Come Follow Me LDS- Doctrine and Covenants 20-22

adam & eve come follow me doctrine & covenants garden of eden lds scholarship tree of knowledge 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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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 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

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

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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Cwic Audio Player

All of the Cwic Media podcast episodes on one page!

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