Ep 290 | 3 Nephi 17-19, Come Follow Me 2024 (October 7-13)

[Music] hey everybody Welcome to talking scripture a podcast where we illustrate relevance and application of the scriptures in come follow me we also dive into the history and cultures of the text thanks for taking the time to share and subscribe to this podcast for show notes head over to our website talking scpt [Music] toorgle 17-19 and Bryce what is the main thing in these chapters here well clearly when Jesus visits America the main thing is to come to understand him his personality and we've kind of seen that we saw that in 11 where he was

a one by one until they all we're certainly going to see that in 17 where he invites them and the children and He blesses them and prays for them so outside of coming to see the gentle character of the Messiah I think the main thing that he needs to establish here in America is let me show you Nephites and lamanites and everyone who reads the Book of Mormon how the Savior operates he operates by delegation through his anointed prophets Sears and revelators and so I think we need to start in 19 Mike I think that's

of these three chapters 17 18 and 19 I think we need to start in 19 we'll go back and catch 17 and 18 but let's keep the main thing the main thing now little homework if you want to pause this podcast and go do it and then come back it'll be much more beneficial to you is to go through third Nephi 19 and identify all of the they all the pronouns because there's a couple possibilities they are either the multitude or they are the disciples and as you really read through this and you identify the

they then you begin to see a very clear pattern emerge most of the they are not the multitude and I think that's a mistake we often make isn't it we read it and we're like the people that are there they're all in circled by fire and isn't this wonderful but we have that in a different chapter yeah well 11 and then 17 we see him with the multitudes we see that he is a one by one God we see that he loves us individually we each have an individual relationship with him but now he's trying

to establish the pattern of how he officiates on Earth in his absence this is so important this is crucial to yes this is crucial to understand that this is how he operates so once you've identified all of the they here you begin to see that Jesus is again I'm going to say this one more time to make sure you understand the emphasis here he is not diminishing his care for the multitude he has doing the opposite yeah he's already established how much he cares the multitude but in chapter 19 he seems to be sep separating

a little bit and showing the role that the disciples are now going to play so who gets baptized here it's not everyone he doesn't baptize the multitude first they go down to the waters and they get baptized meaning the disciples get baptized and as soon as they the disciples get baptized verse 13 the Holy Ghost did fall upon them and who was that in this case the disciples yeah that's important so somehow the multitude were eyewitnesses that the Holy Ghost fell I don't know how you do that I don't know how they saw that but

clearly the multitude could see that the Holy Ghost fell upon the disciples CH I think maybe one option would be verse 14 where they're in circled by fire maybe they had that Aben experience or that Moses experience where their countenance shown remember those stories of Joseph Smith where he would sometimes have that experience there surely was something like that right and so that the Holy Ghost descends and then they meaning the disciples get encircled by fire they meaning the disciples converse with angels and then verse 15 Jesus comes in the midst and ministered unto them

meaning the apostles again the disciples so if I'm a member of the multitude I'm sitting here watching the disciples get baptized the Holy Ghost descends upon them Angels come and Minister unto them and then Jesus himself comes and ministers unto them and so listen to his prayer he's going to pray and he's going to reveal such an important doctrinal truth about how the father and the son operate on Earth so starting in verse 19 he departed out of the midst and he bows himself to the Earth and he prays and he says father I thank

the that thou Hast given the Holy Ghost unto these whom I have chosen and it is because of their belief in me that I have chosen them out of the world father I pray thee that thou wil give the Holy Ghost unto all them that Shall Believe in their words there's the key I think that verse unlocks all those verses absolutely that's the key Jesus isn't showing favoritism here he's showing a process he's saying I will speak to these disciples I will speak to Those whom I have chosen out of the world now it's their

responsibility I love that he kind of says a few things about them he says I have chosen them because of their belief in me that tells you something about Prophet Sears and revelators I have chosen them out of the world I love that back in verse 8 they spoke the the same words Jesus had spoken nothing varying from The Words which Jesus had spoken I think that's a commentary on who gets chosen to be a disciple so I'm going to throw this at you Bryce look at verse 19 so they're repeating the words Jesus speaks

and he's in the middle of them in ancient Christianity this is h ni he wrote a document called the early Christian prayer circle anciently Christians would they would be in a circle and they would pray and Jesus would tell them how to pray and so I see this in a ritual context that maybe they're in this is a temple setting and that maybe they're just like these ancient Christians repeating the words we're repeating what Jesus says As a just an interesting thought I mean when we read this stuff and there's all these documents that are

not in the Bible you look at and go something's going on yeah and if nothing else at least it's symbolic that they are saying what Jes that's what that's what makes the disciples the disciples I think this is really timely because this podcast will be released right before conference and I just want to just add my witness that regardless of what anybody says about their faults it's their position their position matters and they are his representatives and we will not go wrong by listening to them and back to that key that he just unlocked the

key to gaining all of the blessings of the Gospel is that we believe in the words that come through prophet Sears and revelators that is our test the test of the Prophet SE and revelators is to make sure they know the word of Christ well enough to give them to us as they've received them to believe in him to be the examples but I just love how he does this he says father give the multitude everything you just gave the disciples if they believe in the words of the disciples we we got to take verse

21 and it's got to be highlighted I mean in mind it is well what he's going to do it again what's fun is he's going to do it one more time so he just gave them the Holy Ghost and they're glowing like fire angels are with them Jesus is with them and then he prays and says hey the multitude can have everything these guys have if they'll just listen to the words of the prophets and then the next thing I get I don't know exactly how to take this but he purifies them I don't know

how they knew but somehow maybe it was the fire maybe it was the glowing maybe it was something else but he purifies them and then he prays again and does the exact same thing notice in verse 28 is another prayer it's a different but very similar prayer and he says father I thank thee that thou Hast purified Those whom I have chosen and if I could just yell out my witness of Russell Nelson thou Hast purified Those whom I have chosen because of their faith I pray for them now he's going to hand us a

key and also Al for them Who Shall Believe on their words that they may be purified in me through faith on their words even as they are purified in me that's an example of where we've got to clarify the they we've got to clarify the pronouns so let's read this clearly father I thank thee that thou Hast purified the disciples that I have chosen because of the disciples faith I pray for the disciples and and also for the multitude Who Shall Believe on the disciples words that the multitude may be purified in me through faith

on the disciples words I think that reading of verse 28 just absolute sense critical that the multitude may be purified in me through faith on the disciples words even as the disciples are purified in me and therein in two both Paces both both of those prayers his prayer in 21 his prayer in 28 he just basically unlocks the key if you want in our day to unlock the blessings of Heaven in your life you and I we must heed the words of the Disciples of the Prophet Sears and revelators as they remain pure and holy

and filled with the Holy Ghost and deliver the words that they have received from Jesus unto us there's the key I think understanding this helps us understand the entire order of the church I think this settles a lot of thing we see some of this in the book of Exodus where there's other people that rise up and say no I'm going to be the leader and I love the narrative where Moses is like well if you're to lead then the Earth won't open up Kora and swallow you and but if it does then I'm in

charge and then the Earth opens up right and Moses like Tada uh and the whole Book of Exodus to me it's so easy to criticize those guys but I'm like that's us like the book of Exodus was written about the Saints following the profit in our struggles and our challenges and so I would invite all of us as we think about these things when conference hits my wife mentioned this to me she said to me Mike I don't want to hear what soand so on social media says about the talk I want to hear the

talk right and I think we need we live in a world where we've got our phone in one hand and we're watching the prophet and I think this to me Mike day this is me speaking I think this the invitation for us to say put your phone away and listen to my witness listen to my prophet and let the spirit teach you yeah I remember otap Benson saying don't drink below the horses that's great don't drink below the horses go to the source hear the prophets Sears and revelators for yourselves and watch the blessings now

think about that imagine if General Conference began like third Nephi 19 what if before the meeting started all of a sudden fire came down and encircled the first presidency in the Cor form of the 12 apostles and they began to glow and what if we could see angels discoursing with them and what if all of a sudden we could see Jesus whispering in Russell Nelson's ear and then I love this verse in verse 25 what if when Russell Nelson stands up to speak at General Conference you could see Jesus in the background and what was

he doing in 25 he's smiling upon them can you just picture would you pay a little bit more attention to the words of President Nelson if you could see Jesus behind him just smiling with that look on his face like this is exactly what I want everyone to know what if General Conference began that way would you pay a little bit more attention and that's what he's trying to accomplish here in third Nephi 19 he's trying to wave his arms and say this is how it works folks I speak to them they speak to you

and when you heed their words I give you every blessing that I give anyone else on Earth he doesn't have favorites but he does have a process and his process is to speak through his disciples his prophet seers and revelators who he has chosen I think if I had one thing to teach in these chapters that would be it yeah I mean it's good stuff all this is awesome and as a nerd I I I would love to geek out about Micah 5 and Isaiah 52 because Isaiah 52 is all over the place in this

but the main message Y is this is how I do my Kingdom the Lord's like this is it guys and if you remember back if you've been with us for a while and you remember our podcast on the war chapters the Nephites had all control all power over the Lites they had fortified their cities to the point where they did not have a weakness the lamanites attacked the weakest City that they knew and were slaughtered lost a thousand men and not a single nephite was slain this war should have been over except for in the

following two chapters the Nephites started to contend with themselves and take issue with their leaders and Morman said it was their contention and dissension that brought about the war that opened the doors and allowed the lonit in the front door it's when we contend with our leaders with the leaders of the church we don't like what they have to say and so then we push back on their humanness and their fallibility rather than accepting with patience and faith what they receive from heavenly father I think another thing we can take out of what you just

said is we need to be careful how we talk to each other in social media somebody can say something that's totally wrong but how do we handle it and and I don't know if it's necessary for us to get out of hammer and just Hammer each other so I really do think that's the main thing now there's lots of other things we can talk about in these chapters I mentioned Isaiah 52 you know what why don't we just do a couple verses so this won't be the only time we talk about this but Isaiah 52

awake awake put on thy strength o Zion put on thy beautiful garments oh Jerusalem the holy city for henceforth there shall no more come unto thee the uncircumcised and the unclean Shake thyself from the dust arise and sit down o Jerusalem loose thyself from the bands of thy neck oh captive Daughter of Zion for thus sayeth the Lord ye have sold yourselves for nothing or for not and you shall be redeemed without money this is the Lord inviting the house of Israel to come on the throne I call this The Great Exchange who are we

Trading Places with well in Isaiah 47 1-5 God says to Babylon to get off the throne and sit down on the ground and for Israel to take her place and so this is an exchange and in essence that's what's happening ritually with these people they are arising they're putting on their beautiful garments they're being taught how to pray and if you take a really close reading of third Epi 19 for example look at verse 30 they become The Shining ones they were white even as Jesus look at the end of verse 34 they pray Words

that cannot be uttered or that cannot be written down in 3931 and 32 it says that Jesus prayed to the father verse 32 says and tongue cannot speak The Words which he prayed neither can be written by man The Words which he he prayed and why is this well I think from a ritual perspective they're saying sacred prayer we're not going to write it down there's lots of levels to this but I think this whole story is them leaving Babylon and they're coming into God's presence and so they're astonished look at verse 11 of Isaiah

52 depart ye depart ye go out from then touch not the unclean thing go out of the midst of her be ye clean that bear the vessels of the Lord why verse 10 the Lord's going to make bear his arm to all the nations and all the ends of the Earth shall see the salvation of God so we're seeing this we're seeing this right here in verse eight The Watchmen are lifting up their voice and they're singing and they see eye to eye I see this as they're in a circle they're surrounding Jesus who's in

their midst and jesus takes us home I like that Isaiah 52 is the backdrop to this another thing I like to at least talk about and this is difficult at first when we read this and how do you take this Bryce when you read about how they're praying but notice Verse 18 of chapter 19 it says they began to pray and they prayed unto Jesus and we know this is their second day if you go to chapter 19 verse1 it says that when Jesus had ascended into the multitude the multitude did disperse that's the end

of the first visit so the rest of the chapter is this second visit and so they're praying to Jesus and so sometimes I think maybe teachers might get this question you know we pray to the father in the name of the son but here like this is not the most important thing but it's in the text right it is and people need to remember that he's standing right there and he's an omnipotent being a resurrected and omnipotent being who not only knows what they're saying but he knows their thoughts and I would imagine when Jesus

is in your presence it is natural to direct your thoughts to him yeah as well as the intents of your heart and it acts you know and I don't think it's we cannot take this chapter as we should pray to Jesus because we've been instructed by him not not to do that but in his presence I would imagine it's as natural as anything to find yourself communicating with him whereas what we should normally do is communicate with the father so I hey counting all the times I've been in Jesus's presence I can't fault them for

doing that because I I can only imagine that being in his presence must be an overwhelming thing and it's easy to direct your thoughts to him yeah the god of Heaven and Earth look at look at verse 22 this is what Jesus says about this he says you see this is Jesus talking to his father you see that they believe in me because thou hearest them and they pray to me and they pray to me because I am with them just kind of what you just said so that's Jesus saying hey this is why I

certainly don't know when I get asked those questions I say gosh I don't know here's some things to think about and I throw a couple quotes out there and so we'll put these quotes in the show notes but we got some really good quotes one of them from Bruce mononi where he kind of says what Bryce is saying so I'm not going to read it but just know that in this in since they do and remember as father of Heaven and Earth he's their God and the distinction and the understanding that he has a father

and these kinds of things really start to be explained to them here but I love how Jesus teaches them how to pray so and just to nerd out I really like verse 4 of chapter 19 I really like that Nephi's brother who he raised from the dead is one of the Apostles and wouldn't that be a fun story Bryce if we could get the book of Timothy and the story of how he died because I bet you it's a really cool story right he was probably killed by a bunch of villains and how he was

raised from the dead like there's just this huge backstory to verse four of a dude who gets raised from the dead anyway which is evidence that there really is a larger record that Mormon's pulling from that Joseph isn't making this up on the Fly cuz why would he include that I just think that was cool but wouldn't that be fun to have like I one day we're going to meet this guy I'm like tell me your story tell me your backstory yeah okay so that's so that's 19 but let's jump back to 17 because I

love how 17 begins and I think sometimes we skip it Jesus gives us a formula for getting more out of scriptural truths and more out of the temple I love applying this to the temple he teaches them some wonderful things in 1516 and even The Sermon on the Mount words and then he says in verse two this is 172 I perceive that thou art weak that you can understand all my words which I commanded of the father to speak un you at this time now tell me when you walked away from the temple the first

time that that verse didn't apply to you as if Jes if if he were standing at the exit as you walked out he probably would have said I perceive that you are weak and that you didn't get everything that I was commanded to tell you in this endowment is that right therefore so let me tell you how to get more out of scripture and get more out of the temple step number one notice is not what you do in the temple if you want to get more out of the temple you need to do more

when you go home if you want to get more out of the scriptures it's not so much what you do while you're in the scriptures it's what you do when you close them and you walk away now if all you do when you leave the temple is completely leave the temple then we shouldn't be surprised if you don't pull out great Eternal truths but if you want to get more out of the temple then this is what you do when you leave the temple so he says go home and then he gives us this very

simple process Ponder the things keep them in your head keep them in your heart think about them wonder about them ask yourself questions about them Ponder why do we do that I don't understand why we do that in the temple may I just shout and scream that that right there is the invitation to Heavenly Father that I want more Revelation because I'm thinking about this I am letting this stir in my heart I want you to know how much I want an answer by how much I think about it how many times in the scriptures

does a prophet receive Revelation in that state of pondering yes 138 comes to Joseph F Smith because he's pondering over what he read in Peter's words about Jesus going to the spirit world section 76 on The Three Degrees Of Glory CES to Joseph Smith because he's pondering this whole condition of Heaven as he's translating the the Bible Nephi receives his vision of his of the tree of life because he's sitting there pondering dad's words it doesn't say this in the in the Joseph Smith narrative but I think the whole reason he went into the Grove

he was pondering and the spirit was working on him the spirit was like no you need to go pray yeah right I think the spirit was just was just wrenching him well I love that phrase these words sunk deeply into my soul I reflected upon them again and again there's a pattern right there and so I think that's how we unlock Revelation is by showing Heavenly Father how much I want to know by how often I think about them so take the temple home take the temple ceremony home and ponder it and then a very

simple one so that's number two go home number two is Ponder and then number three is just such a simple concept ask the father that you may understand how many of you kneel down and ask heavenly father in a privacy of your own prayer please help me understand this particular part of the endowment or the ceiling or a washing and an anointing or even this portion of the scriptures help me understand Isaiah I don't get it Lord I thought about it a lot could you help me understand what a simple concept ask the father to

understand and then he says prepare your minds for tomorrow because we're going to do this again so it's that preparation go back to the temple prepared and I think one of the ways I go back to the temple prepared is by looking for the things that I've been pondering I'll never forget one day there was a certain portion of the endowment that really puzzled me and I just wanted to understand the symbolism better and I thought about it a lot I searched through the scriptures I found every reference in the scriptures to that particular image

I thought about what he was trying to say one day I went back to the temple to a ceiling session and as I sat in the ceiling room looking at the chandelier I saw the image in the chandelier and all of the sudden just this flood of understanding and I made connections that I'd never made before and I was so grateful but I think the key was that I went back into that Temple looking I had prepared my mind I was looking for an answer go back to the scriptures looking for the answers that you've

been pondering go back prepared and then he says number five let's do this again tomorrow I'm going to come again tomorrow don't do it one time so think about that go home Ponder ask prepare and return now if all I ever do when I attend the temple is go home and then return and I miss those three middle steps you can see that I'm denying myself a great deal of opportunity to open the floodgates of heaven and receive Revelation I think this is okay to say that this is also I think this whole thing is

a temple context we talked about this in the last podcast this is a sacred experience where they're in the midst of God and I think it probably would have been overwhelming and I think everything you're saying fits because he says in the next couple verses in chapter 17 he's like I'm out I got I'm leaving and then notice the end of verse 5 they ask him to T and we get chapters 17 and 18 so the second day is going to be the beginning of 19 so we get two whole chapters because of they ask

him to stay God has always so quick to give us more than what we ask yeah whatever size vessel we take to the Lord he will fill if you take a small little thimble to the Lord that's what he'll fill if you take a massive Bowl that's what he'll fill whatever you offer him say Lord this is how much I want to receive he always responds he just he'll he'll deliver whatever you have come prepared so as soon as they in their yearning and their tears want him to stay what does he do he gives

him more he stays and he loves them this really hits me in the Joseph Smith experience where he wants to know which church is true and which one he should join and some of the other accounts you know he's also worried about his sins so however you you list the list of the questions he asks he gets the the answers but then he gets so much more and my favorite part of the account that we have canonized at the end of the vision after he explains I saw the father and the son he he drops

this line Bryce and to this day I'm like I want this line I want to know he says and many other things did they say to me that I cannot write at this time and I'm like okay what was that I want that stuff I just think he he got way more than what he asked which is the savior's pattern right cuz when they were hungry for bread he fed them and then they collected 12 basketfuls of what was left over what they couldn't even eat he gave them far more than they had asked for

and that's how it is if you go to the Savior and say I've had enough don't give me anything he'll respond if you go to the Savior and say I would love you to stay in my life please don't leave me he gives you two more chapters that he had said he wasn't going to get he had said in 16 I'm leaving he said in the early part of 17 I'm leaving but because of their response because how much they wanted him to stay they got 17 and 18 where he had intended to leave and

do you see how it is with him the more we want him the more he stays and gives us so good so 17 he's going to heal him they're going to be encircled about by fire this is the multitude he weeps for the house of Israel and it's just a beautiful chapter to read in the 18th chapter this is the sacrament and there's really going to be two feasts in this narrative there's going to be this feast in chapter 18 and then a later Feast where Jesus miraculously provides the bread he brings the bread in

the final Feast but in this Feast what we read is that he tells the disciples to go get bread and wine so they go and get it and then verse three says that they come and they bring it and they break it and they bless it and then Jesus teaches them hey this is the sacrament this is what we're going to do so verse 6 this shall you always observe even as I have done even as I have broken bread and blessed it and given it to you and this you shall do in remembrance of

my body which I have shown unto you and it shall be a testimony unto the father that you do always remember me and if you do always remember me you shall have my spirit to be be with you which kind of talks about the Dual nature of the sacrament it's a memorial and a testimony and sometimes we don't think about that as we're in in the middle of the sacrament first of all it's a memorial we are to remember him we are to pause and remember everything that he's done I love that in the mark

account he says remember me that I was with you in this hour and I love to ponder what during the sacrament all the times the SA has been with me in my hour it's not just remember his sacrifice we are supposed to remember what he did with his body and with his blood but we're also supposed to remember the times that he has made special the times he's been with us and we promise Lord I promise I will remember and then I love the second part in verse 7 which he repeats so bread in seven

water in 11 you'll see the similarity in those two prayers he says do this in remembrance and witness unto the father so you are making promises you are testifying to the father that you will do certain things and one of them is to remember and I love that he just points those out that we all need to remember that if we properly take this Sacrament we will remember and testify W remember and witness unto the father and if if we do that we will have the spirit and I love the fact that four times in

this chapter in verse 4 in verse 5 and verse 9 they were filled and that's the promise I think sometimes we read the sacramental prayer and say oh the promise is to always have it with me and yes that is true but if you go back to those three Verses 4 5 and N the promise is that by making these covenants by remembering Jesus always and by promising the father to do the things you've promis to do that will fill you that will satisfy a hunger inside you that nothing in the world can satisfy money

cannot buy what the sacrament will do if you keep it Fame will not bring into your soul what the Sacrament and the covenants and remembering Jesus there is a hunger inside the human soul that gets filled when we keep our covenants when we remember the Savior and we witness unto the father and you'll see it again we'll get to 20 next time but notice how many times verse 8 he that eateth this bread eateth of my body he that drinketh of this wine drinketh of my blood and his soul shall never hunger nor thirst but

shall be filled and then in verse 9 when the multitude had eaten and drunk behold they were filled with the spirit so I know we hear the promise that you'll have the spirit always but I think we also need to emphasize that the promise of not just the sacrament but all of his covenants the promise of remembering Jesus and testifying to the father is that that hunger inside us is filled I love how haggi in the Old Testament describes it if you want to turn to a quick haggi verse Hagi is a prophet of the

return of the Jews to Jerusalem after the Babylonian captivity and they were told to build up the house of the Lord first and they've kind of not done that they put more attention into building their own houses they overdid it it's not that you know oh we need a house to live before we can build the temple they were focused on their own homes and the temple was just left undone and so the Lord speaks to Hagi in verse 6 Hagi 1: 6 and think of this in terms of being filled he says you have

sown much and you bring in little you eat but you have not enough you drink but you are not filled with drink you clothe you but there is none warm and he that earnthenecklace candy while you're eating it you're like oo this tastes really good and then all of a sudden your blood sugar comes down and you're so hungry and there's something that the gospel fills that nothing else can fill and there there's a passage in the Book of Revelation where John sees the wicked and he says they have no rest day or night they're

always chasing and I think that's really what Hagi is trying to say when the Israelites come back after Cyrus lets him free you know around 540 539 and they're questioning do we build the temple what do we do and I think that's how guys message you build my house I'll build your house and when I when the Lord says I'll build your house he's talking about your family but he's talking about your your bag that holds the money your grain I'm going to bless you you're going to prosper you're going to thrive this is the

first feeding in the 18th chapter in the 20th chapter Jesus feeds them from a ritual perspective in the first temple there were two feasts there was one in the second room where you're standing and you can see the Veil and you eat the bread of the presence the second Feast is now when you're on the Rock and you're in God's presence ritually look what it says in the 18th chapter I love how how Bryce mentioned that I in fact I highlighted in my scripture verse 4 5 and N you will be filled that's so powerful

and if you do this and you remember my blood verse 11 look at the end of verse 12 if you do this blessed are ye for you're built upon my rock and if you're built upon my rock verse 13 then you're on my foundation and and now I'm packaging Matthew in this but you're a wise man you're somebody who has wisdom why because you remember Jesus and that first feast in the second room of the temple to me that's what I think of when I take the sacrament yesterday when we took the sacrament I'm like

okay we are practicing for the feast we're going to have with Jesus when we meet him again and so what's going to happen well we're going to be received look at 1 18 19 20 we're to watch and pray and Satan wants to sift us but if we watch and pray and we do the right thing verse 21 we pray in our families uh you we'll be received we'll be received into his presence and so what do we do we meet off verse 22 that's what we're to do I struggle with 24 hold up the

light that it may shine into the world behold I am the light and we've talked about this in the other podcast you know how do we how do I be a good Christian but I'm not drawing attention to me and so that's a constant thing right because we're supposed to be holding up the light but then sometimes our detractors accuse us of oh you're bragging or you're doing this and so I don't have the answers I love what he does here I love that he points out two specific things I know we always read verse

24 and say oh hold up your light I am the light that you're supposed to hold up and we sometimes read that as oh Everything Jesus did I'm supposed to do there's definitely some truth to that but he points out two things and that's what we're supposed to hold up so he says hold up your light I'm the light and then he says number one hey did you notice that I prayed unto the father for you I prayed back in chapter 17 he took those children and one by one he prayed unto the father for

them and then he says secondly did you notice that I didn't push anyone else away I let everyone who wanted to come to me come to me I didn't push anyone away and then he says even so shall ye do unto the world so yes I'm supposed to emulate all that Jesus did but here is the savior now this is I think significant Jesus is pointing to two attributes this is what I want you to do number one would you pray for each one in your circle Circle would you pray one by one for the

people in your circle so parents would you pray for your children one by one like I prayed one by one for the children Bishops would you pray one by one for the members of your ward young women's leaders would you pray one by one in other words let your ministering be a personal ministering not a I'm a generally good person would you focus on the one that's how you hold up the light of Jesus you focus on the one that's great application one at a time if you have 10 children you focus on one at

a time you don't you don't let any of them out that's the second one he'll say you notice I didn't push anyone out I let everyone come to me in their own turn in other words Jesus is saying be a one by one until they all member of the church be a one by one until they all parent if you're a teacher be a one by one until they all pray for each one in your class he even handles the difficulties here in 28 and 29 and 30 where he says okay if they're unworthy they're

not going to take the sacrament but I still want them in church yeah and that's an interesting thing because you know well how do we determine this Apostles and Prophets have said if you're repenting you're on the path but this rebellious attitude and yet there are those that are kind of rebell ious and they're in a state of doubt and they're maybe they're not on the path but they want to come to church for whatever reason and I see Jesus saying hey bring them in and I think there are parents out there who have children

that are maybe in this state right where they're they're angry at their parents or they're angry at their religion or whatever and I think what you're talking about is this is perfect application where the Lord's essentially saying bring them in pray for them one by one and bring them in never push them out as best as you can now there are things that they won't be able to participate in because of the choices they're making but Jesus says notice I didn't kick him out of the synagogue I didn't kick him out of my life I

didn't kick him out of my love and my efforts to to do all that I could for them I love that he focuses on those two aspects that's a great application so what makes a Christian if Jesus is allowed to Define what makes Christianity I would throw in this scripture I'd go back to John 13 where he says by this shall all men know that ye are my disciples if ye have love one to another Jesus declared what Christianity is by this shall men know if you are my disciple if you have love one to

another and then here again he confirms that he says look here is what I want you to hold up pray for them like I prayed for you and don't push them out of your life like I didn't push any anyone out of my life and I love how that ends I love that Jesus says look yes hold up my whole life but of all the things in his life to hold up those are the two to hold up so to do this I have to know their names if I'm a bishop I need to know

my youth I call them out by name if I'm a parent I'm thinking about these children when you pray with your family and you're specifically mentioning people there's a different Spirit than just we're kind of getting through the prayer yep for me it's almost like you're tapping into the powers of Heaven because heaven knows who they are there is this verse in the Book of Genesis in the 16th chapter this is where Sarah she's struggling because she doesn't have children she wants to fulfill this Commandment that they're going to have seed and so she goes

to Abraham and she says take my handmade and bring seed to the Lord through her and so he does in verse 10 this is where Hagar is so sad she's been cast out and so in Genesis 16:9 the angel of the Lord said to her return to thy mistress and submit thyself to her hands and the angel of the Lord said unto her the angel speaking to Hagar I will multiply thy seed exceedingly that it shall not be numbered for multitude and the angel of the Lord said behold thou art with child Thou shalt bear

a son and thou shalt call his name Ishmael because the Lord hath heard thy Affliction and in the footnote if you look in footnote 11a God hears that's that's his name his name means god God hears in other words in this narrative in the Bible Ishmael and his descendants kind of become enemies to these Covenant people these the the children of Jacob and in Genesis at least in the beginning God says no I know who they are I'm here I know who you are Hagar and I just want to Bear my witness of that that

God knows who you are and he knows who your kids are and I love how you broke that down brce where you basically said listen here it is he prayed into the father for them and then he did everything he could do to include them I think that's just that's brilliant that is Christianity it is by his own words he says this is what I want you to do now while we're speaking about children I can't help but go back to chapter 17 for one brief moment I know you all love 17 and you've read

it so many times but there is one word in chapter 17 that absolutely haunts me it absolutely haunts me and I'm going to let it haunt you because I think it's a good haunting so Jesus is so moving by compassion he says can I heal you which is a wonderful phrase let me heal someone else that you love because of how much I love you that's an interesting phrase on the Savior but we'll leave that so he heals them and he wants to do more so he says let me have your children He commands that

the children should be brought so let me set the stage here remember we're living in a terrestrial Society because all the testial wicked people have been destroyed that was the destruction that occurred previously there doesn't seem to be a testial person here in the Americas it's terrestrial and above Jesus then calls the children forward let me put myself in that story so my wife Jennifer and I have a son who can be a handful bless his heart Jesus calls him for so there's Jesus with my little son Owen and the first thing he does when

he holds the the children I don't know if you've ever noticed this but this haunts me he groans Jesus is holding Owen and he groans now he says he groans I'm troubled because of the wickedness of the people of the House of Israel but all the telestial people are gone so what does that mean Owen will not be kidnapped Owen will not be molested by a child molester all of the telestial are gone so who is he groaning about in this verse may I suggest to you he's groaning about the parents I Think Jesus is

holding Owen and he's looking over at Jen and I more me than Jen clearly and he's saying really heavenly father really that's the best you can do for this sweet little boy I think this is a commentary on how he feels about children and even these good people don't seem to be good enough for the children I think he's groaning over me I had a little experience with Owen not too long ago Owen is my helper he's my little Shadow and um whenever I build I'm a carpenter I love building furniture and one day I

had a project and it was a Saturday and I I stained something and I left the stain outside Sunday came and my wife forgot something for her lesson and I wasn't teaching that hour so she said could you run home and Owen was having a problem he was so I took Owen with me so Owen and I ran home and while I was gathering the things that my wife needed Owen wandered out to the backyard and grabbed the stain Sunday clothes and he's holding a can of stain and so he walks in and said dad

you forgot this now this is just a little boy trying to help his dad dad you forgot the stain he doesn't know it does to closeth and I turned around and freaked out cuz all I saw was the stain in his Sunday clothes and I kind of snapped I said Owen and Owen being startled dropped the can and it spilled all all over our wood floor and just in that moment I heard Jesus groan I heard Jesus groan what's he going to do father and I heard him say to me Bry he is a little

boy you startled him he doesn't know what stain does to clothing he was just trying to help his dad who he loves you startled him and he dropped the stain don't you yell at that little boy and this scene of Jesus groaning came back into my mind and I looked and I saw Terror on my son's eyes and so I just grabbed him and I just held him and I said it's okay Owen I am so sorry I startled you thank you for bringing in my stain I forgot got and left it outside didn't I

you're such a great helper thank you Owen man I love you and I Think Jesus just saved me there in that little moment he groans there is a beautiful I love this from Boyd kacker at the culmination of his ministry he said the following in April of 2002 he said like my brethren I have traveled all over the world like my breth and I have held held positions of trust in education in business in government and in the church I have written books and like them have received honors and degrees and certificates and plaques such

honors come with the territory and are undeserved assessing the value of those things the one thing I treasure more than any of them more than all of them put together the thing of most value to me is how our sons and daughters and their husbands and wives treat their children that's significant may we remember Jesus groaning may we pray for each one of those children individually and never push them away never push them away from the circle of our love I just I love these chapters Mike I just think that's so significant and insight into

his character thanks for sharing that story about your son I it's hard as a parent sometimes to talk about times when we mess up but we all do and that is a haunting verse it's a sweet haunting right it is it's a sweet haunting it's a you can do better Bryson Mike you can do better at this but please remember that I'm on the side of the child yeah I'm just I'm just at a loss for words I'm thinking about how many experiences have I had like that and and what can I do better and

yet I just keep coming back to this we get on the path we stay on the path and and the Lord hears us he knows who we are and uh my testimony is that Jesus is everything that these Pages say that he is and more and he's real and we are the children I know he's holding little ones and I'm the big one but in his eyes I'm still the little one I'm still the child and he just doors each one of us I love that concept of Jesus praying for each and every one of

us he does I know that I know he has a prayer for each one of us and pleads to the father that we receive the blessings he knows we need I think with that we're going to end have a great conference weekend talking scripture is not an official production of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints the opinions expressed in this podcast are Mike and Bryce's opinions only we refer you to official Church sources and the church website to clarify any doctrinal questions