Transcript for 2 Nephi 31-33 Part 1 • Dr. Kerry Muhlestein • Mar 18 - Mar 24 • Come Follow Me

This is some of the most impactful doctrine and chapters in the Book of Mormon. And we're going to see that in a lot of ways Nephi is summing up everything he learned from his vision and he's going to teach us some really fundamental things that then I hope that our audience for the rest of studying the Book of Mormon will keep their eye up because they're going to see these themes and we'll look at some of the times that it comes back really clearly, but you're going to find all sorts of other ways where it's a little less clear, but the themes, the things that Nephi teaches We'll just keep coming back to us as we get these most important and fundamental doctrines of the Book of Mormon.

Thanks for having me, glad to be here.

Let's set a little context. Then we're going to do a pre-test. This is how Nephi wraps up his last lecture as it were. Let's review what second Nephi has been. Second Nephi has been. It's wound up the story line to begin with, but then it's been having his brother and Isaiah bear testimony of Christ. And then we get a couple of chapters and that's what we've just finished of Nephi talking about Isaiah's witness of Christ and coming up, both Jacob and Isaiah, they're focusing on covenant and Christ and Christ fulfilling the covenant. And then Nephi interprets that a little bit. And then we get to the chapters we're in now, which is when Nephi is going to really clearly and plainly bear his own testimony of Christ. And as I said, it's based in a lot of ways off of both his study of Isaiah and so on, but largely off of experiences that he had in his vision of the tree of life. And we're going to see some of that language in there and him referring to that vision a few times. That's where we get his bearing or teaching us about the doctrine of Christ as his final farewell message and his desire to really strongly bear testimony of Christ.

I don't think we have enough data or information to really tell, but my impression is once Nephi is, and this would fit in with his character. Once Nephi is told, this is what he needs to do. He does it. So my guess would be we're not looking at a decade in the writing. it probably takes a while to write. This is pretty impressive stuff, and he's carving it on metal, but the vision itself took place a long time before this. But I think you're right, his rewriting of it couldn't have been that long before, and he's very intentional in the way he sets up the whole record, the sole small plates, first and second, if I would ever, we'd like to call them. For example, I had on no Reynolds who talked about how he sees in First Nephi Chapter 10, a couple of verses there, the theme of the entire plates, and he makes a pretty convincing argument that Nephi has intentionally crafted this to help us see that if we will ask God and then choose to follow what God tells us to do. And we're going to see that theme in what we're going to talk about today. We'll ask God what we should do and then do it. If we make the choice, we have those two choices follow or not. But if we make the choice to follow, then these tender mercies and these amazing things happen to us. So I think we will see that this is a pretty tightly-themed and written work that seems to have been planned out from the beginning. And that also indicates that Nephi didn't drag this out over decades and decades.

Yeah, and that theme of asking and following.

I'm playing on doing that as well.

And at the same time, I would say, well, it is carefully crafted. You still get, and these chapters are dinner day or like, secondly five, four or something, this feeling of this outburst of deep-seated feeling desire, you may have carefully crafted it, but he is still really feeling this as he writes this. It's coming from the very tender spots of his heart.

I'm glad we can look at it and think of it that way. And now maybe let's jump in. I'd like to start off with how I start my class and I'm going to ask you guys to guess what my students usually would respond because you probably have students who would usually respond the same way. I start with a pre-test and I say, okay, I'm going to write up on the board. You guys tell me, what are the elements of the doctrine of Christ? Because this is where we get that phrase. It comes from, signify 31 and we'll see it comes from elsewhere in the scriptures where this is where it's introduced. What would you guess they tell me when we say, what are the elements of the doctrine of Christ?

We want you to respond the way your students would respond. What would they typically respond?

And then throw on and dirty the end.

Yeah, I think you're right. And while that is absolutely no doubt part of the doctrine of Christ, I think we are limiting what it is a little bit because we import article of faith for which is also absolutely inspired and crucial, but we think, okay, that's the whole story. I want to go through a little bit of a scripture study skill, and I know we're all trying to magnify the way we can teach scripture study skills. I hope it will help us see that there's a little bit more to it and some crucial elements that are more than faith repentance, baptism, gift to the Holy Ghost and enter into the end. As important as those are, I'm not belittling those. Those are still the core of there, but there's some other core elements. What we're going to find is that Nephi uses a technique that is used by a lot of ancient writers, Israelites and elsewhere in the ancient Near East, that we will call inclusios. That's a phrase we often use to describe this. And it's when they say, at the beginning of something, here's what I'm talking about. And then they say at the end, okay, that's what I talked about. And so you know that everything in between, is what they talked about. It fits under that topic. We want to look for the inclusions to begin with. We'll see if we can find those and then we'll say, okay, now we need to make sure that we understand that everything in here is part of the doctrine of Christ and let's not leave it out. Look in the first couple of verses and tell me, where does Nephi tell us he's going to teach us about the doctrine of Christ?

Yeah, that's where he introduces it. It doesn't take him long. Now that he's writing up, this is his topic. This is his message and he's not going to vary from it. So you get verse two, wherefore the things which I have written suffice with me, save. He's saying, I could be done except this is what I have to do. save it be a few words which I must be concerning the doctrine of Christ. Wherefore I shall speak unto you, plainly, according to the plaintiffs of my prophecy. That's the beginning, Inclusio. Telling us everything after this until I tell you I'm done, everything after this is the doctrine of Christ. We're going to see that the last verse in chapter 31 is that ending, Inclusio. Then in a little while, we'll see he reopens in 32, but Verse 21, and now behold, my beloved brethren, this is the way, this is the John by the way. And there is none other way, nor name given under heaven whereby man can be saved in the kingdom of God. So notice how he's focusing on Christ so much there. And now behold, this is the doctrine of Christ. And the only and two doctrine of the Father and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost, which is one God without amen. He's made it very, very clear. Everything between verse two and verse 21 is the doctrine of Christ. That's kind of given us our text to search through and see if we can look and identify what is the doctrine of Christ. I think we're going to see some patterns that are fantastic. And it is going to be everything we talked about, but I hope a little bit more. If we jump back in then, verse three tells us a little bit more about how excited he is to tell us this and to do it plainly. Verse four, we get out wherefore because I'm going to speak the doctrine of Christ and because it should be plain. That's what that wherefore tells us. It's linking those two things to what he's doing now because of all that. Here's what I need you to do. It's basically what he's saying. I would that you should remember that I have spoken unto you concerning the prophet, which the Lord showed unto me, that should baptize the Lamb of God, which should take away the sense of the world. Immediately, he's harkening back to his vision. This is where he learned about this, is from his vision. But he poses us a question in verse five. Let's explore this together. The questions that he asks us. First of all, how much more need have we? This is in verse five. How much more need have we been unholy to be baptized, you even by water? I want you to note, we have a theme of Christ being holy that's introduced. Keep that in mind. And that we need to be baptized. But then he asks, I would ask of you, my beloved brethren, where in the Lamb of God did fulfill all righteousness in being baptized by water, know ye not that he was holy, but not withstanding he being holy, he showeth unto the children of man that, according to the flesh. He humbleeth himself before the Father and witnesses unto the Father, that he would be obedient unto him in keeping his commandments. So it seems to me that he's telling us first of all, if we're on our answer question one, we need to answer question two a little bit more. Question two is baptism we say is partially for having your sins washed away and being sanctified and joining the church of the lamb as it were. Well, he is the lamb. He has no sins to be washed away. So under our normal way of thinking about this, He has no need to be baptized, but there's an interesting irony here, and that irony is that if he hadn't been baptized, then he would have need to be baptized. Because his father has commanded everybody that they have to be baptized. Christ would not be obedient if he weren't baptized, but the emphasis here is that Christ does his father's will. He always, always does his father's will. And so he humbles himself and witnesses that he'll keep the commandments. That's one of the emphasis. And we're going to see that's a theme that keeps coming up as we look at the doctrine of Christ. That emphasizes all the more how much we need it because we aren't holy. We do have sins. And we also need to be obedient. We also need to submit ourselves to the will of the Father. So we have this double need.

Yeah, which is when we renew what we did at baptism. And that's the powerful thing, and you were mentioning in this, hey, one of the powerful things about baptism. is that we bear witness by our actions. We become the symbol, we become the testimony. That's powerful for us. It's powerful that Christ did it. We can come back to some of these other verses. Well, let's just jump to verse 10 to talk about what John was just saying there. And he said unto the children of men, follow thou me. Wherefore, my beloved brother, and how can we follow Jesus? Say, we should be willing to keep the commandments of the Father. And then he's going to explain what those commands are. So we'll come back to that. In many ways, this is the whole point of verses four through ten. The reason Nephi is telling us what he saw in the vision and what Christ did because he's trying to teach us what you need to do is follow him. It's kind of a catchy phrase when you think about it.

But that really is what Nephaya is trying to tell us here. He begins his leading point. It is about baptism. Baptism is definitely necessary. But in a way, baptism is Nephaya's tool for showing us we need to emulate Christ. That's the key. We have to do whatever Christ did. And in this case, it's specifically baptism and then the other things that he'll talk about. The real emphasis is follow Christ. Christ is the example our We have to do what he did if this is going to work for us.

which also Lehigh and his dream did. We know he saw that as well. From the very beginning, I find that so powerful from the beginning of the Nephite story. Lehigh's dream is right there at the beginning and then Nephize vision follows right after. And they are given what they need then that will still be Nephize guiding star at the end of his life all these years later, whether they've set up a different civilization and everything else. At the very beginning, they were given the key elements that they needed. And it starts with follow Christ. We're also going to see this rod at the word of God as another theme that is strong in this. So everything was given to them that they needed it at the beginning, but I think Nephize had a lifetime of trying to understand what he was taught when he was young.

There's a lot that we don't know about this. We can put together a couple little pieces of clues here and there. It's clear from restoration scripture from the book of Moses that baptism starts with Adam. So baptism is known about somewhere along the line as they have other Washington's introduced. It would seem that somehow the clarity of that gets lost. Now, I'm not sure how much that's the case because when we get to the New Testament story and you have John the Baptist, note the name, who is doing baptism is not like everyone saying, wow, that's new. That's different. That's weird. I don't know if they're just seen this as a different ritual washing or if there was some kind of understanding that just has never conveyed in the Old Testament or something, but clearly in the Old Testament, they don't have the understanding of baptism that we have. That's part of the importance of what Lehigh and Nephi experience as they are leaving Jerusalem. And I would argue that as they're leaving Jerusalem, they're going to continue to live the lower law, live the law of Moses, but they're going to be given a higher law understanding or higher gospel understanding. And that starts with that Lehigh's dreams and Nephi's vision. Lehigh is a few dreams that help them understand this and then this vision. So that as they are leaving as they are beginning this, they start to understand who Christ is in a different way and how to enter into that covenant with him in a way that doesn't seem to be, we have no record of that being part of the culture that they've come from. Now, I think there is some memory somewhere, somehow I don't know, and I based that on again, it was with Adam and it doesn't seem to be shocking with John, but there's zero evidence for it in the Old Testament. So they are clearly developing a different Christology, and part of that is baptism is part of the covenant that is new or renewed or restored for them.

Absolutely. And I would say that's the beginning of the doctrine of Christ is that you need to have your will swallowed up in God's will. Jacob would say it reconcile yourself to the will of God. Nephi expresses this in fact just interviewing John Tanner. going through Nephi's song, second Nephi 4, and he talks about when we get to that part, make me to shake at the appearances in it, and he talks about how that's an evidence of Nephi wanting to desire the same things God desires, and stay away from the same thing God wants to stay away from. He wants to have his will swallow up in God's will. Well, that is Christ incarnate, right? If you think of Christ, that's what the Book of Mormon is going to teach us, primary characteristics of Christ. His will is swallowed up and the Father's will. And I think that's where Nephi is starting here. Now, that will lead us to baptism in all these other things as we'll see. But it has to start with our desire to follow Christ, the way Christ followed the Father.

And I'd say that's the key difference. We're going to look at what was going on in Jerusalem when we high and if I leave. And you see this with laymen and lymule. Among many, not everyone, but among many, there's a pretty clear trend of thinking. We are doing what God asks us to do because we're going through these motions. We're offering sacrifices. We're keeping the Sabbath day. But we had learned in Jeremiah and elsewhere. Well, they're also killing children. They're worshiping idols, all these kinds of things. But they feel like God will protect them. They're keeping the covenant because they're going through those outward motions. and Nephi and Lehi start trying to teach you know it's more than that because they come to understand you've got to submit your will and Jacob will join in on that as he gets old enough. You've got to submit your will whereas layman and layman and layman will say they're not wicked and Jerusalem can't be destroyed and that has to be at least partially relying on we're going through the motions and Nephi here at the beginning of the station. This is not just about emotions and we're going to see he comes back to it in verse 13 but it's not just about going through the motions it's about your heart wanting to desire what God desires.

And I think it's part of her so, in fact, we may or may not have time to get to it, but one of the places I think you have, the doctrine of Christ reiterated, is that the end of Moses chapter 6, where God is teaching Adam, in there he has the teaching that you are born through water blood in the Spirit, and then you have to be born again through water blood in the Spirit, and it's explicitly part of the doctrine of Christ in That iteration and it is here. So I would agree again that this idea is part of being changed as John was talking about the water washes you away and then the water washes the world away and then the Holy Ghost will make you more godly. So we'll look at that as we go along, but I think that's absolutely part of it.

Yep, which are the words that are used in Moses 6 when we go through that iteration of the doctrine of Christ. That's exactly right. Let's keep going. In verse 10, he's told us you have to show that you're willing to follow Jesus, who is following God. And that's a trail that they're going to make explicit. Jesus follows God. We follow Jesus. Therefore, we are following God. That's something Christ has taught so many times. Book a Mormon and New Testament. We have to do that by keeping the commandments. And so, then he says, and the father said, repenci, repenci, and be baptized in the name of my beloved son. That's the commandment. That's going to be his point. You're not following God if you're not doing what he told us to do. And also, the voice of the son came in and we say, he that is baptized in my name to him, will the father give the Holy Ghost like unto me? Wherefore, follow me and do the things which you have seen me do. That's the reason for baptism. It's too fold here. It's because we want to do what God asks us to do and that's what he asks us to do. And so that we can receive the Holy Ghost and we're going to see the Holy Ghost as a huge part of the doctrine of Christ. Those are the key elements, at least the way Nephi is phrasing it here. And repentance is certainly a part of that. We're going to see eventually they'll get into saying that you should believe as well. So faith is in there, but faith in all these iterations are faith or belief. Doesn't get mentioned as much as we would think. It's certainly a part of it, but it's not the emphasis that we would guess. And then in verse 13, we get the part we were just talking about. Wherefore my beloved brethren, I know that if you show follow the sun with full purpose of heart. acting know hypocrisy and no deception before God, but with real intent. It has to be real. It has to be that your will really is swallowed up in God's will, or at least you're trying. That's what you want. Even if you're starting with the desire to have your will changed, that's what God's asking. Then all of these other things can happen, but if it's not with real intent, then none of this actually works. None of us have pure intent. No one is 100% pure in their intent. That's what this mortal probation is for in the attorney's sacrifice of crisis for is to get us to that point. We're not there yet, but if we're trying, if we're working on it, that's what he's looking for.

Exactly. So you may sometimes be talking to God and actually in my prayer this morning. This was something like, I'm praying for this and I want to be this. I know there's a part of me that doesn't. I really do. So help me. Help me get to where the whole of me wants that instead of just most of me or part of me wants that. In those conversations where we're really genuine with God, no hypocrisy that I think we have the chance for true change. True sanctification.

Often to ourselves, we don't want to admit there's a part of me that really is Colonel. Fallen, devilish, whatever scriptural phrases you want to use. We sometimes have to get to where we'll admit that to ourselves and then we have to talk to God about it. That's what Nephi is telling us anyway. But when we do that with real intent, then we repent of our sins, witnessing under the Father, this witness is going to be a big thing that you're willing to take upon you the name of Christ by baptisms, becoming like Christ, taking the name of upon us. We have to be willing and then eventually we actually have to do it. And how do we do that? Yay by following your Lord and Savior down into the water, according to His Word, Then, shall you receive the Holy Ghost? We want to talk about the Holy Ghost a bit here, because this is an expert's going to be about the Holy Ghost. But I hope we can see this part about the willingness to follow is what will automatically lead. You don't get there without belief or faith. It's the first 19 that we'll finally see the word faith used. Without faith or belief, you don't get there, but you have to have this willingness to follow. And that's what's going to automatically lead you to repent. Well, if you want to repent, then of course you're going to want to be baptized and have those sins washed away. And then, of course, you're going to receive the Holy Ghost, and that's going to start the next set of change. wonderful.

Amen to that. I would agree with you and let's throw in just another little element. Baptism isn't event. But remember the sacrament we're renewing Baptism. So every single week, except for general estate conference, we can renew our baptism. So that automatically makes it both an event and a process, which is exactly the same phrase I use when I teach about being born again. It's both an event and a process or it's an event and a series of events. And then to try and be funny, I throw in with my students. It's a series of fortunate events. And I, with those who are familiar with unfortunate events. So it is an event, but it's an event that has to be repeated again and again and again, so it's in the process as well.

Yeah, sometimes I feel like keeping confidence in following Christ and going to the gospel is a little bit like a rodeo. Every time you get thrown off the horse, you're going to get back on. That's really the question. Another way we could phrase that is, every week you mess up, are you going to come back Sunday and take of that sacrament with real intent and say, I'm going to try again. And I think that's all God is asking of us. We're all going to fall. We're all going to get thrown up. The very best rodeo riders always get thrown. But the question is, are you going to get up and come back to him and try again? That's something we can do daily and weekly.

It's a beautiful thought. The idea that he says, yeah, I'll be here waiting for you next week. Yeah.

The answer is, as long as it takes and that's different for each one of us, as long as it takes as many tries as it takes. But the thing that ups our game as it were, if we're going to go with the rodeo, that metaphor, and I did a little bit of rodeo when I was younger guy, so I understand this a little bit, good luck staying on that horse if you don't have a rope to hold on to. That Bronx gonna throw you in seconds. You need something to hold onto. We're gonna talk about a couple of things to hold onto. We're gonna say it's the word of God. We're gonna end up coming to a definition and maybe a different definition than we often have of the word of God. But it's gonna start right here. Once you've been baptized, you receive the Holy Ghost, yay, so I'm back in verse 13, then come with the baptism of fire. That's that sanctifying imagery, and of the Holy Ghost, and then can you speak with the tongue of angels? That's a phrase that we're going to come back to in 32. So we need to remember that. and shout praises under the Holy One of Israel. So my question that I'd really love to explore only for a second because we have so much to talk about. Why would we start to shout praises to the Holy One of Israel when we have the tongue of angels which apparently we have because we have the Holy Ghost with us? What is it about having the Holy Ghost with us that would cause us to shout praises to the Holy One of Israel? I don't know exactly what the answer is.

I love that bringing the tree back in, because think of the joy that Lee High had when he per took of the fruit of the tree, which I think we filled to some degree when we're sanctified by the Holy Ghost. Let's make it clear that we're sanctified both by Christ and the Holy Ghost. It brings that that atoning blood of Christ into our souls. I love what you said, Hank, because it makes me stop and realize that those times where I have felt forgiveness are the times I am the most grateful. for God's sending his son. When I've recognized that I needed forgiveness, and then I've felt that that's when I say, oh, thank you, God. Thank God for your son, Jesus Christ. That's when I do want to sing praises. I like that.

Yeah, absolutely. And let's touch on it now and then I think we'll come back to it a few times because and I want to agree with this idea that there are a lot of rules that we need to focus on it. But here's a spoiler alert for some of the things that we're going to do as we go along. We can look at several places in the Book of Mormon. where we have the doctrine in 30527 is called the gospel of Christ. But the doctrine or the gospel of Christ talk to us. And we'll see that each one ends with an emphasis on the Holy Ghost. But each one talks about a different role of the Holy Ghost. It has a different part that it's emphasizing. That's wonderful because we're going to talk a few times about how important it is to have the Holy Ghost with us or the Spirit with us and all of these different ways. So one of those ways is the sanctifying power of the Holy Ghost. But let's keep question in mind as it were and keep exploring that because it's such a crucial topic and I think in many ways it ends up being the emphasis. So this shows how good a student you are of the scriptures thing. It shows us that this is the emphasis of the doctrine of Christ. So is it right if we just kind of keep rolling with that? We had a little teaser there.

We're going to make sure everybody listens to the whole episode now so that they can get to the end. Yeah. We're going to have a little time spent on the Holy Ghost here, and this time it's going to be a little bit of a different emphasis, but we're going to see this emphasis repeated a number of times. So verse 14, but behold, my beloved brethren, thus came the voice of the sun unto me. I don't remember him reporting this in his vision. I'm assuming that's where it took place, and he just didn't get around to reporting it then. But anyway, unto me, saying, after you have repented of your sins and witness unto the Father that you are willing to keep my commandments, so there's that same doctrine that we've been talking about. By the baptism of water and have received the baptism of fire and the Holy Ghost and can speak with a new tongue, ye even with the tongue of angels, and after this you should deny me it would have been better for you that you had not known me. So we know that part like once you have the truth, you need to act on it. You've left neutral ground forever. But now look at verse 15. And I heard a voice from the Father saying, Yay, the words of my beloved are true and faithful. So notice Christ has borne witness that we need to follow the Father. And then the Father bears witness that Christ is telling the truth and I would assume and we'll see this explicit in other iterations of the gospel of Christ or the doctrine of Christ that the Holy Ghost is bearing witness of all of that the whole time. We're getting a little preview here. We're going to see it elsewhere. I'm going to argue that part of the doctrine of Christ is that we're all entitled to two divine witnesses of every member of the Godhead. The Father and the Son will bear witness just now. We're bearing witness of the Holy Ghost. We just read that. The Son and the Holy Ghost will bear witness of the Father and the Father and the Holy Ghost will bear witness of the Son. We get two divine witnesses for every member of the Godhead and they are unified. in each other and testify in each other. I think that is part of the doctrine of Christ. And then we can throw in there that what we need to have our will swallowed up so that we become unified like that, which can take you back to John 17 and things we talked about last year with the need for unification and that I explore in that book that you mentioned earlier, this idea of all of us becoming unified and connected through the Holy Ghost and Christ.

You're right. Again, this is that coming to it to understand a higher understanding that they get as they leave Jerusalem. And this is going to be a key element. And I don't know what your experience is, but as I go through the book Mormon with all sorts of groups, we have this interesting thing where it's so clear that they're three, but then we get times like with a binadaire or even read a verse here in what crisis scene where it talks about they're just one God. The key to understanding that is exactly what we're looking at here. They are unified and Christ and the Holy Ghost submit their will to the Father so that it is as if they were the Father. There are three different beings, but in some ways they're one. And the Book of Mormon treats them that way and is less concerned with making these distinctions than we often are. Sometimes we're confused as we jump back and forth between weight three, weight one. What understanding this unity that is part of the doctrine of Christ, if we understand how core it is to our doctrine that they are fully unified, then that makes some of these other passages make more sense to us.

In fact, I think it is the most common theme in the Gospel of John Christ testifying that he only does the Father's will. So if you're accepting him, you're accepting the Father. If you know him, you know the Father. And he talks about that more than any other topic in the Gospel of John. And we're seeing it here. It is the doctrine of Christ. And notice what he introduced at the end of verse 15 that will become a key element of this. If you've received these things from my beloved, and they are true and faithful, he that endure to the end, the same shall be saved. And now, then we get Nephi saying, and now my beloved brother, and I know by this that unless a man shall endure to the end, in following the example of the sun, of the living God. So there's that element again. He cannot be safe and during the end, but he's telling us exactly what we need to endure to the end and it's in following the example, but later he's going to teach us how to do that. Then we get in verse 17 and going to suggest this that we get a reiteration. He's just done the doctrine of Christ for us. And he's going to do it again. This is typical Nephi R Isaiah fashion. If you're going to do it, you're going to do it twice. Just to make sure people have it down. That repetition and nephasis is meaningful. It says, wherefore, do the things that I've told you. I've seen your Lord and Redeemer should do for this is the cause they've been shown on to me. That's the whole reason I had this vision. It's the whole reason I've seen any of this is that you know how to follow Christ. And that's what you need to do. And specifically, that you might know the gate by which you should enter. For the gate by which you should enter is repentance and baptism by water. Then come at the remission of your sins by fire and the Holy Ghost. So notice that he says remission of sins comes by the Holy Ghost. The baptism of fire which is the Holy Ghost. The symbolism is in baptism and washing it away. But the reality is when that atoning sacrifice is carried into your soul by the member of the Godhead that can enter into your soul, and that's the Holy Ghost.

Yeah, so we have all that symbolism in water, having your sins washed away, burying the old person being born again as we've just been talking about rising from the grave as a new person. So all the symbolism is there and there's certainly a power in that priesthood ordinance. But as you just said, it's not complete until you receive the Holy Ghost. And that is the member of the Godhead that can enter into your soul, right? He's volunteer to not have a body until the very end. so that he can interact with us in a different way. And part of that is, has been able to enter into us and carry that atoning power of Christ. This is blood into our souls to really purify us, purge us, sanctify us. All these different words that we use, the symbolism of fire is applied to it because of that, the ability to just change. Fire transforms the state of something. You burn wood. It changes it. You skip the liquid state and you go from the solid to the gas. It changes the state of that. That's the symbolism of this fire. It's going to change you. So your sins, your mission of your sins and your change comes from the Holy Ghost. Now, I don't want to minimize baptism. It's absolutely crucial part of this, but it's the beginning. And the Holy Ghost is where it's leading to.

Yeah, you have to be baptized by water and fire. The Hebrew phase is shnay him, both of them. You have to have both for this to really work. And I think that's exactly what we're learning here. It's a two-part process.

We're not going to find a better witness for us. And again, we don't want to minimize baptism. This chapter makes it clear. Baptism is 100% crucial and necessary, not sufficient, but necessary. And he goes on to talk about that in verse 18, right? You've entered in by the way. And the father has witnessed and the Holy Ghost has witnessed of the father and the son. So you get this very witness of each other again, that if you'll fulfill that promise, then you'll receive the Holy Ghost. Verse 19, and now my beloved brother and after you've gotten into this straight narrow path, I would ask if all is done. Behold, I say unto you, nay, for you have not come thus far, save it were by the Word of Christ. Now we're going to have to keep that phrase in mind with unshaken faith in Him. So that's where we get our faith being explicitly mentioned. Reline wholly upon the merits of him who is mighty to save, recognizing you and I will never merit a salvation on our own. We cannot merit it. There is one being who does merit it, and he allows us to write his coat tells us it were. Since he merits it, we can go through his merits, but it's only through Christ. So that absolute focus on Christ again and faith in Him.

And the way it's presented here, that's such an interesting paradox to so many others, but it's not to us. I know lots of my Christian friends who only I love, they will say, well, you say you have to be baptized, so it's a work that's going to save you when really you have to rely fully on the merits of Christ. Well, here we have Nephi saying, you have to be baptized so that you can holy rely on the merits of Christ. It's part of holy rely on the merits of Christ. It's entering into that covenant relationship with him, allowing him and the Holy Ghost to change you. That is part of relying holy on his merits. So the fact that you've got baptized isn't okay. That was really hard for you to get baptized. So you did it. So now you deserve this. No, that's the process by which I start to rely and invite those merits into my life.

That is so absolutely true. And we see that in Moses chapter 6. We're God speaking to Adam. And I assume it's Christ. I assume it's Jehovah there. But specifically says you're born physically this way and you're born again or born spiritually this way. And I think he ties in the similarity so that we will recognize how very real that rebirth. And he's talking specifically about baptism receiving the Holy Ghost. But then it's that process that we already talked about in the John highlighted so well. that baptism is so literally a birth just like our physical birth was. He emphatically makes that point there on Moses chapter six versus 59 and 60.

And that's what he's saying to us here. And we'll see him talking about it that way in a few verses later where he talks about being coming a child in that way. We'd better jump back into verse 20. This is one there. I mean, we've written songs about it and all sorts of stuff. Very important. Wherefore, ye must press forward with a steadfastness in Christ, having a perfect brightness of hope. I love that phrase. You can have a happy hope because of these things. And a love of God and of all men, so there's our covenant connection right there. We know baptism is how you enter the covenant, but if we want to make it more specific, these are the two primary commandments in the covenant. Love God and love each other. Wherefore, because you have to do that, if ye shall press forward feasting upon the Word of Christ, and we're going to come back to that phrase in chapter 32. And in dirt of the end, behold, thus say at the Father, ye shall have eternal life. He's just given us the formula for eternal life. All these things that we've talked about, relying through your faith, falling your will up in God's will, holy on the merits of Christ, baptism, repentance so that you can be changed and keep doing that in the way that we'll specifically look at in a minute. If you could do that for your whole life, you'll have eternal life. Now this phrase and dirt of the end can be a tiring phrase, but I hope that it becomes less so as we specifically, in chapter 32, he tells us the way we need to do that. As we talk about and dirt of the end, maybe I could just share a story. Since this happened, I've never been able to think of the phrase and dirt of the end without thinking of this particular story, if I could share it with you. And a word I was in before the word I'm in now. I was the high priest group leader and my secretary was this guy. He'd been a bishop before everyone, just this magnificent older gentleman. His name was Skip. So fun, so evasive, so uplifting. The problem was, and I never did figure out what caused this condition, but he had a condition where his lungs were slowly failing. He was always on oxygen. He could come to church for sacrament meetings. This is back when we did three hours with a canister, but the canister couldn't force air into his lungs enough that he could go more than an hour. So we'd have to go home during the second hour to be on the machine that would force air into his lungs and he could come back for the third hour. And he was slowly dying and we knew it. And it was sad, but still he was serving in fantastic, amazing ways and doing all sorts of things. Well, I moved out of that word. And when I went to skip funeral, this is the story that my former bishop now, the high priest group leader told about him. He said that he was sitting, visiting a whisky if he was still the secretary of the high priest group leadership. He was there to kind of say, I think you're getting weak enough. Maybe we should relieve you of your ministry assignments. And he said he was getting in such little oxygen that he kept falling asleep during their conversation. He'd fall asleep for a second and wake back up. That's how weak he was because he was getting such little oxygen. And he was there to kind of convince him, can we relieve you of your ministering assignments? And he said, skip said. Well, let me do it just one more month and then let's talk about it again. And then he died two days later. I hope people don't hear that and say, OK, well, then I should never say, no, I can't do this because there may be circumstances where it is time to stop and probably for him, it may have been wise or too of stop. But you see where his heart was. He has so little oxygen to can't stay awake, but he still wants to keep trying. That's enduring to the end and it's inspiring to me.

That's so important because I so often when we're asked that question, we hear them asking our definition of it rather than what they're actually asking, which has entered into you has he changed you? Are you different person because of Christ? Yeah, the answer to that is yes, but we still have to endure to the end. Let's talk about how we endured the end. So let's let Nephi wrap this up in verse 21. We've already looked at that where he says that this is the doctrine of Christ, but note how he says again, the emphasis on Christ, There is none other way nor name given under heaven whereby man can be saved in the kingdom of God, and now behold, this is the doctrine of Christ. And the only in true doctrine, now note how even as he calls to the doctrine of Christ, he's going to reframe it just a little bit to get that unity element that we talked about that is part of the doctrine of Christ. This is the doctrine of Christ and the only true doctrine of the Father and the Son and the Holy Ghost, which is one God without end amen. Now isn't it interesting, the one ordinance we do in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Ghost is baptism, which has been such a focal point here, that unity of the three and the witness of the three is incredibly important. And I think, me, if I thought he was done, once he'd said that. And it is, it's a beautiful, powerful ending. I can almost picture him getting up the next morning saying, I thought I was done, but the spirits telling me, I'm going to say some more, because I like to be playing. I like to make sure you get it. So let me say some more, you can really get it. Verse 32, he reopens what the doctrine of crisis. And we don't have the beginning in inclusive. We do kind of have an end, but we don't have the beginning. But I think it's very clear because he says, well, okay, I see you're still pondering this. I'm going to explain it more.

But the beautiful thing is that I think he's right. I'm so glad you added this clarification. You're right. He is going to teach us that it is what we have to be and what we be just leads into doing emphasis is not the doing it's the being but how do you know what to do well? It's how what you become and he's going to teach us that here. So he says verse two. Do you not remember that I said under you that after you had received the Holy Ghost? So here's this emphasis on the Holy Ghost that you could speak with the tongue of angels. So remember, he said that back in verse 13. And now, how could you speak with the tongue of angels? Save it where by the Holy Ghost. He's teaching us. This is what angels do. Angels have the Holy Ghost with them. The Holy Ghost, and we learned this actually in like John 14 and 16. The Holy Ghost light Christ only says what the Father says. So if you're speaking with the Holy Ghost, you're speaking with the Father would speak. Angels speak by the power of the Holy Ghost. That's what makes them speaking as if they're angels. And that may help us expand our definition of angels. It says, how could you speak? Say, if we're by the Holy Ghost verse three, angels speak by the power of the Holy Ghost. Wherefore they speak the words of Christ. Now, this is what we need to do. It's figure out the words of Christ. That's what we have to feast on. We press forward. by feasting on the words of Christ. And that's what the Rod is. If we're going to go back to his vision, the Rod is the Word of God or the Word of Christ. You have to hold on to that. That's what's going to allow you to endure to the end. Now, if we were to ask most people and we said, when we hear the Rod, Word of God, Word of Christ, they would say, that's your Scriptures. Some people would think to add in conference talks. I think that's again true, but a subset. We're going to let Nephi define this for us. Because they speak by the power of the Holy Ghost, they speak the word of Christ. Wherefore, I said, and you feast upon the words of Christ for behold. Now, here's an important phrase. The words of Christ will tell you all things. There's your hypersentage word, John. That will tell you all things what you should do. Now, let's not stop there. Wherefore? Now, after I have spoken these words, if you cannot understand them, it will be because you ask not neither do you knock. Now, we've had a little bit of that in 2nd if I 31, but we'll see that in the other iterations of the gospel of Christ asking. And notice Nephi's vision starts because he's asking he's pondering, asking is a key part of knowing how to press forward, prayer and asking. And you're seeing it really emphasized here in chapter 32. If you're not getting it, it's because you ask not either do you knock. This is one of the themes of the entire set of small plates. Nephi says, you have to ask, and to anyone that does ask God will reveal it. He tells his brothers, have you asked? And they say, no, he's continually trying to show the difference between those who ask and get an answer and do something, and those who don't ask, so they don't do what they should do. That's part of the theme of Nephi, and I think it's because he understands it as part of the doctrine of Christ. If you don't ask, you're not going to get anything, so you will perish in the darkness. Now, verse five, behold, again, I say unto you that if you will enter in by the way and receive the Holy Ghost, it will show unto you all things what you should do. Now, what was it that just a second ago he told us would show us all things that we should do, verse 3. It's the word of Christ. In verse 5, he says it's the Holy Ghost. He's equating the two. He is telling us what the word of Christ really is. It's whatever the Holy Ghost is teaching you. The Scriptures are important. But it's because they allowed the Holy Ghost to reveal things to us. What we hear from President Nelson and the first presidency in core of the 12th is important, but it's because of what they revealed to us. In fact, if you'll let me, I'd like to read something from President Nook, at this point it was Elder Oaks. This is from back in 1985 when he's fairly new in his calling. This is an article in the enzyme in January of 1985 called Scripture Reading and Revelation. This is when they're trying to get everyone ready for a new gospel doctrine here. And I'll just read a couple of parts from this. So this is Elder Oaks. What makes us different from most other Christians in the way we read and use the Bible and other scriptures are not the ultimate source of knowledge, but what precedes the ultimate source. The ultimate knowledge comes by revelation. If we skip down, he says, the idea that Scripture reading can lead to inspiration and revelation opens the door to the truth, that a Scripture is not limited to what it meant when it was written, but may also include what that Scripture means to a reader today. Even more, Scripture reading may also lead to current revelation on whatever else the Lord wishes to communicate to the reader at that time. We do not overstate the point when we say that the scriptures can be a yurem enthumm to assist each of us to receive personal revelation. Let me read the next verse because this is where we get the inclusion. Verse 6, behold, this is the doctrine of Christ. So what do you just told us basically verses one through five? This is the doctrine of Christ, and there will be no more doctrine given until after he shall manifest himself unto you in the flesh. And when he shall manifest himself unto you in the flesh, the things which he shall say unto you, shall you observe to do. I find that really interesting because this is the doctrine of Christ. Now, when Christ himself comes, maybe he'll tell you there's more. When he comes, he tells him the exact same thing. That's another spoiler. He is ended this whole Nephi's version of telling us the doctrine of Christ. He's ended it by saying, if you are going to endure to the end, you have to have the Holy Ghost with you to tell you what to do. That's the being part. You have to be the kind of person who's had your will swallowed up in God's will so that God will speak to you, you'll listen and act on it. But you have to have that revelation. In my view, the way Nephi is writing about it, the word of Christ is what we learn from the Holy Ghost as we study the scriptures. As we listen to general conference, as we are listening to things in Sacrament meeting, as we're taking of the Sacrament, whatever the Spirit is telling you, that's the word of God or the word of Christ. That's what we have to be doing to enter the end is following the promptings of the Spirit. Or in other words, President Nelson might put it, we have to hear him.

Yes, and no, is what I'll say. Yeah, how's that? She may have, again, both of them. It's going to show or tell all things that he's making an equation here. And I think it is the Holy Ghost, but we also know that Revelation doesn't always come the same way. It will come to different people in different ways and to the same person in different ways. I personally have had sometimes when words have literally come to my mind. There have been a few times, and it sounds like in this story, words came to mind. But I've also had times where I don't know that I'm saying I'm seeing a vision, but I can see. Well, I've had dreams where I've seen some things, but sometimes you can see how this is going to go or what you need to do. It's almost like God speaks in your mind. Sometimes in your heart, there are all sorts of ways that The Revolution could come. And that story where President Nelson is doing surgery on a heart, yet even as he is holding that heart in his hand, he doesn't know how he's supposed to solve this. He didn't want to do it, but the spirit told him to do it and so on. And then he heard something tell him, reduce the circumference. reduced the circumference. He heard something tell him that, but he still didn't know how to do it. Then he saw what he needed to do in the way he needed to plead it and he followed what he saw. So that's an example where he was both shown and told. Sometimes it's one, sometimes it's the other. A revelation happens in a lot of different ways and perhaps that's what Nephi is getting at here. But I think that if we can put it another way, the word of Christ or the Holy Ghost will communicate in several different ways all things that you should do. We also have to be clear sometimes he waits and sometimes he tells you you need to work on this on your own a little bit but sooner or later you're going to know what you're doing is the right way or not and so on that's part of this showing or being told all things you should do.

And you can also get in his new book, Heart of the Matter.

It's not just that you can have help, it's that you must have, right? Nephi is telling us there's only one way to endure to the end, and that's to have the Holy Ghost with you. To tell you or show you everything you need to do.

I'll tell you another way that happens for me. And it may be harder for it to happen in the day where we read our scriptures on the phones. But I have a number of times had just the picture of a verse that I know in my scriptures. And I can suddenly picture where it is on the page and what it's about. And so I know how to turn to it and find it. And this is what I need to do. I don't know how that would work on my phone. But it works when I get these pictures of my physical scriptures. Have you had that experience?

And sometimes it just comes to you like you can see it and sometimes I have heard not out loud but in my head I've heard voices a couple times right well I guess that's a dangerous thing to say on air I hear voices but you know what I mean God speaks to us in a lot of ways now Coming up in part two of this episode That state president said, okay, president of Packer, you keep saying we need to have the spirit to direct us in all these things. What do we need to do to make sure we have the spirit with us? And president Packer's answer was two words.