Come Follow Me LDS- JST Matthew 1 Part 1

'Summer is Night at Hand'
- We should learn to identify trends and patterns
- Disassembling the Creation Story represents chaos and a spiritual breakdown

 

 

Come Follow Me New Testament

LDS Mormon JST Matthew

 

in this episode we're gonna talk about

summer being nigh at hand here we go

okay in this episode we are going to

cover Joseph Smith translation Matthew

one this is found in the pearl of great

price this is a translation that Joseph

Smith did on Matthew chapter 23 39 and

chapter 24 that we now have in the pearl

of great price and here Jesus remember

he is in the temple he has been teaching

giving parables dealing with the chief

priests and the elders and then he says

to his disciples that once he is

resurrected and glorified that he will

be returning so he's starting to talk

about the future and these events that

are going to start happening and so the

disciples asked him master show us

concerning the buildings of the temple

here they are inside the temple

show us the concern and concerning the

buildings of the temple as thou has said

they shall be thrown down and left unto

you desolate

and so Jesus responds to them in verse 3

and says see not all these things and do

you not understand them so he's trying

to say look around you look at the

events look at how things are supposed

to go if you can look closely if you can

perceive these threads of trends these

threads of parallels and meaning then

you're going to see kind of where

they're going to finish up and so he

says verily I say unto you there shall

not be left here upon this temple one

stone upon another that shall not be

thrown down so here they are in this

representation of their

gospel of their theology of their

religion of their politics of their

people their nation and he's saying that

all is going to be destroyed remember

that this happened before in the time of

Lehi and nobody believed that it would

happen remember laman and lemuel are

like come on they're not gonna be able

to destroy Jerusalem we're too righteous

we're too good of a people of course

they weren't and here the establishment

the Jews that are in power are puffed up

they're hypocritical and they believe

that they are too righteous for anything

like this to happen so then Jesus leaves

them he leaves the disciples he leaves

everyone in the temple and he goes out

to the Mount of Olives and this is where

he would oftentimes go outside of the

temple it's where he would do most of

his teaching when he was in Jerusalem

and so then a lot of the disciples

follow him to the Mount of Olives and

they sit down and they pursue this line

of questioning about these future events

that are going to happen and they say

tell us when shall these things be which

thou has said concerning the destruction

of the temple so they may have wanted to

get away from the chief priests and the

elders and in talking about this Jesus

might have wanted to to leave them at

this point again tell us when shall

these things be which thou has said

concerning the destruction of the temple

and the Jews who are they talking about

I mean these are disciples these are

Jewish disciples and they're talking

about the Jews as if there's someone

else they are someone else they're the

people in power and what is the sign of

thy coming and of the end of the world

or the destruction of the wicked which

is the end of the world so then he

perceives to go on and give us some very

interesting principles about being able

to see signs and to keep things straight

in our minds and he answers them and

says take heed that no man deceive you

so in other words this is a very typical

thing to happen that when you're worried

about your future there's a lot of

people that are gonna go out be out

there that are gonna tell you things

that might happen to you or that will

happen to you or the way events are

going to unfold hey buy this stock

because look at what's going to happen

here we know this is gonna happen or

this is what is going to happen in this

state and so you should leave or this

industry is a bad industry to work in

because it's dying out there are a lot

of different views on a lot of these

different things and there might be some

validity to them but we need to be able

to perceive truth in these matters we

need to be able to perceive future

events and that's the first thing that

Jesus goes to by saying don't be

deceived and he follows that up by

saying for many shall come in my name

saying I am Christ and shall deceive

many

so here's a couple things I this brings

to mind for me number one certainly

there are people there are individuals

that have come that have said that they

are the Messiah that they are Jesus

Christ even and that they are the

saviors of the world that has happened

it's a pretty rare thing to happen but

that happens and some people some

unfortunate few might believe somebody

like that remember that this is one of

the very first principles that we learn

in the story of the Garden of Eden when

Adam and Eve are thrown out of the

Garden of Eden and they go out into the

lone injury world and they meet with now

Satan Lucifer who is now Satan and they

ask who are you what does he say well

I'm the god of this world right so in

other words he's trying to deceive by

saying that he is God that he is in

charge and that he should be listened to

so this is a principle that goes all the

way back to the beginning not just here

as Jesus is speaking it

and so we look at others that have come

around like a David Koresh of the Branch

Davidians and other leaders cultish

leaders that have caused great harm to

those that have been deceived but I

think we can take this as a principle

and not just even with just a few

individuals but in learning and

understand learning what we how we need

to view the future we need to be careful

about what we put again into that values

hierarchy what we're putting our trust

in when we are trying to see events when

we are trying to pick up trends and

that's an important thing to do

that's how we live moving forward right

we have to live for today and tomorrow

so this principle is telling us look you

need to keep Christ at the top don't be

deceived by putting your trust into

something else that would be higher that

says they are the best that says that

they are a higher value and that your

future will be more secure because of

that so we get those distractions all

the time and then he warns again and

this is he's done this a couple times

now but he warns everyone again and he

says they shall deliver you up to be

afflicted and shall kill you and ye

shall be hated of all nations for my

name's sake and this is what happens to

the early Christians and it happens

later on it happens today a lot right

now in the Middle East and it happened

to the early Saints in Ohio and even New

York and of course Missouri and Nauvoo in

other words this is a principle right

this is this is a principle that is

bound to happen because you when you put

Christ at the top you're going to go

against the flow you're going to go

against the rules that are set here by

the god of this world and you are trying

to rise above those laws of mortality

and one of the consequences of that is

that there's going to be a lot of

pushback a lot of adversity and so

that's something that we could see

and perhaps the more intense it gets the

more we can see a trend and a future of

how things are gonna start playing out

and he says on top of that once all

these things happen then shall many be

offended look at that culture we're

moving into right now this call out

culture of a fence if anything triggers

me or offends me I turn into an accuser

and that's a principle here that he

talks about and then shall many be

offended and shall betray one another

and shall hate one another so we need to

be worried about ourselves being

offended by something

are we being shamed by the outside world

are we offended by what a bishop says

are we offended by some of the doctrine

of the church we need to be very careful

about those types of things

it's not that we don't want to see

things sometimes critically as long as

there's plenty of faith that's in there

so that we can think for ourselves but

once we allow something like that to

offend us to get inside of us to get

under our skin and become a motivator of

our behavior and our emotions now we

have an issue and he follows up and says

in many false prophets shall arise and

shall deceive many and because iniquity

shall abound the love of many shall wax

cold that's interesting so he's equated

sin and iniquity that the level of

sin and iniquity with the level of love

in the world so the more sin and

iniquity there is in the world the less

love there is in the world that's pretty

interesting and of course then he says

but he that we mean in steadfast and has

not overcome the same shall be saved so

he's talking to us but he's also talking

to the disciples here in their time and

the things that are going to happen with

them there are those that are going to

rise as messiahs

and there are they are going to be the

Christians are going to be persecuted

and the same thing happens because it is

a principle the same thing happens in

our day and Annie says then let them who

are in Judea flee into the mountains

that's an interesting point again a

principle it's a natural thing that

happens what would happen there is that

when in Jerusalem there would be raids

or war from later the Romans that

happens here previously with other

nations that would always be coming in

and conquering Jerusalem what they would

do the people citizens of the Land of

Jerusalem remember the land of some

where is the city and the area around

it we learned that in the Book of Mormon

those people would flee to the mountains

around the land of Jerusalem and they

would go up and they would hide up into

the mountains and in these mouths there

would be numerous caves and

they would be able to go in and hide in

these caves and we see the same thing

happening even today for example in

Afghanistan remember when there was the

pursuit for Osama bin Laden and they

were going all through Afghanistan and

it was very very difficult to find them

they had all these networks of caves

throughout all these mountains that only

the locals knew really well and this is

something that's similar but the

principle is that those that put Christ

first are oftentimes scattered out they

are they have to flee from civilization

because that civilization is too tightly

threaded under these laws of mortality

under the laws of this world and they

just can't survive inside of it there's

too much pushback and so that is what

happens and that's what happens with the

the Israelites as they leave Egypt

that's what happens with the early

Saints when they had to continually

leave each new settlement that they were

in and finally in Nava when had to come

out and flee Judea so to speak flee Nabu

and come out into the mountains that is

a common principle and that's why it's

typical that we hear something like John

the Baptist who is crying in the

wilderness because he's not able to be

inside the civilization he's out in the

wilderness and he's attracting people

out there that's a very common thing to

happen to those that are preaching the

gospel and then he says that there's

going to be wars and rumors of wars and

pestilences and earthquakes and all of

these horrible events that are going to

be happening and basically complete

chaos right as things break down and

Christ is removed from the top

throughout the world and there's not

enough to keep that going because right

even if there's a there's got to be a

tipping point somewhere locally and even

throughout the globe now that we're

completely connected as soon as Christ

is removed and the concept of that

type of sacrifice is removed then who's

holding things together globally the

whole thing the whole house of cards can

fall if there isn't an order of freedom

and an amount of charity coupled with

that and he says again because iniquity

shall abound the love of many shall wax

cold we see that in the book of ether

right where virtually the entire

civilization destroys itself just eats

itself then he goes and reaches back

into some what seems to me like some

creation language in verse 31 he says

and immediately after the tribulation of

those days the Sun shall be darkened and

the moon shall not give her light and

the stars shall fall from heaven and the

powers of heaven shall be shaken

so is that literal I don't know it

very well could be literal but it also

is representative of maybe order

completely collapsing that is to the

ancients right that is order that they

have here the Sun coming up the same

spot

going down the same spot the moon

having its same phases and the stars up

in the sky this seems like a creation

verbiage here that is used to put things

together in the creation but here

perhaps it's all falling apart and in

verse 35 you said something that's

interesting me he to me he says although

the days will come that heaven and earth

shall pass away yet my word shall not

pass away but all shall be fulfilled now

wonder what is exactly meant by that I

don't know if anybody really knows what

that means that heaven and earth shall

pass away remember this is also creation

verbiage right when he talks right in

Genesis 1:1 God created the heavens and

the earth so if they're now going to

pass away and this is maybe part of all

he's saying that it's being falling

apart that order is now going to

completely fall apart and that could be

what he's saying but I wonder if he's

also saying that what's gonna happen is

eventually they're going to become one

that there is no earth below on a lower

law and heaven above at a higher law but

do they then become one as this earth

will be a celestial sphere and there

will be no spiritual gap between

anything then he says in 36 and as I

said before after the tribulation of

those days and the powers of the heavens

shall be shaken then shall appear the

sign of the son of man in heaven and

then shall all the tribes of the earth

mourn and they shall see the Son of man

coming in the clouds of heaven with

power and great glory this is a common

vision they just described a common

vision that prophets have this is what

Lehi has right this is his vision in

Nephi 1:1 he's the same thing and he

then gives us a key here about not being

deceived and whoso treasureth up my

word shall not be deceived that's what

we do come follow me right so that we

can understand the scriptures and build

a faith in them a trust in them so that

we're not deceived and he shall send His

angels before him with a great sound of

a trumpet again prepare you the way

the ministering angels are being sent

out before and they shall gather

together the remainder of his elect from

the four winds from one end of earth to

the other I think it's the exact

opposite of what happens in the Garden

of Eden again you have the four rivers

that are doing what they're going out

from one Center so that the gospel is

spread out to the four quarters of the

earth and here what is happening is

there is a gathering now the gospel has

gone out to the four quarters of the

earth to find the elect and now there is

a gathering back in together and then he

gives the example of the fig tree right

again look at things but this is mostly

found in the scriptures from my

experience you look at things to try and

figure out a trend of how things are

going to happen and he says now learn a

parable of the fig tree when its

branches are yet tender and it begins to

be to put forth leaves you know that

summer is nigh at hand

so there are patterns we should be

looking for patterns and then he says

but as it was in the days of Noah so

shall it be also at the coming of the

Son of Man in other words there will be

a lot of chaos a lot of iniquity but

boom the rains come and only eight at

that moment were prepared

apparently and so the same it'll happen

the same way eating drinking marrying

giving in marriage and boom here comes

the son of man the second coming have

you ever been in a position where you

knew you had to get something ready you

had to prepare yourself for something

and then you kept putting it off and you

kept putting it off and then the moment

comes and it's kind of a big deal and

you're not ready and we've all gone

through that before this would be the

biggest example of that is not being

prepared thinking that it's still gonna

be down the road and to those that are

putting things off

he says they shall be cut asunder and

shall appoint him his portion with the

hypocrites there shall be weeping and

gnashing of teeth

pretty strong warning it's going to be

regret I don't know if there is anything

worse than regret and if we have a

knowledge of things of true principles

of how to live are we going to be

prepared for the second coming are we

going to have our kids prepared for the

second coming so with something like

this I don't typically go into a lot of

speculation I actually don't study these

type of end of times thing very much

because there's just so much speculation

in it

what I do enjoy is looking at the

principles that Jesus is teaching here

and I think there are several that we

have just gone over that we can apply in

our lives to see trends and to see how

we might manage our future a little

better always of course keeping Christ

up at the top and being able to learn

the scriptures and the gospel so that we

can wax strong and confident and so that

we're not deceived

I'll talk to you next time