Latest / Scripture Central / ”Stand Forever” Ep. 15 | The Way—Choose Life, Be Fruitful | Elder Lawrence E. Corbridge

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”Stand Forever” Ep. 15 | The Way—Choose Life, Be Fruitful | Elder Lawrence E. Corbridge · Scripture Central

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  What is the highest expression of fruitfulness?
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  Feeding the starving masses? Finding the cure for cancer?
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  No. As noble as those things are,
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  the highest expression of fruitfulness is to help others
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  close the gap of separation from God.
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  It is less important how your life stacks up against another
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  than what you do with what you have.
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  You cannot help everyone, but you can help someone.
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  God's plan for us is not only to be cleansed of sin through the
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  blood of Christ and not only endowed with His power by His
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  Spirit, but consequently empowered to be fruitful, to
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  make a difference, do good by the power and gifts of God.
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  Hello, my name is Larry Corbridge and this is episode 15
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  of the Stand Forever series. In the past episode, we
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  concluded the supreme expression of intelligence.
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  The crowning achievement of every rational being is to
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  choose best, and the best choices are to receive the gifts
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  of God's Son, his Spirit and life, and help others do the
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  same. In the last two episodes, we
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  considered the gifts of God's Son and his Spirit.
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  The focus of this episode is choose God's life and be
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  fruitful, President Russell M Nelson said Our.
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  Ultimate quest in life is to prepare to meet our.
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  Maker on another occasion, he tenderly added.
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  More than anything, our Father wants his children to choose to
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  return home to him. Everything he does is motivated
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  by his yearning desire. The entire reason we are here on
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  earth is to qualify to live with Him forever.
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  We do that by using our agency to find and stay on the covenant
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  path that leads back to our heavenly home.
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  People say life is a journey. Enjoy the journey.
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  And that's in so many ways good advice.
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  But life is also about getting to the end, reunion with God,
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  receiving the gift of God's Son, God's Spirit, and God's life by
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  engaging in God's work and helping others do the same.
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  Most of the prayers of Jesus were never written.
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  Some could could not be written, but glory be to the Father.
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  We have the summation prayer of Christ mortal ministry offered
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  in his last hours on earth. He said, and this is life
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  eternal, that they might know thee, the only true God in Jesus
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  Christ, whom thou has sinned. And then he continued, Neither
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  pray I for these meaning his disciples alone, but for them
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  which also believe on me through their word, that they also may
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  be one, as Thou Father art in me, and I in Thee, that they
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  also may be one in us. This divine unity to become one
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  with God in worthiness, power, purpose, direction, work, and
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  ultimately character, knowledge and life, is the purpose of the
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  Gospel of Jesus Christ God famously revealed to Moses.
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  For behold, this is my work and my glory to bring to pass the
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  immortality and eternal life of man.
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  Because that purpose was declared by God himself, we
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  would do well to also make it ours.
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  God's purposes are of little consequence unless we make them
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  ours as well. Immortality and eternal life.
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  Immortality is more than unending life, which was our
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  condition before mortality. Immortality is unending life as
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  a resurrected being, spirit and body, united inseparably
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  forevermore. Although the resurrection is
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  universal for all who pass through the portals of
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  mortality, it is foolish to regard it casually because there
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  will be differences in timing and glory in the resurrection.
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  According to faithfulness in this life.
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  Eternal life is to go home, reunion with God.
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  It is to be fitted for His presence and return to our
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  Father as an immortal resurrected person and live the
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  quality of life He lives. People often think of of the
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  Celestial Kingdom as the ultimate destination, and in a
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  sense it is. But eternal life is not just a
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  location, but a way of life. It is more a matter of who you
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  will be than where, and that is a matter of choice.
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  One of the overarching purposes of life is to become fruitful.
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  To make a difference in the lives of others is not only part
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  of the journey, but also part of the destination.
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  It isn't just about faithfulness, but making a
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  difference, fruitfulness. Of all the things Peter might
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  have said in In summation of the ministry of Christ, he simply
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  said he went about doing good. That is the pattern for all of
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  us. It is not only doing good, but
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  receiving the Holy Ghost to be empowered to do good.
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  It isn't just about faithfulness, but fruitfulness
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  making a difference. More specifically, it is about
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  faithfulness to become fruitful. While Jesus sent his disciples
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  into all the world, his own ministry was limited to the
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  small area between Galilee and Jerusalem.
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  While he healed everyone among the Nephites, not so in Israel,
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  where he is healing touched only scattered individuals.
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  Surely he could have traveled farther, He could have healed
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  more, but he didn't. I suppose he could have healed
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  people collectively, but he didn't.
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  Even among the Nephites, when everyone was healed, he healed
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  them one by one. There we have a refinement to
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  the pattern of doing good, making a difference.
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  You cannot help everyone, but you can help someone.
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  You cannot right every wrong, but you can right some wrongs.
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  You cannot do everything, but you can do something.
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  Most of the good that is done happens 1 by 1, and usually
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  without recognition. Jesus not only set that pattern,
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  but also taught much about becoming fruitful.
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  It is a dominant thread woven throughout the entire fabric of
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  his teachings. For example, he said from the
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  Gospel of Matthew, either make the tree good and his fruit
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  good, or else make the tree corrupt and his fruit corrupt,
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  for the tree is known by his fruit.
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  Another from Matthew. And he spake many things unto
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  them in parables, saying, Behold, A sower went forth to
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  sow, and when he sowed, some seeds fell by the wayside, and
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  the fowls came and devoured them up.
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  Some fell upon Stony places where they had not much earth,
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  and forthwith they sprung up, because they had no deepness in
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  the earth. And when the sun was up they
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  were scorched, and because they had no root they withered away.
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  And some fell among thorns, and the thorns sprung up and choked
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  them. But others fell into good ground
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  and brought forth fruit, some a hundredfold, some sixtyfold,
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  some thirtyfold. Who hath ears to hear?
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  Let him hear another example from the Gospel of John.
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  Lift up your eyes and look on the fields, for they are white
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  already to harvest. He that reapeth receiveth wages,
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  and gathereth fruit unto life eternal, that both he that
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  soweth and he that reapeth may rejoice together.
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  Another from John. I am the true vine, and my
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  father is the husbandman. Every branch in me that beareth
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  not fruit, he taketh away. In every branch that beareth
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  fruit, He, our Father, purges it, that it may bring forth more
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  fruit. Purge means to make something
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  pure, free from guilt, sin, or defilement to perfect.
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  Then continuing on, he says, Abide in me, and I in you.
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  As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself except it, abide in
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  the vine, no more can ye except ye abide in me.
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  I am the vine, and ye are the branches.
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  He that abideth in me, and I in Him the same, the same bringeth
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  forth much fruit, for without me ye can do nothing.
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  Herein is my Father glorified. He said that that ye bear much
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  fruit, so shall ye be my disciples.
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  Ye have not chosen me, but I have chosen you, and ordained
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  you that you should go and bring forth fruit, and that your fruit
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  should remain, that whatsoever ye shall ask of the Father in my
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  name, he may give it to you. I know this is a lot, but here
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  is the Parable of the talents. In the parable of the talents,
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  the Lord dramatically affirms using our talents to good
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  advantage, and He does so in two different ways.
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  There were three servants. The first was given 5 talents,
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  the second was given 2 talents, and the third only had one
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  talent. The third servant, as you know,
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  did nothing with what he was given.
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  He was unprofitable or unfruitful, and he lost what he
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  had. That's the first lesson.
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  Use it or lose it. The second lesson involves the
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  other two servants, both of whom were fruitful, the one who had
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  five at the outset and then 10 when his account was taken, and
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  the second who had two talents to begin with and four in the
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  end. Both listen to this.
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  They both received the same commendation.
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  The Lord said to both of them, word for word, the same.
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  Well done, thou good and faithful servant.
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  Thou has been faithful over a few things.
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  I will make thee ruler over many things.
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  Enter thou into the joy of thy Lord.
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  It is less important how your life stacks up against another
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  than what you do with what you have.
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  Again, it is less important how your life stacks up against
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  another then what you do with what you have.
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  The next parable, the parable of the sheep and the goats, is
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  especially sobering as the Lord separates the sheep from the
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  goats based on one thing only. When all the nations of the
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  earth are gathered before him, he will set his sheep on his
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  right hand and the goats on the left.
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  He will say to those on his right hand, Come, ye blessed of
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  my Father, inherit the Kingdom prepared for you from the
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  foundation of the world. For I was in hungered, and you
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  gave me meat. I was thirsty, and you gave me
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  drink. I was a stranger, and you took
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  me in naked, and you clothed me. I was sick and you visited me.
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  I was in prison, and you came unto me.
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  The righteous will then ask, when did we do these things?
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  And he replies, In as much as you have done it unto the least
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  of these, my brethren, you have done it unto me.
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  The Book of Mormon is equally clear that we should be
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  fruitful. The focus of the entire chapter
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  of Jacob 5 is about the Lord of the vineyard and his servants
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  pruning, nurturing, and caring for his vineyard, all to the end
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  of good fruit. Alma also famously taught.
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  And behold, as the tree beginneth to grow, ye will say,
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  Let us nourish it with great care, that it may get root, that
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  it may grow up and bring forth fruit unto us.
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  And now behold, he said, if he nourish it with much care, it
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  will get root and grow up and bring forth fruit.
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  But if you will nourish the word, yeah, nourish the tree as
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  it beginneth to grow by your faith, with great diligence and
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  with patience, looking forward to the fruit thereof, it shall
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  take root, and behold, it shall be a tree springing up unto
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  everlasting life. While speaking to his son, Alma
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  described the fruits of his conversion, saying, Yeah.
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  And from that time, even until now, I have labored without
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  ceasing that I might bring souls unto repentance, that I might
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  bring them to taste the exceeding joy of which I did
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  taste, that they also may be born of God and be filled with
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  the Holy Ghost. Yeah.
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  And now behold, O my son, the Lord doth give me exceedingly
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  great joy in the fruit of my laborers.
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  We're getting to the end here. In the last chapter of the Book
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  of Mormon, Moroni makes this profound observation.
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  He says, And now I speak unto all the ends of the earth, that
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  if the day cometh that the power and gifts of God shall be done
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  away, it shall be because of unbelief, and will be unto you
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  if this be the case. For there shall be none that do
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  with good among you. No, not one.
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  For if there be one among you that do with good, he shall work
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  by the power and gifts of God. I know that was a lot.
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  But God's plan for us is not only to be cleansed of sin
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  through the blood of Christ, and not only endowed with the power
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  of heaven by His Spirit, but consequently empowered to be
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  fruitful, to make a difference, to do good by the power and
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  gifts of God. No teaching, however, is as
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  clear and compelling about becoming fruitful as the Sermon
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  on the Mound. It is the greatest servant
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  sermon ever given in the history of mankind, and it is not a
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  random collection of truths, rather a carefully orchestrated
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  sermon which leads to an important conclusion which is to
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  be fruitful, especially members of the Church.
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  The Lord describes the process, beginning with the recognition
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  that we are poor in spirit, which in turn should cause us to
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  mourn for our sins. Focus on that of eternal value.
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  Be filled with the Holy Ghost, then avoid all that that would
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  offend the Spirit and stand firm against adversity, all to the
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  end that we become the salt of the earth, that we become the
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  light of the world, a city set upon a hill.
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  He adds, Not to put your candle under a bushel, but let your
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  light so shine before men, that they may see your good works and
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  glorify your Father, which is in heaven.
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  He is speaking to those who not only believe Him, but have
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  embraced that belief through faith, repentance, and the
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  covenants of baptism. He said, When men are called
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  unto mine everlasting gospel and covenant, they are accounted as
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  the salt of the earth and the savour of men.
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  At the end of the Sermon on the Mount, Christ returns to the
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  same important conclusion to be fruitful, saying, Ye shall know
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  them by their fruits. Even so every good tree bringeth
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  forth good fruit, but a corrupt tree bringeth forth evil fruit.
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  Wherefore by their fruits ye shall know them.
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  And what is the highest expression of fruitfulness?
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  Feeding the starving masses? Finding a cure for cancer,
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  cheering up the sad and making someone feel glad.
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  No, as noble as those things are, along with 1000 other good
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  things, the highest expression of fruitfulness is to help
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  others close the gap of separation from God by receiving
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  God's greatest gifts, His Son, His Spirit, and His life.
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  The Lord said, Ye are of the House of Israel, and ye are the
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  covenant which the Father made with our fathers, saying unto
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  Abraham, And in thy seed shall all the kindreds of the earth be
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  blessed unto the pouring out of the Holy Ghost through me.
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  The purpose of the Father's plan is not only that you be redeemed
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  of sin in Christ the Redeemer. It is not only that you be
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  endowed with power from on high, but that by that same power help
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  others do the same, usually 1 by 1, and by that process become
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  more like the Lord unto eternal life.
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  As I've said so many times already, the supreme expression
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  of intelligence, the crowning achievement of every rational
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  being, is to choose best, to make choices that will invite
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  God's Spirit and produce change and growth within you to become
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  more like the Lord Jesus Christ and Heavenly Father.
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  To choose best is to always remember the Lord Jesus Christ,
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  that you may always have his Spirit to be with you.
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  That's the one thing Choose Christ, choose the Spirit,
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  choose eternal life, choose best and be fruitful helping others
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  do the same.