3 Nephi 17–19 | October 7–13 | Scripture Study Insights | A Come Follow Me Resource

hello there my name is Tyler Griffin and this is scripture study insights by scripture Central today 3i 17-9 before we dive into these verses today I wanted to begin with a a question has there been a time recently when you've looked at all aspects of your life and felt just a little bit overwhelmed perhaps feeling like you have so many things that need to be done but you're not able to do any of them really well because you feel spread so thin you feel like you don't have enough time enough energy enough money enough resources

enough help or support whatever it may be to the point where it feels like you've got very little gas left in the tank spiritually physically emotionally mentally whatever whatever combination of those might be involved and if that's the case as we go through these these es and flows of life this set of chapters is loaded with principles to help us not only just go through life but actually grow and expand and become who we were intended to be become as we pass through some of these these struggles that we face and let's just talk very

quickly about arithmetic when we involve the Lord the the world would have us believe that we have this finite resource this this bucket with limited resources of time energy money Talent love devotion desires all of those things but when we involve the Lord we find out that there is not Division and subtraction going on when we're on the Lord's errand we're not taking from from our bucket and emptying our bucket as we make offerings on the altar of the Lord in fact it's quite the opposite when we when we're making offerings to the Lord when

we're serving him when we're on his errand when we're seeking Heaven's will and doing the best we can to accomplish it we're not dividing and subtracting we're actually allowing him to multiply and add that's the Lord's model and this is what happens when we try to do it alone but when we're with Christ somehow the the barrel of meal and the Cru of oil that story from the Old Testament it doesn't run out it somehow keeps generating when we feel like there's nothing left for us to give when we're on his mission on his errand

with our faith rooted in him and our focus on him somehow there's more there than we even started with in many instances personally speaking I can't tell you how many times that I have experienced this just as recently as yesterday going in to teach my classes uh BYU and feeling just a little bit low energy I I was feeling some allergies I wasn't feeling great head was stuffy uh hadn't slept well and I was just feeling down and at that point if I'm looking at myself and and looking at the these students 400 students who

who came to class expecting to be fed by the spirit and to have their faith fortified and their testimony strengthened and I didn't have it I didn't have the energy I didn't have the drive I didn't have the ideas the freshness that that is needed to to really engage them the way they need to be engaged and it's at those moments when you pour your heart heavenward and say I can't do this heavenly father please help please strengthen me to to have what I need to be able to be an instrument in thy hands for

whatever these students need and then to go through that experience of teaching and to feel that prayer being answered and to to be in the middle of teaching and have God teaching me things that I'm able to share with the class that it it's a remarkable thing when you when you put your Focus On Christ and let him do his work and recognize we're instruments we're not the source of of the power in in a teaching setting or in a calling or in a family or in any other setting that you put yourself so as

we dive in today let's pay attention to all of these examp examples of how when we focus on the Savior when we when we put our our thoughts our desires our time our money our energy our effort all of that with a focus on him he finds ways to multiply those things and to add to them we're not giving them away and then walking away poor we're actually giving him those desires or that offering of of time or money or Talent OR love and he refines it he sanctifies it he blesses that offering and then

he finds miraculous Heavenly ways to return it to us and to those around us and thus we build up the kingdom of God we we seek to bring forth an establish the cause of Zion and he's the one who does this work through us but we have to be willing to make those offerings on the altar because he doesn't reach into our heart and squeeze it and say no you will give me your love and your time and your talent and your devotion he doesn't do that that's our part we have to be willing to

make those sacrifices and then watch Heaven do its work so we go to with that Foundation we jump into chapter 17 and just as a quick reminder this is all taking place on that first day visit Among the Nephites he came in third Nephi 11 he taught them the sermon at the temple in chapters 12 13 and 14 he then taught them this incredible sermon about the house of Israel and the Gathering of Israel following their scattering and the need for us to come into this Abraham hammock Covenant and it's all uh being taught by

Jesus Christ because he was commanded of the father to teach it so right out of the the gate here we see that Jesus Christ is a commandment keeper he's not just a commandment Giver he doesn't tell us keep my Commandments good luck with that I I don't what it's like to do that Jesus is once again inviting us to follow him and become more like him every single time you keep any commandment to any degree you are becoming more like Jesus Christ who was the perfect commandment keeper and he's now resurrected glorified perfected deified he

he is fully arrived as a God he is as as we said before in 3i 12:48 be therefore perfect even as I or your father which is in heaven is perfect so he's arrived he's complete lacking nothing but he's still keeping Heavenly father's commandments so this is not keeping Commandments is not something for for developing people it's something that Jesus Christ did in his ministry and it's something that did in the premortal realm and it's something he is still doing to this day and I want to be more like Jesus Christ and one of the

ways that I can do that is to Simply keep his Commandments and by the way there's a difference between keeping the Commandments begrudgingly with a a murmuring and complaining heart versus letting go of some of those those questions that we have and those struggles maybe not totally ignoring them but finding more joy in our efforts to keep those Commandments putting more faith in him that Jesus Christ knows what he's doing when he gives us certain Commandments and even though it may not make perfect sense to me right here right now to try a little harder

to keep those Commandments with a little more TR trust in him and a little more joy to say I I don't understand all the reasons but I trust Jesus and I'm going to do this because he's asked me to do it and I'm going to trust that he's going to multiply and magnify and refine my desires and my understanding and my faith in the process of working through this effort to keep these Commandments with with a greater sense of of joy and seeing it as an opportunity to more deeply connect with him and strengthen that

Covenant relationship with him as he has modeled this so the savior is partway through this big discourse about the Covenant of Abraham about the house of Israel and he says in verse one of chapter 17 behold now it came to pass that when Jesus had spoken these words so the thing that he has said right before chapter 17 is he quoted that little segment from Isaiah 52 so it's been a long day up to this point for these people they've experienced a lot and they've heard a lot they've felt a lot they've processed many things

and then he says verse two I perceive that ye are weak that ye cannot understand all my words which I am commanded of the father to speak unto you to you at this time I'm commanded of the father to give these words to you and I'm going to give them to you but I perceive you're weak you're not getting it so here we see a Christlike pattern what do you do when there's a commandment and you don't feel like you can you can complete it Jesus doesn't say you know I I only made up partway

through what I've been commanded of the father to give you but I can tell that you're weak you're you're tired perhaps maybe there's some cognitive overload going on maybe you you can't understand all the words because you're just physically exhausted today he doesn't say therefore I'm I'm going to rationalize why I'm not going to keep the Commandment because Jesus Christ is fully obedient he is going to keep the Commandment but timing matters and so he says to these people therefore go ye ENT your homes and Ponder upon the things which I have said and ask

of the father in my name that you may understand and prepare your minds for the tomorrow and I come unto you again I love this this is one of my favorite places in all of scripture for for Teacher development kinds of principles Jesus Christ is not teaching a lesson he's not focused on the curriculum here he's focused on his students he's focused on his his disciples that are sitting in front of him these people who who want desperately to to grow and develop in the gospel and they're just not getting it and so what does

he do he encourages and he invites them and he seeks to connect them with God the father so he tells them to go to their homes because this is best done in a family setting and to pray to the father to ask the father in my name that you may understand what a beautiful thing and here he is Jesus Christ perfected glorified God and he is still inviting and encouraging these people to connect with God the Father through prayer to ask him for understanding and strength and to pre prepare their minds for tomorrow because I

will come unto you again I'll finish this command that has been given to me my father but I'm not going to do it so that I can check a box to say I did it I'm going to do it in a manner that will be more effective I'm going to help this message sink deep into the heart and into the mind not just have it wafted over the crowd so they hear my voice but it has very little effect because for whatever reason they're weak at this point and then he tells them in verse four

but now I go unto the father and also to show myself unto the Lost tribes of Israel for they are not lost unto the father for he knoweth whether he ha taken them so he's telling them I I've got other other things I can do while you're working on on preparing your minds for Tom tomorrow at which point Jesus cast his eyes round about again on the multitude and behold they were in tears and it look steadfastly upon him as if they would ask him to t a little longer with them there's an interesting interesting

phenomenon taking place here you have you have a certain amount of capacity in your mind to to process to make sense of to reason and logic and and understand what you're experiencing what you might be hearing or seeing or or feeling and there comes a time when when you feel weak when it's cognitive overload you've had enough and when the Savior looks at the crowd and says I perceive that you're weak which is the most important thing for a teacher or a parent or a leader or a true friend to do is to perceive the

the needs and how people are doing before deciding what to do with them or for them so at this point their mind seems to be pretty full and so those tears that they're now shedding probably aren't tears to say oh we're sorry we we felt a little weak there for a minute we're fully awake we're ready to go keep preaching we want more sermons about the Gathering of Israel and and the abrahamic Covenant I don't know that that's what those tears were communicating I could be wrong but I think what they were wanting this seems

to be pretty full at this point their their mind I think what they're wanting is to now just be able to spend more time with the savior in a way that fills their hearts more they want more quiet connecting time with him they just want to be with him and the thought of him leaving at this point causes this this group to cry and I love this he says behold my bowels are filled with compassion towards you you'll notice once again that we like these people come to these times where we're just not capable of

of doing what maybe we want to do maybe they would prefer to just be totally strong and fully awake and completely paying attention and understanding all the words that the father had commanded him to give to them at that time but they're not so instead of subtracting or taking away from that experience what the Savior does is he adds to it he multiplies their experience but he does it in a in a different way than continuing to preach the the sermon that he was commanded to give we'll get that on the on day two when

he comes back to them later on in chapter 20 of and 21 and 22 and and onward from there but for now he's focusing on those more those less cognitive and more affective or or feeling level connections with the people look at verse 7even have ye any that are sick among you bring them hither have you any that are lame or blind or halt or maimed or leprous or that are withered or that are deaf or that are afflicted in any manner bring them hither and I will heal them for I have compassion upon you

my bowels are filled with Mercy I love this this next line in verse 8 says for I perceive I perceive that you desire that I should show unto you what I have done unto your brother at Jerusalem because if you look back in the Book of Mormon these people have been told by the prophets that Jesus Christ when he comes in in his mortal Ministry would heal the sick cause the lame to walk the blind to see the deaf to hear heal raise up the dead they they've been told that that's what he would do

and now here he is in the resurrected form and the people did never say it but he perceived that deep in their heart they wanted they desired that he would show unto them what he had done with his Brethren at Jerusalem and they have a whole bunch of people who are sick or Afflicted in a in a wide variety of ways and they want that level of connection with him so you're seeing that the Lord is taking their desire and he's multiplying it he's adding to it he's refining it and he's responding to their use

of agency they have this desire even though they're not verbalizing it at this point he perceived it and he's responding with that beautiful invitation to bring they're sick and Afflicted and I will heal them and I love how he does the healing it says verse 9 it came to pass that when he had thus spoken all the multitude with one Accord did go forth with their sick and they're Afflicted and their lame with their blind with their dumb and with all them that were Afflicted in any manner and he did heal them everyone as they

were brought forth unto him everyone as they were brought forth he didn't do a mass group General healing he could have but he didn't he healed them one by one and it says he healed them everyone he didn't say okay I can help those who are blind deaf lame leprous or halt but I can't help those with emotional or mental struggles I can't help those who are fill in the blank with whatever Affliction you want it says he healed them every one Jesus Christ is the master healer and he he has the power to heal

all afflictions so now some of you are probably thinking to yourself okay that looks really good in the scriptures looks really good on paper but what about in practice some of you right now are watching this in in intense pain you you many of you have diseases and afflictions and sickness es uh physically mentally emotionally and you're thinking to yourself so what about me why am I lacking in faith or did I do something wrong or does the Lord not love me I love the fact that Jesus Christ is the master healer he perceives the

needs and the desires of people of his disciples and when they put those desires on the altar with faith in him and they trust in him then he now is able to multiply those desires and multiply those Miracles according to his will according to his timing not ours so we make those requests we give those blessings we fast for our loved ones and at times for ourself with these ailments and then we trust we trust that God knows what he's doing we trust that he will do his work according to his will and according to

his timing and if a healing blessing doesn't come to to me or to a loved one that's not an invitation to then turn away from him and say well see if I trust you again it becomes an opportunity for us to deepen our faith even more in him to say I trust Thee the the most intelligent being in all the universe I've made my request I've I've tried to refine my faith and my desires and if a healing gift isn't given or if somebody isn't saved a one from from Death Or from a disease or

from serious pain or anguish of any kind I trust in thee and I will trust in thee forever because my faith isn't rooted in Miracles as we see in verse 9 being performed my faith is rooted in Jesus Christ and whatever he chooses to do with me that's what I want done and then the prayers can shift to help me refine my faith and my trust in thee even and especially when I don't get what I've been praying for help me to know what to pray for next help me to know how to move forward

to become more like thee through this this this uh Affliction that has not been taken away or this blessing that hasn't been granted the way that I've requested it many of you will remember president Jeffrey R Holland's talk in April of 2024 when he spoke of the prayers that were sent heavenward in his behalf and in behalf of his wife and he was miraculously preserved and and given more time and his wife was not and he reassured us that all of those prayers were heard and answered according to what is best for them eternally not

according to what they had actually requested and that is an amazing opportunity that God gives us as Disciples of Christ is to exercise faith in the Savior even when we don't get what we've asked for it's easy to have faith in him and to love him when all the prayers are answered and all the requests and the desires are met it's a different matter entirely Soul stretching uh opportunity for us to trust him when it isn't given now as soon as this happens he he says verse 11 it came to pass that he commanded that

their little children should be brought so they brought their little children and they set them down upon the ground round about him and Jesus stood in the midst and the multitude gave way till they had all been brought unto him so you can picture Jesus Christ in the Middle with all the little children round about him and then the adults in the outer ring of that group in verse 14 it came to pass that when they had knelled upon the ground Jesus groaned within himself and said father I am troubled because of the wickedness of

the people of the House of Israel it's an interesting thing to say in that particular setting when you're surrounded by these little children he's groaning and he's he's speaking to Heavenly Father Jesus Christ seems to be constantly connected with the father you and I not so much in most cases we seem to turn heavenward in moments of need and if you follow Jesus Christ even as a resurrected being he is constantly turning to the father and speaking with the father talking to him praying to him what a beautiful example for us as we strive to

become more like the Savior so then it tells us that he he offered this prayer and verse 17 says no tongue can speak neither can there be written by any man neither can the hearts of men conceive so great and marvelous things as we both saw and heard Jesus speak and no one can conceive of the joy which filled our souls at the time we heard him pray for us unto the father what a beautiful pattern that that parents and teachers and leaders can follow to pray to the father and let your children let your

students let the people you're working with hear you talking to God the Father about them it it opens Hearts it you don't have to preach big sermons at that point because the Holy Ghost will touch Hearts deeper and and soften them and open them and build that that powerful relationship that is needed in order for trust to be built so that when you do teach them doctrines they're more likely to have fertile soil for those seeds of Faith to be planted in so verse 19 says it came to pass that Jesus spake unto them and

bade them arise so he's offered this prayer they're filled with joy and they arose from the earth and he said unto them blessed are you because of your faith and now behold my joy is full did you catch this back in verse 17 they were filled with joy which now he says behold my joy is now full he is taking their desires their use of agency and it's now reciprocating it's it's coming to him he's feel feeling it he's magnifying multiplying adding to it and now he's giving back to them and it's this this ever

Growing Experience of of deepening and multiplying joy and and deep true love that that we're seeing on the page here and when he had said these words he wept and the multitude bear record of it and he took their little children one by one and he blessed them and he prayed unto the father for them he's constantly praying to the father as you read these chapters notice how many times he either talks to or it says he prayed unto the father it's constant and now he's doing it with these little children we live in a

world today that does not value little children we live in a world that is increasingly valuing everything else more than children whether it be money or jobs promotions vacations toys possessions houses homes uh animals pets Vehicles anything more than little children little children are seen as expensive annoying dirty um limiting they're going to hold you back and prevent you from fulfilling what you want to do in life that's the way our culture generally speaking uh portrays children and family when you when you see movies when you see what's what's in social media and what is

portray as as true freedom because you only have so much time and energy and money to give and children are going to drain you if you ask yourself the question how does Jesus Christ feel about little children what are his feelings for them and then read these verses 21 22 23 I think you'll get a pretty good idea that when he says he wept the multitude be record and he took their little children one by one and blessed them and prayed unto the father for them and when he had done this he wept again there

aren't very many places in scripture where we see that deeply into the soul of Jesus Christ into his heart we see it over in in the Book of John in New Testament where in John chap 11 when and Lazarus has died and Mary is at the feet of Jesus weeping and the Jews who are mourning Lazarus death around him are also weeping then chapter 11:35 gives you the shortest verse of all of our scripture Canon it's only two words Jesus wept it's the shortest verse in words and one of the longest words in depth of

meaning and and depth of of revealing the character of Christ what kind of a person is he Jesus wept with these people weeping around him now in this case those people the Nephites and the lamanites that are that are there at at the temple in boundiful on this particular day they're not mourning a death they're not he's not mourning with those that mourn as he maybe was with Mary and and the Jews and Mar with the Lazarus situation over in John 11 here the thing that caused those tears to come was his interaction with their

little children how the lord loves little children can I just remind all of us that the Lord told us in the Doctrine and Covenants ye are little children and you have not as yet understood what great things the Lord hath store for you we are all little children to him and yet he loves us his work and His glory is to to bring to pass our immortality and our eternal life that's what he does thank heaven that Jesus Christ didn't say no I want to fulfill my desires I want my goals to to be first

and foremost I want what's in it for me and and for my uh pleasure and joy thank heaven that he didn't live his life that way but rather turned outward saying father what would thou have me do how can I help them how can I build them so at a very practical level some may Wonder okay so does that mean we should that that couples should just have as many children as they possibly can that's not what I get out of these scriptures what I get out of this story is for a husband and wife

to come together and to jointly ask God what he would have them do with regards to Children rather than saying nope I'm we are going to make all these decisions and once God gives Direction then do everything that that couple can do to fulfill that inspiration that is given and it's nobody else's business uh what that couple does with regards to children it's between them and the Lord the problem is is when couples don't involve the Lord when they turn horizontally to make decisions regarding family then it feels like we're back in the division and

subtraction well we we can't have a child because we don't have enough money or we don't have enough space in our home or our car or we don't have enough energy because it's going to subtract from what we have and we're going to run out we we just don't have enough if you're on the Lord's errand if you know what heaven wants you to do and you do it you will never run out because those children bring with them as they come from from the windows of heaven so to speak they open up and they

bring with them additional love additional gifts additional opportunities into your home and into your family that you didn't have before they don't children don't take away from you they add upon you they the Lord multiplies what he's doing with you through those children that heaven is sending to you under Heaven's inspiration and Heaven's Direction now this is a very difficult topic for some people who have never had the opportunity to get married or for those who are married and would love nothing more than to welcome children into their home and into their arms and for

whatever reason it didn't happen or it's not happening or it can't happen once again I don't know all the reasons why some are healed and some are not I don't know why some are are given many children and others are giving given none I don't have any of those answers but I know that the Lord does and I know that he has his reasons and I also know that the day will come in the eternities when we will look back and with deep Eternal gratitude in our hearts we will thank him for doing what was

best for us but we are involving him in every phase of these these decisions and the processes of of Life moving forward that our focus is on God not on ourself not on the the quote unquote Experts of the world and the opinions of the world telling us how to live our life or or what to do regarding family but we're putting our trust completely in the Lord and then moving forward in faith and as we do that regardless of the number of children that he sends to us or the opportunities for marriage that he

affords us we know that as we think Celestial as president Nelson has invited that all blessings are going to be granted to us eventually and for some it's going to be a longer period of of testing our faith in in Waiting upon the Lord and for others where children are granted he's going to stretch our faith in figuring out how to raise them in love and righteousness following the principles as outlined in the proclamation to the World on the family but the main point here for me is to look at this story and see how

Jesus Christ feels about children and I want to be more like Jesus I I want to follow him which means I don't see children as a problem I see children as a solution look at verse 24 as the people looked to behold they cast their eyes towards heaven and they saw the heavens open and they saw angels descending Out of Heaven as it were in the midst of fire and they came down and encircled those little ones about and they were encircled about with fire and the angels did Minister unto them Heavenly Angels came down

and encircled those little ones about and ministered unto them I want to be more like those angels I want to be more like the Savior Jesus Christ in my interactions with people especially those who are sick and Afflicted who are struggling who are hurting in any manner and those who are young you'll notice these are the most vulnerable parts of that population and that was the whole emphasis of chapter 17 is on strengthening and ministering to the needs of those people which now brings us to chapter 18 and he commanded in verse one that the

disciples should bring forth some bread and wine unto him so they go and they bring this Bread and Wine and offer it to him and you would say to yourself well those disciples just lost those resources in their home they had to sacrifice they had to give Bread and Wine to Jesus it's now gone depleted their their home has less I told you at the beginning that I love this section because it's all about multiplication and and addition in the way the Lord does math with us so you'll notice that Jesus didn't take their bread

and wine and then keep it for himself what did he do here's the pattern anything and I mean anything that you and I put onto the altar of the Lord and offer to him consecrate to him he is going to follow the same pattern verse three tells us what he did when the disciples had come with Bread and Wine he took of the Bread and Wine and he blessed it and he gave unto the disciples and commanded that they should eat and when they had eaten and were filled he commanded that they should give unto

the multitude so here's the pattern they brought the bread and the wine they offered it to the Lord not subtracting from what they have you'll see in a minute he then breaks the bread and then he blessed it and he gave it unto the disciples now I ask you how is that multiplying how is that adding to rather than subtracting from their supply at home the bread as it was sitting at home in their supply if they if they leave it in this selfish realm of what's in it for me what can I get from

you how can I add to my kingdom and build up my stores of goods that bread is very mortal it's it's temporary it's going to if they don't eat it it's going to eventually mold and Milo and Decay but because they offered that mortal offering to Jesus Christ he Sanctified it he refined it he purified it so to speak and he returns it to them changed it it is now an eternal offering to them they gave to him something that was very mortal and temporary and in return he gives to them something that is eternal

etal and filled with power it's going to fill more than their their bodies it's going to fill their soul that's why the bread and the water are blessed and Sanctified to The Souls of all those who partake of it we give the Mortal he gives the Eternal in return the same thing applies with every other offering you and I can make to to the Savior when you bring tithing to the Lord you're bringing a very mortal offering of money Earthly money means nothing to God he's got all of the universe in his hand but he

magnifies adds to he multiplies that offering that we give to him and he returns it to us in eternally significant ways these mortal offerings that we make now become eternally significant blessings to us the time the energy that you and I devote to the Lord in our callings or with our families or in service to others God magnifies and multiplies those he makes it so that all of a sudden he he's renewing our our energy he's not allowing us to deplete it and as we look at our our general authorities and their wives and their

families and what they're offering to the Lord in a consecrated way I think it's pretty obvious to see how much the Lord is magnifying and adding to them as they they making these these incredibly large sacrifices and consecrated efforts for him I think it's not difficult to detect how good God is to them to renew their strength and to give them the inspiration and the energy and the and the ability to keep moving forward and in the effort of building up his kingdom on the Earth and the same principle applies to us who who have

whatever calling in the church if we'll consecrate to the people that we're serving in Christlike ways if we'll consecrate to our families our time our energy God will magnify and multiply it just like he did with the bread and the wine in this case it will come back to us refined and Sanctified to our soul Souls it will increase our our character as we become a little bit more like Jesus Christ with each of those instances and then he gives some descriptions of That Sacrament experience look closely at verse 7 after talking about giving them

a commandment to to do the sacrament he says this shall you do in remembrance of my body which I have shown unto you so that bread is remembrance of his body which he has shown unto the Nephites and lamanites not just the body in Gethsemane and through the trials and on the cross his mortal body but also his resurrected body when we eat that bread it's a promise for our immortality for our resurrected body someday as we think about him and his suffering and subsequent resurrection and then the cup of the the wine he says

verse 11 this shall y do to those who repent and are baptized in my name and you shall do it in remembrance of my blood which I have shed for you that you may witness unto the father that you do always remember me and if you do always remember me you shall have my spirit to be with you just a a reminder that the always remember me is the one part that appears in both both the blessing on the bread and the water the blessing on the bread has the additional willing to take upon them

the name of thy son Jesus Christ and the third element keep his Commandments which he has given them but they always remember him as right in the middle and it's all by itself on the blessing on the water so the the thing that is different in the blessing on the water is it doesn't say they will always have his Spirit like it does over in the blessing on the bread when you're doing those three things taking his name upon you always remember him and keeping his Commandments which he has given that they may always have

his Spirit to be with them those three uh things that we do lead to that incredible outcome and in the blessing on the the water he just says always remember him that they may have his Spirit to be with them it's not always but that to me is a beautiful sign that even if I'm struggling to take his name upon me at all times in all things and all places and even if I'm struggling to keep his Commandments to the degree that I know I ought he at least says if you'll just keep your thoughts

focused on me you'll have my spirit be with you in those in those moments in those times a powerful reminder that once again if I put my thoughts on the altar if I put my desires on the altar he will turn those mortal offerings into eternally significant blessings in return the the gift of having his Spirit to be with us to guide us now in the rest of chapter 18 he gives some some beautiful teachings to these people some even some cautions in verse 15 verily verily I say unto you you must watch and pray

always lest you be tempted by the devil and you be led away captive by him pray always is not an invitation from Jesus to go and do something it's an invitation from Jesus Christ to come and follow him and do what he has modeled and what he has done his whole life Watch and Pray always is a defining feature of Jesus Christ's character then he he gets into a discussion about the light look at verse 24 therefore hold up your light that it may shine unto the world what is the light he even defines that

for us behold I am the light which he shall hold up that which ye have seen me do so he's focusing them not just on the words not just on the sermons and the doctrines and the theology but on the example that he has set do what you have seen me do and again when we strive to keep these Commandments to any degree we're becoming more like him we're we're following in his footsteps he was a perfect commandment keeper we're not perfect but gratefully he's patient and he is more than willing to forgive us and

extend his mercy and Grace when we fall down and When we struggle and then verse 25 says ' and ye see that I have commanded that none of you should go away but rather have commanded that you should come unto me that you might feel and see even so ye shall do unto the world and whosoever breth his commandment suffer himself to be led into temptation inviting all to come not stiff arming or rejecting them now go to verse 27 behold verily verily I say unto you I give unto you another Comm commandment thank heaven

every time Jesus Christ gives us a new commandment we shouldn't say oh great another commandment to divide more of my time and energy no no no this is the the arithmetic of the lord it's another opportunity to magnify my soul to multiply the gifts that God has given me to add to my life Commandments don't take away from me so what is the new commandment and now behold this is the Commandment which I give unto you that you shall not suffer anyone knowingly to partake of My Flesh and Blood unworthily when you shall Minister it

so he gives the the disciples that new commandment to guard that that Sacrament keep it sacred but don't reject anyone from coming he says don't don't cast any out of your synagogues in verse 32 and now as we come to the conclusion of that first day's visit among these people at the temple it says while they were overshadowed he departed from them and ascended into heaven and the disciples saw and did Bear record that he ascended again into heaven chapter 19 says now it came to pass that when Jesus had ascended into heaven the multitude

did disperse and every man did take his wife and his children and did return to his own home and you would think exhausting they're they're now going to all go straight to bed it was noised abroad among the people immediately before it was yet dark that the multitude had seen Jesus and that he had ministered unto them and that he would also show himself on the tomorrow under the multitude yay and even all the night it was noised abroad concerning Jesus and in as in so much did they send forth unto the people that there

were many an exceedingly great number did labor exceedingly all that night that they might be on the marrow in the place where Jesus should show himself unto the multitude so as they're preparing for day two I love how these people are finding that as they hone in on and refine their desires their physical strength and and their their capacity alone to to do what needs to be done they're not doing it alone they're tapping into the strength that they've gained from their consecrated efforts to Jesus Christ from experiencing those those powerful connections with him watching

him heal their sick and bless their children partaking of the sacrament for the first time it has literally renewed their souls to the point where they spend all night many of them going and getting as many people as possible to come and see and hear and feel and come to know for themselves the joy and the strength that is Promised in sitting at the feet of the Savior and learning from him and through him and by him so chapter 19 opens and you have this huge multitude and the TW Apostles split them into 12 groups

and what do they teach they teach nothing more than what Jesus had taught now I don't know if you caught that but brothers and sisters there's a powerful pattern there our prophets Sears and revelators in in the temple recommend interview we are asked do you sustain the president of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints as the prophet Seer and Revelator and as the only person on Earth who is authorized to exercise all priesthood Keys then and that is followed up with do you sustain the members of the first presidency in the quum of

the 12 apostles as prophets Sears and revelators those are very important uh principles to to understand when we answer that question what you're seeing on the page here is prophets Sears and revelators are called by God not by popular vote they they're not put on a ballot we don't have primary and and final elections for them they're chosen by God and they're on God's errand not on public opinion they don't have con constituencies that they have to keep uh going back to and making sure that they're okay they answer to God their focus is on

what would thou have me do they can't just make up Doctrine they can't teach what they want to teach their whole mission is to refine their lives refine their desires and connect with God as prophet sergeon of leaders find out what he wants and then teach that teach the words of Jesus Christ you see that pattern right here as they separated in verse chapter 19:5 into these 12 different bodies and verse 8 says when they had ministered those same words Words which Jesus had spoken nothing varying from The Words which Jesus had spoken behold they

knelt again and prayed to the father in the name of Jesus they're following him so beautifully and brothers and sisters when we raise our hand to sustain the first presidency in the cor of the 12 apostles as prophets SAR and revelators that's what we're agreeing to uphold them in is being in that role not in representing my desires my hopes for Doctrine or policy in the church but to understand what God has inspired them to teach us the words of Jesus Christ nothing varying from what they're getting from God that's the beauty and the blessing

and the opportunity that is ours as a collective body of saints in the Church of Jesus Christ of latterday saints to have these chosen Servants of the Lord guiding the efforts as we move forward and then they perform baptisms among the group verse 14 tells us they were encircled about as if it were by fire and it came down from heaven and the multitude did witness it and did Bear record and Angels did come down out of heaven and did Minister unto them and it came to pass that while the Angels were ministering unto the

disciples behold Jesus came and stood in the midst and ministered unto them I love this Angels Came preparing the way before him and then Jesus Christ came so you have the group you have the apostles you have the Angels you have Jesus and now in the rest of chapter 19 you could read these verses almost in parallel to Jesus's experience over in the Garden of Gethsemane my dear friend and colleague gay stra has has talked about and written a lot about this little sequence here in comparing the experience in Gethsemane with Peter James and John

and this multitude here in the new world because in both cases you have Jesus going away from the multitude three times to pray to the father just like he went away from Peter James and John three times times in Gethsemane the difference is the cont so that's the comparison now the contrast is when he comes to Peter James and John they're sleeping when he comes to these people they are attentive they are praying and keep in mind some of these people many of them maybe have been up all night running around and yesterday was a

full day both cognitively and and emotionally physically mentally and yet they aren't falling asleep and that's not to to um Put Peter James and John down that is not the intent it's a contrast of you and I have an opportunity to follow this example of the the three times that Jesus goes and prays so the first time is in verse 19 and 20 and 21 the second time if you want to mark your scriptures is in chapter 19 verse 27 and 28 and the third time is 31 32 33 I would invite you to to

dig in to see what did he pray about what do we have record of about what he's praying and what he's saying to the father um in his first prayer that actually started in 19 and continues down to to verse 23 and 24 he actually tells Heavenly Father these people that I've have commanded to pray they're praying to me right now and in verse 22 he gives us the reason why these people are praying to him I love this verse 22 father thou H has given them the Holy Ghost because they believe in me once

again they're putting their belief in him they're investing something on the altar of the lord they're sacrificing or consecrating a degree of their desires and in return they're being added to by God giving them the Holy Ghost can I just suggest that what they're offering on the altar doesn't even compare even remotely in in size or scope or scale to what God is now offering them in return just like it doesn't even compare when I pay my my tithing which is a pittance of money compared to to the the global scheme of things it can't

even come close to comparing with what God gives me in return for that small faithful sacrifice so he says Thou seest that they believe in me because thou hearest them and they pray unto me and they pray unto me because I am with them and that makes that makes a lot of sense if the savior is there you're going to be addressing him you're going to be thanking him you're going to be pleading with him and asking him for things those are all prayerful things and he is with them verse 24 it came to pass

that when Jesus had thus prayed unto the father he came unto his disciples behold they did still continue without ceasing to pray unto him and they did not multiply many words for it was given unto them what they should pray and they were filled with desire I love that they're putting their desires to connect with him Heaven on the Altar and in response they are now filled with desire but it's desire that comes from God to them and they're giving their words to him and return he's giving them his words that they can now share

with him and some of you thinking that's weird why would God do that why doesn't he just let them say what they want to say brothers and sisters prayer is performed not so that we can teach God anything that he doesn't already know He already gets us better than we understand ourselves he doesn't need me to pray to know why I'm doing what I'm doing and what I want and what I'm thankful for he already knows all of that He commands me to pray not so he can learn about me but he commands me to

pray so that I can learn about him so that I can learn about myself so even if I don't have the words that's okay I start I give what little offering I have on the Altar and I plead with him heavenly father I I'm weak I feel empty I don't know what to do or I'm struggling with this or I'm having a hard time deciding what to do here or whatever it may be I make that little offering on the Altar and I plead with him to give me the words and the feelings and the

desires that I should have and that very Act of Faith becomes refining because of him not because of me I I give what little offering I have and he magnifies it he multiplies it he adds to it and all of a sudden God isn't learning new things but I am God isn't gaining new knowledge but I am and the two of us are becoming more connected there's a there's a more powerful relationship of trust that's being forged that's why God commands me to pray not so I can teach him but so that I can learn

of him and so that I can learn about me and who he wants me to become and how he will help me in that process so in closing brothers and sisters God asks us to do a lot in his church and in his kingdom the Gospel of Jesus Christ demands everything that we have to give to him but if we're really honest with ourselves if I add up all of the things that I have and I compare it to all of the things that he has it's not even not even in the realm of calculus

can can describe the difference between those two things but you see God isn't keeping score he's not keeping track he's not weighing in the balance my offering he's just asking me to give all that I have to him and in return he offers to give all that he has to us is it any wonder that Elder n Maxwell used to say what an exchange rate may the Lord bless all of us in our efforts to not just keep the Commandments not just pay our tithes and offerings not just fulfill our duties in our callings not

just take care of children not just try to keep the Commandments in general sense to check a box but rather have our thoughts and our hearts and our desires focused on God and on Jesus Christ and on more joyfully striving to become like him to seek his will and then to do it with less murmuring less of a begrudging heart and more of a sense of utter and complete gratitude for a God who holds so much in his hands and yet he holds you and me in his heart because we're his children and he loves

us and he knows how to raise children and he knows what is best for us I love him with all my heart and I want to give my whole life to him knowing that he's not just going to take it he's going to magnify it and multiply it and add to it and return it to me in Eternal proportions and I'll love him forever for that and I leave that with you in the name of Jesus Christ amen know that you're loved [Music] [Music]