Ep 319 | D&C 45, Come Follow Me 2025 (May 5-11)

Ep 319 | D&C 45, Come Follow Me 2025 (May 5-11)

Released Wednesday, 30th April 2025
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Ep 319 | D&C 45, Come Follow Me 2025 (May 5-11)

Ep 319 | D&C 45, Come Follow Me 2025 (May 5-11)

Ep 319 | D&C 45, Come Follow Me 2025 (May 5-11)

Ep 319 | D&C 45, Come Follow Me 2025 (May 5-11)

Wednesday, 30th April 2025
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0:02

Hey everybody, welcome to Talking Scripture,

0:05

a podcast where we illustrate relevance and

0:07

application of the scriptures and come follow

0:09

me. We also dive into the history

0:11

and cultures of the text. Thanks for

0:13

taking the time to share and subscribe

0:15

to this podcast. For show notes,

0:17

head over to our website, TalkingScripture .org.

0:23

Welcome to Talking Scripture, I'm Mike. And

0:25

I'm Bryce. And today we're going

0:28

to be in section 45. We get

0:30

one whole week with just section 45.

0:32

Now, this is kind of chapter two

0:34

of section 29. Remember the last time

0:36

we had a whole section? It was

0:38

29. And if you listen to

0:40

that podcast, we reminded everyone, don't get caught

0:43

up in the flies and the maggots and

0:45

miss the whole point of that, which was

0:47

that Jesus is going to prevail. It was

0:49

a time in church history where they were

0:52

very discouraged. New York was not. kind

0:54

to them, they were getting persecuted, and

0:57

the Savior gave this incredible vision to them

0:59

that Jesus is going to prevail. So

1:02

here we are in Kirtland. Once again,

1:05

persecution has raised its ugly face. If

1:08

you look at the section heading, Joseph

1:10

writes that many false reports and foolish

1:12

stories were published and circulated to prevent

1:14

people from investigating the work. So they're

1:16

having to deal with a lot of

1:19

false reports out there that are

1:21

causing people to turn away from

1:24

investigating the church. And so the

1:26

Lord once again gives a wonderfully

1:28

comforting section that you are on,

1:30

Team Jesus. and

1:32

Team Jesus is going to be victorious.

1:34

We're going to talk about the city

1:37

of Enoch, and then we're going to

1:39

remind you of the greatest story that

1:41

Jesus loved to tell, his favorite story

1:43

he told all throughout the scriptures. He's

1:45

now going to tell it to us.

1:48

It is the victory of the Latter

1:50

-day Saints. It is

1:52

the building of Zion and the city

1:54

that will rival the city of Enoch.

1:56

So we'll get there. But

1:58

I want to start off in section 45 that

2:01

begins with just such a tender

2:03

little scene. In verse

2:05

3 he calls himself the Advocate

2:07

with the Father. Sometimes

2:10

we don't ponder exactly what that

2:12

means. I I personally have this

2:14

vision of judgment day Where all

2:17

the evidence against me is somehow

2:19

presented every mistake I've ever made

2:21

as if Somehow Satan were prosecuting

2:24

me or someone was saying how

2:26

could you let this guy into

2:28

the slusher kingdom look at everything

2:31

that he's done and in my

2:33

mind I the process. Someone stands

2:35

up and presents all the reasons

2:37

why I shouldn't be saved. All

2:40

the mistakes I've made and they

2:42

end their case and I just,

2:44

can you imagine me looking at

2:47

my lawyer who is Christ saying,

2:49

how in the world? I

2:51

did every one of those things. I

2:54

did. I did every, I made every

2:57

one of those mistakes. How could I

2:59

possibly even have a hope for salvation?

3:01

I am that imperfect person they described.

3:04

And I can't possibly counter that

3:06

with the good things that I've

3:09

done that will erase the memory

3:11

of the bad things I've done.

3:13

What in the world is my

3:15

advocate going to say? What is

3:18

my defense against all the prosecution?

3:22

Now watch what Jesus does. My

3:25

advocate presenting my defense

3:28

to the Father. And

3:32

he says, Father, this is verse four,

3:34

Father, behold the sufferings and death of

3:36

him who did no sin, in

3:40

whom thou wast well pleased.

3:44

Behold the blood of thy son which was

3:47

shed, and the blood of him who thou

3:49

gave us that thyself may be glorified. In

3:52

other words, Jesus isn't going to counter

3:54

with, well, Bryce did a few good

3:56

things, so maybe he

3:58

might get credit, Jesus

4:00

doesn't counter with me. Jesus

4:03

looks the Father in the eye and in

4:06

verse 5 says, Wherefore, Father,

4:09

spare him, because

4:12

he believes on my

4:14

name. I

4:16

want him to come unto

4:19

me and have everlasting life.

4:23

I'm sorry, but there

4:25

is absolutely no other

4:28

verdict the father could

4:30

make then Okay, you

4:33

got it He's in

4:35

he's into the kingdom

4:37

not because of his

4:40

merits But because of

4:42

the son's merits With

4:45

all my imperfections struggling

4:47

crawling behind I still

4:50

choose to be on

4:52

team Jesus And

4:55

that's enough for him to say, save

4:58

him because he believes on

5:00

me. We will be saved

5:02

because of the goodness of

5:05

the Savior, not

5:07

by our merits. Our

5:09

job is to believe in him and

5:11

to be cleansed by his atoning sacrifice.

5:14

And that's enough for him

5:16

to justify our defense and

5:18

to present the case to

5:20

the Father. I love

5:22

those three verses. They mean the world to

5:24

me. What you're

5:27

talking about reminds me of Lehi

5:29

talking to Jacob. And

5:31

so in 2 Nephi 2, verse

5:34

3, Lehi speaking to Jacob says,

5:51

for thou hast beheld that in the

5:53

fullness of time he cometh to bring

5:56

salvation unto men." And you note that

5:58

Lehi doesn't say, Jacob, I know that

6:00

you are going to be blessed because

6:03

you're so great, but it's because of

6:05

Jesus. I just love

6:07

that idea that my defense is

6:10

not that I've done something to

6:12

merit salvation. It's

6:14

that I believe in Christ and

6:16

Jesus has done something to merit

6:18

salvation. And He's pulling me

6:20

in with Him. Now the

6:22

whole rest of this section is, again, a

6:25

reminder that Team Jesus is going to

6:27

be victorious. So in verses

6:29

6 through 10, He points

6:32

to Himself. Listen to, He

6:34

calls Himself Alpha and Omega, the beginning

6:36

and the end, the light and the

6:38

life of the world. He reminds people

6:40

in verse 8, I came into the

6:43

world, I came into my own, and

6:45

they did not receive me. But those

6:47

who did receive me, those

6:49

who did accept me, I gave

6:51

power to do many miracles and

6:54

to become the sons of God

6:56

and that they can't obtain eternal

6:58

life. And of all the people

7:01

that were ever victorious, he points

7:03

us to a city like the

7:06

one we're going to build. Now,

7:10

I remind you of that story

7:12

that Jesus tells, his favorite story

7:14

involves the building of the greatest

7:16

city on earth. That's how this

7:18

section is going to end. So

7:20

we're going to get there, but

7:22

we're going to start with an

7:24

image of a group of people

7:26

who already built a city, and

7:28

they already were victorious. And that's

7:30

the city of Enoch. So starting

7:32

in verse 11, he points to

7:34

that he is the God of

7:36

Enoch. He separated them,

7:38

and they built a city

7:41

reserved until a day of

7:43

righteousness to come. When

7:46

we can do the same thing, we

7:48

can get into that city. The reality

7:50

is, verse 13, we are strangers and

7:52

pilgrims on this celestial planet. If

7:55

you find yourself like so many

7:57

others saying, this isn't where I

7:59

belong, this isn't home, and I'm

8:01

looking for home, well, you're

8:04

gonna find it. We're going to build

8:06

that city. We are strangers and pilgrims

8:08

on this earth and we shouldn't be

8:10

too comfortable here. Yeah. And yet the

8:12

reverse is also true. I think Bryce,

8:15

there are times when we feel like

8:17

a little taste of what it was

8:19

like before we came here. For me,

8:21

that's Christmas morning. When my kids

8:23

were little and they would open up their

8:25

packages, you could almost taste heaven. We

8:28

get little snippets of what our heavenly home's

8:30

like. And I think the invitation here, to

8:33

this little band of Christians is to

8:36

build this city. In fact, Joseph Smith

8:38

said, we ought to have the building

8:40

up of Zion as our greatest object.

8:44

And Joseph's gonna refer to this where

8:46

he's gonna say, prophets of old have

8:48

looked forward to a day when Zion

8:50

could be built. And so

8:53

I really think that that is a

8:55

underlying message that even though things are

8:57

going to be messy, even though

8:59

there's some things in section 45, like

9:02

you said, this is like, DNC

9:04

29 part two, God's saints are going

9:06

to be doing something totally different.

9:08

And that's this building of Zion. And

9:11

all throughout our lives, as

9:13

we are reminded that we

9:15

are strangers and pilgrims here,

9:18

we do get sense of

9:20

home. We do get those

9:22

little inklings. I love this statement from

9:24

C .S. Lewis where he says, the

9:26

book or the music in which we

9:28

thought the beauty was located will betray

9:30

us if we trust in them. It

9:33

was not in them, it

9:35

only came through them. And

9:38

what came through them was

9:40

longing. These things,

9:42

the beauty, the memory of our

9:45

own past, are good images of

9:47

what we really desire. But

9:50

if they are mistaken for the thing

9:52

itself, they turn into dumb idols, breaking

9:54

the hearts of their worshipers. For they

9:57

are not the thing itself. They

9:59

are only the scent of a flower we have

10:01

not found, the echo of

10:03

a tune we have not heard,

10:05

news from a country we have

10:07

never yet visited. Do not mistake

10:10

the things of the world that

10:12

bring happiness and joy as being

10:14

the source of that happiness and

10:16

joy. They are

10:18

simply The vehicle through which

10:20

we were reminded that we

10:22

are from another place. We

10:25

are searching for that home

10:27

and we will find it.

10:30

Jesus is going to come and

10:32

we are going to be with

10:34

Him. Yeah. Okay, so I'm

10:37

going to shift a little bit. and talk

10:39

about verse seven and eight. So

10:41

in verse seven, the Lord says, I

10:43

say to you that I am Alpha and Omega,

10:45

the beginning and the end, the

10:47

light and the life of the

10:49

world. A light that shineth in darkness

10:52

and the darkness comprehendeth it not.

10:54

I came unto mine own and my

10:56

own received me not, but unto as

10:58

many as received me gave I power

11:01

to do many miracles. and

11:03

to become the sons of God and

11:05

even unto them that believed on my

11:07

name gave I power to obtain eternal

11:10

life. Verse 7 is

11:12

packaging a lot of stuff that

11:14

John's doing in the New Testament.

11:17

Alpha and Omega are the first and

11:19

last characters of the Greek alphabet. What

11:22

Jesus is saying is he's the author and finisher

11:24

of our faith. He's the

11:27

beginning and the end. And

11:29

those two symbols can be his

11:31

name. The Alpha, it's

11:33

the beginning and it points upward

11:35

and Omega is almost like a

11:37

broken circle and there's a lot

11:40

of scholars out there that have

11:42

talked about that symbol being super

11:44

duper old. Is it from Egypt?

11:46

Is it from Mesopotamia? We

11:48

don't know. And we'll put some of this

11:50

in the show notes, and I give you

11:53

some links. You can read Arthur Marquille, you

11:55

can read Tom Cryer. They do some really

11:57

good stuff with this that I try to

11:59

show you this idea that that omega could

12:01

represent a gate. It's the gate

12:03

by which we come back to our heavenly home.

12:05

It's also what's called the Hathor wig, which

12:08

was the symbol for rebirth in Egypt. And

12:10

so Jesus is the beginning, but he's also

12:13

the rebirth in the gate. And

12:15

this is a visual image, but it's also an

12:17

image that has to do with their language. And

12:20

so I wanna talk a little bit

12:22

about the packaging of John chapter one

12:24

and verse eight. And what

12:26

you have in verse eight is a couple

12:29

of verses in John one, verse 11 and

12:31

12. And I'm just going

12:33

to read those. We

12:45

are all sons and daughters

12:48

of God. In

12:52

the Book of Mormon, we know that

12:55

when we make covenants, we make Jesus

12:57

our Father. He becomes our Father by

12:59

covenant. That's Mosiah 5. And in section

13:01

45, what I see

13:03

in verse 8 is some words

13:06

that John's using. And John's interesting

13:08

because he uses this word, the

13:11

word for receive. There's a couple of different words.

13:13

One of them is daekomai, but he's not

13:16

using that one. He's using lambano, which means

13:18

to grasp by the hand. And

13:20

so I believe that verse eight

13:22

or John one, 11 and 12

13:24

is temple liturgy, but more specific

13:26

it's temple literature. So these were

13:28

words that would be used in

13:30

the temple, but this is also

13:33

a ritual that we receive him,

13:35

we grasp him and we receive

13:37

him. And then he gives you

13:39

power and that word can mean

13:41

power or authority or right. to

13:44

do many miracles. Now, typically when

13:46

John uses that word, that is

13:48

a word that can mean sign

13:50

or token. And

13:53

then to become, gignomize

13:55

usually the word that's used, to become

13:57

the sons of God, even unto those

13:59

that believe on his name. And the

14:01

word he's using for believe has to

14:03

do with trust. And

14:05

the symbol for that word, pistis, is

14:08

the handshake. That's the Roman and the

14:10

Greek symbol for that word is to

14:12

take someone by the hand. And so

14:14

on their coins, they would actually have

14:17

a handshake as the symbol for trust

14:19

or faith. And that was the symbol

14:21

that was used. And notice verse eight,

14:24

they become the sons of God to

14:26

me is related to Psalm 110. Psalm

14:29

110 is the most quoted Old

14:31

Testament scripture in the entire New

14:33

Testament. So Psalm

14:35

110 and Psalm two were

14:38

used ritually in the temple.

14:41

And in those Psalms, the king and

14:43

the queen would be sat down and

14:45

they would be proclaimed sons and daughters

14:48

as it were of God. So I'm

14:50

gonna read Psalm 2 verse 6 and

14:52

7. Now

15:05

I believe that this was used in

15:08

a liturgical setting in the temple to

15:10

all the sons and daughters of God,

15:12

that that's what we're reading in Mosiah

15:14

5, that King Benjamin is having his

15:16

son in his coronation ritual at the

15:18

New Year, and that all the sons

15:20

and daughters of Israel are there gathered

15:22

at the temple. We know they are.

15:24

They tell us in the Book of

15:26

Mormon their tents are facing the temple.

15:28

This is all that Feast of Tabernacle

15:30

stuff going on that we've talked about

15:33

in other podcasts, and they

15:35

are declared His son

15:37

now if you go to verse 8

15:39

and this is all before any of

15:41

the Kirtland Temple stuff This is way

15:43

before Navu Joseph Smith is very young

15:46

and here it is right here in

15:48

this setting of building this city because

15:50

who's gonna build the city endowed Saints

15:52

that have received or believed verse 8

15:55

on My name and that's more than

15:57

just believing in Jesus to me that

15:59

is receiving the name and Then notice

16:01

what it gives you verse 8 the

16:04

power of eternal lives.

16:07

So to me, Bryce, verse 8, it's

16:09

like God saying, no, we have some

16:11

really cool stuff going on, but in

16:13

Nauvoo, it gets explained. So...

16:15

That's all coming out of John in the New

16:17

Testament. Jesus is now pointing to the New Testament.

16:20

Ironically, He's about to tell Joseph, it's now

16:22

time to translate the New Testament. He's pointing

16:25

them in the right direction. So after quoting

16:27

a whole lot of John, now

16:29

in verse 16, He

16:31

kind of gives us an entire

16:33

trailer version of what's coming as

16:36

Joseph translates the New Testament. There

16:38

are only two canonized sections

16:41

of the JST. Everything

16:43

else is either in the appendix or in

16:45

the footnotes. And not really

16:47

part of the canon, but there are two

16:49

parts of the Joseph Smith translation that get

16:52

canonized. One part from the Old Testament, one

16:54

part from the New Testament. Moses

16:56

is the JST of Genesis 1 through

16:58

6, where we get to hear Adam

17:00

and Enoch and that whole story that

17:02

got pulled out of the Bible. When

17:05

Joseph Smith gets to Matthew 24,

17:08

He makes numerous changes that are

17:10

so significant and so pertinent to

17:13

our day that that chapter gets

17:15

canonized. It's now known as Joseph

17:17

Smith Matthew in the Pearl of

17:20

Great Price. It is the

17:22

JST of Matthew 24. Now that's very

17:24

important to remember. Here's the

17:26

setting. How many times

17:29

have people asked Jesus about the second

17:31

coming and he hasn't answered? In

17:34

Acts chapter 1, they ask, is this

17:36

the end? Is this where Zion

17:38

is going to be victorious? And

17:40

he basically says, that is not in your power

17:42

to understand. I'm not going to answer that question.

17:45

Joseph Smith asked numerous times, tell

17:48

me about the Second Coming. And

17:50

he was not given a whole

17:52

lot of information. But there is

17:54

one time in recorded scripture where

17:56

Jesus is asked about the Second

17:59

Coming and he answers with great

18:01

detail. It was when

18:03

he took his disciples out to the

18:05

Mount of Olives the week he is

18:07

going to die. Just days

18:09

before his crucifixion, he takes the disciples

18:12

out. After teaching in the temple, after

18:14

talking to them about the destruction of

18:16

the temple, he takes his disciples out

18:19

to the Mount of Olives. And

18:21

there he talks about the destruction

18:24

of the Jews and the destruction

18:26

at the Second Coming. And that

18:28

is so significant to our day,

18:31

Joseph's mischanges to that section have

18:33

now become canonized and are now

18:35

known as Joseph Smith Matthew. The

18:40

disciples asked Jesus two questions. So if

18:42

you'll turn to Joseph Smith Matthew to

18:44

kind of get the setting for what

18:47

he's going to give in section 45,

18:50

you can see that the disciples

18:52

asked two questions that Jesus is

18:54

going to answer. Verse 4

18:56

has the two questions. He

18:59

comes out to the Mount of Olives and

19:01

as he sat upon the Mount of Olives,

19:03

the disciples came unto him privately saying, question

19:05

number one, tell us when these

19:07

things shall be which thou hast said

19:10

concerning the destruction of the temple and

19:12

the Jews. Now,

19:14

he's going to give us a little bit

19:16

of that in section 45. He's going to

19:18

tell us what he told the Jews about

19:20

the destruction of the temple. So

19:23

they come out and say, hey, when

19:25

is Jerusalem going to be destroyed? When

19:27

is the temple going to be destroyed?

19:29

So that's the first question he's going

19:32

to answer and then he says and

19:34

What is the sign of thy coming

19:36

and of the end of the world

19:38

or the destruction of the wicked Which

19:40

is the end of the world so

19:42

two questions when will Jerusalem be destroyed

19:44

and? When will the whole world be

19:46

destroyed at thy coming? Now

19:49

in Joseph Smith Matthew he answers

19:52

the first question in verses 5

19:54

through the semi colon of verse

19:56

21 The semicolon

19:58

of verse 21 is where he shifts.

20:02

Starting at that semicolon throughout the

20:04

rest of the chapter, he now

20:06

answers the second question. What

20:09

are the signs of Thy coming? And

20:12

while we're here, let's

20:14

just do a little Joseph Smith Matthew.

20:16

I know our purpose in this podcast

20:19

is section 45, but while we're on

20:21

the subject, Jesus is answering

20:23

the question, what is life in the latter

20:25

days going to be? Now as

20:27

we go through this I'm gonna make an

20:30

assumption I might be totally wrong on my

20:32

assumption, but if I were to ask you

20:34

After you watch a movie that you love

20:36

what did you love about the movie? I'm

20:38

gonna make the assumption that the first thing

20:40

out of your mouth will be what you

20:43

loved the most and The second thing will

20:45

be what you loved second most When

20:48

I ask you, did you like that

20:50

meal? Well, what did you love? Isn't

20:52

the first thing that you tell me

20:54

the thing you love the most? So

20:56

when Jesus says I have some concerns

20:58

about the latter days Wouldn't the first

21:00

thing out of his mouth be his

21:02

biggest concern? I'm gonna

21:04

make the assumption that Jesus is

21:07

gonna list his concerns about the

21:09

latter days in the order of

21:11

concern If

21:13

that's the case, then you

21:15

read Joseph Smith Matthew 21

21:17

and 22. After he

21:19

shifts from the destruction of the Jews

21:22

and goes to the destruction of the

21:24

latter days, what

21:26

is the Savior's biggest concern

21:28

about the day in which

21:30

we live? Joseph

21:32

Smith Matthew 21 and 22.

21:35

He talks about, don't be

21:37

deceived. by the imitation.

21:39

Don't be fooled by the

21:41

false Christs, the false prophets,

21:44

the false churches, the

21:46

false plans of salvation. Don't

21:48

be deceived by an imitation. We see

21:51

that everywhere in the scriptures. Don't

21:54

be fooled by the building instead of the

21:56

tree of life that Lehi saw. Don't

21:59

be fooled by the whore of

22:01

the earth instead of the beautiful

22:03

woman that is the church in

22:05

Revelation. So the Savior's number one

22:07

concern is don't be fooled by

22:09

an imitation. Now

22:12

hold on to that. Let me just

22:14

throw some of the others in. We'll

22:16

come back to that idea. Starting in

22:18

23 through 29 he talks about wars

22:20

and rumors of wars and men taking

22:23

swords against each other. So the Savior's

22:25

next concern is war and rumor of

22:27

war, which we'll get to when we

22:29

go back to section 45. And He's

22:32

going to talk a lot about where

22:34

we will find safety when the wars

22:36

come. Verse 29,

22:38

He mentions the third concern, natural

22:41

disasters, famines, pestilence,

22:43

earthquakes in diverse places, which

22:46

He will also mention in

22:48

section 45. And then

22:50

verse 30, He mentions the

22:52

fact that wickedness will abound. Iniquity

22:55

shall abound, and the love of men

22:57

shall wax cold. So the Savior's top

23:00

four concerns about our day seem to

23:02

be, don't be deceived

23:04

by an imitation, which the very elect will

23:06

be deceived, some of them, wars

23:09

and rumors of wars, natural

23:11

disasters like earthquakes and famines

23:13

and pestilence, and

23:15

then an abundance of wickedness.

23:18

Yeah. They applied in

23:20

Jesus' day, and they apply

23:22

in our day. And

23:24

I would also add that these

23:26

things historically happened between Jesus' discussion

23:28

with his apostles and the destruction

23:30

of the temple. And

23:32

without getting too bogged down with the details,

23:35

there were individuals that rose up in Judaism

23:37

that said, I am the Christ. I am

23:39

the anointed one. I am the one who

23:42

is going to liberate us. And there was

23:44

even a revolt where many of the Sicari

23:46

killed the Romans Got them

23:48

off the Temple Mount and they actually

23:50

even minted their own coinage and said

23:52

hey, we are Israel and We are

23:55

back Jerusalem is back. We are our

23:57

own independent nation and the emperor in

23:59

Rome sent Titus and a bunch of

24:01

guys and we'll link this in the

24:03

show notes if you want to get

24:06

into which unit went where and what

24:08

were the siege machines like like you

24:10

can look at these descriptions because many

24:12

historians wrote stories about this and The

24:15

Jews got wrecked because they followed false

24:17

Christs. They followed false teachers. Were

24:20

there famines and earthquakes? Yeah, the

24:22

New Testament authors talk about these things that are

24:24

happening in Paul's day. What do we

24:26

do with the love of men waxing cold? Well,

24:29

there's a lot of ways to interpret verse 30,

24:31

but it seems like the message

24:34

in these verses are perpetually relevant.

24:37

They apply it in Jesus' day and

24:39

they apply in our day. There probably

24:41

were Christians that lived in 70 AD

24:44

that saw the temple being attacked and

24:46

thought, Jesus is coming. He

24:48

said he was going to come. He said the temple was going to

24:50

be destroyed. And some of those ideas

24:52

were swirling around in early Christianity and they looked

24:54

at this and they said, well, what are we

24:56

going to do? And so if you're sitting here

24:58

now going, well, when is Jesus coming? You're

25:01

not alone. For 2

25:04

,000 years, Christians have wondered this

25:06

very question and I certainly don't

25:08

know. But I think one of

25:10

the messages that Jesus is trying

25:12

to communicate is the disciples want

25:14

to know when and I don't

25:16

even know if that's the main

25:18

thing. He deliberately doesn't tell us

25:20

when because that's not the point.

25:22

If we knew when, we would

25:24

procrastinate our preparation. It's

25:26

like, imagine I'm a college professor and

25:29

you have to take my class to

25:31

graduate and the grade in my class

25:33

is based on a major research paper

25:35

that you write. And I give

25:37

you all the details and I tell you everything

25:39

about that you need to know and all the

25:41

times I'm going to be in my office to

25:43

help you and every resource that will help you.

25:45

The only thing I don't give you is a

25:47

due date. I'm not

25:49

going to tell you when it's due. One

25:52

day I'm going to show up and call for

25:54

them. And if you don't have it ready to

25:56

turn in, you will fail my class. You

25:59

have to have it ready. Now

26:01

imagine two students. One student

26:03

says, oh, he'll never call for the paper till

26:05

the end of the semester. I've

26:07

got plenty of time to write it

26:09

and procrastinates. Yet

26:11

every day he goes to class, what is he hoping?

26:14

Please don't let it be today. Please don't let it

26:16

to be today. The other

26:18

student runs out and starts writing

26:20

the paper, talks to the professor,

26:23

gathers the resources, gets help, and

26:26

diligently writes the paper. Now, after that paper

26:28

is written, tell me how that student goes

26:30

to class every day. Please

26:32

let today be the day. I'm

26:35

ready. I'm ready to hand

26:37

in this paper. If it's not today, then I'm

26:39

going to make a few revisions because I'd like

26:41

to change a couple things because I want to

26:43

make my paper better. But if today's the day,

26:45

I'm ready. Here's my paper. So

26:48

the setting here is I'm not

26:50

going to tell you when I'm

26:52

coming because I want you to

26:54

always be ready. So

26:57

in the rest of Joseph Smith

26:59

Matthew, Jesus gives us the antidote.

27:01

The antidote to, how do

27:03

you not be fooled by an imitation? How

27:05

do you deal with war and rumors of war? How do

27:07

you deal with natural disasters? How do

27:10

you deal with rising wickedness? Here are

27:12

the antidote. So, antidote number one is

27:14

verse 37. I'm still in Joseph Smith

27:16

Matthew, verse 37. If you want to

27:19

make sure you're not deceived by the

27:21

imitation, treasure up

27:23

my word. Treasure

27:25

up my word and everything's going to be

27:27

okay. But

27:30

then his focus is in verse

27:32

48. The

27:34

best way to get ready for

27:36

the Savior's coming is to always

27:39

be ready. What we do when

27:41

we are ready for His coming

27:43

are the antidotes to being deceived

27:45

and the wars and the wickedness.

27:48

If you are ready for the

27:50

Savior, you won't be deceived by

27:52

the imitation and you'll be safe

27:55

in the wars. and

27:57

you won't be pulled into the wickedness

27:59

of the people around you. By the

28:01

way, Bryce, in Christian history, the Christians

28:03

were warned by prophets to flee to

28:05

a place called Pella, and

28:07

historically that happened. They fled to Pella,

28:10

Jerusalem was destroyed. Now, I'm

28:12

not saying all Christians were saved, but

28:15

in the historical setting of the

28:17

19th century, how many times have

28:19

we read where the Lord said,

28:22

Joseph, You don't even

28:24

know what's coming. Go west. He's gonna

28:26

say it again in section 45 again.

28:28

Go west. Go west. And then if

28:30

you do go east get them and

28:32

then come west and he keeps saying

28:34

this and he'll often throw in Oh,

28:36

you hear about wars in foreign countries.

28:38

You don't even know what's coming and

28:41

I think about Lehi and We have

28:43

this puppet king named Zedekiah and Lehi

28:45

stands up and says guys the temple

28:47

is gonna be destroyed And

28:49

there's so many Jews, the Deuteronomists, that are

28:51

saying, no, the temple's not going to be

28:54

destroyed because we have the promise of David,

28:56

the temple will never be destroyed. We remember

28:58

Hezekiah, when Sennacherib came with his

29:00

guys, Reb Shchek and all these Assyrians, and

29:02

they were destroyed, God will defend the holy

29:04

city. And Lehi is like, not this time.

29:07

Only if you are righteous. And they got

29:09

out. And there were other groups, like the

29:11

Rekebites, that they got out. There are others

29:13

that were warned, the faithful need

29:15

not worry. because he's gonna pull

29:17

him out. And they need to always be ready.

29:19

So in verse 48, back to Joseph and Matthew,

29:22

be ye ready. There's the antidote. Always

29:25

be ready as if he's coming today.

29:27

And then he gives this little parable

29:29

and talks about a guy who's hired

29:32

to take care of some property. So

29:34

imagine, I live in Utah. So

29:36

imagine some rich person from some

29:39

wonderful part of the country that

29:41

doesn't have snow loves skiing. So

29:43

they come out to Utah and they buy a house

29:45

and say, look, when I want to ski, I'm going

29:48

to come out and stay at my house and I'm

29:50

going to go skiing. And they hire me to take

29:52

care of their house. So let

29:54

me propose two options. Bryce number one

29:56

says to myself, oh, they're not coming

29:58

in April. No one comes to Utah

30:01

to go skiing in April. I don't

30:03

have to have the house ready now.

30:05

So I just let the house kind

30:07

of fall apart. I'll get it ready

30:09

when the snow hits. I'm gonna have

30:11

some parties there. I'll use the property

30:14

for my own purposes. And

30:16

boom, they show up to go

30:18

hiking up in the mountains and

30:20

they find that I have left

30:23

everything. fall apart. Now

30:25

tell me how they feel about me

30:27

and what they're gonna do with me.

30:30

Now, price number two, I say

30:32

to myself, yeah, they probably

30:34

aren't coming, but I'm gonna assume that

30:36

they are. I'm gonna always have groceries

30:38

in the fridge. I'm gonna make sure

30:40

the lawn is cut. I'm gonna make

30:42

sure the house, I'm always going to

30:44

be ready for them. And boom, they

30:46

show up in April to go hiking

30:48

in the mountains and they find that

30:50

everything is ready for them. Now

30:53

tell me what they think about

30:55

me as a person Now that's

30:57

the parable that the Savior gives

31:00

and the whole setting here is

31:02

This is what I want to

31:04

find you doing when I do

31:06

come This is how to be

31:09

prepared for the second coming whenever

31:11

it happens is by doing these

31:13

things now What would the next

31:16

part if Joseph Smith Matthew ends

31:18

at verse 55? Where

31:21

does this thing continue? Where do

31:23

we find the list of things

31:25

he wants to find me doing

31:27

when he shows up? Remember

31:29

how this is the JST of Matthew 24?

31:32

So that list is Matthew

31:34

25. You have

31:36

to remember that. The setting of

31:39

the parables in Matthew 25 is,

31:42

this is what I want

31:44

to find you doing when

31:46

I come, meaning, These are

31:48

the things that if you're

31:50

always doing them you will

31:52

survive just fine in the

31:54

latter days So in Matthew

31:56

25 what you're gonna find

31:58

are three very important parables

32:00

We've got the parable of

32:02

the ten virgins the parable

32:04

of the talents and the

32:06

parable of the sheep and

32:08

the goats Now this is

32:10

where section 45 isn't golden

32:12

nugget because in section 45

32:15

He interprets the parable of

32:17

the ten virgins. He tells

32:19

us what it represents. So

32:22

jump back to section 45 verse

32:24

56. for

32:34

they that are wise have received

32:37

the truth and have taken the

32:39

Holy Spirit for their guide. The

32:41

oil in the vessel that the

32:44

wise virgins could not share with

32:46

the foolish virgins was the Holy

32:49

Ghost being their guide. And

32:52

notice what it says next, and

32:54

they have not been deceived. So

32:57

one of the most important things

32:59

the Savior is shouting out to

33:01

us, if you want to prevail

33:03

in the latter days, if you

33:05

want to make sure you and

33:07

your children are not deceived by

33:09

the imitations all around us, or

33:12

consumed by the wars, or the

33:14

natural calamities, or the wickedness of

33:16

men, the antidote is, like

33:18

he said back in Joseph Smith Matthew,

33:20

treasure the word. and

33:22

get the Spirit into your life.

33:24

Let the Holy Ghost be your

33:26

guide. Do you see

33:28

why Russell Nelson is constantly saying, if you

33:31

don't know how to get personal revelation, you

33:33

will not succeed in the latter days? Same

33:36

message. The ten

33:39

virgins took the Holy Ghost for their

33:41

guide and they were not deceived. Now

33:44

just to throw it in, back in Matthew 25,

33:46

so the parable of the ten virgins and the

33:49

next one is the parable of the talents. And

33:52

I would suggest there are two messages that come

33:54

out of the peril of the talents. Number

33:56

one, build his kingdom. Take

33:59

what he you and build his kingdom. And

34:01

if you're the one that got five

34:03

talents, build his kingdom. If you're the one

34:06

that got two talents, build his kingdom

34:08

to the best you can and you'll get

34:10

the same reward as the person who

34:12

got five. He says to both

34:14

of them, well done, thou good

34:16

and faithful servant. Some

34:18

people have five talents, some people have

34:20

two. Do what you can

34:22

with your talents and build his kingdom and you'll

34:25

have a reward in his kingdom. The

34:27

third person was so worried

34:29

about returning empty -handed that

34:31

he just held on to

34:33

the talent. In

34:35

other words, he would rather

34:37

not try than fail. And

34:41

we see so many people and

34:43

organizations, I would rather

34:46

not try than fail. And

34:48

the Savior rebukes that as if He's

34:50

saying, I would

34:52

rather my people fail

34:55

than not try. How

34:58

about missions or family history

35:00

work or asking someone out

35:02

on a date or trying

35:05

something new? How

35:07

many people have not done

35:09

something righteous because they were

35:11

afraid to fail? And

35:13

Jesus rebukes that. He rebuked the man

35:16

who only got the one talent and

35:18

said, that's not going to cut it

35:20

in the latter days. If you want

35:22

to succeed in the latter days, we

35:25

have to be the kind of people

35:27

that would rather fail trying than not

35:29

try. It's back to that idea of

35:31

being who acts. Verse 25 of Matthew

35:33

25 where he says, I was afraid.

35:36

And then in verse 24, he makes

35:38

an assumption about the Lord where he's

35:40

like, well, I know that you're a

35:42

hard master. And so in essence, sometimes

35:46

do our misconceptions of God or

35:48

our own lack of confidence cause

35:50

us to hesitate or to be

35:53

afraid. And sometimes for me, that

35:55

brings its own natural consequence. I

35:58

think about Joseph Smith. He's

36:00

in his 20s and the Lord tells him, go

36:02

west, build a temple, build a city. And I

36:04

could just see him at night talking to Emma

36:07

going, the Lord wants me to build a city,

36:09

to build Zion, to build a temple. And she's

36:11

like, what are you gonna do? And he's like,

36:13

I don't know, we're gonna do it. We're gonna

36:15

pray to get a guy who knows how to

36:17

build a temple. But frankly, Emma, I really don't

36:20

know, but I trust God. And I think if

36:22

you're not uncomfortable living the gospel, if the Lord's

36:24

not stretching you, ask Him.

36:26

Say, what would you have me do? And it

36:28

seems like every time I ask that question, Bryce,

36:30

the Lord always gives me something that is a

36:32

little bit stretching. And it actually

36:35

is, sometimes it's good because it lets you know

36:37

that you're alive. But I look at verse 24

36:39

and 25 and I think how many times have

36:41

I done that? And then he says in verse

36:43

26 that he's slothful and I'm like, oh man,

36:46

I got to do better. And it applies to

36:48

so many other things, doesn't it? It does. And

36:50

then the last one is the sheep and the

36:52

goats. In as much as you've done it unto

36:54

the least of these, my brethren, you've done it

36:57

unto me. Take care of each other. I

36:59

want to find you taking care of each other.

37:02

I love what C .S. Lewis said

37:04

about the atomic bomb. It applies so

37:06

well to the second coming. He

37:09

lived in a day where the atomic

37:11

bomb was just coming into its own.

37:14

And he says the following about living

37:16

in an atomic age. He

37:18

says, in one way we think a great deal

37:20

too much of the atomic bomb. How

37:23

are we to live in an atomic age, one

37:25

might ask. I am tempted to reply, why

37:27

just as you would have lived in the century

37:30

when the plague visited London almost every year.

37:32

Or as you would have lived in a Viking

37:35

age when raiders from Scandinavia might land and cut

37:37

your throat any night. Or indeed,

37:39

as you are already living in an age

37:41

of cancer, an age of syphilis, or an

37:43

age of paralysis, or an age of air

37:45

raids, and an age of railway accidents, and

37:47

an age of motor accidents. In other words,

37:49

do not let us begin by exaggerating the

37:51

novelty of our situation. Believe

37:54

me, you and all whom you love were

37:56

already sentenced to death before the atomic bomb

37:58

was invented, and quite a high

38:00

percentage of us were going to die in unpleasant

38:02

ways. It is perfectly ridiculous

38:04

to go about whimpering and drawing long

38:07

faces because the scientists have added one

38:09

more chance of painful and premature death

38:11

to a world which already bristled with

38:13

such chances and in which death itself

38:15

was not a chance at all but

38:17

a certainty. Now this is my

38:19

point. If we are all

38:21

going to be destroyed by an atomic bomb, let

38:25

that bomb when it

38:27

comes find us doing

38:29

sensible and human things.

38:32

Praying. Working, teaching, reading,

38:35

listening to music, bathing the children,

38:37

playing tennis, chatting with

38:39

our friends over a game

38:41

of darts, not huddled together

38:43

like frightened sheep and thinking

38:45

about bombs. They

38:47

may break our body. A microbe can

38:49

do that, but they need not dominate

38:51

our minds. When

38:53

Jesus comes, let him find

38:56

us building his kingdom, not

38:58

afraid to try. taking

39:00

care of each other and using

39:03

the Holy Ghost as our guide.

39:05

That's such a simple remedy from

39:07

the Savior Himself. This

39:09

is how to navigate the latter days.

39:12

Live the gospel, be happy, take cookies

39:14

to a neighbor. I really

39:16

like that. Those three parables are different ways

39:18

for Jesus to emphasize how can we approach

39:20

this. And that really is what the word

39:22

parable means. It literally means to throw side

39:24

by side. So we're putting these two things

39:27

next to each other. the condition we're living

39:29

in today, and then we throw this story

39:31

next to it and say, well, how is

39:33

our life like this? And so

39:35

hopefully, as Bryce has talked about

39:38

these things, you can see yourself in every

39:40

one of those situations. Yep. Let's

39:43

go back to section 45. Verse 16 is

39:45

where he hints at what's coming. This is

39:47

what I'm going to give you when you

39:49

translate the New Testament. So

39:52

verse 16, I will show it plainly

39:54

as I showed it unto my disciples,

39:56

as I stood before them in the

39:58

flesh. So here's the trailer of what's

40:01

coming when Joseph produces Joseph Smith Matthew.

40:03

And he talks about a whole lot

40:05

of things. And then in verse 60,

40:08

he kind of bookends it by saying,

40:10

And now behold, I say unto you,

40:12

it shall not be given unto you

40:15

to know any further concerning this chapter

40:17

until the New Testament be translated, and

40:20

in it all things things shall be

40:22

made known. Wherefore, I give unto you

40:24

that you may now translate it. So

40:26

do you see the trailer there? I

40:28

gave you a little piece of what

40:31

I'm going to give you when you

40:33

translate the New Testament. And what I

40:35

love about that is section 45 is

40:37

a key in unlocking the parables of

40:39

Matthew 25. But back

40:41

to our present concern. The idea

40:44

here is Jesus is going to

40:46

prevail. So what he gives us

40:49

in 45 are This is

40:51

what's going to happen to the wicked, and this

40:53

is what's going to happen to the righteous. So,

40:56

verse 16, he says, you want to

40:59

know about the signs of my coming.

41:01

Verse 17, the day of redemption, the

41:03

redemption of scattered Israel. But

41:05

he starts with the Jews. Just like he did

41:07

in Joseph Smith Matthew, starting in verse 19, I

41:10

say unto you that desolation shall

41:13

come upon this generation. He's speaking

41:15

to his disciples in Jerusalem at

41:17

the Mount of Olives. Desolation

41:20

shall come upon this generation.

41:24

This people shall be destroyed and scattered

41:26

among the nations. This temple

41:28

which ye now see shall be

41:30

thrown down, that there shall

41:33

not be left one stone upon the

41:35

other." That was the statement from Christ

41:37

that causes his disciples, when they go

41:39

out to the Mount of Olives, to

41:41

say, when will that happen? And

41:43

notice he doesn't really answer the question when

41:46

it will happen. He simply answers the question,

41:48

what do you need to do to be

41:50

prepared for it? By the

41:52

way, in section 45, it

41:55

says in verse 20 that this temple

41:57

which he now sees shall be thrown

41:59

down. So what Joseph is seeing is

42:01

seeing a window into this discussion that

42:04

Jesus is having with his meridian disciples.

42:06

And he's telling them, the

42:09

meridian disciples, that this generation

42:11

is going to have this

42:13

destruction. Now historically that all

42:16

happened. The temple was

42:18

destroyed. And in Joseph Smith Matthew, and

42:20

it's also in the New Testament, it's

42:22

referred to as the abomination of desolation

42:25

spoken of by Daniel the prophet concerning

42:27

the destruction of Jerusalem. That is referring

42:29

to the attack in 165 BC by

42:32

this fellow by the name of Antiochus

42:34

Epiphanes. He was a man who was

42:36

upset. The best way I can describe

42:39

him is the bully that you knew

42:41

in middle school whose dad was mean

42:43

to him. And then when the bully

42:46

came to school, he had to have

42:48

somebody to punch. And so

42:50

Antiochus lost a battle and he came

42:52

into Jerusalem and he was so frustrated

42:55

that he basically stripped the Jews of

42:57

their religion. If you were circumcising your

42:59

young men, he would hurt the child

43:01

or he would hurt the mom. He

43:03

would do some horrible things. He actually

43:05

stripped the temple, took a pig and

43:07

offered it as a sacrifice. On

43:10

their holy ground and the Jews were fired

43:12

up and this initiated a revolt and this

43:14

is where we get the story of Hanukkah

43:16

And there's all these really cool stories that

43:18

we'll talk more about when we get to

43:20

the Old Testament But what Jesus is doing

43:22

is when he uses that phrase The

43:25

abomination of desolation, that's a code word.

43:27

Just by using that phrase, it evokes

43:29

an emotional response in the people that

43:32

he's speaking to. And what Jesus is

43:34

trying to tell his disciples is, as

43:36

bad as that was, we're gonna see

43:39

this. And so, when you

43:41

read about this, the desolation in verse 20

43:43

and not one stone will be left upon

43:45

it. If you look in verse 21, In

43:48

section 45, it shall come to

43:50

pass that this generation of Jews

43:53

shall not pass away until every

43:55

desolation of which I've told you

43:57

concerning them must come to pass.

43:59

The Jews got wrecked. That's what

44:01

he's referring to. I think a

44:03

big reason why the temple was

44:05

destroyed, if not the reason, is

44:07

because of false messiahs. That the

44:10

Jews so bad wanted to have

44:12

a messiah that would liberate them

44:14

from Rome. and they finally did

44:16

and they succeeded for a little

44:18

bit of time and that just

44:20

got them devastated and initiated the

44:22

diaspora, the scattering of the Jews.

44:25

And so Joseph Smith, way after this,

44:27

this is, you know, 1800 years later, is

44:29

standing as a prophet and God, by

44:32

giving the Book of Mormon to him,

44:34

is now telling Joseph and the apostles

44:36

and his successors, the

44:38

Jews are going to come home. And

44:40

today, Israel is a state, it's a

44:42

nation, and the Jews are being gathered

44:45

physically, but they're not

44:47

yet gathered spiritually. And that

44:49

macro story of the Jewish people is

44:51

a thread that's woven through the Doctrine

44:53

and Covenants. That's an important thread to

44:56

understand as a backdrop to all of

44:58

this. Because the Lord loves these

45:00

people. And there's one more piece, that

45:02

last statement, the Lord loves these people. Turn to

45:04

verse 51. Then

45:07

shall the Jews look upon me

45:09

now remember the Jews as a

45:11

people are still waiting for the

45:13

Messiah to come and When the

45:15

Messiah comes when the lordly lion

45:18

shows up that they've been expecting

45:20

Verse 51 then shall the Jews

45:22

look upon me and say What

45:24

are these wounds in thine hands

45:26

and in thine feet then shall

45:29

they know that I am the

45:31

Lord? For I will

45:33

say unto them these wounds are the

45:35

wounds with which I was wounded in

45:37

the house of my friends. I

45:40

am he who was lifted

45:43

up, and then three very

45:45

painful words. I am Jesus

45:48

that was crucified. I

45:50

am the Son of God. Then

45:53

shall they weep because of

45:55

their iniquities. and

45:58

they shall lament because they persecuted

46:00

their king. But what's implied in

46:02

this is that Jesus will welcome

46:04

them home. He

46:06

is appearing unto them not to destroy

46:09

them, but in fulfillment

46:11

of the prophecy. He

46:13

loves them. He

46:15

has not forgotten his people.

46:18

And even though as a

46:20

group they rejected him, he

46:23

will come back and welcome

46:26

them home. He will be

46:28

victorious. And that's

46:30

how the story ends. It's

46:33

not just that they were

46:35

destroyed and scattered. It's

46:37

that they will be

46:39

gathered and welcomed home.

46:42

And they will acknowledge Jesus as the

46:44

Messiah. It's such a big message of

46:47

the Old Testament that a remnant shall

46:49

return. that they will be

46:51

able to be back, the land will be

46:53

fertile, they'll have a temple, and they'll have

46:55

a king. And they look

46:57

forward to that, as do I. And

46:59

so section 45 is a really good

47:02

frame that you can use to look

47:04

through, to read the Old Testament. There

47:06

are many frames to read the Old

47:08

Testament through, and the Doctrine and Covenants

47:10

is an excellent frame to help unpack

47:12

this. When we do Old

47:14

Testament, we'll spend more time on

47:17

Zechariah 12 and 13, but in

47:19

a 30 -second little mini statement.

47:22

Zechariah at the end is

47:24

this massive story of how

47:26

they're going to have the

47:28

land fertile again, and God's

47:30

gonna redeem them, and it's

47:32

a huge cosmic battle. And

47:35

pieces of it, you can see where it's kind

47:37

of stitched together. I don't think it's a perfect

47:39

text. And so I think the

47:41

Lord in section 45 is giving us what's important,

47:44

is that the Lord's gonna come back. So

47:47

early saints in Kirtland that are struggling

47:49

because of the publication of all these

47:51

false reports and people are turning away

47:53

from the church. Again, the message is

47:55

he is going to be victorious. So

47:57

we saw it with the Jews. Now

48:00

let's see it again with the Gentiles in

48:02

the latter days. So starting in verse 25

48:04

of section 45, we transition from Jews to

48:07

Gentiles to the times of the Gentiles. Now

48:09

he's going to list all of the negative

48:11

things that the latter days are going to

48:13

bring. Notice in verse 26,

48:15

it's wars and rumors of wars. It's

48:18

men's hearts shall fail them. 27.

48:20

The love of men shall wax

48:22

cold and iniquity shall abound. All

48:25

of these are the things he's going to

48:27

mention in Joseph Smith Matthew, the things you

48:29

and I deal with every day. News

48:32

reports about wickedness increasing

48:34

and war and men's

48:36

hearts failing them. But

48:39

that's not all bad news look

48:41

at verse 28 a light shall

48:43

break forth The light is the

48:45

gospel of Jesus Christ. It is

48:47

the fullness of the gospel a

48:50

light shall break forth among them

48:52

that sit in darkness and It'll

48:54

be the fullness now the reality

48:56

29 is a lot of people

48:58

are gonna reject it and the

49:00

reason they'll reject it is because

49:02

they perceive not the light They

49:04

turn their hearts from him because of

49:06

the precepts of men. I think 29

49:09

is also an invitation for us to

49:11

articulate the message better. We can always

49:13

do better. They don't perceive it. So

49:15

in verse 29, how can I

49:17

be better? And what's interesting, if you

49:19

read Nephi in the Book of Mormon,

49:22

Nephi's version of the Tree of Life talks

49:25

about the Gentiles are blinded to the Book

49:27

of Mormon, and yet it's the Book of

49:29

Mormon that would take the blinders off, right?

49:31

Doesn't the rod lead us through the darkness?

49:33

So they're blinded to the very thing that

49:36

will lead them out of the darkness. So

49:38

what's the solution? The

49:40

Lord needs servants who will

49:43

temporarily be the rod of

49:45

iron to help the world

49:47

take the blinders off. And

49:49

then the Book of Mormon can lead

49:52

them out of the darkness. We are

49:54

the interim that helps them see the

49:56

light. It's our relationship.

49:58

It's what Ammon did to

50:00

Lomoni by winning his heart

50:02

through service and kindness. And

50:05

Lomoni says, who art thou? And

50:08

then they have that discussion. That's what

50:10

the Lord is calling for is missionaries

50:12

to help the world see the light.

50:15

Unfortunately, there will be a lot that reject.

50:18

Therefore, verse 30, an

50:20

overflowing scourge and a desolating sickness

50:22

shall cover the land. Notice

50:25

the next word, and this is what we need

50:27

to shout from the rooftops. We

50:29

usually put a period there and we don't hear

50:32

the next word. An

50:34

overflowing scourge for a desolating

50:36

sickness shall cover the land.

50:39

But... My disciples shall stand

50:41

in holy places and shall

50:44

not be moved. Now I

50:46

read that most of my

50:48

life as they won't move

50:50

themselves. They will stay firm

50:52

and there's certainly a reference

50:55

to that. But now I

50:57

read it this way. When

51:00

you stand in holy places, you

51:02

won't be moved out of your

51:04

place by the enemy. Your

51:08

family will be secure and

51:10

won't be moved Unfortunately among

51:12

the wicked men shall lift

51:15

up their voices and curse

51:17

God and die 33 earthquakes

51:19

just like we saw in

51:21

Joseph Smith Matthew 33 men

51:24

will harden their hearts against

51:26

me. They'll take up the

51:28

sword one against another and

51:31

they will kill each other

51:33

But now we get to

51:35

verse 35 be not

51:38

troubled. Be

51:41

not troubled. Now the whole rest of the

51:43

chapter is going to answer the question why

51:45

we shouldn't be troubled. It's not going to

51:47

be a quick answer. You got to hold

51:49

off for the whole rest of the section,

51:52

but this is why those who live in

51:54

the latter days, among the earthquakes, among

51:56

the wars, among the deception,

51:58

among the wickedness, this is

52:01

why we shouldn't be troubled.

52:05

And so let's start. First of all,

52:07

verse 36, it's because

52:09

the light shall break forth. The

52:11

light shall begin to break forth.

52:13

I love that King James, Matthew

52:16

24, says that he shall come

52:18

like lightning. And

52:20

Joseph Smith changes that in Joseph

52:23

Smith, Matthew 2, it shall be

52:25

the sun of the morning. Instead

52:27

of lightning that, boom, suddenly is

52:29

there, it's like a sunrise.

52:32

When the sun finally shows its face,

52:35

how long has the light been around?

52:38

The restoration is the early

52:40

part of the sunrise before

52:42

the sun actually shows his

52:44

face. So again, a

52:47

reference that the light shall begin

52:49

to break forth. Verse

52:52

39 he that feareth me shall

52:54

be looking forth for the great

52:56

day of the Lord to come

52:59

40 they will see signs and

53:01

wonders Even though verse 41 there

53:03

will be blood and fire and

53:06

vapor and smoke even though the

53:08

Sun shall be darkened Even though

53:11

the moon will turn to blood

53:13

and the reason is the remnant

53:15

shall be gathered on to this

53:18

place The

53:20

remnant shall be gathered

53:22

unto this place. God

53:24

is going to have

53:26

us in a safe

53:28

place. Now we're

53:31

going to end section 45

53:33

by talking about that physical

53:35

place. But there

53:37

is also a spiritual place today, even

53:39

though we haven't built the New Jerusalem

53:42

yet. There is a spiritual place we

53:44

can gather to. Do you remember that

53:46

verse in section 29? If you gather

53:49

to this place, you will be prepared

53:51

in all things against the day when

53:53

wrath and tribulation are poured out upon

53:56

the wicked. We don't need to worry

53:58

because we will be in the place

54:00

he needs us to be. He's

54:03

going to use the example of the Civil War. Jumping

54:06

to 62, great

54:08

things await you. You

54:11

hear of wars in foreign lands, but

54:13

I say unto you they are nigh,

54:15

even at your doors, and not many

54:17

years hence, like thirty years hence, ye

54:20

shall hear of wars in your own

54:22

land, wherefore the Lord hath said, Gather

54:25

ye out from the eastern

54:28

lands. Assemble yourselves

54:30

together, ye elders of

54:32

the church, go ye forth into

54:35

the western countries. Just

54:37

like the Lord had the church

54:39

in a safe place when civil

54:41

war broke out in the United

54:44

States and brother was killing brother.

54:47

The Lord will have us in

54:49

a safe place when the wars

54:51

of the latter days break out.

54:53

When again people are killing each

54:55

other. We will be in a

54:57

safe place. Now

54:59

right now that's a spiritual safe

55:01

place. But we will

55:04

talk momentarily about the physical safe place where

55:06

we're going to go to. Back

55:09

to verse forty four. They

55:11

shall look for me and behold, I

55:14

will come. And

55:16

they shall see me in the clouds

55:18

of heaven, clothed with power and great

55:20

glory. Now, I love what he does

55:22

next in third Nephi in the meridian

55:24

of time. But I love the third

55:26

Nephi version. They sat in darkness for

55:29

three days. Now I have 10 children.

55:32

and I know what children would do in

55:34

darkness, and I know how

55:36

terrifying it would be for my family

55:38

to sit in darkness for three days,

55:41

having known the destruction all around

55:43

us, and the Lord did something

55:45

in that darkness that I think

55:47

was the greatest gift He could

55:49

have given them that everything was

55:51

okay. I know

55:53

technically it didn't happen in the

55:55

darkness because it had to happen

55:57

afterwards, but shortly after the darkness

56:00

was over. He rose the dead.

56:03

I can't tell you what

56:05

would be more comforting in

56:08

the middle of a darkness

56:10

for my family than to

56:12

have my father suddenly knock

56:15

at the door and be

56:17

back to have the little

56:19

girl that my wife and

56:21

I never met. Suddenly

56:25

walk into our family. Nothing

56:29

outside our home would matter

56:31

anymore. And

56:33

Jesus says, do you understand what's coming? In

56:37

the middle of the fire and the vapors

56:39

and the smoke and the wars and

56:41

the earthquakes, verse 45,

56:43

all the saints that have slept

56:46

shall come forth to meet me

56:48

in the cloud. And nothing else

56:50

really matters. And nothing else matters.

56:53

Grandma would be back. The

56:55

people we loved would suddenly be

56:57

back. I

57:00

love verse 46. Tell me what kind

57:02

of God this is. If you have

57:04

slept in peace, blessed are you. For

57:07

as you now behold me and

57:09

know that I am, even so

57:11

ye come unto me and your

57:13

soul shall live. And

57:16

your redemption shall be perfected.

57:19

And the saints shall come forth from the

57:21

four quarters of the earth. He

57:23

draws attention to a resurrection in

57:25

the middle of the chaos. We're

57:28

gonna see our loved ones again. And

57:31

the topography to me is telling

57:33

this story. So

57:35

if you stand where the old temple was

57:37

and you look east, you're looking at the

57:40

Mount of Olives. Or if you walk across

57:42

the Kidron Valley and you go up to

57:44

the Mount of Olives and then you look

57:46

west, you're looking at Jerusalem. Right

57:49

in that valley, There's thousands

57:51

upon thousands upon so many

57:53

dead people. They're stacked on

57:56

top of each other. It's

57:58

just this massive cemetery in

58:00

the Kidron Valley, which that

58:03

word means bitterness or darkness.

58:05

So that's Psalm 23. When

58:07

Jesus leaves Jerusalem and he walks across

58:09

the valley, though, I walk through the

58:12

valley of the shadow of death. That's

58:14

the Kidron. He goes into the Mount

58:16

of Olives to bleed from every pore

58:18

and start the atonement. Look

58:20

what it says in verse 48 the Lord's gonna

58:22

set his foot upon this mount and it shall

58:24

cleave in twain now We usually read that as

58:26

a war story. This is coming out of the

58:28

stuff in the Old Testament, that the Savior is

58:30

going to come down, the Mount's going to cleave

58:33

in twain, and we usually read it as, you

58:35

know, verse 50, the calamity is going to cover

58:37

the mocker, and they're going to be consumed and

58:39

hewn down and cast into the fire, and then

58:41

the Jews are going to be saved. And I

58:43

like this as a story of great conflict where

58:46

they're redeemed, and the Messiah has come, and He

58:48

shows them who He is. This is the King

58:50

who they didn't even know it was Him, and

58:52

He's here. and he shows them who he is.

58:54

But I also see this as exactly like the

58:56

whole time you were talking, Bryce, I was like,

58:58

this is even more important than the war story.

59:01

And it's, we're gonna see our

59:03

loved ones again. And

59:06

look at the Mount of Olives. That's the

59:08

symbol for the victory over sin. And then

59:10

if you stand on the Mount of Olives

59:13

and you look west, that

59:15

Mount is the symbol of victory over

59:17

death. and it's holy and

59:19

it's sacred. And look in verse 45, the

59:21

saints that have slept shall come forth and

59:24

meet me in the cloud. Well, that is

59:26

in your face if you stand in either

59:28

one of those mountains because the valley is

59:30

literally riddled with the dead that hope for

59:32

a resurrection. Middle of verse 46, if

59:35

you come unto him, your souls shall

59:37

live. So I just wanted

59:39

to paint a little picture of what

59:41

Bryce is saying using the sacred dirt

59:44

between these two hills where Jesus on

59:46

one conquered sin, And then

59:48

the other, he conquered death. Now, I know

59:50

he did both, but when we read about

59:53

Gethsemane, we're usually focusing on he bled from

59:55

every pore. He conquered these things. And so

59:57

I think it's beautiful poetry. Joseph Smith has

1:00:00

never set foot in these lands, but as

1:00:02

I read 40 through 48, I'm thinking, oh

1:00:04

my gosh, this is the Holy Land right

1:00:06

there in front of us. It's beautiful. It's

1:00:09

beautiful symbolism. And again, align your life with

1:00:11

the Savior and we will be victorious, even

1:00:13

though there are temporary moments where it looks

1:00:15

like evil is winning. Here's what's

1:00:18

going to happen to those who fight

1:00:20

against God. Verse 49. Could

1:00:26

I shout that from the rooftops? Because there

1:00:28

are a whole lot of people laughing at

1:00:30

the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter -day

1:00:32

Saints. but they

1:00:35

that have laughed shall see

1:00:37

their folly, and

1:00:39

calamity shall cover the mocker,

1:00:42

and the scorn shall be consumed."

1:00:44

I love the reference in verse

1:00:46

54, then shall

1:00:48

the heathen nations be redeemed that

1:00:51

knew no law. They

1:00:53

shall be redeemed and be part of the

1:00:55

first resurrection. I

1:00:58

think that tells us what a

1:01:00

kind and forgiving and understanding Messiah

1:01:02

we have. You cannot be

1:01:04

held accountable for a law you didn't know

1:01:06

you were breaking. It has

1:01:08

to include agency. Verse

1:01:11

55, Satan will be bound. Why?

1:01:14

Not because he's physically taken and

1:01:16

kicked out. It's because he shall

1:01:18

have no place in the hearts

1:01:20

of the children of men, which

1:01:22

suggests I can bind Satan today.

1:01:25

When I make no place for him

1:01:27

in my thoughts and in my heart,

1:01:30

he has no power over me, and

1:01:32

he is bound. Do

1:01:34

you see what the Savior is doing

1:01:36

here? The victory of Christ. Jesus

1:01:39

is victorious. And

1:01:41

during the millennium, boy, I look forward

1:01:43

to verse 58. The earth

1:01:46

shall be given to them for an inheritance, and

1:01:48

they shall multiply and wax strong,

1:01:50

and their children shall grow up

1:01:52

without sin unto salvation, and the

1:01:54

Lord shall be in their midst,

1:01:57

and the glory shall be upon them,

1:02:00

and he will be their king and

1:02:02

their lawgiver. The victory

1:02:04

of Christ. Hang on,

1:02:06

Joseph and the early saints. Hang on,

1:02:08

Latter -day Saints, in 2021. Jesus

1:02:11

is going to be victorious. Sometimes

1:02:14

balancing that with the statement about

1:02:16

the heathen nations can be hard.

1:02:20

In 1871, Brigham Young gave a talk

1:02:22

and Wilfrid Woodruff wrote this in his

1:02:24

journal and it really resonates with me

1:02:27

when it comes to the complexity of

1:02:29

family relationships and not everybody being in

1:02:31

the same place. This is

1:02:33

what he said. Wilfrid Woodruff writes, President Young

1:02:36

spoke for about 45 minutes and it was

1:02:38

one of the most powerful and instructive discourses

1:02:40

I've ever heard in my life. Well, that

1:02:42

should get your ears perked up like, okay,

1:02:45

well, what did he say? And

1:02:47

then Wilfrid writes, There was

1:02:49

a large number of Gentiles, including

1:02:51

members of Congress and the Chief

1:02:54

Justice of the Territory, seven

1:02:56

priests of other churches, and many other

1:02:59

dignitaries. And if you've read a little

1:03:01

bit about Brigham Young's history, when

1:03:03

Congress started sending magistrates and

1:03:06

officials from Washington to kind

1:03:08

of run things in Utah,

1:03:12

Brigham was not very pleased with this. I

1:03:14

mean, I'm putting it lightly. And

1:03:16

so, What Wilfrid's doing is he's painting

1:03:18

you a picture of the president of

1:03:20

the church giving a talk and he's

1:03:22

amongst people that certainly don't believe what

1:03:24

he believes. And I think it's safe

1:03:26

to say that some of these guys

1:03:28

are not his friends. And so

1:03:31

Wilfrid Woodruff says, this is a really good talk.

1:03:33

And so this is what he sums it up

1:03:35

in his journal, he writes this. Brigham

1:03:37

spoke in great power. Among

1:03:40

his remarks, he said that the Lord

1:03:42

does not require us to force men

1:03:44

to embrace the gospel of Christ. If

1:03:47

he did, he would require us

1:03:49

to do what he will not do himself,

1:03:52

for he gives all men their

1:03:54

agency and sets life and death

1:03:56

before them and lets them choose

1:03:58

for themselves. And

1:04:00

I really like that. because amidst

1:04:03

all these things that we're talking about

1:04:05

with taking the Spirit and the importance

1:04:07

of following the Savior, verse

1:04:09

54 sits right in this revelation,

1:04:12

that the heathen nations shall be redeemed. And

1:04:16

I see this as the God in

1:04:18

heaven. I'm back to this image of

1:04:20

his hands are open and he's gonna

1:04:22

lay the paths before you and he's

1:04:24

gonna let you choose. And

1:04:27

so I see, and Brigham's talked about this,

1:04:29

Brigham has given discourses where he says, in

1:04:31

the millennium, there'll be people that are not

1:04:34

of our faith, and the

1:04:36

Lord will allow them to choose. And I

1:04:38

think one way we can apply this in

1:04:40

our lives is we all have family members

1:04:42

that are in different paths. They're all in

1:04:44

different places. And if there's one thing I

1:04:46

can say, it's this, we need

1:04:49

to meet people where they are. Jesus was

1:04:51

always doing that. He was meeting them where

1:04:53

they were, and he had a lot to

1:04:55

give. But if they're not ready for

1:04:57

it, he couldn't give it to them. And

1:05:00

so - But he did give them what

1:05:02

they were ready for. Yeah, yeah. So in

1:05:04

all things, wherever you are,

1:05:06

we're all in different places, I think

1:05:08

what I'm trying to emphasize here is

1:05:10

this idea of patience. Otherwise,

1:05:13

we wouldn't have verse 54. I really like

1:05:15

that in the midst of all this stuff,

1:05:18

the Lord gave us verse 54, which by

1:05:20

the way, If you're in

1:05:22

1831 and you're a Christian, nobody's talking

1:05:24

like this. There's nobody saying, oh, by the

1:05:27

way, the heathen nations are going to

1:05:29

be redeemed. That had to be like a

1:05:31

bomb went off. And Joseph,

1:05:33

once again, is showing us who God

1:05:35

is. Now, how do we

1:05:37

get there? This is kind of

1:05:39

millennial stuff. and we're not in the

1:05:42

millennium. So how do we get there?

1:05:44

And that's the end of section 45.

1:05:47

We are going to build the greatest

1:05:49

city that earth has ever known. We

1:05:51

are going to build another city of

1:05:54

Enoch. So the

1:05:56

Lord, after 62 through 64, sending

1:05:58

them out west, which a great

1:06:00

symbol of, I'm going to save

1:06:03

you from the Civil War by

1:06:05

putting you in Utah, I'm gonna

1:06:07

save you from the challenges of

1:06:10

the second coming by putting you

1:06:12

in Zion so verse 65 is

1:06:14

a reference again to the city

1:06:17

of Enoch one heart one mind

1:06:19

No poor among you, so he's

1:06:21

referring to this Zion state and

1:06:24

now verse 66 It shall be

1:06:26

called the new Jerusalem. We are

1:06:28

going to build the greatest city

1:06:31

in Now let me pause

1:06:33

and give you a vision of that city.

1:06:36

This vision comes from John

1:06:38

Taylor. John Taylor

1:06:40

wrote the following. We

1:06:42

believe that God is going to

1:06:45

revolutionize the earth. to purge it

1:06:47

from iniquity of every kind and

1:06:50

introduce righteousness of every kind until

1:06:52

the great millennium is fully introduced.

1:06:54

We believe moreover that God having

1:06:57

commenced his work will continue to

1:06:59

reveal and make manifest his will

1:07:01

to his priesthood to his church

1:07:04

and kingdom on the earth and

1:07:06

that among this people There will

1:07:09

be an embodiment of virtue, of

1:07:11

truth, of holiness, of

1:07:13

integrity, of fidelity, of

1:07:16

wisdom, and of the knowledge of God. We

1:07:19

believe that we shall

1:07:21

rear splendid edifices, magnificent

1:07:23

temples, and beautiful cities

1:07:26

that shall become the pride,

1:07:28

praise, and glory of the

1:07:30

whole earth. We believe that

1:07:32

this people will excel in

1:07:34

literature, in science, in the

1:07:36

arts, and in manufacturers. In

1:07:39

fact, if there's anything great, noble,

1:07:42

dignified, exalted, anything pure or

1:07:44

holy or virtuous or lovely,

1:07:47

anything that is calculated to exalt

1:07:49

or noble the human mind to

1:07:51

dignify and elevate the people, it

1:07:53

will be found among the people

1:07:55

of the saints of the Most

1:07:57

High God. This

1:07:59

is only a faint outline of some

1:08:02

of the views in relation to these

1:08:04

things. And hence, we talk of returning

1:08:06

to Jackson County to build the most

1:08:09

magnificent temple that ever was formed on

1:08:11

the earth. And the

1:08:13

most splendid city that was

1:08:15

ever erected. Ye cities, if

1:08:17

you please. And the

1:08:20

people from the president down. will

1:08:22

all be under the guidance and

1:08:24

direction of the Lord in all

1:08:26

the pursuits of human life until

1:08:28

eventually they will be enabled to

1:08:31

erect cities that will be fit

1:08:33

to be caught up that when

1:08:35

Zion descends from above, Zion will

1:08:37

also ascend from beneath and be

1:08:39

prepared to associate with those from

1:08:42

above. the people

1:08:44

will be so perfected and so

1:08:46

purified and knowled, exalted and dignified

1:08:49

in their feelings and so truly

1:08:51

humble and most worthy, virtuous and

1:08:53

intelligent that they will be fit

1:08:56

when caught up to associate with

1:08:58

the Zion that shall come down

1:09:00

from God out of heaven. If

1:09:04

we could keep our eyes upon

1:09:06

this, a little while and

1:09:08

then look back to where we

1:09:10

came from, examine our present position,

1:09:12

and see the depravity, ignorance, and

1:09:14

corruption that exists where we have

1:09:16

come from, and that

1:09:18

yet exists among us, it is

1:09:20

evident that some great revolution, some

1:09:23

mighty change has got to

1:09:25

transpire to revolutionize our minds,

1:09:27

our feelings, our judgment, our

1:09:30

pursuits and actions, and in fact

1:09:32

to control and influence us throughout.

1:09:35

before anything of this kind can take

1:09:37

place. No wonder that Joseph Smith should

1:09:40

say that he felt himself shut up

1:09:42

in a nutshell. There was

1:09:44

no power of expansion. It was difficult

1:09:46

for him to reveal and communicate the

1:09:48

things of God because there was no

1:09:51

place to receive them. What

1:09:53

he had to communicate was so

1:09:55

much more comprehensive, enlightened,

1:09:57

and dignified than that which

1:09:59

the people generally knew and

1:10:01

comprehended. it was difficult

1:10:03

for him to speak. Yet this

1:10:05

being a fact and these being

1:10:08

part of the things we expect

1:10:10

to accomplish, there must be a

1:10:12

beginning somewhere. And if we

1:10:14

do squirm once in a while, well it

1:10:16

is not strange because it is so difficult

1:10:19

for the people to comprehend the things which

1:10:21

are for their benefit. We

1:10:23

have been brought up so ignorantly.

1:10:25

and our ideas and views so

1:10:28

contracted it is scarcely possible to

1:10:30

receive the things of God as

1:10:32

they exist in His bosom. It

1:10:35

is easy for us to talk about heaven

1:10:37

and about going to Jackson County and about

1:10:39

building up the kingdom of God. It

1:10:42

is easy to sing about it

1:10:44

and pray about it, but it is

1:10:46

another thing to do it. It's

1:10:49

got to start sometime. Why not

1:10:51

with us? Why not today?

1:10:55

Why not become the saints that

1:10:57

can build this Zion? I really

1:10:59

love that quote. And

1:11:02

I really do believe that if we

1:11:04

sit on our hands and think, okay,

1:11:06

Jesus is going to come and fix

1:11:08

everything, I don't think that

1:11:11

is what John Taylor is saying. I

1:11:13

think his invitation is, no, we've got

1:11:15

to start. And so if we've got

1:11:17

to start and we've got to do

1:11:19

it, we should have the attitude the

1:11:21

Lord has where we meet people where

1:11:23

they are. We do what we can

1:11:26

and we trust the Lord. Hugh

1:11:28

Nibley said, the belief that Zion is

1:11:31

possible on the earth, that men possess

1:11:33

the capacity to receive it right here

1:11:35

and are therefore under obligation to waste

1:11:37

no time in moving in the direction

1:11:39

of Zion. The instant you realize this,

1:11:42

that Zion's a possibility, you

1:11:44

have no choice but to identify with the

1:11:46

program. and help bring it about as quickly

1:11:48

as you can. That's Hugh Nibley

1:11:51

saying the same thing John Taylor is

1:11:53

saying. He's read this quote and I

1:11:55

think this is the invitation. How

1:11:57

do we get ready? We

1:11:59

roll up our sleeves. And we

1:12:02

just keep the covenants. All the tools

1:12:04

are in our disposal. Everything we need

1:12:06

to build Zion has been given to

1:12:08

us right now. We

1:12:10

just need to keep the covenant. We

1:12:13

will get more instructions as we need

1:12:15

it and as we're ready for it.

1:12:17

But right now, we have the information

1:12:19

we need right now. Let's build temples,

1:12:22

let's preach the gospel, let's live our

1:12:24

covenants and become the kind of people

1:12:26

that can build the greatest city, a

1:12:29

city worthy of its king, a

1:12:31

city that rivals the city of

1:12:33

Enoch. Now listen to the description

1:12:36

of this city and you'll understand

1:12:38

why we're going to be so

1:12:40

safe in the latter days, when

1:12:42

the second coming approaches. Going

1:12:44

back to 66, it shall be called a

1:12:47

new Jerusalem, a land of peace, a city

1:12:49

of refuge, a place of safety for the

1:12:51

saints of the Most High God, and the

1:12:53

glory of the Lord shall be there, and

1:12:56

the terror of the Lord shall also be

1:12:58

there, depending on which side you're on, in

1:13:01

so much that the wicked will not

1:13:03

come unto it, and it

1:13:05

shall be called Zion. And it

1:13:07

shall come to pass among the

1:13:09

wicked that every man that will

1:13:12

not take his sword against his

1:13:14

neighbor must needs flee unto Zion

1:13:16

for safety So we're going to

1:13:18

be safe in Zion when the

1:13:20

wars break out There will be

1:13:23

gathered into it out of every

1:13:25

nation under heaven and it shall

1:13:27

be ready. I'm gonna read this

1:13:29

slowly so you can hear it

1:13:31

It shall be the only people

1:13:34

that shall not be at war

1:13:36

one with another. Think

1:13:39

of the civil war and where

1:13:41

the saints were and understand that

1:13:43

the same thing's going to happen

1:13:45

in the end of this world.

1:13:48

And we can also think about

1:13:50

how we communicate. People are

1:13:52

going to say things about us. We

1:13:54

need not be at war.

1:13:56

Let's find a way to

1:13:58

communicate our faith in Christ

1:14:00

without becoming warlike. Without picking

1:14:03

up the sword. Yeah. the

1:14:05

only people that shall not be at war

1:14:07

with one another. Now they're going to want

1:14:09

to attack us because they will hate Zion,

1:14:12

but it won't work for 71. It

1:14:14

shall come to pass that the righteous

1:14:17

shall be gathered out from among all

1:14:19

nations and shall come to Zion, singing

1:14:22

with songs of everlasting joy.

1:14:25

Jesus will be

1:14:27

victorious. Choose

1:14:30

today to join the fight.

1:14:33

Lay down your weapons of war, lay down

1:14:35

the weapons of your rebellion, and

1:14:38

let's build the city. I

1:14:40

think it starts by building me. I'm

1:14:42

going to build me into a Zion

1:14:44

person. And then I'm

1:14:46

going to build my family into a Zion

1:14:49

family. And maybe I

1:14:51

can contribute to building my ward into a

1:14:53

Zion ward. That's where it

1:14:55

starts. It doesn't start when Jesus comes.

1:14:58

It starts when we finally rise

1:15:00

up and put on our beautiful

1:15:02

garments and become the people. He

1:15:04

has been telling so many people

1:15:07

throughout the ages that we would

1:15:09

be. We are

1:15:11

the hope of Israel. And

1:15:14

we need to remember that Jesus is going to

1:15:16

be victorious. Let's choose

1:15:19

to be on his team. And

1:15:23

with that, we come to the end of

1:15:25

section 45. What a wonderful section.

1:15:27

We'll see you next time, where we pick

1:15:29

it up in section 46 and continue.

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