3 Nephi 12–16 | September 30–October 6 | Scripture Study Insights | A Come Follow Me Resource

hello there my name is Tyler Griffin and this is scripture study insights by scripture Central today thiri chapters 12- 16 I want to begin with a very famous verse in chapter 12 the the last verse of that particular chapter that reads as follows therefore I would that ye should be perfect even as I or your father who is in heaven is perfect years ago elder or president Jeffrey R Holland gave an incredible talk called be ye therefore perfect eventually in that talk he he shares this this little concept he says around the church I hear

many who struggle with this issue I'm just not good enough or I fall so short or I will never measure up I hear this from teenagers I hear it from Miss Aries I hear it from New converts I hear it from lifelong members one insightful Latter-Day Saint sister Darla Isaacson has observed that Satan has somehow managed to make covenants and Commandments seem like curses and condemnations for some he has turned the ideals and inspiration of the Gospel into self-loathing and misery making so today as we look at at this incredible set of chapters especially chapters

12 13 and 14 often called the sermon at the temple it's the repeat of The Sermon on the Mount in Matthew 56 and 7 we get to see a glimpse into Jesus Christ giving us the blueprints for a perfect life for this this handbook that it is guides us along that Covenant path that Covenant journey to becoming more and more like him and when we look at your your identities as described by President rusam Nelson a child of God a child of the Covenant and a disciple of Christ this requires all kinds of help and

instructions along the way it would be as a simple object lesson if you were teaching young children or even teenagers you could take in a pile of of Legos and dump them out on the table and say go build make this into what it was intended to become and they would probably look at you with a very confused look and then you could show them the box and show them what the finished product should look like and that might help some but most will just become even more discouraged because they don't know how to get

from this piled jumble of Legos on the table to this finished product and then you could pull out the instruction book and say would you like to have this if they're really trying to accomplish this outcome they're going to celebrate the fact that now they have the instruction manual brothers and sisters the sermon at the temple or The Sermon on the Mount is is the single most concise and yet powerful instruction manual that I know of in all of scripture it is the ultimate answer to the question how how do I become a better disciple

of Christ how do I build that Christlike character how do I strengthen that relationship with the Savior how do do I strengthen my relationship with my loved ones and those around me how do I persevere in doing those things that I know I need to do again I don't know of anywhere in Scripture that is more clearly laid out in giving us the the how the instruction manual for discipleship on this pathway filled with Covenant relationships and Covenant connections not just with God but with other people as well than the this incredible sermon at the

temple so if you have sat in a in a sacrament meeting or a general conference or any kind of classroom setting or a personal study and felt a little bit overwhelmed like those people that President Holland mentioned in his talk then perhaps you could go into these chapters with a prayer in your heart to say heavenly father I I just want to be a better disciple of Christ I want to know how to better repent and to turn to thee and to change the way I think the way I treat people the way I talk

the way I feel about myself the way I I respond to Commandments if you keep that prayer in your heart these verses will have more context they'll have more purpose more intentionality and consequently you're more likely to get significant inspiration out of your scripture study in these chapters so before we dive into verse one let me let me take this word that we've often bumped up against and it causes some people a lot of a lot of stress and anxiety and it's the word perfect be therefore perect perfect the problem is in English most of

us look at that word and see flawlessness no mistakes uh a complete performance with no no problems whatsoever when in reality when he gives his Sermon on the Mount over in the New Testament we have the benefit of being able to use Strong's Concordance which gives us the Greek words that underly that English text of our Bible so we can see what it what it more likely meant in a first century context when Jesus was speaking and the word there if you look up in strongs in Matthew 5:48 click on the word perfect and you'll

see that it's the Greek word teos teos means complete whole lacking nothing towards being finished it it's arrived it there's nothing left for for that thing to do or that person to to accomplish in order to be pronounced teos it it's there it's it's finished so now if you look at the context of Matthew 5:48 you get Jesus Christ saying be therefore perfect even as your father which is in heaven is teos or perfect lacking nothing for completion or wholeness he's arrived but the Lord Jesus Christ who had never made any mistakes using our definition

of the word perfect he didn't include himself in the list in Matthew but he did in third Nephi 12 be therefore perfect even as I or your father which is in heaven is teos or or arrived complete his mission was complete at that point which is a beautiful contrast another activity you can do in your personal scripture study or companion study or your your home or church teaching settings as you could take a small section of the scriptures and have somebody follow along in Matthew 5 as one individual reads third Nephi 12 and look for

what is different especially in the early part of the chapter so you could start in chapter 12 verse 1 and 2 and three and have somebody contrast it and see the the differences as well as what is the same and then go all the way through these Beatitudes it's a it's an amazing exercise to see these uh contrasts between what he teaches to the Israelites compared to what he teaches to these Nephites and lamanites remember of the scattered tribes so we jump in and you get 12:1 says and it came to pass that when Jesus

had spoken these words unto Nephi and to those who had been called then it gives the numbers 12 behold he stretched his hand unto the multitude and Cried unto them which is a fascinating contrast with the the old world speech it's much clearer who who his direct audience is in the sermon at the temple than it was on The Sermon on the Mount you see him speaking to the 12 and then you see him speaking to the multitude and at this point he turns to the multitude and you can watch it will tell you when

he turns back and forth and that might add some context as to the message that is being given and why he's saying what he's saying to that particular audience so now he's speaking to the whole multitude and he says blessed are ye if ye shall give heed unto the words of these 12 whom I have chosen from among you to minister unto you and to be your servants so before we go any further I think it's important to note that the traditional Beatitudes don't start until blessed are the poor in spirit but in the Book

of Mormon account we get four pre Beatitudes to our biblical account and this is the first one blessed are those who will give heed unto the words of the 12 Jesus clarifies whom I have chosen and what did he choose them to do to minister unto you and to be your servants and unto them I have given power so this this calling this prophetic mantle that the Savior has placed on these 12 Apostles is an incredible starting point for the Beatitudes so we're going to look at these Beatitudes not as different groups of people but

as a Stairway of perfection as or as steps along a covenant path whatever analogy works best for you or steps in an instruction manual for putting something together so that it can be compl complete perfect and whole so that it can arrive lacking nothing for Perfection the thing that we're that the Lord is really building is us so watch as we go through for this pattern of why should I care so much about Commandments and keeping them and following his instructions this is all rooted in Covenant this is all and and an opportunity for us

to connect in this covenantal community relationship with Christ and with each other as we follow these instructions that he's given us and instruction number one is give heed to the prophets that he has chosen now there are many people who are self-proclaimed prophets or false prophets and we need to pray for discernment to know the difference but we we don't need to wonder who his Chosen and appointed servants are that we sustain in conferences or as we as we read their words or listen to to the things that the Lord is teaching us through them

give heed to them is a blessed State and the second beatitude that is added here is I have given power that they may baptize you with water and after you baptized with water behold I will baptize you with fire and with the Holy Ghost therefore for blessed are ye if ye shall believe in me and be baptized after that ye have seen me and know that I am so he gives this promised Blessed assurance that if you have faith in him believe in him and get baptized so this becomes a gateway to these additional Beatitudes

now he's talking to a very specific group of people 2500 in that multitude by the time we get to the end of chapter 17 so that's a a very small drop in a large bucket of humanity and so he includes the rest of us in beatitude number three and four these preludes or precursor Beatitudes to the traditional ones in the Bible verse two says again more blessed are they Who Shall Believe In You your words because that ye shall testify that ye have seen me and that ye know that I am this is this is

odd because the Beatitudes are usually simply in the form of blessed are the blank for they shall blank but in this case he said and more blessed are they there's an A A magnitude difference you're even more blessed if you hear the testimony of people who have seen him and if you believe their testimony than if you've seen him yourself and believe he seems to be elevating this principle of the Gospel of faith in the Lord Jesus Christ of receiving a witness after the trial of your faith that you're are more blessed if you give

heed to the words of those who know even if you yourself haven't experienced it so if you go to church and you hear people bear strong powerful witness and testimony of the Lord Jesus Christ or of God and of his eternal plan for our happiness you don't have to have experienced angels and Heavenly manifestations in order to believe belief is a choice and he's saying more blessed are you if you believe in the words of those who have seen and yet you you you have never had that experience yourself so the fourth beatitude is y

blessed are they Who Shall Believe in your words and come down into the depths of humility and be baptized and then he promises the reception of the Holy Ghost and the remission of their sins so step one is to believe whether you're in that group of 2 200 people or whether you're believing their testimony or the testimony of those who have seen and then blessed are you if you have faith enough to be B apz so then he repeats that for these two different groups those who are in person and those who by extension are

going to listen to those testimonies which now so that's the gateway to get onto this Covenant path and honestly I don't know of any place in Scripture that lays out the how to progress along the Covenant path better than these Beatitudes so instead of there are a variety of ways you can look at scripture and they're all going to be helpful and instructive to different people at different times on different levels so you can keep studying the Beatitudes however you prefer but for today I'm going to walk us through what if we looked at them

as stepbystep progression along the Covenant path what if we looked at them as a means whereby you and I can actually repent or turn our lives more fully to to Christ and to follow him and do the things which he has asked asked us to do and to not be angry at him for giving his Commandments for setting the bar pretty high in fact setting the bar at absolute perfection if the bar weren't at Perfection we probably wouldn't need his help so much but because he put the bar where it is TE teos we absolutely

need his help I'll never be able to to take a step forward on this path without him and that's another point this is not to be seen as okay this is my part if I'll do this and then at the very end then I access his grace brothers and sisters the only way I can take any step forward on the Covenant path is through his grace it's because of his grace now he never uses the word Grace anywhere in third Nephi Jesus never teaches them I I'll save you by my grace but what he does

do is as he embodies his grace in everything he's saying and doing with these people he is he is shedding his grace upon them and Grace comes from that Greek word harus it's the same root as Charisma it's the same rote means to lean into or lean towards in an effort to to give something or to help or to lift up and sustain his grace is more manifest in these verses than almost anywhere we'll see other than when it's describing his infinite atonement he's leaning into us he's giving us an upgrade for the Old Law

of Moses he's showing us a better instruction manual for how to build a better version of you and me Brick by Brick part by part as we progress towards his perfection that can only come through his name and through his through the Covenant connections that we have with him so here we go with the traditional Beatitudes verse three yay blessed are the poor in spirit who come unto me so as you go through these Beatitudes note the little qualifying words or phrases in this case poor in spirit the opposite of poor is Rich if if

I'm rich in spirit I have an abundance I have an overflow I'm doing great I don't need a lot of help because I'm filled with the spirit the reality is if I'm on a covenant path and I want to become more like the Savior Jesus Christ I probably ought to begin after I've entered that Covenant path I probably ought to start with a recognition that I'm not who I need to be yet that I'm lacking in in attributes and Perfections I'm not there and so it says blessed are those the poor in spirit who come

unto me for theirs is the Kingdom of Heaven it's not enough to recognize what you're lacking and then shrug your shoulders and say well that's that's who I am I can't change I can't do anything differently I'm a victim of my my upbringing or a victim of my DNA or a victim of my family circumstance or whatever it may be the power here is once I recognize that there's a gap between who I am and who I need to be then I come unto Christ well how do I come unto Christ I keep reading I

keep studying the rest of these these uh Beatitudes they are going to lay out this beautiful pattern this is the the vehicle in my mind whereby a person truly becomes a disciple of Jesus Christ a true Christian will follow this pattern of these Beatitudes so step one recognize step two he says verse uh four again blessed are all they that mourn for they shall be comforted there are a lot of people who are in mourning in across the world and there's not a lot of comforting going on at all times so I think it's important

to note that the morning we're talking about here is more rooted in Godly sorrow the morning comes because I recognize I'm not who I need to be yet I'm lacking I'm not teos I I'm struggling with some things I'm not finished and I feel bad that I'm not better and then verse five says and blessed are the meek for they shall inherit the earth that intense humility willingness to submit willingness to do the will of the father instead of our own natural tendencies meekness because I recognized my Gap I feel bad about it I'm willing

to do whatever God wants me to do and now it brings me to blessed are all those who do Hunger and thirst after righteousness for they shall be filled with the Holy Ghost and then blessed are the merciful for they shall obtain Mercy isn't this interesting that we went from recognizing our our Gap our weakness our imperfection our lack of the spirit we feel bad about it appropriately we don't beat ourselves up with worldly sorrow but we have appropriate Godly sorrow we're willing to submit change our heart what do you want me to do not

my will but thine be done because the Savior taught us how to how to do that now we're seeking after God's will we hunger and thirst we study we practice we we try to feel feel that hunger void and that thirst void with the things of the spirit and then he says blessed are the merciful for they shall obtain Mercy that word merciful is both reflective and outward facing in nature what good does it do me if I'm on a path trying to become more like Jesus and I'm unwilling to forgive people for their missteps

for their sins even at times for their abuses what I'm saying to that person is your Badness is bigger than Christ's goodness your problem outweighs the Lord's solution if I want to be more like the Lord Jesus Christ I need to practice the attribute of his Mercy I need to be more merciful full of of that Christlike attribute which allows people to also be poor in spirit to also have problems that they're working on with the help of the Lord and his grace that they're working through these Pro processes as well as us that's what

the Covenant path is it's not a covenant event discipleship is a lifelong Pursuit towards this glorious goal of the savior's teos his his Perfection that he offers us in him and only in him so the merciful attribute is not just outwardly reflected from the Lord but it's also inwardly reflected that I have to be able to look at that person in the mirror and I have to be able to say to him I know that you're not who you need to be but I know who your focus is on I know who you're striving to

become like I know who your traveling companion is in this Covenant connection and I know that his love and his power and his grace are unfailing and if you hold on you will get there I love the uh the summation of President Holland's talk be therefore perfect if we persevere then somewhere in eternity our refinement will be finished and complete teos somewhere in eternity it will we we will find that completion that wholeness so instead of allowing the Devil to discourage us or for the natural tendencies of the world in our on our fallen state

to discourage us into feeling like I'm never going to be good enough I'm never going to get this right let's recognize tap the brakes on those thoughts and recognize the Holy Ghost is never and I mean never going to come and Whisper to somebody's heart and mind you're a bad person and you're never going to be good enough the Holy Spirit doesn't do that Jesus Christ doesn't teach that the prophets don't teach that that's a doctrine of the Devils calculated to discourage us to try to uh tempt us to become more like them with no

hope in the future if you can cast off those those chains of of discouraging Temptations and recognize that our hope is rooted in Christ and his Perfection and the closer we come to him the more he helps us to become like him and eventually we will arrive at that complete finished state only because we've been walking with him not because we got to him on our own so that he can then save us by Grace you see salvation by grace isn't about getting somewhere it's about becoming somebody as the Savior takes us somewhere significant into

the presence of God it's this this incredible uh incredible recognition that all of these Commandments that we get in the gospel all of these directions we get from the prophets all of the need to to be baptized or have faith in him these aren't these aren't uh busy work tasks that were concocted in heaven to keep us busy during mortality these are indeed the grace filled instructions given to us by a loving God who wants us to grow into who we have the capacity to become he wants to build us up into that teos uh

finished product sometime in the eternities but some some sets take longer to build and we're not building Legos we're building children of God we're building Children of the Covenant we're building Disciples of Christ and it's it's a long process so we have to have mercy you have to be able to look at that person in the mirror and say I forgive you and then move on we can't Define ourselves by our our poor decisions in our past we have to allow the savior's Perfections and his glorious attributes and his promised future for us Define us

rather than our our missteps and our poor decisions of the past which now brings us to the next one blessed are all the pure in heart for they shall see God we have to be pure in heart we have to have our motives in the right place I'm doing this for the right reasons and we'll see that when we get to chapter 6 that that one will come up again The Next Step he says blessed are the peac makers president russem Nelson gave an entire talk on that one beatitude that is in my opinion the

greatest talk ever given on that subject called peacemakers needed I've listened to that and read that dozens of times and it never seems to get old verse 10 says and blessed are all they who are persecuted Ed for my name's sake for theirs is the kingdom of heaven so we get this last step blessed are the persecuted nobody wants that to happen you say wait a minute I I was looking for my Gap and what I was lacking between me and the Savior and his Perfection I feel appropriately mournful about that and I'm Meek and

willing to change and I'm hungering and thirsting after righteousness I'm willing to forgive I'm willing to allow people and myself to work through this process and I'm checking my motives am I doing the right thing for the wrong reason or am I doing it because I love the Lord and because I love other people blessed are the peacemakers so I'm trying to make peace and what is my reward blessed are the persecuted wait a minute I've been progressing and along the way now I get persecution from the world and From Below how is that fair

I love this one not because I love persecution but because of what persecution allows in this Covenant discipleship progress on the path this Covenant path you see look closely at the outcome what is the promised blessing for those who are persecuted for his name's sake it says for theirs is the Kingdom of Heaven if you want you could draw a line between the last line of verse 10 and the last line of verse three it's the same phrase blessed are the poor in spirit who come unto me for theirs is the Kingdom of Heaven blessed

are all they who are persecuted for my name's sake for theirs is the Kingdom of Heaven those Beatitudes are now connected with the exact same outcome it's the only repeat in the whole set or this whole series of Beatitudes I I don't know how you want to interpret that however it works for you that's great for me one way is to see this not as a Stairway but as a long process a spiral staircase that repeats again and again and again and one once I I get to that point plugging in different attributes of the

Gospel or different Commandments and it doesn't matter which commandment I plug in I can say am I rich in spirit with regards to that particular attribute of the Gospel or principle of the Gospel or commandment in every case the answer is nope I haven't arrived I'm not finished I'm still lacking something needed for completion here which means I then recognize that Gap and feel bad about it and I'm make I keep going persecution is an incredible Catalyst or trigger to start the process again to recognize oh I'm lacking I'm not who I need to be

yet I haven't yet arrived I'm not finished or complete I'm not teos so then I can do this process at a higher level and so I can keep progressing along this Covenant path as a disciple of Jesus Christ with him as the traveling companion helping and encouraging and forgiving and empowering and filling me with love and with his grace and showing me the instructions again and again and when I mess up helping me go back to where I got it wrong take apart those parts of the Lego set if you want to go back to

the object lesson and show how with a little adjustment you can then set it right and then progress and keep building this this complete set that he's working on with each of us individually the the Beatitudes have become for me my favorite place to turn when I'm struggling to know how I should move forward how I could be a better disciple of Christ and if this works for you great if it doesn't work for you find a different way to study the beatitude udes they're they're a lifelong gift waiting to be opened up layer after

layer after layer they will keep keep on giving that motivation and that uh inspiration that we need to persevere on the Covenant path which now brings us to the rest of chapter 12 which is the savior giving multiple examples from the Old Law of Moses the the instruction manuals from the Old Testament of what was expected to now he's giving an upgrade a higher law the law of Moses's end goal would peek out much lower than where the savior's higher law will take us if we walk that path with him and be willing to give

up the old instruction manual that we had cuz it's fulfilled that part's complete those parts are done the Savior finished that and now accept the new instructions that he's giving as the Covenant connections between him and us so you'll notice he starts with salt and light and comparing us to them these object lessons before we get into the upgrades salt is amazing the only thing that can ruin salt is contaminants salt doesn't break down on its own you have to ruin it and he says you are the salt and if salt loses its Savor then

it's then forth good for nothing but to be cast out in TRD underfoot you can still use it to to as ice melt in the winter you can still use it as something to to destroy enemy fields and their crops but there aren't very many other uses for it beyond that to be cast out and trotten under the foot of men and then the the comparison to a light he says I give unto you to be a light unto this people a city that is set on a hill cannot be hid he he wants us

to be a shining Beacon to the world and he says verse 16 therefore let your light so shine before this people that they may see your good works and then what's the outcome and glorify your father who is in heaven there's the caution with these principles of the Gospel as you're progressing on the Covenant path becoming more like the Savior if you're not careful you could start putting the focus on yourself and on people giving you praise honor riches Glory whatever it may be that you're you're seeking the command here was not to shine our

light in people's eyes or to draw attention to ourselves so that we receive the glory the invitation was two part number one let your light so shine and we're not the source of the light he gave unto us to be the light so we're reflecting him we're reflecting his goodness we're not generating the light independent of him so we let our light so shine so the people can see those good works and glorify Our Father Who is in heaven powerful invitation and then he he tells us very clearly in verse 17 think not that I'm

come to destroy the law or the prophets I am not come to destroy but to fulfill he doesn't ever tear down His prophets he always sustains them upholds them and fulfills their words he never lets them uh fall flat with their their prophecies he upholds them he sustains them if I want to be more like the Savior then I could ask him using this this vehicle or this means whereby I become a better disciple I could say to what degree am I sustaining the profits and if we look at it chances are we're all going

to recognize we're poor in spirit when it comes to sustaining the profits we could do better then we work our way through this process and and we become more like the savior in in the process who fulfill and uphold and sustain prophets rather than destroy them or tear them down or argue with them or tell them where they're wrong Verse 18 for verily I say unto you one jot nor one tit hath not passed away from the law but in me it hath all been fulfilled it's in Christ he is the lawgiver he tells us

that later on he he gave it he's fulfilled it and now he gives us this upgrade this higher version so verse 19 is where he he says behold I have given unto you the law and the Commandments of my father that ye shall believe in me and that you shall repent of your sins and come unto me with a broken heart and a contrite spirit behold you have the Commandments before you and the law is fulfilled again some would say wait that makes it sound like we're we're having to work in order to get to

heaven that isn't what he's teaching at all he's not saying your works are going to save you he's saying I Love You So by my grace I'm giving you these Commandments these instruction manuals this higher law to give you more means whereby you can connect with me the more you connect with me the more you become like me you walk with me and become like me that is the process of salvation it's becoming who we're intended to become it's not just to end up somewhere it's to refine our character who we are and how we

see God and how we see each other and how we see ourselves and so his invitation verse 20 therefore come unto me and be ye saved that phrase come unto me it shows up about six times in the sermon of the temple it shows up zero times in The Sermon on the Mount in Matthew 56 and 7 now it will show up in Matthew 11 later on but not in The Sermon on the Mount here he's emphasizing the need for us to come unto him that's where we experience his grace it's not by sitting back

and and saying I'm not going to keep your Commandments it's precisely by doing the very things he's asked us to do through his grace as he leans towards us as he bends towards us to to help us and to sustain us and lift us up so he says verse 21 ye have heard that it ha been said by them of old time and it is also written before you that thou shalt not kill a fun little comparison between the Book of Mormon account and the Matthew account in the Matthew account every single comparison with the

Old Law begins with you have heard that has been said by them of old they live in an oral tradition Society where they hear the words you have heard because most of them in the old world weren't literate most of the population didn't know how to read and write it was a very limited group of people maybe five to 10% of the population knew how to read so for them they had heard these things the Nephites are a very literate Society I think it's beautiful that here in the Book of Mormon he starts with you

have heard that it has been said by them of old time and it is also written before you that doesn't show up in the old world account and from here on out everything else is it hath been written it hath been written it is written because they're a very literate Society just a little subtle change knowing that isn't going to get you into heaven but it's fun to see those those comparisons in the cultural contexts and to see the consistency of the scriptures across history so the old lies is don't kill but I give unto

you this higher law this higher way of living walking a higher path or a higher road if you will don't even get angry with your brother learn how to control your anger to the point where killing isn't even going to be an option and so he's going to do that with multiple elements from the old set of Commandments as he gives us these upgrades whether it be killing or adultery or writings of divorcement or how we swear our Oaths all these different contrasts that you can see in the rest of chapter 12 these these instruction

upgrades where he's saying no I'm not doing away with the old one I'm actually giving you an enhanced more detailed more granular instruction manual to make this this creation that we're working on together even more refined even more teos literally lacking nothing for completion by the time he's done working with us and we're done working with him we've we've gotten to that end somewhere in the eternities where he pronounces us finished and he can say Well done thou good and faithful servant which brings us to chapter 13 and you get these Christian behaviors and the

Savior gives us pitfalls to to watch out for be aware of these these dangers these exit ramps on the Covenant path some of you might feel like you're growing weary you feel like the church is asking too much as if there's there's no more energy or motivation to keep certain Commandments or maybe all the Commandments or covenants that you've made with the Lord maybe don't feel like they're feeding your soul the way they used to or the way you had hoped and you feel the the discouraging Sentiments of what's the use why keep trying just

give up stop moving upward because it is an upward climb with the help of the Savior but it's uphill so if you're in that category or if you know someone in that c category chapter 13 is filled with these cautions notice verse one verily verily I say unto you that I would that you should do alms unto the poor he's saying I want you to to take care of the poor and the needy but take heed that you do not your alms before men to be seen of them otherwise you have no reward of your

father who is in heaven in other words be careful that you don't shift your focus off of Christ Christ and on to people to the point where you care more about what the world sees in you and how the world uh rewards you then you care about serving the lord and doing his will now some of you might be thinking to yourself wait a minute this this sounds like a contradiction because back in chapter 12 verse uh 145 and 16 he told us to let our light so shine that people can see our good works

and here he's saying don't do your alms before men to be seen of them and you're saying wait this this feels like I have to pick a side whenever that happens in your scripture study don't create a separation study look carefully look at every word keep digging keep searching to figure out how both can be true and accurate and in this case there there are a variety of ways you could look at this one of them would be if you look carefully at chapter 13:1 what did he actually say do your alms but take heed

that you do not your alms to be seen of them in other words back to the pure in heart what is the motivation for why you're doing those alms are you doing it to be seen of men is that the end goal or is the end goal back in chapter 12 letting your light so shine so that we can get the end goal of that they see those good works and glorify your father which is in heaven the difference is who's getting the credit who's getting the glory who's getting the increase of attention and where

is that attention coming from from men or from God so you can you can reconcile these two beautifully As you move forward to to keep checking our heart and make sure that we're pure in heart and that we're doing the things that we need to do for the right reason then he goes on to prayer giving some additional warnings and insights into how to appropriately connect with God In Prayer how to swallow our will up in his will and there's a lot of connection with certain attributes along the the Beatitudes with his prayer here and

then he talks about fasting and laying up treasure for yourself all of these Christian behaviors he's giving us this higher path a higher Holier way to strive to to walk with him and none of us is going to be perfect teos in this life but we keep striving we when we mess up we repent we forgive and we move forward again and look at the instruction manual more closely than ever before and try to get it right and continue to build with the grace of the Lord Lord constantly uh felt and empowering us along that

way now you get down to the end of chapter 13 and he says but seek ye first the kingdom of God and his righteousness and all these things all these other things that you're going to look for they'll be added to you now this was all given to the 12 if you look back at verse 25 again I told you pay attention as he shifts his audience so as he was instructing the 12 here in the last part of of chapter 13 these are instructions for his chosen servants to be able to more effectively minister

to and serve those uh the other people that the Savior has called them to teach and minister to and he says take therefore no thought for the tomorrow for the tomorrow shall take thought for the things of itself sufficient is the day unto the evil thereof and you see our Prophet ser and revelators who have done this they have devoted 100% their lives to the Lord they and their families are making incredible consecrated sacrifices to fulfill the Commandments and the Mandate and the Divine commission given to them by the Lord Jesus Christ to do his

work and to build up his kingdom and to spread his covenantal uh arms of safety across the world so people can be brought in to that Covenant uh relationship with him which now brings us to chapter 14 he gives us some additional warnings here at the beginning now it came to pass when Jesus had spoken these words he turned again to the multitude so now he's speaking to the crowd again and he did open his mouth unto them again saying verily verily I say unto you judge not that ye be not judged for with what

judgment ye judge ye shall be judged with what measure you meet it shall be measured to you again if you find that you're spending a lot of time looking at people through condemning lenses through what did they do wrong approach to to assessing their life then this is an invitation to maybe take a different approach and maybe extend a little more Mercy maybe be a little slower to be offended and a little quicker to forgive a little quicker to give the benefit of the doubt something that would help in this in this aspect of life

if you're struggling and you recognize you have that weakness and you feel really bad about that weakness and you're you're Meek you're willing to change but maybe then sets in this feeling of hopelessness like well I've been doing this so long I don't know if I can change it's my pattern it's who I am then don't forget this hunger and thirst thirst after righteousness don't forget to then dig in to the scriptures and the words of the prophets to say help me please forgive me I don't want to keep being easily offended I don't want

to keep being a judgmental or a a bitter person I want to be a better person and then you you hunger and thirst in a way where as you're studying you study intentionally these very verses can help you infuse you with with the grace of the Lord to take one more step forward you're probably not going to be perfect but you're going to probably be better than you have been and you keep working on it as an example you could read president Nelson's talk peacemakers needed if that was something you wanted to work on and

you don't just read it once to check the box you study it you immerse in it you give true heed to those words and you plead with God to help you walk that path and it's a process it takes a lot of work but again you're not working your way into heaven you're working towards a closer relationship with the Lord Jesus Christ you're working towards recognizing and applying his his atoning power in your life not just to forgive you but to change you that's what repentance is metan noo president Nelson has talked about it's to

change it's to turn to him more fully then he goes on with these these other comparisons of if you have a beam sticking out of your eye don't look at somebody with a little sliver in theirs and say you've got a problem let me help you fix your problem he's saying focus on your problem I'll take care of of you and once you've fixed your problem then you're more capable of helping other people with theirs and then he he gives this description of the the gate and the path in verse 13 and 14 about how

narrow the straight path is that leads to life and how few there be that find it because of the Temptations of the world and the natural tendencies of the Flesh and yet he contrasts it with how wide the gate and how broad is the way that leads to destruction and many there be that go in they're at so our job as Covenant Disciples of Jesus Christ is to let our light so shine that people can see our good works to more likely start asking the right questions and for us to truly help them be encouraged

to move forward in their relationship with the Savior and then he he finishes with this incredible uh reality that people who just talk about the Lord won't necessarily be welcomed into his his loving Embrace in the end he says verse 21 not everyone that saith unto me Lord Lord shall enter into the kingdom of heaven but he that doeth the will of my father who is in heaven this word right here is significant he that doeth the will of my father father who is in heaven again the extension of his grace isn't to say I

don't care what you do I'm going to save you anyway the extension of his grace is to say it doesn't matter what you've done if you're willing to now turn to me follow the path that I have marked I will forgive you I will work with you you will progress it will be a lifelong and into the eternity's pursuit but you will progress with me but you have to do these things you can't just listen to them and if you look back at our list of the Beatitudes here again this wasn't a random list that

the Savior made up out of whole cloth this is a blueprint to his perfected process that he went through in his life nobody was more poor in spirit nobody was more a Man of Sorrows and acquainted with grief in in the appropriate ways nobody was more Meek nobody hungered and thirsted after righteousness more than him nobody was more merciful nobody was more pure in heart no one was a better per uh Peacemaker and no one was persecuted more than him he isn't asking us to do things that are foreign to him he's asking us to

follow him to connect with him and to walk with him and then he finishes with this incredible uh analogy that has become a beloved primary song the wise man build his house upon the rock and the foolish man build his house upon the sand my dear friend Clint Mortenson pointed out that the only difference between the wise man and the foolish man in this uh in these verses is they both heard the sayings of his they both heard the words but the wise man in verse 24 doeth them and the foolish man hears the words

and doeth them not so if you're overwhelmed by The Commandments don't be let the Savior take that feeling of overwhelming from you and rely on him start the process of more faith in the Savior more heed to his prophets and You Begin this this spiral staircase process of moving forward one step at a time without getting overwhelmed with where you aren't or where you've been just look at where you are and then look to the Lord hear the words that are coming and do them just do them one step at a time don't try to

run faster than we have strength and he has promised are sure which now brings us to his incredible speech uh in verse in chapters 15 and 16 on the house of Israel something for you to look for as you go through these chapters is how he talks about law and Commandments and himself and notice how he never speaks negatively or even neutrally when it comes to Commandments he's very positive if the father gives a commandment he willingly obeys it I want to be more like the Savior that when a commandment comes I don't shake my

head and say no why do I have to do that that would be silly I would rather do this but rather follow his example of father not my will but thine be done there's nothing wrong with saying I I would rather not do this as long as we follow it up with nevertheless not my will but thine be done as he showed us that example in Gethsemane and then look at what he says about the other sheep in the old world and the new world and then you get to chapter 16 and he starts describing

the latterday uh gospel the spread of that gospel and one little lens that might help you as you go through chapter 16 is to see that there are three major groups of people there are the Jews in Jerusalem there are the scattered Israelites throughout all the world and then there are the Gentiles the biggest group of people that aren't in the house of Israel so chapter 16 notice how many times he uses the phrase oh House of Israel he's referring to this group here but ironically the Jews that produced the Bible under the Lord's Direction

given to them they now take that Bible to scattered Israel the Samaritans and then other Israelites in the second half of the New Testament and eventually it gets to the Gentiles through the mission of Paul and a little bit of Peter opening that work up with Cornelius and others so the Gentiles now Embrace God they embrace the Covenant they turn heavenward they do the things listed in the Beatitudes they come unto Christ as some of these groups turn away from him and then in the latter days watch in chapter 16 how the Lord prophesies that

it's the Gentiles who will now bring the Bible and the gospel and the memories of the Covenant that God has made with the house of Israel it's the Gentiles who bring that to them and then further into the the latter days we go as the Gentiles become less and less turned toward God God will turn more and more towards his Covenant people it's a it's a beautiful uh way that he ends chapter 16 using Isaiah he quotes from Isaiah 52 which is one of the most quoted parts of Isaiah in the Book of Mormon and

in other scriptures he says then shall the words of the prophet Isaiah be fulfilled which say th thy Watchmen shall lift up the voice with the voice together shall they sing for they shall see eye to eye when the Lord shall bring again Zion God is going to bring Zion through the Gentiles to scattered Israel and the Jews and it says Break Forth into Joy sing together ye waste places of Jerusalem for the Lord hath comforted his people he hath redeemed J Jerusalem the Lord hath made bear his holy arm in the eyes of all

the nations and all the ends of the Earth shall see the salvation of God in closing the word Grace might not appear in thir Nephi 8 through 29 but every page is dripping with the Lord's Grace we don't deserve any of this we don't deserve to get the the old instruction manual but he gave it anyway and then he fulfilled it we don't deserve to get the upgraded instruction manual but he gives it anyway we don't deserve to have all of the mistakes made right and forgiven and to be corrected and to put us on

the right path to move forward we don't deserve that but we get it anyway the savior's Grace is given to us on every verse in in his visit Among the Nephites and the lamanites here the savior's Grace is Manifest in the words of his chosen servants the prophets Sears and revelators as we hunger and thirst after his will and meekly seek it and are merciful with each other and with ourselves we will continue to progress until that glorious day as president Jeffrey R Holland said if we persevere then somewhere in eternity our refinement will be

finished and complete and I would add only through and in and by Jesus Christ and our walk with him may the Lord bless each of us today to take another step or two or three for on that Covenant path that's my prayer for all of us in the name of Jesus Christ amen know that you're loved [Music] [Music]