Come Follow Me - Helaman 13-16 (Extended Version): Samuel the Lamanite

[Music] when the son of man cometh shall he find faith on the earth Lord I believe help thou mine unbelief May our testimonies be as deep and as strong as that of Jacob who when confounded by one who sought to destroy his faith declared I could not be shaken [Music] Hello everybody welcome back to another week of scripture study here on unshaken I'm Jared Halverson and I'm so grateful that we get to spend time together in the scriptures every week I'm sorry I haven't been able to keep up as well as I'd like to on

the comments you're the things that you're sharing are awesome great insights wonderful questions I really do hope and intend to catch up as much as possible but I really am amazed at the number of people around the world who are striving to become unshaken in their faith by giving the scriptures the attention that they deserve I know these videos tend to be long and there are a lot of them there's just so much incredible truth to be had in the Book of Mormon so I hope that you receive this in the spirit that it's given

thank you for being a part of this growing Community thank you for spending time in the scriptures thank you for wanting to Feast upon the words of Christ I spend so much of my time trying to help people navigate their crisis of faith that being able to interact with people people who are fortifying their faith is a comfort to me so thank you today we'll be studying Helman chapters 13-6 we get to spend our day with Samuel the lonite if there was ever a book of Mormon figure tailor made for childhood Family Home Evening lessons

this is the one stand them up on the counter in the kitchen or up on the top bunk and have them cry repentance to the family while you're throwing stuff at them just be sure to miss or if you're the more courageous type yourself and your children are still young enough that they haven't developed much of an aim then you be Samy the lonite stand up on something and have them Chuck stuff at you president Irene said he used to do that with his children when they were little and unfortunately they tended not to keep

things scripturally accurate he got hit a lot but think about what a little child would know about this story even if they're just acting it out at home because these will be the key elements of what we talk about in this lesson today number one they'll know his name Samuel but they'll know that he's a lonite that always seems to go together Samuel the lonite we typically don't say Alma the nephite but Samuel is always referred to as the lonite so there's a component to this story about someone that is different a minority figure as

racial issues seem to be gripping the attention of the United States at this time I think there's some lessons that we can learn from Samuel the lonite secondly we know that he couldn't be hit by the Stones and arrows that were thrown at him and so there's something to be learned from that element of the story about what people do to try to silence prophets and whether or not they're successful in those attempts and then third most kids know that Samuel lonite prophesied of the birth of Jesus that there would be a day night and

day with no darkness and by that the people here in the Americas would know that the Son of God had been born and yet there's so much more to the prophetic nature of Samuel the lonite message that we can unpack today specifically regarding the principle of Prophecy in fact that's something that Jesus himself Drew upon when he came Among the Nephites just a few chapters later in third Nephi if you remember when he calls Nephi the prophet forward and says bring your scriptures with you I want to look at them you can almost hear Nephi

gulp in the background like uhoh what what's he looking for and as the Lord looks through Nephi's scriptures he asks him wait a minute Samuel the lonite prophesied about the resurrection that would take place at my resurrection why didn't you write that down in fact the way the Savior puts it shed some interesting light on Samuel 3i 23:9 he says I commanded my servant Samuel great title coming from the Lord Samuel is not just anybody he is my servant my servant Samuel the lonite so even the Lord specifies that element that he should testify unto

this people that at the day that the father should glorify his name in me that there were many Saints who should arise from the dead and should appear unto many and should Minister unto them and then Jesus said unto them was it not so that's when Nephi says well of course that's exactly what happened and then the Lord says well why didn't you write it down and then Nephi made sure that it was so we seem to have a corrected version of the book of helan because that prophecy is in here but I love that

question that the Lord asks at the end of that was it not so wasn't that prophecy fulfilled didn't time vindicate the prophet that's not even the only time that happened in Mormon 1: 19 Mormon who must have learned from Nephi's mistake and made sure if there's anybody whose prophecies I'm going to make sure are included and the Fulfillment is included as well it's going to be Sam the lonite he's the Lord's servant and the Lord is making sure that we've got this stuff in here in that verse Mormon says the power of the evil one

was rot upon all the face of the land even unto the fulfilling of all the words of abinadi there's one and also Samuel the lonite and then one chapter later Mormon adds the Nephites began to repent of their iniquity and began to cry even as had been prophesied by Samuel the prophet one of the few times he's not specified as a lonite there hopefully we know him by now but there you have it in two instances Mormon is pointing out what Samuel prophesies does get fulfilled was it not so you better believe it was now

children seem to remember that one prophecy of Samuel about the signs associated with the birth of Jesus but there were actually three in fact I would add there's four prophecies that he makes but three main ones the first one in order is that eventually the nephite nation their civilization will be completely destroyed the second is about the birth of Jesus the third is about the death of Jesus and all the signs that would accompany his crucifixion and the fourth I don't know if you'd agree with me and call this a prophecy but I think I'd

stand by it and that is simply a prophecy running throughout his entire message to repent now is repentance a prophecy I think so in Moses chapter 6 the Lord says to Enoch Enoch my son prophesy unto this people and you picture Enoch going what am I supposed to say what what future event am I supposed to predict and the Lord tells him the first one it's kind of baby step since you're just becoming a prophet he says prophesy unto this people and say unto them repent so the Lord seems to suggest that repentance is a

prophecy one chapter later in Moses 7 the Lord again comes to Enoch and says prophesy and this time he prophesied in a more traditional future prediction of coming events kind of a way but then just a few verses later the Lord continues go to this people and say unto them repent so twice in Enoch's experience prophesy connected with the cry to repent I think this makes a little bit more sense when you read it through the lens of Revelation chapter 19 where he defines the spirit of Prophecy as not predicting the future per se but

having a testimony of Jesus and isn't that what drives our repentance to begin with now this doesn't mean we have to completely redefine prophecy and eliminate that foretelling aspect of it because I do think that's part of our testimony of Jesus and our calls to repent if I believe in the Savior can I predict the future can I prophesy on the big picture issues yes I can prophesy that you will be forgiven of your sins as you repent of them I can prophesy that Jesus will be forgiving that he will welcome you home outstretched arms

I can prophesy that his grace will be sufficient for you I can prophesy that he will return and come with healing in his wings my testimony of Jesus is my prophecy of better days to come the next time you stand up and bear your testimony of the savior in Fast and testimony meeting please understand that you are prophesying that there is hope and help and healing ahead and similarly every time you cry repentance you are prophesying to you repent and you will be forgiven I'm sure the day will come for us as it did for

Nephi when the Lord will say I told you I'd forgive you you repented and you have been was it not so hasn't it all happened just like I said it would in fact of all of Samuel's prophecies at the end of the book of Helman the prophecy to repent is the one that keeps coming up over and over and over through these chapters it is the gold golden thread that is woven throughout the tapestry the word repent or repentance shows up 28 times in this narrative four short chapters but you see it 11 times in

13 8 times in 14 seven times in 15 two times in 16 in fact to make that call to repent even more prophetic it often shows up in this phrase and except they repent and then he does predict the future consequences of their sin in fact that phrase hit me last week when we were studying Helman 7-2 it only dawned on me when I was editing the video and realized wow Nephi keeps saying that phrase I went back and looked at them and said yep it's amazing what an emphasis there is on except you repent

these things will come upon our people I was intrigued by that so I actually went back through the Book of Mormon searching for that phrase and it comes up often especially when there are dire consequences of people's failure to repent so for example abinadi uses that phrase except they repent five times in his message to King Noah and the wicked priests except you repent this is what will happen to you Alma says it eight times in his ministry to the people of zarahemla in chapter 5 on his mission with AMC in 9 and 10 to

his sons in 37 and 39 Captain Moroni uses the phrase twice whether he's calling his enemies or his government to repentance and then Nephi this is the one that struck me last week when I was reviewing it he says it nine times in Helman 7-10 again he saw the wickedness of his day these are my days right and was constantly saying except you repent this is what will come of it there's a prophecy there and now we get Samuel the lonite saying it six times in Helman 13 and 15 in fact I think if we

take that prophecy as the underlying one throughout the entire Ministry of Samuel the lonite then the other three prophecies make sense that first one except you repent nephite civilization will be annihilated that's a cry to repent second prophecy Jesus will come he's the one that is coming to make repentance possible and it's not just his life that's going to do it it's his death his atonement his crucifixion his resurrection if we read all three of those prophecies in the context of the prophecy to repent then it is one overarching message that Samuel the lonite is

trying to convey to a nephite audience that needs to hear that message repent more than any other so as we study these chapters keep an eye out for those prophecies all four of them keep an eye out specifically for the word repent or repentance and see what he says about it so many powerful lessons there and keep an eye out for Samuel's lonit it's an issue that we have to come to terms with particularly in our own context of seeing past otherness and being open to messages from God through anyone so with all that as

backdrop let's dive into chapter 13 ver one now it came to pass in the 80 and 6th year the Nephites did still remain in wickedness yay in great wickedness we still spinning and spinning through the pride cycle and they are barreling towards destruction constantly meanwhile the lonit did observe strictly to keep the Commandments of God according to the law of Moses we are really seeing a role reversal here we saw that earlier in helan when we met the gadianton robbers and the lonite plan was to hunt them down and preach the gospel to them and

by doing so they destroyed the gadian and robbers meanwhile what was the nephite plan Unite with them Empower them if you can't beat them join them I guess well they could have beat them through the gospel through the word of God the Nephites are on Satan's side of the cycle going from Pride to destruction the lamanites are on the Lord's Side of the cycle going from repentance and humility to Prosperity now since repentance is going to be such a theme throughout these chapters think about verse one in the context of repentance Nephites that are typically

thought of as the good guys are slipping towards wickedness whereas lamanites the Perpetual bad guys are the ones strictly keeping the Commandments of God in terms of repentance what is this verse reminding us of from the very beginning the fact that people can change and change in either direction there will always be a need to repent Nephites might end up becoming like lamanites but there will also always be the opportunity to repent lamanites can end up becoming like Nephites again keep an eye to repentance as a theme verse by verse by verse and with that

as the background verse two it came to pass that in this year there was one Samuel A lonite I love that he goes from a lonite to the lonite there were a lot of lamanites but nobody quite like Samuel that we know of at least not by name reminds me of Alma the younger when he's his mind is trying to catch hold of this thought of one Jesus a Son of God well once Elma came to know the Savior it went from indefinite article to definite article Jesus Christ the son of God well here's Samuel

A lonite give it some he will shortly be Samuel the lonite he came into the land of zarahemla and began to preach unto the people now sadly we know so little about the specifics of Samuel's background he wasn't from zarahemla he comes into the land but from where if you remember earlier Nephi and Lehi Brothers went down to the land of Nephi that's where they had their experience in the prison en circled about by fire and many of those lamanites converted was Samuel one of them perhaps remember earlier in the book of hel and when

a lot of the anti- Nephi Lehi headed north to get out of the wickedness of zarahemla is that where Samuel's coming from I wish we knew I wish we knew his age is there any possibility that he's an extremely old man and that in his childhood he was one of helman's stripping Warriors no clue but those possibilities exist I'd love to get some additional background on this great prophet but this much we do know middle of verse two it came to pass that he did preach many days repentance unto the people there's the prophecy that's

going to underly the rest and notice his persistence there it needs to be cried many days people may not change the first time that you invite them to we may not change the first time the spirit nudges us in a better Direction so many days continue to hold out hope continue to point people in a better Direction but what was their response and they did cast him out and he was about to return to his own land here's the first instance of that other principle that we see our children understanding what do people do to

try to silence a prophet in this case cast them out just get him out of here we don't want to listen we don't want to change and it seems that they could have been successful he's about to go home okay didn't have an open receptive audience let me turn back in search of greener pastures however verse three the voice of the Lord came unto him that he should return again this is Alma being told go back to amanah I don't care if they rejected you the first time this is abinadi after a few years go

back in Disguise and cry repentance again so as persistent as Samuel had been in verse two it still wasn't persistent enough for the Lord give them another chance that's what repentance is all about I remember when my youngest daughter was about to be baptized and we asked her older brother to give the opening prayer at the baptismal service and that son must have remembered my childhood story of my own baptism where it took three times three tries before my entire body was immersed in the water and so her big brother in his prayer said Heavenly

Father please bless them to get it right the first time I guess he was hoping to spare us the embarrassment of doing it wrong but it hit me after that prayer that's not what baptism is for baptism is all about getting additional chances since we never do it right the first time I think we should remember that anytime a priest messes up the sacrament prayer and has to do it over again that's what the sacrament is for the sacrament itself is proof that God is okay with us not getting things right the first time keep

putting them under the water until you get it right keep repeating the prayer until it's said perfectly just keep trying preach repentance many days get cast out I don't care return again people deserve every every chance we can give them and then notice what he says at the end of verse three and when you go prophesy the call to repentance will be the ultimate one but prophesy unto the people whatsoever thing should come into your heart now that's gutsy it's like um actually could you put it into my heart right now and then I'll I'll

write it all out and so I'll know it to say when I go back to the Nephites it's like no just open your mouth and it shall be filled you go you return and begin to prophesy whatever I put in your heart Jacob had that experience back in the book of Jacob just go to the temple and open your mouth and teach the things that I will tell you you sure you don't want to tell me in advance no no it'll come out with power if you just go for it now please don't use this

as justification for not preparing well when you have to speak or teach that's not what I'm saying I had a wise Bishop years ago had a profound influence on my wife and me and he always used to say you can't over prepare but you can over structure and he was famous for having sacrament meeting speakers come into his office before sacrament meeting and if they had a written talk he would take it and go oh this looks amazing and then he'd throw it away and say you're going to be great up there you've done all

the preparation now just teach by the spirit and in a way the Lord is asking Samuel to do something similar just go back and prophesy open your mouth I will fill it say whatever I put into your heart now in verse four po it came to pass that they would not suffer that he should enter into the city so once again what are people doing to try to silence the prophet cast him out in two don't let him in in four and what are prophets doing persisting as always this time he went and got upon

the wall thereof this is like Elma going back into amanah from another way if your first or fifth or 50th attempt to cry repentance is unsuccessful try something different in fact fact look for their wall and start pushing on bricks to see if any of them are loose if this wall is the barrier that's keeping you or the spirit or God out of their lives is there any way to breach that wall any way to poke a hole through it or stand on top of it to occupy that lional space try to bridge the barrier

between them and a loving father in Heaven There on that wall he stretches forth his hand and cries with a loud voice unmistakable message and prophesied unto the people there's that word again whatsoever things the Lord put into his heart it's like okay here goes nothing I'm opening my mouth please don't fill it with my foot and what was it filled with verse 5 behold I Samuel A lonite so this is how he introduces himself again he' already been among them chances are they recognized that he was different that he was a lonite we'll see

a little bit later that that's one of the reasons they cast him out to begin with and yet he owns it unapologetically if you're opposed to me because of my difference well I'm going to stand by that difference if this makes you uncomfortable so be it but this is who I am I am a lonite and I speak the words of the Lord which he doth put into my heart and here goes behold he hath put it into my heart to say unto this people that the Sword of Justice hangeth over this people and 400

years pass not away save the Sword of Justice falleth upon this people so there's the first of what we would consider a real prophecy a prediction of future events sure enough fast forward to the books of Mormon and Moroni and you will see that prophecy fulfilled The Sword of Justice falling upon the nephite nation verse six yay heavy destruction awaiteth this people and it surely cometh unto this people and nothing can save this people except one thing here's your only hope repentance and faith on the Lord Jesus Christ who surely shall come into the world

there's a preview of big prophecy number two and shall suffer many things and shall be slain for his people there's preview of Prophecy number three all in the context of you've got to repent which is our undering overarching prophecy through throughout it all five and six contain all of them the nephite nation's going to be destroyed but Jesus is going to come and he's going to atone and die for us so we have to and we can repent there's this whole message in a nutshell now verse 7even behold an angel of the Lord hath declared

it unto me and he did bring Glad Tidings to my soul almost every time in scripture whenever Glad Tidings are mentioned or it's larger verion Glad Tidings of great joy that's always Christmas that's always the coming of Christ and behold I was send unto you to declare it unto you also that ye might have Glad Tidings but bad news you would not receive me what are you holding back what are you stiff arming happiness you're keeping Joy at Bay all you want to hold on to is your wickedness and yet wickedness never was happiness verse

8 his proph phcy continues because of the hardness of the hearts of the people of the Nephites except they repent there's that full phrase here's what will happen I will take away my word from them I will withdraw my spirit from them and I will suffer them no longer and I will turn the hearts of their Brethren against them notice everything he just said unless you repent if you don't change what will happen I'll take away my word and withdraw my spirit what's the armor of God again the sword is the word and the spirit

he's just warninged them that a sword is hanging over the nephite society and it's because you've rejected the sword of God pick your sword choose one of them if you will lay hold upon God's word and God's spirit then there's no danger of the other sword ever dropping but Force God to remove that sword to withdraw that spirit and that word and it's only a matter of time until the other sword drops when he says I will suffer them no longer remember back in verse 6 he shall suffer many things there's the atonement and be

slain for his people there's the crucifixion both his sufferings and death as the Book of Mormon frequently Associates so which kind of suffering do you want he will suffer for your sins but he will not suffer your failure to repent there comes a time where the spirit ceases to strive with us Mormon will talk about that more so which kind of suffering do you choose or the last line I will turn the hearts of their Brethren against them why because your hearts are so hardened that you refuse to turn them to the Lord there's some

beautiful literary ironies here in what Samuel is saying he continues to warn them about that impending doom 400 years from now and says in verse 11 but so there is a way to to avoid all this if ye will repent and return unto the Lord your God beautiful redundancy there repenting is returning to God and if you return then the Lord your God will turn away his anger yay thus sayith the Lord blessed are they who will repent and turn unto me but W unto him that repenteth not I love that concept of turning you

turn to me and I will turn to you turn away from your sin and I'll turn away from my anger repentance is reconciliation it is bringing these two Waring parties back together at one with each other that is what the at onement the atonement is all about in the meantime verse 12 the only thing that's keeping you afloat is a righteous minority in zarahemla this is exactly what Elma and AMC were saying in amanah the only reason that this place is still afloat is because the righteous that are here and their prayers are keeping that

Sword of Justice from falling remember it was after the righteous had either fled from amanah or were martyred there in the Flames that amanah no longer had any protective power and sure enough the lamanites came in and leveled that City in one day it's the righteous in zarahemla now that are doing likewise verse 13 if it weren't for the righteous who were in this great City I would cause that fire should come down out of heaven heaven and destroy it just wait for the destruction that precedes the coming of Christ and we'll see some of

this verse 14 behold it is for the righteous sake that it is spared that's a beautiful principle regarding repentance as well if you'll just capitalize righteous it is for the righteous sake righteousness personified it is for Christ's sake that we are spared when we repent the father looks upon his beloved Son and turns away his anger as we are forgiven and saved through the merits and mercy and Grace of the Holy Messiah it is for the righteous sake that we are spared but cast The Righteous out and you have no hope eliminate Jesus from your

life and there's no ability to repent neither is there desire to If You cast out the righteous from among you then ye shall be ripe for Destruction so woe unto this great City because of the wickedness and Abominations which are in her in verse 15 he adds Gideon to the list which is tragic because if you go back to Alma chapter 7 that incredible chapter where truths regarding the atonement of Jesus Christ are taught there that aren't taught that clearly anywhere else in scripture remember that's where Elma went after crying repentance in zarahemla zarahemla was

tough talk cries to repent self-examination right and yet elma's message to Gideon said I dreamed that you'd be faithful and that's exactly what I found well imagine how far they have fallen in 17 he says Behold a curse shall come upon the land sayeth the Lord of hosts because of the people's sake who are upon the land because of their wickedness and their Abominations what an irony that here a lonite is talking to Nephites about a curse now again back in Alma 3 where we had that lesson on what is the curse upon the lamanites

it is not skin color it is separation from God well again however the Nephites Associated curses and marks and Nephites versus lamanites interesting that a lonite would be warning Nephites of curses I think that's a word that's going to hang heavy on the nephite ear also interesting in 17 it's because of the people's sake even God's justice is for our sake even destruction when we hit that part of the pride cycle it's for our sake in hopes that we are woken up stirred up to repentance Redemptive turbulence is what Elder Maxwell called it even that

curse even discipline can be for your sake if it helps us change and turn Verse 18 it shall come to pass sayith the Lord of hosts yay are great and true God that who so shall hide up Treasures in the Earth shall find them again no more because of the great curse of the land save he be a righteous man and shall hide it up unto the the Lord that's the specific promise that Mormon was referring to when he talked about the Fulfillment of one of Samuel's prophecies that nephite Treasures by his day had become

slippery I just can't hold on to them I take my wealth or even a tool or a weapon and I lay them down and I can't find them in the morning I'm starting to wonder if my garage is cursed I think my children help Things become slippery in the garage at least but there actually is a connection here that I see with children in the lesson that I taught on Alma 37 I shared that in that one year that my oldest daughter was born I studied the scriptures standard work start to finish trying to understand

lessons on fatherhood and this was another place that the spirit whispered your treasure is about to come into your family your little girl don't ever let her get slippery unless you are a righteous father unless you strive to hide her up to the Lord then you will see her slip through your fingers you will not be able to hold on to that treasure that God has given you I can't imagine a worse curse than that whatever your Treasures might be children is only one way to expand what this might mean but being able to hold

on to Treasures that really matter to us Treasures in Heaven where moth and rust does not corrupt where thieves don't don't break through and steal well our repentance and our righteousness is what tightens our grip on those things verse 19 explains it a little more for I will sayeth the Lord that they shall hide up their Treasures unto me are we commending them to God and cursed be they Who hide not up their Treasures unto me for none hideth up their Treasures unto me save it be the righteous he that hideth not up his treasures

unto me cursed is he and also the treasure and n shall redeem it because of the curse of the land No Redemption without repentance he digs deeper into this idea of treasures in 20 21 and 22 remember it's setting your hearts upon the things of the world that was part of the root of the problem here the pride cycle again it's Prosperity that leads them towards Pride the goals of murdering to get gain that characterize the gadian and robbers Nephites seem to have Treasures on the Mind often so notice what Samuel says to them verse

20 the day shall come that they shall hide up their Treasures because they have set their hearts upon riches and because they've set their hearts upon their riches and will hide up their Treasures when they shall flee before their enemies because they will not hide them up to me cursed be they and also their treasures and in that day shall they be smitten sayeth the Lord 21 again you are cursed because of your riches and also are your riches cursed because you've set your hearts upon them so there's this dual curse both the object as

well as the person that is so focused on it this unhealthy emphasis on the things of the world ruins both those things and me and again when we're thinking in context of the pride cycle it was the Lord that blessed you with it he wanted you to prosper but you allowed that prosperity to pull you towards pride and ultimately towards destruction in that instance something God had intended as a blessing ended up becoming a curse there's a fascinating phrase in the Book of Malachi where the Lord and this is the same book where the Lord

is talking about robbing God which suggests that people are putting setting their hearts on things in wrong ways but in Malachi 2:2 the Lord warns I will curse your blessings fascinating phrase how how does a blessing become a curse I will curse your blessings well that's exactly that pivot point in the pride cycle when you hit Prosperity God blessed you with it he wanted you there but that's when the adversary's eyes light up thinking here's my opportunity I will turn the blessings of God into a curse that pulls them away from God and that's not

just wealth that does it anything that you treasure up but not unto the Lord if you focus on that gift at the expense of The Giver of the gift then that blessing becomes a curse and what was meant to tie you to God or to allow you to share what God has given you with others it ends up drawing you away from him instead notice how those are related at the end of 21 and into 22 you've set your hearts upon those things and have not hearkened unto the words of him who gave them unto

you you see how Samuel's starting to differentiate between gift and Giver he does it again in 22 you do not remember the Lord your God in the things which he hath blessed you but you do always remember your riches you see how we distinguish between gift and Giver oh I I love the gift so focused on it I've set my heart upon it but we've cut it off from the hand that offered it to us in the first place we've dusted off the Divine fingerprints that are all over that gift that he's given us I

I'm fascinated by what he says here you always remember your riches not to thank the Lord your God for them yeah your hearts are not drawn out unto the Lord but they do swell with great pride there's Pride cycle again unto boasting and great swelling interesting what's happening to the heart here is it drawn out to God in gratitude or is it swelling with pride remember Elma talked about swelling in our soul when God places goodness in it and we accept we experiment upon the word well this is a different kind of swelling but to

me verse 22 I've never seen a better passage to help us understand the principle of being thankful to instead of just being thankful for I think that preposition makes all the difference we can think we're being grateful as we count our many blessings and name them one by one but if we're only thankful for and have somehow forgotten to be thankful to namely thankful to the Lord then we have separated gift from Giver and honestly I think the only reason God gave us the gift to begin with is in hopes that it would establish an

ongoing relationship with The Giver of the gift it's about seeing him behind everything he's given us there have been times where I've tried to be more intentional in my prayers based on this principle and instead of just oh and thanks for this this this this and this to focus more on the person behind it all so instead of I'm thankful for this thing to specifically say I am grateful to thee for this gift that thou has given then it becomes less of a list and more of an expression of love you ever been to a

child's birthday party where the child in their innocence perhaps not understanding it's all about the stuff and they've tear to one gift and then they're on to the next and tear to that and on to the next there have been a few that I have seen some sweet tender-hearted child who almost it forgets the gift not in excitement to get to the next one but in excitement to thank The Giver of the gift that this thing was just a means to connect with the person and so they open it and they're excited but they lay

it aside to give that friend a big hug to express their gratitude I think I think there's something powerful there not enough to be thankful for be thankful to we'll see that repeated later in the chapter when you see in verse 33 when these people are lamenting because they didn't repent and they say oh that I had repented and had not killed the prophets and stoned them and cast them out another evidence of people trying to silence the prophet yay in that day ye shall say oh that we had remembered the Lord Our God in

the day that he gave us our riches then they wouldn't have become slippery then we wouldn't have lost them notice Samuel isn't saying oh if only we'd been more grateful for that stuff no he's saying oh if only we had remembered the Lord Our God when he gave us these blessings I think that's one of the things that allows us to stay in the prosperity stage of the pride cycle constantly remembering the Lord as the source of those gifts then we'll use it for the the reasons he gave them to us in the first place

before you seek for those riches or whatever it might be in your particular element of prosperity seek for the kingdom of God and after you have obtained a hope in Christ you shall shall obtain riches or whatever it is if you seek them because you'll seek them with the intent to do good he knows that about you you've establish that relationship and everything that comes your way you're looking back to the source of it is this what you want me to do with it again this is more stewardship than ownership now go back to where

we left off in verse 24 what's going to keep us from that woe unto this people because of this time which has arrived that you do cast out the prophets and do mock them and cast stones at them and do slay them and do all manner of iniquity unto them even as they did of old time now I think he's getting personal here you do cast them out well he'd already been there done that you do cast stones at them and try to slay them well that's coming up in a later chapter and then when

he says you do mock them I wonder if that's one he's speaking of from personal experience too and is that where his lonit might be hiding perhaps those hard-hearted Nephites had thrown around the word curse themselves if they had been mocking Samuel A lonite when the curse of God had nothing to do with Samuel's skin since he was not cursed he was righteous he was one with God there was no separation it was the Nephites that were separated they were the ones that were cursed whatever that mocking may have entailed and that is still a

huge part of how people attack faith in our day like I've said before that's the topic of my research in graduate school and it boils down so frequently to mockery how do I limit your Effectiveness in teaching the gospel how do I puncture a prophet's credibility I mock this is the great and spacious building pointing the finger and mocking at those that are partaking of the fruit we often feel how little a thing laughter is and yet it does so much of the heavy lifting when it comes to pulling people away from their faith now

25 and 26 he gets a little more specific here now when you talk you say if our days had been in the days of our fathers of old oh we would have not slain the prophets we wouldn't have stoned them we wouldn't have cast them out of course we would have accepted them of course we would have believed in their message but 26 here's the reality you're worse than they are for as the Lord liveth if a prophet comes among you and there's one staring you in the face right now if he declares unto you

the word of the Lord which testifieth of your sins and iniquities in other words if he comes with bad news a call to repent then what's your response you're angry with him you cast him out exhibit a is again standing right in front of you you seek all manner of ways to destroy him and you're about to get more creative and more violent shortly yay you will say that he is a false prophet that he's a sinner that he's of the devil and all this because he testifies that your Deeds are evil now on the

other hand 2 7 if a man should come among you and say oh do this there's no iniquity nothing wrong with that or do that you'll not suffer this is the eat drink and be merry mentality that we saw back in second Nephi yay if he says walk after the pride of your own Hearts yay walk after the pride of your eyes do whatever your heart desireth you hear hints of the Prosperity Gospel there you see shades of nior or kahore any false prophet or Antichrist who is using flattering words in other words saying what

people want to hear if a man comes among you and says those kinds of things oh of course you'll receive him and say that he is a prophet oh that's my kind of prophet when Jesus gives some hard sayings in John chapter 6 and it offends the multitudes and they leave him to the point that he even wonders if his own disciples will also depart it's so easy to gather disciples when you're telling them everything everything they want to hear isn't that what neor was all about his priest craft priests should be paid they should

become popular well and how do I Garner popularity and therefore greater pay say what the people want to hear make them happy no hard sayings here easy Doctrine easy on the ears do whatever you want here's the moral relativism of kahor you''ll all be saved there's the easy universalism of nior flattering words there's sheram or G Anon for that matter if you get that kind of prophet 28 you'll lift him up there's ramum of your own you will give unto him of your substance you'll give him your gold your silver clothe him with costly apparel

because he speaketh there's our phrase flattering words unto you he saith that all is well oh there's another phrase we're familiar with right all is well in Zion yay Zion prospereth no need to repent all of these messages are trying to eliminate the need to repent on our part you're fine where you are either you're not doing anything wrong or the Lord will look at on those things with a blind eye anyway 29 oh you Wicked you perverse generation you hardened stiff necked people how long will you suppose that the Lord will suffer you how

long will you suffer yourselves to be led by foolish and blind guides you're the ones always mocking us for our foolishness well there is some foolishness here there is some blindness and it's in the guides that you've chosen for yourselves this is worse than the blind leading the blind this is the blind leading the sighted because the sighted have chosen blind guides for themselves because they're not going to tell me where to go they'll let me do whatever I want he sums it up at the end yay how long will you choose Darkness rather than

light well as long as I can right there's an incredible verse about this in second Timothy where Paul talks about the same concept in his day he warns that there would be those that cannot endure sound Doctrine but after their own lusts shall they Heap to themselves teachers having itching ears I love that metaphor you ever had an itch somewhere on your back that you just can't reach and so you're asking somebody oh can you get that can you scratch it for me oh a little higher a little to the left oh yeah oh that

feels good well having itching ears I I want somebody to just scratch it right there tell me something I want to hear no hard sayings they'll make me feel uncomfortable in my lifestyle you see I have certain lusts and I want you to reassure me that I'm okay with them so let me Heap up teachers after my own lust that will justify me in committing any sin that I want won't even call it sin these Nephites had itching ears I find it interesting even earlier on when he said in verse 25 when they're like oh

well if we only would have lived in the olden days those Prophet now those were real prophets we see similar things taught in the New Testament and what's interesting is we always seem to be one dispensation behind acceptance It's like in the days of Moses they're like oh you're no Abraham and then in the days of Jesus they're like well you're no Moses and then in the days of Joseph Smith well you're no Jesus of course that's true he never claimed to be but you're no Prophet we're just going to stick with Christianity we're always

one dispensation behind and I think it's easy to be that because time has Vindicated the prophets by Moses's day time had proven that Abraham was right by Jesus's day Moses's credentials were set by Joseph Smith's day you have a predominantly Christian culture the challenge is having faith in prophets Before Time robs us of the chance to have faith in them because we know time has Vindicated them well to believe even them in advance that's what Samuel is asking and that is something that the Nephites are not offering him at all well for the rest of

chapter 13 he reminds them of those slippery riches warns them that their destruction is sure if they don't repent laments that they are encircled about by the angels of him who hath sought to destroy our souls and then increases the urgency of the whole message in verse 38 when he says your days of probation are passed you have procrastinated the day of your salvation until it is everlastingly too late your destruction is made sure it's the exact opposite of having your calling an election made sure why too late for them because they have sought all

the days of their lives for that which they could not obtain you have sought for happiness in doing iniquity which thing is contrary to the nature of that righteousness which is in our great and eternal head can you hear Al speaking from the dust wickedness never was happiness trying to find happiness in doing iniquity is contrary to Nature it's not how it works it's like Elma 42 that completely goes against the law of the Harvest you cannot plant darkness and hope to harvest light sin never blossoms and buds into Joy that's just not the kind

of seed it is it's not in its DNA it's completely un natural for that cause to lead to that effect so how does Samuel end this chapter same way he began it oh ye people of the land that you would hear my words and I pray that the anger of the Lord be turned away from you and that you would repent and be saved start to finish his message is one of repentance now chapter 14 is the most famous of the three chapters of what Samuel is preaching 131 141 15 it's here that we see

the two famous prophecies the birth and death of Jesus in verse one it's coming from Samuel the lonite we've gone from a to thee he did prophesy a great many more things which cannot be written oh I'd love to have that list but here's the big one behold he said unto them behold I give unto you a sign for five years more cometh and behold then cometh the Son of God to redeem All Those Who Shall Believe on his name and behold this will I give unto you for a sign at the time of of

his coming for behold there shall be great lights in heaven in so much that in the night before he cometh there shall be no darkness in so much that it shall appear unto man as if it was day there shall be one day and a night and a day as if it were one day and there were no night and this shall be unto you for a sign this is going to be so blatantly obvious there's no way of explaining it away CU you'll see the rising of the Sun and also its setting you'll know

that this time is passing you won't be hitting your watch and seeing if it's still ticking you're not going to shake the Sun Dial and see if it's broken no you'll see the cycle it's just never going to get dark you'll know of assurity that there's two days and a night nevertheless the night shall not be darkened and it shall be the night before he is born beyond that verse 5 there shall a new star arise we can ask the wise men about that one such an one as ye never have beheld and this also

shall be a sign unto you and then in six that's not all there shall be many signs and wonders in heaven to the point that you shall be amazed and wonder and fall to the Earth all in hopes of verse eight happening that whosoever Shall Believe on the Son of God the same shall have everlasting life he's coming that's why we want to repent that's why we can repent he's coming and unlike so many other prophecies that are less specific one thing that sets Samuel apart is just how clear these prophecies are this is no

vague fortune cookie this is 5 years from now there's a date the vast majority of you will be around to see this take place time will have a chance to vindicate the prophet we're going to take this long history that we you described back in Chapter 13 oh if only we'd lived back in the olden days we would have known that we were among prophets no you wouldn't it's only in retrospect only now that your hindsight is 2020 that you see them for who they really are true messengers of the lord well let's condense it

and give it five years shall we and some of you will be able to decide right now in advance will I have faith in this Prophet will I accept his prophecy before it becomes so obvious that I cannot disbelieve or will I only believe once there's proof and that perfect knowledge destroys the chance that I once had to develop and to exercise Faith well not only is this prophecy time specific and very clear it's unimaginably miraculous wait a night with no darkness and yet that seems so perfectly fitting because who is coming that night the

light of the world with him here there's no need for any other source of Illumination it's like what John saw in the celestial City in the Book of Revelation no sun no moon no stars because no need of them you have the light of the world among you or this new star appearing take a look at the night sky especially if there's no light pollution and would you even be able to tell if there was a new star 1 million one 1 million two oh wait there's a million in third no I'd have no idea

unless that was so different that it would shock me into recognition I'm not going to count them all and see that we're up one since last night but if this is something like I've never seen before that's what he says in five and that's Jesus also not just one more Palestinian Jew not even just one more itinerant preacher not even one more incredibly wise human moralist no this is the son son of the almighty God the only begotten of the father in the flesh this is the word made flesh this is Emmanuel God With Us

this is a being unlike any I have ever beheld a light that shines in darkness that eclipses the night itself this is Jesus and he's coming me if I believe on him everlasting life is mine but believe before disbelief becomes impossible Elder Maxwell used to talk about that that choose to kneel now because someday when every knee shall Bend and every tongue confess that Jesus is the Christ in that day when it's impossible to disbelieve you are kneeling posture won't mean so much do it now in advance exercise faith in him and let it be

Faith unto repentance after all that is Samuel's message right even as he's talking about these incredible signs and wonders in heaven he's still trying to eliminate sin here on Earth so in 11 he gets back to the subject at hand you'll hear my words for this intent have I come up upon the walls of this city I'm trying to breach the barrier I'm trying to get into to you so you might hear and know of the judgments of God which do await you because of your iniquities and also that you might know the conditions of

repentance that was Alma's phrase right in fact lots of people in the Book of Mormon have used that phrase that Redemption comes with conditions and those conditions are repentance the conditions of repentance that's why Jesus is coming that's why we need a light to banish the darkness that's why we need a star unlike anything you've ever seen before it's only through him that the conditions of repentance become effectual see 12 I've come up that you might know of the coming of Jesus Christ the son of God the father of heaven and of Earth the creator

of all things from the beginning and that you might know of the signs of his coming that's what I want you to know he's the one that will facilitate these conditions of repentance remember back in chap 13: 29 when he asks how long will you choose Darkness rather than light well Jesus is going to come and force the question upon you in 5 years because there will be a night where you literally cannot choose Darkness there'll be no Darkness to choose it'll be gone only light what I'm asking you to do is to choose light

in advance don't wait for the night where you literally cannot choose Darkness where light is your only option right now you are caught between the two you're on a wall of your own which side are you going to come down to to this point you've chosen the side of Darkness I'm up on the wall trying to convince you to come out into His Marvelous Light repent of your sins because in 13 if you believe on his name now in advance you will repent of all your sins now in advance that thereby you may have a

remission of those sins through his Merit notice that's what brings us forgiveness it's not our repentance it's his Redemption our repentance is just one of the conditions that he places on us accepting receiving his Redemption it's his merits I don't know if it can be put better than in the words of the hymn Rock of Ages to wean us off this false sense of self-sufficiency thinking that it well it was my repentance that brought forgiveness no no no it was my repentance that allowed the Lord to intercede and offer his merits in my behalf think

of the lions in verse two of that hymn not the labors of my hands can fill all the laws demands could my Zeal no respit know could my tears forever flow all for sin could not atone thou must save and thou alone it's what Lehi said to Jacob centuries ago no flesh can dwell in the presence of God save it be through the merits that's that same word that Samuel uses and mercy and Grace of the Holy Messiah who layeth down his life according to the flesh he's our only hope he is the condition of

repentance no wonder Samuel is prophesying more specifically of him now now if this first half of chapter 14 was Samuel's Prophecy of the Signs regarding Jesus's birth then the second half of this chapter are the signs regarding Jesus's death verse 14 again another sign I give to you yay a sign of his death for behold he surely must die that salvation may come that's part of the conditions as well yeah it behooveth him and becometh expedient that he dieth to bring to pass the resurrection of the Dead that thereby men may be brought into the

presence of the Lord now here Samuel's going to teach some doctrine that we saw earlier from Alma as well as his great Mission companion amch as they tag team in amona again very similar context to Wicked City that he's crying repentance to and talk about how the atonement of Jesus Christ overcomes both sin and death that was brought upon Humanity because of the fall of Adam and Eve and just like they did although I would give Samuel that is even more clear here that if Resurrection overcomes physical death and if judgment brings us back into

the presence of God and thus overcomes spiritual death well now it's on us and there is the potential of suffering what Samuel will call a second spiritual death and this time it's on us and not on Adam a universal fall was overcome by a universal redemption in so far that we all get our bodies back Resurrection and all come back into God's presence judgment but what degree of Glory to which we'll be resurrected that's on us and whether or not we'll be able to stay in God's presence or will yet suffer a second spiritual death

a second separation from his presence that is all based on our own choices in life you get a sense of that starting in 16 yay behold this death bringeth to pass the resurrection so temporal death overcome and redeemeth all mankind from the first death that is that spiritual death the separation from God for all mankind by the fall of Adam being cut off from the presence of the Lord are considered as dead both as to things temporal and to things spiritual separation of body and spirit there's the temporal death separation of God and Humanity there's

the spiritual death but behold 17 the resurrection of Christ redeemeth mankind ye even all mankind here's the universality of it all and bringeth them back into the presence of the Lord Lord Adam and Eve you're free to leave the stand you're off the hook all of your children are back now and then in 18 it bringeth to pass the condition of repentance whosoever repenteth the same is not hee down and cast Into the Fire they're not asked to leave they're not cursed if we want to use that trigger word again on the other hand whosoever

repenteth not is heed down and cast Into the Fire they are separated from God there come cometh upon them again a spiritual death yay a second death for they are cut off again as to things pertaining to righteousness there's the curse all over again therefore verse 19 repent ye repent ye it's the entire reason I keep crying repentance all these chapters lest by knowing these things and not doing them you shall suffer yourselves to come under condemnation and you are brought down unto this second death I'm sorry but well not sorry that I cannot leave

you sinning in ignorance you have to know these things so that you can do them isn't that King Benjamin's message at the end if you believe these things see that you do them now that you know it's on you the balls in your court you've got to repent those are the conditions upon which your overcoming of spiritual death permanently will be assured you otherwise you will leave God again and this time there's no Adam and Eve to shake your fist at theirs was a fortunate fall because it ushered in a chance for Mortal probation SL

preparation well if you wasted the days of your preparation then there's no fortunate in your fault so how do we overcome it verse 20 the sign of his death behold in that day that he shall suffer death because it's his death even more than his birth that saves us remember we saw that back in Chapter 13 He Shall suffer many things Gethsemane and shall be slain for his people Calvary so here's the sign of his death in that day that he shall suffer death the sun shall be darkened and refuse to give his light unto

you the moon and the stars also there shall be no light upon the face of this land even from the time that he shall suffer death for the space of three days to the time that he shall rise again from the dead this is such a perfect antithesis of what we saw regarding his birth light so intense that darkness is not an option well now an unavoidable Darkness such that light cannot be found anywhere you have extinguished the light of the world and as we'll see later in third Nephi without his light nothing can illuminate

us you Nephites who are choosing Darkness rather than light there are consequences for extinguishing the light of the world beyond that Darkness verse 21 at the time that he shall yield up the ghost there will be thunderings Lightnings for the space of many hours the Earth shall shake and tremble this is so similar to what John describes in the Book of Revelation regarding the second coming again there is so much about the first that is preview of the second from 21- 24 he describes these natural disasters this great destruction isn't that what Nephi prophesied of

himself years centuries ago that there will be so much destruction around the world so that the Kings on the Isles of the sea will be rot upon to exclaim the god of nature suffers such that both Creator and creation seem to be suffering in unison in verse 25 here is what must have been added after the Lord looked through Nephi's scriptures many graves shall be opened and shall yield up many of their dead many Saints shall appear unto many these are details that Alma dreamed of knowing when he was teaching Cory anthon about the resurrection

back in Alma chapter 41 right some Mysteries that he had to forbear about because he didn't know yet though some of his guesses evidently proved correct well he concludes this Prophecy of the signs accompanying the death of Jesus but one of the things I love about chapter 14 is that we get to see in kind of bigger picture what signs are meant for to begin with we are living in a day that is anticipating the signs of the times and indeed not just anticipating living through some of them and what are those signs for go

back to verse 12 chapter 14:12 we read the beginning but look at the last line why are all these signs given that you might know of the signs of his coming here's why to the intent that ye might believe on his name I'm trying to fortify ify your faith I'm trying to give you a reason for the hope that is in you it's for the intent that we believe he actually says that again in chapter 16 verse 5 jump ahead to that we've got a tag team here from Samuel to the prophet Nephi but in

165 Nephi is telling them of things which must shortly come he can do some prophesying of his own that they might know and remember at the time of their coming that they had been made known unto them beforehand and here's why to the intent that they might believe anytime the Lord gives us a sign is to confirm our belief Faith precedes the miracle you receive no witness no sign until after the trial of your faith but it's there to confirm it if you go back to chapter 14 look at the end of the chapter now

and after having discussed these two great signs the birth and the death of Jesus then in 28 he says this the angel said unto me that many shall see greater things than these to the intent that they might believe again that's the whole purpose that these signs and these wonders should come to pass upon all the face of the land to the intent that there should be no cause for unbelief among the children of men we keep coming back to that will I believe now when there really is a wrestle with disbelief or will it

come at a point when there is no cause for unbelief there we start to see that signs have both a mercy and a Justice element Mercy to confirm the faith of Believers just to show that it is no longer possible to disbel there's no cause for it that's what he explains in 29 this to the intent that whosoever will believe might be saved and that whosoever will not believe a righteous judgment might come upon them there's the Justice side right next to the mercy site I love the way Samuel ends this chapter in 30 and

31 now remember remember my brethren I love that a lonite calls his Wicked nephite Audience by that title my brethren that whosoever perisheth perisheth unto himself you don't even have Adam and Eve to blame anymore this is all you and whosoever doeth iniquity doeth it unto himself as well my wife always brings up that phrase that when we sin we're only sinning against ourselves these are self-inflicted wounds that we are causing reminds me of what CES B demill said the famous director of the original Ten Commandments movie with Charlton hon he said you cannot break

the Commandments you can only break yourself against them you do iniquity you're doing it to yourself you're bringing upon your own consequences what's tevia say you spit in the air it lands in your face this is the law of the Harvest this is restoration like almaat his son this is sewing the wind and reaping in the Whirlwind behold you are free you're permitted to act for yourselves God ha given you a knowledge and he hath made you free know this that every soul is free we sing in the HM book to choose his life and

what he'll be for this eternal truth is given that God will force no man to Heaven he can't he won't he will not drag you Kicking and Screaming into his kingdom you choose you're free free to repent or free to refuse verse 31 he hath given unto you that you might know good from evil one all essential part of agency he hath given unto you that you might choose life or death another essential element and ye can do good and be restored unto that which is good again that principle of restoration that Alma taught or

have that which is good restored unto you or you can do evil and have that which is evil restored unto you but you're doing the restoration yourself those are all parts of the conditions of repentance as well so you get a sense of what signs are for so you'll believe there's no reason to disbelieve so that God can be both merciful and just all at the same time you see when it comes to even the signs of his second coming the signs of the times that we're living through and anticipating yet on the one hand

you get no man knows the day nor the hour on the other hand you get signs of the times it's like the Lord himself is trying to strike this balance of not knowing no man knows the day nor the hour that way you have to continually repent and prepare right probationary Preparatory state but on the other hand signs of the times to let you know that the day is fast approaching and you need to be up and do in I won't give you the due date on this assignment or you'll just do it the night

before but I will give you all the help and all the warnings I can that the due date is creeping closer use your time well and with that we turn to the last chapter of Samuel's message now for this one it might best be introduced by a parable that Jesus taught in Matthew 21 a certain man had two sons and he came to the first and saidon go work today in my Vineyard he answered and said I will not but afterwards he repented and went and he came to the second and said likewise and he

answered and said I go sir and went not and then the Lord's question whether of them Twain did the will of his father so which of these two boys actually did what he was asked the one that said yes and didn't do it or the one that said no but did they answered correctly and then Jesus said verily I say unto you the publicans and harlots go into the kingdom of God before you they have spent their lives saying no to my Commandments but they are repenting and beginning to do my will as opposed to

those outwardly righteous but inwardly prideful Whited seers that constantly say oh I'm here to do God's will but never actually get around to doing it can you see Nephites and lamanites superimposed over this Parable lamanites historically saying NOP I don't want to follow God but by Samuel's Day saying I'm going to do it and doing it meanwhile Nephites through most of their history oh of course I'll obey but by this time no longer doing so it's a fascinating Ro reversal we see in Samuel's day between the Nephites and the lamanites and he's going to dwell

on that in chapter 15 remember we saw that at the very beginning of the story in chapter 13:1 Nephites in great wickedness lamanites in strict obedience then remember just a few verses later when he starts speaking to them again and and pokes the button the hot topic again behold I Samuel A lonite I'm not going to let you get away with this or get away from this just cuz you're insiders and I'm an outsider well here's a chance for the Harlot and Publican to preach repentance to the Pharisee and Scribe he says it most clearly

in chapter 14 : 10 where he says now because I am a lonite and have spoken unto you The Words which the Lord hath commanded me and because it was hard against you remember you only want soft sayings easy prophets because I was hard against you you are angry with me you do seek to destroy me you've cast me out from among you now it's hard to tell which of those two parts gets the emphasis in that verse are you mad because I'm telling you hard things or are you mad because I'm a lonite telling

it to you I'm sure they hate both the message and the messenger but if these Nephites are anything like the Nephites back in Jacob's day when he's crying repentance to a wicked multitude there's a lot of racism here also back in Jacob's day it was you look down on the lamanites because of the darkness of their skin well their skin is going to be whiter than yours come Judgment Day now again there's all kinds of arguments and possibilities out there regarding lamanites versus Nephites the traditional interpretation the most common approach is that there is some

literal skin color difference between Nephites and lemones some argue for a more metaphorical reading of that that it is more symbolic of Darkness and Light righteousness and wickedness and there's even one approach that takes this more in terms of ceremonial clothing and that which is light and that which is dark about skins that are used to cover their nakedness that's an interesting interpretation as well whichever one you hold to there is some kind of difference here now racial differences are going to start to mean less and less because as we saw earlier there are Nephites

that are choosing to be called lamanites just like we saw with like the anti- Nephi lehit there are lamanites choosing to associate with and be part of the Nephites we'll see that even more clearly in third and fourth Nephi where the differentiation between Nephites and lamanites has nothing to do with lineage and everything to do with lifestyle nothing to do with skin color or race and everything to do with connections with God and relationships with him where does that put Samuel in all of this honestly it's a little hard to say but what we can

be assured of is there was at least some sense of Outsider Hood some sense of otherness why do we have to listen to you and I think there's something powerful about having an outsider call out the Insiders having the convert cry repentance to the lifelong members having those on the periphery come into zarahemla stand upon their wall and say you have to cleanse the inner vessel will we take those kinds of calls to repentance seriously or do we dismiss their message because it's easy to dismiss the messenger for one reason or another well the way

chapter 15 begins he speaks in a way very reminiscent of what what Jesus says when he's discussing signs of the times with his own Apostles he says my beloved Brethren again here's a lonite calling Nephites that back in the last chapter it was my brethren now it's my beloved Brethren even if you hate me for the color of my skin or for my otherness however it might be manifest I love you which is why I'm coming to declare unto you repentance that except ye shall repent your houses shall be left unto you desolate again your

own children will become slippery and fall through your fingers verse two except ye repent your women shall have great cause to mourn in the day that they shall give suck for ye shall attempt to flee and there shall be no place for Refuge woe unto them which are with child for they shall be heavy and cannot flee therefore they shall be trotten down and should be left to perish this is Harsh and it's hard to tell how much is literal and how much is symbolic but to speak of nursing mothers of pregnant women and there's

nowhere to run and nowhere to hide you cannot flee because you're so heavy with child you can't find a place of Refuge because you're nursing now if you're a literalist you know how hard it is to do anything quickly when you have little children pack for a trip I mean you just go to the store to get some more milk and the car seat and the diaper bag and it's it's intense I remember those days but metaphorically when you have people that have not yet developed any kind of spiritual Independence they cannot yet stand on

their own two feet you're still trying to nurse them along or or help bring to light their own spiritual strength well there will come a time where you can no longer live on borrowed light you can no longer be nursing there comes a point where your faith must be fully for form Med you see it's interesting because on the one hand where are the husbands in all of this if I had a nursing wife a pregnant wife there's no way I abandon them it's Women and Children First Right a captain will go down with the

ship the last thing on earth I would say would be every man for himself but there's an irony there because like I just said there comes a point where you cannot be nursing off of my testimony or my faith you have to have your own we live in a world that preaches every man for himself in the wrong way and sometimes don't do enough in the church to preach every man for himself in the right way spiritual self-reliance will be key in the last days have we weaned oursel off of other people's witness do we

know for ourselves then in verse three and four he really gets down to business comparing Nephites and lamanites that's what he's been leading to woe unto this people who are called the people of Nephi except they shall repent there's that phrase again when they see all these signs and wonders which shall be showed unto them for behold they have been a chosen people of the Lord You're the son that said yes all those years yay the people of Nephi hath he loved and also hath he chastened them yay in the days of their iniquities hath

he chastened them because he loveth them remember destruction is for your sake to try to wake you up to repentance but then in verse four behold my brethren the lamanites hath he hated because their deeds have been evil continually that's a strong word I don't know if we would agree with it honestly does God hate the wicked no it's out of love that he stir them up to repentance but it's interesting that a lonite seems to have a little more permission to use that word regarding his own people even if it's hyperbole to kind of

shock and awe this rhetorical jolt God loves your people he hates mine and really what he's getting at is Covenant relationship he has chosen you because you've always chosen him but you're not doing that anymore but my people are starting to even before there was a split between Nephites and lamanites way back in first Nephi 17 Nephi says that the Lord esteemeth All Flesh as one but the righteous are favored of him his love is equal but his blessings cannot be there are conditions of repentance after all this seems to be more just in the

Covenant or out of the Covenant that's the love or hate but he softens it then in verse four that their evil is because of the iniquity of the tradition of their fathers it's more nurture than nature here but behold salvation hath come unto them and how through the preaching of the Nephites for this intent hath the Lord prolong their days he just kept waiting until we came to a day where we would repent and how did it come thanks to you thank Ammon and Aaron and Omar and himni thank a bunch of Nephites that were

kind enough compassionate enough open-minded enough to come to a bunch of bloodthirsty lamanites with enough faith in the power of the gospel and enough faith that down deep within us even we would lay hold of the word of God my ancestors did in fact we don't even have to look back that far look back to your own Nephi and Lehi that went and baptized hundreds in one instance and thousands in another of lamanites we owe you we thank you and here am I trying to return the favor talk about a role reversal it's always been

Nephites coming to cry repentance to lamanites well here I am doing the same in Reverse now starting in verse five and going through most of the rest of this chapter he's going to start describing his own people Paul talks about converted Gentiles provoking the Israelites the Jews the chosen people to jealousy like whoa their righteousness is exceeding our own I can't handle that can't let the rookies outpace the veterans we're God's chosen people I guess we better start acting like it I think there's something beautiful about that provoking people to live up to their privileges

so I don't read this as Samuel being boastful about well my people are better than yours but almost apologetic like do you see the good that you did in our lives by crying repentance well let the Echo come back and sound in your own ears verse 5 I would that you should behold that the more part of them the majority of the lamanites are in the path of their Duty they do walk circumspectly before God they observe to keep his Commandments his statutes his judgments according to the law of Moses verse 6 yay I say

unto you that the more part of them are doing this and they are striving with unwearied diligence Nephi would like that word right unwear that they may bring the remainder of their Brethren to the knowledge of the truth therefore there are many who do add to their numbers daily you see not content just to accept the gospel El themselves this more part this lonite majority aren't content with majority they want every single one and so they're doing all they can to convert the rest of their people verse seven and 8 is one of my favorite

passages because it describes these lonite converts but start at the end and work your way back verse 8 it says you know of yourselves they are firm and steadfast in the faith and in the things wherewith they have been made free that last phrase is beautiful too the thing wherewith they've been made free well that thing is the Redemption of Jesus Christ his atonement his grace and they're firm in it they're steadfast in it these anti- Nephi lehit these other lonite converts they never fall away well how do we get to that point I wish

I would have understood it better as a missionary I I hope that we can all come to better understand it now because there are far too many people who come into the gospel but do not remain firm and steadfast in their faith same is true of lifelong members as we see many of them shaking in their faith well if verse 8 describes what kind of person this firm steadfast member might be how do we get there let's see if we can reverse engineer it that's what I love about seven and eight seven leads up to

verse eight well if we start with eight and then slowly work our way backwards we can reverse engineer this kind of of solid Saint unmovable unshakable well how do we do it go back one step eight started with as many as have come to this are firm and steadfast well what's this end of verse seven a change of heart that's what happens no wonder there's not this this pull this this fear of falling back into old ways cuz that old person is gone dead and buried that's what Paul was getting at with baptism by immersion

the old man has been buried with Christ so that you are brought back up in newness of life I'm not worried of going back to who I used to be they're six feet under I've had a change isn't that what Elma was all about back in Elma chapter 5 have you received his image in your countenance family resemblance have you been born of him new family rebirth have you experienced this Mighty change of heart that's what king Benjamin was after his people respond to his great message our hearts have been changed we have no more

disposition to do evil but to do good continually when you're a different person of course you're going to be firm and steadfast well the question then comes how do I bring about that Mighty change of heart well let's reverse engineer one more phrase backwards faith on the Lord and repentance and it's that faith and repentance that bringeth a change of heart unto them ah so that's the next step or the preliminary step I should say what brings about a change of heart faith and repentance well what do you think Samuel's been talking about for two

and a half chapters you've got to repent of your sins and here's these signs with the intent that you might Believe In Christ is coming so it's my faith and repentance that brings a change of heart and it's that changed heart that cements my testimony my faith and makes it firm and steadfast well what leads me to Faith and repentance back one more step and what does he say they are led to believe the holy scriptures yay the Prophecies of the Holy prophets which are written it's that which leadth them to Faith on the Lord

and repentance and it's that which then brings them to the change of heart and it's that which then makes them firm and steadfast so how does this whole thing begin we're brought to the knowledge of the truth and that truth is found in the scriptures and in the words the prophecies exactly what Samuel is doing right there of the Holy prophets in the beginning was the word John says that's how it always begins that's why I'm so passionate about teaching scripture this is where it always Begins the power will begin to flow into your life

the moment you begin a serious study of the Book of Mormon president Benson promised and I see it every time I begin teaching a class on Scripture Power starts to flow when our faith is rooted in God's word ancient and modern holy scriptures and holy prophets that Holiness ties them both into the ultimate source which is God himself it's his word it's the knowledge of the truth and he is the way the truth and the life he's the word start with him as found in his words let that word convince you reassure you that faith

is founded properly and that repentance has glorious conditions prophesy of these things I know what faith and repentance lead to it's a guarantee they lead to forgiveness they lead to wholeness they lead to happiness that's its nature and as I act on that as the word vinces me to exercise my faith and exercise Faith unto repentance I start to feel a change within me I become more and more like Christ Image in countenance born of him Mighty change of heart and with that what could possibly pull me away from him firm steadfast immovable unshaken that's

the kind of Saint we need to become and and it all starts with the word again my hat is off to each of you for spending your time in God's word if we are reverse engineering a Latter-Day contingent of anti- Nephi Lehi we're starting the process as we speak well verse 9 he continues to describe these great converts I hope these phrases refer to us as well you know that they have buried their weapons of war who needs them I'm changed that's the old me it's not just the weapons I Buri I buried my old

self they feared to take them up lest by any means they should sin yay you can see that they feared to sin for behold they will suffer themselves that they be trotten down and slain by their enemies they will not lift their swords against them and this because of their faith in Christ beautiful connection between fear and faith fear in a good way fear to sin all through faith in Christ verse 10 now because of their steadfastness when they do believe in that thing which they do believe for because of their firmness when they are

once enlightened behold the Lord shall bless them and prolong their days notwithstanding their iniquity the change of heart doesn't mean that we're perfect it just means that we're firm and steadfast it doesn't mean that we'll never have to repent again we talked about that phrase Faith unto repentance but more frequently we see the phrase baptized unto repentance it's I recognize my iniquity but not withstand ing it I'm going to be firm in the truth that has enlightened me firm in my faith in the Forgiveness that comes through the Savior with that in mind verse 11

the promise comes even if they dwindle in unbelief the Lord will prolong their days until the time shall come which has been spoken of by our fathers Zenus many others concerning the restoration of our Brethren the lamanites again to the knowledge of the truth this is the Gathering of Israel nephite version the Gathering in of lamanites into the fold of God verse 12 I say unto you that in the latter times the promises of the Lord have been extended to our Brethren the lamanites isn't that what the title page of the Book of Mormon says

that this book will come forth to the lamanites to convince them that they are not cast off forever to remind them of the covenants of the Lord and the great things that God has done for their fathers you're in you're still part of us God Reaching Across the centuries to help them home and notwithstanding the many afflictions which they shall have notwithstanding they shall be driven to and fro upon the face of the Earth and hunted and smitten and Scattered abroad having no place for Refuge the Lord shall be merciful unto them that language is

reminiscent of the scattering of Israel not just the scattering of the lamanites this is bringing Israel home 13 this is according to the prophecy that they shall again be brought to the true knowledge which is the knowledge of their redeemer and their great and true Shepherd and be numbered among his sheep even these sheep who have strayed for so long he's not giving up on them tragically What's Happening Here is that God is not leaving the 9 and9 to go out in search of the one lost lonite the 9 and9 have left him Nephites who

not only were supposed to be good sheep but were supposed to be good Shepherds have abandoned the flock entirely and the Lord is turning his attention to Gathering scattered lamanites scattered Israel the first have put themselves last now and the last are being put first by God verse 14 another except ye repent it shall be better for them than for you unless repentance equalizes things because as he ends this chapter 15- 17 he who sins against the greater light will receive the greater condemnation that sums up those last three or four verses perfectly it actually

reminds me of something that Jesus said in Matthew chap 11 and this was gutsy of him it's gutsy of Samuel to talk this way he started kind of speaking their language God loves you he hates us but by the end of the chapter the roles have reversed God is being merciful to us lamanites giving us this chance prolonging our days he's being just to you Nephites because he's given you every evidence every chance and you've rejected it you are sinning against greater light and you will receive greater condemnation remember that was his first big prophecy

give it 400 years and you're gone so here's what Jesus says in Matthew 11 to the Jews if the mighty Works which have been done in thee had been done in Sodom it would have remained until this day Sodom that's synonymous with wickedness oh no no they would have repented if they'd seen the things you've seen we see that example with the lamanites if they' been blessed with everything the Nephites had it' be a different history in the Book of Mormon or how this example from the New Testament Luke chapter 4 this one's intense Jesus

is preaching in his own home synagogue in Nazareth this is the same place where he talks about this day is this scripture fulfilled in your ears I am the Messiah in other words the way that story ends is them taking him to the cliff outside Town ready to shove him off and most people at least in my experience have always interpreted that like whoa that was blasphemy that he had just been guilty of he claimed to be the Messiah and they couldn't stand for that so now they're going to kill him but there's something that

happens in the interim when he first basically announces his messiahship they don't know what to make of it but they're not up in arms yet that only happens after this occurs Jesus says you you know I know you're shocked you don't believe me no man is profit in his own country and then he gives an example he says you know there were a lot of widows in Israel in the Days of Elijah but he didn't go to the Israelites he bless the Widow of zarap a foreigner up north and you know example number two there

were a lot of lepers in Israel in the days of Elisha Elijah's successor but who did he heal not an Israelite leper a Syrian one nonon the Syrian was healed now those are fighting words to an ethnocentric holier than thou chosen people and that can refer to the Jews of Jesus's day to the Nephites of Samuel's day to certain Latter-Day Saints in our own day how dare you lower us beneath the level of our inferiors how dare you put an outsider on a pedestal I don't care about the Widow of zarap or non I certainly

don't care about you lonite how dare you this would be the equivalent of Jesus coming to General Conference and only applauding the righteousness of non-members of the church no wonder the Jews wanted to throw Jesus headlong off the cliff it wasn't his blasphemy it was his openness to Outsiders it was flipping xenophobia or ethnocentrism or personal Pride on its head it was saying that the first will be last and the last will be first and that's what Sammy the lonite is saying too there's actually an interesting phrase that sometimes gets lost in the shuffle because

it doesn't appear very often in scripture but there are several verses that refer to the times of the Gentiles or the days of the Gentiles being fulfilled there's also talk about the lamanites blossoming as the Roose and those two kind of obscure phrases need to come together here you see the lamanites blossoming in the days of Samuel comes at the expense largely of the Nephites if the lonit are blossoming it's because the Nephites are withering and so the gospel is largely being taken from the Nephites and being given to the lamanites well in reality the

Nephites are rejecting the gospel right while the lamanites are accepting it and like I've said multiple times through these lessons the book of Mormon is the scale model of the last days so the lamanites blossoming as the rose here coincides with the lamanites blossoming as the rose in our day or what the scriptures sometimes call the day of the Gentiles being fulfilled you see the gospel was first given to the Jews it then went to the Gentiles and eventually someday it will return from the Gentiles back to the Jews first shall be last last shall

be first and that's one of the Great Signs of the last days that the day of the Gentiles is being fulfilled they had their time they accepted the gospel but now it's going back to the Jews and they'll be restored they'll be gathered in gathering of Israel so much of the growth of early Christianity was because of the Gentiles coming in and that's been true of church history as well the church spreading rapidly in the 19th century in places like Europe and Scandinavia but are we starting to see the day of the Gentiles be fulfilled

are we starting to see the center of gravity in global Christianity start to head south the fact that Catholicism is led by a pope from South America instead of from Europe is intriguing to me the fact that the growth of the church seems to be southern hemisphere Africa South America it's amazing to watch this now again I don't want to get too specific into Israelite non-israelite tribes and things Gentiles Jews all of this comes together and eventually it truly will be day of the Gentiles fulfilled because the house of Israel itself is returning to the

fold this is all really the last shall be first and the first shall be last like we keep repeating but listen to some of these verses that contain the phrase from other scripture Luke 21: 23 to 28 woe unto them that are with child and to them that give suck in those days that ringing a bell from Samuel's prophecy for there shall be great stress in the land and wrath upon this people and they shall fall by the edge of the sword and shall be led away captive into all nations there's the scattering of Israel

Jerusalem shall be trotten down of the Gentiles until the times of the Gentiles be fulfilled and there shall be signs in the Sun and in the moon and in the Stars again sound like Samuel and upon the Earth distress of nations with perplexity the Sea and the waves roaring men's Hearts failing them for fear and for looking after those things which are coming on the earth for the powers of Heaven shall be shaken and then shall they see the son of man coming in a cloud with power and great glory and when these things begin

to come to pass then look up lift up your heads for your Redemption draweth nigh you see all those elements coming together in that passage so much of what we see in the multiple Prophecies of Samuel the lonite coming together with idea of the times of the Gentiles being fulfilled in this case the times of the Nephites being fulfilled thank you for bringing us the gospel but now the last are becoming first because God is gathering us home Romans 11 is the same chapter that I hinted at earlier when it talks about the Gentiles provoking

the Jews to jealousy but in that same chapter now verse 25 Paul speaks of blindness in part happen happening to Israel until the fullness of the Gentiles become in that same phrase the fullness of the Gentiles the whole chapter Romans 11 is about grafting the Gentiles into the tree of Israel it's Paul's version of the allegory of the Olive Tree it's an amazing chapter talks about branches being broken off the Jews so that the Gentile branches can be grafted in but also talks about those scattered branches being gathered again as well or how about this

example now from restoration scripture section 45 of the doctrine of covenants this I have told you concerning Jerusalem and when that day shall come shall a Remnant be scattered among all nations but they shall be gathered again but they shall remain until the times of the Gentiles be fulfilled there's that phrase in that day shall be heard of wars and rumors of wars signs of the times right the holer shall be in commotion and men's Hearts shall fail them that ties it into the Luke passage we just saw they shall say that Christ delayeth his

coming until the end of the Earth we'll start to see that next time in the beginning of third Nephi the love of men shall wax cold iniquity shall abound and when the times of the Gentiles is come in a light shall Break Forth among them that sit in darkness and it shall be the fullness of my gospel and in that generation shall the times of the Gentiles be fulfilled by the way I couldn't help but continue reading that passage in section 45 because it seems so relevant to our current situation there shall be men standing

in that generation that shall not pass until they shall see an overflowing Scourge for a desolating sickness shall cover the land now I'm not an alarmist and I definitely understand that prophecies have multiple fulfillments I'm not prepared to pull out my pen and check off that verse just because of the pandemic that's going on currently otherwise I'm sure people could have done that better back in 1918 with the flu epidemic that happened then what I'm more interested in is how to navigate those kinds of periods since we're in one currently and the next verse answers

that my disciples shall stand in holy places and Shall Not Be Moved talk about needing to become firm and steadfast right talk about needing to become unshakeable and immovable we do that by standing in holy places and that's all happening amidst this chaos and commotion amidst these scourges and sicknesses amidst these wars and rumors of wars these signs in heaven and in Earth amidst the times like the end of the book of helan when the lamanites are blossoming as the rose when the days of the Gentiles are being fulfilled and the gospel is ready to

head back to its original possessors the Gathering of Israel that we are participating in on both sides of the veil it's amazing that although these passages might seem so obscure to us because they seem so infrequent do we recognize that when the angel Moroni appeared to Joseph Smith in 1823 and began quoting all kinds of scripture to describe Joseph's Mission and the time period he was ushering in among other things this is Joseph Smith history verse 41 Moroni stated that the fullness of the the Gentiles was soon to come in wow that phrase was not

foreign to Joseph nor to Moroni these are the days we are living in and preparing for even if we just went to the hym book and opened up to the very first hymn written by parley Patt someone with an eye to the Fulfillment of Prophecy the third verse the Gentile fullness now comes in and Israel's blessings are at hand Lo judah's Remnant cleansed from sin shall in their promised Canaan stand the Gathering of Israel coincides with the fullness of the Gentiles the blossoming of the lamanites coincides with the eclipsing of the Nephites and all of

this in preparation for the coming of Christ it's incredible the days that we're living in and getting to partic participate in I love the Book of Mormon it it is so miraculously relevant incredibly prophetic well Samuel's sermon is over but his story is not chapter 16 begins it came to pass that there were many who heard the words of Samuel the lonite which he spake upon the walls of the city and as many as believed on his words went forth and sought for Nephi interesting tag team here one will plant the seeds and the other

will reap the Harvest when they had come forth and found him what did they do they confessed unto him their sins they better have gotten that message from Samuel he said the word often enough right these are the conditions of repentance and except ye repent The Sword of Justice will fall so they come running to Nephi confess their sins they deny not they desire that they might be baptized unto the Lord which includes baptized unto repentance but that wasn't all of them verse two as many as there were who did not believe in the words

of Samuel were angry with him they cast stones at him upon the wall they shot arrows many of them at him as he stood upon the wall again that's another theme we saw from the very beginning of these chapters cast him out and yet he returns shut the doors while he'll climb on the wall mock him for being a lonite well he'll own it and put it right back at them cast stones shoot arrows and what happens you cannot silence a prophet the spirit of the Lord was with him in so much that they could

not hit him with their Stones neither with their arrows you see he had hit his Target he got the heart he pricked it it cut them the wicked took the truth to be hard bullseye on Samuel's part but in retaliation they Counterattack and yet can't hit him at all God will vindicate the prophets the prophets cannot be silenced now as a result of that verse three when they saw that they could not hit him there were many more who did believe on his words in so much that they went away unto Nephi to be baptized

we saw this last time with kind of these different concentric circles of belief some who believe Nephi then those five who ran in search of the sign proof that he'd been right about the murder of the chief judge then those who believe on their words in prison some who believe when they finally saw for themselves some who refuse to believe even when the evidence was staring them in the face same thing here these ones believe because of a little more proof and this whole time verse four Nephi has been baptizing prophesying preaching crying repentance unto

the people showing signs and wonders working miracles among the people that they might know that the Christ must shortly come you see chapter 16:4 in one verse shows that Nephi was doing everything that Samuel was doing in the three chapters that preceded prophesying crying repentance signs and wonders it's all there I planted Apollo's water but it is God that gives the increase Paul says but the sad truth is verse six but the more part of them did not believe in the words of Samuel they didn't believe what he said so they weren't part of that

first round of belief they wouldn't believe even when miraculously he could not be armed by their arrows in fact they push back against that and in verse six they cry unto their captains they say take this fellow bind him for behold he hath a devil and because of the power of the devil which is in him we cannot hit him with our stones and our arrows so take him bind him away with him and yet in verse 7 as soon as they come forth to lay hands on Samuel he casts himself down from the wall

and flees out of their lands even to his own country and what's he do once he gets there he just keeps preaching and prophesying among his own people that was his original intention after being cast out the first time I'm so grateful the Lord had him turn around and give another chance because now we get his message in those three great chapters we just studied this part of the story in chapter 16 is so powerfully illustrated by that famous painting by Arnold freeberg but I've always wondered about the height of the wall cuz if he

cast himself down from the wall it must have been like one of those one of those Batman land Des sense right then again if the wall was short short enough that a jump from it isn't going to land in two broken legs then that would have made it all the more miraculous that they couldn't hit him with their stones and arrows he's it's right there like I don't know 8 10ft wall big deal either way high wall or low wall there was a miracle that day spared their stones and arrows and spared from his leap

down to the ground however it happened I love the lesson that the Lord is teaching us that he does have his servants back but like we discussed earlier it's up to us to decide whether we'll believe that in advance or if we'll be one dispensation behind as well well the sad news for them and for us because I'd love to keep learning from this great lonite prophet verse 8 behold he was never heard of more Among the Nephites it's the last we get of him now what happens in the aftermath of his Ministry then verse

10 the more part of the people remain in their pride and wickedness because they were firm and steadfast too but in the wrong way meanwhile the Lesser part is walking circumspectly before God some time passes and in verse 12 the people begin to be more hardened in iniquity they do more and more of that which was contrary to the Commandments of God it's only getting worse they rejected light and truth and thus they continued the downward spiral verse 13 though there were great signs given unto the people and wonders the words of the prophets began

to be fulfilled again we get this 5-year microcosm of what happens over the centuries verse 14 Angels appear unto men wise men H sounding like the Nativity scene is starting to be assembled they did declare unto them Glad Tidings of great joy now we've really been tipped off that it's Christmas time approaching thus in this year the scriptures began to be fulfilled nevertheless in vers 15 the people began to harden their hearts all save it were the most believing part of them the light is growing brighter and brighter but people are sinning against that light

and what did these hard-hearted people start saying look at the end of 15 and 16 they began to depend upon their own strength and upon their own wisdom there's the pride cycle again right we don't need God it was all us to begin with no wonder our prosperity leads us to Pride and therefore destruction because we've abandoned God who was the source of that strength to begin with verse 16 some things they may have guessed right among so many I mean you throw out enough prophecies I mean that's what Samuel was doing for three solid

chapters surely at least something is going to prove correct even a broken clock is right twice a day right but behold we know that all these great and marvelous Works cannot come to pass of which has been spoken it's fascinating to watch people just chalk things up to oh lucky guess it's like sometimes people want to attack Joseph Smith saying well this prophecy didn't come to pass so he must be a false prophet I go well what about the prophecies that did come to pass there's plenty of those as well this isn't just good guessing

but they also do this in 17 and 18 they began to reason and to contend among themselves saying that it is not reasonable that such a being as a Christ shall come now I'm a fan of reason but not of reason alone God speaks to the mind yes there is reason but also to the heart there is Spirit there is feeling beware of those that want to pull the pendulum only to the side of the Enlightenment history itself refused that because there was a Romantic Period that followed after the enlightenment when Western Civilization itself said

all head no heart huh-uh I'm not I'm not having anything to do with that so be careful about those that simply want to say well it's not reasonable that this would happen well granted there's a lot of things things like the resurrection like the atonement that pure reason cannot hold that doesn't make them irrational though it makes them Beyond Reason alone they then say this in verse 18 if so and he be the Son of God the father of heaven and of Earth like they've been saying why will he not show himself unto us as

well as unto them who shall be at Jerusalem again 19 why won't he show himself in this land as well as in the land of Jerusalem see how convenient of them to come up with a prophecy that we cannot prove because it's going to happen somewhere else verse 20 that's what they're explaining we know that this is a wicked tradition which has been handed down unto us by our fathers to cause us that we should believe in some great and marvelous thing which should come to pass but not among us but in a land Which

is far distant a land which we know not therefore they can keep us in ignorance for we cannot witness with our own eyes that are true well two things to say about that number one why do you think all these signs that Samuel has prophesied of why do you think the destruction has to be such that the kings of the Isles of the sea will be rot upon to exclaim that the god of nature suffers you won't be there to see the birth or the crucifixion but you will be there to see the day night

day with no Darkness or the three days of darkness with no light if verification is what you're after that's what the are providing you just have to trust the prophet go figure that what you are seeing in those signs is evidence of what he has prophesied them to be but then again the second element here he came among them and more importantly prophets preceding this day said that he would that's a whole another level of Prophecy if these non-believers had just read their scriptures they wouldn't have made this argument because the scriptures promised them centuries

before he'll come among us too this will be verifiable they're not trying to keep us in ignorance way back in first Nephi 12 when Nephi has the vision of Book of Mormon history unfolding he sees destruction and darkness and then he sees the heavens open and the Lamb of God descending out of heaven and he came down and showed himself unto them them the Nephites he came here too near the end of second Nephi again he prophesies after Christ have risen from the dead he shall show himself unto you my children and my beloved Brethren

he says the son of righteousness shall appear unto them and he shall heal them and they shall have peace with him now just in case we shrug those off saying well those were on the small plates of Nephi and and if he would even surprised Mormon when he found them then how on Earth would these people have those records they couldn't possibly have known that Jesus was intending to come among them as well well fine let's go to Alma 16:20 when Alma and AMC are preaching throughout all the land want to make sure everybody hears

this and many of the people did inquire concerning the place where the Son of God should come maybe they were wondering the same kind of thing some skeptical disbelievers in their period as well well convenient he's going to go somewhere else how are we going to know about it and so what did Alma and AMC do they taught them that he would appear unto them after his resurrection and this the people did hear with great joy and and gladness wow he's going to come here too sad to realize the things that we miss or the

ignorance we impose upon ourselves when we don't study the word of God the answers were already there but then they say this and I'm fascinated by verse 21 I love this as a teacher it kind of haunts me especially as a teacher of God's word these Skeptics say and they will by the cunning and mysterious Arts of the evil one works some great mystery which we cannot understand which will keep us down to be servants to their words and also servants unto them for we depend upon them to teach us the word and thus they

will keep us in ignorance if we will yield ourselves unto them all the Days of Our Lives now in their context it's this sense of oh they're going to try to pull off some I don't know Wonder working to convince us that they need to be trusted all these signs and wonders are just shocking a to try to reel Us in to become gullible and then they'll start teaching things that only they understand there actually was a certain reality to this through much of Christian history when God's word was in a language that the people

did not understand you want to understand God's word come to me because I'm the only one that can read Latin or even post-reformation there was a certain level of erudition you have to have a degree from some Divinity School now I worried to even say that since I went to school too but there's a certain well I can only trust somebody who's paid the price to be able to understand these Mysteries and so who am I to read scripture directly and so when the clergy has a monopoly on the word of God and people really

do depend upon them for the word with ignorance being the only other alternative then they kind of do become servants to their words but here's where it becomes a little more personal to me and to gospel teachers or leaders or parents the danger of making other people depend on them to teach them now again I want to be careful with what I'm saying because I do teach the gospel and I love to and I love studying scripture and trying to help people understand it I pray I literally pray really even over these lessons and these

videos in hopes that God can teach people reach people help and lift people through them it's my biggest hope it's my only Desire with this but I do fear and I've always feared this since I started teaching seminary 20 plus years ago I don't want to make people become dependent upon me or any other teacher like I can only understand scripture with their help I mean we're here to help that's what teachers are for but part of it is to not just teach things that we know rather to train you to find things that God

wants to teach you directly to eliminate the middle men and middle women so that no one has to be servant to someone else's word some of my favorite comments that I've been reading that many of you have posted describe the excitement that you are feeling in your own scripture study independent of these lessons some of you are saying things like you're helping me understand how to study how to find principles in every verse how to take apart passages and put them together again how to look at words punctuation marks and see that there are lessons

worth discovering behind practically everyone you see whether as a teacher or as a parent I don't want to spend my life just catching fish and distributing them I don't want anyone to be dependent upon me to teach them the word I want you to know how to fish for yourself I hope that you're getting that if this is just a model of scripture study and not just a distribution of gospel principles I've amassed over the years well with that let's wrap up this chapter verse 22 many more things did the people imagine up in their

hearts which were foolish in vain so interesting they're the ones that are saying oh there's no reason on your side it's not reasonable to believe those things and yet they're the ones imagining stuff that is foolish in vain they were much Disturbed for Satan did stir them up to do iniquity continually yay he did go about spreading rumors and contentions upon all the face of the land that he might Harden the hearts of the people against that which was good and against that which should come that's his only hope by saying it's not reasonable he's

attacking the head but his real Target seems to be the heart which he's trying to harden how does he do it he does it through contention strong feelings Ang anger disputation he's doing it through rumors which again seem head-based but so often they're they're triggering heart feelings speaking of rumors there's that great phrase in Joseph Smith history where Joseph Smith says that rumor with her thousand tongues was all the time employed in circulating falsehoods about my father's family and about myself if I were to relate a thousandth part of them it would fill up volumes

there actually are some volumes filled with rumors about Joseph Smith and his family I've actually read some of them I find them very unconvincing but studying rhetorically I can see how they would Harden certain hearts or abuse certain Minds since that's another phrase that Joseph Smith uses earlier in Joseph Smith history he's writing this to disabuse the public mind it's not reasonable so close off your mind rumors and contentions so Harden your heart close off the two body parts that God is trying to access through the gift of Revelation no thinking and feeling with God

and finally verse 23 notwithstanding the signs and the Wonders which were wrought among the people of the Lord and remember what are those signs and wonders for for the intent that you may believe so there's no cause for unbelief well in spite of all that in spite of the many miracles which they did Satan did get great hold upon the hearts of the people upon all the face of the land that's always what he's after you saw that way back in Elma 12 that those with a softened heart will receive the greater portion of God's

word until they know it in full and those with a hardened heart will receive the Lesser portion until they know nothing concerning God's Mysteries brothers and sisters it's only a few years away turn one page it's the next chapter next week third Nephi chapter 1 and Samuel's signs are being fulfilled it will get to a point where disbelief is impossible but don't wait that long choose early to exercise Faith When Faith is still an option granted where faith is an option so is doubt but that's what places the choice before you you isn't that what

he said earlier back at the end of chapter 14 you're free he's made you free he's given you knowledge you get to choose good or evil life or death Faith or doubt Choose Wisely brothers and sisters we have everything we need to exercise that faith we have God's word which will found our faith and spur our repentance those things will change our hearts and that will make us firm and steadfast immovable prepared to receive the Lord when he comes I testify that he will and I look forward to that day and pray the world will

be prepared for his coming [Music]