Come Follow Me LDS- 2 Nephi 26-30 (Feb 24 - Mar 1)

'The Learned & The Rich'

-  The adversary's dual strategy of removing the Doctrine of Christ and shutting out revelation

- The learned and the rich of worldy knowledge and economy

- 'Hell' as 'consequences'

-  We all play a part in the Abrahamic Covenant

-  The War in Heaven is about Pride

-  Our Values Hierarchies will be forced into play

 

Podcast Links:

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all right before we get started in this

episode I want to give you an update on

a couple of things by the end of next

week we should have our new website up

I'm very excited about this this is

going to have an outline of the four

interpreters that will be on the website

as well as several of the quick

principles not all of them yet but they

will each have an outline of and

descriptions of each one of these

interpreters and principals up on the

website that you can refer to secondly

it's going to have access for those that

are in the study group and this is going

to be great because what this does is

there will be a portal area there of the

website that will allow those in the

study group to have access to all of the

materials all of the study group

materials all of the recordings each

week and so whether you are in able to

attend live on Saturday mornings it

doesn't really matter of course it's

nice to have you there but you will have

all of the recordings all of the

materials the whiteboards the annotated

scriptures the power points and every

other material that we have in the study

group will be available in an

ever-growing library in the study group

so that's very exciting for me third on

that website I would recommend that you

go in and sign up for the newsletter and

it'll be a very short little email

newsletter that will go out that's going

to talk about last week maybe a little

bit of what we studied a little bit

about the current week that we're going

over and just keeping you updated on

what we're doing with quick media here

as we go through some of these changes

this year that are again to me very very

exciting so with that let's get on with

the podcast here in this episode

we're going to be covering second Nephi

chapters 26 to 30 and here Nephi is

coming back from going over all of those

inserted chapters from Isaiah I think

there's 13 of them and then he closed

with a commentary in in chapter 25 now

he's going to open up he's gonna bring

in one more chapter of Isaiah but he's

gonna really focus on bringing all of

this together and looking at a prophetic

view of how these covenants and these

prophecies that come from Isaiah

intertwined with what Nephi has seen and

what he's going to be talking about in

terms of his people his descendants the

Israelites the Jews and the Gentiles and

what this means and in playing out in

the future including our own times so

here he comes back in chapter 26 let's

go there and take a look at what he does

here so he follows up he's been talking

about Christ and about the covenants

that have been made with the house of

Israel and so he sews it together here

and says and after Christ shall have

risen this is verse one from the dead he

shall show himself unto my children and

my beloved brother and again bringing

his front center onto the doctrine of

Christ here and the prophecy of his

coming and the words which he shall

speak unto you shall be the law which he

shall do why because the law is going to

change in a sense right because the law

of Moses will have been fulfilled when

he arrives in the Americas and then in

verse 3 he talks about the signs that

are gonna be coming because of well

foreseeing foreshadowing the coming of

Christ which we get later on in the Book

of Mormon

where these become very prophecy

centered right where the people of

the Lord that are dwindling in numbers

are hanging on to the very end it's a

great story right because we all have to

hang on a very end and more and more

as we go through these times in the last

days we're gonna have to hang on to the

very end to prophecy and to Revelation

and it might be that it hangs by a

thread sometimes

for us based on the circumstances of the

world but he talks about how there will

be signs that a resurrected Christ will

come to his people to his descendants

and teach them but again we go into

these themes here and primarily

again I'm going to bring up these two

themes that we get where the world tries

to turn the principles of the gospel

upside down there's two ways that

happens it is the knee whore principle

right it is it is diluting the doctrine

of Christ or getting rid of it watering

it down and the other is rejecting

revelation or the power of the Holy

Ghost you close the cannon you stop

additional revelation and you say that

Christ is something different than he is

that is the greatest threat for all of

us and that shows in the Book of Mormon

there is one Antichrist I believe who is

core whore who actually comes in and

says that he's an atheist but cherem and

knee whore and King Noah and his priests

they're not atheists as examples right

they are they are watering down the

doctrine of Christ and they are shutting

down

revelation they're closing up the

heavens and that's what happens and has

happened in every dispensation with the

church and with the gospel with thee

there that's why there's always more

dispensations because you have to come

back after there's been apostasy and

restore everything add the mystic

priesthood back in adding the things of

God the eternal things the heavenly

things and restore the doctrine of

Christ and so we're gonna see that very

strongly here with these two things and

one of the reasons that this happens

here was we see in verse 4 it says

wherefore all those who are proud that

do wickedly the day that comets shall

burn them burn them up saith the Lord of

Hosts for they shall be as stubble so

this becomes again about think about

going back to the Tree of Life issue

right Tree of Life represents Christ the

doctrine of Christ over here the proud

is the opposite of that the doctrine of

Christ is revelation and everything that

has to do with Jesus Christ coming down

to earth and bearing our sins and what

do they do that do this in verse five

and they that kill the prophets and the

Saints the depths of the earth shall

swallow them up etc etc right so again

it is it has always happened the

people of the Lord the Covenant people

have killed the prophets in the past

throughout time because of pride because

of looking inward and as I look inward I

look away from Christ and having faith

in him as I look inward I look away from

receiving things from God the Holy Ghost

faith grace and mercy

so pride is what brings about those two

things but the opposite of that

especially for them at this time is in

verse eight but behold the righteous

that hearken unto the words of the

prophets and destroy them not right we

have the same issues today

do we hearken to the prophets or do we

not work into the prophets but they look

forward unto Christ with steadfastness

for the signs which are given so we're

told this idea let's step back here a

little bit and understand the principles

that are at play here it's not just a

matter of what Nephi is prophesying to

us it's understanding how the principles

play out in our lives and how these

principles will liken he's like any

Isaiah unto him and his people let's

liken Nephi unto us right in what he is

saying for us do we look forward to

Christ with a steadfastness for the

signs which are given how do we identify

those that may not have anything to do

with the Stars I mean how to have to do

with the light of the Sun going all the

way through the night it may not be a

three days of darkness

but as we understand the Scriptures we

can see with spiritual eyes how things

are changing we can see that as more and

more pressure comes in and elevates the

most basic fundamental principles the

most important ones we start building up

again by force sometimes this hierarchy

of values and where does Christ end up

when that happens where does Christ end

up in society when that happens where

does revelation end up in society are we

pulled away from the doctrine of Christ

are we pulled away from personal

revelation and an understanding of the

revelation given to the prophets by

looking at other groups by looking at

other ideologies by looking to the state

by looking at the trendiest philosophies

of the day it's very easy to be caught

up in these things and to be pulled

away from anchoring the primary anchors

there of the doctrine of Christ and

faith in him and from revelation and if

you're looking at the two-pronged

strategy the battle strategy of the

adversary that's what it is and through

time we see Nephi talking about how that

affects his people and the Gentiles here

so we continue on here from verse 8 he

says but the Sun of righteousness shall

appear unto them and he shall heal them

that's his descendants and they shall

have peace with him until three

generations shall have passed away and

many of the fourth generation so this is

from the time of 3rd Nephi 11 going on

until again they eventually lose those

two things they lose out on the doctrine

of Christ that melts away and they lose

out on personal revelation because they

let it slip away and it tells us right

here in verse 10 the result of that it

says for the reward of their pride right

those two things doctrine of Christ and

Revelation other things encompasses

but we're focusing on those two for the

reward of their pride and their

foolishness they shall reap destruction

and that's exactly what happens and that

what that's what happens with all of us

and you think about any society even if

they're not Christian a Christian

society helps hold that together better

but even a society that does not have

Christianity the more they're looking

out from their cells and sacrificing for

others and building a relationship

socially of trust in institutions in

people's in other families etc they're

looking out from themselves and they're

looking out for truth through some form

of process of gaining knowledge and

believing that it is truth and

righteousness that that knowledge is

truth and right truth and righteousness

then those are societies that are going

to grow and build up it's a natural

consequence but when those things are

removed especially trust when you take

away going outside of yourself and

focusing just for me then it becomes

tighter and tighter inward to yourself

what's in it for me I don't trust

anybody else and Society can't function

that way and in 11 we're told by Nephi

it says and when the spirit ceaseth to

strive with man then cometh speedy

destruction all right so that's

what happens you lose the spirit and

because you're not following these

principles of the opposite of pride and

it's interesting here in chapter 26 what

he's doing we're told in the next

chapter that he drops in chapter 29 of

Isaiah but actually he takes in the

first five verses here and they're

interspersed here in chapter six from

Isaiah 29 so he is on steroids here

likening Isaiah along with these other

things that he's talking about he's

taking these things out of Isaiah these

these first five verses and

interspersing them along with what he's

talking about here

and applying them to his people and to

the Gentiles and then after verse five

in verse six he starts off I think it's

verse six he starts off in the next

chapter and so he talks about what's

going to happen with his descendants

because they have lost these two things

the doctrine of Christ and Revelation

they're going to dwindle and unbelief

here's what it says in 15 it says after

my seed and the seed of my brethren

shall have dwindled in unbelief and

shall have been smitten by the Gentiles

while we know of course that's exactly

what happened yeah after the Lord God

shall have camped against them around

about this is from Isaiah so he can be

pulling Isaiah here and we can say well

Isaiah is talking exactly about this and

that's possible but a lot of scholars

will say it's not but that he's just

taking it and kind of likening it to

this but we need to remember I think

that this is a huge coming forth in the

last days this Book of Mormon

so it's not like Isaiah may not have

been aware of it he may have been very

very aware as a visionary man aware of

the descendants here of Nephi and what

would happen with the Gentiles that

seems logical to me based on his

writings so even though he's kind of

likening this to us we can see it and

and say okay well he's pulling

principles from Isaiah and splicing

them in to his own prophecies and his

words to his descendants and to us but

he could very well be saying Isaiah is

talking about this and I'll be mocked by

some people about that but it's look I

mean what is the difference between

Isaiah talking about the coming of a

savior and about what's gonna happen

with the Gentiles in the future and

talking about the Book of Mormon and

talking about the descendants of Nephi

and laman and lemuel it's not like

they're a smaller group it's not like

they're a smaller less important

group that you would be prophesying

about in Isaiah's time I mean this is

how the whole last days come together

right is it's not even though they're an

isolated group the Lamanites and the

Nephites the Book of Mormon that they

produce is going to go out to the world

and it is the primary instigator of the

gathering of Israel in the last days to

usher in the second coming of Christ so

to think that Isaiah would not be aware

of this seems faulty to me I mean

we believe that the book of Revelation

talks about these types of future events

we believe that the Book of Daniel talks

about these types of future events we

believe that Matthew talks about these

types of future events so why not Isaiah

he continues on here talking with words

of Isaiah and he says and after they

shall have been brought down low in the

dust right this is destruction and even

that they are not yet the words of the

righteous shall be written these are the

Nephites right he's likening these to

the Book of Mormon and the prayers of

the faithful shall be heard and all

those who have dwindled in unbelief

shall not be forgotten this is key to

Nephi he wants to know that his

descendants are not going to be

forgotten

do we have children do we have those

grandchildren great-grandchildren and we

want to know that they're not going to

be forgotten

if they have stepped away from the

gospel how important is that to us how

much is that weigh on us the Lord is

saying here look if you are a covenant

people I'm not going to forget the

covenants you if you've made covenants

with the Lord he's not going to forget

this just like we talked about the God

of Abraham Isaac and Jacob and how the

house of Israel and the Jews become the

Covenant people they're the covenant

people they don't have the higher

covenant for the most part but Abraham

Isaac and Jacob did and that's what the

Lord is not going to forget so with us

also he's not going to

those that are lost there's going to be

opportunity to recover them that's the

way I read it this is about covenant and

it's not the covenant that he makes with

Abraham Isaac and Jacob is really no

different in a sense than the Covenant

that we play a part in in bringing

people together through missionary work

and temple work through supporting our

families through service in the church

so this is all this is all about

covenant it's reaching out and reaching

down and reaching up got to have it both

ways and it says in 16 for those who

shall be destroyed shall speak unto them

out of the ground so again think of the

Book of Mormon in this instance where

that group has been destroyed most of

the Nephites have been destroyed yet

they have a book and this is how this

works there's going to be a voice from

the dust and their speech shall be low

out of the dust and their voice shall be

as one that hath a familiar spirit you

probably feel the same way I do about

that phrase it is the Book of Mormon is

a familiar spirit for the Lord God will

give unto him power that he may whisper

concerning them even as it were out of

the ground and their speech shall

whisper out of the dust do you feel as I

do that with this year especially with

this new come follow me program that we

are delving more and more into the Book

of Mormon and were understanding it more

we're understanding Isaiah more because

of it and that voice that is coming out

of the dust that has been loud at times

but oftentimes a little bit muddled is

starting to get louder and louder and

louder and so as he's gone over before

the Gentiles will receive this voice out

of the dust the Book of Mormon and then

bring it out to Manasseh and Nephi's

descendants and out to the whole world

but the Gentiles are going to have

problems they're going to have problems

with that path as well the doctrine of

says here in verse 20 and the Gentiles

are lifted up in the pride of their eyes

so they are going to suffer also from

pride and have stumbled because of the

greatness of their stumbling blocks so

here again we see what we see Christ the

doctrine of Christ seems to be around

whenever we talk about a stumbling block

now there's a lot of different stumbling

blocks we can see but here again the

pride here the doctrine of Christ the

the principle of Revelation this becomes

their stumbling block it is the opposite

direction of the Tree of Life and

they've put up many churches they put

down the miracles of God

there's revelation in the power of God

coming down the higher law and preach up

unto themselves I love that they preach

up not to God they preach up unto

themselves their own wisdom and their

own learning that's lower law right

that's the philosophies of men that they

may get gain and grind upon the faces of

the poor right now I know of many

examples where a lot of good people and

good churches are out serving the poor I

think it happens quite a bit but

certainly institutions at times

individuals and some churches do exactly

this thing and it may very well get

worse and worse and so he's kind of

putting in place the environment right

of these Gentiles that have been given

strength and power through Christianity

and through the book of the Jews and how

they're going to let that dwindle even

more than what they have right the

doctor that they have is not perfect but

they're gonna let it dwindle even more

and this is another result here down in

28 it says behold hath the LORD

commanded any that they should not

partake of his goodness behold I say

unto you nay but all men are privileged

the one like the other and none are

forbidden right if this is open to

everybody there is no bias

there is no lifting one up above the

other spiritually there is no one more

valuable than anybody else but in 29 he

commanded that there shall be no priest

crafts that's people in authority

demanding money for spiritual growth

right and money for gain and it says for

behold priests crafts are that men

preach and set themselves up for a light

unto the world so they collect money and

they set themselves up as the ones that

people should look toward right they

become the icon they don't spend their

time talking about Christ now you can

turn on the television set and see this

all the time

and so think of the war in heaven this

is exactly what happened

right where Lucifer built himself up and

not the Savior he wanted the glory that

was priestcraft

they didn't have money there but they

had a spiritual economy and he was

puffing himself up and ignoring Christ

and what he was going to do and so the

Lord says here in verse 30 behold the

LORD hath forbidden this thing wherefore

the Lord God hath given a commandment

that all men should have charity which

charity is love and except they should

have charity they were nothing all right

we hear this later on with Mormon and

Murrow and I we hear it in the letters

of Paul this is what ultimately the

doctrine of Christ is about right it's

about that love for others it's not

about yourself again the fruit of the

tree of life is charity or love and the

Great and spacious building is all about

yourself

and he says here look everybody is

welcome

right the Lord is not a respecter of

persons in other words he doesn't look

at somebody and say you are more

valuable than somebody else everybody

has the same potential regardless of

where we find ourselves in our situation

in our mental state

eight in our physical health state in

our intellectual state in our spiritual

state everybody has the same potential

in thirty-three hands the chapter here

and he says and he invited them all to

come unto him and partake of his

goodness of the Tree of Life and he deny

a--the none that come unto Him

black-and-whites bond and free male and

female and he remembereth the heathen so

even the atheist so to speak and all are

alike unto God both Jew and Gentile so

we get this idea about everybody

everybody is a child of God and there's

an idea there a began about covenant

about weaving everybody here together in

a common a common family of God and a

common purpose and a common in some ways

identity as children of God and then we

go over to 27 and here in 27 we're just

going to dip down here a little bit this

is starting I believe in verse 5 or 6 of

chapter 29 of Isaiah and this is a lot

about the book right the book that is

going to speak from the dust and that is

sealed and there's a lot of ways we can

look at this as just a principle also

but this is how things work right if you

get pushed if you're in part of it to

the church or someone who is shunned

and you get pushed out into the

wilderness and you're going to be

destroyed and you want to preserve the

most important to eternal things that

you have you're probably going to bury

these things you're gonna find a way to

preserve this and then it comes forward

later on we see this with the Dead Sea

Scrolls we see this what with what we

found in Egypt at naga hamadi we see

this with the golden plates and who

knows what else we're gonna find other

lost records but this chapter here is

about the book it's about judgment from

the Gentiles and the Nephites falling

away from these things

it's about denying the power of God

right it is about pushing away the

things of God

and focusing on pride and the things

of the world and it's about those that

are puffed up namely as they list here

the wise the learned and the rich right

so those have amassed a lot of resources

either monetarily or intellectually and

how they're puffed up and stay above

those around them and then he's gonna

end this with an intro going into his

final chapters where he talks about this

revelation that's being shut off so here

in Isaiah then in chapter 29 this is

starting off with second Nephi 27 1 he

drops this in here this the rest of this

chapter and he starts off with but

behold in the last days or in the days

of the Gentiles it's interesting that he

calls the last days the days of the

Gentiles but of course that's because

that's when the Gentiles are flourishing

and they're the ones that are going to

be on that side of the Covenant

this time we're there offering help and

they are offering the gospel to the

world right but he talks about a time

when the entire world will be drunken

with iniquity I like that he uses this

term drunk in it it's at times Paul uses

the term sober and I think about that

sometimes about the difference obviously

where you know what is it if you're

drunken with something with iniquity

you're not sober to me it means you're

not aware and there are so many things

that we can take that make us drunk so

to speak and not sober not aware not

awake to the truth and to reality into

responsibility and to your future and he

says it's like a night vision right

where you dream that you've had

something to eat but you wake up in the

morning and you're still hungry or you

dream about having something to drink

and you wake up and you're still thirsty

so in other words it's superficial

it's fake the

things that you are consuming in your

life the ideologies that you're

consuming the things that you would that

would make you drunk are going to be

those things that take you away from the

iron rod you're going to stagger so to

speak away from the path and it's going

to seem like it's real it's going to

seem that you're happy

you're going to have short-term pleasure

and you're going to have some a return

on investment so to speak but it's not

eternal

then even verse six he talks about a

book he specifically brings this out of

Isaiah and uses it either explicitly as

Isaiah's prophecy on the Book of Mormon

or he's likening this precept to the

Book of Mormon he's definitely using it

as the Book of Mormon if you will you

will see here where this whole chapter

fits in and then where we go to in the

next chapter you can see that he

definitely is using this for the Book of

Mormon it says and it shall come to pass

that the Lord shall bring forth unto you

the words of a book and they shall be

the words of them which have slumbered

the book has talked about a lot

especially in visions the book of

Revelation remember that Lehigh's first

vision in first Nephi one has a book in

it as well and a lot of these

apocalyptic visions that are even not in

the scriptures that are non canonical

stories there's a book that's in here

and it represents the law it represents

the Word of God and of course in reality

this happens all the time for the words

of a book are going to speak to future

generations and it says and they shall

be the words of them which have

slumbered so or had been forgotten for a

while the Nephites and Lamanites and

behold the book shall be sealed and in

the book shall be a revelation if any

how we get revelation and sealing there

it's like in the book of Revelation a

revelation from God from the beginning

of the world to the ending thereof so

in a sense that's what the book of

Revelation is right it's an apocalyptic

vision remember what apocalyptic means

it means revelation it's an apocalyptic

revelation of the entire world from the

beginning to the end and it could very

well be that the sealed portion of the

Book of Mormon had something similar to

the book of Revelation remember that

Nephi saw what John the Revelator saw

but he couldn't put it in writing or at

least writing that we could have because

it was going to be reserved for John

yeah we get that so explicitly in first

Nephi and then we get the story of the

book being delivered to someone who

would interpret it but he says that he

cannot interpret it because it is a book

it is a sealed book and of course we

think of Charles Anthon here so that

really did happen is that exactly what

Isaiah was talking about I don't know

but again it's not gonna be surprising

if that's exactly what he's talking

about we can't just say that this is

some kind of deal where we're looking at

ourselves as being the most important

thing and Isaiah is just talking about

our times again we're talking about the

most important book of the last days so

why wouldn't I say I'd be talking about

it and then we start getting into these

groups of people that knee PHY sees or

talks about here through Isaiah's words

that are in verse 16 here and now

because of the glory of the world not

the glory of God and to get gain will

they say this and not for the glory of

God and the words will saying they're

gonna push back on these words from the

book and that and the man shall say I

cannot bring the book for it as sealed

then shall they learn it say I cannot

read it we get that all the time with

the Book of Mormon actually right who's

gonna read something with the crazy

story of Joseph Smith if you are

learning you've got a reputation to hold

up he says in verse 20 the learning

shall not read them for they have

rejected them and I am able to do mine

own work wherefore thou shalt read the

word

which I shall give unto thee so this is

done through a farm boy right through

Joseph Smith then he says down in verse

23 for behold I am God and I am a God of

miracles in other words the learn it

he's putting us on the opposite side

here the learning are not going to be

looking at revelation and they don't for

the most part there are some very good

biblical scholars top-rated biblical

scholars that are really true believers

and T Wright is somebody that I think of

the New Testament scholar he is a true

believer and there are many others that

way Margaret Barker is a believer in

that sense but so much of the learn it

even in biblical scholarship they don't

believe right they're not looking at

biblical scholarship to learn and to

glean the principles of the gospel out

of it they're not looking at it to use

it to apply to their own lives they're

using it to study as a critical piece of

literature and that's what it's

devolving into he continues and I will

show unto the world that I am the same

yesterday today and forever and I work

not among the children of men save it be

according to their faith so there's the

horse in the cardigan right we want the

signs we want the evidence we want the

archaeology first and then maybe we can

believe in something and then we get

something very similar to what Joseph

Smith says in his Joseph Smith history

he says in verse 25 here for as much

this is Isaiah for as much as this people

draw near unto me with their mouth and

with their lips do honor me but have

removed their hearts from me and their

fear toward me is taught by the precepts

of man the fear meaning the reverence

right the worship of God are taught by

the precepts of men therefore in verse

26 I will proceed to do a marvelous

work among this people yay a marvelous

work and a wonder for the wisdom of

their wise and learn it Shall Perish

so in other words the philosophies of

men that are going to dominate are not

going to jump on the bandwidth

in here of the Book of Mormon into the

restored gospel that's just not the way

it works remember that when Christ dies

and the Apostles are all killed off what

ends up taking over the church it's the

doctors of Alexandria right it's

the academies the universities and what

they infuse through their philosophies

and learnedness so to speak ends up

changing the doctrine of what the

majority of the Christians actually

believed up through the first and second

centuries that includes the Trinity and

many many other core doctrines but going

down to 29 and toward the end of the

chapter the Deaf will hear the words of

the book those that have had their eyes

shut will then be opened the meek shall

also increase and their joy shall be in

the Lord and it talks about those that

don't accept it that they will make a

man an offender for a word think about

how that works that is psychology and

you can see that today a lot right the

accusers and if you believe in something

and stick to a principle say that is

taught in the Book of Mormon

then maybe you're offending others and

they're gonna turn around and they're

going to accuse you of offending them

that's how it works and they lay a snare

for him that reproveth in the gate and

turn aside the just for a thing of not

the just or the just person for a thing

of not but he says in 33 and he ties us

together with Abraham here he says thus

saith the Lord who redeemed Abraham

concerning the house of Jacob

that's Abraham's grandson Jacob shall

not now be ashamed of the house of

Israel neither shall his face now wax

pale in other words if you're faithful

the Lord is going to give you the tools

you need to keep your anchor in the

faith and in the principles of the

restored gospel so then going in to 28

he clarifies more what he's talking

about here why he's brought this

chapter 29 of Isaiah into his writings

he says in verse 1 and now my brother

and I have spoken unto you according to

the spirit that hath constrained me

wherefore I know that they must surely

come to pass so what must surely come to

pass well the things he's talked about

in this book that he's talking about he

knows what is meant here but he's saying

this is going to happen and the spirit

tells him that it's going to happen that

the Book of Mormon will be brought to

light and brought back to his

descendants and brought out to the world

through the Gentiles and the things

which shall be written out of the book

shall be of great worth we're no longer

in Isaiah this is Nephi's commentary on

isaiah on the last chapter great were

thunder the children of men and

especially unto our seed which is a

remnant of the house of Israel and then

he gives the environment of what's going

to be happening he says there'll be many

churches that are going to be built up

and not unto the Lord and they'll all

say hey I am the Lord's

I'm the Lord's Church I'm the Lord's

church just like the scenario that

Joseph Smith was in when he ended up

reading James 1:5 right to try and get

wisdom and got the first vision but same

kind of scenario here and they shall

contend one with it with another and

their priest shall contend one with

another and they shall teach with their

learning so the learning a man is the

philosophies of men and deny the Holy

Ghost which giveth utterance so again

they're denying the higher law they're

denying the eternal things the things

that come down from God that's one of

the two things that always seems to go

away and in five and they deny the power

of God and the Holy One of Israel and

they say listen to us for behold there

is no God today for the Lord and the

Redeemer hath done his work and he hath

given his power unto men so this is

usually what we hear in the Christian

world from our good Christian brothers

and sisters about the Bible right it's

just this is a close Canon this is done

there isn't

anything else yes we've written several

books and we've added these books and

continually but now there's no more and

NEFA is going right against that idea

that there is no closed Canyon that

revelation never stops but why does this

revelation stop why do they believe it

stops in verse 12 because of pride there

is again the opposite of the Tree of

Life and because of false teachers and

false doctrine their churches have

become corrupted and their churches are

lifted up because of pride they are

puffed up and he says that many do not

fall into all of these traps they're not

necessarily prideful but in 14

nevertheless they are led that in many

instances they do err because they are

taught by the precepts of men there's no

profit all right there's no priesthood

and in 15 here we get the labels that

are put on those that are prideful all

the wise and the learned and the rich

that are puffed up in the pride of their

hearts and all those who preach false

doctrines and all those who commit

whoredoms

and pervert the right way of the Lord so

again it's I've got my own

knowledge I don't need any of any

heavenly knowledge and I've got my own

money I don't need to participate in the

spiritual economy it is the higher and

the lower laws it's cutting off the

higher law and they change what's

valuable remember the values hierarchy

what's worth something what is valuable

how do you create that values hierarchy

here they invert it they're making the

there they're moving the doctrine of

Christ they're moving away heavenly

things says here in 16 1 to them that

turn aside just for a thing of

not they value it they devalue it and

revile against that which is good and

say that it is of no worth no value

right there moving the values hierarchy

but he reaches out and says but it

they'll repent then they'll be saved and

we get an 18 but behold that great and

abominable Church those are the those

that are prideful right it's the Church

of pride that great and abominable

Church the horror of all the earth must

tumble to the earth and great must be

the fall thereof that's what we saw only

his vision because if you're built on

sand on not eternal principles not on

the rock that's what will happen and

then we get the stirring of those that

are recipients of the consequences of

this pride in verse 24 behold that that

day shall the rage in the hearts of the

children of men shall he rage being the

adversary shall he rage in the hearts of

the children of men and stir them up to

anger against that which is good you

only do that by changing your values

hierarchy yes it's sin

yes it's deception but it's trying

to create something else that's good and

put it above what is actually good it's

taking carnal things lower law things

and putting them up above heavenly

things and saying that they're good and

he says that the adversary will lo them

away and tell us them there is no hell I

think this is a very interesting point

we can say that in an eternal

perspective right we're okay if we don't

live the right kind of life and keep our

covenants do the best we can

then you know for most of the

Christian world there's heaven and

there's hell we know a little bit

different about that but in this life

there is also hell right and so if we

look at Hell here in the sense of

negative consequences even today then

that's one of the way that we are

flattered into doing things don't think

about the consequences right for

tomorrow we may die don't think about

this even if you're going out

you are exerting what you feel is good

right if you go out and you are

placing empathy in certain places but

you don't think about the consequences

of those things you don't work out the

values hierarchy what is good what is

better what is best and if you don't

have those set up and you just see good

here but you're not looking at it

critically and saying what's better or

what's best then that means you probably

haven't seen what the consequences are

either because the consequences of

something that might be somewhat good

might be horrible right the path to hell

is paved the road to hell is paved with

good intentions

so we can act there's a lot of that you

see that today I can act purely off of

emotion and say this is a good thing to

do but if I haven't thought about

consequences and tried to evaluate this

and put it in the proper place in

perspective then what I thought was good

could end up being very bad because I've

I've turned things on their head so I

see Hell in this case also as what are

the consequences of making our choices

do we think about the consequence I know

I forget sometimes and I think that's

probably the number one way at least in

my experience that temptation or the

adversary would work on me don't think

about the consequences but he saith unto

them I am no devil for there is none or

there are no consequences and thus he

whispers in their ears until he grafts

grasps them with his awful chains from

whence there is no deliverance and he

says quickly here in 26 will be unto him

that harkeneth unto the precepts of

men and denyeth cause there's precepts of

men and then and denyeth the power of

God and the gift of the Holy Ghost so

it's one or the other are you gonna rely

on the arm of flesh or you're going to

on the arm of the Lord and then he talks

here about how he works with us in

Revelation why revelation has to be

ongoing right this is what this means

it's personal this way

it's the way we grow as an individual

it's the way we grow as a family it's

the way we grow as a church and the

kingdom of God

he said way we grow as a people he says

in 34 behold thus saith the Lord God I

will give unto the children of men line

upon line precept upon precept there's a

song about that here a little and there

a little and blessed are those who

hearken unto my precepts and lend an ear

unto my counsel for they shall learn

wisdom for unto him that receiveth I

will give more that's how the law of

abundance works if you start doing

something that's a little bit successful

you're going to get a lot more right and

a lot of cases you have certain

individuals that rise way high in that

hierarchy and they get a ton because

they follow certain principles of

whatever the Laws of Success are in that

area and that's how the Lord works if we

are given certain responsibilities and

we act on it if we gain certain

knowledge then we will get more and more

and more and from them that shall say we

have enough right I've got a close Canon

the Lord doesn't work anymore on the

earth from them shall be taken away even

that which they have and that's exactly

what happens in apostasy deny the Holy

Ghost deny the power of God and

revelation and you're going to lose

whatever you had gotten up to that point

that happens to us individually right if

we start staying away from our prayers

if we start denying the Holy Ghost not

denying the Holy Ghost but we start to

ignore it and do those things that would

keep us in a state of worthiness to

receive the Holy Ghost where we're

calling on it for help and guidance and

comfort then we will learn or

lose what we already have there's no

idleness you can't just sit there in the

same place you're either moving forward

or you're moving backward and he says

cursor does he that put of his trust in

man and then he says woe be unto the

Gentiles because for notwithstanding I

shall lengthen out my arm unto them from

day to day it's all the way back to the

time of Paul right up to our time they

will deny me nevertheless I will be

merciful unto them if they will repent

and come unto me and my arm is

lengthened out all the day long so we

know again go back to Europe see where

they're at with their churches in their

their worship at this point they're just

a number of years ahead of us here in

the US and in the rest of the Americas

empty churches and we're slowly but

surely following suit so as he's going

through this he's putting out that

precept that it's line upon line and

precept upon precept so think about what

President Nelson says these days about

how the restoration is still going

forward yes the mass amount is given to

the head of a dispensation as far as

Revelation goes I mean Joseph Smith got

the Book of Mormon all of the

visitations that he had with the Angels

he has the Doctrine and Covenants the

the Book of Abraham the Book of Moses

all of his teachings the temple and

there's much less that happens after

that mass restorative dump so to speak

of Revelation and restoration but it

is ongoing and they're still line upon

line they're still precept upon precept

there's still some things that in a way

maybe the Lord has got to maneuver with

to get us ready and into a position in

the very last days to usher in the

second coming and then he talks about

again those that don't believe in that

they've closed off revelation

first three and because my word shall

his forth many of the Gentiles shall say

a Bible a Bible we have got a Bible and

there cannot be any more Bible so the

the crux of that is we had revelation we

had revelation we don't need any more

revelation and he talks about what the

Jews produced with the Bible and how the

Jews have not been treated well and yet

he says have you forgotten what they

gave you right that's part of covenant

the stick of Judah coming to the stick

of Ephraim there's the stick of Judah

coming to the Gentiles she's saying have

you forgotten who produced that how

important that's been he says oh you

Gentiles have you remembered the Jews

mine ancient covenant people nay but you

have cursed them and then you do that

and then you say oh we've got a Bible

we've got a Bible so we curse the Jews

but what they produce for us we say

that's everything that's all there is

says in verse 7 know ye not that there

are more nations than one this is all

about again that weaving of Covenant and

the first shall be last and the last

shall be first the gospel goes to the

Jews first and then to the Gentiles and

in the last days it goes to the Gentiles

first and then the Jews last it's

covenant in 13 and it shall come to pass

that the Jews shall have the words of

the Nephites and the Nephites shall have

the words of the Jews and the Nephites

and the Jews shall have the words of the

Lost Tribes of Israel wonder what those

are says something we might already have

I wonder about that sometimes in that

phrase there is that in some way and

looking at patriarchal blessings

he's the doctrine and covenants words of

the last try Lost Tribes I don't know

and the Lost Tribes of Israel shall have

the words of the Nephites

and the Jews well we've got the words of

any fights in the Jews and then of

course at the end of the chapter here he

says and I will show unto them that

fight against my word and against my

people who are of the house of Israel

that I am God and that I covenant 'add

with Abraham this whole

all these visions of Isaiah and

everything that Nephi is saying always

goes back to that Abrahamic covenant

that I coveted with Abraham that I would

remember his seed forever

so again covenant also says it goes from

us all the way back to Abraham and from

Abraham all the way out to us and we're

all whether we are adopted in or a

direct line from Abraham or Isaac or

Jacob it's all about being a full being

folded into the family of God the

spiritual family of God the Covenant

'add family of God and that I would

remember his seed Abraham's forever

and that's why we get so much about the

higher law and the new and everlasting

covenant the end the Book of Mormon and

then finally in chapter 30 here we get

kind of a restoration what's gonna

happen how do we bring all this together

there's been all these brake offs of

different sects of different churches

that learned the wise and the rich they

turn everything on its head they deny

the power of God they corrupt the

doctrine of Christ so is everything lost

and the answer's no he says in verse 2

for behold I saying to you that as many

of the Gentiles as will repent are the

Covenant people of the Lord so they fall

under the Abrahamic covenant and as many

of the Jews as will not repent shall be

cast off again no respecter of persons

for the Lord covenant teeth with

non-save it be them that repent and to

believe on his son who is the Holy One

of Israel but because the Abrahamic

covenant the crux of it is Jesus Christ

so they can be brought in and restored

into the Covenant in verse 4 and then

shall the remnant of our seed Nephi see

this is Nephi speaking they'll know

concerning us how that we came out of

Jerusalem that they are descendants of

the Jews that knowledge will be restored

to them and the gospel of Jesus Christ

shall be declared among them

wherefore they shall be restored unto

the knowledge of their fathers and also

to the knowledge of Jesus Christ which

was had among their fathers and in verse

6 and then shall they rejoice for they

shall know that it is a blessing into

them from the hand of God and their

scales of Darkness

what is the darkness right it is the

obscurity it's not having the knowledge

of these things the scales of darkness

shall begin to fall from their eyes and

many generations shall not pass away

from them save they shall be a pure and

a delightsome people right again you're

talking about spiritual scales of

darkness so the same thing about the

Jews right after this and it shall come

to pass that the Lord God shall commence

his work among all nations Kindred's

tongues and people it's going out

restoring everybody and in that covenant

idea everybody's going to be gathered

the same thing that President Nelson

talks about with gathering Israel and

all nations Kindred's tongues and people

to bring about the restoration of his

people upon the earth back up to the

verse before that as many of the Jews

shall believe in Christ shall also

become a delight some people and implied

there the darkness the dark scale shall

be removed from their eyes and then

wrapping up with revelation the power of

God the line upon line and precept on

precept he says eventually there is

nothing which is secret save it shall be

revealed but it comes out at different

times and there is no work of Darkness

save it shall be manifest in the light

where for all things which have been

revealed unto the children of men shall

it that day be revealed so we get there

eventually

we are not there today and that is when

the Millennium can then be ushered in

and Satan shall have power over the

hearts of the children of men no more

for a long time and now my beloved

brethren says

if I I make an end of my sayings so

again

Nephi going over the doctrine of Christ

and the power of God revelation the Holy

Ghost and how those were corrupted and

how those two anchors in our lives

how he's warning us that this is how it

works this is what happens and that we

need to develop our character based on

those two things as individuals and as a

people we need to develop and understand

clearly the doctrine of Christ and the

charity and love that is offered in that

doctrine and try to emulate it and each

one of us is playing a part in this and

he has seen us as did isaiah in playing

a part in this whole covenant whole

timeframe of gradual revelation and

restoration I'll talk to you next time