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people? No, I feel like they have this
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wonderful history that's saturated in the Old Testament
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Law of Moses, and they've been living this law, looking forward
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to Christ. They've been hoping for the film
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and filming of those prophecies, and yet they didn't know, all of
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them at least, didn't realize that they would be able to
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receive Christ's healing as was given in the old world.
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And all those promises that were given to Abraham for posterity
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and blessings are going to be theirs in reality.
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And that's a great way to begin to understand the immediacy of
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these blessings and that this is a part of that covenant.
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And I think it's just as important for us as we read
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these chapters to realize we are of the House of Israel, and
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these promises are for us. And all of them, as we talked
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about the last several weeks, are outlined in the temple, in
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our baptismal covenant, in our sacrament covenants.
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These are all what bind us to our Savior to receive His
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atoning sacrifice. And so surely we can count on
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the Lord keeping his covenants with us if we will keep our
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covenants with him. A couple other things occur to
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me, why Jesus might have wanted to spend so much time now
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talking about the covenant. You know, these people, like you
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say, had been living under the law of Moses.
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And although he says all things are fulfilled in me, the
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covenant is not fulfilled, right?
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And there's yet more to come. So here he's clarifying if
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anyone was uncertain. Well, how much of the old is
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carried over into the present and the future?
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He mentions that the first day and now he's returning to the
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same theme in the second day. And also, I think these people
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remember that they are scattered.
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They have been surviving Wanderers, outcasts in a way.
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They've had little communication with the House of Israel.
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They still understand that they are a part of the blessings of
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Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, that they might wonder, so what's
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going to happen next now that you're here?
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Are we going to be reunited? Will the gathering take place
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now? And what he's telling them is,
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no, that's not quite yet, but the gathering will happen.
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But it won't happen until your record, the Book of Mormon comes
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forth. Yes.
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And we kind of collapse that and say, well, of course for us that
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signals to the dispensation of the Restoration, that now we
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know that God has set his hands again to gather all of Israel.
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But to them it's to their children, their great, great,
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great, great, great, great, great, great posterities.
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And isn't that thanks for picking that up?
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Because that's why it's relevant to them.
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And he wants to encourage them. And Mormon especially would have
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picked up on this. He wants them to keep their
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records. We need your witness of what has
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happened here to come forth at a time when it's appropriate and
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possible. Now, you people, you must keep
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these commandments, do the best you can and keep your records so
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that this can come forth as a sign to the rest of the world.
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So I think that's the relevance to them at several levels and
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why Jesus would have spoken so much.
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And very applicable to ourselves as well.
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So I think it does have universal significance.
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However, we tend to kind of say, well, he's talking to someone
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else here, but the principles of the everlasting gospel and the
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eternal covenant nature of the gospel of Jesus Christ is every
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bit as much relevant to the world today as it was ever
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before. And I think Jesus is making that
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point real strongly here. I think that not only are is it
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good to read as if we were sitting right there at his feet,
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right there and bountiful at the temple listening to him, but
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it's also good to read in your lives now, in the current.
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And you mentioned the idea of prophecy, that Christ is going
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to show the fulfillment of these prophecies.
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But remember, in the New Testament, the Spirit of
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Prophecy is defined by the Apostle John as the testimony of
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Jesus Christ, and they are all receiving a stronger testimony
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of Jesus Christ. And we're told there that those
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who believe on their words will even be more blessed.
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So I hope as you read the Scriptures, you begin with
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prayer, and as you dive into these texts this year, that you
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will also receive a stronger testimony and witness that Jesus
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is your Savior. And that's another perfect
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example of how this really is relevant to us.
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Now, organizing your mind and getting your arms around these
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chapters is not easy. And believe me, it hasn't been
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easy for us. And so if you struggle a little
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with this, don't feel like there's something wrong with
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you, but there are some things that will help you, I think, in
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getting through these chapters. And the one thing that I'd like
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to point out 1st is a chapter in this book on 3rd Nephi that
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we've referred to before. It's a chapter by Victor Ludlow
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on the overview of these particular chapters, chapters 20
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to 24. His organization helps you get
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through, particularly chapters 20 through 22.
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And then there will be some supplemental material afterwards
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that we'll finish up with. The key structure is one large
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chiasm and you'll find on page 157 in this book, which is
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available online. And here's a simplified version
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which Victor Ludlow gives us. And you can notice, just to have
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a few handles to keep in mind, chapter 20 will begin with a
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very important reference to Isaiah, that Isaiah's words will
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be fulfilled and that the covenant, as Isaiah has taught
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us, will be fulfilled. At the end of this, the
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beginning of chapter 23, he will tell the people to search
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Isaiah, and after that he will actually quote Isaiah chapter
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54. So it begins and kind of wraps
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up with Isaiah. Then the second stage, Jesus
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will talk about how Israel will be gathered again back to Zion.
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Even though they've been dispersed, they will eventually
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be gathered to Zion. And in chapter 22, he repeats
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the same thing about building Zion in the last days.
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So it's the parallels have a little more emphasis on
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application right now. Next we will have several
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promises rehearsed that were made to Israel and also to the
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Gentiles. Interestingly, when he repeats
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that, it's promises to the Gentiles and also Israel.
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So he just reverses those orders when we get down to chapter 21,
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verses 22 to 29. And then we have blessings for
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righteous Judah and warnings about wickedness.
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Chapter 21. The warning about those that are
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not righteous. Yeah.
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And then at the end of chapter 20, we have Jesus referring to
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the marred servant, and he will then near the beginning of
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chapter 21, return to that prophecy about the marred
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servant and this great work and wonder.
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But the center point is my favorite.
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That is the sign that the Book of Mormon will begin to gather
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Israel. When the Book of Mormon comes
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forward, it's time. Well, with that, it's just a
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general overview, and it gets more complicated as we go along.
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Let's begin by looking at what happens next in Chapter 20.
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Last week we talked about how we brought the sacrament at the end
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of the first day, but now they begin on the second day with the
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sacrament. But it's miraculously given and
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it reminds me of the manna because it's miraculous.
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And as Christ fed the 5000, which I think also was
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consistent with the bringing of forth of manna, they receive it
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here and Christ brings the bread somehow and the multitude is
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filled, not just physically, but it also says in chapter 20,
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verse nine that they are filled with the Spirit.
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And in chapter 19, that's what they had prayed for, that they
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might have the Holy Ghost. So we now have the fulfillment
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of that as they witnessed this miraculous administration of the
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tokens of the blood and flesh of Jesus Christ.
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And they have that gift of the Spirit while they are in the
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having an ordinance because we're told in the Doctrine
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Covenants that the power of godliness is manifest in the
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ordinances. And I just feel like sometimes I
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don't take advantage of that when I'm participating,
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especially if I've got kids around me or something, you
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know, and I'm busy trying to keep them focused and quiet.
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But this is an opportunity. The sacrament is an opportunity
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to be filled with the Spirit. Before when Christ spoke in
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chapters 12 and 15, he talked about the requirements of this
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higher covenant. But now he's going to explain
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how that is fulfilled. But I'm was interested just to
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see the word covenant across the Book of Mormon.
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And you know, we use it also in the rest of the scriptures.
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We see a consistent higher number of usage of covenant in
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the Old Testament as we do in the Book of Mormon.
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It's an ancient text. But in the Book of Mormon, the
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greatest concentration is in 3rd Nephi.
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These three chapters, chapters 212223, have 23 uses of the word
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covenant in different forms. Well, that's good reason that
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you can call these chapters Jesus's covenant sermon.
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I think it's very, very good reasons.
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This is his focus and he wants to talk about this.
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I'm not surprised at all that we have a prophet who's trying to
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emphasize this, that we talk about a covenant path for the
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plan of salvation or the plan of redemption.
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This is a text taken from our Savior in 3rd Nephi.
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And here we see a longer elaborate chiasm with the center
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emphasizing. Here you can see the sign of the
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covenant is the coming forth of the Book of Mormon.
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Also on this a little more detailed slide of the chiastic
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structure, you can see in the lavender the darker purple color
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mica. And interestingly mica is
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repeated almost the same verses but slightly different than the
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King James we read in Micah chapter 5 and Micah chapter 4 we
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find in chapter 20 of Third Nephi.
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So as we look at verses 16 to 18, he talks about the
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adversaries of the enemies that we cut off, but that the Lord
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will gather a together his sheaves, his people.
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And this remnant of Jacob that's in 3rd Nephi has been prophesied
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of not just when the Savior says other sheep, but I think it we
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can also include them. Is this remnant in Micah.
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In chapter 4 of Micah, he says arise and Thresh, O daughter of
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Zion. But in 3rd Nephi chapter 20,
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verse 19, he says, for I will make my people with whom the
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father hath covenanted. Yeah, I will make a horn of
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iron. I will make thy hoof's brass.
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Now this is exactly quoting Micah, but the introduction is
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different because he's in a different audience.
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I mean the the changes, the nuances are so specific and
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important. When people say Joseph just
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copied it, it's ridiculous. It when you take the time to
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slowly look at each text, you can see the beautiful, intricate
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detail of how the text fits the different audiences.
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And I like how this verse from Micah, with such a positive
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promise, that I will make thy horn iron, I will make thy hoofs
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brass, and thou shalt beat in pieces many people, and I will
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consecrate their gain unto the Lord, and their substance unto
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the Lord of the whole earth. If the horn is a symbol of
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power, if the horn is a symbol perhaps of the anointing, I'm
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it's also on the altars of the temple on the four corners.
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I This is just wonderful. I will make it as strong as of
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an element as we know. And it's like the rod of iron,
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we now have the horn of iron, meaning it's really, really
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powerful, strong, durable, like you say.
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So although there are plenty of things in these chapters that do
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talk about hardship and difficulty, this mica passage is
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it ends with everything coming out all right.
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It's very optimistic. Yeah, the Lord will consecrate
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our efforts for our good if they are done in His name.
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And that's where that expression we talk about this may the Lord
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consecrate our efforts and for our gain.
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So even though the sufferings are difficult and the problems
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we go through at the time seem like what good can possibly come
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from this? Well, the only way good can come
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from a lot of those things if they are consecrated.
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What does that mean to consecrate those difficulties
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for our gain? Well, it's interesting because
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the Lord tells Joseph Smith something similar.
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All these things will give the experience and be for thy good.
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So I assume that if they are consecrated, the difficulties in
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our life, the challenges, the hardships, the trials are
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learning, the good as well as the bad, can be used to glorify
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God, can be used to become more like him, can be used to receive
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empathy. What?
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What do you think it means, Jack?
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Well, to all of that and maybe a little more that to consecrate
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something means to actually put it with things that are holy and
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to to do this, I think we have to turn things over to the Lord.
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But we know. But as we suffer through these
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things, all these are for our experience and like you say,
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even Liberty Jail can be for our good.
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And that consecration is also in preparation for the new
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Jerusalem, for the coming. And that's where he goes next.
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Verse 22. He says, this people will I
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establish in this land unto the fulfilling of the covenant, and
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it shall be a new Jerusalem, and the powers of heaven shall be in
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the midst of this people. Yeah, even I We'll be in the
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midst of you. Our power is Jesus Christ.
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Our power, all power, all priesthood power, is the power
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of God. As we're pointing out here with
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this picture, which of course is a tapestry of the Apocalypse of
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John, people usually think of the New Jerusalem as something
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that is a phrase or expression that the Apostle John
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introduces. But where's he getting this from
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the revelation? He says these are the words that
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were revealed to him by the resurrected Lord.
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And so this idea of a new Jerusalem is now being given to
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the people in the new world by Jesus as well.
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And as long as we've talked about the macro chiasm here,
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let's point out another little detail of the word.
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New Jerusalem appears in the first half.
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It also appears in the second-half, and it's one of
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those elements in the big chiasm.
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Maybe this is a good place to say, well, why would Jesus have
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given this great covenant speech using a chiastic form?
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I think you chiastics forms allow us to understand what the
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author was trying to bring home to us.
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The repeating of them gives us 2 witnesses.
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Two witnesses is good. I also think that it's a
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balanced, We're talking about a covenant that's a two way rate
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relationship. And so there's a matching and a
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balancing there as well. And I think that Jesus, why
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would he have used this here on this occasion?
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He knows that King Benjamin and Nephi and others have used this
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as a style of writing to enshrine and to communicate to
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these people things that they can understand most readily.
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And remember, Caiasmus is something that helps with
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memorization. If you know the order, you can
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then go in the opposite order or keep track of it for accuracy
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purposes, to be see and to be sure you haven't left something
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out. So I think Jesus is doing this
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here, knowing that this is speaking in the manner of their
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language. And we're promised that everyone
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will hear the gospel in their own tongue, and I think this is
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a part of the fulfillment of that.
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In chapter 20, verse 24, we continue reading that he says
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all the prophets have testified of me.
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And moving ahead to 25 Ye are the children of the prophets,
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and ye are of the House of Israel, and ye are of the
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covenant which the Father made with your Father's saying unto
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Abraham. And in thy seed shall the
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kindreds of the earth be blessed.
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All the kindreds. All the kindreds.
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Let's not leave that word out. Why is that important?
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Because we've got this scattering of Israel.
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It's not just Lehi and Mulik's family that were taken aside and
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into a different place. I believe there are scattering
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of Israel all over the world. And that's the other sheep that
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we don't that Christ would refer to later.
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And it's not just all the scattered Israel that will be
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blessed. All the kindreds of the earth
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will be blessed. Think of the expansive nature of
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this covenant understanding that everyone can come through the
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gospel, through the atonement of Jesus Christ, through the
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priesthood, through the things in the out ordinances that he is
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bringing through here, especially through the temple.
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And why do we build temples everywhere, so that through the
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temple all kindreds of the earth can be?
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Blessed. You know, I just had a
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missionary discussion this week with someone who is having a
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hard time with seeing the need for vicarious work.
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And yet it starts here with the Abrahamic promise, doesn't it?
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That all the kindreds of the earth can receive these
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blessings, if they choose to receive them.
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Well, and if someone can't do something for themselves, I I
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don't know whether you mentioned this to the person you were
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talking to, but it seems to me that the atonement is vicarious
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work at its heart. If Jesus hadn't done that in a
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way that it could then be to our benefit, we have to accept it.
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But he has vicariously sacrificed that for us.
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So I think that's a pretty high level gospel principle.
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Me too, that God will do everything he can to help all of
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his children to to get home. One thing that we have done at
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Book of Mormon Central and Scripture Central to help people
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get through and get more out of these difficult chapters is that
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there are no whys on almost each one of the chapters.
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So let me just mention no Y number four O 8 and if you want
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to just search no Y4O8 it will talk to you there about this
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covenant made with the Father unto Abraham and how that
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applies here. You had mentioned earlier, Jack,
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this idea of consecration becoming holy, and I love verse
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35 of chapter 20. It says the Father hath made
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bear his holy arm, because holiness begins with our God,
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and it's only when we come close to Him, when we have a
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connection with Him, that that holiness can then be given to us
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as well. He shares His Holiness.
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And notice that it is again all the ends of the earth shall see
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the salvation of the Father. Here we see again that universal
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nature of the atonement and mission of Christ.
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Continuing on in verse 36, and then shall be brought to pass
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that which was written awake, awake again, and put on thy
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strength, O Zion, put on thy beautiful garments, O Jerusalem,
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the holy city. And for me, the beautiful
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garments are a symbolized in our temple clothing.
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They're symbolized in the countenances of those who the
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Lord smiles upon. They're symbolized in our
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covenants, but many times in the Scriptures we refer to the robes
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of righteousness, and I think these are the beautiful garments
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that are being referred to here. There's one more thing I wanted
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to mention about holiness. Not only can we receive holiness
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and our proximity to God, whether we have direct contact
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or through prayer, but I also feel like because of our
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covenants with God and we have this relationship to Him, if we
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obey, if we are repentant, if we receive His forgiveness, we can
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also be blessed with His Holiness, this sanctification,
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this purification. And I'm so grateful in our
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temple experiences, we can become closer to Him.
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And the closer to him we become, we can share in that holiness
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that he has. The Book of Mormon talks a lot
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about holiness. It does, and the word holiness
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and sanctified and so on. The word sanctified comes from
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the Latin root sanctos, which means holy.
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Holy, holy, holy. And that's where we get the word
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St. And in German, the name of the
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church is the Church of Jesus Christ.
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They're Heiligen de l'estantaga, the holy ones of the last days.
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Because a St. we talk about Saint Matthew or Saint John's is
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Heiligen Mattheus. So the word holy has this double
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meaning St. and holy. And so when when we think of
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ourselves, sometimes we wonder about this name, the Church of
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Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints.
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I hope everyone thinks of this as latter day holy ones, those
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who have been made holy, who have become holy through the
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blood of the Lamb and through the covenant.
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We may step into the water, but the baptism is not what is
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cleansing us. It is our Savior's atoning
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sacrifice. It is he who allows us.
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Yeah. Makes that into something we
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could never make it ourselves. I also want to skip ahead to
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chapter 20 verse 41. The Lord gives some instructions
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here and he says touch not that which is unclean, be clean that
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bear the vessels of the Lord. Now you might recognize Isaiah
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52 there, but I just love the fact that we that bear the
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vessels of the Lord our mothers, we the vessels of the Lord are
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people who bear a testimony who serve a mission, who are able to
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open our mouths. I I feel like bearing the
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vessels of the Lord refers to so many different levels of our
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desire to be disciples of Christ.
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Now, we've now reached in our discussion the turning point.
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Of the whole sermon, yeah. It's important for us to just
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pause for one more minute to recognize that the sign of the
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covenant will be the coming forth of the Book of Mormon and
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by this power and by the these things that they might come
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forth. And all people will then know
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that the covenant is beginning to be full fulfilled.
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And by these things, Jack, he means the records.
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Where we are right now is with this turning point and we now
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we'll go back through, but now with a slightly different
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emphasis. Yes, often with the turning
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point you also have a pivot and some just past tense future
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tense. And just one other little detail
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that is an element of this chiastic balance is that there
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are Old Testament scriptures that are cited both in the first
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half and in the second-half. And on this chart you have a
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little list of places where Isaiah and Micah are quoted.
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And then in the second-half you have Isaiah and Micah quoted
27:06
again. Sometimes the same passages,
27:09
sometimes developed passages. When we look at this turning
27:12
point, I want to mention also in verse 1 he says, I give unto you
27:16
a sign that these things shall be about to take place.
27:18
But then in verse seven he says it shall be a sign that the work
27:22
of the Father hath already commenced.
27:25
So by the time the Book of Mormon comes to pass, it's a
27:27
sign that Heavenly Father is already preparing for this final
27:32
fulfillment of the Abrahamic covenant.
27:34
So we have a future tense in verse ones and a past tense in
27:37
verse 7, but they're both leading to the coming forth of
27:40
this great and marvelous work, the Book of Mormon.
27:43
And so as we turn the corner there after the sign that's
27:46
given, one of the first things that Jesus talks about is how he
27:50
will be a part of this work and that the life of his servant,
27:54
the Lord's servant, will be in my hand, in the Lord's hand.
27:57
Therefore they shall not hurt him, although he shall be
28:00
marred. Is this talking about Joseph
28:02
Smith? I think so.
28:03
And we also talked about a marred servant earlier in
28:07
chapter 20. So there's this parallel again
28:09
to let this know this is important.
28:12
Could this marred servant be the Savior?
28:14
Or is it the Savior's servant? I think it's his servant.
28:19
When I read the whole thing in context, I do think it sounds
28:22
like Joseph Smith. What do you think?
28:23
Well, I think it can be both. In Isaiah 52, starting in verse
28:27
13, it says, Behold, my Servant shall deal prudently, He shall
28:33
be exalted and extolled, and be very high.
28:36
As many were astounded at thee, His visage was so marred more
28:42
than any man, and his form more than the sons of men.
28:46
So I think that's referring to one of the four suffering
28:49
Servant chapters in Isaiah. So I think that is very
28:52
messianic in that context. It can there refer to Jesus, but
28:57
I think back here in chapter 21 when the Father is going to do
29:02
his work, the life of my servant, the life of any of the
29:07
servants of the Lord are in his hand.
29:10
And I think that it's prophesying that Joseph Smith
29:15
will not have it easy. He will be tarred and feathered.
29:18
He will be imprisoned. He will be marred more than any
29:23
other person, his face, his, his visage, his form.
29:30
But that in a way is a fulfillment of a prophecy that
29:34
says it's not just going to be any ordinary book that will come
29:37
forth, that Joseph will actually, through his testimony,
29:44
he will die bearing testimony of the Book of Mormon.
29:48
The last things he will say in the Carthage Jail deal with his
29:53
confirmation that the Book of Mormon is true.
29:57
Chapter 22 also ends with some wonderful promises.
30:02
Look at verses 13 and 14. And all thy children shall be
30:07
taught of the Lord, and great shall be the peace of thy
30:09
children. And peace is a sign of the
30:11
Spirit? Or do you think this is talking
30:13
about the Millennium? Going on into that as well, but
30:17
I think this is a promise in this this dispensation as well.
30:21
Yeah, Section 6, the Doctrine Covenants.
30:23
And in righteousness shalt thou be established.
30:26
That's still talking about the establishment of Zion.
30:28
And thou shalt be far off from oppression, for thou shalt not
30:32
fear, and from terror, for it shall not come near thee.
30:35
And look at verse 17. This is one that's very
30:38
reassuring, and we love to quote this one.
30:40
No weapon that is formed against thee shall prosper, and every
30:43
tongue that shalt thou shalt condemn.
30:46
This is the heritage of the servants of the Lord, and their
30:49
righteousness is of me, saith the Lord, even though they might
30:53
be. Marred.
30:54
Isn't this motivating to want to be a servant of God?
30:58
Not I want it. Can you please help me on all my
31:01
desires that Thy will be done? I want to serve you.
31:05
I want to be your servant. And if we do serve him, then
31:10
this beautiful promise that He will prosper us.
31:20
At that point, the covenant sermon will carry on a little
31:22
further, but it now takes a slightly different form.
31:27
One is that in chapter 23, the Lord wants to be sure that these
31:30
records are kept thoroughly. You remember this event where He
31:35
brings Nephi. Can you imagine this?
31:38
And, says Nephi, bring those records that you wrote about,
31:41
Samuel, the Lamanite. I'd like to proofread your work
31:44
please. I'd like to edit what you wrote.
31:46
Yeah, this is a. This is a little scary.
31:48
And let's do a little source checking to be sure you've got
31:51
this right. What do you make of this?
31:53
Why does Jesus care so much about these records?
31:56
Of course he cares about the records.
31:57
Yeah, Yeah. Well, unfortunately they left
31:59
something out and they forgot to write down that a prophecy was
32:04
made by Samuel and that it was written down later.
32:07
And this was the one that Saints would arise and appear to many
32:11
at the time of the resurrection of Jesus.
32:14
Why do you think he would want that especially?
32:16
Well, I I think that it's one thing to say Jesus was
32:22
resurrected, but he is unique. Other people won't have that
32:26
blessing, but Jesus wanted everyone to know that as other
32:31
people were raised from the dead at that time.
32:33
It says they visited the people as well.
32:35
Samuel had prophesied it and the prophecy was fulfilled.
32:38
He wants us to record our spiritual experiences.
32:41
He wants us to record when they're fulfilled.
32:43
And I think this means our God cares about our records.
32:49
And I think that's why one reason why I can trust the New
32:51
Testament is if he's this careful with the book, with
32:55
Samuel the Lamanite, I think he would have been just as careful
32:57
with what his servants were writing down in the ancient
33:00
world. The next supplement or appendix
33:03
to what Jesus is teaching is he quotes to them from Malachi
33:08
chapters 3 and 4. Isn't it interesting, Jack, that
33:10
every book in our Canon quotes from these same chapters in
33:13
Malachi? These are so important.
33:16
So Third Nephi 24 and 25, many of them are verbatim in of
33:22
Malachi, but there's 5 slightly different things.
33:24
I don't know if it was intentional.
33:26
The punctuation is a little different.
33:27
There's an apostrophe, but there is a significant difference in
33:32
the plural. The word ordinance in Malachi is
33:35
plural in 3rd Nephi, which I think it's interesting.
33:39
It's ordinances. Then the other change that I
33:41
think is significant is when we talk about the Sun of
33:45
Righteousness. We'll get there in a few verses.
33:47
Let's start first of all, though, in chapter 24, verse
33:49
one, and we've talked about these two messengers.
33:53
First he says, behold, I will send you my messenger, and he
33:57
shall prepare the way before me, and the Lord whom you seek shall
34:01
suddenly come to his temple. Even the messenger of the
34:04
covenant, I think it's the Messiah.
34:06
I think it could be John the Baptist.
34:08
I think there are many messengers who come.
34:11
But this phrase, the Lord whom you seek shall suddenly come to
34:14
his temple did not really happen in the ancient world with the
34:18
Savior's first coming. I don't think that any of his
34:22
visits, including the triumphal entry, really quite fit that
34:27
exactly. It may you know Scripture has
34:29
multiple levels of interpretation.
34:31
That is an interesting observation that in order for
34:35
this prophecy to be fulfilled, Jesus must go to the temple
34:40
among the Nephites. Is that where you're going with
34:42
this? Yes, I also feel like it fits in
34:45
the Kirtland Temple in section 110 the week after the
34:49
dedication. Well, Christ also came to the
34:51
dedication, but he also comes on that Easter Sunday, that April
34:55
3rd, the second day of Passover when Elijah comes as well.
35:00
And it's interesting because Elijah is also prophesied in
35:03
Malachi, one of the many servants of the Lord.
35:06
But continuing on in this verse 1, he says even the messenger of
35:10
the covenant whom ye delight in. That's why I think it's our
35:14
Savior on the bottom level. Behold, he shall come, sayeth
35:19
the Lord of hosts, and hosts of course means the Lord of the of
35:24
the army, the great conquering Messiah.
35:27
Of the hosts of Heaven are the all of the forces headed up by
35:33
Michael the Archangel. And then in verse two and three,
35:37
we continue reading these beautiful Malachi verses.
35:40
But who may abide the day of his coming, and who shall stand when
35:44
he appeareth? Now this is well known in
35:46
Handel's Messiah. I hope you hear the words in the
35:49
back of your mind with the music.
35:51
He will purify those sons of Levi and purge them as gold and
35:56
silver, and they may offer unto the Lord an offering and
35:59
righteousness. And I read this not only for the
36:02
sons of Levi, but for all who offer an offering in
36:06
righteousness. This is men, women, and
36:10
children. These are the saviors on Mount
36:13
Zion who go into vicarious works in the temples.
36:16
This is those people that have a broken heart and a contrite
36:20
spirit. God will purge us as gold and
36:23
silver, and that includes, unfortunately being burned by
36:25
fire sometimes, you know, and we have to be refined.
36:29
But this beauty of our Savior's purification is described there.
36:36
I'm also really touched that the Malachi verses that he chooses
36:40
also refer to the law of consecration, because in these
36:43
latter days, in preparation for our Savior's coming, we have got
36:48
to live the law of consecration. We have got to give of our time
36:52
and our talents and energy to build the Kingdom of God.
36:55
Look at verse five. He says, I will come near to you
36:59
to judgement and I will be a swift witness against the
37:02
sorcerer's, against the adulterers, the false swears,
37:05
those that have oppressed the hireling in the wages, the
37:08
widow, the fatherless, that turn aside the stranger and fear not
37:12
me that saith the Lord of hosts, you know, half of the things
37:15
he's denouncing here have to do with those people that are not
37:18
taking care of the poor. I, I think this is very
37:20
significant. This is so important to the Lord
37:24
that there be no poor among us. We know, because we'll be
37:28
talking about Fourth Nephi next lesson, that the Nephites took
37:32
this to heart and they had everything in common.
37:36
And I think it's partly because of the Malachi passage that they
37:40
are so emphatic about. That well, I have taken it to
37:43
heart. I think this applies to all of
37:45
us right now and we make the covenant in the temple to live
37:50
the law of consecration as the Lord says in verse 7, ye are
37:53
gone away from minor ordinances. Now are we living this or not?
37:57
He's asking us, you know. And all of the ordinances.
38:00
And this is written at a time to a different people, but I still
38:02
can apply it to myself. Return unto me, and I will
38:07
return unto you. And then we get the great
38:10
section starting in verse 7 and 8 about Will a man rob God?
38:15
Yet he have robbed me. But you say, wherein?
38:17
If we rob thee in ties and offerings, move head to verse
38:22
10. Here he says, Prove me, prove me
38:25
now herewith, saith the Lord of hosts, if I will not open the
38:28
windows of heaven and pour out a blessing, that ye shall not be
38:33
saying please. It's not about money, it's about
38:35
service. Trust me, trust me, I'll provide
38:38
for you. Just give to those in need and
38:42
and give wisely. Give us as outlined to be in the
38:45
Old Testament and in the modern revelations.
38:50
You know, there's another thing that's really fascinating here
38:52
is he's talking about ways that we can serve God and how we can
38:56
improve our our worship services going ahead down to verse 14
39:01
now. So you've said it is vain to
39:03
serve God. And what does the prophet that
39:04
we have kept his ordinances. You know, we live in a day and
39:07
age where people say there's no need for this.
39:10
It's not doing us any good. But verse 15 says you call the
39:13
proud happy. Yeah, they that work wickedness
39:16
are set up. Yeah, that they that tempt God
39:19
are even delivered. You know, this is talking about
39:21
our day and age and it is just so poignantly at home.
39:25
These scriptures have many levels of interpretation, but
39:28
also in our day and age. In verse 16 of 24, he asks us to
39:34
keep the book of remembrance. Book of Remembrance was written
39:37
before him for them that feared the Lord and that thought upon
39:41
His name. And I am so grateful that we
39:43
have been commanded not only to keep journals, but that our
39:47
names can be recorded on the records of heaven.
39:50
You know, as he records this Malachi verse, I mentioned that
39:54
it's very consistent with the Old Testament when Joseph Smith
39:59
first received this revelation from Moroni.
40:03
So in our Doctrine Covenant Section 2.
40:06
Which is also repeated in section 128 verse 18.
40:09
We have some changes and I'm fascinated.
40:12
Instead of saying I will send you Elijah the prophet, he says
40:16
in Section 2, behold, I will reveal unto you the priesthood
40:21
by the hand of Elijah. This is why Elijah must come.
40:24
We need the ceiling keys, and the ceiling keys are then
40:28
defined in verse 2 of Section 2, because he shall plant in the
40:33
hearts of the children the promises made to the fathers.
40:38
So I feel like Moroni filled in the blanks of understanding why
40:43
we needed Elijah and why we need these hearts to turn.
40:47
It's so that these promises can be fulfilled, so the ceilings
40:50
can occur eternally. And when you think, where would
40:54
Moroni have learned this except from the words of Jesus himself?
41:00
Here, I don't think we know whether Malachi chapters 3 and
41:05
four were on the brass plates or not.
41:08
I think it's possible that Malachi one and two were on the
41:12
plates, but maybe they just didn't have three and four, and
41:15
so Jesus gives them three and four.
41:19
We don't know exactly. Maybe Malachi wasn't there at
41:22
all. But Malachi would have been
41:26
known to Moroni because of these words in 3rd Nephi, and so he is
41:33
going to use those words because it's in connection with the
41:38
prophecy. What's all of this about?
41:40
In 3rd Nephi, the covenant speech, the sign will be the
41:44
coming forth of the Book of Mormon.
41:47
And in order from this to really be fully effective, the prophecy
41:52
of Malachi has to be fulfilled. So I think he's, he's filling
41:57
that out very nicely. Of course we like to quote
42:02
Malachi chapter 4 as we think about the temple and the hearts
42:08
of the fathers to the children and the ancestors and and the
42:13
sealing power of sealing families and children together,
42:16
which I think they also they're in this experience with Jesus
42:22
might have understood Malachi talking about what they had just
42:27
experienced the the day before in the ceiling that we talked
42:32
about that they had in 35 chapter 17.
42:37
So Lynn, we've seen in this lesson several important aspects
42:40
of the covenant relationship, God's relationship with us, but
42:44
we also see the covenant among our families and our parents and
42:49
children. And so I got thinking, how many
42:52
times do children figure in this report in the middle of Third
42:59
Nephi of the coming of of Jesus? What'd you find?
43:03
Children are mentioned more often than you might have
43:06
thought. For one thing, they're in
43:09
Chapter 11. They come up men, women and
43:14
children so that the parents then they bring their children
43:18
and that's mentioned that those children had an opportunity to
43:23
touch the Savior and be as close as they might have wanted to.
43:27
I'm sure He was. They would have loved being with
43:30
Him. He would have embraced them in a
43:33
way that they would never forget.
43:35
And Jack, isn't that some degree why we bring our children to
43:38
church, why we take them to temple open houses, why we take
43:41
them to the temple gardens? We want them to be close to
43:45
Jesus. Now we know what's coming here,
43:48
that after Third Nephi, we'll be 4th Nephi and we will have 4
43:54
generations of righteousness. Almost 200 years.
43:59
And four generations would mean that these children who are
44:06
there, if they live to be grandchildren.
44:11
They could tell them about it. They could tell their
44:14
grandchildren. In first person.
44:16
I was there and this is what happened.
44:20
So I think the involvement of children here is telling us a
44:24
lot about how the Lord wants us to be family oriented and to
44:29
strengthen families and to realize that we are extending
44:35
through the generations with the teachings and the things that we
44:38
do. And we can bless children's
44:40
lives, even if they're not our birth children.
44:42
You know, I just feel like all children need this.
44:46
I suppose some of those children who came up to touch Jesus or
44:50
orphans. Oh of.
44:51
Course and whatever he doesn't make a difference there.
44:56
So we have children and parents are being blessed in chapter 17,
45:01
which we've talked about family prayer involves children in
45:04
chapter 18 in chapter 22, all thy children shall be taught of
45:10
the Lord. This is quoting Malachi.
45:13
Malachi, we will turn the hearts of the fathers to the children
45:16
and of the children to their fathers.
45:18
And then at the end of this lesson in chapter 26, there will
45:22
be a little mention of an episode where the children will
45:25
be there and will be blessed, and their tongues will be loosed
45:29
so that they could speak unspeakable, unimaginably
45:33
beautiful things. So children, they were really
45:37
important to this whole experience.
45:39
And we, we need to remember that they are pure.
45:44
They are blessed, our children in our primary, our children and
45:49
our ward and our families. Everything we can do to help
45:52
them know that they are loved of the Lord and are precious to the
45:56
Lord. One reason why I think this is
45:57
so significant here is theologically, many faith
46:02
traditions feel like children are born in sin and are not
46:06
saved unless they are baptized. And this is such a dramatic
46:14
change from the culture Joseph was born in, from many ancient
46:18
cultures who saw children as something that needed to be
46:20
beaten until they obeyed. And Christ is trying to give us
46:25
examples. Mormon is recording them
46:28
carefully that we can appreciate the beauty of these holy ones,
46:36
that when we receive this gift from God as a child, whether in
46:39
our own families or in our extended communities, that these
46:44
are holy, precious people to the Lord and that they are the ones
46:50
who were able to speak unspeakable things.
46:52
It was their ability to prophecy that they were given the voice
46:57
of angels because of their purity and their pure because
47:01
the atonement has covered. Them and they are children of
47:04
the covenant. Yes, they were not in this case
47:07
born in the covenant, but others that will come were born in the
47:12
covenant there in the Nephite world.
47:15
Which raises one final question for us today.
47:19
Not only do we know that the Lord loves children, he also
47:23
loves parents. And how many different religions
47:27
believe that marriage exists after death?
47:31
Not many. I only know that one.
47:35
Now, is there anything in the teachings of Malachi that give
47:40
us assurance that the marriage relationship, when sealed by the
47:47
Holy Spirit of promise and sealed by the power of the
47:51
priesthood, we'll extend on into the next life?
47:57
Well, we don't have Malachi chapter 2 quoted here by Jesus,
48:02
and This is why I'm hoping that it was on the brass plates,
48:05
because in Malachi chapter 2, verse 14, and Malachi says the
48:09
Lord hath been witness between thee and the wife of thy youth,
48:14
the wife of thy covenant. And here we have, I think the
48:18
strongest, maybe the only clear indication that in ancient
48:23
Israel people understood the marriage relationship as a
48:27
covenant relationship to which God was a witness, meaning a
48:34
validator, a participant in a way of making that marriage
48:40
relationship eternal. So as we've said, the this day
48:45
that Jesus spends the second day with these people is all about
48:50
covenant. It's covenant in the
48:53
international sense, covenant of gathering throughout the whole
48:57
world, covenant of individual having the Holy Ghost.
49:01
Covenant of sealing the families.
49:02
Families and covenant now recognizing marriage as well.
49:07
So these it's, it's really the covenant sermon at lots of
49:12
levels. And the covenants, the Lord are
49:14
sure. So whether or not you come from
49:16
a dysfunctional family or you're a complete alien and have no, no
49:20
family at all, the covenants are sure and you are the family of
49:26
Christ and you are his children. And we can all take care of each
49:32
other as this fellow disciples of Christ because the individual
49:36
unit of salvation is God and human one-on-one.
49:44
It's a beautiful image. And you know, Lynn, we are also
49:47
assured that it's never over until it's really over.
49:52
You have someone falling away in your family or you had someone,
49:55
or you will in the future. It's not over.
49:58
Keep loving them. And we we don't know everything
50:02
about what the Millennium will take care of and what will
50:05
happen there. We do know that the work of the
50:09
Lord will go on and that every blessing that anyone is entitled
50:15
to and desires to have will be possible, will be theirs.
50:21
The doors will be opened. This moment of testing and
50:26
trial. Immortality is just one step
50:31
toward the eternal progression that we have opened before us
50:36
because of the infinite Atonement, and I would say the
50:40
infinite covenant relationships that we enjoy because of our
50:45
Savior Jesus Christ. We're not through with Third
50:50
Nephi and especially for next week, chapter 27, we'll go on to
50:58
talk about the eternal gospel of Jesus Christ and how Jesus
51:03
himself will summarize and bring all of this together for every
51:07
single person. So stay tuned.
51:10
See you next week and may the Lord bless all of us as we
51:17
strive to come unto him. We are all His children.
51:23
We are children of our heavenly Father.
51:25
And I think one of the big messages of Third Nephi is Jesus
51:29
loves children and that means he loves every single one of us.
51:34
In the name of Jesus Christ, Amen.
51:36
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51:40
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51:49
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51:52
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