Come Follow Me LDS- Doctrine and Covenants 20-22
Mar 04, 2021
"Mortality & LDS Scholarship"
In the Garden of Eden, the Serpent told the truth and lied to Eve. He told her that she would "be like the Gods". That was true. She would receive the "law", or commandments, and that could bring her to God. But he lied about death because she WOULD die, both physically and spiritually as she entered MORTality. And he would in fact be doing everything he could to make that happen.
An observation on the state of LDS Scholarship and Mormon Studies- They are like the allegory of Zenos. Wild branches are brought into the vineyard to bring life to the olive trees. But they can take over the trees and not bear good fruit. It is a game of balance. We see excellent LDS scholarship right now, but the wild branches are evident and growing stronger. Critical Theory and Post-Modern approaches to the gospel and scripture are growing stronger.
Raw Transcript
all right
all right welcome to the quick media
come follow me series we are covering
doctrine and covenants sections 2021
and 22 today great examples here
of some of the four interpreters and
quick principles that we're going to
cover
that we can see uh revealed in these
sections
and and especially looking you know
think about it think that this is the
organization of the church
we're going to talk a lot about april
6th 1830 here in these sections
and as the church is organized they're
organized based on
these ideas on these principles that are
eternal truths
and and that's where we pull these four
interpreters and these quick principles
from
so naturally they're going to be several
of those here in
the organization and of the church in in
the fullness of
times going to section 20 right away
here we look at
at verse 1 and we see here the rise of
the church of christ in these last days
being
1830 years
since the coming of our lord and savior
jesus christ in the flesh
now before we get any further there on
verse 1 i want to talk about dates a
little bit
in the scriptures is this exactly 1830
years since the coming of our lord and
savior jesus christ
it's a good question or is that just
based on the dates that we have
in our gregorian calendar right it is
right now
as of this recording it is march
in the year 2021. well
2021 what does that mean is it actually
20 2021 years from the time of the birth
of christ
most scholars would say no right
it may not be the exact date of eight
830 years but you're going to read i
bring this up because if you study the
gospel you're going to get different
opinions
and sometimes those opinions are very
dogmatic
so there are scholars that will say
because we see this here for example
in section 20 we know that the savior
was born in probably 1 bc
right i don't think you can say that
this is my opinion i i don't think that
you can say that you don't know that
is this given based on joseph smith's
understanding is this given on
the actual date in the u.s in the
western world
uh at the time that uh joseph smith
received this
or or is he actually saying
since the coming of our lord and savior
jesus christ in the flesh
this is exactly 830 years
since christ is born i don't know the
answer to that
exactly but if you look at the the
likely birth of jesus based on the
gospels
it's more likely somewhere between 4 and
7
bc right which would add
four to seven years onto the
number that we have that we currently
keep
so if it's 20 21 it's more likely
2025 to 2028
since the birth of the savior now i'm
not saying that is
absolute i don't know that it's just
based off of what we know from history
from for example herod when he dies he
dies
i want to say about 4 bc and yet he sent
out
or somewhere around there right but yet
he sent out
the soldiers that were to go out and
kill all of the newborn babies right up
to two years old
well what does that mean and there's
some leeway there
in there with the idea of the the the
babies being up to two years old
but it's
it it would that that would have to be
false in the gospels which is possible
for jesus to have been born in 1 bc
right so the other dates that we should
look at
are for example the the book of mormon
right where we learned that lehi leaves
600 years before the birth of christ
well
was it exactly 600 years is that a
rounded number
and it's close to 600 years
and are they following the same calendar
even are they are they following a lunar
calendar a
a a hebrew calendar that might be 360
days a year
or are they following 365 days a year
because those five days a year would
make the difference of about six or
seven years
in that time between um
lehi's leaving the the land of jerusalem
to
the birth of a savior the other thing is
is that they apparently
based on history the lehighs did not
leave
until probably 597 bc
so that shortens the time even more and
throws things off even more so
i think we need to be careful about this
dogma
that says exactly these dates are
exactly
right and that we should follow exactly
what it says there
i think we need to be careful with that
just leave a little bit of leeway in
your mind and it's just
don't put a stumbling block that doesn't
have to be there in your study
right on truth is my point finishing in
verse 1 it says and being
regularly organized and established
agreeable to the laws of
our country by the will and commandments
of god
in the fourth month and on the sixth day
of the month
which is called april okay so i think
that this is
important to understand that again we
bring this up often and i think it's
appropriate that the the united states
where joseph smith establishes the
church here
organizes the church has the laws that
are agreeable to allow this to happen
and the environment to allow this to
happen now think about all of the
persecution that the church is about to
go through
right the persecution that joseph smith
has already gone through
they've already had to move around right
hide the book of mormon
um the persecution has already been
pretty extreme
before the organization of the church
even begins
difficulties in getting the book of
mormon printed right
hiding the book of mormon place the
golden plates
um what we hear in joseph smith history
chapter 1 where joseph smith is
ridiculed
and shamed by the local
christian sects right and the pastors
that that do not believe in an open
heaven that do not believe in continual
revelation
and yet this is a country very recently
that has the first amendment
right the freedom of religion and the
freedom of speech
it's very new though right not ratified
until i believe what 1787
so we're talking about 13 coming to 30
we're talking about 43 years
into the ratification of the
constitution
so it's very it's brand new right and
and
so that happens right before
the visit of moroni to you know to
joseph smith
it's a foundation that has to be laid i
think that's an important thing to
understand
in the timing of the restoration of the
church
and then of course we go right into a
new hierarchy that's going to be
presented
we had heard about this before when john
the baptist had visited
uh oliver cowdery and joseph smith when
he had given them and confirmed
conferred upon them the aaronic
priesthood he had said that the
melchizedek priests would come
and that the church would be organized
and that there would be further
revelation
which does come to them about organizing
the church
but john the baptist told them that
joseph smith would be the first
elder of the church and oliver cowdery
would be the second there is a
hierarchy that is immediately put into
place
hierarchy is necessary it has to exist
hierarchy is a part of an understanding
that not all things are equal
right we get very distracted with this
idea today especially today of equality
things are not all equal we don't want
them to be equal
other than an equal opportunity as
president dallas h
oaks says right the says the equal
paraphrasing the equality of god
is the equality of opportunity not the
equality of
outcome or results we don't want that
we want to create as much equal
opportunity for all
people as possible that is a
long and difficult road to get to
but we want to keep our focus on that
end of the spectrum of opportunity
and not on the the the forced idea of
equality of results
that is somebody else's plan that is the
plan
of lucifer in the war in heaven is to
flatten the hierarchy
and create an equal outcome for all at
all points
without that equal uh the disparity
that exists there is no reason
for the gospel to work in people's lives
there's no reason for charity and love
there is no reason for us to participate
in god's plan in serving others
we need disparity we don't try to create
it
but we are given an environment of
disparity
so that we can close the gaps through
our efforts
through our love but there's got to be
hierarchy
hierarchy is order order is priesthood
order is creation and organization
and so joseph smith becomes the first
elder of the church
and oliver cowdery is the second elder
of the church
following this there is an outline a
little bit of an outline
again of kind of like a joseph smith
history here where we learn again about
joseph smith
faltering somewhat falling into the
vanities of men
or as it's termed here in verse 5
entangled again in the vanities of the
world
but after repenting and humbling himself
that's what's got to happen
first sincerely through faith
then god ministered unto him by the holy
angel right so again repentance comes
first
the lower law comes first and then the
higher law comes down
and then we get the idea of the dbr here
in in in verse 7 right and again unto
him
commandments and gave unto him
commandments which inspired him
and gave him power from on high
by the means which were before prepared
to translate the book of mormon right so
we're getting a an outline here of the
build-up to
this organization of the church and of
the priesthood
verse 9 which contains being the book of
mormon
a record of a fallen people and
the fullness of the gospel of jesus
christ
to the gentiles and to the jews also
now there's been a lot of talk and
debate about this idea of the fullness
of the gospel
in the book of mormon critics of the
church
often times refer to this and say look
the fullness of the gospel isn't in the
book of mormon
where do you find baptisms for the dead
for example
where do you find celestial marriage in
the book of mormon
that that is not the ordinances are not
necessarily
right there they're a part of the
fullness of the gospel but that's not
really i believe what is being discussed
here
when we talk about the fullness of the
gospel in the book of mormon the
fullness of the gospel is the abrahamic
covenant the new and everlasting
covenant
the preaching of jesus christ to the im
to the people of america the americas
and what we find in isaiah right it is
the idea that the covenant
the abrahamic covenant is going to come
back
to the remnant of israel
right to the lehights to the lamanites
and also to the gentiles
and that through the gentiles it's going
to come back to the remnant of israel
being the lamanites
and then back to all of israel the
gathering of israel
that is what is meant by the fullness of
the gospel it is talking about
jesus christ it is talking about
the atonement the sacrifice of jesus
christ
it talks about the melchizedek
priesthood it's talking about
the higher law throughout the entire
book of mormon
it is focused on jesus christ
and the new covenant that his
blood represents like for example with
the sacrament
where we use the wine or the water
to represent that new covenant so
that's why we see so much isaiah in the
book of mormon because isaiah
prophesied about the new covenant he
prophesied about that
going back to israel and the gathering
of israel
and in a very messianic
theme with jesus christ at the center
of that gathering and what is isaiah 27
i think and the book of mormon as the
tool
that will bring israel
together again and and bring them to the
knowledge of jesus christ
this is the fullness of the gospel and
then in verse 11 i think this is
something that's very important
to understand about the state
today of lds scholarship i'm not an
expert at this this is my opinion
i i would not consider myself an lds
scholar
i do not have a scholarly training
um but i read a lot and i i
see a lot of presentations and talks and
and uh
and so i've got you know i dip my toe so
to speak in the in the world of academia
especially lds scholarship here's what
verse 11 says
proving to the world that the holy
scriptures this is the book of mormon
and and those that minister and talk
about the book of mormon
proving to the world that the holy
scriptures are true
and that god does inspire men and call
them to his holy work
in this age and generation as well as in
generations of old
thereby showing that he is the same god
yesterday today and forever that's where
we
oftentimes get the theme of one eternal
round with
those phrases but it's important to
understand that the book of mormon
is what proves the other scriptures true
so often we we get now from scholarship
a this this new influx a very
great new influx right it's kind of like
the
like the allegory in jacob five right
from zenus
the allegory of the olive trees of of
the
uh of the vineyard where you have a
grafting in
of the wild branches to offer life
right think of it in these two ways
you've got you've got something that's
very
orderly let's call it even conservative
very conservative
right and you've got a very conservative
view very status quo
of of of the gospel and of the script of
scripture study
and so in many ways it kind of dies off
a little bit
there's not enough life in it and so
you bring in the wild branches this is
just like you have israel and then you
have the gentiles coming in
right and so you bring in the wild
branches and what do the wild branches
offer they offer
more perspective they offer new energy
new life
to that olive tree and to the vineyard
right it's important to have
it and we've had an influx of this in
lds scholarship
especially since about the 80s and 90s
and so about the last 20 30 years
there's been a real influx of what of of
students that have gone off to other
universities
around the world around the country and
and get
training in biblical scholarship
great training in biblical scholarship
and then they come back they may go to
byu
or to another university and they write
in a religious way about the gospel of
jesus the restored gospel of jesus
christ these are
usually members of the church but
apart from just bringing in life into
lds scholarship
right they also bring in a little bit of
what's called
you know they're wild branches
and so there's there's some
you you get sometimes the opposite of
what we should be seeing
we we see uh methods of of biblical
scholarship
being used to try and apply them to the
book of mormon
right and and trying even to try and
prove the book of mormon
that's not a bad thing but it's not what
the book of mormon is
for the book of mormon is the primary
tool
to prove the rest of the scriptures true
and oftentimes in scholarship you'll
notice this if you study a lot
especially in the last 20 or 30 years we
see the opposite
people trying to use isaiah to prove the
book of mormon
or putting a a more secular
or non-lds filter
which can be good again a new
perspective sometimes
but sometimes it's a non-lds perspective
and training can also come in
and it actually pulls directly away from
the purpose of the restoration
and the purpose of the book of mormon
and these are great scholars
right they'll write about the book of
mormon
using their biblical scholarship
training
and and it's good training but but it's
not
all it's not all the way the lord tells
us
to to study the scriptures it's not
using the book of mormon
and saying and then applying it to the
bible for example
right it's it's usually the other way
around
it's like okay wait a minute here wait a
minute you're taking a more secular
point of view
or a a a more broadly christian point of
view or a jewish point of view whatever
it might be
and you're trying to bring that back and
say okay this is how i was trained
this is what i learned and so now i'm
going to try and
put this on to the book of mormon
okay again wild branches grafted in
that's going to give life to scholarship
and there is so much wonderful
scholarship
and yes i'll say uh in in many different
areas
in many different organizations both
within the church and then going
even broader into mormon studies which
is something that is
building quite a bit it's growing quite
a bit outside of the church
and outside of members of the church and
member scholars
right and and it's going to be very
interesting to see what happens with
this
because the narrative the scholarly
narrative of ld of let's call it mormon
studies
is not going to be controlled
by lds scholars soon that's the way i
see it
it will not be controlled by by lds
scholars it's going to be controlled by
this
large growing group which we like we
want
right but it's going to be it's going to
be the narrative is going to be owned
outside of the church
on scholarly things in the scholarly
world right in the academic world
it's not going to be it'll be you're
going to have
two different camps you're going to have
those that are trying to be
scholar decide disciple scholars right
that we're told that for example those
of the maxwell institute should be
um by uh president holland
and then you're gonna have the other
scholars outside of that that are
focused on mormon studies
that are looking from the outside in
it's a good perspective to see
but it's going to dominate things soon
and it's going to dominate
soon inside of the disciple
scholar world as well i think it's going
to be a hard thing
soon to there's going to be conflict
there's going to be conflict with that
but my point here is in verse 11 we need
to look at the book of mormon as the
primary tool to prove the other
scriptures
that is what is going to happen as we
gather israel both in the
uh as christian world and in the jewish
world
when that happens the book of mormon is
go what is going to come back and we
need to think more along the lines of
the old testament
especially right with the jewish world
and
and with gathering israel that is what
is going to prove
the old testament where we can see that
maybe things might start to falter there
and it's going to prove the new
testament as well of course and of
course we look at our other
restorative scriptures with the book of
moses in the book of abraham
and with the doctrine and covenants here
it's the book of mormon that proves them
to be true
that's the starting point and then in 13
again we get that idea of those
concentric circles that we went over a
couple of episodes ago where we have
witnesses
stronger and stronger witnesses that
eventually get to the core to the center
like joseph smith who sees the father
and the son
and then other witnesses right that see
moroni
and see the golden plates and many other
plates in our and and the artifacts of
the
nephites and then other witnesses that
see the physical plates and then those
that are
close to them that talk about their
experience
and those that see others prophesy that
we see here in the following
section and those that have experiences
with the spirit
outpouring of the spirit these are these
are all people that eventually they get
further and further away in these
concentric circles
but we're told here in 15 that those who
harden their hearts
in unbelief and reject it being the book
of mormon and this work
of the restoration it shall turn to
their own condemnation so again that
there's that term harden
their hearts whenever you see that think
about
the children of israel at sinai
that that to me that phrase there is is
immediately saying i'm not ready for
everything
uh we're going to deny christ
we're going to push away the higher law
we want to
we want less responsibility which means
less meritocracy
right and then another witness to this
right by these things
we know that there is a god in heaven
who is infinite
and eternal from everlasting to
everlasting the same
unchangeable god there's another witness
for us today
the framer of heaven and earth and all
things which are in them that ties him
directly to the scriptures of course
that ties him to the old testament right
the creator
in genesis again the framer of heaven
and earth and all things which are in
them
whenever we see like genesis 1 1
the you know the framer of the or the
creator of heaven and earth
we need to think about the two different
laws the higher and the lower laws
that's what it is that's what it refers
to it's not just
a geography of heaven is up and
the earth is down and these two
different places that are created it is
two different rules it is two different
laws
it is it is the place for us
to stand on here as we look up to heaven
and everything that goes with that to
try and get back to heaven from a fallen
state
and it's everything from heaven in the
higher law
that looks down on us and opens the
heavens to give us blessings
and that would include the sacrifice of
jesus christ
mercy the mercy of god the atoning
sacrifice
is the blessing right
that the lord gives us he came
down from heaven and was born to mary
the condescension of god
he was baptized by john the baptist the
condescension of
god and then he goes further in verse 18
and that he created man male and
female after his own image
and in his own likeness created he them
this is just corroborating
genesis that's what it's doing and it's
supported in the book of mormon that's
what they're saying
so where the bible can be used and
overused and when i say overused i mean
it becomes
more trivial i suppose to any of us
we we have to keep it's like new guard
rails on our path here
of understanding is that boom here again
if you read the book of mormon we get
the same thing about
god creating man and and uh woman in his
own image
right male and female we get the same
thing in the book of mormon here we have
it again
in the doctrine and covenants boom knock
us right back on to track the track here
don't get don't lose sight
of what is true the book of mormon tells
us the truth
we're going to see something very soon
here they're already seeing it in the
christian world
where there's going to be critical
theory
that is going to absolutely destroy the
bible
it is it's just again my opinion here
but critical theory is going to come in
with a heavy dose of post-modernism and
it is going to criticize
it's going to take a critical approach
to the bible like we've never seen
before
and it's going to be about the oppressor
and the oppressed
and it is going to be about
intersectionality
and it's going to be about man versus
woman
and it's going to be about parents
versus children
and it's going you know everything you
can think of in breaking everything
apart
deconstructing it that is a post-modern
term deconstructing the bible
that's what post-modernism is is
built for and that's what dominates
in academia today and so
we need we need these new
uh cornerstones of doctrine
to keep us on the right track because
the bible being what has
what is very broadly known out there
right
is going to get hammered it is going to
get hammered
and we're going to need to pull on the
book of mormon
in order to to to help keep help us keep
grounded
on things and to understand that we have
an additional it's kind of like
the book of mormon comes in and is as
the bible
will become a little bit shaky on its
ground
it will as as this deconstruction is
is it starts to overpower it the book of
mormon for us
is going to come in and and sit
underneath that bible and hold it up
that's what i see anyway
and then we continue with the story of
the plan of salvation basically right
after he's talked about
the creation he's talked about adam and
eve being created in his image
and then coming down further we kind of
continue the narrative right above
basically the story of mankind the story
of
the plan of salvation says that he then
gave unto them
commandments the dbr he's putting that
out there that they should
love and serve him the only living and
true god and that he should
be the only being whom they should
worship that's our
our values hierarchy right we're
shooting for the ideal for the top
anything else is missing the mark right
yet that's that's what sin is and that
by the transgression of these holy laws
okay so again we're talking about the
the
the tree of the knowledge of good and
evil right that's what we've been saying
here when he says he gave unto them
commandments he gave them the law
but by the transgression of these holy
laws man became
sensual and devilish and became fallen
man
right so automatically by partaking of
the fruit of the tree of the knowledge
of good and evil that's knowing what is
right and what is wrong that's the law
of god that's the lower law
the commandments that automatically puts
us into
a fallen state and that's for each of us
we each partake of the fruit
we each go into mortality remember
mortality
mort right is the latin word
or the latin root for death and remember
this like as i've gone over before in in
in alma
right and the idea of death in the
garden of eden
death is not just a a physical death it
is a
spiritual death it is sin so when
lucifer in the garden of eden is talking
to
eve and he says you shall not surely
die again think about think about the
garden
of eden with with the tree of the
knowledge of good and evil
and what is eve contemplating here right
she's contemplating
that she needs the law
she needs the commandments she needs to
get out of a state
of being a child and
and she needs to see what's right and
what's wrong so
think of the fruit of the tree of the
knowledge of good and evil as
the commandments and and so she
wants this it is sweet right why is it
sweet why is
why is it good to eat because
it brings you to god it brings you back
to god
if you follow the commandments
having the word of god the dbr right in
in
from the prophets and from the
scriptures is
sweet it is good to the taste
and it is enriching right but
when you have it and you don't follow it
you will fall and that is automatically
what
what has happened now when you fall
you're falling into
mortality and the way we should think of
mortality is not just
with the word death physically but the
word death
spiritually so lucifer says to eve
here here's the here are the
commandments of the lord
this is one way to look at this right
here are the commandments of the lord
here's the law
and this is how you become like the gods
right that's exactly what he says you
will not surely die
but you will be as the gods right so
there is a truth there and there is a
lie
so what is he kind of saying to her he's
saying
here are the commandments here is the
way
that you become like god
the commandments are kind of like a
manual right of of how you
become like our heavenly parents
and that's true that part of it is true
but what he does is he mixes in the
false side of that
the lie is put in there and that's where
she's beguiled
she wants the commandments because she
has a
righteous desire to become like
our heavenly parents but
along with that what she is told and
this is how she's beguiled
because she is beguiled we have this
idea again that's one of those pendulums
that swings
like between grace and works and it it's
it's this
this this real big support right now of
eve
as being as i've read recently the
heroine
of mankind and that's true but
she is beguiled and that's important to
understand because
the way she's beguiled is that lucifer
tells her
you shall not surely die
what is really being stated there even
more importantly than the physical death
is spiritual death because you're going
to have the commandments
you're going to fail and he's saying
you're not going to fail
don't worry about it here here's the
fruit taste of it it's it's good to the
taste
you're going to become like the gods
what he's lying about
and what his entire intent is is that
once you're given the commandments is to
pull you away from them
because that is spiritual death and so
the partaking of the fruit that we all
do again we are
all adam and eve is that we are putting
ourselves into
mortality right like a mortuary
it's a place of death both
physical and spiritual death it is that
is what
it were told by alma that this is a time
of
the time of our probation
right it's a time of death or being
tried with
having the commandments and learning to
try to follow them
so that is how we become sensual and
devilish once you've got the knowledge
and you don't live up to it that is the
separation of
man from god that's death just like a
physical
death is the separation of our spirit
from our body a spiritual death is a
separation
of mankind from god right
so in verse 20 again but by the
transgression of these holy laws
notice how he's going right in here from
adam and eve
and not following lucifer but following
god here is the only god that should be
worshipped
and then right into the transgression
this is the story of the garden of eden
but by the transgression of these holy
laws man became sensual and devilish and
became
fallen man in other words we didn't live
up to it
we don't live up to it so we're in a
fallen state
this is exactly what lehigh goes through
in second nephi chapter two
there must be opposition in all things
and adam
fell he became sensual and devilish in a
sense
right because he doesn't live up to the
commandments for completely
so that man might be now that's the
other thing in that scenario is
is that that family is then brought in
what does that mean
parents bring in children into
mortality into an environment of
physical death
and spiritual death
and therefore as the narrative here of
the plan of salvation continues in 21
the almighty god gave his only begotten
son
as it is written in those scriptures
which
have been given of him so we can see how
this is all
buffering right the existing scriptures
with new scripture
with this new section right here in the
doctrine and covenants
and of course with the book of mormon
and then what i really like here in
verse 22 and this is so important to
understand
he suffered temptations but gave no heat
unto them
we need to know that he suffered
it's important to understand that not to
make us feel bad
not to make us feel guilty but to
understand the
love that he has for us if he doesn't
suffer as some
christian doctrines will say that god
can't suffer
right that's why there are separate
beings the father and the son that's one
reason why we know that
the son had to suffer because otherwise
it's not love
right and otherwise it's not real
sacrifice
he had to sacrifice temptation
to do what was right that is a sacrifice
it is moving away from the great and
spacious building of pride
and going toward the idea of bearing
others burdens
that's the doctrine of christ and he had
to suffer
he had to offer the greatest love of all
that
is where the power comes from that is
where the glory comes from
from his sacrifice and that sacrifice
is made through his efforts that's what
love is
it is not because he feels so strongly
for us
right that's not enough it's what he
does
that is the love that is the charity
and where to do the same thing when we
say we're going to come follow me
the the more than his teachings more
than his parables
more than his healing uh events that he
that he
uh we're told of in the gospels or in
the book of mormon
it's his sacrifice in the garden of
gethsemane and on the cross
that is what we're supposed to follow
that's the real
example right is is him
lowering himself below all of us and
bearing our burdens
and that's what we do when we when we
commit to be baptized and
renew our covenants our baptismal
covenants every sunday with the
sacrament that's what we're
getting into here and then in addition
to that
part of the plan of salvation here it's
important to understand that
that he that he goes through all of this
that he's crucified he's died
but then of course that he rose again
the third day
and in 24 and ascended into heaven to
sit down on the right hand of the father
this is who he is and who he wants us to
become
and to send it into heaven to sit down
on the right hand of the father to reign
with almighty power
according to he's got to submit into
that hierarchy
according to the will of the father
that's the key
right he is not he he also
as an exemplar to us submits
and and condescends down to
below us and submits to the father
to the will of the father we are to do
the same thing
and then in 25 we're told that that's
all what
that's what we're supposed to do we're
supposed to follow the same thing right
after saying that he says that as many
as would believe and be baptized in his
holy name
right his name represents that sacrifice
and endure and faith to the end should
be saved in other words follow his
example
and and succeed be victorious
and then just like we get in the book of
mormon in in 26 right
this doctrine and understanding of what
christ
did from his birth to his baptism
to the garden of gethsemane to golgotha
and the cross
and his resurrection has been taught
by all of the prophets from the very
beginning
and will be until the end of time
whenever there are those that will
listen
right in 26 not only those who believed
after he came in the meridian of time or
those that knew him
in the flesh but all those by the way
whenever you see
in the flesh that basically means
mortality
that's what that's trying to say the
carnal the temporal
state of of of us here on earth
is mortality that's what it means by in
the flesh it's not just that he's
taking on flesh but that he's coming
into mortality
but all those from the beginning even as
many as were were before he came
who believed in the words of the holy
prophets this is the dbr
who spake as they were inspired by the
gift
of the holy ghost who truly testified of
him in all things should have eternal
life so
this section is is outside of just what
we've told been told over and over again
in the book of mormon
right we're told here again in modern
revelation
that the prophets have always testified
of christ
and of this doctrine and then again
going into our gifts
with the holy ghost right who's the icon
of those spiritual gifts
in 27 as well as those who should come
after who should believe in the gifts
and callings of god by the holy ghost
see our consistency there which beareth
record of the father
and of the son and then it just goes
down into the
continued doctrine here that i'm not
going to spend a lot of time in in
talking about
repentance belief enduring to the end
in faith and being saved we get a couple
of other words here
that are interesting here they're
separate in 30 we say and we know that
justification through the grace of our
lord and savior jesus christ
is just and true justification
is is getting through the judgment
properly
is what that would be right it's kind of
a legal term to be justified
means to be brought up to justice well
well
brought up to justice in the sense that
there's not just a
we think of justice oftentimes as
putting a criminal away
but it's not just that the justice is
also for the person who's doing well
and so they're justified the egyptians
used this term not
in english obviously but they talked
about justification all the time
and in their religion it was very
similar in the sense that you'd go
through
and get just be justified as you went
through the underworld
and met with osiris and with anubis
and had your life weighed opposite of
the
feather of mud you were justified that
was your goal was to be justified
and then in 31 and we know also that
sanctification
through the grace of our lord and savior
jesus christ is just and true this is
becoming
holy this is becoming like the savior
to all those who love right love his
effort
and serve god with all their mights
minds and strengths it requires a change
of heart it requires
effort it requires works
jeffrey bradshaw talks a lot about
justification
and sanctification if you want to look
that up and go into that a little bit
further he does a great job of it
and then in 32 there's a risk to this
this is what lucifer was trying to
eliminate
right again flattening the hierarchy
we're not going to lose anybody down
here
but we're not going to have anybody rise
up to their potential either
right think about think about systems of
government that try to do that
make everybody the same it's bypassing
everything the three
first three steps of the of the four
phases of the priesthood to try and get
to a utopia
you can't do that there when you force
it
and it's not done through charity faith
hope and charity
then it's tyranny and that was the plan
of lucifer
in the war in heaven says here in 32 but
there is a
possibility that man may fall from grace
and depart from the living god
right there was a risk we knew there was
a risk for everybody
but agency is what is vital
using agency properly
there was a risk
now quickly down in 37 we get this
and and we've covered this so i'm not
going to go into it a lot but
and again by way of commandment to the
church concerning the manner of baptism
this is so important all those who
humble themselves before god submitting
into the
uh the the fluid hierarchy and desire to
be baptized and how do you do that and
come forth with broken hearts and
contrite spirits
right weak that's that's what we talk
about the prophets being weak
right when they talk about being weak
that's what they're doing
it is a broken heart and a contrite
spirit it is humility
in order to enter in you have to subject
yourself
to the ideal you have to subject
yourself to the savior to the father's
will
and by the way broken hearts and
contrite spirits
that is not a new sacrifice that is made
after the time of jesus
and mortality right that is something
that has always been required
because you always have to have that
humility and a broken heart and a
contrite spirit
in order to enter in to that fluid
hierarchy that's part of the gospel
so from the time of adam that is
required a broken heart and a contrite
spirit
and then you need to take upon you the
name of jesus christ remember
we talked about that go back a few
episodes
to understand more about that doctrine
of baptism and the symbolism there and
what that really means
we take upon them the name of jesus
christ
right the third commandment of the ten
commandments do not take the lord's name
in vain don't take his name when you get
baptized
in vain when you renew your covenants
every sunday with the sacrament don't
do that in vain don't take his name in
vain
right because to be like him to take on
his name means to
have a determination to serve him to the
end as it continues in 37
and truly manifest their works
that they have received of the spirit of
christ under the remission of their sins
shall be received by baptism into his
church right so that's that's all part
of that
that's part of the doctrine and what
that symbolism of of
being immersed in the water is it's
condescending it's
lowering yourself below all things into
a
a watery grave into mortality into a
a a situation of suffering and adversity
and lowering yourself below others
willing to take on their burdens
again that is part of the condescension
of god is baptism
when jesus goes and gets baptized by
john the baptist it is part of the
condescension of god
he is lowering himself into the watery
grave and to take on the burdens of
everybody
and we're to do the same and coming down
to 43
again and then we're going to be
confirmed in the church by the laying on
of hands
and the giving of the holy ghost
that's the next ordinance that's the
melchizedek priesthood ordinance
and then we get into some of the
explanations of the different
offices in the priesthood this is
important to see think about the higher
and lower laws here
right if we look at the priest duty here
in 46 it's to preach
and to teach expound exhort and baptize
and administer the sacrament
all right that is all lower law
that is all the lower law right when we
say preach and teach and expound
and exhort that is john the baptist
crying repentance in the wilderness and
preparing the way
in addition to that here's what we get
this is important to understand also
because it's it's part of your temple
experience
if you pay attention in 47 and visit the
house of each member
and exhort them to pray
vocally and in secret and attend to all
family duties
prayer is part of the lower law
it's us reaching up to god
that is temple imagery right there
coming down to 54 part of the teacher
see that there is no iniquity in the
church neither hardness with each other
neither lying backbiting or evil
speaking
right again that's part of expression
that's part of behavior
right that's part of the lower law
that's part of the aaronic priesthood
that's exactly why
that's part of the teacher's duty here
we're looking for things and
and functions behaviors
of the lower law that are found in the
offices of the aaronic priesthood
right and see that the church meet
together often that is a checklist
that's the letter of the law now
in 68 the elders or priests
are to have a sufficient time to expound
all things concerning the church of
christ
to their understanding the elders of
course
also are over the aaronic priesthood in
those functions
previous to their partaking of the
sacrament
and being confirmed by the laying on of
the hands
of the elders so that all things may be
done
in order right again we're getting an
order here of the aaronic priesthood
and then coming up to the melchizedek
priesthood where you would have the
laying on of hands
that is order that is hierarchy in
71 and this is so interesting to me
this doctrine of infant baptism
is everywhere throughout the scriptures
and if you look at the joseph smith
translation
of the bible going back to the time of
moses
uh it might even be in genesis 13 14
also
in in with abraham but going with with
moses we also learn more about
circumcision and how it represents
being baptized at the age of
accountability at age eight
because they're circumcised the young
the boys are circumcised it on day eight
but this this counting the joseph smith
translation in the old testament
going here to the doctrine and covenants
going to the book of mormon we see
this over and over again this this
emphasis of of this restorative
uh doctrine of of how we cannot be
baptizing babies
because what that does is it
says that a baby without
agency right think of how this destroys
the doctrine of the plan of salvation
it says that a baby without the proper
agency
without accountability is guilty
you can't have that we have to
understand that
we are guilty from our choices
right that has to be from our choices
when we are
accountable if we take that away we take
away the entire plan of salvation
so the prophets over and over again have
gone over
the the sin which is
infant baptism you have agency for a
reason to grow
and to learn to fail and to overcome
but agency is precious you can't be
condemned
and you can't be rewarded except
through your a through your agency and
the plan of lucifer in the war in heaven
was to condemn people even without their
agency
because you're going to be condemned to
not progress
and to those that really were going to
do poorly
they're going to be rewarded up a little
bit even without
their merit it's the wrong plan
and then in 73 74
we get again the idea of what baptism
how what is the prayer that is going to
be said
and that they we are immersed right
again think of that
that doctrine that symbolism of what
baptism really means
and 75 takes us right into the to the uh
sacrament prayers because that is how we
renew this baptismal covenant
and we can look at the sacrament prayers
in a couple of different ways one
is that we're looking at the higher and
the lower laws here
right the lower law is the bread it is
the carnal
it is the temporal and it is what we do
to reach to god
that's what that is about and you can
even think about that
during the sacrament what should i be
doing what do i do to reach up from a
carnal mortal state a fallen state on
earth
to reach up to god and if you
follow along you know the prayers are
pretty similar
but if you follow along with the prayers
you're going to see something here
in 77 it starts off with oh god the
eternal father we ask thee in the name
of thy son jesus christ
to bless and sanctify this bread to the
souls of all those who partake of it
that they may eat in remembrance
of the body of thy son right so we're
going back to remembering the body the
body is the flesh
the body is mortality the body is a
temporal state
and witness unto thee so it is
when we partake of it right we are
witnessing
unto thee oh god the eternal father that
they are
willing to take upon them the name of
thy
son all right again this is where we
have
the third commandment in the ten
commandments are we gonna take the name
of the lord in vain
that's really what that is i think right
it's not omg
that's silly i'm not saying that's a
good thing to do
i'm just saying that's kind of silly to
be one of the ten commandments
it's talking about baptism it's talking
about
taking on the name of jesus christ are
you gonna do that properly
or are you gonna do it in vain which
means that you have no real purpose with
it
you're lowering the value of that name
and always
remember him right that's key we hear
that theme all the time in the book of
mormon
to remember and then we get this and
keep his commandments which he has given
them
that is the tree of the knowledge of
good and evil
that's what that is that is the lower
law
keeping his commandments right that they
may always have his spirit to be with
him amen all right so
we keep the commandments and in return
we get the spirit right so that's
the lower law us keeping the
commandments
us partaking of the fruit of the
knowledge of true of good and evil
and then keeping the commandments right
you've got to keep them and if we keep
them
then we are blessed with
the spirit that's the higher law
okay if we go to the next prayer which
starts in
79 here we get an
act of god specifically
and not of men it's not men keeping the
commandments here we're not asked to
keep the commandments
on the blessing of the water or the wine
right
this is the blood of christ we didn't do
that
we don't we don't shed our blood
for i mean metaphorically we can right
but we didn't shed our blood this is
this is what god is doing for us has
done for us
not what we're doing here this is we're
worth remembering and being grateful for
what has been done for us
79 o god the eternal father we ask thee
in the name of thy son jesus christ
to bless and sanctify this wine yes it
was wine early
to the souls of all those who drink of
it that they may do it in remembrance of
the blood of thy
son which was shed for them
right in other words that which was shed
for them is important
it is an effort it is an act
it is an action it is suffering
right no no no uh uh keep his
commandments here
that's the lower law they may witness
unto thee oh god the eternal father that
they do always remember him
right remembering what he's done here in
the garden of gethsemane
that they may have his spirit to be with
him amen right so it's a remembrance
it's a focus
on the lower law and the higher law so
that we can receive the blessings
of the spirit to be with us
okay we're going to go over now to
section 21. and here we get again
an idea of this organization this
hierarchy
and this traveling of the dbr the word
from point to point in that hierarchy
right
verse one behold there shall be a record
kept
that's the dbr and in it thou shalt be
called a seer a translator a prophet
an apostle of jesus christ okay so
that's him in the hierarchy but
in that position right immediately still
in verse one it says
through the will of god the father right
so you're in the hierarchy you are this
person
but you are under the father you're
under god right
and the grace of your lord jesus christ
all right so he's put into the hierarchy
here but he of course
is submitting to the will of the father
this is crucial this is the broken heart
and contrite spirit
this is the humility this is the
weakness and then into the organization
of the church in verse 3 which church
was organized
and established in the year of your lord
1830
in the fourth month on the sixth day of
the month which is called april
then in verse four we get the dbr coming
down here
right from them so you've got the father
the son and the prophet
and then wherefore meaning the church
thou shalt give heed unto all his words
joseph smith or
the prophet and all his words
and commandments which he shall give
unto you as he receiveth them walking in
all holiness before me
this is the established order there is a
hierarchy
not only of priesthood but of the word
and how it is delivered down to us and
then he
clarifies this by saying for his word
joseph smith's or the prophets his word
ye shall receive as if from mine own
mouth in all patience and faith this
does not mean that the prophet is
perfect
right but we are to submit to that
hierarchy
we are to support that hierarchy we are
to support that authority
a lot of people hate that they don't
want the submission
they would prefer to criticize as a
higher value
over submission that doesn't mean they
don't submit at all
right everybody's in different levels
here of this but
if your values hierarchy is set to
criticize
first and sustain and support second
it's out of whack right that's what
we're told here
because if we do this properly we're
told here in verse 6
that the gates of hell shall not prevail
against you
so this is key right the sustaining and
supporting
of the prophet and we have 15 of them in
a sense right the brethren
that ye and the lord god will disperse
the powers of darkness
from before you so this is not just the
scriptures
but this is a living word a living dbr
that we're to follow and cause
the heavens to shake for your good and
his name's glory
remember if we are doing what's right we
have taken on the name of jesus christ
so us being glorified in him by actually
following his name's sake
is supporting his name's glory
right and then i like this in seven for
thus saith the lord god
him have i inspired to move the cause of
zion think of president nelson today
him have i inspired to move the cause of
zion in mighty power for good
and his diligence i know and his prayers
i have heard
right his diligence i know so he's
i think he's saying here look he's a man
but i know his diligence i know his
efforts
and then and his prayers have i heard i
know what his prayers are
yea his weeping for zion i have seen
he knows the type of man the prophet is
right and and therefore that's what we
should do that's how we should see him
and and all 15 of them we may not agree
with them all the time
that's okay we may need to put things on
the shelf or
i don't understand this or that i don't
understand this policy or i don't
understand what he said in general
conference
i don't believe in that maybe upfront
it's okay you know what i know what kind
of man he is i
know he's moving the cause of zion i
know he weeps for zion
i know he weeps for me we need to keep
that in mind
then again in nine i'll bless all those
who labor in my vineyard with a mighty
blessing
right again they're going to be given
the comforter
which manifesteth that jesus was
crucified by sinful men for the sins of
the world ye
for the remission of sins unto who
under the contrite heart under those
that have the humility to submit into
the fluid hierarchy
and by the way that includes the profit
right that includes submitting into that
hierarchical structure
of where that dbr comes from where that
authority comes from
and so this is part of the whole
organization here of the church
that they're talking about that section
21 is given
in on april 6th
1830 and by the way it wasn't just six
individuals
that were made members of the church
that day right
by law by the state of new york by law
in order to form the church
you had to have six participants sign
the legal document
so that's how it starts but on april 6
1830 there were many more i think there
were over 20 actually that were
had been baptized perhaps previously but
that were confirmed that day
as members of the church and given the
gift of the holy ghost
just a little trivial uh piece of
information there
lastly in section 22 here's all i want
to cover in this
one simple point that this kind of
encapsulates here with these uh
how many verses four verses right
says here behold i say to you this is
verse one i say unto you
all old covenants have i caused to be
done away in this thing
right they're talking about baptism
they're talking about the gift of the
holy ghost they're talking about
the new and everlasting covenant coming
to
the earth through the melchizedek
priesthood
right so i've done away with these with
these uh
old things and this is a new and an
everlasting
covenant even that which was from the
beginning again think of the beginning
as the holy of holies as the celestial
room
it is what was given in the council of
heaven in the pre-existence and the
pre-mortal life
it's the abrahamic covenant and so what
he's talking about here is the law of
moses and the dead works that are being
done
without the spirit the spirit is
represented by the higher law all right
so in verse 2 wherefore
although a man should be baptized a
hundred times
right even with the authority it
availeth him nothing
for you cannot enter in at the straight
gate
by the law of moses isn't that
interesting
neither by your dead works
so dead works are what we hear this all
the time in paul
and in the gospels especially in paul
the dead works
are the ones that aren't enlightened
they're not they're not
quickened as you would say in old
english cwic
right they're not quickened with the
spirit therefore they are
dead flesh like ezekiel's vision
of the bones in the field right
they're not quickened they're not made
alive
because they're all lower law the
baptism
of water and immersion is only the lower
law you can do that 100 times it doesn't
matter
but it's interesting here that he says
baptism and and basically puts that in
with the law of moses
so was baptism a part of the law of
moses i think it was
originally right and then he says for it
is because of your dead works
those without the spirit without the
higher law the new and everlasting
covenant
that i have caused this last covenant
the new and everlasting covenant
and this church to be built up unto me
even as in days
of old so baptism
and the new covenant right which was
given by jesus christ and his mortality
and was given by the patriarchs in the
old testament
that's why the focus of the restoration
and then the scriptures and the
restoration are on those
patriarchs right look at the book of
moses it's about adam and eve
it's it it goes into um all
you know seth and methuselah and enoch
and noah right it's going back into that
time
of of the the patriarchal order of the
new and everlasting covenant and then of
course the book of abraham of course
right that's where we get the book of
abraham going back to that time of the
new and everlasting covenant
and if you go through the joseph smith
translation especially in the old
testament
you'll see all of these pieces coming
through that had to do with
the melchizedek priesthood and the
abrahamic covenant everywhere
that's what's being restored into the
bible
because otherwise everything else the
checklist the law
the letter of the law the lower law are
all dead works
without the quickening of that without
the spirit without the opening of the
heavens
and the blessings of the of the the
spiritual gifts
and the sacrifice of jesus christ
and his condescension
everything is dead without those things
and that's why the law of moses in its
purity
looks forward to the sacrifice
condescension of jesus christ
i'll talk to you next time
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Doctrine and Covenants 20-22
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