Come Follow Me LDS- 1-2 Peter Pt 2, New Testament

'From God's Mouth to Your Ear'

-  The attributes of 'Becoming'

-  Developing attributes is 'Works'

-  Calling and Election

-  The process of Witnesses and Doctrinal Revelation

-  How many will try to deceive and why

Podcast Links:

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 Come Follow Me for Individuals and Families

LDS Mormon New Testament Bible

 

all right in this episode we're going to

cover all three chapters of second Peter

I want to start going down here in in

chapter 1 to verse five and see where we

get again this bringing together of

faith and works in in kind of a subtle

way that Peter does it here he says here

in verse five and beside this giving all

diligence add to your faith virtue so

he's saying here look faith itself isn't

enough you're going to have to add to it

you have to support it and how do you

support it you do it through works now

the word virtue is kind of interesting

it's the first one Peter brings up here

it's really usually associated a little

bit more with women right with kind of

modesty and chastity of women but virtue

at least in English is associated more

with men it should be you know we get

the beginning of virtue of V I R that has

to do with maleness or even masculinity

it is where we get the word virility

from but if we look in the Old Testament

there's a few examples of where the term

virtuous is coupled with women and so

somewhere in the Hebrew there we move to

more of what used to be a male word

which is now a little more associated

even especially in the church I would

say with women but virtue really here if

you go behind this word here and you

look at the Greek what you're talking

about is goodness and so it's a

behavioral thing it's a works word it

has to do with how you behave and

choices that you make then he gives us

kind of this progressive chain of works

that we need to work on he says and add

to virtue knowledge and to knowledge

temper

and to temperance patience and to

patience godliness and to godliness

brotherly kindness and to brotherly

kindness of course he caps it all off

with the highest virtue of all which is

charity right hope faith hope and

charity charity being the very highest

and we learned that both in the Paulene

letters and in the Book of Mormon that

we're not gonna get anywhere really

without charity without love but these

are works rights when we talk about

charity here at the top we're talking

about love right same root word and

charity has to do with how we effort

what our works are that's really what

love is what we're willing to do what

we're willing to sacrifice it's not the

feeling in our heart but all of these

these virtues that we find in this

progressive chain here are all works

they're all about our behavior who were

becoming how we're serving who we are

and so Peter says right here how are we

going to support this what are you going

to add to your faith in Jesus Christ

your trust in the plan of salvation and

in the sacrifice of Jesus Christ you're

going to add virtues you're going to add

works because this is who you need to

become and then down in verse 10 we get

something that we're very familiar with

a term a phrase that we're very familiar

with in LDS doctrine and that is

wherefore the rather brethren give

diligence to make your calling and

election sure for if he do these things

ye shall never fall so if we add to our

faith all of these virtues then we're

not going to fall but the phrase make

your calling and election sure is

something we're very familiar with in

the church sin ordinance actually and

I'm not going to go really much into

that at all but I do want to talk just

briefly about the phrase itself we can

see this as a

in a lot of other places with the phrase

many are called but few are chosen so

what does that mean well calling here

and election what is an election well

when you go vote in an election you are

choosing it's chosen right so when God

chooses us so to speak he is electing us

it's the same word it's the same meaning

so many are called to do what is right

but few are the chosen few are elected

so the elect of God would be those that

are making your calling and election

sure they are the chosen right chosen

not because of respect for persons right

because one person over another but

chosen because of our faith and because

of as Peter shows us here our works and

in verse 12 he brings up something that

is brought up by many prophets and we

have in many places in the scriptures

and elsewhere he says this he says

wherefore I will not be negligent to put

you always in remembrance of these

things remembrance so he's saying look

I'm putting this out there I'm writing

this to you because I want you to

remember it your Peter is apparently at

the end of his life and he knows it so

as he's going to leave this is kind of

his last will and testament to whoever

he's writing to here and so he wants you

to remember these things remembrance is

a key term it's a key principle

throughout the gospel think about the

prayers of the Sacrament right what are

we to do whereas in ancient times they

were looking forward to the sacrifice of

Christ right through sacrificial animals

and through their stories that they had

for us it is a remembrance and it's

always another remembrance Nephi talks

to laman and lemuel in first Nephi about

remembering

what the Lord has done for them remember

how he brought the children of Israel

out of Egypt and into the Promised Land

remembering is a key principle

throughout all of the Book of Mormon and

throughout the scriptures can we

remember that can we keep it in front of

our minds the principles of the gospel

the sacrifice of Jesus Christ

the works that were supposed to be

engaged with because as we forget these

things then we tend to stray off and he

gives us this formula within this

principle of remembrance in 16 he says

for we have not followed cunningly

devised fables in other words we're not

coming up with this Jewish mythology

that goes beyond the mark or even we

might say some Greek myths that go

beyond the mark now there's not a lot of

truth in Greek myths there is there's a

lot of truth in Greek myths but if it's

taking us beyond the mark if it's taking

us beyond truth beyond the doctrine of

Christ then they're just fables as Peter

is putting it here when we made known

unto you the power and coming of our

Lord Jesus Christ but were eyewitnesses

of his majesty

so Peter's saying look I've seen all

this I was with the Savior I was with

him during his mortality I saw him as a

resurrected being I was there when he

was crucified I was in the Garden of

Gethsemane when he took on the sins of

the world he personally saw these things

now that's the model of the revelatory

process right we get direct revelation

through the spirit we have a

relationship or can have a relationship

personally with God and that's crucial

but as far as confirmation of the

doctrines and making sure that we even

know about prayer making sure that we

know what the doctrines are and

receiving the ordinances and the

fullness of the gospel the fullness of

the Melchizedek Priesthood in the new

and everlasting covenant there needs to

be witnesses but not everybody can be

witnesses of that because if everybody

was witness to that then there is a

reduction

faith and faith is the key to everything

so God in an effort not to undermine our

progress can only pick few people to be

those witnesses and then from there it

would go out to that next circle to

people that they speak to directly or

those that are in say for example the

quorum of the twelve and the seventy it

cetera and then that is we're laid out

from there in our modern church right it

would go from there out to the state

presidencies and then out to the bishops

and then out to the auxiliaries and

priesthood quorums and to individuals

and even then it's not something that

there is a witness of specific things

except at the beginning of a

dispensation right Adam and Eve Adam

walked with God and Enoch and

Melchizedek and Abraham Noah going back

to Noah and then of course coming down

to Moses and the Savior himself and

his apostles and later to Joseph Smith

right there is a wide opening of the

veil in the beginning of a dispensation

and then from there you have strong

witnesses people that are called and are

close to the Lord that then relay

additional revelation and witnesses and

witnessing of truths but not all of us

are Joseph Smith not all of us are Moses

we don't get that same thing there are

some here and there where that does

happen where we have accounts of those

that have seen angels for example or

those that have seen visions there are

the witnesses of the Book of Mormon

those that saw the plates there are 11

of them 12 plus including Joseph Smith

and maybe a 13th as well that we know of

but not all of us saw that right it is a

requirement from the Lord

for us to have faith to develop faith we

have to go through that process of

opening up slowly the veil because

otherwise he's undermining us becoming

like him and that's the whole purpose of

the plan of salvation to begin with it's

not signs before faith right as cherem

and Korihor and Nehor learned that

is such an evil practice because it

undermines everything there that the

plan of salvation stands for but Peter

here is a witness a direct witness and

he is relying this then to us today and

to those that he wrote to here and

calling for us to remember remember the

things that he has gone over remember

that he is a direct witness and perhaps

that's why over time with each new

dispensation there is a little bit of

that second law of thermodynamics that

comes into play right you have the

witnesses at the very beginning you have

Joseph Smith you have Oliver Cowdery

right Martin Harris and others and then

eventually you get further and further

away from that in time and in space and

there is corruption that enters in from

from what the original events were and

eventually there's apostasy complete

apostasy or partial apostasy it doesn't

matter

usually it's partial a loss of

priesthood a loss of the most sacred

things the temple ordinances etc and

we'll probably go through that more and

more in the church today now we have

advantages today and it might very well

be that as pernicious as the Internet is

it might be what ends up saving the

church if we are able to have direct

communication with those spiritual

witnesses of the First Presidency in the

quorum of the twelve and others and

we're able to all have direct access to

the scriptures well that's different

from any other generations in the past

so we're mists of darkness are spread

out through telephone networks and

fiber-optic network

satellites there's also a bit of truth

that goes out through those networks

that were able to grab on to and he

gives this witness here about the Mount

of Transfiguration in 17 he says for he

received from God the Father honor and

glory when there came such a voice to

him from the excellent glory this is my

beloved Son in whom I am well pleased so

he heard the voice as well of God the

Father and he was there to see Christ

transfigured with others and this voice

he says which came from heaven we heard

when we were with him in the holy mount

that's how the process of Revelation and

dispensation works we have also a more

sure word of prophecy

they sought were enter ye do well that

you take heed as unto a light that shine

a--the in a dark place or a lamp until

the day dawn and the day star arise in

your hearts so that's kind of like

Alma's seed right he says like a lamp

going out into the darkness you can you

can hang on to that and nurture that

until finally it's like the Sun is

filling your heart so instead of a seed

to a tree it's a lamp to the Sun just a

different metaphor and then he confirms

this having received revelation and

prophecy himself he says of all prophecy

in 20 knowing this first that no

prophecy of the scripture is of any

private interpretation or of men's

interpretation there's no separate

interpretation outside of what God had

intended now there is corruption of

Scripture and there's corruption through

culture and our assumptions but whatever

was directly revealed from God to the

prophets is what was meant to be sent by

God in 21 for the prophecy came not in

old time by the will of man but by but

holy men of God spake as they were moved

by the Holy Ghost

so I I like this right a lot of times we

get this idea that there was no holy

ghost until the time of Pentecost

perhaps but what are we told here that

they were moved by the holy ghost

there were times where there was a

fullness of the gospel and where the

spirit touched the hearts and minds and

spirits of holy men and women so direct

witnesses to those witnesses

that were around and then passing that

down through a call it a spiritual

communication hierarchy until finally we

have it and so we reach back up through

that through scripture through lds.org

through General Conference through

others have that have received these

testimonies and we remember remember

what we remember

primarily the doctrine of Christ what he

did but also we remember that we must do

these works and have these virtues to be

able to support our faith so that we can

have hope in a future that we're looking

toward and so that we have charity a

pure charity toward our fellow man and

then in chapter 2 he talks about

something going outside of that process

and that's having false prophets and so

this is always a problem in the church

right people receive these testimonies

these witnesses of unadulterated truth

and then they filter them and then

through Pride and other things we're

gonna the Peters gonna cover here they

tweak it and it becomes corrupted and

then it can enter into the culture and

into our minds and try and sway us away

from truth and talking about this time

and our time in the last days he says in

verse 2 and many shall follow their

pernicious ways by reason of whom the

way of truth shall be evil spoken of so

people that are talking against truth do

we see that today do we say that outside

of the church and how we should be more

worldly or

a battle against the traditional family

both outside the church and inside the

church or true these about the doctrine

of Christ we can see that both outside

and you know not as much but a little

bit inside the church perhaps here and

there and of course the Internet is a

great tool for those that wants to be

permitted pernicious that's one of the

reasons that I do this podcast to begin

with is because of all of the false

information that I have read and looked

at that's out there people that are

either hurt from what for one reason

another people that are either proud or

pernicious or they've innocently peeled

back one layer of the onion of truth

thinking that now hey this onion is

different than what I thought it was and

don't realize that there are many more

layers that they need to pass through

that is a normal thing we all need to be

tried we all need to go through some

doubt right because otherwise we're not

worth anything really I mean if we don't

pass through doubts and trials and

tribulations then we're all damned if

you will because that's exactly what

that word means think of a dam what is

it doing it's holding up the water from

what from going down the river from

progressing from moving forward that's

what that word means even spiritually

those that are damned are those that are

held up right they can't move forward

any further and then he brings up the

idea of trying to flatten the hierarchy

remember we can we can flatten an

intellectual hierarchy we can flatten a

spiritual hierarchy as well as a

physical or a priesthood hierarchy going

back all the way to God here's what he

says number three and through

covetousness right that's jealousy shall

they with shall they with feigned words

make merchandise of you sell you away

and how are they doing it first of all

it's because of their covetousness of

something that means something that they

don't have or are not willing to work

for

but that is all about the politics the

spiritual politics of envy there's a lot

going on politically right now

especially in the West things that we

haven't seen this strong in in decades

where there is a push to flatten the

hierarchies and it comes from the

politics of envy now there's definitely

oppression there's definitely a lack of

charity in the world but just as

pernicious is envy it is a poison and

those that do have envy and are covetous

shall with feigned words make

merchandise of you fain would be to make

up to shape something different to

create a new narrative stories are

crucial and whoever controls the stories

are the ones that have the influence

then he gives examples that those who

fight against the truth have

consequences right so he talks about

those perhaps he's talking about the

pre-existence here about the third of

the hosts of heaven that were cast down

to hell and then he's talking about Noah

and those that were that perished in the

flood and then he talks about Sodom and

Gomorrah what happened there remember

what happened there with Abraham and lot

right is that Abraham's wrestling with

the spirit so to speak and he's saying

what if there's 50 people here that are

left righteous and then Lord says okay

then I then I won't destroy Sodom and

then he says well what if there's five

where there's one he says I won't

because that one person is that precious

but eventually it's wicked enough that

it needs to be destroyed it's corrupted

and he gives a few more adjectives and

he gives a few more reasons why some

people would fight against the truth and

use feigned words he says here in 10 but

chiefly them that walk after the flesh

in the lust uncleanness and those that

despise government I think that's an

interesting one right he's not talking

about necessarily like the government

like a libertarian point of view here

someone who hates the government

but he's talking about being governed in

some way and so you could see that in in

those that purely despise any authority

no authority can be bad there's no

question authority can be oppressive but

there must be hierarchies that's the

only way the world turns and so you

fight for a good hierarchy not to get

rid of the hierarchy says that they are

presumptuous self-willed so prideful and

they're not afraid to speak evil of

dignities this is something I've brought

up before something at least with me and

I'm sure it is with you the same way

something that always— a little

bit of a ripple in the spirit is if I

hear people that just don't have a

reverence for spiritual things if

there's not a border there a barrier

right and they're crossing that barrier

often it's like okay I can tell where

you're coming from the ability to

hold things sacred at least for me is

a crucial attribute for someone that has

to go with a sanctity of life it has to

go respect for individuals it's the

golden rule and he says that they speak

evil of things that they do not that

they understand not and he said he talks

about how look this is all corruption

and corruption disintegrates he says

then shall utterly perish in their own

corruption of course they will if you're

in a cycle of corruption right if you

leave metal out in the desert eventually

it's going to rust and eventually it's

going to dissolve away so unless it

repents unless there's a swing back the

other way which is rare comes from

intelligence comes from effort comes

from the spirit then things that are

corrupt are going to completely dissolve

away or will be purified and he says in

14 that they have eyes full of adultery

again there's certainly the direct

meaning of adultery there right but it

adultery oftentimes means breaking

covenants it's going against the

covenants of God

using the Covenant of marriage as the

prime example and that cannot cease from

sin beguiling unstable Souls it's easy

for any of us to be an unstable soul

especially in this world today there is

so much temptation there's so much

information that is just it's like a

fire hose coming on us it's easy to be

insecure about our faith and it's easy

to be in situations because we're all

commingling so much writes in

society at work and at home and anywhere

it's so easy to fall to temptations

whatever they might be and to be

unstable and again he brings up they

have exercised with covetous practices

those were that would influence unstable

souls so it's interesting that he keeps

bringing that up right envy covetousness

I think there's a lot of truth to that

and I think there's I think that if we

read this properly and what his messages

here Peter's messages here it helps us

to understand those that might be trying

to sway us away there's something there

that may very well be an issue of envy I

believe that's exactly what happened in

the pre-existence and that Envy usually

ends up being expressed by accusations

and that's what Satan was called in the

book of Revelation and the pre-existence

was the accuser they wanted to flatten

the hierarchy Merritt and works and

faith that that can't make you move

forward and be and progress right

because some might be left behind it's a

tough issue it's a it's a central issue

to the gospel but flattening the

hierarchy is not part of the plan of

salvation it's not part of the gospel

what's part of the gospel is charity and

reaching out and trying to help people

up or reaching up and asking for people

to help you to bring you up not to bring

others down that never works that is the

plan of somebody else that's Plan

B for

break the hierarchy in 17 he says that

they are Wells without water they're

empty they're void they have no purpose

he says so they are clouds that are

carried with a tempest away so in other

words they don't bring down the rain to

you the blessings of God and then he

says just like in Lehigh's vision the

imagery here he says to whom the mist of

Darkness is reserved forever so they

will wander in a mist of darkness

because they're not hanging on to the

light they're not making that lamp into

the Sun and then in nineteen it says

while they promise them Liberty they

themselves are the servants of

corruption so that's a real easy one to

see right

sometimes in hindsight but the promise

of having more freedom when you're being

pulled away from truth and light is

really more about having you not see the

consequences of that freedom that

newfound freedom it's like a teenager

hey I've got all of this new experience

here I'm independent

but do they understand responsibility

yet how much of that do they understand

how much do they understand of

consequences yet it's the same idea hey

we can you can do this and you can do

that and there's no big deal well there

are consequences there's natural

consequences even beyond just the

spiritual consequences and he says that

for of whom a man is overcome by this

corruption and seeing this new type of

Liberty of the same as he brought into

bondage and that's what the truth is

right again it's kind of like having the

sign before the faith and the works it's

hey here's all this freedom you know

don't worry about down the road what the

consequences are it's reversing things

here's the signs but hey don't worry

about your personal progress down the

road well we'll worry about that later

and then for those that have already

received the truth he talks about how

much worse that is for someone who

receives the truth and then falls away

now of course there's always a possible

repentance at any point but it's harder

right because if you've received some

light and then you've slowly gone away

and stopped remembering and you've

lingered off from that iron rod and into

the mists of darkness more and more and

more well of course it's a lot harder to

repent when you're not already hanging

on to that iron rod because now you got

to find your way back you got to go

through the mists you got to go through

the fiery darts to get back there and

hang on to it well worth it but it is a

little bit harder and he gives the

proverb here down in 22 but it is

happened unto them according to the true

proverb the dog is turned to his own

vomit

again and the sow that was washed to her

wallowing in the mire so in other words

if you've found the truth and you

vomited out all of your sin and your bad

assumptions and your bad works and then

you return to it it's like it's like the

dog I mean it's actually pretty good

image about what it's really all

about why would you consume that again

and then in chapter 3 he starts off in

verse 1 with remembrance again this

second epistle beloved I now write unto

you in both which I stir up your pure

Minds by way of remembrance so again

he's trying to really focus us in

here and saying look you've got to

remember these things so we might look

in our own lives apart from just the

doctrine of Christ and the doctrine

of Revelation and how that gets to us

from Peter here but we might remember in

our own lives great time right now

during Thanksgiving to remember why we

should be grateful for so many things

experiences that we've had when we have

felt the spirit the changes in our lives

when we have followed true principles

that doesn't mean that there isn't

temptation that doesn't mean that there

aren't trials regardless but there are

blessings and there is a peace of mind

that comes in waxing strong because of

our works and because of our faith we

get into a certain state of mind of hope

a certain spiritual hope

the future that I think brings us more

light and more well-being in verse eight

he says something interesting he says

but beloved be not ignorant of this one

thing that one day is with the Lord as a

thousand years and a thousand years as

one day right so one day to us or a

thousand years to us is like one day to

God and some people have tried to use

this formula to talk about the length of

eternities I think generally what

we're talking about here is that time is

very different for God and where we go

through trials and tribulations right

hey you know for us we want that to

shorten as much as possible and he's

saying like look I mean a thousand years

to you is like one day to me in other

words that's where we can get to and you

will get through these things and these

things will pass but our idea of time

right now is very different we can also

if you want just fun little factoids

here is you can go to facsimile number

two and look at figure or one two three

figure four and take a look at that and

see what you think of that I'm not going

to go into that any more though

then in verse 10 we get this again we've

heard this before but the day of the

Lord will come as a thief in the night

in the which the heavens shall pass away

with a great noise and the elements

shall mount melt with fervent heat the

earth also and the works that are

therein shall be burned up so again what

is he talking about well we can look at

this in two different ways from a

negative side we say okay well that's

that's Armageddon right I mean that's

that is people that are things that are

corrupt are gonna be burnt but that's

the process that we go through now right

when we become corrupt when we need to

repent in a sense we have to go through

a purification it's no different this

may be a spiritual thing that they're

saying and it might actually be seems to

be that he's talking about actual

physical elements here but we go through

that all the time within our own bodies

within our own spirits our hearts and

our minds we have to go

purification process we have to build up

our faith and we do that through as we

looked at the last episode through being

forged like a blacksmith taking you know

a metal work and putting us into the

heat and then straightening us out to be

who were supposed to be it's the current

Bush right this is the process this is

what everything goes through that's why

we come down here to earth into

mortality is to go through a

purification process to fall away from

God and then go through the pain and the

trials and tribulations the difficulties

of faith so that we can be purified and

be stronger and become something that

were not today

but then he gives us hope here in 13

nevertheless we according to his promise

like the promised land looked for new

heavens and a new earth wherein dwelleth

righteousness I'll talk to you next time