← Don't Miss This Study
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- [00:02]
Grace Freeman
Hi there.
- [00:03]
Dave Butler
Welcome to Don't Miss this, a scripture study podcast with Dave Butler and Grace Freeman.
- [00:07]
Grace Freeman
Each week we point out things in the scriptures that we love and think you don't want to miss.
- [00:11]
Dave Butler
Thanks for listening. Hi, everyone, I'm Dave Butler.
- [00:20]
Grace Freeman
I'm Grace Freeman. Welcome to Don't Miss this, our weekly scripture study class.
- [00:24]
Dave Butler
Okay, you guys, today is another field trip.
- [00:26]
Now, today's lesson is supposed to be 135 and 136. But what we did for this is only focus on 135 because we're at Carthage jail in the field trip. So even four years later, I'm like still remembering how sweet that experience was and how awesome that section is.
- [00:42]
And then next week we will be.
- [00:45]
Focusing on more of the trek west when we go out to Wyoming and talk about the handcart company. So look forward to that. But this week is 1:35 or only and it is so, so awesome. I'm so excited.
- [00:57]
Grace Freeman
You will love the tip ins this week. They are all different lessons. They'll make a little bit more sense once you watch the field trip, but they go through and it just asks the question, what do you love about Joseph? And it gives you a little moment to reflect on his goodness, the impact he's had on your life. And you'll find a lot more of that in the filter. So you can look forward to that.
- [01:15]
Dave Butler
And particularly the word this week is martyr. It comes from a Greek word that means witness. Because the most important part is that he was a witness of Jesus Christ, what he taught us about him. So that will be special to learn and think about this week. And we can't wait for you to go on the field trip and we will see you next week.
- [01:34]
Hi, everyone, I'm David Butler.
- [01:36]
Grace Freeman
I'm Emily Freeman.
- [01:37]
Dave Butler
Welcome to Don't Miss this, another special episode episode. Even though we've just recently had another one here in Nauvoo. We are back for this fantastic section number 135 that just has to do with the martyrdom of Joseph and Hyrum, this beautiful, fantastic section that makes us just reflect on his entire life and ministry.
- [02:01]
Grace Freeman
And maybe we should let you know right now, These two sections, 135 and 136 are two of our very most favorite sections. And they are together for you. They are in one week. And we just. We tried to marry them together and then we couldn't. So this is what you're getting from us. You are getting 135 all about Joseph and Hyrum and Carthage. And we just want to take a minute and just celebrate that moment in history and look back at it and learn from it. And then 136, which is going to talk about the saints going across the plains. We really want to take you to where the saints cross the plains. So we are going to have a special edition at Martin's Cove where you're going to be able to watch that whole experience.
- [02:50]
Dave Butler
I know that we kind of make a lot of fuss about Joseph Smith in our church. And those of you who have spent time with people of other faiths will sometimes hear them say things like, is Joseph your Jesus? And we don't. Like, we don't. We're not surprised by that because we really do make a big fuss. I mean, there's a giant statue of them right here behind us. And we are both deeply Jesus people, very, very much so. And so we can understand that a little bit why somebody might say, like, oh, why are you focusing so much on Joseph when we should be focusing so much on Jesus? In fact, I mean, we have a hymn about Joseph that we sing sometimes in church. And every time that hymn gets chosen, by the way, I think Joseph winces a lot. Little bit. And he's just like, oh, listen, do not sing that song, especially in church. And he is having it out with W.W. phelps right now, who wrote that song for Joseph's funeral as a way to honor their friendship and what W.W. phelps felt that Joseph had brought into into his life. But every time we sing that song, it says, praise to the man who communed with Jehovah. I feel like I can see Joseph raising his hand and saying, can we please change that song to Praise to Jehovah who communed with the man that was the focus of his ministry. To point us there, John Taylor in this section calls him the seer of the Lord, the prophet of the Lord. And that's where I think he would feel most comfortably standing is with a hand pointed to heaven, a hand pointed toward him. But, you know, just like everybody has like a. You know, I've got a priesthood line of authority. You know, it's like I got the priesthood from my dad, who got it from my grandpa, you know, like that. I kind of think everybody has a faith line also that they could trace back, you know, like, who planted in you your witness of Christ and who planted it in them? And I think in restored Christianity, all of our lines would filter through Joseph. And maybe that's why there is that, you know, that focus on him. This section 135 was written by a dear friend of Joseph, an eyewitness to the martyrdom and a future president of the church. Someone who would have to follow in his footsteps eventually. Maybe he had no clue at that time. John Taylor. We like calling this section both a eulogy and an indictment. There is a verse at the very end where John Taylor says, hey, innocent blood was spilt and that ought to be answered for and not brushed under a rug. But most of it is a eulogy for the mission and ministry and contributions of Joseph and his brother Hyrum. So as we kind of go through today, what we want to do is tell the story and the sermons and I'll focus a little bit on the story. And Emily is going to bring us into these one line sermons today that are so good.
- [05:47]
Grace Freeman
There's just a couple one liners. That one verse just speaks a sermon every time. And one of them is one you were just talking about that. I think it's interesting to pull out in 1:35, verse three, when John Taylor says this, Joseph Smith, the prophet and seer of the Lord has done more save Jesus only for the salvation of men in this world than any other man that ever lived in it. And you start thinking of why, what would Joseph Smith have to do for our salvation? And I think one of the most important points that we should, that we should talk about has to do with the temple right behind us and what Joseph did for bringing to our knowledge and our understanding the privilege of being able to have all those temple ordinances and the things that happen there. I love to. We have a dear friend, S. Michael Wilcox, and I love hearing him bear testimony of Joseph Smith. I've had the opportunity to do it several times, once at the Sacred Grove. And I'll never forget at the end of that testimony when he said, next to Jesus, I love Joseph most. And it was such a sweet testimony and just so pure. And I love when we take a minute to really explain Joseph Place and what we are all benefactors of, because.
- [07:10]
Dave Butler
You can't help it. You cannot help having admiration and love toward the person who introduced Jesus to you, like whoever that was in your life, whether it was at your mother's knee or a seminary teacher or a missionary, you just cannot help but have that sense of, you know, love for that person and talk more about that later and a lot of time to think about it. But at that time of the martyrdom, we thought this was so interesting the way that different people viewed his ministry. Soon after the martyrdom, a local newspaper printed a headline that said, thus ends Mormonism. Cut off the head of the snake and the body dies. And Governor Ford, who, you know, was a part of that and behind the scenes and bringing about the martyrdom in his history of Illinois, called Joseph Smith an imposter. And even though he had some natural skill sets, he said the work that he started will only have temporary success. And we would love to compare those two false prophecies of Joseph and the work that he was engaged in and compare it to some others that we hold a little bit more dear.
- [08:24]
Grace Freeman
Yeah, we love. Looking back to Moroni, clear back from Joseph Smith history. At the beginning of the story, we remember what he says in Joseph Smith History 1. In verse 33, he talks about the work that God has for him to do. And then Moroni tells him that my name should be had for good and evil among all nations, kindreds and tongues, or that it should be both good and evil spoken of among all people. And how interesting that they thought this would be the end. And we're still. Still talking about Joseph today.
- [08:59]
Dave Butler
And what, like, when you're standing here with this monument and then the even grander monument behind us, it's like, oh, that seems like really easy to believe, but spoken in 1823 in that little lean to that we started at that little log cabin with Joseph in his pajamas and Moroni in there, like in backwoods New York. To say something like that then was.
- [09:25]
Grace Freeman
So what a remarkable prophecy. Yeah, it really is.
- [09:29]
Dave Butler
Who believed it? Joseph must have been like, I think you came to the wrong guy.
- [09:33]
Grace Freeman
Was he. Like, this does not make sense to me. But okay, it says this in verse six of I'm in Doctrine and Covenants, section 135, verse six. It tells us. I love this line so much that the Book of Mormon and this Book of Doctrine and Covenants of the Church cost the best blood of the 19th century. Again, so different than what was printed in the newspaper, what was written in the obituary. And then we love this one at the very end of verse six that says their names go down to posterity as gems for the sanctified. And just so sweet to see what Moroni and John Taylor and the Saints believed about who Jesus or who Joseph was and who he would be known as for the rest of his life.
- [10:19]
Dave Butler
Yeah, and I love thinking about, like, wait, who knew him best? Who spent the most time with him? Who was able to hear his words, like, directly from him and watched, you know, his. His character as we are Here at this spot here in kind of old town Nauvoo, it's interesting to just think about, like, how that last week of Joseph's life went out, went down. There were a lot of contributions that. That led to the martyrdom, apostates from within who turned his back on him. Joseph said, I might have lived longer if there was not a Judas in our midst. And to think about that, it wasn't only a martyrdom, but a martyrdom brought about those who used to be close friends, like just how painful and sad that story is. But as things started to heat up here, one of those who used to be the second counselor in his first presidency, the. The man we talked about a couple weeks ago, William Law, got behind the printing of a newspaper called the Nauvoo Expositor that just slandered and smashed Joseph. And the truths that he was teaching there were lies in there. And Joseph even remarked about that newspaper, if I had let that keep going, blood would have flown through the streets of Nauvoo. And you may know this story. They gathered together and destroyed that newspaper press, which they were in their right to do with the Nauvoo Charter. But still, in the time not many decades away from the Bill of Rights being written, just created a hot mess. And there was a newspaper in the neighboring town that said, let this diabolical act be answered with pistol and ball. And there was a call for a killing of them. So they decided, we've got to leave. And Joseph and Hyrum, they cross over the river, which is right in front of us here, and they leave. Porter Rockwell goes with them, comes back for some supplies, and then he gets back to the other side of the river with some letters from some of the saints calling him a coward and telling them that he abandoned them in their hour of greatest need. Which makes me want to think, did you forget everything that he's been doing? But that's what they said to him. And that's when Joseph says that famous line you know so well, where he said, if my life is of no value to my friends, then it's of no value to me. And he turns to Hyrum and says, what should we do? And Hyrum says, let's go back. And Joseph says, if we go back, we will be killed, or I am not a prophet of God. And Hyrum says, we. We need to go back. So they do. They come across the river, back this way. And Joseph, in his typical nature, tries to send Hyrum off to Cincinnati on a fake Errand. He's like, hyrum, I need you to go there and just get out of the city. And Hyrum turns to him and he says, joseph, I'm not gonna leave you. And he says, hyrum, you must. And then Hyrum says to Joseph this line. He says, in the name of Jesus Christ, I will never leave your side. And Joseph bowed his head for a second, and then he said, amen. And you know that the two of them will go into the martyrs prison together. And we just want to stop for a second and talk about Hyrum Smith, who was there from the very, very beginning, who. When Joseph had his leg operation, the only relief that would come is if somebody would squeeze his thigh above where the operation was, and Hyrum would sit next to him through the entire night and hold on to his leg to give him relief from him. He was one of the first believers in the Book of Mormon and just a loyal companion, like through everything. Remember when he was the one who took that first shovel full for the Kirtland Temple? Everywhere Joseph's going into liberty, Hyrum is right there with him. Through it all. From day one to day end, he was there.
- [14:10]
Grace Freeman
You love what it teaches us about Hyrum in Doctrine and covenants, section 124, which we did last week, but we saved this verse for this week. It's in verse 15, and it says, and again, verily I say unto you, blessed is my servant Hyrum Smith, for I the Lord love him because of the integrity of his heart and because he loveth that which is right before me, saith the Lord. And isn't that just a great description of who Hyrum is? But then also in 135, one of those verses that just speaks a sermon is this one. In verse three at the very end, it says, talking about his brother Hyrum. And it says this, in life they were not divided, and in death they were not separated. And we just love this statue right here. Every time I come here to Nauvoo, I stop and look at this statue. And I love that. What the Saints saw as they rode out is these two brothers together. And I just imagine this view of them from their backs going, going on to whatever it was they were doing next, whether it was Carthage or whether it was whatever they were doing in their life, that they just were in it together and supportive of each other even until the very end.
- [15:32]
Dave Butler
Yeah, it makes you just think to yourself, I want to be a Hiram to people. I want to be There quietly and consistently, boldly and bravely defending both the prophet Joseph Smith and the work that came through him. But just my friends, you know, I don't. You just love the idea of, in life I will be committed to you, and in death we will not be be separated from each other.
- [15:58]
Grace Freeman
Before we move on to what happened next, we just want to pause for a second. Back in 1:35, in verse four, right in the middle, it tells us that that morning before they left for Carthage, Hyrum had been reading in Ether in the Book of Mormon. And he came upon this verse, it said this. And it came to pass that I prayed unto the Lord that he would give unto the Gentiles grace that they might have charity. I just want to think about that phrase for a minute. John Taylor tells us he marked that page, he folded down the corner of that page that morning before he left. And I think about Hyrum and, and knowing what they were about to walk into, knowing about the anger in the hearts of all those people. And I love the thought of him just thinking about that. Just give the Gentiles grace that they might have charity. And I love the lesson we are taught from that scripture in the Book of Mormon on this occasion that happened thousands of years later, and how sometimes charity becomes a witness or an outward expression of our testimony of grace in that moment. And had grace been a part of the culture then, both within the church and outside of the church, how different that outcome would have been for everyone. And I think the same is true today. Just the thought of that. As we better understand grace and how the grace of Jesus Christ works, works in our own life, it enables us to express charity or the pure love of Christ in a much purer way. I love in that same verse in Ether, it says this. And because thou has seen thy weakness, thou shalt be made strong. And I love that line, because thou has seen thy weakness. And that's another thing that I just love about Joseph and of Hyrum is they saw, saw their weakness. They admitted where they were wrong. And. And as Joseph is leading the church the entire time he's leading, he starts at the very beginning, do you remember, in Joseph Smith History, it tells us in verse 28 of Joseph Smith History, he says, I frequently fell into many foolish errors and displayed the weakness of youth and the foibles of human nature, which I am sorry to say, led me into diverse temptations offensive in the sight of God. And I think Joseph realized he wasn't perfect at being the prophet. He saw his Weakness. He saw it within his marriage with Emma. He saw it within the friends, his friends, the people. As he led the church, he was being refined in that moment and raised up to be a prophet. And that comes with weakness. And I think it's powerful to realize that within that weakness is where he experiences, experience that enabling grace that comes through Jesus Christ.
- [18:59]
Dave Butler
Well, it's interesting that it was on that night when he was 17 years old. It was the recognition of his weakness that led him to his knees, which then led to angels and revelation from heaven. Right. That it was like in recognition, because he's weak, he would turn to God and that's where he found strength.
- [19:18]
Grace Freeman
So, and you love too, that every time he walks into a grove, every time he tries to get an answer, he starts out by asking for a forgiveness of his sins. That he was very clear where he stood in relationship to God all the way through his life. And I think that weakness enabled the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ to be able to work in him and transform him and increase his capacity to what he would need to do in that short period while he was alive.
- [19:49]
Dave Butler
It's one of the things I love about the new history of the church saints is it doesn't make the people of the past, the heroes of the story, like. It's almost like the mantra of those books is Moses, I mean, Mosiah 3, 19. That they became saints through the atoning blood of Jesus Christ. Like God becomes the hero in all of their stories. And so I think it's important not to paint these people as good guys over here and bad guys over here, but as all of them as dual natured people struggling through life. And those who are succeeding are those who found God in the struggle.
- [20:25]
Grace Freeman
That's so good, you know? Yep.
- [20:28]
Dave Butler
So this, this spot up here is so touching because it's kind of the last spot where Joseph will see his farm, where he'll see the temple which would have been about halfway up, finished. He had a chance before he came up here. He really, really wanted to preach to the saints one more time. But instead he spent that morning with his wife and kids and he hugs each of them and the kids are holding onto his pants and saying, dad, don't go. And Emma tells him, you promise me you're coming back. Promise me you're coming back. And he's been arrested a hundred times in his lifetime and in their marriage together. And he doesn't promise her this time. And that goodbye is so bitter. And that's where she asks you remember, for that blessing that we talked about in Section 25 and that he'll later have her write down. And he rides up this hill and he sits on this bluff, and he stands on the steps that were finished at that time. And he just tells everyone there, I cannot stand to see Missouri happen again. He says, I will go and die for Nauvoo, is what he says. And then there's that line that he gives on the step here.
- [21:46]
Grace Freeman
Yep. So it says this. He said, I am going like a lamb to the slaughter, but I am calm as a summer's morning. I have a conscience void of offense towards God and towards all man. I shall die innocent, and it shall yet be said of me, he was murdered in cold blood. Can you imagine standing here and hearing him say that? And then that internal debate of, what? What is? Do we send him? Do we not? And watching them ride away just. Oh, must have been so hard for everyone who was standing there.
- [22:22]
Dave Butler
Yeah. In fact, 15 people go with them because they just can't. Not John Taylor, Willard Richards.
- [22:29]
We know.
- [22:30]
And then 15 others all go with. They weren't arrested. They had no charges against them. But they were like, we're going to ride with you also. But I've always loved that line. And maybe in connection to the fact that he was so good at asking for forgiveness. Right. That there's a reason that any and every single one of us can have a soul that's as calm as a summer's morning in the middle of just a wild world. And that's because of the grace of Jesus Christ. Like, there it is again. That sermon of what he brings to you is calmness of soul as he rides into this experience. So from here, he'll get on the road and ride over to Carthage, and we want to meet you over there. Joseph and Hyram and the guards and all the friends who came with them would have gotten here to Carthage at about midnight that night that they left Nauvoo. They would have spent that first night down in the jail cell down here. Interestingly, the jailer and his wife and, like, at least eight kids, I can't remember. They had a really big family, lived in this little jailhouse as well. They went to trial the next day and were acquitted of their charges of the riot of the Nauvoo Expositor. But then they held them on treason charges, so they held them here. There's not too much about what happens during those days. That second night, I love this line from Dan Jones. He says, we spent the night in prayer all Together, which made this prison become a gateway to heaven. And it's so neat to think about how when God comes into a place, it becomes heaven. We saw that with Liberty Jail. Remember when Joseph came out of there and says that that place was a temple prison to me, all these friends that were there with him, one by one, Joseph sent them off on. On little errands until there was just a small group that was left. The night before the martyrdom, the day before the martyrdom, they're actually just walking around the jail. The family, like, loves and trusts them. They end up sleeping in the bedroom upstairs. A lot of the guards, Joseph, Smithal and all, and the prisoners will bear their testimony of the Book of Mormon. And some of them actually quit their post because they're like, I can't guard a man like this. I believe his story. And they ended up quitting. So it's just so interesting that this place becomes like this holy spot, a place of teaching and a place of finding God while they're here. The night before the martyrdom, it's about midnight and Joseph is sleeping on the floor and there's a gunshot. And Dan Jones, it startles him. And Joseph calls him down to where he is on the floor. And he asks Dan Jones, are you afraid to die? And Dan Jones says, do you think it's come to that? And he gives this prophecy, he says, not for you. You will yet live and teach the gospel in your native land and bring thousands unto the truth. And if you. If you've seen the front of Preach My Gospel. Not the front, just the front page inside there. You know, Dan Jones is this, like, quintessential, like, missionaries, all missionaries, hero. Because he does leave and go on a mission to Wales and brings thousands of Welsh saints into the church. He was such a loyal companion and friend of Joseph, we actually named our little boy Jones after him, which is so cool. So it's the day of the martyrdom. It's Thursday. There's only four of them left in the jail at that point. Joseph Smith, Hyrum, Willard Richards and John Taylor. The rest of the Quorum of the Twelve, he has sent them off to the east coast on missions. Willard Richards is just another one of his loyal friends. And let's just talk about him for a second. Joseph called him the Doctor. He loved him. As they were coming to Carthage, as things were getting more serious, one of the things Willard Richards said to Joseph is, if they hang you for treason, I will be hung in your place. Joseph said, one of the things I fear Most is being hung. And he says, you can't do that for me, Willard. And he says, I absolutely will. Willard's the one that Joseph gave a prophecy to. And he says, there will come a day when your friends will fall to your right and your left, and you will be in a hailstorm of bullets, and not a hole will pierce your garments. And he says, do you believe me, Willard? And he says, no. He said, why? And he says, because I'm 200, 300 pounds and I've been in a hailstorm before, and they all hit me. So he's got these two loyal friends, his loyal brother. They're in the prison. It's Thursday, July 27th. June 27th. Excuse me. It's in the afternoon. They're reading Scripture. It's a contemplative day. And Joseph asked John Taylor if he'll sing one of his favorite hymns. And he does. And it wasn't called this back then, but today it's a poor wayfaring man of grief. And John Taylor had a beautiful soprano voice, and he sang that hymn. And Joseph asked him, will you sing it again? And John Taylor said, I don't feel like singing. And he said, you just start and you'll get the spirit of it. And it's soon after finishing that that the mob will break through the door. 150 to 200 people with blackened faces. They come up the stairs and the door handle doesn't work. The lock doesn't work. So all four of them are pushing against the door. Their guns are kind of getting through. And Willard Richards has his cane and he's hitting their muskets up. They found over 30 gunshot potholes in the ceiling from them defending the door. And it's at that time when those of you who've been here will know or know the story, that Hyrum's leaning up against the door, putting his weight up against it, when the gunshot comes through the door and hits Hyrum just right next to his nose and falls back yelling, I'm a dead man. And Joseph will leave the door and goes. And he holds Hyrum while he dies. John Taylor said, the facial expression of Joseph Smith while he held his brother will be seared in my memory forever. And then it's not long after that where the mob will break through and John Taylor will be shot and wounded, and Joseph will head to the window. This spot right here. It was in his nature to be a rescuer, I think, to lead the mob away from the other men who were there and will fall out of that window. And the very last words that he says are, O Lord, my God. People have made some speculations about those words, but we talked about this earlier today and it's our belief that the Savior came to meet him, his. His servant. And if we're wrong on that, we're fine to be wrong on that one. But that, that line, I love that he says, my God. It's a word that shows relationship. It's a word that shows that we did this journey together. And that's. And. And that that summer afternoon ends with two testators sealing their. Their witness with their blood and two apostolic witnesses of the event.
- [29:54]
Grace Freeman
One of the parts that we love in section 135 is verse three. And this is what John Taylor writes. Joseph Smith, the prophet and seer of the Lord, has done more save Jesus only for the salvation of men in this world than any other man that ever lived in it. In the short space of 20 years, he has brought forth the Book of Mormon which he translated by the gift and power of God and has been the means of publishing it on two continents, has sent the fullness of the everlasting Gospel which it contained to the four quarters of the earth, has brought forth the revelations and commandments which compose this book of doctrine and covenants and many other wise documents and instructions of the benefits of the children for the benefits of the children of men gathered many thousands of the Latter Day Saints founded a great city and left a fame and name that cannot be slain. And we love that. I don't know if any of you have ever had the opportunity to write an obituary before or to sit down and think over somebody's life, but I imagine that the time while John Taylor was sitting here and thinking over everything, all of the ways that his life had been touched by the prophet. And I can imagine him going through and, and listing and just thinking about all of those memories. And we love that in verse three he just makes a list of he did this and he did this and he did this. And those were things that had left a profound influence or had made a statement on the life of John Taylor. And we left you a little spot, spot in your journals to make a list of everything that John Taylor teaches us that Joseph Smith did in those 20 years. Then we have a square right next to it where we're hoping you'll go through and list what did Joseph Smith do that made a difference in your life? What are the privileges that you experience, that we all experience this now that have been gifted to us because of those 20 years that Joseph Smith was here on the earth, on the Lord's errand and doing the Lord's work.
- [32:05]
Dave Butler
Yeah. And maybe think particularly the way that he's helped you come to know Jesus in a more clear way. I mean, think of even his last words were, oh, Lord, my God. And that hymn that he asked John Taylor to sing, a poor wayfaring man of grief. Were you gonna pull that up and.
- [32:26]
Grace Freeman
Just got it right here. We love at the very end. Are you gonna talk about how it reveals. Yeah, that's Jesus, actually. How Joseph revealed Jesus to us. That's what he did over the course of his life. And we love that the last verse of this song talks about that. It says, then in a moment, to my view the stranger started from disguise the tokens in his hands I knew the Savior stood before my eyes. And we love that Joseph helped us see the Savior standing before our eyes. That he helped us see the Savior in our generation, in our dispensation, that the heavens were open, that God was speaking to his children and giving us commandments and rights and privileges that can only come through a prophet of God.
- [33:19]
Dave Butler
And we cannot emphasize enough how dearly we love the Savior, Jesus Christ, and how central he is to our life and to our faith, to our families and to our everything. But, again, you just can't help but love the people who introduce him to you. And it makes me just think that as I think about my own list of how he's helped me come to know Jesus a little bit better, it makes me think of that line from the hymn that W.W. phelps wrote where it says, millions shall know Brother Joseph again. And that other line, death cannot conquer the hero. I think Joseph would say that's because the hero conquered death. That is why we'll get to meet again. And when we do, I think in the spirit world there will be a long line to meet him. And I will butt in the line all the way to the front. And I want to take the Jenny and I want to take all the kids, and I want to introduce them to one of my heroes. I want to say, he's the one that let me know that I get all of you forever. He's the one that let me know everything. Jenny and I went on a run this morning and walked by the grave site. And I just thought, man, so much good in my life has come because he decided to lay his life down on the altar. There's so much Jesus in that.
- [34:51]
Grace Freeman
There's so much Jesus in Joseph.
- [34:53]
Dave Butler
Right, Right. In his life. And I think he'll say, like, oh, you don't. Stop, stop, stop. He'll hug the kids because I'm sure he's a hugger. And then he'll say, stop making a fuss over me. Let me introduce you to, to Jesus. And I'll say back to him, oh, my friend, you already have.
- [35:16]
Grace Freeman
We love as we think about section 135 and we go through each of those statements all the way through there that are just sermons. And probably our favorite sermon is at. Is in that section three, right after all those descriptions, John Taylor says, he says this, he lived great and he died great in the eyes of God and his people. And what a sweet sermon of his life and who he was. And as we were talking, we thought, it's so neat to go through and see what were the sermons of his life that John Taylor captured in section 135. But we also want to give you an invitation to think about what are the sermons of yours and what do you want that sermon to look like? And at the end of your life, when people look back, will you have revealed Jesus to those who know and love you best? That would be our hope at the end of this lesson, of this Carthage.
- [36:19]
Dave Butler
Lesson, and maybe the lesson, the end lesson of this, this whole book. And we just have just an awesome opportunity. Remember, we split up sections 135 and 136 because we couldn't help it. But what happened here triggers the leaving again of the saints out of that beautiful city of Nauvoo.
- [36:40]
Grace Freeman
We'll start on that trek west because the Lord doesn't end things here, just like the newspaper thought was going to happen. It's the beginning of something still to come. And we love that that's how the Lord is that there are still good things for this church and for this people and for these saints. And we'll embark on that journey next.
- [37:01]
Dave Butler
See you next week. If you want to follow along in everything we're doing, you can find us on Instagram at don't miss this study, at this week's Grace and at mrdavebutler.
- [37:10]
Grace Freeman
And if you want to subscribe to the app or get our weekly newsletter, all of the information can be found@don'tmissthisstudy.com.
- [37:16]
Dave Butler
See you next week.