Latest / Scripture Central / Come Follow Me Insights (Jun 5 - Jun 11) John 14–17

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Come Follow Me Insights (Jun 5 - Jun 11) John 14–17 · Scripture Central

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  Hello everyone. Thanks for listening to come.
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  Follow me, insights with Taylor and Tyler, presented by
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  scripture Central. We use a lot of visuals in our
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  videos. So if you want to see the
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  visuals, we invite you to find us on YouTube.
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  Thanks for listening and enjoy. I'm Taylor and I'm Tyler.
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  This is scripture Central's. Come follow me insights this
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  week will be John 14 through 17. So for this first episode, we're
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  going to finish off John chapter 14, which goes with what we
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  covered last week in John 13. So, that's the experience in the
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  upper room. And in the second episode will
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  do chapter 15 16 and 17, a study of the godhead and who God is
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  Before we dive into chapter 14, just a quick.
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  Reminder, last week we covered John Chapter 13 which was the
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  beginning of the Last Supper in the upper room.
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  And if you look at this, from a, from a big perspective, from a
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  bird's-eye view, you have 13 and 14 in the upper room.
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  Then at the end of 14, he tells them are rise.
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  Let us go. Hence.
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  Now, they start walking through the city and then The Kidron
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  Valley as he discourses to them on various subjects in verse
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  chapters 15 and 16. You get to the top of the Kidron
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  Valley and before entering into Gethsemane, he pauses there in
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  chapter 17 and gives the great High Priestly or intercessory
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  prayer in chapter 17. What I wanted to point out here
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  is if you do some simple math and count this up, you have 13
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  through 17. 17 5 chapters all. Take place within a few hours of
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  time in a 33 our 33-year life of the Savior.
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  Jesus Christ, five chapters out of the John's total 21.
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  We're right in the neighborhood of 1/4 of his entire Gospel of
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  everything John who is in the savior's Inner Circle.
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  Everything he could have taught us, he's putting significant
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  emphasis on this few hours of experience with Jesus, right
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  before going into Gethsemane. And then if you add chapter 18,
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  which is John's account of Gethsemane and 19, his account
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  of the trials, and the crucifixion of Christ.
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  If you add that to the mix, you're adding a few more hours
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  of time. Now you're at 7 out of 20, one
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  of John's chapters that's one-third of the entire Gospel
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  of John, is taken up from the evening of Thursday when he goes
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  into the Last Supper through early in the morning on Friday
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  of the crucifixion, just over a 12 hour.
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  Moment of Jesus life and we've got 1/3 of the time spent.
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  So I only pointed that out because I think we're going to
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  see as we dive in that some of the greatest truths, some of the
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  biggest theology that Jesus is going to share in his ministry,
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  comes at such a critical time when he's literally moments away
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  from beginning, his infinite atoning, sacrifice beginning in
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  Gethsemane, So, as we move into chapter 14 of John work,
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  including this last supper, that Jesus had.
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  And right here, in verse 34 of John 13, he says a new
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  commandment. I give unto you, that ye love
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  one another as I have loved you, that you also love one.
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  Another Tyler has pointed out that Jesus is about to go engage
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  in the most loving, actives entire life.
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  And in the process of getting there, he is teaching how to
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  experience and share love and how to know what love is and
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  what truth is. It's very so amazing.
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  It's, it's incredible when you put it in that context and you
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  look at how much time and energy and effort Jesus is putting into
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  strengthening and blowing up his Apostles at this late hour of
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  his life. When I don't know about you but
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  when a huge deadline or a huge event that's going to be scary
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  as looming. I'm, I'm not really focused on
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  how other people are doing and how they're feeling and how I
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  can strengthen them. I'm focused on me figuring out
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  how I'm going to get through this, this big terrible or
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  difficult event. Not Jesus, look at verse 1 of
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  chapter 14. Let not your heart be troubled.
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  I believe in God believe. Also in me, I think there's more
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  there than just. Oh, don't don't be afraid.
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  Don't be troubled. I Think Jesus is preaching
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  something that he's practicing. I think he's found ways being
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  the Son of God to himself. Not be troubled in that moment.
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  When everything in his physical mortal being would be pleading
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  with him to be troubled. And He's not allowing his heart
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  to be troubled at that moment. I really love this word believe
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  because of several core reasons. One its etymology in English,
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  comes from two ancient Words Be leave.
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  So this actually is a derivation from the word love.
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  Notice how we talked about Jesus is trying to show and teach love
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  and when he asked people to believe one of the Essences of
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  that, meaning of the word is about love and be means 100%.
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  So when we believe God, we show that we are, 100% love him.
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  We want to be in a loving relationship as we also consider
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  the expansive covenantal context of the word believe it means to
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  be in a faithful loyal Fidelity relationship.
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  So when he says, believe in me, he's encouraged him to think
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  about how he and his father have been Covenant, Ali loyal and
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  Unfaithful to all of God's people for All Time and
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  Eternity. And there's and Jesus is now
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  saying be like us, we have been loyal to you.
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  We have shown you loved. We've believed in you.
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  We have loved. You do the same if you believe
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  in me and join us. Loving relationship.
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  You will have eternal love. And really, this is the essence
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  of the Gospel. It's love, isn't it?
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  Fascinating, that we live in a world?
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  That's, that's providing us all kinds of Causes all kinds of
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  doctrines and teachings and encouraging us to believe them
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  will stop. And think about it.
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  If you believe an untruth you now, put your love and your
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  focus and your time, and your energy, and your talent, and
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  your goals, and your your future Vision in a direction that that
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  isn't going to deliver. It's not going to produce
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  whereas Jesus says and believe also in me, it's put your love.
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  Put your focus 100% on. On me, trust me believe in me
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  and then that will cause us to act in ways that would help us
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  to become like him such a powerful concept here.
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  Then, verse 2, he goes on to say in my father's house, are many
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  mansions. Joseph Smith's would use the
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  word kingdoms. This verse this concept is one
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  that helped plant a seed in the mind of a prophet to begin
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  thinking through and asking questions that would eventually
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  lead to the Revelation given in do.
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  Doctrine, and Covenants, section 76 with the degrees of Glory.
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  That idea that it isn't just heaven or hell.
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  And there's this dividing line between the lowest person in
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  heaven and the highest person to hell, where one sin separated
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  them. And, wow, it sure it's rough to
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  be that. That guy that ended up in hell,
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  it's that idea of know there are many kingdoms, many mansions
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  that depending on how we choose to live our life will determine
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  The kind of mention the kind of Kingdom we end up in tied into
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  that incredible talk by President Russell and Nelson
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  called choices for eternity that that we to a large degree,
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  determine these, these kingdoms, that we're going to inherit one
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  day through the grace and the merits in the mercy of Jesus
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  Christ. The underlying Greek word
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  conveys. That Essence, the underlying
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  Greek word is may know back. Our word Mansion come from that
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  word, but it literally means to remain or abide.
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  You want that song? We Sing abide with me, where we
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  invite Jesus to remain with us. So, when Jesus says, there's
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  many places where you could remain, well, if you choose to
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  progress to a certain point and then stop and say I'm remaining
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  here, there are many mansions in the father's house and God will
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  absolutely protect your agency. If you choose to only get to
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  this, Spot and remain there in abide, there he will.
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  He will honor that but if you want to go further and go
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  further along the way of following Jesus and believing in
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  him more showing even more love and faithfulness, you will go
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  farther and further into remaining in his presence.
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  So he continues by saying if it were not.
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  So if I didn't have many mansions, many kingdoms I would
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  have told you I go. To prepare a place for you and
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  if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and
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  receive you unto myself that where I am there, ye may be also
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  pretty powerful promise and whither I go ye know not so this
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  word received, underlying Greek word also comes with a word of
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  to take. So when you take something, you
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  it's a gent evacuation where you're doing something to
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  acquire something. Those idea of receive has in its
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  Essence. That Jesus is proactively doing
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  something to receive you. It's not him, passively just
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  sitting around in like, oh, look at these people who showed up in
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  my Mansion he is proactively, he can you not to overstep the
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  boundaries of your agency but he does everything in his power to
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  bring you along. So this idea of we're talking
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  about Mansions, we're talking about kingdoms, keep in mind
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  that in a gospel context, often we put all of our eggs or most
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  of our eggs in the destination basket.
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  This, this end goal. I want to go to heaven, I want
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  to get to one of these kingdoms, or to this this mansion on high.
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  The reality is that there are incredible experiences and
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  Incredible truths to be found discovered and enjoyed along the
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  way the journey versus that. Ultimate destination.
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  Look at his wording here verse 4.
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  Whither. I go ye know and the way you
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  know and that's when Thomas asked him, the question Lord we
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  know not whither thou goest and how can we know the way we
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  you're talking as if we understand what you're saying
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  and we don't yet Get, what is the way?
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  And I love the savior's response.
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  Jesus saith unto him. I am the way the truth and the
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  life. No man cometh unto the father.
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  But by me the journey, the way the path is Christ.
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  The destination is Christ who then turns you to the father.
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  It's he is in and of and through this entire process, as well as
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  the destination. So the base meaning of Jeweler
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  is the word day. Every day matters are get it.
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  Some days are worse than others and some days were like a can't
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  wait for this day or week, or month or year to end.
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  The intention here is that, every day we can experience the
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  love of God, every day we can love him back and love those
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  around us in the midst of suffering and trials and
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  challenges. We can choose love.
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  That is the way as Jesus points out, and this is what we're
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  going to see here in the next chapter.
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  You Jesus really honing in on, how can, you know, or see the
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  way that on a day-by-day basis? You can be in that loving
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  Covenant relationship with God and Phil Joy.
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  So, look at the three words that Jesus uses here.
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  I am the way. The truth and the life.
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  No man cometh unto the father. But by me, Think about the
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  significance of him using this, this precursor, I am a go Amy.
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  This, this identity forming phrase.
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  I am, he's revealing his soul, his characteristics, his
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  Perfections, his attributes to us and here we get three of
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  them. I am the way.
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  Don't think of a path think of me.
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  Me just do the things you've seen me do, I am the way.
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  I am the truth. He exudes truth, he embodies
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  truth. He is the truth.
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  Think about father, lehi's, dream.
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  And first Nephi chapter 8, he had the straight and narrow
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  path. There was a rod of iron and then
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  there was a tree and the tree was called the tree of life.
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  I am the way, the truth and the life.
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  Everything in the Gospel of Jesus Christ, brings us to the
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  Lord, Jesus Christ, every step, I can't go.
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  Any step forward in a direction that really matters that's
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  progression without him. I can't Define my own truth.
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  I can't come up with my own realities.
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  I have to find his truth and hold to it.
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  Hold fast. Continually pressing forward
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  holding on to to him, not just a rod of metal.
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  A rod of iron it's holding on to him that then helps me progress
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  and move forward and back to our discussion of belief.
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  Which now brings me to him as the representation of the tree
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  of life. Where I now am given that
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  opportunity to partake of the fruit of eternal life, which is
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  the greatest of all of the gifts of God from Doctrine and
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  Covenants, section 14 verse 7 pow Powerful Concepts here, all
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  of which are focusing us. And his Apostles at that very
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  late hour of his life on him as their Savior and Redeemer
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  because there's no other path that leads to the father.
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  So, let's dwell just a bit more on the this question from
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  Thomas, Lord, we know not whither, thou goest.
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  And how can we know the way? Jesus had said verse 4, I
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  whither. I go, you know and the way you
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  know and then we see the way the truth, the life.
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  So there's a fancy word that is used in the field of learning
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  called epistemology. Now I don't think it's going to
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  show up on the final exam to get into the Pearly Gates.
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  But this word, it's entually means the study of how we know
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  And these chapters here, teach us how to be how to acquire or
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  see acquiring be grounded in truth.
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  So we can know Jesus and know his love.
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  So this chapter is about knowing and doing it.
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  Jesus, tries to demonstrate these things.
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  There's a couple of really interesting words we talk about
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  the way. In fact, it's interesting we
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  have this word Method. And the latter part of this word
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  means way or path. We talked about Jesus being the
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  way. And The Meta means to follow.
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  Or what goes after? In fact, just as a little aside
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  one of the great ancient Greek scientist was a man named
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  Aristotle. His teacher had been Play-Doh
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  and Plato had. His teacher was Socrates
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  Aristotle was a great systematized Ur of knowledge and
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  he wrote a book about nature everything you might find in
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  nature and the Greek word for nature is physics.
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  So he wrote a book called physics.
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  Well then he want to write a book about things that aren't
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  found in. In physical nature, maybe
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  they're up in the heavens or in The Ether or spiritual and he
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  didn't know what to call the book.
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  So he literally called it. The book that follows the book
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  on physics or meta physics. So if you ever hear people talk
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  about metaphysics, that's where it comes from the book that
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  follows after the book on physics, or the things that are
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  in nature or physical or tangible, where we're going
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  with. This is, if you want to know
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  something, you have to follow a path to get there.
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  Imagine your A hike and with a friend and you take separate
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  directions up a mountain and your friend gets to one
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  overlooked and you get to another and then you come back
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  and share with each other. Your perspective of what you
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  saw. Now you might be looking at the
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  same scene but from different angles and so you're going to
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  have a different experience or a different set of knowledge about
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  the same thing. Now imagine that you get to the
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  bottom of a mountain and you meet a stranger, who starts
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  explaining What they know or what they see, but they can't
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  tell you the path or the way that they got to where they know
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  something. It Jesus wants us to be clear
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  about what truth is and how to get there.
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  We can use this in our world. Today, we have a world full of
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  lots of ideas and in some cases, a lot of confusion and
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  misinformation, and it's important for everybody that we
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  can document in our or The path that we followed the method, we
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  used to gain our knowledge, our Insight.
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  If you can't explain to somebody or yourself, how you got to
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  where you're at, and why you see things?
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  The way you do, nobody else can follow that path and get to that
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  same knowledge. Furthermore, if you have
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  somebody trying to convince you of something, and they also
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  cannot share a method with you. That's repeatable and visible
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  and useful for you to also follow that path and to see how
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  they see things to be. Very difficult for you to share
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  or participate in their knowledge.
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  So, let's tie this in to the epistemology or the methods of
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  God. What is our epistemology for
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  how? We know truth?
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  And I learned this from a friend yesterday, her name is Joan.
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  Born, and she shared this really powerful scripture with me.
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  That I read a lot of times, but I never realized it was teaching
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  about epistemology about how to know.
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  All truth. And listen to what Nephi says
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  now, we've been talking about life, the Tree of Life, That's
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  first Nephi chapter 8 Nephi then wants to have his own
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  experience. He wants to follow the path that
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  his dad has followed and see his data seen.
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  So he also has a vision of the tree of life and the angel is
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  working with Nephi to know things.
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  And he asked me fire question and Nephi says this.
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  I know that God loveth his Aaron.
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  Nevertheless, I do not know the meaning of all things.
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  Wow, that's powerful Nephi's epistemology or the foundation
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  for what he knows, is grounded in the love of God.
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  Nephi recognizes, I don't know everything.
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  But if I start with the love of God, that I dunno and from that
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  I can build into knowing anything else, think about how
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  this connects here. This is exactly what Jesus is
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  trying to teach us disciples love, love one another.
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  This is how you demonstrate the method or the path for people to
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  know God that they too can also see his love.
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  We should tie this into the Book of Mormon, The Book of Mormon,
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  the title likely means in an ancient Egyptian, the book of
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  God's love endures forever. So in your life, if you want to
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  know, More and see more truth. Perhaps we could follow the
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  method of Nephi by being grounded first in the
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  epistemology or in the foundation of knowing that God
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  loves his children. And I can be secure in that
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  truth. And that truth will then, allow
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  me to have experience with all other truth.
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  That is good, lovely praiseworthy and of good report
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  as we move forward into the chapter, some of the Things.
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  You might look for our words about knowing seeing loving
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  truth and there's a lot of these words show up in this chapter.
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  And it's interesting that Jesus uses words, like, I'm going to
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  manifest your I'm going to show or I'm going to teach and all
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  these have to do with coming to know things and they're often
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  based in a word like evidence. And if you notice that the base
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  of the word evidence is video and videos are something that
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  you see Vision. So ultimately what God wants is
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  for us to see him and know him as he is is he sees us?
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  So again as we look for how to know God we have now seen him
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  and we follow after him. And what evidence is do we have
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  of his love and can we give evidence out to the world of
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  love? So in your life, If you're
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  feeling confused about anything, get back into, where does love
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  begin? And where is there evidence of
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  what's real? Not just what I feel or hope is
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  true. Those are can be good things but
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  how can I show True? Love evidence of what God is and
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  this actually I think Tyler is true about any field of study if
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  you begin with love. And then use good evidence to
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  see God's love expressed through anything.
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  NG. That's good.
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  True or lovely. We can be led aright and not be
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  misguided by misinformation. Amen.
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  To that. So if we go to verse 7 now he
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  says if ye had known me ye should have known my father also
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  and from henceforth you know him and have seen him.
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  So he's now saying look if you if you really know me then
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  you're going to know my going to know my father, look at verse 8,
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  Philip saith unto him. Lord show us the father and it
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  sufficeth us. And Jesus says unto him, have I
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  been so long time with you and yet hast thou not known me,
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  Philip he that hath seen me. Hath?
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  Seen the father and how sayest thou then Shew us the father.
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  This verse and verse 10 are used frequently in a trinitarian
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  context to say, see He's teaching this Trinity Doctrine
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  here. Look at verse 10, believe this
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  thou, not that I am in the father and the father in me and
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  the words that I speak unto you. I speak not of myself, but the
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  father that dwelleth in me, he doeth the works.
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  It feels and sounds very trinitarian.
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  Now we get into a theological aspects of Jesus final
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  teachings, here to his Apostles and his profound.
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  There's this Concept in scripture study and teaching
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  called proof texting. What proof texting is is when
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  you take one or two verses or a small section of scriptures and
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  you pull it off of the page and then you elevated above
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  everything else and say, see, I've now found the texts to
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  prove my point. I'm right?
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  And you're proving that point, using a, an isolated set.
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  Of teachings. And we have to be careful
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  because this doesn't just happen with scriptures that it can also
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  happen with words, of the living prophets, it would be very easy
• 25:57
  to take a sentence or a phrase, or one talk and pull it out of
• 26:02
  all of the other talks and all of the other teachings that have
• 26:05
  come to us from our inspired leaders and then exalt that one
• 26:09
  teaching above all the rest and say, okay.
• 26:11
  See here's my point. It's proved, and we end up
• 26:15
  playing Um, doctrinal chess, if we're not careful in
• 26:18
  bible-bashing or in arguments over Doctrine because we're
• 26:23
  proof texting. So our invitation as we go
• 26:27
  through here is to read all of the words that John gives us not
• 26:33
  just isolate a few verses like that one because you could see
• 26:37
  how easy it would be to teach that doctrine of the trinity.
• 26:41
  In that context, that's funny the word I was going to write.
• 26:45
  So the text what goes with the text, if you don't have context,
• 26:50
  the text is just a con. What Tyler is teaching here is
• 26:54
  that we can't just look at one word or one phrase in isolation.
• 26:58
  We need to see it in this larger context just like you you are
• 27:01
  not simply a single action that happens at 10 a.m. on a Monday
• 27:05
  morning. You are a larger context and
• 27:08
  life. It God knows that and when we
• 27:12
  offer each other Grace and understand where people are
• 27:15
  coming, Coming from and their life context.
• 27:18
  We also end up not misjudging and we want to be careful that
• 27:21
  we truly see the truth that God has provided in the text instead
• 27:26
  of imposing the meaning. We think the text should be
• 27:29
  taught us. So let's look at the word that
• 27:32
  he used their repeatedly in. So you saw that in verse 10, the
• 27:39
  father in me and the father dwelleth in me And then verse
• 27:45
  11, believe me that I am in the father and the father in me or
• 27:50
  else believe me for the very Works sake.
• 27:52
  Okay, now we read on, we read all of John's writing here verse
• 27:59
  12, verily, verily, I say unto you, he that believeth on me.
• 28:02
  The works that I do, shall he do also and Greater Works than
• 28:06
  these, shall he do? Because I go unto my Father,
• 28:12
  which is an interesting concept, father, We'll send me I dwell in
• 28:15
  him but I'm now going to go unto my father and whatsoever ye
• 28:20
  shall ask in my name that will I do that the father may be
• 28:24
  glorified in the son and now you get this incredible teaching
• 28:30
  starting in verse 15. If you love me keep my
• 28:36
  Commandments and you just pause here and say often members of
• 28:41
  the church will get Second or even at times attacked in
• 28:48
  Friendly ways, but, but attacked by people who say, people in
• 28:53
  your church, you believe that you have to do things in order
• 28:57
  to be saved. We believe we are saved by grace
• 29:00
  and you have to work your way into heaven.
• 29:04
  The funny thing about that is, if you want to proof text
• 29:08
  certain passages in the Bible, largely from the writings of
• 29:11
  Paul, you could see how that that teaching could sound very
• 29:16
  plausible and reasonable and it is true.
• 29:19
  We are saved by grace. We are totally saved by grace,
• 29:22
  but the fascinating aspect is to read the words of Jesus Christ
• 29:26
  in the gospels, because Jesus never wants uses the phrase,
• 29:31
  you're saved by my grace, not once.
• 29:33
  Not once does even use the Greek word chorus which is Grace in a
• 29:38
  salvific way he only ever uses it by saying things.
• 29:41
  Like if you do nice things to those who are kind to you, what,
• 29:46
  what Grace is there in, that is that's the way he uses the word
• 29:50
  grace. And some would say, well, wait,
• 29:53
  Jesus doesn't ever use the word grace in a Salvation way.
• 29:57
  The answer is, no, not even in the Book of Mormon 3rd Nephi
• 30:00
  account. Has he ever used the word grace?
• 30:02
  And someone say well, Why not? If it's such an important
• 30:05
  concept, I would suggest that Jesus, embodies Grace his giving
• 30:11
  to us, of his Commandments, and of his love, and his
• 30:15
  forgiveness. And his Mercy, he is embodying
• 30:18
  Grace. But it doesn't mean that I can
• 30:21
  just sit back and let him embody Grace and then eat drink and be
• 30:25
  merry for tomorrow. I die.
• 30:26
  As long as I've accepted him. Look at what he says.
• 30:30
  If ye love me. Keep my Commandments.
• 30:35
  Are you seeing how this doesn't have to be in opposition to or
• 30:40
  in competition with grace? That it can actually be the
• 30:44
  embodiment of his grace that he's saying I'm giving you
• 30:48
  Commandments. It's a gift.
• 30:50
  Of Grace for me that I'm giving you commandments so that you can
• 30:54
  know how to act. You can know how to talk.
• 30:57
  You can know what to believe that's Grace and now, as you
• 31:01
  struggle to keep those Commandments, I will forgive
• 31:04
  you. That's Grace, as you are, able
• 31:08
  to keep those Commandments as because you've drawn on my
• 31:11
  power, I'm I'm enabling you, I'm helping you to keep those
• 31:15
  Commandments. That's Grace, it's everywhere in
• 31:19
  the these teachings. The fact that he's focusing on
• 31:21
  his Apostles, it's Grace. It's all there.
• 31:24
  Even though the word isn't there?
• 31:27
  And no, we aren't working our way into heaven.
• 31:31
  We're striving to come unto Christ.
• 31:35
  It's our job to come to him with his help and it's his job to get
• 31:40
  us to Heaven. Let's build on this.
• 31:43
  We're talking about how to know by loving and there's a method
• 31:48
  for doing that. You begin with love so you can
• 31:51
  know. And Jesus is saying I've loved
• 31:54
  you first. Okay?
• 31:55
  I'm I'm initiating his relationship.
• 31:57
  That's the grace. It's freely offered, and I want
• 32:00
  you to be in relationship with me.
• 32:01
  I want you to know me and to do that.
• 32:04
  You show Love by being on the path or the method of keeping
• 32:09
  Commandments and that is you demonstrating that you're in
• 32:12
  relationship with me. So we'll cover 16, I will pray
• 32:17
  the father and he shall give you another comforter that he may
• 32:22
  abide with you forever. Are you noticing what's included
• 32:26
  in verse 16? Jesus is going to pray to the
• 32:29
  father that he would give you another comforter to abide with
• 32:34
  you forever and then he clarifies verse 17, even the
• 32:38
  spirit of Truth whom the world cannot receive because it seeth
• 32:42
  him not neither knoweth. With him, but ye know him for he
• 32:45
  dwelleth with you and shall be in you.
• 32:50
  There's that word again that in. So this comforter is going to be
• 32:54
  in you. So our English word comforter
• 32:59
  comes from the Latin cone or calm which means with.
• 33:03
  We saw that in the word context and Fort Fort or places of
• 33:07
  strength. So what when we get the spirit
• 33:10
  of God, we are given strength. The with us, it's like the word
• 33:15
  Emmanuel God With You. And the Greek word is an
• 33:19
  interesting one. It's parakletos.
• 33:22
  And it means an advocate, and intercessor comforter helper
• 33:27
  somebody, who is close beside. So, para, para thing about the
• 33:33
  word parallel. So paraclete is from like the
• 33:36
  word parallel. It's right next door, and cleat
• 33:39
  comes from the word collateral, which means to call.
• 33:42
  In fact, the word Easy astiz means to call out the original
• 33:46
  word for church means to be called out to.
• 33:50
  The comforter, is the one who is right next to you.
• 33:53
  When you call out. That's amazing.
• 33:56
  You're never alone. Never, you might feel alone.
• 34:00
  All you have to do is call out and the paraclete of the
• 34:03
  comforter is already right there with you, strengthening you.
• 34:10
  I promise. So Verse 18, he goes on to say,
• 34:14
  I will not leave you comfortless.
• 34:16
  I will come to you yet a little while and the world seeth me.
• 34:21
  No more. But ye see me because I live ye
• 34:25
  shall live also, And now look at verse twenty, one of the reasons
• 34:30
  why we invite people to continually, keep reading, don't
• 34:35
  just stop and proof, text one passage of scripture, we read
• 34:39
  all of it, let's look for truth and synthesize it from across
• 34:44
  the scripture cannon in the words of all the prophets.
• 34:47
  He says in verse 20. At that day ye shall know that I
• 34:51
  am in my father. There's that in again.
• 34:56
  And ye in me, and I in you, you could connect verse 20, with
• 35:07
  verse 10 is concept of, what does it mean?
• 35:10
  When he says that the father is in me and dwelleth in me and I
• 35:13
  am in the father, what does he mean?
• 35:16
  He gives us some more clarification that in that day
• 35:21
  you will see and know that he's in the father and you are in him
• 35:24
  and he is in you. You it's this beautiful Oneness.
• 35:29
  It's not this separate nature. It's or a divided nature.
• 35:33
  It's a Oneness. It's a unified nature that we
• 35:36
  have the word atonement or at one meant the process or outcome
• 35:44
  of being at one. And I read this as Covenant 'l
• 35:49
  that we are now in final and permanent Covenant, albino gene.
• 35:55
  Whereas Over here in life, we are incoming with God, but it's
• 35:59
  potentially transitory based on whether we choose to stay in
• 36:02
  there. Once we, we continue to be in
• 36:06
  that relationship. Ultimately God will seal it and
• 36:11
  make it permanent so that we are in him and him and us.
• 36:14
  So he goes on to say he that hath my Commandments and keepeth
• 36:18
  them, he it is that loveth me, You'll notice he didn't say it's
• 36:25
  anyone who just says, yeah, Jesus Is My Savior.
• 36:30
  They're the ones that love me. He says no, it's the people who
• 36:33
  have my Commandments and keepeth them.
• 36:36
  Those are the ones that love me and he that loveth me, shall be
• 36:40
  loved of my father. And I will love him and will
• 36:44
  manifest myself to him and then Judas not Iscariot.
• 36:49
  So this would be Jude one of his other Apostles, not Not the
• 36:53
  Iscariot. Lord, how is it?
• 36:55
  That thou Wilt manifest thyself unto us and not unto the world?
• 36:58
  And Jesus answered and said unto him.
• 37:00
  If a man love me, he will keep my words.
• 37:05
  He hit this three times. Now, in this one chapter, just
• 37:09
  in case anybody missed it in the first two.
• 37:11
  It's interesting that he's not simply saying I declare to you
• 37:15
  that, I want you to Simply declare me at all times.
• 37:18
  Well, it is good to declare the love of God but it's about
• 37:22
  doing. Or it's a very action-oriented,
• 37:24
  it's not enough to declare that you're a follower of Jesus to
• 37:28
  declare that you love God or declare that you know, Jesus or
• 37:32
  that you're a Christian. He's asking us to show that we
• 37:38
  are. And these words are so
• 37:40
  interesting showing manifest seen God wants us to give
• 37:46
  evidence to ourselves to him and others that we are in a
• 37:51
  relationship. I'll just speak it but actually
• 37:55
  do the relationship, the purpose of sharing, all of this in this
• 37:59
  concept of proof texting is so that you understand the
• 38:03
  incredibly powerful Foundation of doctrinal teachings that we
• 38:08
  have in the Church of Jesus Christ that you don't need to be
• 38:12
  ashamed of of the gospel, and of the scriptures, and of are the
• 38:18
  teachings of our living prophets.
• 38:20
  You're on very, very From ground relying on the teachings of the
• 38:26
  Savior. Jesus Christ himself when, when
• 38:31
  you get into these conversations or when people are disagreeing
• 38:34
  with you about salvation and where it comes from Simply take
• 38:38
  them in to John, 14, 15, 16, 17, and start reading with them, the
• 38:43
  entirety of some of these passages, and it becomes very
• 38:46
  clear what Jesus is telling us to do, not what other people are
• 38:52
  telling. This is required for salvation.
• 38:53
  But what the Savior himself, the one who's in charge of
• 38:56
  Salvation? The author and the finisher of
• 38:59
  our faith is giving us the method, the way the
• 39:03
  epistemology, how to think about our journey of discipleship and
• 39:07
  it's beautiful. If we can clear out all of the
• 39:09
  weeds of the world and the perspectives in the philosophies
• 39:13
  that come out us from the world and dig down to the roots of
• 39:17
  what the Savior himself is asking us to do pretty clear.
• 39:21
  So let's look at the opposite. Set of this first 24.
• 39:23
  He that loveth me, not keepeth, not my sayings, and the word,
• 39:28
  which you hear is not mine, but the fathers which sent me So I'm
• 39:35
  not just making this up, I'm giving you the words that the
• 39:38
  father gave to me and the father's the one who sent me
• 39:42
  this, this mission of an apostle to be sent.
• 39:49
  Verse 25. These things have I spoken unto
• 39:52
  you being yet present with you but the comforter which is the
• 39:55
  Holy Ghost whom the father will send in my name.
• 40:01
  There, your three members of the godhead key shall teach you all
• 40:05
  things and bring all things to your remembrance whatsoever.
• 40:08
  I have said unto you, it's such a beautiful beautiful concept
• 40:14
  here. And now one of my favorite
• 40:16
  verses of all scripture and it Um's even more beautiful when
• 40:20
  you put it in, its context of this last supper and we're were
• 40:25
  a few verses away from leaving the upper room and he turns to
• 40:30
  his Apostles and says, peace. I leave with you.
• 40:35
  My peace. I give unto you not as the world
• 40:39
  giveth. Give I unto you, let not your
• 40:42
  heart, be troubled. Neither, Let It Be Afraid.
• 40:47
  Those words are so sobering. Because Jesus is doing more than
• 40:51
  just teaching us his gospel. He's showing us his grace, he's
• 40:57
  extending his grace and he's revealing himself.
• 41:01
  If I ever hope to be in him and have him in me, I need to know
• 41:07
  what he is. Like I need to know his
• 41:09
  attributes is characteristics. His Perfections and he's
• 41:13
  modeling for us in this High. Highly anxious moment of his
• 41:19
  life when he could be. So turned inward, he becomes
• 41:24
  even more turned outward and worried about his Apostles
• 41:27
  feeling piece that is Grace embodied in the Savior, Jesus
• 41:34
  Christ. And I want to be more like him
• 41:36
  and he's given us, he's given us the blueprints by showing us
• 41:41
  example. After example, after example as
• 41:43
  well as teaching us the way, teaching us his words and now
• 41:49
  it's our job to rely on him to walk that path of discipleship.
• 41:53
  The Covenant path, he's laid out.
• 41:55
  Out for us verse 28. He says you have heard how I
• 41:59
  said unto you. I go away and come again unto
• 42:01
  you If you loved me you would Rejoice because I said, I go
• 42:06
  under the father for my father is greater than I he sets up an
• 42:12
  inequality here that has been debated Through the Ages and it
• 42:16
  was a serious debate back at the Council of nicaea between
• 42:19
  athanasius and Arius, the athanasian doctrine, that, that
• 42:24
  the sun was co-equal. And coeternal with the father
• 42:29
  and area saying, no, he's less than the A father and they
• 42:33
  thought that was heretic. When in reality Arius was they
• 42:37
  said he was proof texting because he was using versus like
• 42:41
  verse 28 to say Jesus himself said the father is greater than
• 42:45
  I and so you get these. Doctrinal debates.
• 42:48
  Now was everything areas taught accurate know was everything
• 42:52
  athanasius, Tha accurate. No, but they were doing the best
• 42:56
  they could with with their perspective of saying, here's
• 42:59
  the destination and turns out they were both off.
• 43:02
  For different reasons. I even wonder.
• 43:05
  Okay. So people want to intellectually
• 43:07
  debate. I wonder if they'd taken their
• 43:09
  time to keep the Commandments, I'm sure they were probably got
• 43:14
  good guys. Take the time to love their
• 43:16
  neighbor and to do good in the world.
• 43:20
  I just wonder like what if we just spent more time.
• 43:23
  Trying to be like Jesus, as far as we know, we never see Jesus
• 43:28
  doing these kinds of debates. However, you just like, why you
• 43:32
  love God by taking care of those around you and he was very full
• 43:37
  of alacrity doing that. And I think sometimes we get
• 43:41
  into these modes where we want to create US versus them and all
• 43:45
  you're not part of my tribe. So you're bad.
• 43:47
  God's like though it's a whole tribe of people who just want to
• 43:50
  act in love, so I can feel sad. We have a lot of wasted decades
• 43:55
  and centuries over the Bates. It probably didn't help us know,
• 43:57
  God better. Yeah, which now brings us to the
• 44:00
  conclusion of that. Experience in the upper room,
• 44:06
  verse 29. And now I have told you before
• 44:09
  it, come to pass that when it is come to pass, ye might believe
• 44:13
  I've prophesied these things, so that when they happen, it will
• 44:17
  enhance your belief. It'll make your faith in me.
• 44:20
  Even stronger, verse 30 Hereafter I will not talk much
• 44:23
  with you and then let's jump down to the Joseph Smith
• 44:26
  translation. Footnote for the prince of
• 44:29
  doctor of Darkness who is of this world cometh.
• 44:32
  Yes, but has no power over me, but he hath power over you.
• 44:40
  That jst footnote is is sobering, it's that reality
• 44:47
  another extension of the savior's Grace, though.
• 44:50
  The power of the Prince of Darkness has no power over the
• 44:52
  Savior. He's saying he will have power
• 44:55
  over you. So you need me because I can
• 44:59
  overcome him. But you have to invite me and
• 45:02
  you have to allow me to give you that strength to overcome the
• 45:07
  power of the the darkness, and then He finishes with verse 31
• 45:11
  but that the world may know that I love the father.
• 45:16
  And as the father gave me commandment even so I do.
• 45:20
  Did you catch it? Back in verse 15, he said, if
• 45:25
  you love me, keep my Commandments.
• 45:29
  And now in verse 31, he's telling us as the father gave me
• 45:33
  commandment even so I do Makes you think he probably learned
• 45:40
  that concept from his father saying to him.
• 45:43
  If you love me, keep my Commandments not that the father
• 45:46
  had to say that, but it's that same concept of Jesus modeling.
• 45:52
  Do the things that you're told or asked to do by the
• 45:56
  trustworthy person whom you really love.
• 46:00
  And ultimately, the first person you're supposed to Love Is God
• 46:04
  with all of your heart might mind and strength in your whole
• 46:07
  soul. SOL SOL, Jesus modeled that
• 46:10
  Force yet again and now he's sitting there at that.
• 46:15
  Supper, it's all finished his initial teachings are complete
• 46:19
  and he gives five of the most incredible words that I know of
• 46:23
  in scripture. And at first pass, you might
• 46:25
  think, what are you talking about?
• 46:28
  The words are arise. Let us go.
• 46:30
  Hence, there's anything, what's so unique about that?
• 46:35
  well you know where hence is going to take them you know
• 46:38
  where hence is It's called Gethsemane and it's not his
• 46:44
  Apostles saying okay Jesus your moments come.
• 46:48
  I know this is going to be really hard but you've got to do
• 46:51
  it. So get up.
• 46:52
  Let's go. Will walk with you.
• 46:55
  It's not them saying that to him.
• 46:58
  It's Jesus saying it to them arise.
• 47:02
  Let us go. Hence, I know what I need to do.
• 47:06
  It's not going to be fun. It's not going to be easy.
• 47:10
  But I'm going to do it because it's a commandment of the father
• 47:14
  and I love the father and I'm going to keep a commandment and
• 47:16
  a covenant that I made was him and I'm going to fulfill it.
• 47:21
  He could have stayed in that comfort zone of the upper room
• 47:24
  for a long time but he didn't, he's finished.
• 47:29
  He says, get up. Let's go brothers and sisters,
• 47:33
  what an amazing concept for us to follow him in the way,
• 47:37
  whether that's to go and do really.
• 47:40
  Things. Go on a mission, go into
• 47:44
  marriage, going to Parenthood, go into a new career.
• 47:47
  Go into a degree program, go into a new relationship, go into
• 47:54
  a new church calling arise. Let us go.
• 47:58
  Hence, the implication of that is.
• 48:02
  You're not going alone. You're walking with him.
• 48:06
  Let us go. Hence was his Nation once again,
• 48:11
  an extension of his grace, how we love the Lord for his perfect
• 48:16
  example, for his perfect. Love for his perfect Grace and
• 48:21
  for showing us what it looks like to perfectly.
• 48:24
  Keep the Commandments and love God, with all of his heart might
• 48:29
  mind and strength and to love his neighbors as himself.
• 48:34
  He's the only one who was perfectly embodied these things.
• 48:37
  And what a joy it is to strive to follow his example, and to
• 48:43
  walk with him and trying to become like him. as we move
• 48:49
  forward into the chapter pause and think again about the
• 48:53
  relationship we have with one another And with God, which I
• 48:59
  think we see expressed really well in these chapters are about
• 49:03
  to read with, with Jesus. Absolutely.
• 49:06
  It is these words, these words are so Sublime, they're so
• 49:12
  beautiful. Especially when you keep them
• 49:15
  drenched in their historical setting in their context of this
• 49:19
  night, it's Passover time. So you can picture a full moon
• 49:24
  somewhere rising from the East. Over the the Mount of Olives, it
• 49:30
  might be somewhere later in the in that evening, you know, 10 11
• 49:35
  12 p.m. somewhere in there and we're walking up this Valley and
• 49:40
  it's not just the words, it's the word of God, who's
• 49:47
  delivering these. It's Not just what he says.
• 49:52
  It's how he's going to say these words.
• 49:54
  It's the intense connection that Jesus is going to create between
• 50:01
  him and his Apostles and between him and Heaven before he steps
• 50:07
  over that. Kidron Brook to begin his
• 50:09
  infinite atoning sacrifice in Gethsemane.
• 50:12
  So remember that we ended the first episode this week with
• 50:18
  those final teachings in the Room with the fire with the five
• 50:23
  words arise. Let us go.
• 50:25
  Hence, now we've left and you can picture him walking.
• 50:30
  Now, we don't know for sure, but the way Jesus seems to have
• 50:34
  operated throughout his ministry as using using the symbols, the
• 50:39
  The Elements of Life that are surrounding them to teach deep
• 50:44
  profound gospel truths. He was the master, not just of
• 50:48
  everything, but of them, Master teacher.
• 50:51
  So it's possible that they're walking now through a Vineyard
• 50:55
  of sorts on their way up towards Gethsemane when he starts
• 51:00
  chapter 15 with, I am the True Vine and my father is the
• 51:07
  husbandman P picture. This beautiful object lesson of,
• 51:12
  if they are walking through a Vineyard of sorts, you have
• 51:16
  these, these vines that you have this great that grows up out of
• 51:23
  the ground and then the vines spread out on the lines and then
• 51:29
  the grape clusters can grow for Harvest.
• 51:34
  And now, here's Jesus saying to these people, I am the True
• 51:39
  Vine. What does that make us?
• 51:42
  And the father is the husbandman.
• 51:44
  And so verse 2, every branch in me that beareth not fruit, he
• 51:48
  taketh away and every branch that bears fruit, he purchased
• 51:53
  it that it may bring forth more fruit so you can picture Christ.
• 51:59
  Being this True Vine that comes up out of the ground that brings
• 52:05
  all of the life-giving nutrients and foundation for turning
• 52:10
  dirty. Water into wine.
• 52:13
  Symbolically, we're getting that, that that pair, or that
• 52:17
  Miracle symbolism coming through here.
• 52:19
  And he says, and you are the branches, and my father is the
• 52:23
  husbandman. And if a branch is growing but
• 52:26
  not producing any fruit, the father is going to purge that
• 52:31
  Branch, prune it cut it off. Why?
• 52:35
  Because the nutrients and the the vine is In the energy not to
• 52:43
  make wood and leaves but to produce fruit.
• 52:48
  So if it's not producing anything anything and it's just
• 52:50
  taking all of that energy from the route, he's going to cut it
• 52:53
  off. And if it is producing fruit, he
• 52:57
  prunes it. He cuts it back so that it will
• 53:00
  stop growing wood and start. Putting its energy into
• 53:04
  producing more grapes and sweetening Those Grapes more
• 53:09
  than before. It's this beautiful.
• 53:11
  Well, analogy. That should remind some of you
• 53:13
  that are familiar with the, the parable of the currant Bush.
• 53:18
  Originally told by Elders, Hubie Brown, and then more recently
• 53:22
  repeated by Elder d Todd christofferson in general
• 53:25
  conference. Beautiful story about this
• 53:28
  current Bush that was growing like crazy and then Hubie Brown
• 53:32
  went out and chopped it off. And each branch had these little
• 53:38
  droplets of moisture as if the The tree were crying.
• 53:42
  Saying, why did you cut me back? Why did you do that to me?
• 53:46
  I've been trying so hard to grow.
• 53:48
  I put so much energy into these branches.
• 53:51
  And then Elder Browns, conclusion was, I'm the gardener
• 53:58
  and I need you to be a currant Bush.
• 54:00
  I don't want you to be as shade tree.
• 54:01
  I don't want. I don't want, I don't want you
• 54:03
  to grow, would I want you to grow currents?
• 54:06
  And a bush isn't going to grow currents, if it's allowed to
• 54:08
  just keep going wood. I wonder if some of you who are
• 54:15
  watching this can see times in your life where the Lord has
• 54:19
  perhaps come by and pruned some things out of your life that at
• 54:25
  the time was very painful, but if you trust that, he knows what
• 54:30
  he's doing and that he knows how to produce fruit then.
• 54:34
  Now you can put more energy into being fruitful with those things
• 54:37
  that he wants you to. Now, focus on instead of
• 54:40
  Producing more. Would you continues?
• 54:42
  He says, now you're clean through the word, which I have
• 54:46
  spoken unto you and Tyler mentioned that you get water.
• 54:49
  That's gone through the dirt, but it gets filtered as it gets
• 54:53
  sucked up into the branches and then becomes grape juice or
• 54:57
  wine. So, similarly, if we are
• 55:00
  grounded in Christ, he will clean up the nutrients that we
• 55:04
  need to come into our spiritual lives.
• 55:06
  First for abide in me and I in you as the branch cannot bear
• 55:12
  fruit of itself, except it abide in the vine, no more can ye
• 55:18
  except ye abide in me. Now, some of you will remember
• 55:23
  the talk given by Elder Jeffrey are Hollenbeck in April of 2004
• 55:27
  in general conference. When he spent his whole talk in,
• 55:31
  in John 15, talking about the significance of this Vine and
• 55:37
  fruitful analogy. And The time he he was returning
• 55:43
  from Chile or serving in Chile as the area, president a special
• 55:47
  assignment and so Spanish was on his mind and he pointed out that
• 55:52
  the word for abide in Spanish is paired one asset.
• 55:57
  And his point was, even if you don't speak Spanish, you can
• 56:01
  hear the permanence in the Spanish form of that word
• 56:05
  Hermanas, sir, there's something permanent if you want to be
• 56:10
  free. Faithful, it's not a matter of
• 56:12
  saying, okay. I'm going to remove myself from
• 56:16
  my Covenant connections with Christ and I'm going to go out
• 56:19
  and enjoy the world and connect with their and then I'll come
• 56:21
  back on Sunday or I'll connect on a big family occasion and and
• 56:27
  Andre re-establish that connection.
• 56:31
  The abide / - are it's a permanent connection.
• 56:37
  It's it's it's fascinating to watch what happens in our world
• 56:42
  today. Where if you look at social
• 56:45
  media, if you look at some of the voices from from the
• 56:49
  horizontal blogosphere, they'll say things like you don't need
• 56:55
  religion, you don't need God, you don't need Church.
• 56:59
  You don't need the Mint, just be you, you don't need to wear your
• 57:03
  garments all the time. They're just optional just
• 57:07
  whenever whenever it's convenient brothers and sisters.
• 57:11
  The covenants that we make with the Lord Jesus Christ, they're
• 57:15
  intended to be binding, not in a negative way, but in a
• 57:21
  life-giving fruit producing way we aren't.
• 57:25
  We don't keep the Commandments because we have to We keep them
• 57:32
  because we love him and because by keeping them, we access his
• 57:38
  grace, we access his power. We access his test said that
• 57:43
  we've been talking about. So many times in the past, this
• 57:46
  is he is the source for us to be able to produce anything worth
• 57:52
  producing. So as we go to into verse 5,
• 57:56
  want you to pay attention to the word Branch again and we'll
• 57:59
  connect it to a couple other words we've been seeing.
• 58:01
  He says, I am the vine, ye are the branches.
• 58:05
  So the underlying Greek word here is interesting because it
• 58:09
  is connected to a word. We also use when we talk about
• 58:12
  breaking bread, branches are something that is broken off.
• 58:16
  Meaning it kind of breaks off of the main stem.
• 58:20
  And so when we think about breaking bread for Sacrament,
• 58:22
  there's a Stick connection to branches and breaking bread.
• 58:27
  Furthermore, we talked about the cleansing and the pruning, the
• 58:31
  underlying Greek word. For both of those is from our
• 58:34
  English word. We get a cathartic and it's
• 58:37
  interesting. So we have the word cleanse it
• 58:39
  shows up here in verse verse 3 now, you're clean.
• 58:42
  Underlying Greek word is catharsis and in verse 2 and it
• 58:46
  says to purge or to prune. Also same word tharsis.
• 58:52
  So if you want to be There has to be a cathartic pruning that
• 58:58
  happens. We think about elsewhere in
• 59:00
  scriptures where God talks about the refining.
• 59:03
  Fire fire, generally doesn't feel very good if you get burned
• 59:06
  by it, but it can have a refining influence in.
• 59:10
  This is what Jesus is talking about.
• 59:12
  As you grow, there is a need to be cleansed or purged as you
• 59:17
  continue to grow tying into that, look at the next part.
• 59:21
  In verse 5, he that abideth in in me, and I in him the same
• 59:27
  bringeth forth, much fruit for without me.
• 59:32
  Ye can do nothing it to me. This is one of the most amazing,
• 59:38
  simple principles of the Gospel of Jesus Christ.
• 59:41
  Is that in his strength, I can do all things but without him,
• 59:45
  I'm nothing to combine with Alma 26, where a man's giving his Joy
• 59:51
  speech. Look of her sick.
• 59:53
  If a man abide not in me, he is cast forth as a branch and is
• 59:58
  withered and Men gather them and cast them into the fire.
• 1:00:02
  And they are burned. Brothers and sisters.
• 1:00:05
  The decision is mine. The decision is yours.
• 1:00:10
  Jesus. As the True Vine is providing
• 1:00:13
  everything. All of the lifeblood, all of the
• 1:00:16
  nutrients, all of the stability that I need that you need to
• 1:00:20
  become fruitful. If we'll just Trust him.
• 1:00:25
  It's this the phrase that keeps coming to mind is durable,
• 1:00:30
  discipleship or enduring discipleship.
• 1:00:35
  This this committed connection through our covenants with
• 1:00:40
  Christ where we bind ourselves to him.
• 1:00:43
  He's provided everything. But the choice really is mine,
• 1:00:47
  and it really is yours. What we do with that vine, if ye
• 1:00:51
  abide in me and my words abide in you.
• 1:00:53
  You ye shall ask what you will and it shall be done unto you.
• 1:00:59
  Herein is my father glorified that ye bear much fruit.
• 1:01:02
  So shall you be my disciples? Airline were there for disciples
• 1:01:09
  again is Learners. We are sent to this earth to
• 1:01:13
  learn where the key things is how do we discipline ourselves
• 1:01:17
  to be on the path that Jesus has provided?
• 1:01:21
  And we have our agency to wander wherever we want.
• 1:01:24
  If we want to be undisciplined, we can choose any path.
• 1:01:30
  But Jesus provides a very clear path and it's a path of
• 1:01:33
  Covenants. And it takes discipline to stay
• 1:01:37
  on that path and to be a disciple means to discipline
• 1:01:40
  your life. So tying into that discipline
• 1:01:43
  idea, if you look at, he's going to emphasize now, the concept of
• 1:01:50
  love Now, think about this, there are two kinds of love it
• 1:01:57
  in English. There's the the verb form and
• 1:02:00
  there's the noun form of love. So the verb form of love would
• 1:02:06
  be where you do things, you love people and you serve them, you
• 1:02:11
  bless them, you enrich their life, you're loving them by what
• 1:02:16
  you do and then there's the noun part of the word.
• 1:02:20
  Love, where are you? He'll love your encircled in
• 1:02:24
  love. You're in your found in the
• 1:02:27
  safety of a loving relationship. So remember in the last episode,
• 1:02:34
  in chapter 14, he said if ye love me, keep my commandments.
• 1:02:39
  So if we really want to show outwardly that we love Jesus and
• 1:02:44
  we're trying to be his disciples Learners, we're going to keep
• 1:02:48
  his commands, we're going to do the things that he asks us to
• 1:02:51
  do. Now, watch what happens as he
• 1:02:54
  shifts the focus to the noun form for us in English of the
• 1:03:00
  word love. Verse 9 as the father hath loved
• 1:03:08
  me. So have I loved you continue ye
• 1:03:14
  in my love so he told us if you love me, keep my Commandments.
• 1:03:18
  And now, he's saying, I have loved you.
• 1:03:21
  You should be able to feel this, you're safe.
• 1:03:24
  I have provided a safe place for you.
• 1:03:27
  In my love, you can fill as the father has loved me, so I've
• 1:03:31
  loved you and now watch He says, next.
• 1:03:35
  If you keep my Commandments, you shall abide in my love.
• 1:03:39
  Even as I have, kept my father's Commandments and abide in his
• 1:03:42
  love. I don't know if he could make it
• 1:03:45
  any simpler, it is so Elementary.
• 1:03:51
  Keep his Commandments do the things he's asked us to do and
• 1:03:54
  we're going to abide in his love and produce fruit.
• 1:03:58
  We're going to be able to feel of heavenly Father's love that
• 1:04:02
  flows through Christ and from crisis.
• 1:04:05
  Well to us and then he goes one step further these things.
• 1:04:09
  Have I spoken unto you that my joy might remain in you and that
• 1:04:13
  your joy might be full. It's a great word.
• 1:04:18
  Our English word plethora plethora me just like an over
• 1:04:22
  abundance and overflowing abundance.
• 1:04:25
  That's the underlying Greek word is plethora.
• 1:04:29
  So when he says full, it's actually full to abundance of
• 1:04:32
  spilling over, isn't it? Beautiful?
• 1:04:35
  All to that insert Nephi 17 when he's with the Nephites and
• 1:04:39
  lamanites after they brought the, they're sick folk, and he's
• 1:04:43
  healed them. And then they brought their
• 1:04:45
  children and he's blessed. All of the little children, one
• 1:04:49
  by one. He says, now my joy is full.
• 1:04:54
  There's so much love associated with the Savior when you see him
• 1:04:59
  interacting with people, especially people who are sick
• 1:05:02
  and and these these little children.
• 1:05:05
  And now he uses the same phrase here that your joy might be
• 1:05:09
  full. He's trying to help us
• 1:05:11
  experience the same degrees of joy that come that can only come
• 1:05:17
  from his love. And then he says these things.
• 1:05:20
  Oh sorry verse 12. This is my commandment that ye
• 1:05:24
  love one. Another, as I have loved you, we
• 1:05:29
  talked about that back in John 13 as well.
• 1:05:33
  And now he gives a clarification greater love hath.
• 1:05:37
  No, man than this, that a man lay down his life for his
• 1:05:41
  friends. Ye are my friends.
• 1:05:47
  If you do whatsoever, I command you, he is now repeated this
• 1:05:51
  concept. I don't know how many times he's
• 1:05:55
  he's sharing with his Apostles. Keep in mind, were walking up
• 1:05:59
  the Kidron Valley. It's night, the full moon is
• 1:06:03
  rising. It's above us.
• 1:06:06
  Guiding our path up that Kidron Valley and were minutes away
• 1:06:11
  from Gethsemane, and he's talking about the deep love and
• 1:06:16
  the abiding power that can come from staying connected with him,
• 1:06:20
  through keeping Commandments, because he stayed connected with
• 1:06:23
  God, the Father through his keeping, his Commandments and
• 1:06:27
  experiencing both the verb and the noun form of love as the,
• 1:06:33
  the lodestar of our discipleship.
• 1:06:35
  Guiding us. Us on this path that leads us
• 1:06:39
  towards our mission in life. And in eternity, I think about
• 1:06:44
  how it's springtime, but it's still going to be quite chilly,
• 1:06:49
  so it's evening. The sun's already gone down and
• 1:06:51
  they have all eaten a meal. And so the Bloods probably in
• 1:06:55
  here, working on that meal. And yet, they're under normal
• 1:06:59
  circumstances, you'd probably feel quite chilly.
• 1:07:01
  I can imagine they would be feeling the warmth.
• 1:07:05
  Of his love as they walk on this very chilly night through this
• 1:07:11
  Voyage of the of the vineyard. Let's build on 14-3, actually
• 1:07:16
  read it again and listen to verse 15 year, my friends.
• 1:07:20
  If you do whatsoever, I command you henceforth.
• 1:07:24
  I call you not servants for the servant knoweth not what his
• 1:07:28
  Lord doth. But I have called you friends
• 1:07:31
  for all things that I've heard of my father.
• 1:07:34
  I have made known unto you. It's interesting, the underlying
• 1:07:37
  Greek word for Servant actually could be translated as a slave.
• 1:07:42
  They say you guys were not slaves, even though I give you
• 1:07:45
  guys Commandments, it's out of love and it's an invitation for
• 1:07:49
  you to be disciplined or to become a disciple to be in love
• 1:07:54
  with me. But you're not a servant, you're
• 1:07:58
  not a slave, you are a friend. And it turns out in Greek,
• 1:08:03
  there's actually four words for love.
• 1:08:07
  The ones that we've been seeing a lot is agape.
• 1:08:12
  It's another one called storge. I'll talk about these in just a
• 1:08:14
  minute. Turkey is kind of like love of
• 1:08:17
  parents for children. and then there's Eros, which is kind of
• 1:08:22
  romantic love and then you have You know, filos you can like in
• 1:08:30
  the word like Philadelphia. And these are the two words
• 1:08:34
  we've seen most often in the Greek here.
• 1:08:39
  So when he keeps talking about I have loved you, your father
• 1:08:43
  loves you love one another, it's often the Agape which is this
• 1:08:48
  enduring, Covenant, all deeply, relational love and from feel
• 1:08:53
  else is the love among friends who are committed to one another
• 1:08:58
  and So Jesus is going back and forth and specifically here in
• 1:09:01
  verse 15 and 14, he saying, you are my friends and this word
• 1:09:07
  instead of translating as friend, you could translate it
• 1:09:10
  as you are somebody that I loved.
• 1:09:12
  Now we use the word friend, but technically in Greek, it simply
• 1:09:16
  means love or somebody I love. So this chapter in other
• 1:09:23
  chapters here in John, we're just saturated with this concept
• 1:09:27
  of love, so let's say this again, if you are out and about
• 1:09:32
  on the street and ask people, what their sense of of what the
• 1:09:35
  Bible was all about, would this be the first word they come up
• 1:09:39
  with? I hope so.
• 1:09:41
  But my experience is, a lot of people think, oh, well, God of
• 1:09:43
  the Old Testament, kind of angry, and the Jesus Christ kind
• 1:09:45
  of fixes it all. And it turns out the purpose of
• 1:09:48
  scriptures, one of the major purposes.
• 1:09:50
  Purposes is to express and record God's love into model for
• 1:09:55
  people how that love operates, these covenants, our
• 1:09:58
  relationships. So I just get so excited by this
• 1:10:01
  because the words just jump out and you can almost feel the
• 1:10:05
  Embrace from God. As you reading these, that all I
• 1:10:07
  want is to be in this loving relationship with you.
• 1:10:10
  So you can experience an overabundance, a plethora of joy
• 1:10:14
  that I prepared for you. I love that especially again, in
• 1:10:19
  this context of these eleven Apostles walking up that Kidron
• 1:10:22
  Valley with him and they don't have a clue what he's about to
• 1:10:27
  go through. He has a pretty good idea, but
• 1:10:30
  he's still talking about these things and helping them feel of
• 1:10:37
  his love and inviting them to love one another.
• 1:10:40
  And to follow his example, verse 16, You have not chosen me but I
• 1:10:47
  have chosen you and ordained you that you should go and bring
• 1:10:52
  forth fruit and that your fruit should remain that who
• 1:10:56
  whatsoever ye shall ask the father in my name.
• 1:10:59
  He may give it you. I love that he's saying I was
• 1:11:04
  the one who chose you and now, will you just love me?
• 1:11:08
  Will you choose me in return? Will you choose to follow my
• 1:11:11
  Commandments in return? But he says choose who Uses a
• 1:11:14
  Greek word. Eck logos, or egg Lego X is like
• 1:11:17
  from the word, exit. And Legos is to speak like I
• 1:11:21
  speak or I call you out. Then he uses this word here that
• 1:11:26
  for whatever you shall, ask of the father in my name.
• 1:11:29
  He may give it to you. Other translations, use the
• 1:11:33
  English word, a point to you, the underlying word is related
• 1:11:39
  to the same word that is used for laying down my life.
• 1:11:44
  It's very interesting that Jesus is securing all of our requests
• 1:11:49
  of righteousness, which are pointed to us by pointing his
• 1:11:54
  life or laying it down on our behalf.
• 1:11:56
  So it's just interesting things going on linguistically, but the
• 1:11:59
  underlying Greek. Now in the, the rest of this
• 1:12:03
  chapter, he gives us the the contrast, the, the counter
• 1:12:09
  option of of What the world is going to do is the opposite, the
• 1:12:16
  counter of love. It's hate so Verse 18.
• 1:12:20
  If the world hate you, you know that it hated me before it hated
• 1:12:23
  you and if you were of the world, the world would love his
• 1:12:25
  own but because you are not of the world but I have chosen you
• 1:12:29
  out of the world. Therefore the world hateth you
• 1:12:33
  really interesting word, Missy Missy a 0 which means Misery the
• 1:12:40
  word that we haven't. English of misery comes from
• 1:12:44
  this word. So the hate really could be
• 1:12:46
  misery, people feel misery about you like why would you want to
• 1:12:49
  hang out with those people? And why would you want to listen
• 1:12:53
  to them or give heed to them, Lehi, in the, in the dream that
• 1:12:59
  he had in first Nephi eight? I love his phrase when those
• 1:13:03
  fingers of scorn and and misery are pointing at him mocking him.
• 1:13:09
  He says, but we heated them not I believe it was Elder Neal a
• 1:13:13
  Maxwell who once said, when mocking fingers Point At You
• 1:13:18
  Follow their directions Which is basically turn around and walk
• 1:13:25
  away follow their directions, don't, don't engage, it's not
• 1:13:28
  worth it at that point. So he continues on with that
• 1:13:34
  discussion of of these struggles that they're going to face.
• 1:13:38
  And then he goes to verse 26. But when the comforter is come
• 1:13:41
  whom, I will send unto you from the father, even the spirit of
• 1:13:44
  Truth, which proceedeth from the father, he shall testify of me.
• 1:13:50
  And he also shall bear witness because you have been with me
• 1:13:54
  from the beginning. He's now clarifying, what that
• 1:13:57
  Apostolic calling is going to mean for these 11 men called to
• 1:14:03
  be Apostles to Bear. Witness of his name.
• 1:14:06
  In all the world, they are witnesses of his life of his
• 1:14:12
  Perfection and ultimately going to be of his death and
• 1:14:17
  Resurrection. So for the sake of time, Are
• 1:14:20
  going to go very quickly through chapter 16 here and just grab a
• 1:14:23
  couple of verses along the way to spend some more time in
• 1:14:27
  chapter 17. If you look over 7, he shares an
• 1:14:30
  Insight that many people have puzzled over for for Millennia.
• 1:14:35
  He says, nevertheless, I tell you the truth, it is expedient
• 1:14:38
  for you. That I go away for, if I go not
• 1:14:41
  away the comforter will not come unto you, but if I depart, I
• 1:14:47
  will send him unto you. Probably heard a lot of people
• 1:14:50
  give different explanations about what that means of why,
• 1:14:55
  why couldn't the the comforter be there?
• 1:14:58
  When the savior's there? It's important.
• 1:15:00
  I think here to recognize that there's a distinct difference in
• 1:15:04
  our Doctrine, a difference between the power of the, Holy
• 1:15:09
  Ghost, and the gift of the Holy Ghost in that earlier on in his
• 1:15:13
  ministry, he told Peter blessed art, thou Simon bar-jonah for
• 1:15:17
  flesh, and blood has Has not revealed it unto thee, but my
• 1:15:20
  Father, which is in heaven. There's this Spirit of Truth
• 1:15:24
  Spirit of Revelation that has been acting throughout the
• 1:15:28
  savior's Ministry, but it seems that the full power of the Holy
• 1:15:33
  Ghost as it manifests in the gift of the Holy Ghost, for
• 1:15:38
  whatever reason wouldn't come into full action until after his
• 1:15:44
  Ascension and it seems to happen over in Acts chapter 2.
• 1:15:48
  Is the Feast of the Pentecost that incredible outpouring of
• 1:15:52
  the Holy Ghost at the that Pentecost event in Jerusalem
• 1:15:58
  with Peter in Chapter 2 and then he talks about what that
• 1:16:01
  comforter is going to do. When he comes in verse 8, 9 10
• 1:16:06
  all the way down. Look at verse 13 howbeit when he
• 1:16:10
  the spirit of Truth is come. He will guide you into all Truth
• 1:16:16
  for he shall not speak of himself.
• 1:16:18
  Cough. But whatsoever.
• 1:16:19
  He shall hear that. Shall he speak?
• 1:16:23
  And he will show you things to come.
• 1:16:26
  It's a beautiful promise that when the Holy Ghost comes, he's
• 1:16:29
  not going to come drawing attention to himself.
• 1:16:32
  He's going to come to guide you to the Savior and to Bear
• 1:16:36
  testimony of heavenly father as well to bring you.
• 1:16:40
  To those other two members of the godhead.
• 1:16:42
  It's such a beautiful Such a beautiful thing to consider for
• 1:16:48
  teachers, for parents, for leaders, for true friends, to
• 1:16:53
  follow that, example of the Holy Ghost to when you come, when you
• 1:16:59
  teach, it's it's not to draw attention to you.
• 1:17:03
  It's not to bring people to you selfishly.
• 1:17:07
  It's to bring them to Christ to testify of him, who was
• 1:17:12
  crucified and, and God the Father It's it's a pass them
• 1:17:17
  along and our relationship with them is actually strengthened.
• 1:17:22
  When we do that, our love for them is enriched and deepened
• 1:17:26
  and it becomes more more eternal.
• 1:17:29
  And I love that phrase from the Doctrine and Covenants section
• 1:17:32
  130, that says that same sociality that exists Among Us,
• 1:17:36
  here will exist. Among us there.
• 1:17:39
  Only differences there, it will be coupled with eternal glory
• 1:17:43
  and it's Such a beautiful pattern for us to try to mirror
• 1:17:48
  in our own relationships, like that word friendship, that we've
• 1:17:51
  been talking about filet else that will have that sociology
• 1:17:54
  that love that has bound us together.
• 1:17:58
  Now, let's jump down to the very end and we're skipping some
• 1:18:02
  really, really beautiful verses here.
• 1:18:04
  But for the sake of time, let's go down to verse 32.
• 1:18:09
  Behold the hour cometh, yay is. Now come that ye shall be
• 1:18:14
  scattered. Shattered, every man to his own
• 1:18:16
  and shall leave me alone. And yet I am not alone because
• 1:18:21
  the father is with me, this is interesting because when he goes
• 1:18:27
  into guest cemani, It's as if the father is removed from him,
• 1:18:35
  perhaps casting a veil over him at that point.
• 1:18:40
  But at this moment, standing at the top of the Kidron Valley,
• 1:18:43
  ready to go into Gethsemane, he's saying you're all going to
• 1:18:47
  scatter and leave me, but I'm not alone, because the father is
• 1:18:51
  with me. It's fascinating.
• 1:18:53
  That from the time he goes into Gethsemane, it seems that he is
• 1:18:58
  treading the winepress alone to the point where the most
• 1:19:05
  heartfelt Soul wrenching. Prayer of all time, is going to
• 1:19:10
  be uttered by him. The next day in the afternoon,
• 1:19:14
  at around 3, p.m. on the cross. When he's going to to call out
• 1:19:20
  in a loud voice. My God.
• 1:19:22
  God, my God. Why hast Thou forsaken?
• 1:19:27
  Forsaken me here in this moment, he's saying the father is with
• 1:19:32
  me. It's almost as if he wasn't
• 1:19:37
  aware or wasn't notified that this was going to be one of the
• 1:19:44
  elements of the infinite atoning sacrifice is he was going to be
• 1:19:48
  cut off from the presence of the Father, which is one of the
• 1:19:53
  elements of Suffering through the Pains of Hell foreign and
• 1:19:59
  behalf of us to overcome the bands of hell for us.
• 1:20:06
  And then look at verse 33, one of the most amazing verses these
• 1:20:11
  things I have spoken unto you that in me ye might have peace.
• 1:20:17
  He's literally at this point moments away from losing all
• 1:20:23
  piece but he's telling them and reassuring them that they will
• 1:20:27
  have peace in him in the world ye shall have tribulation but be
• 1:20:33
  of good cheer. I I have overcome the world.
• 1:20:39
  If it's been awhile since you've last red, president, Russell and
• 1:20:42
  Nelson's. October 2022.
• 1:20:45
  Conference address called overcome the world and find
• 1:20:50
  rest. We invite you to revisit that
• 1:20:54
  talk. It ties in beautifully with.
• 1:20:57
  Jesus here saying be of good cheer I have overcome the world.
• 1:21:05
  Listen to this, I want to share just one little paragraph with
• 1:21:09
  you from that talk and Ponder. What is the Lord doing with you?
• 1:21:18
  With your loved ones, with the world.
• 1:21:21
  Moving forward, listen to this paragraph from that talk.
• 1:21:25
  My dear brothers and sisters. So many wonderful things are
• 1:21:30
  ahead. In the coming days.
• 1:21:33
  We will see the greatest manifestations of the savior's
• 1:21:37
  power that the world has ever seen.
• 1:21:41
  Those two words greatest in ever are italicized.
• 1:21:44
  President Nelson's, very careful with his words.
• 1:21:48
  Between now and the time he returns with power and great
• 1:21:51
  Glory, he will bestow countless privileges blessings and
• 1:21:56
  miracles upon the faithful. Sounds like the Lord is saying
• 1:22:04
  to us through his Prophet, very similar things, as he said, to
• 1:22:10
  his Apostles, 2,000 years ago in the Kidron Valley.
• 1:22:16
  On the threshold of beginning, his infinite atonement near the
• 1:22:20
  end of his life. He's expressing courage.
• 1:22:24
  This is the underlying word for being of good cheer.
• 1:22:26
  It's have courage. Look around.
• 1:22:29
  God Is With Us. Sometimes, feels like there's
• 1:22:33
  chaos, but ultimately, we have the creator of Heaven and Earth
• 1:22:37
  on our side, we can have total courage.
• 1:22:40
  So now we jump into chapter 17, which is the high Priestly
• 1:22:44
  prayer or the intercessory prayer to intercede is to go
• 1:22:49
  between. He is our Our intercessor with
• 1:22:54
  the father. And so he begins this prayer in
• 1:22:57
  such a beautiful way. These words, spake, Jesus, and
• 1:23:01
  lifted his, I lifted up his eyes to heaven and said, father, The
• 1:23:09
  hour is come glorify, thy son, that thy.
• 1:23:12
  Son Also may glorify thee on the moment before he goes in to
• 1:23:19
  begin that atoning sacrifice, he's turning to God.
• 1:23:24
  For God's glory to be magnified. That's what he's praying.
• 1:23:31
  As thou Hast given him Power Over All Flesh that he should
• 1:23:35
  give eternal life to as many as thou Hast given him.
• 1:23:39
  And then he clarifies for us. What it means to be saved, what
• 1:23:44
  eternal life is and this is life eternal.
• 1:23:50
  That they might Know Thee the only true God and Jesus Christ
• 1:23:55
  whom thou Hast sent. That's a powerful definition.
• 1:24:00
  Yeah. When I was before my mission I
• 1:24:02
  didn't understand the different meanings of the word.
• 1:24:05
  No, and serving a Spanish-speaking Mission.
• 1:24:09
  There were two words for knowing and it took me a little bit to
• 1:24:12
  get used to when to use each word.
• 1:24:15
  Now, this will not be on the final exam.
• 1:24:19
  But this word suburb means to know something like to know
• 1:24:22
  facts. So for example guys blue skies
• 1:24:28
  blue. I know that your name is Tyler,
• 1:24:30
  even though sometimes I get mistaken, but my own name
• 1:24:33
  cuddle. Sarah means to actually know
• 1:24:36
  someone. Intimately to be in relationship
• 1:24:46
  to that person and the underlying Greek word that we
• 1:24:50
  see here produces the Spanish word conocer when got when Jesus
• 1:24:54
  says this is life eternal that they might Know Thee the only
• 1:24:58
  true God it's not simply knowing facts about God and how he spent
• 1:25:04
  a lot of years in biblical studies learning.
• 1:25:06
  Lots of really great things. But a lot of it was SOB are it
• 1:25:10
  was facts about God talks about the Bible ultimately.
• 1:25:15
  It's to intimately be acquainted with somebody and that is what
• 1:25:20
  God is looking for in relationship with us.
• 1:25:22
  He wants us to be intimately connected to us real friends
• 1:25:27
  know one another they don't simply know about them.
• 1:25:30
  So if you have a choice in your life and luckily, we don't
• 1:25:32
  usually have to make a choice like this between learning about
• 1:25:36
  God or learning to Oh God. So you can know about God or no
• 1:25:41
  God always choose to know God first and he can reveal all the
• 1:25:45
  other factual details later. It's powerful.
• 1:25:48
  Now as we start into verse 4 it says If the Savior is is giving
• 1:25:54
  a report of his ministry to the to the father, welcome, look at
• 1:26:00
  what he says here. I have glorified thee on the
• 1:26:02
  earth, I have finished the work, which thou gavest me to do and
• 1:26:06
  now O Father, glorify, thou me with thine.
• 1:26:08
  Thine own self with the glory, which I had with thee before the
• 1:26:12
  world was before he condescended and shed his, his Godly
• 1:26:17
  capacities, and, and position up in heaven, to come down and be a
• 1:26:23
  lowly babe. In the manger of Bethlehem, this
• 1:26:27
  underlined word finished is to layoffs which we sometimes
• 1:26:31
  translated as perfected completed or finished for a very
• 1:26:37
  purposeful reason. And God actually wants to
• 1:26:43
  perfect Us in the sense that he wants to bring us also to a
• 1:26:48
  purposeful state or situation or conclusion and also provide a
• 1:26:53
  report like we have going on here.
• 1:26:54
  Yeah. So he's going to finish his
• 1:26:57
  report down in verse 6, 7, and 8 is you read those on your own
• 1:27:02
  and then you come to verse 9 where he starts to make his
• 1:27:06
  petition a very, very powerful. A powerful petition that
• 1:27:11
  involves us and it involves some deep theology here.
• 1:27:17
  Verse 9, I pray for them. I pray, not for the world, but
• 1:27:21
  for them which thou Hast given me for they are thine and all
• 1:27:27
  mine are thine and thine are mine and I'm glorified in them.
• 1:27:35
  You'll notice if you come unto Christ, what does he do?
• 1:27:39
  He will clean you. He will polish you, he will
• 1:27:43
  refine you, he will purify you. he will justify you, then he
• 1:27:48
  will sanctify you, he will clean us up every wit and then present
• 1:27:54
  us faultless before the father, He will do things for us that we
• 1:28:01
  can't do for each other, and we clearly can't do for ourselves.
• 1:28:05
  And then he says verse 11 and now I am no more in the world
• 1:28:10
  but these are in the world and I come to thee.
• 1:28:14
  Holy Father, keep through thine own name.
• 1:28:16
  These whom now has chosen, Those whom thou Hast given me that
• 1:28:21
  they may be one as we And you'll notice the word our is
• 1:28:27
  italicized there. It's it's not in the Greek text.
• 1:28:32
  It's added to make it feel like a more complete English sentence
• 1:28:36
  by the King James translators. But did you catch that his
• 1:28:39
  prayer to God? Was that his disciples could
• 1:28:44
  become one as he. And the father are one, it
• 1:28:50
  didn't mean that they were going to enter into some relationship.
• 1:28:53
  That was beyond mortal comprehension.
• 1:28:55
  Ian. It meant this Unity that comes
• 1:28:59
  from a belonging in a Covenant Community of all these people
• 1:29:07
  joining together in their love for Christ, their love for
• 1:29:11
  heavenly father and their love for each other.
• 1:29:14
  This Oneness that the world seems to to fight against and
• 1:29:21
  create Division and contention and borders and fighting For
• 1:29:27
  every idea or or political movement or philosophy that
• 1:29:33
  comes along, it's totally in contrast to what Jesus is
• 1:29:37
  describing here. While I was with them in the
• 1:29:40
  world, I kept them in thy name. Those, that thou gavest, me, I
• 1:29:46
  have kept, and none of them is lost, but the Son of Perdition
• 1:29:51
  that the scripture might be fulfilled.
• 1:29:53
  So the word kept here actually means to be guarded Protected
• 1:29:58
  watched over really great word and the son of perdition.
• 1:30:03
  It just a fancy word for the word Perdido.
• 1:30:06
  In Latin means to be lost and so people who choose to walk away
• 1:30:12
  are lost. They're always called the tree
• 1:30:15
  of life is always there, the rods always there.
• 1:30:17
  Jesus is always sitting out Messengers to helpless people
• 1:30:20
  find their way back, but anybody who consistently and
• 1:30:24
  persistently really forever? Chooses to be lost the lose
• 1:30:29
  themselves from God, becomes Perdido, it become lost.
• 1:30:33
  Now I think it's important for us to point out here that we've
• 1:30:35
  had many prophets and apostles clarify that you don't need to
• 1:30:40
  worry about your children or your loved ones, becoming sons
• 1:30:44
  of Perdition because they've gone off the deep end that is
• 1:30:49
  that is a very rare exception the way Joseph Smith described
• 1:30:55
  it as is Is using words along the lines of a person has to be
• 1:30:59
  walking in Noonday Sun. Looking around saying, what
• 1:31:03
  light all is Darkness to me it to do that persistently
• 1:31:07
  persistently, distantly over generations and generations and
• 1:31:12
  I want to Echo what Tyler says here is it, sometimes we get
• 1:31:14
  fixated is weed, nobody wants to get lost there.
• 1:31:17
  Anybody who loves God does want to be lost, doesn't want to see
• 1:31:20
  anybody be lost and we do worry it time for people and I think
• 1:31:25
  we need to step back and say God's Mercy is ability to find
• 1:31:30
  those who are temporarily lost, not permit lost when we talk
• 1:31:34
  about sons of Perdition, I think that's a difference.
• 1:31:36
  We're talking about somebody who is permanently lost of their own
• 1:31:40
  choice of their own choice, and I think all of us experience
• 1:31:45
  being lost every now and then some people for a little longer
• 1:31:48
  than others. My personal opinion, is that
• 1:31:52
  very few will be permanently lost among those that, you know,
• 1:31:56
  and love. Of it just among God's children.
• 1:31:59
  Most people really want to have lives of goodness of be
• 1:32:02
  connected to God even though he might wander now.
• 1:32:05
  Let's jump down to verse 15. I pray.
• 1:32:09
  Not that thou shouldst take them out of the world but that thou
• 1:32:14
  shouldst keep them from the evil.
• 1:32:17
  It's that idea of living in the world but not being of the
• 1:32:21
  world. It's overcoming the world and
• 1:32:24
  finding finding hope finding peace.
• 1:32:26
  Finding love Of that. We're we're here.
• 1:32:31
  We're in a very difficult environment, a very high degree
• 1:32:35
  of difficulty in our mortal existence, look at verse 16,
• 1:32:40
  they are not of the world even as I am not of the world
• 1:32:44
  sanctify them through thy truth. Thy word is truth.
• 1:32:51
  And now we come into what I consider to be the most
• 1:32:56
  beautiful doctrinal Gold, Mine concerning our doctrine of the
• 1:33:03
  godhead of anything in the Bible.
• 1:33:06
  I think this is, this is the Pinnacle for me.
• 1:33:09
  Personally, listen carefully to Jesus prayer at this point.
• 1:33:14
  Verse 19 and for their sakes, he speaking of his eleven Apostles
• 1:33:20
  standing right there with him, at the top of the Kidron Valley,
• 1:33:23
  here's the Brook on the other side, towards the east.
• 1:33:26
  This, this slope going up. There's Gethsemane, that's where
• 1:33:31
  he's headed here in a few verses.
• 1:33:33
  And he says, and for their sakes, I sanctify myself that
• 1:33:38
  they also might be Sanctified through the truth.
• 1:33:43
  Did you catch that? As a leader as a parent as a
• 1:33:49
  friend. What you how you choose to live
• 1:33:53
  your life. The sanctification that you seek
• 1:33:57
  has an effect on people in your circle of influence, you want to
• 1:34:02
  be a better parent, you want to be a better teacher start,
• 1:34:06
  perhaps by loving the Lord more by keeping his Commandments more
• 1:34:09
  diligently. And pleading with with the Lord
• 1:34:12
  for more help to do that. And then your capacity to be
• 1:34:17
  able to teach and Lead will grow because the best teachers, Come
• 1:34:20
  from the best students, the best leaders are made out of the best
• 1:34:28
  followers and the best disciples.
• 1:34:31
  So, if, if you want to help people perhaps plead initially
• 1:34:38
  for the Lord, to help you be more faithful and diligent.
• 1:34:41
  Now notice how he continues, neither, pray I for these alone.
• 1:34:48
  I'm not just praying for these. Eleven Apostles standing here
• 1:34:51
  with me but for them also, which Shall Believe on me through
• 1:34:56
  their word? I don't know about you, but I
• 1:34:59
  circled the word them and I In the margin me included because I
• 1:35:05
  believe on Jesus Christ through the testimony of those original
• 1:35:10
  Twelve Apostles and our current living prophets and apostles, I
• 1:35:15
  believe on him. I know he's real now verse 21
• 1:35:20
  that they all may be one as thou father art in me and I in thee
• 1:35:28
  that they also may be one in us that the world.
• 1:35:31
  World may believe that thou Hast sent me.
• 1:35:34
  So you have the father, you have the son, you have all of us down
• 1:35:39
  here. You'll notice his prayer that
• 1:35:41
  they can all be one. As we are one that they can be
• 1:35:46
  one in us. It's this verse 21, I'm telling
• 1:35:52
  it Takes the Cake as far as the theological verses of scripture
• 1:35:56
  to describe those relationships that Jesus is trying to help us
• 1:36:03
  figure out what it means to be one with each other and with
• 1:36:10
  God, to not live in isolation, like the Devil's Due to not live
• 1:36:16
  in a state of misery and contention like Lucifer and his
• 1:36:21
  followers persist to live in and then the solution or the the
• 1:36:27
  outcome is verse 22 and the glory, which thou Avast me, I
• 1:36:32
  have given them that they may be one even as we are one, I guess
• 1:36:40
  I would just pause here and say brothers and sisters, don't ever
• 1:36:45
  feel embarrassed about our, our theology don't ever fill
• 1:36:52
  apologetic about our belief, in the first Article of Faith.
• 1:37:00
  We believe in God, the Eternal Father and his son Jesus Christ.
• 1:37:07
  And in the Holy Ghost that is that is a very powerful
• 1:37:13
  foundation for our faith. That these three are perfectly
• 1:37:20
  United in one and their whole mission is through the mission
• 1:37:25
  of the Holy Ghost. Now to help us figure out that
• 1:37:29
  same kind of Of unity and to find that that safety in their
• 1:37:35
  love and grow into that Oneness with them.
• 1:37:40
  It's such a profound such a profound doctrine that we teach,
• 1:37:47
  you don't need to be afraid of those discussions.
• 1:37:51
  Now, as we conclude his prayer, look at verse 23, i in them and
• 1:37:57
  thou in me that they may be made.
• 1:38:00
  Perfect in one and that the world may know that thou Hast
• 1:38:04
  sent me and have loved them as thou Hast loved me.
• 1:38:10
  Father, I will that they also whom thou Hast given me be with
• 1:38:14
  me, where I am. He is unlike anybody else.
• 1:38:20
  He has all this power, all this capacity and all he wants to do
• 1:38:26
  is give the glory to the father and share all that he has with
• 1:38:30
  us. Is how I love the Lord.
• 1:38:32
  How I want to be more like him verse 20, 50 righteous father,
• 1:38:40
  the world has not known me, but I have known thee and these have
• 1:38:45
  known that thou Hast sent me. Remember what he said back in
• 1:38:49
  verse 3 and this is life eternal that they might Know Thee.
• 1:38:53
  The only true God and Jesus Christ whom thou Hast sent.
• 1:38:56
  He's giving us a precursor to that from his own perspective.
• 1:39:00
  Though I have known thee righteous father, verse 26 and I
• 1:39:04
  have declared unto them thy name and will declare it that the
• 1:39:09
  love wherewith, thou Hast loved me, may be in them and I in
• 1:39:15
  them. what a prayer there was never another prayer offered to
• 1:39:26
  top this one, the intercessory prayer and now chapter 18 is
• 1:39:32
  going to say when Jesus had spoken these words he went forth
• 1:39:35
  with his disciples, over the brook kedron, where there was a
• 1:39:39
  garden into the which he entered and his disciples and closing
• 1:39:44
  earlier and sisters, you have more Than heavenly father, who's
• 1:39:49
  looking down at you smiling you as your father holds worlds.
• 1:39:53
  Without number in his hands, you're his daughter, you're his
• 1:39:56
  son. Oh, How He Loves You perfectly.
• 1:40:01
  You also have the Savior who is looking down at you filled with
• 1:40:05
  Agape filled with all of the verb forms of the nouns to love
• 1:40:13
  you and if we'll just trust him and Bide in him, his promises he
• 1:40:21
  will / - are. He will permanently abide with
• 1:40:25
  us and provide us with all of the life that we need to be
• 1:40:31
  fruitful and to find our mission life fulfilled.
• 1:40:36
  And once again from president Nelson's talk in coming days we
• 1:40:41
  will see the greatest manifestations of the savior's
• 1:40:44
  power. That the world has ever seen.
• 1:40:51
  I love the Lord. And he loves you and we leave
• 1:40:56
  that with you in the name of Jesus Christ.
• 1:40:59
  Amen. Know that you're loved.