3 Nephi 27–4 Nephi | October 21–27 | 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 third Nephi chapters 27 through 4th Nephi so this section of scripture is going to conclude the savior's personal Ministry Among the Nephites and lamanites in the new world uh in chapter 27 and 28 and then there will be a couple of chapters to finish off and then we get the incredible Force Nephi which covers uh an incredibly long period of time where they are living in a Zion Society a perfect Society but since the book was written for our

day and not for the millennial day as we get it here uh you only get one chapter of that perfect society and only half of that chapter is when they're perfect and the other half is is uh a decay of that chapter leading into the smaller Book of Mormon that comes right after forth Nei so the lifelong learning overlay that I wanted to use on these particular chapters was a deep dive look at what are the definitions of the church the Gospel of Jesus Christ the doctrine of Christ how do they all fit together how

do they work together how are they the same how are they maybe filling different roles different functions so in chapter 27 the uh the apostles are gathered around the Savior has left his ministry they thought was finished and they have a question it says that uh when when Jesus came down and showed himself unto them in verse two they were praying and the thing that they were praying for it says in verse three Lord we will that thou would tell us the name whereby we shall call this church for there are disputations among the people

concerning this matter there were uh disagreements that ended in disputations and remember back in chapter 11 when Jesus Christ introduced the ordinance of baptism he told them that contention is of the devil don't contend one with another over points of my Doctrine and here they're they're disputing about what to call his church what name should we give it and so he clarifies verse four the Lord said unto them verily verily I say unto you why is it that the people should murmur and dispute because of this thing and now he's going to give them the

answer have they not read the scriptures which say You must you must take upon you the name of Christ Christ which is my name for by this name shall ye be called at the last day that's interesting because you have individuals and then you have the collective uh organization and most would think that taking upon you the name of Christ only applies to individuals they're asking about the name of his church and he talks about our need to take upon us the name of Christ but he's answering their question about the church which is this

Collective group that the group altogether needs to be willing to take upon them the name of Christ as well as each individual within that Covenant Community of belonging needs to also take upon them the name of Jesus Christ so that's requirement number one you have to be able to take his name in order to be his church he says and then he goes on to say whoo taketh upon him my name and endureth to the end the same shall be saved at the last day and he clarifies therefore whatsoever you shall do ye shall do

it in my name now he's giving us clarification of perhaps what it means to take upon us his name so that it's not just a theoretical uh concept taking upon us the name of Christ you do all things in my name therefore you shall call the church in my name you shall call upon the father in my name that he will bless the church for my sake so there's a lot involved with taking upon you the name of Christ you become a family member of the household of Christ and that family has a name the

name of Christ just like when I was born I became a griffin I took upon me the name of my my household name of my parents Griffin when I enter into a Covenant Community of the Savior I take upon me the name of that family of that Covenant Community Christ and I do all things in that name I can't come in and out of that family membership I can't I can't remove the Griffin label whenever I want everywhere I go everything I say and do carries with it that family name that label same thing with

this Covenant Community you you can feel this the power of the name of Jesus Christ and what's more when Apostles are called they aren't called just to go and teach the gospel in all the world they're called uh president Del chokes wrote an Incredible Book on this entire subject they are called to be Witnesses of the name of Jesus Christ they they are spreading more than just the name Christ or Christian it's this whole covenantal uh Community concept that is the invitation for all to come into his family and take upon them his name become

a part of of his family and he goes on to say verse 8 and how be it my church save it shall be called in my name if a church be called in Moses's name then it be Moses his church or if it be called in the name of a man then it be the Church of a man but if it be called in my name then it is my church if it so be that they are built upon my gospel so it's not enough just to call yourself in the Name of Christ you have

to be rooted in Christ you have to be built upon the Gospel of Jesus Christ which he's going to describe and Define and clarify in a few in a few verses from here but first let's look very carefully at the name of the church today in the latter days because for many people the name is quite long and for some it might feel a little cumbersome but there is incredible sign ific to the full name so we're going to go through this word by word keeping in mind that when Joseph Smith established the church on

April 6th 1830 there were six charter members who signed by by the state of New York law they had to have six signatures and it was the Church of Christ pretty simple uh four years later it was kind of changed to the Church of the latterday Saints and then something beautiful happened when the church turned 8 years old just shortly after the 8th birthday of the church think about the significance of the timing there it might be chance but I don't think so the date was April 26th 1838 so so the church is now 8

years old plus 6 days so it's just shortly after its 8th birthday where in Far West Missouri when Joseph Smith receives this Revelation officially naming the church again because remember it was already named in 1830 and again 1834 but here it changes and listen to the wording for thus shall my church be called in the last days even the Church of Jesus Christ of latterday saints and then verse 5 verily I say unto you all arise and shine forth that my light may be a standard for the Nations so he sets up his church and

after eight years of growth and development and progression and struggles then he puts his name officially on the church and he says thus shall my church be called president Nelson has made it beautifully clear the importance of reinstituting the name of the church we are not the Mormon church we are not the LDS church or the Latter-Day Saint church we are the Church of Jesus Christ of latterday saints because the Savior himself told us thus shall my church be called in these last days so we're following the Savior not just president Nelson when we make

efforts to use the full name of the church so it is the Church of our Central feature Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints that is the name given by him now the obvious question to ask here is whose church is it and the obvious answer to respond is well it's Jesus Christ's Church and that's that's wonderful because the word of denotes ownership it is the Church of Jesus Christ but if you look closely at the full name of the church you will notice that there is more than one of there's also an of down here

now granted in English the word of doesn't just mean possession or ownership like we would assume here the Church of Jesus Christ he owns it he stands at the head it's his the word of can also mean other things for instance I have a book of words it doesn't mean that the words own the book it just means the book is filled with words so it's a book of words so you could also use the word of in the context of being filled with something or containing something so now let's look at this second of

in the name of the church it's very significant it could mean possession ownership just like this first one did the Church of Jesus Christ of latterday saints is powerful because what it does is it brings joint ownership together into one I love this definition because we combine Christ's perfected attributes his perfect leadership with our imperfections and we come into one hole together called the church and we combine our Resources with his I like that because now it's joint ownership I don't go to the church as if it's something aart or separate from me I go

to the church as a part owner everything in the church everything that happens everything that we own all the buildings all the temples all the the efforts that we make we have part ownership when we come into that family that's there's a lot to like about that definition the second way that you could look at it is the this other definition like a book of words or a church of latterday saints that it's a church filled with Latter-Day Saints and we become a part of it that's a power F uh definition as well for a

different set of reasons that we are taken care of we go there to be nurtured to be uh bound up when we're wounded when we're lost when we're hurt when we need to be guided through some some serious repentance processes and and other aspects of what it means to be in this organization and be a part of it so that it can bless us and help us that's true so in the one it's the church helping us in the other it's us being a part owner and being responsible using agency to build it up to

spread it to encourage people on both sides of the veil to take any step forward on the Covenant path so that we can be gathering Israel as president Nelson Has reminded us multiple times either way you look at it brothers and sisters the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints provides a place a meaningful place for you and for me we're not uh passive observers we're not objects waiting to be acted upon as Elder Bednar would say we are agents we are a part of this church which in other contexts is the kingdom of

God on the earth that is tasked with this job of gathering Israel in these the latter days and instead of going to church and seeing what's wrong with other people or how certain leaders might be governing differently than we would or making decisions differently than we would what a powerful reminder that we're all in this together just like a family and there are some Dynamics and sometimes it's it's not perfect sometimes it things don't work out the way we would have preferred but we don't base our testimony on other people the rock that we build

upon is the rock of Our Redeemer the Cornerstone of his church the Cornerstone of the Gospel it's him he's the the one who is guiding all of this and he's patient with me individually just like he's patient with all of us collectively instead of choosing to be offended we should choose to be part of a solution anyone can notice problems and anyone can start saying things and and having conversations with people to to point out what's wrong and to make the situation worse the saints of God who recognize a degree of joint ownership that the

church isn't this separate entity over there and it offended me but recognizes that the church is us we are the church it's not the buildings they're just buildings where the church goes to meet but they're not the church that's us then Saints can start working together just like family members can start working together to figure out how to become one how to become truly Zion because if we're not one we're not his if we're contending over Doctrine if we're fighting with each other over pick your topic in the gospel or politics or Society or any

aspect of life then we're not striving to become one it doesn't mean we need to totally agree with everything everybody says but we need to become unified on especially the most important things and those would be rooted in the Gospel of Jesus Christ that he's going to talk about next so his his definition of the Gospel begins in verse 13 behold I have given unto you my gospel and this is the gospel which I have given unto you so in verse 13 you get the opening this is the gospel then look down at verse 21

it says verily I say verily verily I say unto you this is my gospel so this is an ancient literary technique called uh inclusio it's these bookends for definitions kind of a the the equivalent of an open quote close quote so you know this is the definition When Jesus Christ himself says let me give you the definition of the Gospel there's no need to to argue with anybody or contend over over what we think his gospel should be defined as because he gave us the definition himself and this is powerful because it is so simple

if it's going to be his church it needs to be called in his name and built upon his gospel so what is the church supposed to teach and by the way it's not once again just the church as if it's over there it's us what should be the focus of Our Lives what should be the main core of what we're striving to do every time we give a talk every time we give a lesson every time we fulfill an aspect of a calling we're not just going through the motions we're not just running activi to

fill time we're trying to help people progress along the Covenant path on both sides of the veil so the very first element he mentions it is the core the the major principle of the Gospel of Jesus Christ is he says I speaking of the Savior came into the world to do the will of my father because my father said sent me this is really a critical point to pause and digest for a moment if we're really seeking to become more like Jesus if we've been born again spiritually reborn into his Covenant family taken upon us

his name entered his church become a part of it part ownership as well as being owned by the church the that ownership goes both ways with that word of so we're part of that then we want to grow up to become more like our the father of our spiritual rebirth Jesus Christ so as we read this definition this isn't just about a description of Jesus Christ and what he's done it becomes a description of our path of discipleship of what we're striving to become we want to become more like him so now if you can

connect yourself with the savior in this Con in this verse this context it becomes a little more instructive for why I do the things I do when I go to church or when I serve in callings or when I serve in my family or when I try to love my fellow beings I'm doing that because I'm striving to become like Jesus Christ how because you came into the world hopefully to do the will of the father because your father sent you we're following the path that Jesus Christ trod he showed us the perfect way in

fact he is the way the truth and the life no man cometh unto the father but by me is his phrase in John 14:6 so we're now now following in that this is what you might call A A will alignment instead of a wheel alignment like you do in a car this is a will alignment I want my will to align with God's I want to keep his Commandments I want to know what the father wants me to do because that's what Jesus Christ did perfectly aligned and why was he sent here verse 14 my

father sent me that I might be lifted up up upon the cross and after that I had been lifted up upon the cross that I might draw all men unto me that's 100% even so should men be lifted up by the father to stand before me to be judged of their Works whether they be good or whether they be evil so just like we're following in the path of the savior in a vicarious way Jesus Christ walked your path and my path he was found guilty and punished to the full extent of Eternal law and

worldly law he was he gave his life for us because he walked our path and was found guilty now the invitation is for us to walk his path so that someday we could be found Not Guilty by him the very being who paid the ultimate price for us this this aspect of the Gospel is so deep it is so profound and if we spend more time pondering on God's goodness on the grace of Jesus Christ on on his Free Will offering that he made for us it will help put all the other aspects of our

life in to better alignment with God's Will and a better focus with the focus on Jesus Christ and building that connection with him and striving to be more of what a an appropriate joint owner would be in in any organization but in this context in the Church of Jesus Christ of latterday saints we become more fit for the kingdom more used would I be more blessed and holy more savior like thee now you come to verse 15 and for this cause have I been lifted up therefore according to the power of the father I will

draw all men unto me that they may be judged according to their works so there's the second repeat of this judgment promise as a as a significant part of his definition of what the gospel is now you see that in verse 13- 15 it's mostly about what Jesus Christ has done you and I didn't help him with anything that he's listed so for so far he did this all on his own with the help of the father and fulfilled his role but the beautiful part of the Gospel of Jesus Christ as the foundation for the

church to be built upon isn't just to focus on Christ's Perfection that is the core that is the beginning point that is the facilitator for everything else that's to follow but what follows is what he now enables you and me to become through him so if you look at verse 16- 21 you see more of our part our roles in this gospel with the savior's roles being firmly rooted in place they're established from before the foundations of the world it was put in place that's why people like Adam and Enoch and Noah and all of

the people in ancient times could still have faith in him and repent and be baptized and receed the gift of the Holy Ghost and endure to the end now here's our part now before I even dive in to verse 16 I want to make it very clear that when I write our rules or our part being discussed this isn't to imply that this is what I do independent of him he did his part independent of me but I can't do anything in my list independent of Christ I can't take a single step forward some people

get this idea that if I'll just be good enough if I'll keep the Commandments perfectly enough then at the very end Jesus Christ will save me by his grace and the reality is is I can't keep a single commandment without his grace without his power enabling me towards righteousness I can't progress I will only digress I will only get farther and farther away from heavenly father and his will so keep keep in mind that the savior is walking this path with us every single inch of the way because he's already walked it for us all

alone so that you and I wouldn't have to walk it alone when it's our turn for mortality here we go verse 16 and it shall come to pass that whoo repenteth and is baptized in my name shall be filled the implication here is filled with the Holy Ghost and if he endureth to the end Behold Him will I hold Guiltless before my father at that day when I shall stand to judge the world he gave a such a simple formula these first principles and ordinances of the Gospel you have to have faith in Jesus Christ

to even repent you you don't get the word faith in verse 16 you're going to get it a little later on in verse 19 but the implication is there that you repent you're baptized in his name and then you're filled with the Holy Ghost so that you can endure to the end and his promise is very sure he doesn't say that you have to have a certain number of callings and you have to have logged a certain number of of hours serving in the temple or having served X number of missions as if you're creating

this this set of merit badges in order to gain the the ultimate Award of exaltation he doesn't do that he says those who are going to be saved are those who repent of their sins and get baptized they come into a covenant connection and they receive the gift of the Holy Ghost and then they endure to the end they keep moving forward in the Church and Kingdom of God I love the fact that if you look carefully if you look up the temple recommend questions read through them Ponder them care carefully slowly think about what

the Lord is is emphasizing and and the Order of those questions and by the way notice how many times he uses the word strive do you strive he's giving us a definition through his Prophet ser and revelators of what it looks like to endure to the end consequently many can probably benefit from letting go of some of the spiritual anxieties that are so prevalent in our day and age we can perhaps stop beating ourselves up quite so much because we're not absolutely perfect but if we're living the Gospel of Jesus Christ as he defined it

then we can stop worrying about having to save ourselves and we can focus more on this connection with Christ and rely more fully upon his merits and his mercy and his grace that he knows what we're going through and he will bless us he will guide us as we turn to him verse 17 he that endureth not unto the end the same as he that is also heed down and cast into the fire from whence they can no more return because of the Justice of the father so he's making it very very clear that this

isn't a journey that you just start you don't check a box okay I got baptized I came into the church but I'm not going to endure to the end I did the will of the father in getting baptized but I'm not going to do the will of the father for the rest of my life there's no way I can sustain that that mindset is rooted in me in the power of the flesh not rooted in Christ and the power of His deliverance and the power of His Redemption the the power of His Infinite atonement so

there's there's that warning of being heun down and cast out and he says and this is the word which he hath given unto the children of men and for this cause he fulfill The Words which he hath given and he lith not but fulfill all his words I love watching how Jesus Christ speaks of heavenly father how he describes his attributes his characteristics his Perfections what kind of a being he is and how loyal Jesus Christ is to Heavenly Father how perfectly aligned he he is the perfect example of will alignment with the father so

he's he's describing how God doesn't lie he fulfills all his words he's a God of Justice he has to be or he would cease to be God and then verse 19 says and no unclean thing can enter into his kingdom therefore nothing entereth into his rest save it be those who have washed their garments in my blood because of their faith and the repentance of all their sins and their faithfulness unto the end so the savior's repeating some of these Concepts there's there's this powerful focus and then refocus on the most core principles and ordinances

of the gospel because that's where the most powerful root level connections with the Savior are formed and developed over time and then as part of the definition of the Gospel he ends with verse 20 now this is the Commandment so it's not a suggestion it's not a a just a side option for those who might be interested in this part of the Gospel but F no this is the Commandment repent all ye ends of the Earth and come unto me and be baptized in my name that ye may be Sanctified by the reception of the

Holy Ghost that ye may stand spotless before me at the last day that's the command within his gospel definition and he says verse 21 verily verily I say unto you this is my gospel and ye know the things that you must do in my church for The Works which you have seen me do that shall ye also do for that which you have seen me do even that shall ye do did you catch how almost everything in his gospel definition got repeated at least twice he's giving this emphasis and then re-emphasis on everything including that

last statement of it's really simple the gospel in its most rudimentary form is learn of me and do the things which you have seen me do it's pretty hard to follow Jesus Christ if we spend very little time thinking about him it's it's hard to follow somebody that you're not looking at it's hard to come to know somebody that you're not thinking about and you don't know very well that's why I love the three questions that King Benjamin asked after he finished his speech to his people on the tower in mosiah 5:3 three questions in

Rapid succession how knoweth a man the master whom he has not served who is a stranger unto him and is far from the thoughts and intents of his heart so for us to live the Gospel of Jesus Christ implies that we need to learn of Jesus Christ before we can keep his gospel because the core of his gospel is he came into the world to do the will of his father so we we now come into the world and it's hard to do the will of the father if we don't know what pattern we're following

if we just make it up ourselves as we go or live our life according to the patterns established by the world or by society around us turning the page over it says therefore if you do these things blessed are ye for ye shall be lifted up at the last day again another lifelong learning overlay is to notice in the scriptures especially when Jesus Christ is teaching personally and direct irly his own words to notice how often he'll give commands followed by promises everything in the temple everything in the church follows this pattern he gives you

an invitation if you keep the invitation or keep the Commandment that comes in that form then a promised blessing will follow and here the beautiful ultimate promises if you do these things you will be lifted up at the last day by him by the father and you will be found Guiltless before his judgment seat unlike the way he was found guilty before the Earth's judgment seat now he he's giving these directions keep in mind this isn't to the the whole church this is to the 12 apostles he's having this conversation and he gives them the

command to write down the things that they're learning so that it can become intergenerational faith not just a oneshot Wonder of of faith and devotion for that group at that time in that location and we are now the beneficiaries of that commandment given to those prophets and apostles in the the nephite lonite times that now benefit us today and then he finishes this verse verse 27 is powerful and know ye that ye shall be judges of this people according to the Judgment which I shall give unto you which shall be just so these Apostles are

going to be judges of all these people in all the world that that they have access to according to the Judgment which he will give unto them which will be just the savior is guiding them just like at our levels the savior is guiding us in our families and in our callings and in other aspects of our life so the second half of verse 27 goes on to say what manner of men ought you to be again his focus is on who they are not just on what they do or what they say it's who

they're becoming what manner of men ought ye to be verily I say unto you even as I am even as I am is the essence of this whole Gospel of Jesus Christ that he is The Great I Am and he's inviting us to become like him even as he is which once again means I need to learn of Christ I need to Feast upon the words of Christ I need to study his life I need to study his teachings I need to spend time pondering and connecting with heaven and meaningful and moving ways to change

my my desires my focus of life so that I can spend my time my money my energy my efforts my desires on things that would help me move forward in this Covenant connection with him on the path not just building up the things of the world which he then mentions uh some of these Concepts look at verse 28 again verily I say to you whatsoever thing you shall ask the father in my name shall be given unto you so how much time do we spend in our prayers going to the father asking for gold and

silver and power and riches and honors of the world if that's the focus of our life that's that's the direction we're facing in the direction we're probably going to go but if we're focused on thinking Celestial if we're trying to get our lives turned toward Christ and move forward gaining spiritual momentum as we go then Revelation is going to flow not just for the church but for our lives both collectively and individually so you you see this ask and you receive knock and it shall be opened for he that askthe it shall be opened then

he talks about how his Joy is full and then this caution look at verse 32 but behold it sorrow with me because of the fourth generation from this generation for they are LED away captive by him even as was the son of ption for they will sell me for silver and for gold and for that which moth doth corrupt and which thieves can break through and steal and in that day will I visit them even in turning their Works upon their own heads there will be natural consequences Eternal spiritual consequences that will flow from those

decisions and then the Savior finishes this by saying when Jesus had ended these sayings he said unto his disciples enter ye in at the Straight Gate for straight is the gate and narrow is the way that leads to life and few there be that find it he's not repeating a concept that he had shared back in his sermon at the temple or The Sermon on the Mount Matthew 7: 13 or Matthew or 3 Nei 14 this concept that the gate is defined by God and Jesus Christ is the gate we have to enter in through

him there's no other way nor means whereby mankind can enter into the kingdom of God with this Foundation of his church his gospel and these definitions some of the other places you can look in the scriptures for verification and cross validation of these these definitions third Nephi 11 verse 32 through 39 Jesus Christ once again used that bookend or inclusio technique to Define his Doctrine in that case here we got his gospel defined in chapter 27 of third Nephi and he defines his Doctrine in verse 32-39 second Nephi 31 is a beautiful description also a

chapters long description of his doctrine that extends a little bit into chapter 32 of second Nephi you can add some more study there to to better uh Ponder what his gospel and what his Doctrine is and section 76 6 verse 40-42 is where the Lord in that incredible vision of the The Three Degrees Of Glory the vision of the Father the Son and the devil and outer darkness that those six amazing Visions in section 76 right in the middle there in verse 40 41 and 42 he gives another nod to the definition of his gospel

so those are some of the places you can look to to better understand these Concepts which now brings us to chapter 28 he's answered the question they had and he answered questions they didn't have the question they had was what do we name the church so he took care of that at the beginning then he's added upon that uh request and now in chapter 28 it says it came to pass that when Jesus had said these words he spake unto his disciples one by one saying unto them what is it that you desire of me

after that I am gone to the father that's a question worth pondering what is it that you most deeply desire if you could really have one thing anything you want from the Lord what would it be again this is an opportunity for us to perhaps uh take our soul in for some m maintenance and have a will alignment with the help of the Lord to to re-evaluate what what am I spending most of my time and energy on when I pull out my phone what do I what do I gravitate to when I when I

read or watch movies or listen to books or or seek entertainment what is that leading me towards who am I becoming what are my desires what are my what are the focal points of my life so here he's asking each one of them what do you desire of me and many of them said 9 of the 12 said we desire that after we have lived under the age of man that our ministry wherein thou has called us may have an end that we may speedily come unto thee in thy kingdom so his response is and

he said unto them blessed are you because ye desired this thing of me therefore after that ye are 70 and2 years old age of a man for them ye shall come unto to me in my kingdom and with me you shall find rest it's beautiful they ask to come unto Jesus Christ in his kingdom and he promised you'll come unto my kingdom but then there are three who don't want to quit the work they want to keep going indefinitely and they don't dare ask it and so finally he tells them that he knew what they

were they were thinking verse six he he says behold I know your thoughts and you have desired the thing which John my beloved who was with me in my Ministry before that I was lifted up by the Jews desired of me and he promises them that they will have that now notice the difference ye shall never endure the Pains of death but when I shall come in my glory ye shall be changed in the twinkling of an eye from mortality to immortality and then shall ye be blessed in the Kingdom of my father back in

verse 2 and three it's all about your kingdom in thy kingdom and Jesus saying in my kingdom to the nine and the three are promised that they're going to live to the very end until they are blessed in the Kingdom of my father so there's this subtle difference you also see in verse 10 and for this cause you shall have fullness of joy and you shall sit down in the Kingdom of my father it's almost as if there is a a powerful distinction everything that the father had was given into the hands of Jesus Christ

it's his kingdom the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is the kingdom of God on the earth and there's an incredible work going on in the spirit world this extension of the kingdom of Jesus Christ on the other side of the veil and these nine seem to be focused on we want to come to thee in thy kingdom and he promises that but the three nephite Apostles are promised that they will come forth at the very end into the kingdom of the father well we know from section 76 verse 107 that the Savior says

when he speaking of Jesus shall deliver up the kingdom and present it unto the father spotless saying I have overcome and have trod in the wine press alone even the wine press of the fierceness of the wrath of almighty God Jesus Christ is building his kingdom his church we're part of it we're we're that symbolic bride who is making herself ready for the coming of the bridegroom that second coming and the feast the marriage that wedding uh joint ceremony so that the day comes when the son has completed all of his work made the king

om as spotless as he can as it can be and then he presents his kingdom spotless to the father now it becomes the kingdom of our God God the Father I want my whole life to be filled with these efforts to build up the kingdom of the Lord Jesus Christ this this church and Kingdom so that when that day comes when he does present it spotless that everything I've had a a possible influence on is a little brighter a little Shiner a little more purified a little more spotless through the blood of the Lamb that

was manifested through any effort that I might have put into this this Church and Kingdom into my disciple people ship it's all fueled by him and his grace but I don't want to be a passive observer in the kingdom of God I want to be an active laborer in the vineyard working side by side with the Savior doing as much as I possibly can to help build up his kingdom for the day when it will become the kingdom of his father and our father his God and our God and he goes on to say verse

uh in the second half verse 10 after saying ye shall sit down in the Kingdom of My Father which will happen at the end of the Millennium when all of the work of the savior is complete yay your joy shall be full even as the father hath given me fullness of joy and ye shall be even as I am notice back in chapter 27: 27 the command to the 12 was verily I say unto you be even as I am now the promise is you will be even as I am and I am even as

the father and the father and I are one and the implication is you and I now can become one with them we can become joint heirs with Christ as part of his family and it came to pass that when Jesus had spoken these words he touched every one of them with his finger save it were the three who were to T and then he departed so there's this profound influence that has been put in place among those Nephites by these 12 they have a vision they have a mandate they they they have a commission and

now they go forward which sets the stage for all of these incredible uh experiences for the people for the next 200 years so in chapter 29 there's a little pause in the in the narrative flow where we get this repeat concept where Mormon repeats what Jesus Christ has taught the people back in third Nephi chapter 20 and 21 specifically chapter 21: 1-7 where you get the coming forth of the Book of Mormon as a sign that God is beginning to do his great Gathering work in the latter days just like he has done it for

these people back then Gathering them into the safety of the fold so powerfully that it last two lasted 200 years so chapter 29 is filled with all of these promises as well as warnings and woses for the latter days and then he finishes in Chapter 30 with his with with Mormon's invitation under the direction of inspiration from the Lord for Gentiles of the latter days hearken oh ye Gentiles and hear the words of Jesus Christ the son of the Living God here's Mormon who has been called to be a special witness of Jesus Christ in

his Day writing this book and he's speaking the words of Jesus Christ and he tells them I've been commanded of him that I should speak concerning you for behold he commandeth me that I should write saying so now he's he's taking on this this Divine role as a prophet with a commission to speak to us directly through the words that he's writing turn all ye Gentiles from your wicked ways and repent of your evil doings notice the list here repent of your evil doings of your lying and deceiving and of your whoredoms and of your

secret Abominations and your idolatries and of your murders and your priest crafts and your envyings and your stries and from all your wickedness and Abominations it's a pretty pretty all-inclusive list to describe the various paths that are available to all of us to walk today in varying combinations and variations this is we are in a a time when it is more available to do all those things than ever before because of technology and communication and movement among the peoples of the world and yet here is the the real uh the positive side of this command

to repent he says and come unto me and be baptized in my name that ye may receive a remission of your sins and be filled with the Holy Ghost that you may be numbered with my people who are of the House of Israel this is a gathering mandate this is this is an invitation to help as many people as possible to take any step forward on the Covenant path so that we can help gather Israel as president Nelson has said which now brings us to Fourth Nephi which is going to cover this incredible period of

time it covers 286 287 some some odd years you you have to go back to the book of omni from this point to cover 286 years going in in turning the the the clock backward but you only get one one chapter and it's not that long in comparison and it's only the first half of the chapter that talks about the good things so what you get in in the book of fourth Nephi is the rise to building Zion we get the steps what they did and then the second half of the chapter is the loss

of Zion and then the book called Mormon opens and we get the Deep descent so that's all of fourth Nephi is right here and he's not he's not spending a lot of time describing how to be a good person or how to be a saint in Millennial times or in a a perfect Zion Society because as Mormon looks down the quarter of time he doesn't see a perfect Society he sees a society that has a whole bunch of what we just read in Chapter 30: 2 and so consequently we get this this handbook the majority

of the Book of Mormon is about how to survive in troubled times in the face of opposition and major setbacks so if you uh want to take verse 1 through 17 you will you will be able to study what do you do to build a perfect Society now many of you are probably thinking now why would I care about that because you just got through saying we don't live in a perfect society and you're right but brothers and sisters we don't need to wait for the second coming to start living a more Zion likee life

individually in our homes in our families in our local Wards or branches our Stakes we can strive for these attributes that are listed in verse 1-1 17 it's a powerful exercise to read and Ponder and Mark very carefully what did they do and how does that translate into the latter days in into our world into our life how could we replicate what they did at our level in our Circles of influence today and by the way I will just mention that the one thing that is mentioned more than any other in verse 1-17 is there

was no contention this is another invitation to perhaps go and revisit president Nelson's talk peac makers needed oh how we need more peacemakers on the world today uh to to build more of a Zion Society more of a Zion family more of a Zion culture around us no contention among the people that's a powerful uh attribute and then what happens is Nephi died in verse 19 his son Amos kept the record and it says in verse 20 there W there was still peace in the Land save it were a small part of the people who

had revolted from the church and taken upon them the name of lamanites therefore there began to be lamanites again in the land so the very first step to losing a 200-year period of of a perfect Society four long generations of of Zion the first little step off of that high Plateau was that a group took the name of lamanites not the name of Christ upon them they separated themselves they wanted to be different they didn't want to be like everybody else which then you'll notice it's it's slow but then in verse 23 now I Mormon

would that you should know that the people had multiplied in so much that they were spread upon all the face of the land and that they had become exceedingly Rich because of their prosperity in Christ and you probably remember from The Pride cycle what is prosperity especially over time generally lead us to verse 24 now in this 2011 year there began to be among them those who were lifted up in Pride such as the wearing of costly apparel and all manner of fine pearls and of fine things of the world and they no longer had

all things all substance common among them and verse 26 they're divided into classes in other words you you start here in Earnest in verse 24 it began a little bit before then but in Earnest you see the steps or the slides that take them away from Zion and down towards their destruction in the rest of the chapter there's one little Point here if you look at verse 27 it says halfway down that there were many churches which professed to know the Christ and yet they did deny the more parts of his gospel in so much

that they did receive all manner of wickedness and administer that which was sacred unto him to whom it had been forbidden because of unworthiness so one of the things they do is they create a culture where loving your fellow beings becomes the primary focus the primary focus was no longer on loving God and seeking God to do his will which one of the things that God wants us to do is love our neighbor so we don't need to pit the first and second commandment against each other they're not enemies they work together the problem is

is if you take the second commandment and put it on top of the first and make it more important which is What's Happening Here well then it's just a matter of time until verse 34 happens nevertheless the people did Harden their hearts for they were led by many priests and false prophets to build up many churches and to do all manner of iniquity so in verse 27 they received all manner of wickedness among them and they said it doesn't matter that we're not going to tell you what God wants you to do because we just

want you to feel loved that's the most important thing to us is not filling God's love but filling our love can you see the the problem here we're trying to put ourselves in a position where somebody fing of my love and approval and approbation for them becomes more important than helping them turn to God and fill of his love we're turning them to us and we're focusing them on us we're not focusing them on God appropriately kindly with gentleness meekness love unfeigned all those beautiful Christlike attributes and then it leads to where instead of just

receiving that Among Us now we start teaching them to do all manner of iniquity it's that slippery slope that just keeps uh speeding up and taking people directions they they ultimately don't want to go but in the short term it feels like the path of least resistance and you're right there isn't a lot of resistance when you're sliding downhill you just keep sliding it takes effort to climb and to walk the high road and to focus on God and to walk the path that Christ has has marked for us through his life so to conclude

these these chapter s they they deserve your time they deserve your attention your effort to dive in deep and to keep a prayer in your heart for the Lord to teach you what you need to know in order to take another step forward in Christ in that Covenant connection with him using his power focusing on his will and seeking to do that rather than doing our own will alone loving God first and then pleading with him to help us love our fellow beings on both sides of the veil as much as absolutely possible to encourage

as many people as we can to come into this Covenant of belonging this Covenant Community called The Church of Jesus Christ of latterday saints what a privilege it is to be a small Small Voice a small uh part of this worldwide Global effort with you as we strive to move forward in building up the kingdom of God in preparation for his coming and ultimately for that day when he will present you and me and his whole Kingdom to the to the father spotless and it becomes the kingdom of Our God I know that he lives

everything in his life was focused on helping us I want my life to be focused on helping him do his work and that's my prayer for all of us in the sacred name of Jesus Christ amen know that you're loved