← Don't Miss This Study
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- [00:00]
A
Hi everybody. I'm Dave Butler.
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B
I'm Grace Freeman.
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A
Welcome to don't miss this, our weekly scripture study class. So happy that you're here. We point out three things each that we found. We both found three of our favorite parts from this week's come follow me lesson. We're going to share them with you. Hopefully inspires you to find some of your own and hopefully we can give you some things that both inspire you and what was my word I used last week? It was so fancy. Well, you're going to have to go back and listen, but just discussions to have ways to live out the principles of the gospel that we're finding. We want to help everybody have a Jesus centered and a scripture centered home. So that's why we're here. Hopefully that's why you're here. And are you ready? I went first last week. So my turn should you go first?
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B
So my turn to go first?
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A
Yeah.
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B
Okay.
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A
Okay. What's your number? 3.
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B
So here's the deal. Something that you need to know about me is I hate to waste my time. I'm just not built for that. I if something's going to be a waste of my time, I'm just simply not going to do it. And to the point, me and my mom get in fights about this all the time because I think making my bed is a waste of time. I don't think it's worth it because if I'm just going to unmake it.
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Every single day is against all cultural, every podcast, every life coach right now in all of America.
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And you heard it here first. And I stand by it. Making your bed, waste of time you don't need.
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I feel like everyone, Jay Shetty, Mel Robbins, everyone has research.
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The Navy seals sit them down next to me.
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A
Like the Navy Seals make their bed, waste time. There's research.
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They don't need to. They don't need to anyways. Anything that's going to be a waste of time, I hate it. I can't stand it. I get really worried. That's like why I got a flip phone is because I felt like I was wasting so much time on my phone that I was like, that's gonna be my best bet is if I just get a flip phone. Anything I can do to eliminate wasting time, I will just capitalize on because I just, it stresses me out. I just get anxiety about it. And it just feels like in section 106 that maybe Warren A Cowdery is a little bit the same personality. Because what's gonna happen is Oliver's brother. Oliver's brother.
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A
He's getting called Jeopardy.
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Yes. In case you recognize the Cowdery last name.
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A
Right?
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It is familiar. Okay. And Warne Cowdery gets a calling and it's obviously like a kind of serious calling. You can tell when you read, okay, he's going to preach the gospel and it's going to be like kind of intense. So intense that this is like his calling in verse number three. And he needs to devote his whole time to this high and holy calling which I now give unto him, seeking diligently the kingdom of heaven and its righteousness and all things necessary shall be added there unto, for the laborer is worthy of his hire. His calling was not just going to be a part time gig. It wasn't just going to be like, oh, yeah, I'll do that on Sunday mornings. His calling wasn't just like, okay, I'll dedicate Tuesday nights and I'll go to Mutual, and that's going to be fine. His calling was his whole time, every ounce of it was now going to be for that, seeking diligently the kingdom of heaven. And right when I read it, I was like, oh, that like already stresses me out. Because if you're asking for my whole time, it is Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, Saturday, Sunday, every single hour. That's going to be a lot. And instantly when I read it, which is funny because, like, it was like it was written for me, instantly I was like, oh, well, like, he must have been worried it was going to be a waste. Like, there's like, what if, like he like, what if he had other things to do that were more important? Or what if he had like, chores? Or like, what if he like had a to do list of all the things that he normally did in his everyday life? And then immediately after he gets like this reminder and it's barely, verily, I say unto you, the coming of the Lord draweth nigh and it overtaketh the world as a thief in the night. And I read it and I was like, oh. And instantly I got it. And it almost felt like this instant comfort because immediately he was like, you're gonna need to dedicate your whole entire life to this. All your time you have is going to be to building up the kingdom, to preaching the gospel, to finding people to bring them in. And the reason it's gonna be worth it is because the Lord is coming soon. But even more than that, it's that phrase overtaketh the world that is the most intriguing to me because it almost as if he is just whispering, there is nothing more important you could be doing. Because in the end, this is the only thing that matters. Anything else that you think of that you're like, no, this is a priority for me. This is what I need to be doing. This is my responsibilities. This is important. He pauses and says, listen, all of that is gonna be consumed when Jesus comes, so don't waste your time. And I, like, sat here and I paused and I just wrote down everything that I'm worried about right now and all my responsibilities and everything I'm doing. And that quote from President Nelson just kept, like, ringing in my head of, like, there is nothing more important you could be doing on the earth right now than gathering Israel. And I started realizing the reason why is because everything else is gonna be consumed by that anyways. So why am I wasting my time building up things that aren't gonna matter when we know what is going to matter? And it made me pause and just wanna reflect on my life and be like, how can I go through bit by bit, piece by piece of my schedule, and say, I wanna dedicate my whole time to building the kingdom? And that doesn't mean job. And, like, not clean my room. But it made me want to pause and be like, what can I do? But I won't clean my room if I don't have to. And I already don't make my bed, so that explores. Like, that is like, don't laugh so hard. Don't laugh so hard. It's hurting my feelings. Okay, I have a clean room, everyone. But it made me want to pause and be like, wait, if this is the most important thing, why would I not dedicate my life to that? If at the end of everything, I'm going to look back and the most important thing I could be doing is preparing the world for Jesus to come back? Why would I not want to spend every single second building that up? And I went to this conference once a couple years ago, and it was like this Christian conference for people in their 20s. And we, like, got there, and it started talking about how each generation in the scriptures is known for something. Like, there's the generation. There's, like, Noah's generation. They built the ark. There's going to be the generation with Moses. Like, their people got set free, the Promised Land generation. And they went through all these different generations. And the question at the end was, what will your generation be known for? And I remember sitting there and all I could think is, I want to be part of the generation that welcomes Jesus back. And obviously I don't have all control over that. Like, I don't get to choose the date. I wish I could. I don't have any say. But I do have a role that I can play. And if that's, like, what is on the table, why would I not dedicate my whole time to that?
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Yeah. My mind is, like, spinning. I wish I had, like, a little paper because that question is so good. What do you want your generation. Is that the right. Yeah.
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What do you want your generation to be known for?
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And the answer was we. You. You used a lot of phrases, and the scriptures use a lot of phrase that all are synonyms for the same thing. To prepare the world for the second coming. To seek the. What's the phrase that's in here? Seek the kingdom. Yeah. To seek diligently the kingdom, to build up the kingdom. All of those are synonyms for the work of people. And the reason they're not a waste of time is because people are never a waste of time. And loving people is never going to be a waste of time. And it's going to be what God calls in verse three, a high and holy calling. People are the highest and holiest calling because they are the number one priority in his heart. Right. And I just, for the first time in my life, tied two things together. We talk a lot about prepare the world for the second coming of Jesus. Be prepared for the second coming of Jesus. Right?
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Yeah.
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And I started to think, like, okay, if I was preparing my house for a guest to come, I would want to put his very favorite things in my house. What's your favorite treat? What's your favorite drink? I'm going to put that in a little bask on your bed or whatever. Or Jenny is most likely. Okay. Right. And. And I, you know, we think about. For so long, I thought about, like, prepare for Jesus is coming means like, make sure you've, like, repented. And, you know, and I think that's probably important and all of those things. But what's going to make him most excited when he returns is the more people who are there, the happier he's going to be. The best way to prepare for the second coming of Jesus is to invite as many people as possible to join that celebration. And I think my number, my first one is kind of along those lines. It's verse 6 of the same section 106, verse 6, where it says, there was joy in heaven when my servant Warren bowed to my scepter and separated himself from the crafts of men. I will Die on this sword. That the best chapter in all the scripture is Luke 15, the story of the lost coin and the lost sheep and the lost boy. And the thing I love about every single one of those stories is there is a celebration. There is a party mentioned. There is something lost, something found, and a party in every single one of those stories, those are pictures of the personality of God. There really is joy in heaven. There really is a celebration. The gospel means good news. That's what's going to draw people to want to come unto Jesus, is to. Is to understand that. And I. I just. I love that aspect. I love you said this last week about the concepts and the idea of something that's too good to be true. Like, that's my favorite thing to say to somebody if or if their response to what I teach them about Jesus is, that's too good to be true. And it's like, then that's the gospel. If it is not inspiring you to lace up your dancing shoes to hire the DJ to get out another bag of Tostitos, right, then it's not the gospel. And I think that's a great measure for it. And I love this verse. There is joy in heaven. And verse seven adds onto it when he says, I'll have mercy on him notwithstanding. Fill in the blank. Right. Whatever. Whatever his issues or circumstances may be. I just. I love that. And I. I was gonna cheat and add on one more. Oh, look at this one. This one is so good. 108. I'm just adding this guy on. Is this gonna steal one of yours?
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I don't know. I get nervous. I. This game does make me honestly.
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Okay, verse one.
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It's fine.
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A
Is that yours?
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Fine.
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We can save it. Or you can say what you want to say about it. But it says this, where he says, your sins are forgiven you because you came up hither this morning to receive my counsel that fast. I don't know the circumstances of this, brother Lyman, but 108, verse one seems to show how liberal God is in granting forgiveness and the kind of celebration heart that he has. When any of his kids make the slightest gesture of return, we see it. It's all over scripture and all over the parables. The parables were pictures of the heart of God, pictures of what the kingdom is all about, of what's most important. Right? And it's just all over there. And. And. And so I. You're probably going to say something about verse two, so I just won't.
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No.
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He knows you go, oh, yeah. Because then he says, so let your soul be at rest concerning your spiritual standing and this line. And resist no more my voice. If I say you're forgiven, you're forgiven. If I say there's celebration over you, there is celebration over you. So let your soul be at rest and don't resist what I have spoken over you. I've spoken redemption. I've spoken salvation. I've spoken forgiveness. And you can't argue with me. I'm the boss. Is. Is what these verses seem to be saying. And I just think, more good news. We need a lot more good news, because that's exactly who and what Jesus is. I. I, like, was taking the thing I hate most above making my bed. I make my bed every day.
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Don't brag.
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Is traffic. I can't do traffic. That's a waste of time. That's the waste of all time. And so in traffic, we're late. My son did not want to go to his football practice. He was faking sick. Blah, blah, blah. I get there, and he won't get out of the car. And I lose it. I like to lose it because I have just sat in traffic to get in there. And then he refuses to get out. And I. I lost my cool. Legit lost my cool. I'm a little embarrassed. Right? That's the clip. It needs to be some vid. Angel in heaven. What's that thing that edits out bad parts? You know, we get home and, you know, then that night, you know, I. I come to myself and I went into his room, and he was laying in his bed. And I walk up to the. Just the foot of his bed, and I said, hey, Caleb, I just wanted to say. And then he goes, that's okay. I didn't even get it out of my mouth. And he was like, it's okay. And I was like, no. But I wanted to say I'm sorry about the way that I responded to you. And just that fast. And I saw another picture of the heart of Jesus and my little boy.
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That first of all makes me want to cry. I can't even be thinking about that right now because we just love him. That is perfect. But I wasn't even gonna say this, but it just is making me think of it because that's exactly what happens in the story of the prodigal son. Is. That's my favorite part of the whole entire story. Yeah. Is the boy going back home? He ran away. Like, left in, like, the worst way, lost all the money. And he decides he, like, has that moment when he comes to Himself. And he's like, no, like, I need to go back. Because even, like, the servants that my dad had were treated better than the life I'm living right now. And it's so cute because it is, like, the most. You can just tell it's the heart of, like, someone who is just trying to be better. And he, like, makes this speech and he's like, this is what I'm gonna say to my dad. And like, if it were me, like, you know, like, you know you're getting in trouble. And, like, you repeat like, this is what I'm gonna say. This is what I'm gonna say in my head. Yeah. Like, I'm, like, on his way probably just, like, saying that speech over and over.
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And he's like, I want to make myself look best. You know, Like, I want to say sorry. If sufficiently. I want.
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Yeah. And I want to use the right words because I know that he's not going to be excited when he sees me. So, like, I want to make sure I say all the right things. And I'm really careful when I say it. And he gets back home and he starts the speech, and you know what the speech is, because the scriptures write it all out, word for word, line by line. And he starts the speech and it starts those exact same words. And before he can even finish the speech, the dad says, let's throw a party.
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And it almost seems he says, that's okay. Yeah, right. He said, that's okay.
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That's okay. And he says this. Don't worry, your sins are forgiven. You. Verse 1. You don't need to give me a whole speech. Verse number one.
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And why. And why forgiven?
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Because you have obeyed my voice. Coming up.
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Because you just came home. Yeah. Because you came here.
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You decided to come back. Yeah, that's it. That wasn't even my one. So I get. I still get my number two. Okay, that was just my add on. That's my add on. That's my add on.
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I was afraid I was stealing yours. No, it's okay.
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That's my add on, so. I'm not serious, you guys. It's fine.
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I just. But yeah, I just. I. There's something about that picture. That picture that we see.
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Yeah.
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That's really, really important.
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100%.
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And it's a proof, by the way. I'll say one more line.
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No go.
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It's proof that people really are God's number one priority. The Father in the prodigal son story is. Represents the Father of all of us in heaven. And you see what his priorities are. Is it my land? Is it my servants? Is it my. My fortune? Is it my. You know. No, it was the kid. It was a kid that was the number one priority, always.
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Section 107, when I saw that it was this week, kind of intimidated me. And then I. It, like, bothered me that. In that it intimidated me because it's kind of a priesthood section, and it's about, like, the foundation and the, like, logistics of the Quorum of the twelve Apostles. And right. When I saw that it was this section, I was like.
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Which, by the way, we should say. We should say for the Jeopardy. People. Right. This is April 1835, the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles. We get our first one in this dispensation in February, on February 14th, by the way. 1835. So this is kind of like their first instruction section, essentially. But anyways, for any of you who play Doctrine Covenants Jeopardy. That is your tribute now.
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B
You win. And I was kind of getting a little bit intimidated about it because, like, I didn't study this growing up. This was not like, my section that I would, like, come to when I, like, had questions or wondered anything. And I. Then I, like, started hating that because I, like, am so passionate about, like, we need to access the priesthood as much as we possibly can. And I started to think about this experience that I had maybe a year ago, and I was in a group of, like, a hundred people, and someone got to the front and asked the question. Now they asked the question, like, what's the role of the Aaronic priesthood? And everyone was like, let's prepare, Pass, whatever. And then they, like, we're trying to, like, go through this thing. And they were like, you don't understand the priesthood. And everyone was like, no. Like, that's. We just watched it today. It was a Sunday night. Like, we were like. They were like. We watched that happen. Like, we know that's the role of.
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A
The priesthood or who participated in it. Wasn't that the question?
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Yeah, that was the first question.
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Okay. Okay.
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Yes. And then, like. And then. Okay, yeah, that's true.
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A
I forgot about this. Yeah. Because only one kid said me.
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Yeah. And he, like, blessed it or something. He, like, blessed.
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He participated in the Aaronic priesthood today. It was Sunday. And he's like. One kid's like, me.
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Yeah. And they, like. He, like, went up to the front and everyone was like, okay, and what's the job of that? And then it was like, bless, prepare, pass. And then all of a sudden, there's this moment, this shift that they Were like, wait, we might not understand the priesthood as well as we need to understand the priesthood. And that was the perspective that I had when I wanted start reading 107. And the verses that, like, were so important to me when I read that ended up being verses 19 and 20 and. Oh, no, sorry.
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A
That's okay. That's okay.
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And what I wrote in the margins next to it was just the. This simple question. And it said, am I experiencing this priesthood and the priesthood?
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A
That's what you wrote in your scripture.
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Yeah, that's what I wrote in my margins. And it's talking about the Aaronic and the Mesdic priesthood. But listen to the way it describes it. It does not say bless, prepare, pass. That's not the priesthood it's describing. This is what it says.
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A
Well, and let. Let me just add mine on because. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. Is 18 where he says, the power and authority of the higher or Melchizedek priesthood is to hold the keys of all the spiritual blessings of the church. That's another way of saying their job is to unlock all the spiritual blessings for the church. And now he's about to list what some of those available blessings are.
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So starting in 19, he goes through and he says, to have the privilege of receiving the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven, to have the heavens opened unto them, to commune with the General assembly and the Church of the Firstborn, and to enjoy the communion and the presence of God the Father and Jesus, the Mediator of the New Covenant. Instantly in my soul, I started realizing the priesthood is our access to heaven. The priesthood brings heaven, heaven to earth. It allows heaven to be right next door. It allows us to talk with God, to communicate with Him. Anytime we are experiencing that, we are experiencing the priesthood in our lives, that brings heaven closer. That is a bigger blessing than I could ever imagine in my entire life.
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And then can I nerd out on a word that I just learned today? That word assembly, the general assembly and church of the Firstborn. We see it in section 76, but it shows up first in the Book of Hebrews. And the Greek word for that is actually a festival gathering, a joyful, celebratory assembly of citizens. Isn't that awesome?
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Yes.
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Is that phrase so cool? So what, you're just saying it brings heaven? It brings that celebration we were talking about earlier to earth to people's lives is what it does.
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Yes. Which instantly, like, goes back to that question that I wrote in my margins about am I experiencing this priesthood and am I waking up every day and realizing I have access to experience heaven on earth. That's a possibility to me because the priesthood is on the earth, that heaven can be right here. I can be experiencing a heavenly life right this very second because the priesthood is on the earth. Yeah, I don't want to miss out on that. Yeah, that seems so lucky. That seems so lucky to me. And we have access to that. And then it goes through and it talks about the Aonic priesthood and this is how it describes the Aaronic priesthood. The keys of the ministering of angels to administer in outward ordinances the letter of the gospel, the baptism of repentance for the remission of sins agreeable to the covenants and commandments. And that made me pause and just with that same question, am I experiencing this priesthood? And all of a sudden I started realizing that that's something I need, that's something I want. And I. And I have access to that on a week to week basis through taking the sacrament. I don't take the sacrament because I'm hungry at church. I don't take. Well, don't pass Sunday sometimes. But that's like an added bonus. Okay, I don't take the sacrament because I need a drink of water. That's not why I'm showing up every single Sunday. What this sacrament offers us is ministering of angels. There are angels that I am desperate to have in my life. If God could promise me an army of angels, why would I not show up for the sacrament every single Sunday? There are days when I know I cannot do it by myself. This verse promises us that every week we have access to angels, armies of angels in our lives to be ministered to us individually from heaven because and through the Aaronic priesthood, that is the priesthood, that's the priesthood we experience is angels. That's why I want the sacrament. Every single week it's going to go through. And it talks about the gospel of repentance and receiving a remission of sins. And I am desperate for that every single day. And the fact that we have a promise of that week by week through the sacrament. I need to show up for that. I need angels, I need heaven's help, I need forgiveness. That is possible through the priesthood. And that is a promise that we can receive week by week by week. And I remember one of my friends was kind of trying to figure out what maybe his relationship with the church was going to be. And he was trying to figure out and he wasn't really sure and he wasn't really sold on that idea. Not like the idea of anything that the church taught, but also just like basic level of like the idea of going to church every single Sunday. And what happened is we sat down and we were kind of learning this together and we sat down and discussed like, what is actually accessible to us on a week by week basis through the priesthood, what the sacrament really gives the angels that we need, the repentance and the forgiveness that we need, the promises of heaven being nearby, simply on a week by week basis. And he sat there for a second and he thought. And then he just looked up and he said, I never want to miss a week again. And I think that once we start experiencing the priesthood like that, we'll say the same thing. I don't want to miss out on an experience like that.
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A
That. Yeah. And. And I. This is. I've been thinking about this a lot because this was my number two also. No, no, no. It's awesome. Again, it means it's the best one. That. So I had this. I was talking to Jenny about this and Jane earlier today where we went to the Forest Frank concert in the summer time. And our friend Susan talked to me about going to the Taylor Swift concert. And she was like, the whole time I was there, all I thought about is like, I wonder how much the lights cost. I wonder how much this costs. Like, the logistics of putting together a show so big. A show so big, right? So she cursed me. So I'm at this concert and my mind starts spinning in that same way and starts thinking about like, oh my gosh, all this is like. Like somebody was in charge of the lights and somebody was in charge of the stage and somebody was in charge of the firework things that go off and the sound and, and everything that happened in there. And it made me just think about this section. I'm. I'm like, I was tying them together today that I was like, hold on. The reason I had such an enjoyable experience is because somebody organized the experience for me, right? All of those things happen behind the scene. I'm in charge of family trips in our house. I do all the tickets and all the things.
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B
That's actually a big job. And I'm really stressed even thinking about that.
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A
Everybody, like, goes on this trip and thinks like, oh yeah, trips are like magic fun, right? And it's like, yeah, but somebody actually organized it and like went to the website and figured out the logistics and all of those things. That's what this section is, is. Is about. It's what happened in the. The background. Someone organizes a structure so that the blessings of heaven can be unlocked for everybody. Somebody has to have that job. Somebody has to be the dad. Somebody has to be the light guy, right? At all those things. It's not what anyone talks about, and that's okay. And maybe as a church, we talk too much about it, right? Where we talk too much about the delivery system instead of the actual blessing that was delivered. And that's what happened to your friend once someone shifted the focus of priesthood from. Because it's not about the section is an organization section. So it's me like, oh, who's in charge? What's the hierarchy? Who has authority to do what? And it's like, no, no, no, no. Verses 18, 19 and 20 are, are what the whole section's about. It's organized and set up so that heaven can be unlocked, right? It's the, the background that's. That's happening. It's the. You go to a baseball game, a little league game, and you're like, we just show up and play, you know, at it. It's like, well, no, no, no. Somebody set this all up so that you could. That is the point of it. The point wasn't everyone getting the fields ready and the scoreboard, electricity. The point is you can sit there and go to the concession stand and like, cheer on your kids and have this great experience. The priesthood organization is only there to unlock the blessings for everyone else that they're going to experience. And I think a couple things that would be great to do with this section is to look at 19 and 20 and give synonyms, those words if you have to, to say, like, what is it that you need in your life right now? What blessings would you like, claim which ones are being unlocked for you through priesthood ordinances? That's what we mean by the organization of it, right? And, and, and, and those things. And, and to just let somebody think through that and to think through those times when it was like, oh, yeah, because this was organized and set up, I got to experience this and to just talk about what that is. On Sunday, we had just a really sweet and tender experience in our family. My. Some of you may know that my niece passed away in January of this year with complications in childbirth and gave birth to a set of beautiful twins and passed away a couple days later. And it's just rocked everyone's world as, as you can imagine. And just this past Sunday, we did the baby blessing for those two. And to be in that room and the picture that I'll have in my mind of these faithful women and men all gathered around These two babies wishing God's blessing on them, wishing angels to be in their life. And the priesthood was restored and organized so that our family could have that moment, so that my sister could have the strength from heaven, so that those kids could and their dad could feel a closeness with angels. That's what it's all about, right? The organization is important only because it opens and unlocks heaven for everyone on earth.
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B
And then it really does. There's something about, once you realize that, that it makes me want to ask that question every single second that I have an opportunity to experience the priesthood in my life is, am I experiencing this priesthood?
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A
Yeah.
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The one that does bring heaven right to earth.
- [29:04]
A
Yeah. It's why I sent my son out on a mission and then sent another one. I was like, go tell people this blessing's available. Go tell people that God we talked about earlier on is who he is. Like, we've got take this to the whole world, as many people as possible.
- [29:27]
B
Section108.
- [29:28]
A
This is your number one. Are we under our number one?
- [29:30]
B
Yeah, but it was already halfway taken, everyone. So I'm just doing. I'm just doing another tiny part. Okay.
- [29:35]
A
Okay. Good job.
- [29:35]
B
But this is my last one and the part that I'll just mention.
- [29:39]
A
Oh, the one I took. Sorry.
- [29:40]
B
Yeah, no, it's okay. It's fine. You guys, I'm not. Not that mad. Just, like, medium. The last thing that I'll mention is verse number seven. And after he has this experience where he is forgiven, and he has this, like, really beautiful moment where he comes back and instantly his sins are forgiven and he's told that his soul should be at rest. There's this little commission at the very end of his section, at the end of his revelation, and it just says, strengthen your brethren in all your conversation, in all your prayers, in all your exhortations, and in all your doings. And I just, like, wanted to, like, rip that out of my scriptures and hang it on my mirror. And I think it might be one of the most beautiful commissions about what it looks like to really build the kingdom that has ever been in scripture. If you wonder how to live, that is what I want framed. That is what I hope someone one day writes on my tombstone. In all your conversation, in all your prayers, in all your exhortations and all your doings. And I just barely went on a humanitarian trip through hxp just like, a couple of months ago. I talked about it.
- [30:48]
A
I'm.
- [30:48]
B
I always talk about it is. Because you guys, it's just really good and well, seriously. And while I was there, I had 18 kids on the trip with me.
- [30:57]
A
People, I'm just going to say again, it is this because. Why? Why it's God's highest priority. 100 is why it's so magic.
- [31:04]
B
And when I read this verse, all I could think about was my 18 kids in the Dominican Republic. And the reason why is because I have never seen 18 people live this more beautifully. It was magic for 17 days, and I was really worried about it. It's a lot of responsibility to have, like, the, like, responsibility of 18 kids in a foreign country all on you. And at the beginning of this year, I started getting really worried about it, and I was like, wait, I want it to be good. And so I started praying this prayer, and every single day, I would just pray. And I was like, I just want to experience heaven every single day in the Dominican Republic. That's my goal, is I want to experience heaven. I want to experience heaven. And I prayed it and I prayed it and I prayed it, and it was some of the most beautiful days I've ever lived in my entire life. And on our very last night, every single night, when we were driving back, we'd, like, listen to this song. And one of the lines in the song is, is this is the closest to heaven that I've ever been, and I don't want to go home right now. And we listen to it every single day, that song over and over and over. And on the very last night, that's the last thing that I said to my kids is that I was like, this is the closest I've ever been to heaven, and I don't want to go home right now because I love this so much. And all of us were just, like, talking about what made it heaven. And I wish I could go back and read them this verse, because what made that experience heaven is that every single person there chose to make it that way. They chose to strengthen each other. I watched them sit next to each other on a bus and build the person next to them up. We would do, like, little spotlights every night about one kid. And we would sit there for 45 minutes, and people would just be like, I love this about them. I love this about them. I love this about them. I watched them do it in their prayers every single night. We would write a sticky note of what we wanted someone to pray for for us, and we would all trade sticky notes, and everyone would pray for each other every single night, no matter what.
- [32:56]
A
And we would look, the shooting star.
- [32:58]
B
The shooting star.
- [32:59]
A
Was that two weeks ago?
- [33:00]
B
Yes. And every night when I would go to bed, I would look on the bunk beds. We like, were on these wire bunk beds and I'd see all the girls, sticky notes from every day lining their bunk bed so that when they went to bed, they could pray for each sticky note every single night. I saw them do it. We were like on a work side doing humanitarian work. And like, I would watch, like people go for their like 1800th bucket of concrete. And like there was like these three girls that were like, every time they saw someone coming to get concrete, they would just be like, you could do it. Like you're so strong. Like, they would just like scream and cheer and like laugh. And I saw it in every single thing they did. I saw it when we'd play Wiffle ball for hours on end. I saw it when we would sing as loud as we could on the bus. I saw it at dinner tables that felt like family dinner, even though we had just met each other two weeks before. And my soul craves heaven. I think that is true about humans is we are here, but we know we want heaven. And I just think verse number seven of section 108 is how we experience it now.
- [33:56]
A
Now. Yeah. Amen. And it's kind of along. I was going to sneak that verse in to my.
- [34:02]
B
You can, you can take it too.
- [34:03]
A
Yeah. So it just kind of goes along with this. My. So my last line that I want to share today and loved is it sounds boring at first. But back in 107, verse 3, it talks about the Melchizedek priesthood. And they said we call it that so that we don't overuse the name of the Lord so often, you know. But it says before it was called the Holy Priesthood after the Order of the Son of God. That's the, that's the full name of, of the priesthood. And that word order is like, it's kind of like an old fashioned word. It comes from like Knights of the Round Table kind of period, like Order of the Phoenix. If you've ever read Harry Potter and if you haven't, shame on you. And just, just like I used to live by this, like in pg, by this place, it was called the Order of the Eagles or whatever. And I was so like, like compelled to go in and I never did. And I remember looked it up one time and their motto was like, people blessing people. And that's what an order is like. An order of Knights is like we have a common cause and we have a leader and like that we all like, promise to live out whatever that common cause is. And so we talk about this. There is an order of the Son of God where he would be the leader of that order. And he was like. And together we have this common cause, right? But another way to like teach that word order is to say the word pattern or principles of living. And what this section is teaching us with that name of the priesthood is the third article of faith teaches us that we great. We can receive a greater access to the blessings of the atonement of Christ through two things. One, priesthood ordinances, which we talked about. And second, it says principles of the Gospel or patterns of living or the order of the Son of God. The order of the Son of God is another way of saying the pattern that he lived his life by. And that's exactly what you were teaching. Heaven came to the doctor because people lived after the order of the Son of God. I know it's associated generally with that, but. But the priesthood calls us all into that order. When we're baptized by a priesthood ordinance, we're brought into the order of the Son of God. The temple ordinances more fully bring us into that order of the Son of God. And the commission is live out the patterns of the Son of God, which is so cool. I mean, even in the nickname Melchizedek. Does everyone know. Here's a little nerd moment. The Melchizedek means king of righteousness. Melek Zedek, even its nickname is. Reminds us of him. And it says anyone who lives who's a part of this general assembly of the Church of the Firstborn lives after the order of the Son of God. And there were two spots I was going to show you. One is verse 30. Look at that. Like, you'll see a pattern of living in verse 30. That's the order of the Son of God, the way that he would live, the principles he lived by. You also see it in our holy temples today. And that's on the tip end, right? The, the. The laws that we covenant to obey. Law is another way of saying pattern or order. It's like these are the order, the pattern, the way that the Son of God lived. And that's why heaven and the influence of heaven flow into your life as you live those. So that's actually. Oh, and the kid one. Look how cute. The question how do I live like Jesus? Jesus. It's so cute, right? How do I live the order? And so if you have the posters that I want you to. We should teach our kids and our families what this means. And so that when everyone passes it this week, they think to themselves, how do I live after the order and the manner and the pattern of the Son of God? And your verses were the very practical ways of doing it. Because we could talk about with our friends families, how should we do that this week? How do we more particularly bring the power of heaven into our situations, into our friends situations? One of them is priesthood, ordinance and blessing. Another one is living the patterns and, and seeing, seeing that happen. And I think we can do that. Anyone can do that. Anybody can. What were those words saying? One more time, because they're so good.
- [38:24]
B
Strengthen your brethren in all your conversation, in all your prayers, in all your expectations, in all you're doing.
- [38:29]
A
Yeah. And the last verse. And I am with you to bless you and to deliver you forever. That's true about him and that can be true about us. We can be people of blessing and people of deliverance to any and everyone that, that we meet. Let's, let's do that this week. Let's live that out, and then we'll see you next week.