Come Follow Me - Helaman 13-16: Signs of Christ's Coming

[Music] hello and Shen Saints welcome back I'm J Halverson and this week we are beginning that portion of the Book of Mormon where we begin barreling towards Bountiful the second coming well in their case the first coming of Jesus Christ is on the horizon in fact next week we'll start third Nephi and the week after that is when the Savior will come Among the Nephites so we are getting close and I I can't wait for it today we are going to spend our time with Samuel the light and this is one of those figures in

the Book of Mormon that we all seem to know and love well at least what we know of him we love but I wish we knew more there's so much backstory that is nowhere in the text that leaves us kind of wondering and guessing where did he come from uh what I'm grateful for is we don't have to wonder or guess at his message that comes through crystal clear in the chapters we'll be studying today which is Helman 13-6 okay the end of the book of Helman last week we finished with Mormon interrupting the entire

narrative to just vent for a full chapter and give us the longest and thus we see statement in the entire Book of Mormon wrestling with the pride cycle and and the devastation that he felt watching that earlier civilization or watching his civilization Barrel towards its own self-destruction okay now I remember president Irene sharing that when he was a young dad his boys loved acting out this story with with dead uh president iron was Samuel the lonite and his his boys were the wicked Nephites and they would take uh aluminum foil or tin foil balls you

know ball it up and then throw it at dad and unfortunately as president Irene said they were never fully scripturally accurate because they kept hitting him okay they had better aim than the Nephites but what's interesting is to ponder what was honestly that's the most famous part of the story that's the the the famous fryberg painting of Samuel way up there on the wall and none of those arrows or Stones being able to hit him that's incredible but that's the aftermath that's chapter 16 where we'll end today by then he's already shared his message and

to me I'm more the older I get the less concerned I am about the the the action and the more intrigued I am by the doctrine and it's the doctrine of Sammy the lonite that I really hope will will capture our attention this week it's it it helps us answer the question what was it that Samuel said that got the people so up in arms that they were willing to fire arrows right in his Direction and what was it about what Samuel taught that was so essential that God made sure that none of those arrows

hit their Mark there's something about the message that this man gives that was absolutely essential for the Lord to make sure the people understood and yet the people did not want okay cause versus cause like we saw in the war chapters tug of warar good versus evil light versus Darkness you'll find Samuel caught right in the middle of that he's on the wall for crying out loud let's make this as clear as we can okay and which direction is he going to help nephite Society move in that's the that's the story we're going to see

and the doctrine that I hope we'll be able to wrestle with this week now to introduce us to to this great man look at chapter 13 where it starts and we'll go to verse two it came to pass that in this year there was one Samuel A Layman night came into the land of zarahemla and began to preach unto the people and it came to pass that he did preach many days repentance unto the people and they did cast him out and he was about to return to his own land but behold the voice of

the Lord came unto him that he should return again and prophesy unto the people whatsoever things should come into his heart now that is a as good a summary of the of what we're going to see this week as you can get it's all kind of right there what's interesting though is well you start to see some parallels between Samuel and previous prophets other people we've met in the Book of Mormon think about Elma when he goes to amanah and he's crying repentance they don't want to hear so about face I'll go somewhere else greener

pastures and the angel stops him and says Nope try again and he turns around and goes and meets amulet Samuel the lonite is having a very similar experience ready to give up and turn his back on them but I love that the Lord says you can't give up quite yet uh how how what more could I have done for my Vineyard think about how many times I've Been Around The Pride cycle you can't give up just at at the first closed door and that's true of all of us well one other thing that I'm I

find fascinating from the very start is the way he's introduced there was one Samuel A lonite that's about as vague As It Gets In fact it's the an exact parallel construction of what we saw back in Alma 36 well when Elma is talking about Jesus remember he's he's in this pit of despair ready to be banished both body and spirit but his mind catches hold of a thought and what was the thought some vague recollection that Dad and I don't know some dusty old Family Home Evening lesson had talked about one Jesus Christ a Son

of God one Jesus no no this is Jesus the Christ a Son of God no the Son of God the only one begotten of God In the Flesh he's it's a lot more than any kind of vague memory and what's interesting is I wonder if if Mormon is patterning his introduction of Samuel after that to just let us know what a vague understanding we have of him not much of an understanding at all he's just one Samuel and he's a lonite I'm grateful that by the end of this story The indefinite article is replaced with

a definite article we call him Samuel the lonite and he's the lonite in terms of one of the few lonit that we actually know by name but backstory I wish we had it it would be he'd be extremely old if this were the case but could he have been one of the original anti- Nephi Lehi or perhaps at least one of the children of those converts uh was he well if that's possible could he have been one of the stripping Warriors that would have been wild imagine if a young Samuel was one of those that

was following following helan and now that he's graduated from military service he's ready to go preach the Gospel of Jesus Christ uh other possibilities there was there were so many lamanites that were converted through the ministry of Nephi and Lehi was he one of those yeah in an earlier day was he could he have been one of the lamanites in the lonite prison uh that that Nephi and lei Nephi and Lehi went and preached in or the aftermath of that when the 300 lonite converts went out and converted a bunch of other lamanites who then

passed their land back to the Nephites was Samuel one of those we have no idea his specific backstory but his Collective backstory together with all the other lamanites makes him such a fascinating figure in the Book of Mormon remember the Book of Mormon is a scale model of the last days and we've seen wars and rumors of wars we're seeking we're seeing secret combinations well today more than ever we are seeing me the lamanites blossom as a rose and we are seeing signs and wonders in heaven being prophesied that are meant to prepare us for

the promised coming of Jesus Christ again we're they're barreling towards Bountiful we are headed towards Armageddon and better Adam Andaman we are preparing for the second coming of Christ as they were for the first and so we're going to have to wrestle with the message that this marginal message messenger is trying to convey if we jump ahead to chapter 3 13:4 notice uh notice this detail I've hinted at it already it came to pass that they the nites would not suffer that he should enter into the city we don't want your kind here especially if

you're going to be crying repentance many days forget that therefore he went and got upon the wall thereof and beautiful symbolism here of of the marginalization of this this messenger that is different from the people that he's trying to convert a Lial figure there he is on the wall there the wicked Nephites trying to push him out of town and God trying to wedge him back into it who is it that's standing on our walls The Watchmen on the tower The Watchmen on the walls do they see what we're up against are they the this

figure that's trying to help us decide what to let in and what to to keep out because sometimes we get those all wrong sometimes we are so tight like unto a dish to borrow the jedite barge model uh we we set these walls out and we're keeping out the very things God is trying to send in or on the other hand are we bringing in the very things God would have us keep out Samuel is in a perfect position an outsider trying to let those on the inside know where it is the stand behind these

walls they in many ways these are walls that they need to break down in order to allow the spirit of God and the Gospel of Jesus Christ to penetrate at at this point they're not ready to do it and I wonder how much of that is due not just to the message but to the messenger we're going to stay in Chapter 13 but if you jump ahead to Chapter 14 verse 10 notice what Samuel says here now because I am a lonite I love he calls it out if you have any hint of anti- lonite

racism if there's a Prejudice that makes you hard for you to hear someone like me well guess what I am who I am I am a lonite and have spoken unto you The Words which the Lord hath commanded me and because it was hard against you you are angry with me and do seek to destroy me and have cast me out from among you now he gives them two possible reasons in that verse as to their their hesitance to to accept his message on the one hand he says it's hard against you and we learned

that from Layman and lemel way back in the start the wicked take the truth to be hard for it cutteth them to the very center well this was cutting the Layon the Nephites but was another issue not the message but the messenger what's harder to hear the what or The Who and I love that he doesn't shy away from his background but rather calls it out in order to call the Nephites out we saw anti- lonite racism as early as Jacob chapter 3 where they are looking down upon the lamanites because of the so-called filthiness

of their skins well the skin was just a mark the curse is what we're talking about and it's un Nephites that are more cursed than the lamanites have been now it's the light skin of the Nephites that becomes the mark of the curse that they have t taken upon themselves of separation from God and so God sends the so-called cursed lonite to come in and confront the truly cursed Nephites to try to leverage any kind of Hope of redemption separation from God he's going to talk about that clearly in chapter 14 but this separation from

God which is the only curse we ever have to face that's the curse he's trying to help his nephite audience overcome I guess for you and me we have to wrestle with the question am I willing to learn from people that are different from me they look different they speak differently they sound different they have a different background whatever prejudices that we are still wrestling with we have to overcome president Nelson has invited us to do just that to remove any any evidences any hints of racial Prejudice or Prejudice of any other kind and I

I love that God is forcing the issue pushing a lonite right in front of their faces now what's he going to teach what is his message you can sum it up in a single word and we saw it already in that summary statement at the beginning he what did he preach many days in a word repentance and that word comes up so frequently in these chapters 11 times in Chapter 13 eight more times in chapter 14 and then seven more times in chapter 15 15 it's everywhere okay also expand that word into a phrase and

the phrase except ye repent comes up all over the place as well twice in Chapter 13 four times in chapter 15 remember that was a phrase that Nephi son of Helman taught so many times in the previous chapters we studied last week and that except ye repent was a phrase that that a bed I used with uh Noah and the wicked priests that there's this sense of oh I know you like choice but you don't seem to understand consequence so these are the choices you're making they're wrong so I'm crying repentance but I'm also trying

to help you connect choice to consequence by telling you except ye repent these are the consequences that will follow okay so without his background notice some of the things he says about repentance right from the start chapter 13:5 The Sword of Justice hangeth over this people now we talk about the arms of Mercy those sound a little bit more welcoming to me compare the arms of Mercy to The Sword of Justice and yeah it's hanging over you and 400 years pass not away save that Sword of Justice falleth upon this people now Samuel is going

to be famous for his prophecies and unfortunately we sometimes reduce those prophecies to the two major ones that we see in chapter 14 the prophecy of Christ's birth and the prophecy of Christ's death but those two prophecies are preceded by this one a very clear statement of what the future will hold except they repent and what is it the ultimate bottoming out of the pride cycle that ends with the nephite self-destruction it's going to come in 400 years how's that for the Sword of Justice ready to drop he'll say the same thing in chapter 13:10

there shall be those of the fourth generation who shall live of your enemies to behold your utter destruction there it is now this Sword of Justice that is hanging by a a thread that is growing increasingly threadbear all it takes is a little more sin add to the weight of Justice that's against you and the sword will drop if you know your mythology they speak of the Sword of Damocles that symbolically is just hanging Over You by a hair and to have to live like that my wife has a blood condition that makes blood clotting

much more uh more more common she's more susceptible to that we found out with pregnancy number five that all five all all her the four previous pregnancies had been high risk and for that fifth one I had to give her a shot of blood thinner every day in the abdomen well my wife will be on blood thinner for the rest of her life but there are still times where she has I think the her record was having four blood clots at the same time uh arms legs and the the scary thing about a blood clot

is what these deep vein thrombosis what's the chance that it's going to dislodge and go to the heart or to the lungs or to the brain and and and the the the potential fatality of that my wife and I in one of the latest rounds of this we joked little Gallow humor here but we joked about what it would have been like to live in the shadow of Vesuvius that there you are with a smoking mountain behind you and when will the volcano erupt there's the reality of the Sword of Justice hanging over you and

unless you accept the conditions of repentance then that sort of of Justice will hang until it falls the other other option is to remove that Justice or to satisfy that Justice put that sword in the hand of someone who wants to be merciful instead okay that's what this the conditions of repentance will allow but it is repentance that is required you with me with that look at verse 6 of chapter 13 yay heavy destruction awaiteth this people okay the mountains Ablaze the the lava is starting to come down and it surely cometh unto this people

and nothing can save this people save it be repentance and faith on the Lord Jesus Christ who surely shall come into the world and shall suffer many things there's a nod to Gethsemane and shall be slain for his people there's a nod to Calvary I love that in that single verse he uses the word surely twice and that surely those shirlees point in two opposite directions there's either a surely the destruction will come the consequences of your sins or the surely Jesus will come and save you through his suffering and death through what happened in

Gethsemane and Calvary he will come to save you from The Sword of Justice he'll encircle you about with the arms of Mercy but you have to ex exercise faith in him and repent of your sins if that if you don't accept that sure witness that the Savior the atoning blood of Jesus Christ will save you then you are stuck with the sure consequences of your sins choice is completely up to you it's interesting also by the way that he ties his repentance to faith in the Lord Jesus Christ which is absolutely essential because otherwise without

the faith in Christ part then all repentance is is moral Improvement which is good don't get me wrong but it's not Redemptive it's not salvific this is like fasting to go hungry and lose some weight rather than fasting coupled with prayer and worship that connects you to God in ways that going without food simply doesn't you can lose weight either way you can improve your life morally and ethically either way but for salvation to grow out of those conditions of repentance it must be grounded in faith in Christ that by the way is the message

of chapter 14 so all of this repentance talk in 13 will be grounded in the faith in Jesus in 14 as we s see signs of his birth and death okay spoiler alert it's coming now from there verse eight he he says because of the hardness of the hearts of the people of the Nephites except they repent there's that word again I or that phrase again I will take away my word from them I will withdraw my spirit from them I will suffer them no longer and those are scary warnings I will suffer you no

longer I'm willing to suffer for all the sins of all the world but unless you accept my suffering in your behalf then I will suffer you no longer to continue to commit sin with without having to face its painful consequences okay Mercy becomes unmerciful when it completely robs Justice from its rightful demands so please repent uh otherwise God will it's like you give you give Heaven a stiff arm often enough and Heaven takes the hint uh Mormon will wrestle this with this himself when he talks about the spirit ceasing to strive with his people strive

there's a fight and if we don't surrender to God then the spirit will surrender to us and Retreat withdraw their spiritual death for you no more prophets no more word of God no more priesthood no more power no more Temple everything the original lamanites suffered from and here's a redeemed lonite trying to remind the Nephites to avoid a similar fate those phrases honestly are a bit hunting to me to take away God's word to to lose the scriptures that we've been studying to silence the seers gag the prophets to withdraw his Spirit every time that

happens to me because of my own mistakes I sense that loss but to see that on a on a grand scale where the spirit is withdrawn again Mormon himself will face that kind of reality no wonder he's bringing it up here it all happens except we repent then you go to verse 13 and 14 and notice this the flip side but blessed are they who will repent for them will I spare and that could include any of you but behold if it were not for the righteous who are in this great City behold I would

cause that fire should come down out of heaven and destroy it but behold it is for the righteous sake that it is spared now we're going to see the consequences of them driving out Samuel and then driving out the righteous later on that is the straw that breaks that that camel's back and the consequences that come in 3i 8 we'll see in two weeks is exactly what Samuel is warning them about in advance it makes me think about the the powerful influence that the righteous can have in society we can have a saving effect that

if there I mean think about lot and his family in Sodom and Gomorrah think about what Abraham was pleading with with God to do if there's 10 will you spare the whole and God was willing to what's interesting is the righteous don't have to be oh all-encompassing in terms of numerical strength the righteous don't have to outnumber the wicked to make a difference that was the case we might be in trouble depending on where you're living right now all that is required is a little bit of Leaven to leaven the lump Jesus said ye are

the salt of the earth and you don't want to eat anything that's predominantly salt but you want enough to give flavor to the rest of the meal and so to be the light of the world to be the salt of the earth to be the leaven that leavens the lump do not underestimate the influence you can have in a small circle of friends within a neighborhood within a community whatever it might be collectively there is great power and we need to rest assured in that now if you notice verse 21 though Jump Ahead he's going

to get specific and I'm skipping around on on some of this I I hope you'll study the entire sermon uh this week as you go but I want to point out one particular sin that he decries because it's so prominent in the pride cycle uh is we see it so often when Prosperity leads to the pride that causes self-destruction look at verse 21 ye are cursed because of your riches you see that it's not that riches are the problem but the love of riches the Love of Money yes that's the root of all evil and

you're cursed because of your riches but then notice how he flips it and also are your riches cursed because you have set your hearts upon them and have not hearkened unto the words of him who gave them unto you tie it all together you haven't been listening to what God Said when he gave you those riches money always comes with strings attached depending on who gave it to you and if it's God who gave you that wealth the strings that are attached to it are meant to attach you to others around you who are in

need of your help this is where consecration comes in this is where God sets things up in inequality so we have the chance to create equality out of it okay the halves and the have knots coming together to share Pride from above and pride From Below overcoming that pride in either direction and becoming of one heart and one mind dwelling in righteousness with no poor among them we're trying to establish Zion here right and so when God gives the money he also leaves the message this is what to do with it this is who to

share it with please unink the hose and let that water get to the end of every dry row unfortunately that was not happening Among the Nephites they were kinking the hose and trying to keep all that water to themselves and not only did it cursed them it cursed their riches that's the part I really was wrestling with this week how does the does the wealth itself get cursed and as I pondered it and you may have some interesting ideas to share in return but cursed wealth Is wealth that isn't filling the measure of its creation

it's wealth that isn't doing anything it's it's collecting dust in the counting House of Ebenezer Scrooge instead of being spread around like manure to cause things to grow Hello Dolly right what's interesting to me is I'd rather have blessed wealth or no wealth at all because if the wealth isn't blessed in terms of being able to bless others then it will not end up being a blessing to me I curse my wealth and the wealth curses me in return or I bless my wealth and it blesses me and blesses everyone else okay consecration it's right

there but then notice verse 22 because there's a detail here that always fascinated me still in the context of of prosperity and and selfishness and pride he says this ye do not remember the Lord your God in the things which with with which he hath blessed you but ye do always remember your riches not to thank the Lord your God for them which is so interesting you oh you're so grateful let's keep that in quotes you're so grateful for the stuff you have but you never connect it to its original Source you're so excited about

the gift you don't see the hand underneath it that it's extending it in your direction as I've often said to people we're often grateful for without being grateful too and that's a huge difference if I if I'm grateful four then it's an inventory and yes I'm counting my many blessings but I'm not addressing The Giver of those gifts whereas if I'm grateful to then I I see God behind every gift I recognize his loving hand extending the blessings to me I think in some ways God would prefer the two over the four any day he

would appreciate if we focused on The Who of those blessings rather than the what of those blessings because if we know the who then we'll probably better understand the why he gave us those things and the how we are meant to use those things to bless those around us okay we're still a ways away from Thanksgiving but since we're supposed to live in Thanksgiving daily keep Samuel's words in mind and in your prayers tonight instead of cataloging everything that's come look past them and see a loving and generous Father in Heaven that's just trying to

make eye contact to me it devastates me to picture grandparents for example that just want to connect with their grandkids and for most grandkids one of their love languages is stuff giftgiving and when a grandchild is so eager to play with the toy or could or do the thing or take the gift card or spend the money with barely even looking up at lonely eyes trying to connect with someone that they absolutely love and even if they get the quick thanks Grandma thanks Grandpa as they Bound Away there's so much more that they were hoping

for and I believe the same is true of Our Father in Heaven he then says in verse 38 Samuel does and this is it has to do with when the consequences come if you have if you didn't he the phrase except you repent then well the other end of the stick is coming and notice how he he he concludes this chapter behold your days of probation are passed you can hear amuck rising from the grave for this one like Amen brother okay days of probation yeah they're over behind you you have procrastinated the day of

your salvation until it is everlastingly too late now this is strong language is trying to move people in a certain direction there's a contrary here that needs to be proven but let's honor what Samuel is trying to do his audience requires this kind of strong language his procrastinating nephite uh listeners are going to keep on pushing that procrastination until it's everlastingly too late and then what happens your destruction is made sure with that we're back to the surely at the beginning of this chapter yay he continues for ye have sought all the days of your

lives for that which ye could not obtain ye have sought for happiness in doing iniquity which thing is contrary to the nature of that hap of that righteousness which is in our great and eternal head now not only is amulet rising from the grave Elma is coming back as well because what's Alma's what was Alma's message to his son wickedness never was happiness it can't be it's contrary to the nature of Happiness contrary to the nature of God and here's Samuel by the way there's some Scholars there was a book written a couple years ago

by that same Book of Mormon Academy I told you about uh previously and the Book of Mormon Academy wrote a whole volume on Samuel lonite I mean there's more written about him than he ever said himself in the Book of Mormon directly uh but that was one of the things that that is interesting about wrestling with this is how many how much intertextuality to use a fun word is found in the message of Sam the lonite he seems to be drawing upon Elma and drawing upon AMC and drawing upon Lehi later on it's amazing to

see him weave together a bunch of nephite sources even as he stands before them as a lonite how's that for you okay so to to weave this tapestry of Truth with that statement that if if you want happiness you're never going to find it with considering the plants that the seeds that you're planting this goes back to the law of the Harvest and the law of restoration that Elma taught Cory Anon about wickedness never was happiness because it's against the nature of Happiness so if you want to live after the manner of Happiness then repent

of your sins keep the Commandments of God live in the right way and happiness will follow that's the seed you're planting that's the plant you'll get now through all of this Samuel is calling them out for their wickedness but also calling them out not just for rejecting him but for rejecting their own prophets as well repentance is the main theme in Chapter 13 but there's an undercurrent of what prophets are called upon to do so let me just show you a couple of verses here about how the Nephites are treating prophets because it may be

similar to how prophets have been treated in previous previous days as well as our own this is Chap 13:25 he calls them out and he says when ye talk ye say oh if our days had been in the days of our fathers of old we would not have slain the prophets we would not have stoned them and cast them out oh how's that for the would a could a should a we wouldn't have done those things uh well all evidence to the contrary seems like every Prophet is rejected by his peers started with Lehi the

first chapter of the Book of Mormon and it's been that way ever since read the Old Testament read the New Testament similar problems I've said this before we always seem to be one dispensation behind and the the people of Moses the Hebrews of Moses's day were basically like you're no Abraham and the Jews of Jesus's day were saying you're no Moses and the people of Joseph Smith's day were you're no Jesus and he would have totally agreed with that by the way H and we always seem to be one Prophet or one dispensation behind why

the lag time because time vindicates the prophets with the passage of time their words can be F their prophecies can be fulfilled their words can be verified and if you live after the verification then of course your hindsight's 2020 oh there was a prophet everything he said happened just as prophesied but there's no risk there Vegas isn't going to take th those odds okay the the the game's already been played sorry for the gambling analogy I don't gamble neither should you but there's you understand what I'm getting at forget the gambling it's the gamble of

Faith where it's the risk of the unknown future and the prophets have the guts to call it out and say things beforehand Samuel will be an expert at that with some of the most famous and dramatic and specific prophecies you'll find anywhere in scripture there's guts on his part he has to trust that God will vindicate him but in the present tense those present peers have such a hard time doing it and I worry that we have the same challenge will we only accept what president Nelson has said years later when it's obvious that he

was preparing us for things that he saw on the horizon but that we couldn't yet Samuel says in verse 26 behold ye are worse than they like talk about hypocrisy they slew their prop you're going to slay yours okay but again I'll be exhibit a in just a matter of time for as the Lord liveth he says there's oath language if a Prophet come among you and declareth unto you the word of the Lord which testifieth of your sins and iniquities oh you are angry with him and cast him out and seek all manner of

ways to destroy him again Ask me ask Alma ask Nephi ask anybody yeah ye will say that he is a false prophet that he is a sinner and of the devil because he test testify that your Deeds are evil it's exactly what the scribes and Pharisees did to Jesus we hate the message so let's attack the messenger let's call him names let's make strawman arguments or or or character assassinate let's let's move him away from the spotlight so we can remain in the dark right jari window right Gad Anon robbers that are now the gadianton

rulers we got problems here to me it's it's interesting that well it's human nature nobody wants to be told that they're doing something wrong and we do all kinds of things to avoid that discomfort at the core of it all it seems to me that it's self deception that leads to prophetic rejection and I don't want to be told that I'm doing something that I shouldn't be Samuel goes on in verse 27 and I love this verse boy does he see it clearly behold if a man shall come among you and shall say oh do

this and there is no iniquity oh do that you shall not suffer yay he will say walk after the pride of your hearts yay walk after the pride of your eyes do whatsoever your heart desireth oh if a man shall come among you and say this oh yeah ye will receive him and say that he is a prophet that's exactly the kind we want I mean we would prefer to embrace our moral relativism the kind that says oh no there are no no bad choices and even if there were there is no Piper to pay

no consequences be authentic the real you do you do you it's fine no problem and if somebody says that who my kind of person this is what Paul talked about when he described those with itching ears that are heaping up teachers after their own lusts itching ears just can you scratch it right there can you tell me what I'm doing isn't wrong please please uh I kind of get nervous a little bit I I I've been reading uh waren peace lately and tolto uses this a great phrase about moral nausea it's a great description of

a troubled conscience where your stomach's a little bit queasy and you're not sure if you're going to be able to keep it in and we do we do all kinds of things to eliminate moral nausea we take Tums and and Pepto-Bismol spiritually speaking we still got the problems going on inside that nausea should awake us that there's something inside that needs to get out but we don't want to have to deal with the problem we don't want to have to repent so what do we do come and scratch this itch come let me know that

everything I'm doing is A-Okay and I'll not only will I proaim Proclaim you a profit I'll pay you for what you're saying that's what you see in verse 28 yeah he will lift him up you will give unto him of your sub substance and because he speaketh flattering words unto you again exactly what you want to hear and he saith that all is well then you will not find fault with him that was exactly what neor knew and aimed for it was popular priestcraft that he was after people should pay us for what we say

and what's the best way to increase paying customers tell them exactly what they want to hear I've told you the story before of my visit to a a Protestant congregation in Charleston South Carolina where the the poor Pastor actually had the guts to start mentioning sin which doesn't always happen it's well if it does it's very vague like we've all we're all Sinners we've come short of the glory of God so we need Jesus and and that's true Doctrine is great let's just stick with that but he actually started to enumerate he said we have

to overcome sin like and I'm like oh he's going to go there he's going to name some things careful that's not a scratching the itch that is twisting the knife if anyone in your congregation was guilty of that sin is he going to come back next week is he going to believe anything in the in in the in the basket and this Minister quick on his feet said we've got to overcome sin like uhoh uh oh I already started uh like and he named three genocide human trafficking and homophobia and I thought really those are

the ones talk about easy to condemn without any of your congregation feeling condemned in the process like oh genocide I've been struggling with that come on right so beware of the itchy ears beware of those that are just coming to tell you what you want to hear those flattering words can flatter us away from the faith and that's exactly what the get Anon Robert have been doing Samuel won't let it happen and so in the in the context of these cries for repentance and this clarification of the consequences of their sins chapter 13 now becomes

chapter 14 where he will get to the good stuff repentance grows out of faith in the Lord Jesus Christ and he's coming that is the the Earth shattering jawdropping announcement that Samuel makes in chapter 14 this is where the birth and death of Christ are clear clearly prophesied the first prophecy again destruction in 400 years if you don't Shape Up second prophecy look at verse 2-4 in chapter 14 okay chapter verse two is where he makes the specific call it's going to be in five years which is kind of crazy when you take a prophecy

and attach a date to it there's a timeline now okay 5 years from now and Christ will come here's the signs verse three and four 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 therefore 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 and then I not I love

this clarification for ye shall know of the rising of the Sun and also of its setting therefore they shall know of assurity that there shall be two days and a night nevertheless the night shall not be darkened it shall be the night before he is born born now I'm sure you've wrestled with this before of the beautiful symbolism of these signs God wants to get as much mileage out of his teaching moments as he can all right and so there's a lesson behind this incredible illumination and part of that lesson is not just to Mark

the day when Christ is born or the night but rather to help us understand what Christ was coming to accomplish to cast out Darkness with his magnificent light what happens when the light of the world comes into the world well the world is illuminated in fact its darkest moments can become as bright as day and that to me is what's so profound about that phrase I think I've skipped over it all these years just like oh yeah day night day when there should have been Darkness instead there was light now that's that's true okay I

believe in that with with all my heart that Christ brings light to dark to our Darkness but I think sometimes people can dismiss that as if it were naive or polanish to to borrow that phrase or that word what's interesting about that that sense is like okay yeah you Latter-Day Saints or you Christians you put on your rose-colored glasses and it's blinding you to the realities of the world all around you and yeah that polyana attitude you're never going to get down into the weeds you're not going to go into the darkness to help bring

people out of it or like I've said before you jump straight to comfort those that need stand in need of comfort and you're never willing to just sit in the darkness and mourn with those that mourn is it naive on our part or is it faith and consolation interesting questions to wrestle with and what I love about what Samuel says here you will know know that the sun has come up and you'll know that it's set visibly somehow it will be crystal clear that whoa there has been a Nightfall why isn't there Darkness I saw

the sun go down there's a different source of the illumination and what I love about that honestly especially as we go through hard things is we can acknowledge the hard things we can recognize the sunset we can admit to ourselves and to others this has been really hard and if it weren't for the light of the world I would be trapped in darkness right now I recognize the sources of that shade the sources of of just the difficulties of the darkness all around me I'm not immune to it I'm not naive to it but somehow

the Light of Christ has helped me nav navigate it in a healthier way I mentioned last week that my my father had another stroke and has been struggling he passed away on Sunday and I understand the sunset I've seen it Decline and go over the horizon but I testify of the light of the world that wipes away every tear that brings Beauty out of ashes and dispels darkness with his glorious light I don't think it's fair to reality and to others experiencing that reality and US experiencing it ourselves I don't think it's fair to say

the Sun never sets in the Christian Empire the Sun never sets as long as Jesus in is in your life no the sun sets every night but the Sun Rises every morning and even in the time in between the light of the world can Pierce those dark days this week has been a a powerful witness of that for me and my family and we're grateful for it what Samuel says on the heels of that statement by the way keep the symbol going keep Jesus as this light and notice him behind the sign chapter 14: 5

and 6 behold there shall a new star arise now we can talk Star of Bethlehem if you want Heavenly uh illumination but let's think Jesus as the new Star himself the day star all right such an one as ye never have beheld I mean I don't know about you if you looked up in the night sky would you even notice that there was a new star I mean there it especially if you really can see clearly at night and see the Milky Way one more Speck up there will be unnoticeable to me so there's this

new star right never have beheld and this also shall be a sign unto you and behold this is not all there shall be many signs and wonders in heaven something new to shine in the darkness something new to give you guidance and Direction since that's what stars were used for in the ancient world some new source of newness of life of purpose of awe of wonder when Jesus comes into your life things change they change dramatically it's things that you never had supposed hadn't considered never crossed your mind and it's mind blowing he says in

verse 8 it shall come to pass that whosoever Shall Believe on the Son of God the same shall have everlasting life and that's key also it's not just that he's going to come it's that when he comes if you will just connect with him Covenant with him everything will be different it's not just his life on Earth it's our life in heaven it's not just his coming to us it's our coming back to him so believe and that belief will prompt the repentance that I was calling you to just one chapter before now if that's

the prophecy of Christ's birth the prophecy of his death is even bigger it's longer it's more extensive extensive and it's interesting because in the middle of it actually right at the beginning of it Samuel interrupts himself he starts in verse 14 by calling attention to okay now I'm going to give you another sign of another event I just did birth of Christ let me talk about the death of Christ oh actually while I'm on the topic of Christ and his death and he goes down this beautiful little tangent where he teaches some incredible Doctrine we'll

go down that tangent in just a second we'll read every verse of it but in the meantime let's just follow through with his first thought his first thought was and here's the death of Christ verse 14 then jump ahead to verse 20 so 15 to 19 is this interlude this Interruption the doctrinal one but going to verse 20 he says in that day that he shall suffer death the sun shall be darkened and refuse to give his light unto you also the moon and the stars 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 now if we saw Christ as this light and when he's born the light of the world casts out darkness in unmistakable and miraculous ways well then the opposite is going to be true that is death this is what happens when you snuff out the light of the world he is irreplaceable we will see that in two weeks in chapter 8 and 9 and 10 where the darkness is so intense

it can be felt makes you wonder if there was a similar miracle that at some point they saw that the sun was Rising but or sensed that the sun was Rising but it made no difference in what they could see I wonder if that was a parallel Miracle as well where are there times in our lives where this should be making me happy why isn't it I should feel more bright than I do look at that out there look what I get to all this fun and all this Hedonism and all this self-serving my wife

went through that when she was in the middle of a concert living the dream in the middle of her away from God's stage the sun should be up then why do I feel so dark why do I feel so empty so this is so shallow so Hollow well because you're living without the light of the world in your life and nothing can take its place you're just trying to find substitutes and they Sorry substitutions he says in verse 21 keep keep the same thought in mind the same metaphor yay at the time that he shall

yield up the ghost there shall be thunderings and Lightnings for the space of many hours the Earth shall shake and tremble and the Rocks which are upon the face of this Earth which are both above the Earth and beneath which you know at this time are solid or the more part of it is one solid Mass they shall be broken up again follow the metaphor on that one I love this what happens when we try to break the rock of the Redeemer take this thought and compare it to what what Helman said to Nephi and

Lehi right if you build upon the rock you'll never fall no matter how many shafts are in the Whirlwind but what if you take your pick and axe to the to the Rock itself and try to get it to crumble beneath you a life without Jesus does not have the safety the stability the security that a life with Jesus affords us and to see think about the old primary song that comes straight out of The Sermon on the Mount where does the wise man build his house on the rock where does the foolish man build

his on the sand but what is sand it's just broken rock down to its bearest essential the most atomized version of something that once stood secure we kick Jesus out of our lives and what used to be Solid Ground beneath our feet we'll be we'll be scrambling we'll be we will be unstable keep that thought alive in verse 22 to 24 yay they shall be rent in Twain and shall Ever After be found in seams and in cracks and broken fragments upon the face of the whole earth yay both above the Earth and beneath the

Earth sound a little like the fabric of society starting to tear apart as we've left common ground in Christ broken fragments describes our culture and Society pretty clearly he goes on and says behold there shall be great tempests how's that for a good metaphor no shelters in the storms of life without Jesus there shall be many mountains laid low like unto a valley and there shall be many places which are now called valleys which shall become mountains whose height is great there there's a whole turning of the world upside down this is the good becoming

evil and the evil being called good the Topsy Turvy moral this inversion of morality that's taking place in our day it's what happens when we kick Christ out of our culture or even worse out of our covenants he says many highways shall be broken up many cities shall become desolate and that's exactly what life feels like without Christ there may be moments of passing Joy or passing ing pleasure I should say but the manner of happiness you have to follow the manner which is the manner of godliness if you remember what Nephi prophesied centuries before

it's only five years now till Christ's birth it's only another a lifetime until his death Samuel's less specific as far as the timetable on that one but all of the rocks rending the the sky darkening and the Tempest and storm this is what Nephi said way back in first Nephi 19 that there will be so much cataclysmic national natural disasters at the at the crucifixion of Christ that the kings of the Isles of the sea will be rot upon to exclaim that the god of nature suffers nature itself is suffering right alongside him cre Creator

and creation in empathy because of the sins of the world that's what's going to happen and again wait for two weeks and you'll see it all being fulfilled but if that is the sign of his death can we pause for the interlude again just one quick nod to it in verse 14 speaking of his death oh actually let me speak about his death let me talk about it theologically before I talk about it prophetically and I love everything that he says this is verse 15-9 and every verse is worth a good close study verse 15

behold he surely must die that salvation may come I mean you may be thinking what if it's the Son of God then there's no way there's going to I can understand the birth date but not the death date but no it's surely it has to there's no other way for salvation to come yay it behooveth him and becometh expedient that he dieth to bring to pass the resurrection of the Dead you see he had to suffer death in order to conquer it he had to go to descend below all things in order to ascend beyond

all things and he did it that thereby men may be brought into the presence of the Lord y behold this death bringeth to pass the resurrection and redeemeth all mankind from the first death that spiritual death 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 but behold the resurrection of Christ redeemeth mankind ye even all mankind and bringeth them back into the presence of the Lord now here he is repeating what Elma had taught before

some hints in chapter 12 of Alma some hints in chapter 42 of Alma but here in helem and 14 I love that Samuel is clarifying something that we latterday Saints often get wrong in our quest to oversimplify things we always separate physical death and spiritual death so far so good physical death separation of body from Spirit spiritual death separation of God from Humanity but what we say is the atonement of Christ unconditionally overcomes the first but only conditionally overcomes the second okay physical death isn't our fault that came in from the fall of Adam and

so it's unconditionally redeemed and we will all be resurrected amulet made that crystal clear right good bad ugly everybody will get their body back but overcoming spiritual death ah no that's that's conditional based on the conditions of repentance now there's truth there but there's also error as we've oversimplified because what Elma had made clear earlier and what Samuel the lonite is clarifying here as well is that overcoming spiritual death is unconditional too Adam and Eve brought both deaths deaths into the world and the atonement of Christ eliminates both deaths for all of ad Adam and

Eve's posterity Resurrection unconditionally overcomes physical death and Judgment Day unconditionally overcomes spiritual death because it's on Judgment Day that all of humanity is forced to face the music The Sword of Justice hanging over them or if they've repented the arms of Mercy extending to them Judgment day will be great and Dreadful just like the second coming of Christ choice is ours of how we will be prepared or unprepared for it and so what Samuel the lonite is describing in here we're B brought back into the presence of God to be judged Adam and E Adam

and Eve can now leave the courtroom wishing us luck good luck kids because now it's on us whether we can stay and have permanently overcome spiritual death or if we'll have to leave all over again and suffer spiritual death for a second time this time not because of Adam and Eve but because of our own sins this is a second Article of Faith stuff okay the way he says it in verse 18 and 19 y it bringeth to pass the condition of repentance that whosoever repenteth the same is not heun down and cast into the

fire but whosoever repenteth not is heun down and cast into the the fire and there cometh upon them again a spiritual death yay a second death for they are cut off again as to things pertaining to righteousness therefore once you understand this let's get back to chapter 13 repent ye repent ye lest by knowing these things and not doing them ye shall suffer yourselves to come under condemnation and ye are brought down unto this second death the atonement of Jesus Christ was meant to completely reverse the fall and it does but that's the fall of

Adam and Eve my personal fall can only be overcome on conditions of repentance Jesus came to make that possible individually for Judgment Day to be a glorious day as prior prophets have described it as then am I prepared with my faith in Christ my repentance of my sins so that when I come back I never have to leave makes me wonder who would ever want to leave if they got to come back home well I mean the unrepentant yes would feel more comfortable away from God but to see him again to see the love the

sorrow the pity in his eyes as he's just willing us to stay if we were only willing to stay with him by the way once Samuel finishes that doctrinal interlude and then goes back and explains all that's going to happen at the death of Christ which we already covered the end of chapter 14 to me is beautiful because he Echoes something but it's not about the signs of Christ's death rather he Echoes the interlude it's like that's the part that really mattered to understand the atonement of Jesus with that in mind please read chap verse

30 and 31 in the spirit with which Samuel is conveying it he says now remember remember my brethren there's like this is like heal them to his sons that whosoever perisheth perisheth unto himself and whosoever doeth iniquity doeth it unto himself I mean this is self-inflicted we curse ourselves we bring it upon our we are Our Own Worst Enemy okay with no one else to blame but the person staring back at us in the mirror we've done iniquity to ourselves because behold ye are free ye are permitted to act for yourselves for behold God hath

given unto you a knowledge and he hath made you free this is all Echo from second Nephi when when Lehi is teaching his sons he hath given unto you that you may know good from Evil he ha given unto you that you might choose life or death there's still Lehi talking to you there's Moses there between ebal and gazim I've set before you life and death wherefore choose life please that's what Samuel's begging he says you can do good and be restored unto that which is good or have that which is good restored unto you

or you can do evil and have that which is evil restored unto you there again is Alma to corant those verses the end of 14 that's what all of this boils down to and the choice is ours oh be wise what more can I say by the way through all of this as Samuel has been teaching sign after sign after sign and Doctrine interspersed between them it's almost like the signs would have gotten the attention of the Nephites like wait what did he just say is going to happen when was that okay you got my

all ears now okay good now that you're listening repent and have faith in Christ and here's the The Plan of Salvation And it overcomes the it's like quit teaching Doctrine let's get back to these crazy prophecies that you're that you're spelling out well why teach why give signs at all we're not supposed to be seeking signs why would God then give us any well here's a few reasons almost every time Samuel brings one up he explains its intent so I'll just collect these intentions and give them to you right here Chapter 14 verse 12-13 here's

the intent that ye might know of the signs of his coming as that's why I'm giving you them in advance to the intent that ye might believe on his name and if you believe on his name ye will repent of all your sins back to that key word that thereby ye may have a remission of them through his merits why give signs to confirm our belief to ground it in something a little bit more clear to the senses that's not to replace the need for Faith but it's to fortify the faith that we should already

be exercising I'm grateful I we shouldn't ask for a sign to start the process but we should gratefully accept the signs that God gives us to confirm Us in the faith he says similar things in verse 28 and 29 of chapter 14 why signs to the intent that they might believe that these signs and these wonders should come to pass upon all the face of this land and why that to the intent that there should be no cause for unbelief among the children of men and this to the intent that whosoever will believe might be

saved and whosoever will not believe well a righteous judgment might come upon them God wants us to have every possible reason to believe but he wants us to believe First exercise the faith as I've often said God will always give us enough evidence to confirm our faith but never so much evidence in advance not to require any faith in the first place he walks a tight rope on that one amazing restraint on his part keeping it possible for us to exercise faith when he could have made it brutally honest it's actually going to be brutally

honest next week and we'll see some of the downfall for those that never experienced Faith before it became too obvious for Faith to even exist okay wait for next week you'll see that clearly he also says in chapter 16:5 this is Mormon kind of looking back and describing it from a distance he says that they were telling them of things which must shortly come that they might know and remember at the time of their coming that they had been made known unto them beforehand and why that as usual to the intent that they might believe

this is not an I told you so but it is it is an I told you beforehand I I needed you to know that I knew this in advance so that when it's fulfilled again there there's time vindicating the prophet no wonder we're one dispensation behind but if we can just hold on to it in the moment accept the prophets even when they have hard sayings and believe the signs will follow to help us confirm what we believed already well one last chapter well two two more chapters I want to spend a little bit of

time in 15 and then I can summarize 16 in just a minute or two chapter 15 the calls to repentance well still continue but the the bulk of that is behind us uh the signs of Christ's birth and death that's now behind us in chapter 14 and chapter 15 Samuel the lonite is going to press upon his hearers the reality that the roles have reversed we started seeing that a few weeks ago again conversion of the anti- Nephi Lehi they're incredible Warriors I me what the these lamanites are saving the Nephi Nation uh what what

you start seeing in Nephi and lehi's Ministry with all these lonit streaming into the kingdom well Samuel is going to call it out like nobody else can he's going to use language that I I'm okay Samuel using but I would never say it this way okay notice chapter 15: 3 and 4 and you the role reversal is practically complete Samuel saysthe people of Nephi hath he God loved and then skip ahead but behold my brethren the lamanites oh hath he hated now that's with the strong language like ah I wouldn't use that term but for

a lonite can he can use it himself oh yeah we're the hated older brother we're the castoff side of the family that never came to the tree to partake of the fruit well like we saw back in Helman chapter 5 it's reversed and it's the it's the need leites that are wandering off to the great and spacious building we lamanites are partaking of the fruit and then sharing it far and wide what's happened so far okay so Nephites God loved lamanites God hated but behold salvation hath come unto them through the preaching of the Nephites

Nephites will always be grateful for that Ammon Aaron love you guys for this intent hath the Lord prolonged their days that's why God allow this go back to Jacob 3 also because the lamanites at least had love of family and loyalty in family and liveed law of Chastity God will prolong their days long enough that they get a second chance and here's Samuel living in those days and go we we are believe me we're taking advantage of this these Second Chances we are we repented when preached to well now the roles have been reversed and

I'm preaching to you and your lives can be prolonged just like ours were you can come out of this on a more positive side you've just got to repent he says in verse 5 and six I would that you should behold that the more part of them are in the path of their Duty it's like you Nephites look at the lamanites as an example Paul is going to do this with the Jews and the Gentiles and he he preaches to the Jews and says look at the Gentiles because they're doing better than we are the

Gentiles in some ways I loved his phrase are provoking the Jews to Greater faithfulness it's like wait they can't beat us this is our they're beating us at our own game and it's not a game they're living Our Gospel better than we are hm maybe I need to change after all that's what lay that's what Samy the lonite is banking on so notice this description I love it we started verse 5 keep reading now there the more part are in the path of their Duty so lamanites are majority righteous now they do walk circumspectly before

God and that's a great word circum means around and spec is like spe look so these laminites are walking as they look around before God and they're not looking around to care what people say about him because that usually makes you leave the fruit of the tree of life right you're ashamed they're looking around to see who to share the fruit with remember the people who who were shamed cast their eyes about and saw the great and spacious building Lehi cast his eyes about and saw family in need of Direction okay and so these lonite

converts are walking circumspectly before God such a great word they do observe to keep his Commandments and his statutes and his judgments according to the law of Moses y I say unto you that the more part of them are doing this and they are striving with unwearied diligence sound like Nephi getting the sealing power all that unwearying we saw last week well these lonite converts not one wit behind Okay unwearied diligence that they may bring the remainder of their Brethren to the knowledge of the truth truth therefore there are many who do add to their

numbers daily that's all these lamanites want these are strong converts as strong as they get in fact in the next two verses Samuel is going to build on that it's not enough yet he still hasn't provoked the Nephites to emulation okay and in verse seven and 8 he describes these unbending unwearying lifelong firm stable converts to the kingdom and he does it in a way that allows us to understand the process by which these converts became so faithful I love Helman 15:7 and 8 because it gives us a chance to reverse engineer that kind of

convert uh any of you return missionaries out there who can think back to people that you love and taught and saw baptized but have since Fallen away that's pain ful that's there's always a twinge of regret what could I have done more for that family in the vineyard well how can I create converts I don't create them how can I facilitate a conversion that is so lifelong well notice these two verses and then let's see if we can reverse engineer it behold ye do know of yourselves for ye have witnessed it that as many of

them as are brought to the knowledge of the truth and to know of the wicked and abominable traditions of their fathers again he can call it that and are led to believe the holy scriptures yay the Prophecies of the Holy prophets which are written which leadth them to Faith on the Lord and unto repentance which faith and repentance bringeth a change of heart unto them therefore as many as have come to this ye know of yourselves are firm and steadfast in the faith and in the thing wherewith they have been made free beautiful description now

to reverse engineer that kind of convert let's read that verse in or read that verse in Reverse it was hard to say and notice it ends with this kind of convert that is firm and steadfast okay they never fall away well how did you get them there well rewind just a phrase and what do you see before well they had a change of heart they weren't just kind of clenching their teeth or gritting their teeth and clenching their fists like oh I got to stay strong because Elder Halverson really wants me to that's not going

to cut it they have to change their nature or the natural man will just kick back in at some point but how do you change a nature how do you experience the mighty change of heart remember this is Alma 5 now this is what Alma was grappling with have you experienced this Mighty change of heart uh have you S Felt to sing the song of the redeeming love have you received his image in your countenance if you if you sang it once can you do you feel the sing sing it now so that's the change

heart transplant we still doing okay well what effects a change of heart rewind another phrase and it's faith on the Lord and repentance it's everything I taught about repentance in Chapter 13 everything I taught about faith in chapter 14 so here we are in chapter 15 introducing you to people who actually did that and their faith in Christ was so deeply founded Rock not sand that it led to it was faith unto repentance that led into a baptism of repentance they're going to keep repenting for the rest of their lives that's what keeps the the

heart changed that's the heart transplant and you keep taking your medicine so that the natural man doesn't reject foreign material okay and what is it that leads to that level of faith and that reality of repentance well rewind a bit more they had been brought to knowledge of the truth they saw that Christ was true and they embraced that truth they saw that repentance was real and required and so they embraced that as well they were brought to that knowledge and what brought them to it the scriptures and the prophets that's where it all began

honestly if you take each phrase in Helman 15:7 and 8 and rearrange it in chronological order or even causitive order then in the beginning was the word and the word LED them to God and led them to be like God starting with scripture I know I'm preaching to the choir because here we are studying it but begin with that word take ancient prophets living prophets their words their prophecies their testimonies of Jesus Christ and that's what brings you to a knowledge of the capital T truth embracing that kind of knowledge will lead us to exercise

saving faith in the name of Jesus and a desire to repent of all our sins so we can be like him you do that often enough where it becomes so natural to you that it offsets the natural man then you now have a change of heart a mighty one and it's that changed heart that refuses to ever go back in the wrong direction firm steadfast in the things wherewith they have been made free why would I ever put myself back in prison when God has already freed me such a powerful passage well it's because of

con conversions like that that there's that the lamanites are such an incredible example and why the lamanites can hold on to so much hope NE Samuel hopes that the Nephites can Embrace similar hope for themselves but notice verses 12-4 and we'll wrap up this chapter here yay I say unto you in the latter times so latter days our days the promises of the Lord have been extended to our Brethren the lamanites and not withstanding the many afflictions which they shall have and notwithstanding they shall be driven to and fro upon the face of the Earth

and be hunted and shall be smitten and Scattered abroad having no place for Refuge well despite all that not withstanding all that the Lord shall be merciful unto them and this is according to prophecy that they shall again be brought to the true knowledge which is the knowledge of their redeemer their great and true Shepherd and be numbered among his sheep therefore I say unto you it shall be better for them than for you except ye repent those three all important words we are living in the day where like I said the lamanites are blossoming

is a rose Christianity is strengthening in the global South even while it seems to be withering on some Northern Vines I love that that Samuel sees the future of his people with hope but I also love that he Embraces those who are different in order to try to welcome them into or steer them towards a better hope for themselves all it takes is repentance and faith in Christ Christ he's coming do not procrastinate the day of coming unto him well what's the aftermath of all of it Samuel's sermon lasts 13 14 15 16 shows us

the aftermath and it's where the action kicks in it's where the young Irene boys start throwing tinfoil balls at their dad the there are converted Nephites there are Nephites with a soft enough heart to hear and open their their their hearts to it and change and they go scurrying off to Nephi one of their own a nephite prophet and ask for repentance because they now have faith in Christ and are coming confessing and repenting of their sins Nephi is thrilled to receive them he's like why did you just come running oh there's a guy on

the wall that he's been saying everything that you've been saying but I don't know it came out different coming from him coming from him and Cena hey if a lonite can do this why can't I oh that's prideful uh and anyway I I'm here to repent and they're converted now not that describes some but not all the other ones well instead of making an arrow to Nephi pointed their bows and arrows at Samuel and let them fly and that's when the miracle came of a Miss every single time well that actually woke up a few

others that were hesitant to just accept his words but speaking of signs and giving you no cause for unbelief well they no longer didn't believe and they made a beine for Nephi as well but again there were those who pushed back even against that and continuing to threaten Samuel Samuel then leaped from the wall That's why again friberg's picture is like whoa there was a miracle one way or another either a miracle that they missed with their arrows or a miracle that he survived to jump like that from that kind of towering height well who

knows how tall the wall was right either way he escapes he goes goes back to his own land and this time God doesn't tell him to come back and give it another shot the Nephites have their shot it's just a matter of whether or not they'll take it from this point we never hear of Samuel again except when Jesus himself looking through nephite scripture asks where Samuel the lonite in fact I did what the Nephites did I skipped something that they evidently skipped because when Jesus is looking at their scriptures and said wait a minute

didn't Samuel talk about the resurrection oh oh yeah yeah yeah during that little interlude um oh and when he talked about the death of Christ and and the bir and it had to be that way or the resurrection couldn't come okay good included among the signs of his death what were they oh all the cataclysmic stuff and they yep sure enough it happened and darkness and quaking and all instability natural disaster like yeah but what wasn't there some good news in there mixed in with all the the bad yeah oh yeah Samuel said that the

graves of many would open H Jesus is the first fruits of them that slept but a whole more a lot more fruit would follow the Saints would rise and appear unto many did it happen Jesus asks oh yeah just like Samuel said then why didn't you write it down of all the signs of my death and resurrection that was my favorite that others could now join me in a glorious conquest of the Grave write it down so what we have in that must have been inserted after the fact I even wonder was Samuel's entire scene

inserted after the fact by Mormon did Mormon take Christ's correction in third Nephi as self-correction as well like they left Samuel's prophecy out did I leave Samuel completely out of the narrative do I need to go back and reinsert him because look at chapter 16:4 and it says behold Nephi was baptizing and again every every one of Samuel's converts got baptized by Nephi instead okay there's no font up at the top of the wall right uh but they go rush rush to Nephi and Nephi was baptizing but keep reading he was also prophesying which is

something that Samuel was famous for Nephi was also preaching which is exactly what Samuel was doing up there Nephi was crying repentance unto the people which was the key word for Samuel throughout his entire sermon and Nephi was showing signs and wonders just like Samuel focused on in chapter uh 14 Nephi was working miracles among the people and it was a miracle that Samuel survived his own sermon and all of this that they might know that Christ must shortly come which again was part of NE uh Samuel's purpose too what's interesting to me is hman

16:4 says basically that Nephi the nephite was doing everything that Samuel the lonite was doing I even wonder if originally again this is pure speculation on my part but the original version of this was it Nephi doing all this stuff I mean he got to baptize him at least after all right and was there some kind of something in Mormon that realized oh no sorry Nephi we're actually going to shelf you for a moment we're going to put you make you Junior companion don't worry you're not one wit behind either but this message needs to

come from Samuel it will hit different with a lonite behind every word well like I said Samuel returns to his own land we will miss him but again I hope his words Echo Ever After reminding us of the message that this incredible messenger conveyed I for one am grateful that it was him I'm grateful for the who as well as the what there's something about learning from Outsiders uh to them I'm I'm the outsider to come together in those kinds of to cross boundaries and to climb walls and to meet in in spaces that can

be hard to come by we better figure out how to do that if we're ever going to establish Zion now for some review beautiful phrases Samuel has so many incredible ones and again he draws from so many nephite prophets along with them beautiful intertextuality here but here are some words worth pondering over the next week whatsoever things the Lord put into his heart The Sword of Justice nothing can save this people save it be repentance and faith on the Lord Jesus Christ Glad Tidings to my soul withdraw my spirit repent and turn unto me blessed

are they who will repent for them will I spare if it were not for the righteous for the righteous sake hide up their Treasures unto me remember the Lord Lord your God in the things with which he hath blessed you how long will you choose Darkness rather than light our riches are gone from us all things are become slippery procrastinated the day of your salvation everlastingly too late contrary to the nature of righteousness as if it was day you shall know of the rising of the Sun and also of its setting a new star as

ye never have beheld ye shall all be amazed whosoever Shall Believe on the Son of God the same shall have everlasting life repent and prepare the way of the Lord because I am a lonite to the intent that ye might believe he surely must die that salvation may come back into the presence of the Lord a second death broken fragments Graves shall be opened no cause for unbelief whosoever perisheth perisheth unto himself God hath given unto you a knowledge and he hath made you free he chastened them because he loved loveth them in the path

of their Duty striving with unwary diligence faith and repentance bringeth a change of heart firm and steadfast in the faith firmness when they were once enlightened the promises of the Lord have been extended their great and true Shepherd the day of my wisdom Glad Tidings of great joy that last phrase should always remind us of Christmas and for us Christmas is only a week away next week Christ will be born in the old world and we'll get to watch that light illuminate the new I am grateful for the light that Jesus gives me including in

my dark days I recognize sunsets when they come but despite it nevertheless not withstanding because of my faith in Jesus no matter how dark the day I see his glorious light [Music] thanks so much for listening to unshaken a proud member of the faith matters podcast Network you can learn more about faith matters and check out our other shows at Faith matters.org