Come Follow Me - 3 Nephi 8-11 (Extended Version): Christ in America

[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] hey everybody I'm Jared Halverson and welcome back to unshaken thrilled to spend some time in the scriptures with you today Institute started for me in person a couple of weeks ago and if you're one of those students I particularly welcome you I've been so grateful that

technology has allowed us to expand our classroom around the world but I sure have missed having people in my actual classroom and even though I can only see half your face behind the mask I'm grateful for the light in your eyes I can't shake your hands yet but I can feel the strength of your faith and I'm grateful for that I'm grateful that you guys come to class after watching these videos ready to dig even deeper and I've been thrilled with your comments your insights the faith and testimony that you share with me each week

and for those that are outside of the area or outside of official Institute age I've been so grateful to see your comments as you share insights things that I hadn't thought of so thank you for teaching me today we reach the climax of the book Book of Mormon really the coming of Jesus Christ 3D Nei 11 I've probably read more times as a missionary with people trying to help them see the power of the Book of Mormon and what a place to begin right when Jesus comes among his other sheep not of the old world

fold I'm excited to get to that chapter today but I hope we see that the three chapters that lead up to it the Nephi 89 and 10 are such an important part of that Crescendo the darkness before the light this past Easter just a few weeks after I started this channel I made a video called the awful arithmetic of the atonement I was still figuring out how to do this YouTube thing so I'm not sure if production values are very high but the content was something that to me has been life-changing and I spent some

time talking about a musical oratorio that was written back when I was in college called The Garden The Garden of course is Gethsemane there's a ram CAU in the thicket there's a plant that can't grow there's an olive tree that is Barren there's a millstone that feels useless there's a gardener that's trying to reassure everyone and a landlord that's trying to keep everyone in that place and then there's one other character a man with many names he's called that will someday come the gardener keeps promising he'll free the Ram from the thicket he'll coax growth

out of this seedling he'll reassure the barren tree of its worth and do the same for the millstone in the video that I made to teach te the atonement I used one of the songs from the garden to try to illustrate what was taking place for Jesus in Gethsemane and he plays the pivotal role of course but the name he's given in that oratorio I think is so fitting the man with many names if you were to look up Jesus Christ in the topical guide you would see a list that is incredibly long of name

titles symbols that represent who Jesus is and each one shines a light at a different facet of his personality or of his mission in fact in the doctrine of covenants often as the Lord begins one of his Revelations he'll frequently reintroduce himself choosing specifically one of those names a symbolic title that often has a lot to do with the content of the Revelation that will follow Jesus is the Lamb of God and he's the Good Shepherd and he's the door of the fold he's the rock he's the vine he's The Lion and the lamb and

sometimes he's more lion and other times he's more lamb occasionally over the years serving in Bishop rigs I've assigned sacrament meeting speakers just to choose a name of Jesus and teach us what that name has to do with him what it says about him those are some of my favorite Sacrament meetings because they're so Christ centered well I want to start today with the name titles that Jesus chooses for himself when he first introduces himself to the gathered Nephites that's in chapter 11 but I think that title helps us put into perspective what's going to

happen in chapter 8 n and 10 to begin today as the Savior descends third Nephi 11: 11 he says behold I am the light and the life of the world now we talked about that a little bit last week as we began third Nephi especially chapter 1 the sign of Christ's birth was light light shining in darkness we talked about it at the end of Helman when we discussed Samuel the lonite that that was the sign given to make it perfectly clear not just that Jesus had come but who Jesus was in coming to bring

light to a world in darkness well the flip side of Samuel's prophecy of Jesus's birth was his prophecy of Jesus's death and it was the exact opposite of the kind of sign that he prophesied for the first instead of light shining when there should have been Darkness at the death of Jesus there was nothing but Darkness even at times when there should have been light such fitting metaphors for the light and the life of the world since that Darkness was also accompanied by destruction and death that is what 3D Nephi 89 and 10 are all

about and it's against the backdrop of that period of inescapable darkness and death that Jesus comes to reintroduce to these people the light and the life that they had been missing this man of many names chose perfect names for the gathered multitude there in the land bound of but to appreciate that light let's understand the darkness in chapter 8:1 it's almost as if Mormon himself knows that we are reaching the climax of this narrative and so he reaffirms its truthfulness he says it came to pass that according to our record and we know our record

to be true how does he know it because it was a just man who did keep the record and how do you know he's a just man for he truly did many miracles in the name of Jesus and there was not any man who could do a miracle in the name of Jesus save he were cleansed every wit from his iniquity I'm grateful that Mormon is reestablishing these credentials to know that we can trust the record that is about to describe the most important event in the last 600 years of nephite history and he bases

those credentials not on Perfection but on worthiness and a certain kind not on cleanliness but what we might call cleansed because that's the word he uses cleansed not clean what allowed This Record Keeper to perform Miracles he had been cleansed which means he needed cleansing he was just but only because the Lord had been merciful to his injustices I love that he was able to perform many miracles because the greatest Miracle the atonement of Jesus Christ had already taken place in his life and who better to talk about the coming of the light of the

world world to shine through Darkness than someone who had to be cleansed from his own iniquity and was cleansed every wit I don't need a perfect person to act as historian for Perfection personified who's about to come I'd actually prefer imperfection not only because it gives me someone to relate to but because it reassures me that this is someone who knows who Christ really is having seen him through the lens of the atonement cleansed every wit from his iniquity now verse two if there was no mistake made by this man just like we see in

the title page of the Book of Mormon there is space granted for the possibility of human error scripture does not have to be inherent in order to be inspired and inspiring Divine fingerprints mingle with human fingerprints all across the Canon but if he's right and we believe he is and we feel that we can trust that he is then in the Reckoning of our time the 30 and3rd year had passed away and with a passage of that time verse three the people began to look with great earnestness for the sign which had been given by

the prophet Samuel the lonite yay for the time that there should be Darkness for the space of three days over the face of the land now do you remember back in chapter one of third Nephi the people were also thinking about a sign this time the sign of Jesus's birth and they were watching for it also they were looking now here they're looking with great earnestness back then they were looking with great steadfastness back in chapter 1 when they were waiting for the birth of Christ and facing their own death if the sign did not

come it was with steadfastness that they watched you will not push me back into doubt or disbelief I'm standing firm here as I'm watching well this one seems even more proactive more anticipatory not just a matter of I will not go back but here almost a sense of I want to rush forward earnestness means anxious care solicitude intenseness of desire a fixed desire or attention a seriousness and that's how they felt about the sign of Christ's death knowing what it would mean for all of them for the entire world that the atonement had been performed

that it was finished the law fulfilled death is conquered man is free it was with earnestness that they were watching for that unfortunately opposition in all things just like we saw back in chapter 1 verse 4 there began to be great doubting and disputations among the people notwithstanding so many signs have been given so faith has an incredibly strong leg to stand on these signs are being fulfilled but as usual doubt seems to have a leg to stand on as well but notice the differences in terms of approach there were doubting and disputations to me

this seems like opposite extremes doubting seems like you don't have enough shity disputations meanwhile seems like you have too much I mean the fact that you're fighting over something you're disputing it it's like no I know I'm right about this in this case about these signs in our case it could be anything I know I'm right about this approach to whatever or this political position or this spiritual Insight if we're searching for The goldilock Zone in this disputation comes from the Too Hot Side doubting comes from the too cold side and we still see it

all around us how do we strike balance how do we find our way into the middle it's a great question I think in some ways we need to have enough Faith to pull ourselves away from the doubting but also enough humility to keep us from the disputation when it comes to the signs of the times to have enough Faith to trust their fulfillment but also to have enough meekness enough humility not to dispute over well this one means this and this is the timing and this is when it's all going to take place I'm seeing

some of that right now take place now some people seem adamant that certain things are being fulfilled right now in particular ways and others don't seem to care and personally I worry about both the apathy and the overzealousness both the complacency and the contentiousness the doubting and the disputations that seem to be arising over this particular issue at this particular time again we seem to be living at the end of Helman the beginning of third Nephi the closer we get to third Nephi 11 in our day the more doubting and disputations there will probably be

so again I invite us all to try to find our way into that middle ground that goldilock zone now in verse 5 it came to pass in the 30 and4th year in the first month on the fourth day of the month now remember they started their calendar over at the sign of Christ's birth so here when it says the first month don't think January think same time of year that Jesus was born born now even though we do celebrate Christmas on December 25th we don't believe that that's actually when Jesus was born that would have

been really cold for the Shepherds to be out abiding over their flocks by night in fact why watch over them at night at all when I was a kid I thought man Shepherds must never get any sleep well if this is Springtime lambing season and with Bethlehem so close to Jerusalem as some Scholars suggest these were probably Temple flocks being prepared for Passover sacrific well you got to stay up to see which will be the first born of the flock the one that will be able to to be qualified to be sacrificed as the Pascal

lamb again if Jesus's birth is taking place around Passover his death is taking place around the same time that Lamb of God recognized first by the Shepherds had grown up to become the Pascal lamb himself and the time of sacrifice had come and while all of that is taking place in the old world what is taking place in the new the prophecies are being fulfilled verse 5 speaks of a great storm and not just anyone one as never had been known in all the land remember we talked about that with the star last week how

on Earth would you be able to recognize a new star when the sky is full of them well it would be a star unlike any you had ever seen well a storm a great storm a generational storm a once in a century storm no a once in eternity kind of storm one as had never been known in verse six there was a great and terrible Tempest one that shook the whole earth as if it was about to divide aunder notice that combination of adjectives great and terrible reminiscent of the great and Dreadful day of the

Lord preceding the second coming of Christ in fact that phrase great and terrible comes up seven times in this chapter as it describes the cataclysmic events that are surrounding ing the coming of Jesus in verse seven exceedingly sharp Lightnings again like had never been known in eight the city of zarahemla takes fire in nine the city of Moroni is sunk into the depths of the sea verse 10 the city of morona is buried by a mountain this is an intensity of Destruction unlike anything I can imagine I've lived through earthquakes in California hurricanes in Puerto

Rico tornadoes and a flood in Tennessee we just had hurricane force winds here in Utah just a couple of days ago but I honestly have a hard time even Imagining the intensity of Destruction that's taking place here verse 11 and 12 sound like an understatement as it speaks of a great and terrible destruction both in the Land South and in the land north the whole face of the land was changed because of the Tempest and the whirlwinds and the thunderings and the Lightnings and the exceedingly great quaking of the whole earth and if this level

of intensity seems impossible to us it seemed impossible to them too remember there were hard-hearted Nephites in zarahemla that doubted that their great City could ever be destroyed just like those in amanah generation earlier and yet it's amazing how specific the Lord was when he spoke through Samuel the lonite saying if it were not for the righteous who are in this great City zarahemla behold I would cause that fire should come down out of heaven and destroy it and that's exactly the fate of zarahemla or as Mormon says back in Helman chapter 12 this Interruption

when he's kind of venting about the pride cycle he says if God says to a mountain be thou raised up and come over and fall upon that City that it be buried up behold it's done and if that sounds impossible ask the people of morona now is this a massive earthquake that forced the land upward where that City Once stood is it a volcano that displaces the city with whatever is left afterwards is it a huge landslide that buries the City Underground who knows but I find it interesting that Mormon in writing Helman 12 perhaps

hearkening back back to this example uses it to teach us that God can do anything the dust of the Earth really does obey his Direction I think it's important that we recognize the seeming impossibility of the unheard of nature never seen these things before that we're recognizing here in third Nephi 8 because I worry that sometimes today we approach prophecy or Revelation with similar skepticism how can these things possibly come to pass well trust in the Lord in verse 13 highways are broken up level roads are spoiled many smooth places become rough remember earlier we

saw new cities being built old cities being repaired highways being laid out to connect everyone this beautiful symbol of growth and progress of repentance and forgiveness of unification throughout Society well all of that is being reversed suggesting the kind of wickedness and division that led to the crucifixion of Christ I love verse 13 also because it suggests a reversal of what Isaiah prophesied regarding the coming of Christ remember this from Isaiah chter 40 you can almost here handles Messiah going in the background the voice of him that crith in the wilderness prepare ye the way

of the Lord make straight in the desert a highway for our God every Valley shall be exalted Every Mountain and Hill shall be made low and the Crooked shall be made straight and the rough places plain and the glory of the Lord Lord shall be revealed and All Flesh shall see it together notice the opposite is taking place here Isaiah's prophecy describes road construction beautifully the best highways are the straightest ones quickest way to get to your destination exalt The Valleys bring down the mountains like I kind of cut one off and flip it over

we want a good level grade right none of these winding roads that takes too long so let's make the Crooked straight rough I don't want to have to slow down and go over some gravel road let's grade this thing perfectly and make the rough places plain smooth why because we want Christ to be able to come and to come quickly well here they have crucified him they did not want him to come they wanted him to leave and those highways were broken what had been level is now spoiled what was smooth is now rough in

verse 14 great and notable cities were sunk because there weren't enough great and Noble people within them living the gospel many were burned many were shaken till the buildings thereof had fallen to the earth and the inhabitants slain and the places were left desolate now in 15 some cities did remain but the damage thereof was exceedingly great nice to know there are survivors we'll meet some of them shortly but no one seems to come away from this unscathed reminds me a lot of the stripping Warriors they survived but all were wounded verse 16 some were

carried away in the Whirlwind and we have no idea where they went doesn't this seem to suggest what's taking place in our day spiritually speaking metaphorically highways being broken up whatever could have connected us with one another is no longer present people burned by the fiery darts of the adversary people sunk under the weight of their own sin people carried about by every wind of Doctrine and Blown Away to places spiritually speaking where we cannot find them at all of course it's okay to think literally when it comes to the signs of the times earthquakes

in diverse places yes that happens but I'm more interested in the spiritual the metaphorical manifestations of those as I see people shaking in their faith all over that's the kind of earthquake I'm more interested in trying to help Shore people up against and I think sometimes what we see happening all around us physically is meant to teach us the more invisible lessons of what's taking place within in verse 17 you see thus the face of the whole earth became deformed because of the tempests and the thunderings and the Lightnings and the quaking of the earth

you ever seen somebody's face become deformed because of such pain that they're in this Grimace of pain ever seen somebody's face get stormy you ever seen a fire ignite in somebody's eyes out of anger or indignation you ever seen quaking in someone trembling out of fear for what they are seeing before them the Earth itself seems to be reacting this way because her creator has just been killed no wonder the signs speak of the sun itself Turning Away not wanting to shine its light to behold this kind of scene or the moon usually a symbol

of peace of Serenity becoming blood red in its anger over what's taking place before it the Earth itself becoming deformed you remember what Nephi prophesied of 600 years ago this is 1 Nephi 19 10-12 as Nephi begins to piece together Clues from all these ancient prophets on the brass plates something from an angel something from zenic something from neom something from Zenus collectively prophesying of Christ's death and burial and Resurrection Nephi says that the Lord will visit the righteous with his voice whereas the wicked will be visited with natural disasters unmistakable evidence that something is

taking place until many of the kings of the Isles of the sea shall be wrot upon by the spirit of God to exclaim the god of nature suffers and with an empathy that reaches down even to the inward Parts the Earth itself suffers alongside him the god of nature suffers and so nature shows its own suffering as well you remember what Enoch described in his visions of this embodied personified Earth Moses 7:48 Enoch looked upon the Earth and he heard a voice from the bowels thereof that's where empathy arises from that's the seat of real

compassion saying woe woe is me the mother of men I am pained I am weary because of the wickedness of my children when shall I rest and be cleansed from the filthiness which has gone forth out of me when will my Creator sanctify me that I may rest and righteousness for a season abide upon my face later in that chapter Enoch sees the crucifixion that earlier passage referred more to the flood now he seen exactly what's taking place here in 3 Nei 8 and he heard a loud voice and the heavens were veiled that explains

the darkness and all the creations of God mourned and the Earth groaned and the Rocks were rent the Old Testament often talks about rening your garments out of Devastation sitting there in sackcloth and Ashes well here the Earth itself is doing so fast forward a little more in Moses 7 and you see this the day shall come that the Earth shall rest that day is not here yet but before that day the heavens shall be darkened a veil of Darkness shall cover the earth and the heavens shall shake and also the Earth and great tribulations

shall be among the Children of Men men that describes the New World before the first coming of Christ and it describes the whole world before the second coming of Christ but notice the promise that accompanies it my people will I preserve how righteousness will I send down out of heaven and truth will I send forth out of the Earth can you sense Revelation from above scripture emerging from beneath to Bear testimony of my only begotten and righteousness and truth will cause to sweep the Earth as with a flood the same Earth that was cleansed by

a flood of water originally will be cleansed by a flood of Truth before it's cleansed by a flood of fire and that truth gathers out the elect from the four quarters of the earth unto a place which I shall prepare and holy city that my people may gir up their loins and be looking forth for the time of my coming for there shall be my tabernac Le and it shall be called Zion a New Jerusalem don't just think of that on the macro level when is the church going to get around to building the New

Jerusalem when is the Gathering to Missouri supposed to take place take it much more personally that upon every Dwelling Place of Mount Zion and upon her assemblies a cloud and smoke by day a shining of a flaming fire by night all that glory for a defense we're supposed to be building Zion everywhere every place the Saints assemble Tabernacles for a shadow in the daytime from the heat for a place of refuge and for a covert from storm and from rain isn't that exactly what the people seem to need in 3 Nei chapter 8 I am

grateful for all that the church is doing to gather Zion to dot the Earth with temples places of Refuge but if it's in every Dwelling Place upon all of our assemblies is my own home a place where righteousness and Truth truth come to meet am I building Zion there one heart and one mind dwelling in righteousness no poor Among Us is my own family a covering from storm and from rain are we looking forward with great earnestness to Jesus whenever he comes to us or whenever we go to him again I love the symbolism of

this chapter of what's taking place notice the types of Destruction storm Tempest Whirlwind with all that rain falling it's almost like the flood is reoccurring think of the water as cleansing and then the wind Jesus when he speaks to Nicodemus compares the wind to the Spirit Wind seems to clear things out as well so baptism of water and baptism of spirit picture the cleansing that is taking place through storm and Tempest and Whirlwind there's thunder and lightning well the kind of bright light and loud sound that wakes up the world trying to get my kids

up in the morning there is typically plenty of light and sound I can't quite pull off thunder and lightning but I'm trying to make things such that my children cannot ignore the message to awake and arise Nature's alarm clock seems to be serving a similar purpose it's interesting that in this destruction in 3i 8 you see Earth you see Wind You See Fire you see water these four key elements that the Ancients thought that everything else revolved around again do you sense that creation itself nature is suffering here earthquakes and whirlwinds those two are similar

in that they both move things they suggest the need on our part for foundations firmly rooted and established anchor points that we can hold to so that we're not moved as Paul wrote continue in the faith grounded and settled and be not moved away from the hope of the Gospel or as the Lord says in the Doctrine and Covenants stand ye in holy places and be not moved until the day of the Lord come that puts things in Second Coming context as well to stand firm amidst an earthquake to be immovable before a whirlwind how

are we doing through our own third Nephi 8s are we preparing for our third Nephi 11s because when he comes all of this will change no more storms and tempests and whirlwinds no more thundering and lightning when Christ comes he will provide light and calm and peace no more quaking of the earth he is The Rock The Rock of Our Redeemer upon which we can build a sure Foundation even if there are shafts in the Whirlwind as we read in Helman 5 they can't pick us up and blow us away as described him he is

the rock of heaven and that rock is as broad as eternity there's no falling off there's no Edge to fall off of everything you see going wrong in chapter 8 is going to be made right in chapter 11 that's exactly the kind of reversal that shifts from Fall to atonement and it all comes through Christ now in verse 19 we see that these natural disasters lasted for about 3 hours it would have felt like an eternity the earthquakes that I've lived through lasted seconds and yet talk about slowmo I can only imagine 3 hours of

this kind of Devastation I remember on my mission a massive Category 5 hurricane was coming and was supposed to just pulverize Puerto Rico but right before it hit landfall it veered North and destroyed the Virgin Islands instead on one of those islands we had a set of young elders and a senior set of missionaries and I remember talking to one of those Elders afterward wards where the four of them huddled together in the senior missionary's apartment covered with a mattress from the bed with things flying all over the place all around them and they honestly

wondered not are we going to die but rather how long until we do this is fear and trembling this is great and terrible for 3 hours it lasted but it was said by some that the time was greater oh of course it's going to feel much much greater for everyone involved nevertheless all these great and terrible things were done in about the space of 3 hours and then behold there was Darkness upon the face of the land now compared to everything they've just lived through for the past 3 hours with eyes wide open lights to

see it all seems like Darkness wouldn't be any problem at all I mean who's afraid of the dark but can you imagine Darkness following immediately after all this kind of Destruction and desolation the whole face of the earth is deformed right Rubble debris all around you cracks in the surface of the Earth you can't go anywhere I would be Frozen with fear Darkness all around me not knowing where it's safe to go at all especially with this kind of darkness in verse 20 it's described as thick Darkness upon all the face of the land and

it was Darkness so thick that it could be felt it was like this oppressive weight of Darkness here it's described as those that had not Fallen could feel the vapor of Darkness Darkness I spent most of my life in the Western United States dry heat and yet my two years in the Caribbean and my 8 years in the South let me talk about Vapor for a while the humidity when it's cold humidity that cold just gets to the Bone and when it's hot humidity it's just oppressive it's suffocating I just wonder about this Vapor of

Darkness that just makes it so much worse fear just seeping into the bone this suffocating anxiety verse 21 there could be no light not just that there was no light there could be no light because of the darkness and I don't care if you have candles or torches I don't care if you have fine and exceedingly dry wood no fire can be kindled there could not be any light at all and that wasn't just true of the man-made attempts at Illumination in verse 22 there was not any light seen neither fire nor glimmer neither the

Sun nor the moon nor the Stars you can't even see the Flames consuming the city of zarahemla anymore so great were The Mists of darkness which were upon the face of the land does your spiritual life feel like that sometimes remember Lehi saw Mists of Darkness as well the only thing we have to hold on to is that iron Rod but this oppressive weight of sin and Temptation pushing in from all around us suffocating our spirituality why because we've cast Jesus out of our world trying to provide light for ourselves in some other way again

Isaiah describes this beautifully when he says in chapter 50:1 behold all ye that Kindle a fire and here they couldn't even do that you that Compass yourselves about with Sparks you can sense Isaiah getting a little chippy here a little snarky he like oh yeah you you're trying to Kindle Fire all you got are sparks that's all the light you're able to produce he says fine walk in it walk in the light of your fire that is in the Sparks that you've kindled do your best and this shall you have of mine hand you shall

lie down in sorrow I remember as a little kid wanting to read books at night but it was bedtime and lights out and so I had a little watch with a watch light now don't think of technology today think of technology in the 70s and 80s and a watch light was the dimmest little spark you can imagine but then I'd huddle under my blanket and put my little watch light on and try to illuminate a tiny little section of the page so I could keep reading a little I think I did end up lying down

in sorrow I just had to give up well do you see the difference between the light of the world and our pathetic attempts to replace him with some lesser illumination the light is gone you have extinguished him and nothing can shine in his place in verse 23 the three hours of Destruction and death is followed by Three Days of Darkness but though their eyes were useless their ears were not there was great mourning and Howling and weeping and groaning and it was continual because of the darkness and the great destruction which had come upon them

the absence of the light and life of the world again I think the darkness intensifies the emotion here can you imagine hearing that again you can't go anywhere to try to help but you can hear the groans the cries all around you this is this is haunting to me then the Mourns and howls and cries and groans turn into something more recognizable in verse 24 in one place they were heard to cry saying oh that we had repented before this great and terrible day then would our Brethren have been spared and they would not have

been burned in that great City zarahemla now do you see what they just said oh that we had repented because if we had then they would have been spared they're not saying I wish they had repented then they'd still be here no it's I wish I had I may not be able to change other people but I can change myself and why didn't I repeatedly earlier in the Book of Mormon we've seen it's only the righteous here that is keeping this place afloat that was true of amanah in Alma's day and zarahemla just a generation

ago in the days of Samuel the lonite don't cast them out both cities were warned because it's only the righteous that are here that are keeping this city from destruction well here the righteous at least the more righteous than the others we'll see that in a moment all wish that they had been more righteous still if only we had done more as leaven to leaven the lump the 10 righteous that the Lord was looking for in order to preserve Sodom and Gomorrah are there things that we can do in letting our light so shine so

that those around us can see and glorify God and change can we save others through our righteousness even if they don't choose righteousness for themselves if only we had repented in verse 25 in another place they were heard to cry and mourn saying oh that we had repented before this great and terrible day but they get more specific about some of the sins they'd committed if only we had not killed and stoned the prophets and cast them out then would our mothers and our Fair daughters and our children have been spared they wouldn't have been

buried up in that great City morona thus were the howlings of the people great and terrible so much of accepting the Lord's light into our lives is being open to that light as it is reflected off of his living prophets his servants destruction hasn't come just as a result of rejecting Jesus it comes from rejecting the servants that he has placed before us whether by his voice or by theirs it is the same now these voices that people are hearing in one place or another these cries of people wishing that they had repented are then

replaced with a clearer voice that everyone hears in chapter 9 verse one there was a voice heard among all the inhabitants of the land upon all the face of this land and in the first half of chapter n The Voice explains the cause and consequence that they're dealing with and then the second half the voice explains the solution to the problems they find themselves in from 2 to 12 is the bad news then from 13 to 22 we follow it with the good chapter 9:2 wo wo woe unto this people woe unto the inhabitants of

the whole earth except they shall repent a phrase Samy the lonite used often for the devil laugheth and his angels Rejoice because of the slain of the fair Sons and Daughters of my people and it is because of their iniquity and Abominations that they are Fallen honestly this verse gives me the willies can you imagine the adversary laughing and his angels rejoicing this cackling with Glee over the fall all of the righteous remember what we saw at the end of Alma 30 the final fate of kahor being trampled down underfoot by the zorm mites and

then Mormons takeway thus we see that the devil does not support his children in the last day but speedily drags them down to Hell well now we get to hear the soundtrack taking place and it's a laugh track it's the devil laughing it's his angels rejoicing it worked they fell for it the jokes on them and we're the ones laughing it reminds me of another verse in Moses 7 a lot of parallels to that chapter today and in it Enoch sees a vision of the adversary and he says he beheld Satan and he had a

great chain in his hand and it veiled the whole face of the Earth with darkness and he looked up and laughed and his angels rejoiced you see the parallel a laughing devil rejoicing demons because Darkness has covered the Earth and people find themselves in the chains of death and hell if you want a more personal parallel then read about the final fate of Samson the one Israelite judge that had everything going for him and could have conquered the enemy and instead was conquered by that enemy and what did they do once they got him to

break his covenants and cut his hair they bound him in Chains they put out his eyes you see the bind and blind Satan with the great chain in his hand veiling the face of the Earth with darkness and then what did the Philistines do they chained him up in their Temple and then packed the place so that they could mock at their fallen enemy and the devil laughed and his angels rejoiced the closer we get to the second coming of Christ the more Samson likee members of the church will be as far as their potential

for righteousness will be each generation seems to surpass its forebears right I keep hearing new prophets say this is the greatest Generation that has come so each generation must be getting better well when will Samson finally defeat the Philistines once and for all which generation will avoid being bound and blinded which will overcome the mockery of the adversary I hope I'm teaching and raising that generation right now the next few verses this voice from Heaven reminds them of what took place in zerla and Moroni and morona but then he begins to use an interesting phrase

that keeps being repeated it's in verse 5 and 7 and 8 and 9 and 11 in verse 5 he speaks of morona being covered with Earth for this reason to hide their iniquities and their Abominations from before my face the idea of hiding that wickedness is the thing that keeps getting repeated in these verses remember what the Lord says in section one of the Doctrine and Covenants I the Lord cannot look upon sin with the least degree of allowance and so what is happening here as cities are falling under the sea or being covered by

the Earth or being blown out of sight God is hiding that iniquity from before a face that is too holy to behold it now it's not just about him it's about them as well do you remember what Alma said himself back in Alma chapter 12 describing the state of the unrepentant he said in this awful State we shall not dare to look up to our God he can't look down to us we wouldn't want to look up to him instead we would Fain be glad if we could command the rocks and the mountains to fall

upon us to hide us from his presence well that's exactly what's Happening Here hiding Sin from the allseen eye of God there's another phrase that keeps coming up in these verses as well end of verse 5 we see it for the first time that the blood of the prophets and the Saints shall not come anymore unto me against them this goes back to this idea of Sight and Sound the Earth or the sea or the wind hiding iniquity keeping it out of sight but also muffling the cries of the martyrs so that their voices crying

for justice no longer have to come up before God you remember back in chapter 8 that's one of the things that they were lamenting themselves why did we stone or cast out the prophets same thing here in chapter 9 and verse 10 speaking of another city that was burned because of their wickedness in casting out the prophets and stoning Those whom I did send to declare unto them concerning their wickedness and their Abominations remember in the Book of Revelation chapter 6 you fly through the first five seals before you get to the focus on the

sixth end of the sixth really and the seventh seal the first four seals the first 4,000 years of the Earth's temporal existence there's the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse but the fifth the personification the metaphor that describes the fifth seal the one from Jesus for the next thousand years is an altar with the blood of the martyrs at its base perfect description of what happened to Jesus and his Apostles and his early followers and it is these voices crying from the base of that sacrificial alter when will you avenge us according to Revelation they cry

with a loud voice saying how long O Lord holy and true Dost thou not judge and avenge our blood on them that dwell on the earth fast forward almost 2,000 years and you can hear Joseph Smith saying similar things as he's suffering in Liberty Jail and the Saints are being driven from Missouri how long he cries shall thy hand be stayed and thine eye yay thy pure eye behold from the Eternal Heavens the wrongs of thy people and of thy servants and thine ear be penetrated with their cries I know you're seeing this father I

know you're hearing it when will you come to our rescue well eyes and ears covering iniquity hiding it from their face silencing the cries of the martyrs because he is finally fulfilling their desire avenging their blood upon the wicked by the way as you read through these verses again you'll see the focus repeated over and over hiding iniquity and avenging the blood of prophets and Saints but you'll also see two interesting details number one this is not random destruction against some unnamed or unknown Vic vitim this isn't just God kind of getting anger out of

his system he knows everyone God names these cities and so many of them are ones we've never heard of before yes we recognize the names of cities like zarahemla and Moroni and morona but what about cities like mum or gandi or gadna or gimimo never heard of these cities before we'll never hear of them again but God knows them he knows the identity of every Victim Because he'd been calling those names through their entire lives to come unto him and repent this is a great and terrible day for him as well after all we'll see

that most clearly in chapter 10 and the second part of that related to the first he distinguishes between them as far as their guilt is concerned it's not just that God notices when a SP Arrow Falls he knows which sparrow that was he that can number the hairs on our head can distinguish between this person's sin and someone else's iniquity again this isn't just blanket wickedness and blanket condemnation I know each City that's been destroyed and I can compare them in terms of what brought on their destruction in verse 9 for example he talks about

the great City Jacob youth named after the wicked King Jacob we just met a few chapters before and that one was caused to be burned with fire because their sins and wickedness were above all the wickedness of the whole earth he lists secret murders and combinations they Tred to destroy the Peace of my people and the government of the land we seem to instinctively feel that God knows all the righteous well he knows all the wicked too he'd been calling to them for a long long time now once you get past those first 12 verses

we shift to the final 10 where the Lord moves from problem to solution he says in verse 13 oh all ye that are spared because you were more righteous than they now notice he doesn't just say because you were righteous he simply says because you were more righteous righteousness is relative here they basically admitted that at the end of chapter 8 when they say if only we had repented we were righteous and enough to avoid our own destruction but not righteous enough to spare those all around us and so for these simply more righteous what's

the first thing the Lord says to them in 13 will ye not now return unto me and repent of your sins and be converted that I may heal you growing up reading the book of Mormon I always pictured those assembled and bountiful in 351 ready to accept Christ when he returned as being the best of the best sinless saints that were just there to rejoice in Jesus but these verses suggest that they had a lot of repenting to do themselves it's the first thing he invites them to do you're survivors you're still here which means

you still have time to repent I am prolonging your days to borrow from Alma use it well in verse 14 verily I say unto you if you will come unto me this just these beautiful invitations that run throughout the rest of this chapter ye shall have eternal life now that death has pressed itself so closely upon you eternal life sounds better and better doesn't it then come behold mine arm of Mercy is extended towards you and whosoever will come him will I receive and blessed are those who come unto me four times in two verses

return unto me come unto me come come unto me and then he introduced himself what would keep us from coming unto him not knowing who he really is and what he's really like so he tells them verse 15 behold I am Jesus Christ the son of God if we think back to abad's words about Jesus Christ having both a father side and a son side a father side that was propelling him through Gethsemane and a son side that was making him willing to do so because he knows our needs to our weakness he's no stranger

the Mortal side of Jesus The Human Side that came from Mary I love that at the beginning where he says I am Jesus Christ the son of God I get it I know your weakness because I took upon myself flesh just like yours you can come I understand you I know where you're coming from next phrase I created the heavens and the Earth and all things that in them are are I get it I know the ideal I created the heavens but I know the real I created the earth I know what you're up against

I created all things that in them are I know how hard it is to navigate this Mortal mindfield you understand why my arm of Mercy is extended just come I was with the father from the beginning he gets it too this was all part of the plan not just creation but fall and atonement which I just worked out in your behalf I was with the father when he asked whom shall I send he was asking for someone who could help us navigate all of this that's me I am in the Father the father in me

I'm here under the ultimate Authority I'm not trying to let you off the hook and hope that God doesn't find out about it I'm with him he's with me and I'm still offering you the opportunity to repent to come home to me and to him in me hath the father glorified his name what I just did my atoning ACT is what glorifies the father it's what allows him to be who he knows himself to be who we know him to be a father who perfectly balances Justice and mercy because he embodies both two phrases that

come from two different statements from Joseph Smith I love them he says on the one hand that God looks upon all of Creation with paternal regard and the other that he has made ample provision for all of his children to come home when Jesus says that in him that through his atonement the father's name is glorified it's as if Jesus is allowing God to finally prove who he really is a loving father with paternal regard who makes ample provision for his children verse 16 I came unto my own and my own received me not I

understand opposition and rejection and loss I've been through it all the scriptures concerning my coming are fulfilled again time vindicating the prophet the Lord vindicating his servants this has all been written about and prophesied of your sin didn't catch me off guard and the consequences of your sins shouldn't have caught you off guard but you still have the opportunity to repent and return unto me verse 17 as many as have received me there are those who have followed this path in the past to them have I given to become the sons of God and the

offer is still extended even so will I too as many as Shall Believe on my name for behold by me Redemption cometh in me is the law of Moses fulfilled the law that you and your ancestors have been living for centuries was a signpost and I'm the destination it was a school Master to bring you unto Christ well now I am here in verse 18 he claims the same name titles that he'll repeat in chapter 11 that we started with I am the light and the life of the world to replace the three days of

death and darkness that you've experienced I am Alpha and Omega where you to those letters the first and last letters of the Greek alphabet he would have used for them whatever the first and last letter of the nephite alphabet would have been whatever reformed Egyptian they were speaking whatever he said that's the beginning and the end and he's both I am the author of new beginnings and happy endings I'm the beginning of a better day of light and life I'm the end of darkness and death I'm start to finish the author and finisher of your

faith I'm here for the duration my words Encompass the entire alphabet because I am the word of God so read words like mercy and forgiveness and love they're engraven upon the palms of my hands they're written in my eyes so look at me behold I am Jesus Christ return unto me repent of your sins my arms of Mercy Mercy are extended to you come home with these moving words of introduction and invitation hopefully they're now ready for an explanation of what is newly expected of them he just said that the law of Moses is fulfilled

well what am I asking of you now if offering animal sacrifices was part of repentance previously well all of that sacrifice was meant to point to the great and last sacrif ice infinite and eternal which he just performed but there is still something I want you to offer it's the offering that all of those earlier tokens were pointing to verse 19 ye shall offer up unto me no more the shedding of blood I've done enough of that myself yay your sacrifices and your burnt offerings shall be done away for I will accept none of your

sacrifices and your burnt offerings here's what I'm asking for instead you shall offer for a sacrifice unto me a broken heart and a contrite spirit if you can do that if you can come unto me with a broken heart and a contrite spirit that's the offering you can bring to the altar him will I baptize with fire and with the Holy Ghost even as the lamanites because of their faith in me at the time of their conversion were baptized with fire and with the Holy Ghost and then this interesting insight and they knew it not

you might not even recognize what I am am working within you sometimes spiritual growth like physical growth is only recognizable from an outsider that hasn't seen you for a while you're living the experience you don't see that growth all the time but as our hearts become broken and perhaps that's part of what's taking place with all of the breaking of the earth that's taking place all around them as your spirits become contrite as life brings you to your knees and you willingly bend them you will find yourself changing believe it or not recognize it or

not that's what animal sacrifice was always meant to point toward and what the kind of sacrifice that I'm asking for will point you to 21 and 22 he then ends this chapter behold I have come unto the world to bring Redemption unto the world to save the world from sin it's the second half of chapter 9 that is his emphasis for God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten son that whosoever believeth in him should not perish but have everlasting life for the son came not into the world to condemn the world

that does end up happening sadly people condemn themselves that's the first 12 verses of third Nephi night but why did Jesus really come that the world through him might be saved that's what he's telling us in 21 and then 22 therefore in other words consequently because the whole reason I came was to save you therefore repent because who so repenteth and cometh unto me as a little child and will see that childlike expectation repeated often nobody offers broken hearts and contrite Spirits quite like little children him will I receive for of such is the kingdom

of God behold for such I have laid down my life and have taken it up again that's the whole reason I did this just did this therefore repent and come unto me he ends of the Earth and be saved you see how many times in this chapter he has invited us in spite of all the darkness and death that's all around you nothing can keep you from embracing the light and the life of the world I'm here arms extended just come return unto me you were with me once just come back well in chapter nine

what did we see from this voice from heaven we heard explanation and introduction and expectation and invitation and he leaves them with that as chapter 10 begins there's silence the voice will resume shortly and it will be one of resignation basically of saying I've given it all to you the opportunity is still before you so take what I just said in chapter 9 and think about this weigh the options make up your mind because the choice really is yours I am resigned to it I will honor your agency we'll see that in the next few

verses but as chapter 10 begins after all the people of the land had heard those earlier sayings and witnessed of it after that there is silence in the land for the space of many hours think about it process it make up your mind what will you do will you choose to come home in verse two their grief their mourning their groaning their cries are replaced with astonishment it took something that surprising to pull them out of their grief you mean this isn't the end there's still hope and healing ahead for me light and life are

still options for each of us verses 3-7 The Voice then continues again it is a voice of resignation but behind it is still the extension of that invitation in verse three the voice again comes to the people all of them here and it says in verse four oh ye people of these great cities which have fallen who are descendants of Jacob yay who are of the House of Israel interesting he doesn't refer to them as Nephites or lamanites he goes back many generations to where this Covenant begins you remember one of the words that is

synonymous with Israel is scattering and they've just felt that and what does he now inviting them to do to come back to return to him to be gathered again so to you descendants of Jacob to all you House of scattered Israel how of have I gathered you as a hen gathereth her chickens under her wings and have nourished you I think is one of the most beautiful images beautiful metaphors for the Gathering of Israel available to us this is a hen Gathering chickens notice it's a hen not a rooster so this is maternal Instinct this

is Mother imagery which by the way Isaiah uses frequently when trying to describe Jesus yes fathers are loving too right paternal regard we just talked about but there's something about the love of a mother that is incomparable well maybe with one exception the love of Christ or the love of our Heavenly parents it's a hen here recognizing danger abroad and clucking wildly calling to her chicks to come and find shelter under her wings remember what he just said one chapter ago my arm of Mercy is extended toward you I've lifted My Wings come and find

shelter here there are so many Echoes of that imagery in the Old Testament the psalmist repeats it frequently hide me under the shadow of thy Wings how excellent is thy loving kindness oh God therefore the children of men put their trust under the shadow of thy Wings be merciful unto me oh God be merciful unto me for my soul trusteth in thee yay in the shadow of thy Wings will I make my refuge until these come calamities be overpassed I will abide in thy Tabernacle forever I will trust in the covert the covering that is

of thy Wings because thou Hast been my help therefore in the shadow of thy Wings will I Rejoice or one of the most famous the very last chapter in the entire Old Testament Malachi 4 but unto you that fear my name shall the son of righteousness arise with healing in his wings sun in that verse is spelled s u n and yet it's capitalized this beautiful combination here is the Son of God who also happens to be the light of the world and he is rising dispelling Darkness extending his wings so that we might come

and find shelter there not just shelter in fact what's the last words of verse four and nourishment too it's not just protection that he's offering it's that nourishment the fruit of the Tree of Life he's not just trying to help us survive he's trying to help us Thrive so let me gather you not just to protect but to nourish your faith one other connection to the Old Testament that's worth noting here comes from the story of Ruth and Boaz Ruth as a widow was unsheltered there was no protective Wing in Israel that could huddle Under

And yet when she comes to know Boaz as she seeks him out on the threshing floor one night she says to him spread therefore thy skirt over thine handmaid for thou art a near Kinsman there is some kind of familial connection here through her mother-in-law Naomi the words here are key you are a Kinsman so take your skirt your robe and cover me when you were little kid did you ever do that do you ever seek shelter in the skirts of your mom well the Hebrew words here are fascinating because the Hebrew word used for

Kinsmen is the same word that means Redeemer and the word that is used for skirt is the same word that elsewhere is translated as Wing there even seems to be a play on words in the Book of Ruth because that verse about spread thy skirt because thou art a Kinsman that's in chapter 3 one chapter earlier Boaz says to Ruth a full reward be given thee of the Lord God of Israel under whose wings Thou Art come to trust it's almost like Ruth is taking boaz's language and sending it right back to him he said

you have trusted under the wing of the Redeemer and she says will this Redeemer will you spread your wing this Kinsman will you cover me in your skirt such a beautiful symbolism here among this couple they soon get married that eventually proved to be among the ancestors of Jesus and you see what that Jesus is offering what his earlier ancestor had done he is doing to others extending those wings spreading those skirts even that earlier verse in Ruth when it talks about under whose wings Thou Art come to trust other translations of that verse say

under whose wings you have come to take refuge more than just trust it really is this idea of shelter it's the hen Gathering her chickens under her wings taking Refuge there that same Hebrew word Wings skirt it just means some kind of extremity and it's in our extremities that we tend to find God he is extending his extremities his arms of Mercy to invite us in the woman with the issue of blood what did she Touch the Hem of His Garment the edge of his skirt she came close enough to touch the tip of the

feather and it was enough to heal her or look at the Ark of the Covenant and the lid that covered it what was on top two cherubim and these Heavenly Creatures with wings extended over the Covenant itself that's the only reason our covenants bring us safety because coming into the Covenant we have come under the wings of our mother hen notice how he keeps saying it in verse four how often have I gathered you then in verse five how of would I have gathered you and then in verse six how of will I gather you

past tense future tense with conditional tense in between do you have any idea how many times I have gathered you how many times I've sheltered you under my protective embrace and do you have any idea how many times I will yet do so my mortal life has just finished but my eternal life never will and what did I finish I finished my preparations unto the children of men I will keep Gathering you forever if you'll come and again in the middle of that how often would I have gathered you that conditional tense I was so

much more willing than you ever could realize I just wish you had come do you have any idea how many times I stretched forth the arms and clucked calling to you in every imaginable way for you to come the problem he describes in verse 5 how of would I have gathered you as a hen gathereth her chickens under her wings yay oh ye people of the House of Israel who have fallen yay oh ye people of the House of Israel ye that dwell at Jerusalem as ye that have fallen so old world or new I

want all my children home yay how of would I have gathered you as a hen gathereth her chickens and then these four painful words and ye would not you see I would have gathered but you would not come this is an echo of a very recent lament from Jesus himself near the end of The Book of Matthew when Jesus is looking out over Jerusalem the city that he would give his life in and for and he weeps he weeps because he would and they wouldn't he weeps because he tried to gather them under his wing

he uses the same metaphor there as well and then he says but ye would not so he says it in the New Testament he says it here in the Book of Mormon he will yet say it in the Doctrine and Covenants twice one of those instances is fascinating it's in chapter 43 or section 43 of the doctorine covenants and you want to talk about putting all of these things in the context of a single verse all that we've seen in third Nephi 8 9 and 10 it comes down to this passage in section 43: 24

and 25 so two verses oh ye nations of the Earth how often would I have gathered you together as a hen gathereth her chickens under her wings and then these four tragic words but ye would not and then he gets more specific specific as to how he has called how of have I called upon you by the mouth of my servants the ones you cast out or stoned or slain and by the ministering of Angels the one sent to declare Glad Tidings of great joy and by my own voice spoken from the heavens and by

the voice of notice the list thunderings and the voice of lightnings and the voice of tempests and the voice of earthquakes and great hail storms and the voice of famines and pestilences of every kind sound a little like what's happening in third Nei 8 he called by the great sound of a trump not wanting anyone to sleep through the alarm clock he called by the voice of judgment and by the voice of Mercy all the day long because some respond better to judgment and others respond better to Mercy he will try them both and he'll

do it all day long never tiring he'll call by the voice of Glory and honor and the riches of eternal life he'll hold out hope he'll hold out rewards he's just trying to get you to come I would have saved you with an everlasting salvation and then you can almost predict the ending but ye would not can you hear the gardener lamenting in Jacob 5 what more could I have done for my Vineyard can you hear the voice of the Good Shepherd devastated over the loss of even one lost sheep can you hear the voice

of the father of The Prodigal Son as he's looking out the window straining his eyes to see any evidence of a return robe ring and fatted calf at the ready can you hear the hen this mother willing to self-sacrifice to face whatever the outward dangers might be and to provide that barrier promising safety within no matter what is Raging without I was so moved by this concept during my five months of living abroad in Israel as a college student haunted by those words but ye would not that Jesus uttered over a city that he loved

and that I had come to love that I tried to put my feelings for all of these verses into a poem one that I called echoing Jesus but ye would not he looked upon Jerusalem where prophets long had vigil kept the tide of sin they'd failed to stem so Jesus raised his voice and wept oh city of iniquity who kills and Stones her holy men how oft would I have gathered thee as chickens by their mother hen for when some danger prompts her cry the cover of her wings is sought Jerusalem with judgment nigh I

called to you but ye would not the same was true of lehi's seed when they in sin by death were caught his plea to change they did not heed so came his words but ye would not in modern times he calls again he beckons us to gather near to find protection from the hen we need but call in Mighty prayer he calls to us through men today who long the gospel truths have taught yet once again we hear him say I would have saved but ye would not the Lord will Le the Lord will call

with love he'll raise a warning voice his Open Arms extend to all but we alone can make the choice what grief we'd feel to see the face of him who the atonement wrought and hear from him to our disgrace the bitter words but ye would not can you sense the love and the longing in this mother hen come return repent come unto me so that I can heal you so that I can protect you so that I can nourish you on the heels of that impassioned plea he says in verse 7 but if not oh

House of Israel the places of your dwelling shall become desolate until the time of the fulfilling of the Covenant to your fathers you see he ends this lament in the same place he began it in verse 4 he spoke of Jacob and Israel and in seven he speaks of the Covenant made to their fathers a covenant of gathering I promised them I would I make to you the same promise eventually all of the House of Israel will be gathered home I'm ready to do it now if you'll just come instead if you don't then it

will still be desolate until the time finally arrives for the Covenant to be fulfilled but we don't have to wait that long gather early come unto me in verse 8 the people's response is an interesting one you remember they had been weeping and crying and moaning and groaning and then it stopped out of astonishment they then hear the Lord's lament and in verse 8 they joined him they began to weep and howl again because of the loss of their Kindred and Friends it didn't have to be this way he would have gathered us but we

would not in verse 9 then the 3 days pass away the darkness disperses off the face of the land the Earth ceases to tremble there must have been aftershocks for days after the 3 hours of intense destruction the Rocks did cease to Rend the Dreadful groanings did cease all the tumultuous noises did pass away we talked about that earlier just the intensity of the sound that is reaching their ears even if no light can reach the eye well now all is still verse 10 the Earth did cleave together again that it stood the rock of

Heaven has just spoken the rock of the Redeemer is standing firm waiting for them to choose to found themselves upon it the mourning and the Weeping and the Wailing of the people who were spared alive did cease and their mourning was turned into Joy their lamentation into the praise and thanksgiving unto the Lord Jesus Christ their redeemer sounds a little like the psalmist who wrote for his anger endureth but a moment in his favor is life weeping may endure for a night but joy cometh in the morning he could have ended there instead Mormon continues

and narrates us through some insight that he wants to make sure we don't miss verse 11 thus far were the scriptures fulfilled which had been spoken by the prophets I don't see this as an I told you so but I do see this as an I told you all of this has been prophesied before I think this is yet one more declaration that time does vindicate the prophet but I think this is also a prophet historian Mormon from his vantage point of time saying it's all been fulfilled just like I've read about I read the

prophecy and now I've read the Fulfillment so he summarizes verse 12 it was the more righteous part of the people who were saved it was they who received the prophets and stoned them not again a nod to the importance of accepting God's servants it was they who would not shed the blood of the Saints who were spared in verse 13 he gets painfully specific in reviewing all the fates of those who couldn't sing we thank thee Oh God for their profit he talks of those that were sunk and buried up in the Earth or drowned

in the depths of the sea or burned by fire or Fallen upon and crushed to death or carried away in the Whirlwind or this one was interesting at the end overpowered by The Vapor of smoke and of Darkness to be overpowered by it to loosen our grip on the iron Rod to lose sight of the Tree of Life to wander out towards the great and spacious building to be drowned in the depths of that River of filthy water and then Mormon says in 14 now who so readeth he's speaking to his readers now directly let

him understand he that hath the scriptures let him search them and see and behold if all these deaths and destructions by fire and smoke and tempests and whirlwinds and the opening of the earth to receive them all these things see if they're not unto the fulfilling of the Prophecies of many of the Holy prophets again not and I told you so but I did tell you I warned you the hen has been clucking for centuries you could have seen all of this coming your way well we better follow Mormon's advice right if we have the

scriptures before us and we do we're supposed to search them and see if this isn't exactly what the Lord said through his servants previously so let's do it on at least two occasions first Nephi 12 during Nephi's visions that explain his father's dream he says this it came to pass that I saw a Mist Of Darkness on the face of the land of promise so the element in his father's dream is now becoming an event in future history I saw Lightnings I heard thunderings and earthquakes and all manner of tumultuous noises I saw the earth

and the rocks that they rent and I saw mountains tumbling into pieces I Saw The Plains of the earth and they were broken up and I saw many cities that they were sunk and I saw many that they were burned with fire and I saw many that did tumble to the Earth because of the quaking thereof and it came to pass that I saw these things I saw the vapor of Darkness that it passed from off the face of the Earth and behold I saw multitudes who had not Fallen because of the great and terrible

judgments of the Lord and I saw the heavens open and the Lamb of God descending out of heaven and he came down and showed himself unto them our very first Nephi saw 3rd Nephi 8910 and 11 preview of coming destructions and coming condescension he repeats the prophecy near the end of second Nephi he gives Mormon a chance to tell us to keep going and searching for yet more scripture second Nephi 26 the beginning of it is as close a parallel to what we see in 3 Nephi 8-10 as you'll get Nephi says after the Messiah

shall come there shall be signs given unto my people of his birth and also of his death and resurrection and great and terrible shall that day be unto the wicked for they Shall Perish and they perish because they cast out the prophets and the Saints and stone them and slay them wherefore The Cry of the blood of the Saints shall Ascend up to God from the ground against them is this all sounding familiar wherefore all those who are proud and that do wickedly the day that cometh shall burn them up sayeth the Lord of hosts

for they shall be as stubble and they that kill the prophets and the Saints the depths of the Earth shall swallow them up sayith the Lord of hosts the mountains shall cover them whirlwinds shall carry them away buildings shall fall upon them and crush them to pieces and grind them to power powder they shall be visited with thunderings and Lightnings and earthquakes and all manner of destructions for the fire of the anger of the Lord shall be kindled against them and they shall be a stubble and the day that cometh shall consume them saith the

Lord of hosts now Nephi is neither gloating nor threatening here verse seven he's mourning oh the pain and the anguish of my soul for the loss of the slain of my people for I Nephi have seen it and it well nigh consumeth me before the presence of the Lord but I must cry unto my God thy ways are just but behold the righteous that hearken unto the words of the prophets and Destroy them not but look forward unto Christ with steadfastness for the signs which are given notwithstanding all persecution describes the beginning of thiri to

a t behold they are they which shall not perish but the son of righteousness shall appear unto them he will arise with healing in his wings he shall heal them they shall have peace with him all of this was known and prophesied and written before and it's Mormon with the 2020 hindsight of a historian that sees that God laid it all out in advance how oft would I have gathered you I wanted you to see this all coming because I wanted you to be here for my coming I did my best to prepare you back

in 13i 10 and verse 15 Mormon continues ya many have testified of these things at the coming of Christ and they were slain because they testified of these things Satan always attacking the messenger because he cannot stand the message verse 16 Zenus was one of them zenic was another 17 Jacob that is Israel also testified concerning these things they were his posterity after all he spoke of a remnant of the seed of Joseph and isn't that us aren't we a remnant of the seed of Joseph these things which testify of us are they not written

upon the plates of brass that Lehi brought from Jerusalem you see how steeped in scripture Mormon was brass plates all across the gold plates putting this all together we should have seen this coming and then this Crescendo reaches its climax in verse 18 it came to pass that in the ending of the 30 and4th year so some time has passed we started today at the beginning of the 30 and4th year first month we're now near the end of it and I will show unto you that the people of Nephi who were spared and also those

who had been called lamanites who had been spared they did have great favors shown unto them great blessings poured out upon their heads in so much that soon after the Ascension of Christ into heaven from the old world he did truly manifest himself unto them here in the new showing his body unto them and ministering unto them and an account of his ministry shall be given Hereafter therefore for this time I make an end of my Saints I don't know how long Mormon waited before he then continued the abridgment and gave us third Nephi 11

I'm glad we don't have to wait at all just keep reading Jesus has come now with all of the buildup that Mormon's just given us at the end of chapter 10 summarizing the destru ction in chapter 8 pointing us to the prophecies and Brass plates and gold plates that showed these things would eventually come he tells us what he's about to record it almost seems like he's getting himself geared up to this this is my most important moment as a historian to narrate the coming of Christ well he makes an end at the end of

chapter 10 in order to prepare himself to make an incredible beginning in chapter 11 and here we are the climax of The Book of Mormon the coming of Jesus Christ 11:1 and now it came to pass that there were a great multitude gathered together of the people of Nephi and where did they gather to it's been almost a year now destruction in the first month of that 34th year it's now near the end of this year and they gather to the temple what better place to go to find Christ to return unto him having repented

of our sins he says it's the temple which was in the land Bountiful and there's no better place to gather to prepare to meet God if you were to review every time the name Bountiful is mentioned in the Book of Mormon this is actually the final one it's all been leading up to this but there's so much foreshadowing symbolically at least in previous mentions of Bountiful beautiful principles we can draw from that first one's way back in first Nephi 17 not this Bountiful but one of its predecessors it was their launching point from an old

world in hopes of eventually coming to a new a promised land that Bountiful that ancient Arabian Bountiful marked the end of one journey and the beginning of a new one and doesn't that describe the coming of Christ into our lives he is the end and the beginning after all no better place to start a new then Bountiful with the coming of Christ into your life fast forward Elma chapter 22 and we get a little Book of Mormon geography here that Bountiful was north of zerma on the borders of the land before you went into this

land northward that was described as desolation so Bountiful borders desolation it creates a barrier it's one last line of defense that if you were wandering away from zarahemla off into some desolate Land Of Destruction Beyond Bountiful will will stand in your way Christ will be there warning you against straying any further or for those that have already ignored that and wandered off into desolation but have come to themselves like some prodigal son what's your first step back home to zarahemla it's passing through Bountiful it's coming to Christ it's recognizing that he's the gatekeeper to bring

you home later in Alma 27 when the anti- Nephi Lehi convert and move into nephite territory what land do they give them the land jerson which happens to border the land Bountiful if you're leaving enemy territory conversion is one of the most beautiful preliminary steps on your way to finding Christ in Bountiful in Alma 51 it was in the borders of the land Bountiful that tanum made his stand against am malakiah talk about a place worth defending a place worth standing up to wickedness at the sight of Christ or in Alma 52 where the land

Bountiful is fortified so that they can secure the narrow pass you see there's this geographical bottleneck just north of Bountiful this was a place that people had to deal with in their comings and goings anytime we choose to wander or return we do have to account for Bountiful in our lives later in Alma 52 the nephite armies are unable to reconquer additional cities so where does tanum go he returns to Bountiful to wait for the coming of Moroni that he might receive strength to his army Bountiful is a beautiful place to be with Jesus as

you wait for increased strength to come into your life in Alma 53 it's Bountiful that is heavily fortified a strong wall of Timbers and Earth to an exceeding height in Alma 55 it's to Bountiful that Nephi take the lonite prisoners of War because that city is guarded with an exceedingly great force there's strength there remember Nephites what did they do with prisoners of War they tried to rehabilitate them they tried to teach the gospel to them so they would make a covenant of Peace no better place to do it than the place to which Jesus

would come again Bountiful to me is such a beautiful metaphor for Christ in our lives when he comes to us we're having a bountiful experience the name itself Bes speaks abundance and that's what Jesus offers us to in Alma 63 it was from the borders of the land Bountiful that hagoth launched his ships you ready to conquer New Horizons to head out in spiritual directions that you've never thought possible then start in Bountiful and launch with Jesus aboard your ship in Helman 1 cor anomer conquers zarahemla first but then what does he do he sets

his sight on Bountiful yeah I may try to take down the prophet first but I'm really going after Christ and yet successful at conquering one he never conquered the other say what you will about the church you cannot take down Jesus that's where Iha and Lehi make a stand and bountiful stands there's no conquering it later in helan now in chapter 4 the lamanites and nephite denters these are gadian and robbers they conquer zarahemla yet again and they drive out the righteous but where do the Nephites go they go to Bountiful if you ever need

to retreat and regroup in the face of dissension and opposition come to Jesus come to Bountiful come to his house and find Refuge there in Helman 5 right after Nephi and Lehi learned to build their Foundation upon the rock of the Redeemer where do they go to begin their Ministry they go to Bountiful they start their Ministry at the city Bountiful and in third Nephi 3 where do the Nephites gather to wait out the lonite siege like I said last week they gather in the area that encompasses zarahemla and bountiful from church to Temple from

prophets to the Lord that is where we can come to be safe that is our place of gathering as Joseph Smith himself taught why have the people of God gathered in any age age is to build temples and here they are gathering this great multitude to the land Bountiful so they can be at the temple no better place to anticipate the coming of Christ what were they doing there verse one they were marveling they were wondering one with another they were showing one to another the great and marvelous change which had taken place but what

kind of change I wonder just the physical changes all around them these cataclysms events the whole face of the Earth deformed like we saw in earlier chapter or the kinds of changes that they have been working out within themselves is not what the voice had said through the darkness you were only spared because you were more righteous than others but there is yet need to become more righteous still so repent return unto me my arm of Mercy is stretched out still I wonder are those the great and marvelous changes that have taken place within each

of them in verse two they are conversing about this Jesus Christ of whom the sign had been given concerning his death Samuel had prophesied of him and he had introduced himself far more directly in those earlier chapters and then in verse three while they were thus conversing one with another they heard a voice there's been a lot of speaking from Heaven lately this time they didn't understand it though they cast their eyes round about for they understood not the voice which they heard they did recogn iiz that it was not a harsh voice it wasn't

a loud voice but notwithstanding it was a small voice it did Pierce them that did here to the center in so much that there was no part of their frame that it did not cause to Quake y it did Pierce them to the very soul and did cause their hearts to burn back in chapter 8 we saw a lot of quaking of the earth well now it's them quaking earlier we saw the burning of zarahemla well now it's their hearts that are a fire God has always been trying to reach the inside of them and

it's happening verse four they still don't understand it even as it speaks a second time but then the third they do understand verse six the third time they understood the voice but verse five tells us why what did they do the third time that they didn't do the first and second first they opened their ears to hear it this sounds like a lot more active kind of listening than simply oh I think I heard something I mean they heard every time but this time they opened their ears is there a focus there an active rather

than a passive heeding of God's voice secondly Their Eyes Were towards the sound thereof in fact they're looking steadfastly towards heaven from Once the sound came we saw the interplay of eyes and ears in the chapters of Destruction well now we see them here as this voice from Heaven is beckoning them I have a brother-in-law who is truly a Celestial Soul the man has a heart of gold he's an Israelite in whom there is no guile and he's one of the most softspoken people I've ever met in my life when I first met him when

he began dating my sister-in-law we'd get together and you know get to know each other and do things together and I just remember how quietly he spoke and he was amazing I wanted to I wanted to hear him but I found myself just silencing everything and leaning forward and intently staring at his mouth hoping that somehow I could lip read I opened my ears my eyes were towards the sound I looked steadfastly and it was always worth it I'm grateful that I understood the voice better yet I'm grateful I came to know the man behind

that voice to this day I don't think I've ever heard harshness or loudness from this amazing disciple well having paid the price to understand what did they hear verse 7 behold my beloved Son in whom I am well pleased in whom I have glorified my name hear ye him they had earlier been listening to the son now they are hearing the father saying what he always seems to say on such occasions ever since the fall Christ has become our intermediary he who stands between the father and his Fallen children in order to connect the two

to reconcile us to God well that's always been the father's will and he's introducing the son and inviting us to hear him think baptism of Jesus think First Vision such an incredible moment verse eight as they understood they cast their eyes up again towards heaven behold they saw a man capital M descending out of heaven and he was clothed in a white robe and he came down and stood in the midst of them those white robes would be speake Purity but I love the description of a man descending because man capital M suggests the Incarnation

that the word of God was made flesh God becomes man and he descends that Bes speaks condescension Incarnation and condescension that is Christmas and Easter all wrapped up in one this is Jesus once of humbl birth now in glory comes to Earth and he's here right in front of them standing in the midst of them what did they do the eyes of the whole multitude were turned upon him they D not open their mouths up to this point they've been looking around at all these great and marvelous changes in the land they've been conversing about

all kinds of things now every mouth is silent I'm here to listen not to speak they wish not what it meant they thought it was an angel that had appeared unto them they're still unsure or perhaps at least struggling to come to terms with something that is too good to be true and yet it's true verse n he stretches forth his hands and he says to them in 10 behold I am Jesus Christ just like he'd said through the darkness month and months ago but notice the first thing he says after stating his name I

am Jesus Christ whom the prophets testified shall come into the world it's amazing that in the same breath he brings in his servants he vindicates them every time I came just like they said I would their voice was my voice we are one I am here and I hope you're here to hear me but you could have been hearing my servants for centuries before Generation by generation they testified of me I now testify of them I've got their back they've always had mine he then says in verse 11 I am the light and the life

of the world again overcoming the days of darkness and destruction that came upon the world when that light was extinguished I have drunk out of that bitter cup which the father hath given me me this is the same cup that he had asked three times to have removed from him is there no other way this is the same cup he mentions in section 19 when he describes his atonement as more bitter and more Exquisite more sore and more hard to Bear than anything we can imagine to the point that he wanted to shrink and not

partake of the bitter cup and yet as he says in that verse glory be to the father father I partook and finished my preparations unto the children of men do you hear that glory be to the father all credit to him for not giving me any other options for making sure that I knew that there was no other way that the cup was there and I would have to drink it to the drgs well thanks be to him glory be to the father that's how I glorified His Name by partaking of that bitter cup I

have glorified the father in taking upon me the sins of the world in the which I have suffered the will of the father in all things from the beginning that seems to be the one thing he wants us to know about himself first I am an obedient son a submissive child of a loving and glorified father I did what he asked even though it cost me everything Elder Jeff R Holland years and years ago even before he was an apostle said this in an address at BYU I have thought very often about this moment in

nephite history I cannot think it either accident or mere Whimsy that the Good Shepherd in his newly exalted State appearing to a most significant segment of his flock chooses first to speak of his obedience his deference his loyalty and loving submission to his father in an initial and profound moment of spell binding wonder when surely he had the attention of every man woman and child as far as the eye could see his submission to his father is the first and most important thing he wishes us to know about himself frankly I'm a bit haunted by

the thought that this is the first and most important thing he may want to know about us when we meet him one day in similar fashion did we obey even if it was painful did we submit even if the cup was bitter indeed did we yield to a vision higher and holier than our own even when we may have seen no vision in it at all those are haunting questions to ask ourselves Jesus could answer them boldly I did and he could add and with my help so can you with my grace I will enable

you to obey now in verse 12 when Jesus said said this the whole multitude falls to the Earth they finally understand this is no angel this is the Son of God it reminds you of the New Testament when the apostles finally get it Jesus really has been resurrected he lives and it's like how many times in the New Testament had Jesus not told them already okay we're going to go to Jerusalem I'll be betrayed I'll be crucified on the third day I will rise again do you get this that's like the apostles are kind of

looking at each other not wanting to admit I have no idea what he's talking about they're like yeah we understand but it's totally over their head and I can't blame them no one had ever been resurrected before they're probably thinking this is this another one of these Parables he keeps talking about when he said that he was going to wake up Lazarus because he was sleeping well that was just a metaphor so may this is probably some kind of metaphor too none of them got it until they saw and touched and knew well I can't

blame these people for not getting it either but Mormon does point out there in the middle of verse 12 that when they fell to the Earth they remembered it had been prophesied among them that Christ should show himself unto them after his Ascension into heaven that's what they meant this has been told us repeatedly the Lord then speaks to them and says in verse 14 arise and come forth unto me he always says that when we recognize who we are compared to who he is and in instinctively fall to our knees he never leaves us

there it's always get up and come you're more like me than you realize at least you can be that's what I've come for so arise and come forth unto me for them specifically that ye may thrust your hands into my side and also that you may feel the prints of the nails in my hands and in my feet come and touch there will be no doubting Thomases after today and not just a soft verb like feel the prince but a much more bold one like thrust your hands into my side this is not a timid

touch this is a bold Embrace thrust your hands into my sight it reminds me of Simeon when Mary and Joseph bring the baby Jesus to the temple remember this old man Simeon had had the spirit's witness to him that someday he would live to see the Lord's Christ that's it just see him but when he recognizes in the baby Jesus the Fulfillment of This Promise he's not content to see only it's like little kids like hey can I see that you're like well you see with your eyes not with your hands no Simeon wanted to

see with his hands too and he took the baby Jesus in his arms That's my kind of seeing things right thrust your hands take him in Embrace him don't just keep some casual or formal distance Jesus wants us to become one with him so go ahead and see and feel but thrust your life into mine become one with me yoked together come boldly to the throne of grace you're welcome here he goes on in verse 14 that ye may know that I am the god of Israel and not just them that's still too narrow I'm

also the god of the whole earth because I've been slain for the sins of the world I'm no local Lord I'm the savior of the world and I want to be with you I want you to be with me in verse 15 it came to pass that the multitude went forth notice he came to them miraculously but he does expect them to come to him to go forth and they did as in invited they thrust their hands into his side they felt the prince of the nails in his hands and his feet they go forth

one by one that phrase has been talked about often that in our ordinances for oursel and even for the dead they are always done one by one the greatest ministring we do is one by one as ELD bedar has taught when Apostles go to state conferences it's not just to reorganize a stake it's to meet the needs of individuals one by one by one I tend to teach large classes at The Institute but I think the most important teaching I ever do is right here in this office looking across at a student who has come

and needs one onone attention in my work trying to fortify people's Faith or help them navigate Faith crisis yes I try to approach the mass and videos or podcasts or lessons and things like that but the greatest good I think happens individually doctors after all cannot diagnose a multitude they have to take individual temperatures prescribe individual doses they have to work one by one but it's one by one until all are done they all go forth they all have this experience if you think about it if you Ponder your Bountiful experiences at the most sacred

of places where we can come to know Christ don't we have oneon-one experiences and one by one experiences there isn't it there that we get our own chance in God's special way to feel the prince in his hands to be one with Jesus not just to experience what it's like to be with him but in an amazing way to experience what it's like to be him to feel the prince of nails to feel what it's like to be a savior on Mount Zion to feel what it's like to vicariously take somebody else's place and to

minister to one by one until all are done after they have that sacred experience they see with their eyes they feel with their hands they know of a it and they bear record that it's him he of whom it was written by the prophets that should come again tying it back into prophets have always been speaking of this it's amazing how much street cred prophets are given throughout the scriptures but think about the order of those verbs do we have experiences in our lives where we see things is there outward evidence that God has given

us but does that sight that kind of more rational approach then turn into feeling things the head settles down into the heart and we have felt truth have we had those kinds of experiences the spiritual ones not just the sighted ones but with sight and with Spirit seeing and feeling then does it go into truly knowing knowing of assurity That's the basis of our faith our testimony is secure and then what do we do we bear record of it because testimony is found in the bearing of it as well for both us the bearer and

the other person the receiver verse 16 they all go forth they all witness they do it for themselves and then they cry out with one Accord saying verse 17 hosana blessed be the name of the most high God and they did fall down at the feet of Jesus and did worship him this is a hosana shout for the ages one that begins with recognition and ends with real Worship in verse 18 the Lord then calls for Nephi for Nephi was among the multitude Jesus commands him that he should come forth I love the fact that

he had to be invited out of the multitude he didn't separate himself from them he didn't consider himself well well I'm in charge of this group and so I should probably be leading the way I I should be Jesus's host and begin to introduce him to the multitude it's like no no no I am no different from the rest and I'm just here to learn and shout and worship I'm one of the one by one not putting himself on any higher pedestal there's only one pedestal here and it's occupied Jesus then coaxes him out Nephi

I do have something for you verse 19 Nephi arises he comes forth he bows himself before the Lord and he kisses his feet such humility such meekness such gratitude such love this is a male equivalent of that incredible female in the New Testament who washes Jesus's feet with her tears and hair there's an intimacy here between master and servant between Lord and disciple that is profound in verse 20 the Lord commands him that he should arise he arises and stands before him and then the Lord says I give unto you power that shall baptize this

people when I am again ascended into heaven he gives that same Authority in verse 22 to others the power to baptize which is so interesting Nephi's been baptizing a lot already we saw that as an effect of Samuel the lonit ministry he is up crying repentance and even after he leaves those who believe him go and seek out Nephi who baptizes them notice it's not Authority he gives it's power and it may simply be a confirm of the authority that Nephi already has and perhaps confirmation that baptism is still needed even after this experience with

Jesus Christ after I Ascend to Heaven baptizing will still occur and I want the multitude to know what you and I already know you have my authority Nephi and other disciples from 22 to 27 he describes how those baptisms are supposed to take place he starts with the phrase on this wise shall ye baptize in 23 he says who so repenteth of his sins through your words so hear the word that will spark your faith that will spur your repentance and desireth to be baptized in my name so again that's part of that Faith there

has to be desire for this on this wise shall you baptize them behold you shall go down and stand in the water and in my name shall ye baptize them so this has to be done in the Name of Christ behold these are the words which you shall say calling them by name this is a one by one experience right and each one is known of the Lord so call them by name and say having Authority given me of Jesus Christ that seems to be what he was trying to reaffirm back in 21 and22 I

baptize you in the name of the father and of the son and of the Holy Ghost Amen in our day we say having been commissioned of Jesus Christ which is the same thing as having Authority given me of Jesus Christ and that baptism then takes place under Christ's Authority but in the name not only of Christ but of the father and the Holy Ghost as well reminds me of an experience I had in Divinity School where there were three of us in a classroom waiting for the rest of the students to come and class to

begin there was me a latterday saint there was a Catholic preparing for the ministry and a Protestant preparing for the ministry sounds like the beginning of a good joke right a Catholic a a Protestant and a Mormon are sitting in a classroom together well they started talking about the Trinity and they asked me wait Mormons you guys do you guys believe in the Trinity and I knew I needed to be careful with my statement my answer see I was afraid if I said no then they'd leave thinking man Mormons don't believe in the father or

the son or the Holy Ghost and nothing could be further from the truth I mean first Article of Faith anyone right off the bat so I said to them you know when I was baptized back to this topic I was baptized in the name of the father and of the son and of the Holy Ghost and were like what really you guys believe in the Trinity I said to be clear we believe in the members of the Trinity but not the doctrine of the Trinity and they were like huh what's the difference I said We

Do Believe In Father and Son and Holy Ghost we just don't believe in the postbiblical credal pronouncement that those three are one we believe in their Oneness in purpose their Oneness in attributes we'll see that Oneness described in this chapter Jesus affirms it here but we do not believe in their Oneness in substance we don't believe in the doctrine of the Trinity but the members of it we do believe in the father and the Son and the Holy Ghost we are baptized in the name of each of them and then verse 26 they are immersed

in the water and come forth again out of the water like Paul taught in the Book of Romans we are buried with Jesus we're all under all in and then he brings us out again rise with Christ buried with Christ so that we may live again in Christ verse 27 he reaffirms it after this manner shall ye baptize in my name that's how it's done and then reaffirms this Oneness in purpose and spirit that I just hinted at that the father and the Son and the Holy Ghost are one and I am in the father

and the father in me and the father and I are one he'll say that again a few more times in fact it struck me once years ago it it hit me how often I was reading third Nei I'm like man the father and the Son and the Holy Ghost are mentioned a lot and I was so intrigued by that that I actually went through and reread the whole book of third Nephi seeing every time the father and the Son and the Holy Ghost were mentioned and you almost get this sense especially in chapters like chapter

11 that if the three of them were standing together and you were to ask the group which one of you three is the most important important then simultaneously all three would go and they'd point at the other two there is such a Oneness in this Unity the members of the godhead each testifying of one another and as Jesus says in the great intercessory prayer in John 17 it's that kind of Oneness that he seeks in his followers as well well this is the one baptism that is trying to help us become as one with Jesus

as he is as one with the father and the spirit now I find it interesting that Jesus would begin this ministry Among the Nephites with something as simple as baptism this is Fourth Article of Faith material he's speaking of faith in himself come and see I want you to know for yourselves that it really is me I've been crying repentance to you directly since the beginning of the year and I'll continue to cry it here but then baptism true conversion and immersion in this life of discipleship and then the spirit will come and confirm that

this was the right decision for you confirm his presence in your life confirm the Oneness that you are developing with the father and the son now there's something else here though that he mentions at the end of 22 and then says in 28 and 29 there's another reason that he wants to start with something as simple as baptism because it's such an essential Doctrine or practice but there seems to be some confusion over it that's definitely true in our day evidently it was true in theirs you see at the end of 22 when he says

on this wise shall you baptize and there shall be no disputations among you remember we started in 30 I8 today with doubting and disputations well there seems to be argument because I'm so convinced that this is the right way and when it comes to religion you better have it the right way so no wonder disputations arise over these kinds of of doctrinal matters he repeats it in 28 according as I have commanded you thus shall ye baptize and there shall be no disputations among you as there have hitherto been yeah I'm aware of it you

wonder if right then several of the disciples are looking at each other kind of awkwardly like uh sorry I disagreed with you or disputed with you about this I just I know how important it is I want to make sure we get it right again the Lord would say yeah I want you to get it right too twice I said this is the way it's supposed to be done but twice I've also said no disputations yes I care about Orthodoxy but I care about Unity even more not unity in avoidance of Orthodoxy but Unity on

the way towards Orthodoxy you understand the difference there I want you to get it right I want you to understand the truth this does matter to me I'm not completely dismissing it just so that we can all feel good about things and be one in things that don't matter this isn't relativism that says no you do it your way I'll do it mine it doesn't really matter it does matter there are truths there that matter that are non-negotiable but Christ's preliminary concern seems to be Unity Oneness you can't fight on your way toward rightness why

cuz look at 29 he that hath the spirit of contention is not of me it's of the Devil he's the father of contention and I need you to become the children of God he's the father of contention he stirs up the hearts of men to contend with anger one with another probably more accurately one against another maybe that's another reason why he's talking about the Oneness of the father and the Son and the Holy Ghost yeah we're different we're separate entities but we have become so truly one that we can claim that Oneness that Unity

you've got got to learn to do the same because division contention one against another anger stirring up that's all the adversary and I love the fact that he's not just talking about we need to be one back in the war chapters he's talking about needing to be one in doctrinal discussions the goal you're seeking Orthodoxy is a beautiful place to aim but I don't just care about the destination I care about the journey you have to learn to get along along the way now with the possible exception of politics I think religion is one of

those things that this kind of non disputatious non-c contentious Unity is hardest to come by maybe that's why politics and religion seem to be the two topics that no one's allowed to talk about but talk about important topics especially as we're trying to get to know each other politics how do you think Society should be organized and religion how do you describe reality itself but because those are such big deals that's probably why they become so contentious because they mean everything to us this is how Society is supposed to run or this is how we're

supposed to view the world the universe and our place in it people don't tend to get really contentious or violent over favorite foods or favorite colors we start to see it in things like sports for some reason it matters so much to us that my team against your team the thought of agreeing to disagree or just respecting each other's opinions or just hoping that a good game is played by all some sportsmanship here oh heaven forbid but especially when it comes to politics and religion we're so convinced that there's only one right way and it

happens to be ours no wonder we get angry there's actually a fascinating study that they did of religion in America and the the author of this study described the challenge the tension that exists between diversity on the one hand and devotion on the other if you have both diversity and devotion that's a recipe for disaster now if it's one or the other then you can tend to get away with it they said for example places uh with high devotion but low diversity don't seem to have problems because everybody feels passionately about what they believe but

they all believe in the same thing you can probably think of some places in the world that are like that high devotion low diversity we all get along the flip side is also okay lots and lots of diversity but very low levels of devotion it's like oh we don't agree with each other but hey we don't really care about the things we're disagreeing about you do you I'll do me it's fine again easy to get along where it gets tricky they point it out is in places where there is both High diversity and high devotion

we feel passionately about our differences and like I said religion seems to be the epicenter of those kinds of conflicts I love that the Lord stares right into that religious Bullseye and says even in that kind of a place which does really matter I believe in Orthodoxy but in your efforts to arrive at it you have to learn to get along I love doing Faith work I loved my time in Divinity School rubbing shoulders with people that theologically did not agree with each other and yet we saw the goodness in one another we cheered each

other on as we were trying to become instruments in God's hand however we saw that instrument being used there was high diversity and high devotion at Divinity School and I was grateful for it I'm grateful for friends of other faiths that believe passionately about their doctrines and when we discuss things and I have those experiences fairly frequently I love them when we discuss things we don't always agree with each other but there never seems to be contention disagreement doesn't have to be disputation we don't have to fight over faith Jesus connects this idea of Doctrine

and the need to avoid disputation in verse 30 behold this is not my Doctrine to stir up the hearts of men with anger one against another but this is my doctrine that such things should be done away so interesting that that doesn't seem to be a Doctrine we fight over in our Zeal to defend certain pet doctrines how come we don't seem to care so much about that particular one he calls it a Doctrine too so please in your efforts to defend Fillin the blank Doctrine make sure that you are all the while following the

doctrine of n disputation no contention maybe that's why it's so hard to do in the realm of religion it's a fusing of the two great Commandments we defend Doctrine because we want to keep the first great commandment loving God but are we loving neighbor all along the way you can't divorce the two verse 31 he then shifts to what we more typically consider the doctrine of Christ verse 31 I say unto you I will declare unto you my Doctrine and in verse 39 skipping ahead he says verily verily I say unto you that this is

my Doctrine so between 31 and 39 this is the doctrine of Christ remember second Nephi 31 Nephi did the same thing he starts the chapter I want to teach you the doctrine of Christ he ends the chapter and that was the doctrine of Christ so in between guess what it was the doctrine of Christ same thing here and here it is verse 32 this is my Doctrine and it is the doctrine which the father hath given unto me and I bear record of the father and the father beareth record of me and the Holy Ghost

beareth record of the father and me and I bear record that the father command you see what he's doing they're they're pointing each of the three is pointing in both other directions we're all one in this we back each other up to the very end and here's the doctrine that the father commands all men everywhere to repent and believe in me there's faith and repentance the first principle of the Gospel then in verse 33 who so believeth in me and is baptized now we've got the first ordinance of the Gospel the same shall be saved

and they are they who shall inherit the kingdom of God who so believeth not in me and is not baptized shall be damned now sounds harsh but if you think of damnation in terms of rivers can no longer pass this point the progress is stopped there's something about relationships that they cannot progress until you commit to them it's actually one of the reasons behind that ironic fact that relationships that begin living together in marriage rather than in mere cohabitation are actually more successful not less you'd sort of think that oh no we're kind of trying

things on you know and moving together as if we were we're we're pretending we're playing house and then we can decide if we want to stick with this or not no the more successful relationships are the ones based in faith faith and commitment that we love each other and we believe in each other and we believe that our marriage is going to work out and we're just going to launch in we're going to fully commit we're going to make a covenant that's baptism or marriage in this case and it's the Covenant the commitment that allows

the relationship to progress to develop especially you young single adult Institute students you ever been in a relationship that just doesn't seem to be going anywhere because neither party will fully commit to the other well that relationship is damned well at least for the meantime until people have the courage to make a commitment a covenant and then it progresses verse 35 verily verily I say unto you that this is my Doctrine and I bear record of it from the father and who so believeth in me believeth in the father also and unto him will the

father bear record of me for he will visit him with fire and with the Holy Ghost now we have the second ordinance of the Gospel confir information what's he just taught the Fourth Article of Faith faith in the Lord Jesus Christ repentance baptism by immersion for the remission of sins and the receip of the Holy Ghost that's all what's going to happen that's the doctrine of Christ verse 36 thus will the father bear record of me and the Holy Ghost will bear record unto him of the father and me they're pointing fingers again for the

father and I and the Holy Ghost are one one with each other and we want to be one with you if you'll just be one with us and one with each other if you are not one you are not mine it's just the way it works verse 37 then again I say unto you you must repent and become as a little child and be baptized in my name or you can in no eyes receive these things and again I say unto you ye must repent and be baptized in my name and become as a little

child or you can in no wise inherit the kingdom of God now that seems redundant and it is he basically says the same thing in 37 and 38 and perhaps that redundancy is meant to rivet our attention to the importance of this Doctrine but then again there is one slight difference between the two verses the first one the order is to repent and become as a little child and be baptized the second time it's repent and be baptized and become as a little child now did he mean to switch the order there I don't know

but I think there's a lesson worth learning there because becoming childlike depending on the first or the second reading both precedes and follows the Covenant we make with Christ I think unfortunately sometimes we think that the childlike stage of our discipleship is early on and then we outgrow it we mature Beyond it and being childlike is not one of those childish things that Paul says we're supposed to outgrow remember how King Benjamin says it that we're supposed to put off the natural man and become a saint through the atonement of Christ the lord and then

he continues and becometh as a child submissive Meek humble patient full of love willing to submit remember what Jesus said when he first descends willing to submit to all things which the Lord seeth fit to inflict upon him even as a child to submit to his father all of those things Jesus had done in his atonement and all of those things are things that prepare us for the Covenant with Christ that we make at baptism but they don't go away after that being willing to make that Covenant to lower ourselves to the point of recognizing

our nothingness and laying hold of the fullness that God is offering us instead it will take all of those childlike attributes but honestly I think I have felt the need in my own discipleship of of childlike faith and simple trust meekness and humility a willingness to submit I think I've needed all those attributes more after my baptism than ever I needed before them Unfortunately they came more naturally then than they have since all the more reason to ground myself in the faith and repentance that will bring me back to that you understand what I'm saying

stay childlike what got you to the point of your Covenant is what is going to allow you enable you Empower you to keep that Covenant going forward it's being childlike it's of such as the Kingdom of Heaven 39 then again he gives this second book end the final this is my Doctrine and then adds and who so buth upon this buth upon my rock so says the rock of the Redeemer the rock of Heaven the rock that is no longer shaking beneath their feet like it was a few chapters ago and if you'll build on

that rock then the Gates of Hell shall not Prevail against you beyond that verse 40 if you declare more or less than this and establish it for my Doctrine you say no this is one of those non-negotiables as well the same cometh of evil you're not built upon my rock you're built upon a Sandy Foundation the Gates of Hell stand open to receive such when the floods come and the winds beat upon them not if when they'll come now I don't think he's saying there's no other Doctrine than this there's all kinds of other teachings

that are important and he's going to teach a lot of them in the next few chapters the rest of the third Nei really is full of additional doctrine that we need to understand but in terms of establishing it for my Doctrine as if those other things were foundational to the same degree that Faith repented baptism and the Holy Ghost are if you're emphasizing those things at the expense of these then you got a problem or even this idea of a foundation what you build on top may be amazing these other doctrinal super structures you you

name the theology whatever it might be those can be incredibly well- constructed beautiful edifices up top but if they are not firmly rooted in the bedroom Rock doctrine of Christ faith in Christ repentance through Christ Covenant with Christ confirmation of Christ if we're not built in him then that Foundation is on Sandy ground and no matter how beautiful the super structure it will collapse when the floods and wind comes so what are you built on remember John 15 when Jesus says that I am the true Vine and if you separate yourself from me then you

will wither the same is true doctrinally that's why every Doctrine we ever teach needs to be inseparably connected rooted and founded in the doctrine of Jesus Christ if it's separated from that True Vine it'll wither a dangling Doctrine becomes a dead one once you've separated it from Jesus Christ think about that the next time you give a talk or a lesson on any other subject is there a way that you can explicitly clearly directly connect it back to Jesus Christ and the beliefs and behaviors faith and repentance the covenants and commitments baptism and holy ghost

that bind us to him and then he concludes verse 41 go forth unto this people and declare The Words which I have spoken in fact did I just say this people yeah good place to start but declare it unto the ends of the Earth there is these concentric circles of concern that just keeps spreading the Risen Lord did the same thing in the book of Acts chapter one when he says to his assembled Apostles there to go and preach this message in Jerusalem and then he expands it well let's make that all Judea and then

he expands it well let's make that Samaria and then he expands it ah what the heck the uttermost parts of the Earth I love that he's doing that here as well and we will shortly see his people following that direction we've got to get the water to the end of the row The Living Water so says the water himself I love 3i 11 I'm just missing some Puerto Rican investigators in front of me and I'm back in the mission field from 20 plus years ago reading this climactic chapter with people trying to decide for themselves

how they feel about the doctrine of Christ and how they feel about this book in which it is contained did Jesus really come to the Americas did he visit other sheep in another fold we will see this ministry unfold over the next several weeks and it's a masterpiece what he says what he does among these multitudes is life-changing it was for them it can be and needs to be for us I bear you my witness that Jesus is the son of God that he descended among these people in a similar way as he will descend

in the world at his second coming and perhaps even more personally and more importantly he wants to condescend into our lives as well the hen is still worried about her chicks the father and the son and the spirit are still sending out in invitations to each of us I pray that we will respond to them and that we'll come running whatever darkness and Devastation whatever destruction or death you have felt in the third Nephi 8910 of your life if that is the Friday of that final week of the savior's life I do testify that what

Elder Joseph BW worin said in an incredible talk is true that no matter how dark your Fridays are Sunday will come Easter Sunday the Risen Lord third Nephi 11 hold out for that watch earnestly for it talk to others about it but open your ears and train your eyes and prepare for the coming of Christ into your life he lives and he wants to come to you so come to him [Music]