3 Nephi 20–26 | October 14–20 | Scripture Study Insights | A Come Follow Me Resource

hello there my name is Tyler Griffin and this is scripture study insights by scripture Central today third Nephi chapters 20 through 26 now as we dive into this incredible set of chapters it's important to remember a couple things number one this is the majority of his of the savior's teachings on his second day visiting the Nephites and lamanites in the land Bountiful the first day went from chapter 11 through the end of chapter 18 here we started in chapter 19 and we go to chapter 25 26 when he then leaves this is all happening in

one day everything that we're we're talking about here plus the elements from chapter 19 from last week's set of scriptures so the lifelong learning overlay that I want to use as we approach these chapters is one of looking at at these through the lens of Covenant Community and belonging in a a Covenant Community we live in a world today that is dominated largely by Greek thought by by a Greek world viiew and what is that the Greek thought process puts the focus on the individual it's it's about me uh that's where where we get democracy

that's where we get voting and thank heaven for for that Greek transition away from many of the other forms of government in in the Antiquities but the problem can sometimes be that if we're not careful we get so caught up in the me that we put all of the emphasis and all of the focus here and if we're not careful what happens when you are here in the center and you're focused on what can I get how can I build my kingdom how can I acquire riches or honor or power or Glory whatever it may

be if we're not careful we can become so turned in on building our kingdom that we no longer see the Lord and his kingdom or people around us and how we can lift and build them because we're turned inward the the the ultimate definition of self centered we put oursel at the middle of everything and consequently when all of these outward things start pressing in on us before we know it the the little circle that defines me gets smaller and smaller and smaller so that the irony is is The more I've tried to build my

kingdom the less of a kingdom I end up having in the end it doesn't last versus let's let's do the opposite if we put the focus not on me but rather me as a part of a Covenant Community and that could be a companionship it could it could be as simple as a a husband and wife in a marriage covenant it could be a family extended family it could be a quorum of the priesthood or a class in church it could be a Relief Society group of sisters it's a stake it's the whole church it's

ultimately the whole world but the point is that we put the focus not just solely on me but on how I can benefit people and others in that Covenant Community the focus is on WE and now that expands the soul and there are a lot of causes you can take up in the world where where you are part of a bigger organization bigger bigger efforts humanitarian philanthropic efforts and those are wonderful and I hope everybody keeps engaging in those but there's even a better uh sense of the we and it's in a Covenant Community where

you find that true sense of belonging that then takes us to another level altogether which is that Covenant Community focused on the or in in Christ in God that we turn outward and we turn upward and so we're all part of this group now you might be wondering so what does this have to do with third Nephi 18 through 26 as we go through these chapters notice it doesn't matter whether we're talking about the Isaiah chapters or the sacrament being instituted or the Gathering of Israel or the signs of the second coming of Jesus Christ

or tithing or the ceiling Keys every single one of these uh chapters all of these concepts are ways that you and I can now Focus outside of our self how we can turn upward and outward how it the analogy the object lesson to consider would be if you look at a at a campfire if you take a a stick or a log that's on on fire and you pull it out of that community of of the other logs so to speak and you put it on its own it may continue to burn for a SE

for a short while but eventually it it will probably die down and just start to smoke and and no longer burn and produce the same kind of heat or light and and warmth there's something amazing about putting yourself in a place where you're surrounded by other people who are in in the Covenant on the path striving to move forward hence everything in these chapters is helping us to see this vision of how the Lord is doing his work and his work is done in a Covenant Community that's what the Gathering of Israel is all about

we're bringing them in now they have their agency everyone gets to choose and not everybody will choose to come into that Covenant Community and not everyone who's in it will choose to stay some will choose to go out but it's important to note as we as we study these chapters today that you don't help somebody who's not in the fire of that Faith by leaving the fire of Faith yourself you won't you won't help them I if you yourself start to diminish your own Flame of of conversion and testimony if we stay more rooted in

the and in the we we're going to be be more capable of being instruments in the hands of the Lord in that Gathering effort in bringing people into the safety of that Covenant Community where the fire of that faith can catch hold again and produce that light and that heat that we so desperately need so with that Foundation let's jump in to chapter 20 so he begins here remember in the previous lesson he asked them in chapter 18 at the very ending of the first day's visit to bring Bread and Wine and he administered among

them for the first time the sacrament of the Lord's Supper he he gave them the that new ordinance now at the beginning of day two they've been baptized in chapter 19 many of them and now he in he he performs that Sacrament Ordinance one more time the the subtle difference here is he didn't ask them to bring the Bread and Wine it is provided miraculously for them there's a a beautiful principle here sometimes Jesus Christ will ask you and me in a Covenant Community to contribute things to sacrifice things to bring certain things to The

Altar for them on on that first instance it was bring Bread and Wine sometimes he expects us to bring certain things in in our discipleship and other times he simply provides it miraculously and we don't know where it came from and that's okay uh it's beautiful to see these contrasts in the scripture so that we realize once again you you can't paint the Savior into a corner and say one size fits all he always does things exactly the same way he doesn't he he does exactly what is needed for that individual or that group at

that time so he provides the the sacrament for them and then he says verse 10 it came to pass that when they had all given Glory unto Jesus he said unto them behold now I finish the Commandment which the father hath commanded me concerning this people who are remnant of the House of Israel so if you'll remember back in chapters 15 and 16 he started into this uh discussion about the house of Israel and the scattering and the Gathering and he quoted some verses from Isaiah 52 and then he perceived that the people were weak

and so he stopped fulfilling temporarily that Commandment that had been given to him by the father to teach these things and he he assured them he would come back to that and he had told them to go to their homes you remember that from from chapter 17 and then instead of continuing with that speech at that point he had that beautiful experience with them with uh healing their sick and blessing their children and then administering the sacrament to them in chapter 18 he didn't pile on more uh doctrinal uh discussions or more theological principles he

he paused now he begins this day two set of teachings with the sacrament and then he says now I'm going to fulfill the Commandment given to me by my father I think there's a principle there for you and me in a Covenant Community sometimes you receive a direction or an inspiration Revelation from the Lord to do something and you start doing it and for one reason or another it might not get completed you might get interrupted and it seems to be okay as long as our intent is we are going to fulfill that Covenant that

commandment given to us by the Lord but it may not happen on our time frame just like it didn't happen with them it was the next day in this case where he says okay you're rested I've given you the sacrament we've we've refocused on that which matters most this Covenant connection now I'm going to finish this message and he addresses beautifully what it means to be a part of the House of Israel and to come into the house of Israel into this Covenant Community and find your true sense of belonging there within the fire of

that Faith so he he starts by saying ye remember that I spake unto you and said that the words that when the words of Isaiah should be fulfilled behold they are written you have them before you therefore search them there's your first uh hint at this command to search Isaiah's words he says and verily verily I say unto you that when they shall be fulfilled then is the fulfilling of the Covenant which the father hath made unto his people oh House of Israel so he's assuring us that when the words of Isaiah are fulfilled that's

the time when we can know okay okay God is now fulfilling that Covenant that he made with all of the House of Israel and we're going to see elements of that throughout the rest of this this set of chapters again remember last time there are three major groups to consider when talking about the scattering and the Gathering and the house of Israel you have the Jews in Jerusalem the second group is you have the scattered Israelites which the Nephites and lamanites are a part of that group they were broken off they're a remnant of the

people who are taken away to a different part of the world and they at times are wondering have we been broken off from the Covenant have we been has has our physical scattering spiritually cut us off from the promises of that Covenant and they keep getting that promise again and again and again that they are not cut off it's even on the title page they're not uh eternally separated they're scatter scattered physically but not spiritually and so you get the Jews scattered Israelites and then the biggest group of all the Gentiles and you see all

of those coming into play here in chapter 20 and 21 look at verse 15 for instance and I say unto you that if the Gentiles do not repent after the blessing which they shall receive after they have scattered my people so the scattering of the House of Israel was caused by people like the Assyrians the Babylonians in in ancient times and the Romans in in the after the New Testament time period these Gentiles scattered those children of Israel and they took with them their scriptures and their knowledge of God and that spreads and the Gentiles

then are the ones to pick that up and now carry that message forth in return back to the scattered Israelites and ultimately eventually all of the Jews in the house of Israel and so if you look at chapter 20 through the lens of God doing his work of gathering for the Jews in Jerusalem then you see this interesting pattern emerge he will give you multiple prophecies and Promises and he will say this is going to happen and then this is going to happen so look for the word then in chapter 20 you can do an

electronic search on it or you can do a physical search with with paper scriptures and circle the word then and what you get is an ongoing timeline of Jesus Christ telling you what is going to happen happen before he comes again and how he is going to restore and gather the Jews to Jerusalem and gather them into the Covenant and fulfill all of those promises which have been made to the ancient Patriarchs and and matriarchs in the Old Testament so this is this is a beautiful uh chapter for the old world for the Jews that

he's giving to the Nephites and some would say well why why do the Nephites and lamanites in the new world care about what's going to happen with the Jews in the latter days 2,000 years down the road it's a good question and I don't have the ultimate answer for you but I have some some ideas that because of the nature of their mindset that they find their identity not as an individual but as a collective Community as a tribe as a family the house of Israel that it's giving incredible hope to them for their past

present and future as this identity of the House of Israel that the Lord is not going to forsake the Jews anymore than he is going to forsake them these scattered Israelites and we get the scattered Israel prophecies in chapter 21 so he he's going to shift gears from the old world Jerusalem and the Jews and then focus on the new world the New Jerusalem so you can do the exact same thing in chapter 21 that you did in chapter 20 look for the words when and then these connecting uh words for these prophecies that will

unfold in the latter days and you can see what the Lord is laying out in preparation for his second coming now now he begins chapter 21 with multiple verses setting the stage as follows and verily I say unto you I give unto you a sign that ye may know the time when these things shall be about to take place that I Shall Gather in from their long dispersion my people oh House of Israel and shall establish again among them my Zion so he says I'm going to give you a sign that the Gathering has begun

the final latterday ultimate Gathering of the House of Israel and what is the sign behold this is the thing which I will give unto thee for a sign for verily I say unto you that when these things which I declare unto you when these things these words that we're now reading in the Book of Mormon when these things which I shall declare unto you and which I shall declare Hereafter and then he he takes a tangent and talks about some other elements of the Gentiles and the power of the father and the scattering that's taking

place then he comes back to it in verse three verily verily I say unto you that when these things shall be made known unto them of the father and shall come forth of the father from them unto you from the Gentiles to you from the father giving them to the Gentiles to bring them to you when you see the these words coming forth to you he says verse 5 when these works and The Works shall be wrought among you Hereafter shall come forth from the Gentiles unto your seed he's clarifying and wait for and we

finally get the answer in verse 7 and when these things come to pass that thy seed shall begin to know these things it shall be a sign unto them that they may know that the work of the father hath already commenced unto the fulfilling of the Covenant which he hath made unto the people who are of the House of Israel so it's the Book of Mormon is the sign that the Savior gave to these Nephites and lamanites that when the Book of Mormon will come forth then you can know that the Lord is doing his

incredible Gathering effort for the final time bringing all who were willing to come into the fire of that faith that Covenant Community of belonging and he he talks about the coming forth of the book of you can imagine Joseph Smith and Oliver cowry as they're translating this part when it says but behold the life of my servant shall be in my hand therefore they shall not hurt him although he shall be marred because of them yet I will heal him for I will show unto them that my wisdom is greater than the cunning of the

devil if you think of the last 116 pages and all of the opposition that the Prophet Joseph faced throughout his life not just after he established the church but long before that as well all of these promises being fulfilled in him this instrument who would bring forth this great Gathering Tool The Book of Mormon so he says in verse 11 therefore it shall come to pass that whosoever will not believe in my words Who Am Jesus Christ which the father shall cause him to bring forth unto the Gentiles and shall give unto him power that

he shall bring them forth unto the Gentiles Joseph Smith serving among people who have come largely from Europe which The Book of Mormon sees if you go back to Nephi's Vision those Gentile Nations that come over and and start populating the new world and then he says and my people who are a remnant of Jacob shall be among the Gentiles so the scattered Israel will be literally scattered among the Gentiles yay in the midst of them as a lion among the Beast beast of the forest and then he goes on to talk about the Gentiles

in the latter days woe be unto the Gentiles except they repent for it shall come to pass in that day saith the father that I will cut off thy horses out of the midst of thee and I will destroy thy chariots he's giving us signs of the times that the nations of the world the Gentiles will eventually get cut off if they turn their back on the Lord or in this case when they turn off turn their back on the Lord and I will cut off the cities of the land thy land and throw down

all thy strongholds and I will cut off witchcrafts out of thy lands for they shall have no more soothsayers and he goes on to describe all of the things that are going to be destroyed by the Lord and then if you turn the page over he says I will verse 21 execute Vengeance and fury upon them verse 22 but if they will repent and hearken unto my words and Harden not their hearts I will establish my church among them and they shall come in unto the Covenant and be numbered among this the remnant of Jacob

unto whom I have given this land for their inheritance Gentiles are welcome to come into the Covenant they will become a part of the remnant of Jacob well the 10 tribes that were carried away captive that become the Lost tribes that's everybody but Judah and Benjamin down south Ephraim and Manasseh are two of those 10 who get carried away and many people who are coming in to the Gospel of Jesus Christ from the Gentile nations of the Earth are being adopted into often those two tribes as well as the others but those two who were

given this Blessing by father Israel to have the responsibility for the Gathering of Israel and all of his family in the latter days because again Israel or Jacob back in Egypt wasn't defining his identity based on himself as an individual he found his identity in his family both past present and especially in his case future and so there's this this powerful invitation to the Gentiles to come and become a part of that Covenant which now even though the promises weren't made to their ancestors they are adopted into the tribes of Israel so that they are

now a remnant of Israel and they have full access to those Covenant promises made so many Millennia ago and then it says verse 23 and they shall assist my people these Gentiles whove come in are going to assist my people the remnant of Jacob and also as many of the House of Israel as shall come that they may build a city which shall be called the New Jerusalem and then shall they assist my people that they may be gathered in who are scattered upon all the fa of the land in unto the New Jerusalem so

chapter 20 was the old Jerusalem in the Old World chapter 21 is the New Jerusalem and this Gathering effort for the remnant for the scattered tribes to come to the New Jerusalem the Jews to come come to the old Jerusalem and then shall the power of Heaven come down among them and I also will be in the midst that is the essence of Covenant belonging in the in this community of of what the Lord has set up in the house of Israel and being adopted into the house of Israel is he is at the center

he will be in the midst in the middle of this this Gathering effort it's it's the Lord Jesus Jesus Christ who's doing this work and we get to assist in it that's the word that that gets used in verse 23 and 24 is assist my people in doing this work and then verse 26 says shall the work of the father commence at that day even when this gospel shall be preached among the remnant of this people verily I say unto you at that day shall the work of the father commence among all the dispersed of

my people these scattered people and they're going to be let uh brought back in they who were lost and then verse 28 yay and then shall the work commence which the father with the father among all the nations in preparing the way whereby his people may be gathered home to the land of their inheritance and this beautiful conclusion verse 29 and they shall go out from All Nations and they shall not go out in haste nor go by flight for I will go before them saith the father and I will be their rearward we will

go out not in haste we're going to go out from all nations in this great Gathering effort don't be shocked as time passes to see more and more and more emphasis put on covenants on the Gathering of Israel on the house of Israel on this Covenant Community of belonging if you look at the general conference in April 2024 many are calling it The Covenant conference because all but just a small handful of talks mentioned covenants and some had their entire talks focused on them covenants are really important when they're established when they're kept and then

when they're fulfilled and you and I live in the day and age when God is now fulfilling his promises his covenants he's turning his Blessing and showering his his grace on the Gentiles in the house of Israel who are willing to enter into this Covenant with him in that that community of belonging that fire of faith that grows as we love share and invite all around us to come and participate in the blessings of that uh of that connection with the Lord and now it brings us to chapter 22 which is the Lord Jesus Christ

quoting to them Isaiah 54 if you're keeping track Isaiah 54 comes right after that incredible chapter the suffering servant chapter of Isaiah 53 where it describes the Lord being despised and rejected of men a Man of Sorrows and acquainted with grief we hit as it were our face from him he's despised he's rejected he takes all of our pains and sickness and affliction and all of the Pains of Hell upon him and that's how he overcomes and then the triumphant chapter 54 comes next and that's what he's now quoting to these people putting that in

the context of this Covenant Community of belonging not seeing it as just me building my kingdom but what can I do to help the Lord build his kingdom by loving him and loving you and loving those around me and turning outward which is the most Christlike thing we can do it's not to turn inward and say what's in it for me what can I get from you but rather what can I give you how can I serve you what do you need and some of you may be saying but I don't have a lot to

give that may be true but what we have if we're willing to give it we'll find that we receive more in return in the long run so chapter 22 is one of my favorite all-time chapters of scripture think of it in this context of the Lord teaching these Nephites and the lamanites these incredible words from Isaiah he says and then then shall that which is written come to pass sing O bear thou that did not bear Break Forth into singing and cry aloud thou that did not travail with child for more are the children of

the desolate than the children of the married wife saith the Lord if you go back to Old Testament times when the Kingdom of Israel was destroyed by Assyria and all of her children were carried away captive or put captive in the own land if they weren't carried away and Scattered uh Israel is left feeling desolate feeling like she's been forsaken when in reality she's the one who forsook the Lord and then it says in the latter days the the promise is that you're going to have more children verse two enlarge the place of thy tent

and let them stretch forth the curtains of thy habitations spare not lengthen thy cords and strengthen thy Stakes he's saying to Israel your your dwelling place isn't big enough you need to make it bigger stretch forth your curtains strengthen the stakes of Zion he says you're going to break forth on the right hand and on the left and thy seed shall inherit the Gentiles and make the desolate cities to be inhabited fear not for Thou shalt not be ashamed neither be thou confounded for Thou shalt not be put to shame he he's making incredible promise

prises about this Gathering effort in the latter days why can he make those promises for thy maker thy husband the Lord of hosts is his name and thy Redeemer the Holy One of Israel the god of the whole Earth shall he be called the house of Israel can make these bold claims and not be ashamed because the father of that house is the maker of all it's the Lord Jesus Christ it's the savior who's doing that Gathering work bringing people into this tent that needs to be enlarged called The Covenant the house of Israel and

then he he goes on to describe what's happened through these thousands of years from when the Covenant was first established until our day the latter days for the Lord hath called thee as a woman Forsaken and grieved in spirit and a wife of Youth when thou was refused sayith thy God for for a small moment have I forsaken thee but with great mercies will I gather thee he allowed the Assyrians to scatter Israel he allowed the Babylonians to scatter Judah he allowed the Romans to scatter Judah later on in 70 uh ad for a small

moment in the Eternal scheme of things if we think Celestial here he allowed these these consequences to fall upon these people but then his promises with great mercies will I gather thee we we are on the earth at the most exciting time president Nelson made it clear there is nothing happening on the wor on the earth that is more important than this Gathering effort bringing people into the house of Israel verse eight in a little wrath I hid my face from the for a moment but with Everlasting kindness will I have mercy on thee saith

the Lord thy Redeemer now you look at verse 10 for the mountain shall depart and the hills be removed but my kindness shall not depart from thee neither shall the Covenant of my peace be removed sayith the Lord that hath Mercy on the his promises are more firm and more Everlasting than the mountains and the hills they'll depart but his his loving kindness his Mercy his promises will not depart and he tells the people oh thou Afflicted tossed with Tempest and not comforted behold I will lay thy stones with Fair colors and lay thy foundations

with sapphires you'll notice all these things that the savior is doing for us and for you as an individual and for us as a as a Covenant Community we don't need to be concerned that our needs might go unmet he says I will be your God you will be be my people and when you come into that Covenant Community and you trust him and you connect with him and you keep those covenants with him his promises are sure they cannot fall they will not fail us and he says verse 14 in righteousness shalt thou be

established that's how we do it is we come in and we do that which is right and that which is right is that which comes from him if we love him we keep his Commandments that's righteousness that's Covenant belonging in Christ which brings us to chapter 23 he just finished quoting to them Isaiah 54 and he says Now Behold I say unto you that you ought to search these things yeah a commandment I give unto you that ye search these things diligently for greater the words of Isaiah if you're spending a lot of time on

social media if you're spending a lot of time watching the news and getting really discouraged about the latter days can I just recommend that maybe you spend more time reading chapters like Isaiah 5253 and 54 and other sections of Isaiah because there's there's this very clear message of hope the Lord is laying out what is going to happen he's making clear what his work is and we know who's going to Prevail in the end and it it builds hope rather than fear and anxi so he gives us this commandment to search diligently the words of

Isaiah it's kind of nice isn't it to know that as you study chapters like third Nephi 22 you're fulfilling something that the Lord Jesus Christ has commanded us to do but don't just read it search it diligently dig in ask questions turn it from every angle you can and look for what you can learn from the the power of the Holy Ghost bringing those messages and those principles to life for you and then the Savior clarifies why he's giving this command for us to search Isaiah's words diligently for surely he spake as touching all things

concerning my people which are of the House of Israel Isaiah was more focused on Israel and on the Covenant than any Old Testament prophet and consequently his prophecies are quoted everywhere and the Savior himself self is giving this this command for us to search those words diligently and it says therefore it must needs be that he must speak also to the Gentiles we've got to get Isaiah's words out to the Gentiles too because they're the ones who are going to assist in this work of gathering the family of Israel in our day in the latter

days and then the Lord promises and all things that he spake have been and shall be even according to the words which he spake Isaiah is is going to be absolutely fulfilled and then he makes an invitation to Nephi to bring forth the records and he looks through the records and he asks this in interesting question verily I say unto you I commanded my servant Samuel the lonite that he should testify unto this people that at the day that the father should glorify his name in me that there were many Saints who should arise from

the dead and should appear unto many and should Minister unto them and he said un them was it not so of all the things that Samuel lemite prophesied and he prophesied incredible things some of some of our favorite and most specific prophecies ever come in Samuel's speech but the one that the Savior emphasizes here is this promise of the graves being open and people being resurrected and being seen by many This Promise of life after this this life ends that they would be resurrected this glorious promise which puts into Focus all of these efforts we're

working on in the vineyard all of this Gathering all of this emphasis on the we and on the thee and and trying to bring everybody into this it's not just for this life the Lord's giving this this eternal stamp of importance to the work of the Gathering we're Gathering them in not so we can get numbers but so that we can help them build their identity in this Covenant Community of belonging as children of God Children of the Covenant and Disciples of Christ so now he asks Nephi why it's not there and of course Nephi

says it we'll fix that and thank heaven that this happened because is because of that we now have Samu the lonit uh experiences and especially his teachings in the end of the book of Helman which brings us now to chapter 24 when the Lord turns to them and says now there are some scriptures that you don't have that didn't come over on the brass plates because they weren't given yet by the time Lehi and and Nephi and Sariah and the family left Jerusalem they were given later by the prophet Malachi and it so happens that

he gives the last two chapters of our our Old Testament Malachi chapter 3 and Malachi chapter 4 interesting chapters because in chapter 3 he gives this this incredible uh lesson on tithing and you might be thinking to yourself of all the things Jesus Christ Could Teach the Nephites and lamanites why quote Malachi 3 which seems to emphasize tithing in the in the middle verses here we often jump to the tithing and we miss the part that gives the reason why tithing is so important let's look at verse six for I am the Lord I change

not therefore ye sons of Jacob are not consumed by all of these things that are that are happening up in verse uh five the the bad judgments you're you're not consumed they're they you're under a covenantal protection here and then verse seven even from the days of your fathers ye are gone away from mine ordinances and have not kept them so here's the Lord who has been showering down blessing after blessing after blessing on the people and instead of receiving those and turning heavenward these people have gone off on their own and turned inward they

have forsaken the Covenant as they leave that that protection of the Covenant Community of belonging and they have become unto themselves or become for themselves turned Inward and they've broken the Covenant they haven't kept the ordinances as he has given them to them and then he gives this invitation at the second half of verse 7 return unto me and I will return unto you sayith the Lord of hosts but ye say wherein shall we return this is fascinating the Savior saying come back be gathered in every time we sin we're there's a there's a scattering

taking place every time we repent and return there is a gathering taking place to to that degree that we're repenting and returning to the Covenant returning to those ordinances returning to that connection with the Lord and so his promis is come back to me return to me and I will return to you I will be your God again you will be my people remember the story from the Old Testament Hosea and Goomer she forsakes him he reaches out brings her back reestablishes that Covenant that's what he's doing here return to me so that I can

return to you as well and they say well how do we return and then he says will a man rob God yet ye have robbed me but ye say and where have we robbed thee and his answer in tithes and offerings this is not the answer most people would would have assumed would be given for how do I return to the Covenant that the Savior himself through Malachi and now repeating this to the Nephites and lamanites as saying you return to this Covenant through your tithes and through your offerings you see if we're not careful

most of us will look at the money that we earn or that we have the The Goods the possessions that we own as power it builds up our kingdom it's about me and if I turn to money and make it my God I will never have enough I will always want more I will never arrive when I say ah it's enough now how can I use this to bless other people I will constantly be pursuing money whereas isn't it interesting that the Savior through Malachi is saying if you want to return to me come back

to this Covenant through the payment of your tithes and your offerings it's not because the Lord in heaven needs your money he needs your heart tithing is not about dollars and cents or or the currency wherever you may live in the world tithing is about your heart being turned heavenward and your offerings turned outward how can I lift those around me rather than constantly seeking to turn all those errors in on myself how how can I get more from me how can I build my kingdom is not the question it's how can I build his

kingdom and how can I build you within this Covenant Community of belonging because we're in this together and the Beautiful uh response to anybody who questions but I can't afford to pay tithing comes in these next few verses ye are cursed with a curse for ye have robbed me even this whole nation bring ye all the tithes into the storehouse that there may be meat in my house and prove me now herewith when God says test me try me put put me to the test here prove me now herewith sayith the Lord of hosts if

I will not open you the windows of heaven and pour you out a blessing that there shall not be room enough to receive it if we can put our focus on thee and on the we and pay our tithes and offerings not with not with a grudging heart but as a sign to say dear God on high I love thee more than I love this money I want to build thy kingdom far more than I want to build my kingdom and consequently tithes and offerings takes on a lot more than just money it becomes things

like your time your talent your energy your gift your abilities your possessions your vehicles your house your lands everything that you have that you you've received from the Lord is now consecrated to him for the building up of his kingdom on the earth that is an amazing transition in a gathering effort when people can let go of the me and embrace the the and the we aspects of this Covenant Community realizing that in that Community our needs and many of our wants are going to be taken care of by the Lord so it's it's a

powerful reminder that if we do that look at this other promise verse 11 I will rebuke the Devourer for your sakes and he shall not destroy the fruits of your ground neither shall your Vine cast fruit before the time in the fields saith the Lord of hosts have you noticed that when he says saith the Lord or saith the Lord of hosts it's a way to put the stamp of of authority and authenticity and Power on what just was was shared or what was spoken so he's making it as sure and firm and steadfast as

possible this isn't some person making this up this is the Lord of hosts making this promise directly to us and All Nations shall call you blessed for you shall be a delightsome land saith the Lord of hosts there it is again all these promises they will be fulfilled but the amazing thing is he won't reach into your heart and force you to pay tithing he won't force you to consecrate everything that you have to him he will invite and isn't it interesting that if if I am willing to give all that I have to the

Lord if I'm will willing to enter that Covenant with him and return to that uh relationship in a way that says everything that I have is thine Lord all of a sudden paying tithing is a delight it's it's no longer a a Duty or a begrudging Commandment that I have to keep against my my better thinking or against my desires I do it because I recog recognize who I'm doing it for I'm doing it for him the lord of the vineyard and for all of those around me trusting that in this Covenant Community all of

my needs are going to be taken care of that's a beautiful uh transition that we can all continually strive to make is is to not keep these Commandments half-heartedly but to do it with faith absolute trust that the Lord will keep his promises which now brings us to chapter 25 where he quotes the final chapter of the Old Testament Malachi chapter 4 and in this one most people are very familiar with Malachi 4 because of verse 5 and six the last two verses of the Old Testament so let's jump to those verse 5 says behold

I will send you Elijah the prophet before the coming of the great and Dreadful day of the Lord uh many Jewish rabbis through through centuries have have commented on this verse and the rabinal tradition in many circles is that Elijah will come to fulfill this prophecy of Malachi on a Passover on that first major Festival of their of the Jewish holidays in a year and it's a a beautiful thing to see that on April 3rd 1836 in the curtain Temple Elijah did return with keys that day April 3rd of 1836 happened to be Passover it

also happened to be Easter that year occasionally Passover and Easter line up on the same day as it did in 1836 so he did return and why did he return and what did he bring verse six and he shall turn the heart of the fathers to the children and the Heart of the children to their fathers lest I come and smite the Earth with a curse often here's what happens we read this verse and we say oh the heart of the children will turn to the fathers and the Heart of the fathers will turn to

the children and we often stop in in thinking about these these Concepts we stop at family history so we are the children looking to the roots of our family looking to to our ancestors to learn of them and our ancestors then get turned to us as we do their work for them and become saviors on Mount Zion through opening those doors of covenantal connection for them which if you stop and think about it Temple work hopefully is not just hard work hopefully Temple work becomes a delight why because we're turning outward and in this case

we're turning backward in time to our ancestors who came before us that their DNA is in every cell of our body their blood courses through our veins who we are today is made up of largely the life that we've been given by these people who have gone before and the more we learn about them the more we're learning about ourselves so as we as children turn our hearts to the fathers and our fathers then turn their hearts to us we we are getting blessings from The Unseen World you are you are accessing power you are

inviting angels to minister to you not just in your family history and Temple work but in all aspects of your work as you move forward because the father's hearts are turned to you as you turn to them once again kind of the same notion as the tithing when we sacrifice or give certain things and turn outward it's there that we discover that we receive the most in return way more than if we retain that money or that time or that energy or those work efforts for building up my kingdom rather than our kingdom the kingdom

of God with the savior of the cender so here's another thing to consider if you look at this like a family tree you have those roots those ancestors that came before Generations that provide that foundation for our life today in that context we're the children they're the fathers but what happens if you look at yourself here as the trunk you have both ancestors and you have future posterity the fruit of family so to speak now for many in the church today and throughout the history of time marriage and having children was not an option for

a variety of reasons but the Lord's promises are sure if we keep our covenants nothing will be withheld from us in the future and for some those promises won't be fulfilled until the eternities as painful as that is to reconcile with in mortality but the promise is this if we keep those covenants we will have posterity that will uh continue to grow there will be Eternal increase and in that case you and I now take the role of the the word fathers or we might say fathers and mothers the question is are we so excited

about our family history that we might at times Overlook our family present and the relationships and the experiences and the teaching and the lifting and the building and being a savior on Mount Zion for our current family doing work for the living not just for the dead and do we spend so much time on family history efforts that maybe we don't think about family future efforts part of turning the hearts of the fathers to the children could be wherever you are today in your life however old you may be to turn your heart to Future

future posterity or posterity that has come after you in the family tree and how can you enrich and strengthen the fruit in the tree branches that are there and the branches and and fruits that are yet to come decisions you and I make today can have powerful positive impact on our future posterity unfortunately the world we live in today doesn't encourage any of this in fact quite the opposite often family is discouraged don't get married don't have children they get in the way of you fulfilling your dreams and they put the word self in front

of all these words self fulfillment and self-actualization self-realization it's all about me in our world but isn't it interesting that the Lord teaching these Nephites and lamanites focuses our attention outside of the me and puts it to my roots and my fruits helps me to see how I could be the means in the Lord's hands to be both the children in some cases in family history work and the fathers in family present and family future work in helping to build this Covenant Community of belonging of bringing people into those relationships with the Savior Jesus Christ

into the because of the fire of our faith that now spreads to them and keeps spreading onward and outward which now brings us to chapter 26 it says now it came to pass that when Jesus had told these things he expounded un or expounded them unto the multitude and he did expound all things unto them both Great and Small so apparently he's giving all kinds of other scriptures and other doctrines and teachings and we don't get them in the Book of Mormon but we trust that the Lord inspired Mormon on what to include and what

to exclude so grateful for what we have and he says these scriptures which ye had not with you the father commanded that I should give unto you for it was wisdom in him that they should be given unto future Generations you'll notice that the more more you Focus On Christ the more you think about him the more you study about him the more you become like him the more you see things the way he sees them not bound by time not caught up with the anxieties of our current day but seeing the Hope in the

future and in the rising Generations you start to see potential and fruit production down the road in in Young Children and Youth and Young adults instead of seeing the way the world sees the problems with them it's it's this beautiful hope-filled uh perspective that the Lord grants us as we get more and more into that connection with him in this Covenant Community of belonging and then notice he says here verse six Mormon clarifies now there cannot be written in this book even a hundredth part of the the things which Jesus did truly teach unto the

people and then you notice in the rest of chapter 26 the young children even the babes spoke things that were marvelous that couldn't be written and the people marveled this is setting the stage for 200 years of a perfect Zion righteous society and these little children that are there and the adults they're all this Foundation the roots for that 200 years of a perfect Society what an amazing thing it would be if you and I could find ways in our own family tree to provide deeper Roots than ever before as the Lord performs his greatest

miracles in the history of the world in preparation for his second coming that we don't just become uh observers passively sitting on the sideline watching this happen but we roll up our sleeves we work with him we assist him in these efforts in the vineyard of the Lord uh what a beautiful promise and by the way this isn't rocket science this coming into a Covenant Community he gives a very simple description of what that entails in verse 21 and they who were baptized in the name of Jesus were called the Church of Christ this Covenant

Community of belonging brothers and sisters this isn't about building our kingdom individually 10,000 years from now I can guarantee nobody will look back and say I wish I would have earned more money I wish I would have had a bigger house I wish I would have had more possessions nobody's going to say that what we will say is I am so grateful for the Lord giving all that he had to us and then in response how willing am I to take all of that my health my money my strength my gifts my abilities my possessions

all of it given to me by God and could be taken away at a moment but what an amazing thing when I don't have to have the Lord take anything away from me because it's all his I give it to him freely it's sitting on the altar he can have whatever he wants and it will be a delight to serve him because I want to be more like him and he who gave everything for us I want to be more like him so I'm going to strive to give everything I have to him and to

those around me not perfect at it but that's the the goal that's that's the striving to come further into the center of this Covenant Community belonging and to assist him in this most important Gathering effort in these the latter days he lives he stands at the head of this work and his promises are sure and they will all be fulfilled and I leave that with you in the name of Jesus Christ amen know that you're loved [Music] [Music]