0:00:00 - 0:00:27 Revelation learning and discerning. Part one of two. This talk is based on Seek ye this Jesus and The Glory of God is intelligence books that are available on amazon.com and in free PDF form at upward thought.blogspot.com. This talk assumes that the listener believes in God believes in the Bible book 0:00:27 - 0:00:49 of Mormon doctrine and covenants and that Joseph Smith was a prophet. If that's not the case, you're invited to visit the blog or to watch more videos where a case for these things is made. So we'll start talking about revelation and what God can reveal. It's a simple question and you probably have a 0:00:49 - 0:01:10 pre baked answer, but I invite you to think about what you really believe versus what you would say, you believe on this topic. What do I mean by that? Well, we tend to think of this in other topics, uh like bowling and if you've ever taken a kid bowling, sometimes they have those inflatable gutters 0:01:09 - 0:01:32 to keep the ball within predetermined lanes. And uh revelation is one of these topics where we tend to have predetermined lanes and where we draw the lines may be quite different from where God draws the lines. So let's look at some scriptures to see where his lines are drawn on this topic. In Mark 422 0:01:31 - 0:01:52 Jesus says there's nothing hid, which shall not be manifested. Neither was anything kept secret but that it should come abroad in Jeremiah 3033 he says, call to me and I will answer you and will tell you great and hidden things that you have not known in moon I 10 5. It says by the power of the Holy 0:01:52 - 0:02:17 Ghost, you may know the truth of all things. So the question is, what is the domain of revelation? And God's answer is all things specifically, including all hidden things, all things that you don't know and all things that are, that are secret. Well, that might be very different than the bowling bumpers 0:02:16 - 0:02:42 that you have set up. So keep an open mind. What types of revelation are there? Well, there are three types, there uh is new truth that's independent of old truth. There's new truth that expands old truth and there is new truth that replaces old truth. So the first key insight here is that revelation 0:02:41 - 0:03:04 consists of new truth. It's additional information additional to what to what you already know. Now that word no is tricky. It's a fun word. Uh It doesn't really mean what we think it means when you say no, what you actually mean is believe. What's the difference between believing something and knowing 0:03:04 - 0:03:29 something well, it's OK to use them interchangeably as long as you remember what the, what you really mean. So uh to know something in the way that you probably use it uh would imply that it's final and complete. But by virtue of, of the definition of the word revelation means that something you thought 0:03:29 - 0:03:50 before, something you believed before was not final, it was either incomplete or incorrect. OK. So that's the first takeaway. Now, let's get back to these three types of new truth. So the first is new truth that is independent of old truth. This one's nice and safe. We feel comfortable with this one 0:03:49 - 0:04:11 . We are OK, getting around it in our thinking pajamas with our makeup off. So new truth that is independent of all truth, think of a Venn diagram where the circles do not overlap and the left circle is what you believe already. And the right circle is something new. So if you think of uh maybe you have 0:04:11 - 0:04:32 some knowledge about a car engine and then you learn something about having pet rabbits, probably there's no overlap there, right? So the second type is new truth that expands old truth. Now, in this case, maybe you know something about how to change the oil on a car and you learn something about how 0:04:32 - 0:04:52 to fix the air conditioning. So these are both related, but uh they don't contradict each other. The final type, which is the dangerous one. It's the one we're scared of. It's the one we only think about when we're in the mood and we have special preparation for it and we still feel uncomfortable. That's 0:04:52 - 0:05:15 new truth that replaces old truth. And in my opinion, this is the most important kind because the purpose of revelation is to teach us things and revelation that replaces old truth is the most valuable, it teaches us the most. So, what does this look like? Well, this is when you've got a Venn diagram 0:05:14 - 0:05:37 and circles are right on top of each other and you can't have both, you have to pick one. So in this case, uh using our car engine analogy, imagine if you had a horse and buggy and that's all you knew. And you obviously would derive a lot of value over that uh from that, over walking around. Uh but if 0:05:37 - 0:06:02 someone invented the car, you have a choice to make and that choice isn't always easy. So the Lord said in the Joseph Smith translation of John 724 judge not according to your traditions, but judge righteous judgment. This is very important because um when we talk about new truth that replaces old truth 0:06:02 - 0:06:27 , which we're going to dive into more deeply because it is difficult. We're talking about that type of truth. We have to think about what our traditions are and what it means to judge righteous judgment. So your tradition is whatever you currently believe, sometimes we talk about false traditions, but 0:06:26 - 0:06:49 um that might be redundant, right? If a tradition is what you currently believe, and if you believe that God knows more than you do, then you probably should assume that whatever you believe is incorrect or incomplete. And what that would imply is that whatever you currently believe there is something 0:06:48 - 0:07:16 better out there. So uh in, in one sense, there's an awful lot encoded into this short simple verse. Judge not according to your traditions. So don't, don't measure the correctness of new ideas based on what you currently believe. That's the first half, but judge righteous judgment. So what, what does 0:07:16 - 0:07:47 righteous mean? Well, righteous is uh what it more closely reflects God, right? So if you believe that God knows all things and you believe that He is better than you, then to judge righteous judgment is to measure the value of new ideas based on what God knows and what God feels rather than what you 0:07:46 - 0:08:19 know, and what you feel. So when um Paul says in first Corinthians 1311, when I was a child, I spake as a child, I understood as a child, I thought as a child. But when I became a man, I put away childish things thinking about Children probably makes this uh a little easier to do. Um Children are completely 0:08:18 - 0:08:42 flooded by learning experiences every day. They are immersed in observations that indicate that other people know more than them that there is more to know than what they know and that better things await them than what they presently have. They have an optimistic assumption about the availability and 0:08:42 - 0:09:14 value of information adults, not so much. So we have to actively overcome our assumption that what we know is all we need to know that what we have is all there is to have and so on. So one key idea that can help us in this is to understand that positive experiences with present beliefs, uh do not preclude 0:09:13 - 0:09:39 the existence of better beliefs. So in Luke five, Jesus gave two parables about uh a new garment and an old garment and about new wine bottles and old wine bottles and parables are deep and they can mean different things. But there's an application here that's quite valuable relating to new truth that 0:09:39 - 0:10:02 replaces old truth. So let's start with the uh the patch on the old garment. So Jesus says in Luke 536 no man put a piece of a new garment upon an old, if otherwise, then both the new maketh a rent and the piece that was taken out of the new, agree not with the old. So in plain language, he's saying 0:10:01 - 0:10:20 when you patch a pair of pants, you use an old pair of pants, not a new pair of pants or a new piece of cloth anyway. And why is that? Because the new cloth is stronger than the old cloth? And it will actually tear a bigger hole in the pants as you use them or whatever. It's not just pants and they didn't 0:10:20 - 0:10:46 wear pants back then. But you get the point. So, um when we're talking about the value of ideas of beliefs, there exist beliefs that require a new system. There, there exist beliefs that aren't going to fit well with uh all of your old beliefs and perhaps it has to replace some of them. Jesus continues 0:10:45 - 0:11:07 with the wine bottle parable. And he says, no man put new wine into old bottles. Else, the new wine will burst the bottles and be spilled and the bottles shall perish. But new wine must be put into new bottles and both are preserved. And here's the thing. Well, I'll read the last verse. No man also having 0:11:06 - 0:11:32 drunk old wine Straightway desire new for he saith the old is better. It's a funny thing about humans. We strongly prefer what we currently have to something new. Uh We like the false sense of security it provides. But um this is about as silly as trying to cross monkey bars without letting go of the 0:11:31 - 0:11:52 rail behind you to move forward. You can't actually do those things at the same time, they're mutually exclusive. And if you believe that God knows all things and you do not, you also have to believe that at least some of the truth that you have to learn to traverse that golf will require letting go 0:11:51 - 0:12:19 of things that you currently believe and things that currently provide you value. So after understanding this, you should never again say this purported new truth can't actually be true because I have derived value from what came before. So as we move forward on those monkey bars, and we learn more uh 0:12:19 - 0:12:43 from God through revelation, we should expect that sometimes that is going to involve experiences that are unpleasant to the cardinal mind. And when it comes to new truth that replaces old truth, uh I like the example of Amy in the book of Mormon. So, Aye says that he was the descendant of a menai who 0:12:43 - 0:13:00 interpreted the writing which was upon the wall of the temple, which was written by the finger of God and a descendant of Nephi, who was the son of Lehi, who came out of the land of Jerusalem, who was the descendant of Manasseh, who was the son of Joseph, who was sold into Egypt by the hands of his brethren 0:12:59 - 0:13:22 emule had a spiritual pedigree. He was no chump but not only that, he didn't just have impressive uh ancestors, he was also impressive. He said he was a man of no small reputation among all those who knew him. He said I have many Kindreds and friends and I have also acquired much riches by the hand of 0:13:22 - 0:13:51 my industry. So by all measurements, Amye was a guy who already had quite a bit of truth. He had inherited a rich spiritual heritage uh from his ancestors. And he had also made use of the resources around him to acquire wealth and to build a good reputation. So he's a man, uh a presumed high character 0:13:50 - 0:14:18 . And yet he says he continues uh that God had tried on several occasion occasions to teach him more. Uh But unfortunately, he didn't listen. He said I did harden my heart for I was called many times and I would not hear. Therefore, I knew concerning these things yet I would not know. Therefore, I went 0:14:18 - 0:14:38 on rebelling against God and the wickedness of my heart. So what does he mean by these things while he's talking about in this, in this passage? He's talking about what he and his preaching companion, Alma were teaching, which was new truth that replaced old truth to the people that heard. They came 0:14:38 - 0:14:57 and they said, yeah, well, you've gotten a lot of value out of what you currently believe, but we're going to replace it with something better. So listen to us and Amy had the opportunity to learn and believe these things uh before Alma came into his life. But he wouldn't listen because he relied too 0:14:57 - 0:15:27 much on those outward trappings of uh of truth. So on what he presumed was the irreplaceable value of what he believed before and yet there was something better. And in Amy's own words, he says, um that an angel told him that a prophet of the Lord would come and visit him, chosen man of God. And that 0:15:27 - 0:15:51 through receiving him, aye would also receive blessings for him and his house and that the blessing of the Lord would rest upon him and his house. And then Amy says, I know that the things were of he the angel um or sorry uh Alma hath testified or true for behold, I say unto you this the Lord liveth 0:15:51 - 0:16:12 even so has he sent his angel to make these things manifest unto me? And this he has done while this Alma hath dwelt at my house for behold, he hath blessed mine house. He has blessed me and my women and my Children and my father and my kinsfolk. Yeah. Even all my kindred hath he blessed in the blessing 0:16:11 - 0:16:37 of the Lord hath rested upon us according to the words which he spake. So in amex own words and his point of view, the new truth that Alma brought that replaced his old truth was a blessing to all his kindred, his father, his kinsfolk, his Children, his women, and himself. So that sounds good, right 0:16:36 - 0:17:01 ? Except what that included is probably an experience that most of us would shy away from. Because in Alma 1516, it says aye having forsaken all his gold and his silver and his precious things which were in the land of ammonia for the word of God. He being rejected by those who were once his friends 0:17:00 - 0:17:26 and also by his father and his Kindred. So this is really interesting because it explicitly says that God had blessed his father and his Kindred. And, and then later it says that that Aye was rejected by those people specifically. And uh we could go further with this because the believers uh those that 0:17:26 - 0:17:45 believed on what am Elma and Amye preached, were rounded up and burned at the stake, right? So, and they were made to watch that. And it's possible that Amy's family was included in, in those people. But one of two things is true here. Uh Either he was rejected by his family and we know at least his 0:17:45 - 0:18:04 father and his kindred, whatever that means and his friends rejected him. But it's possible that his family did too, or his father and his kindred and his friends rejected him and his family was burned at the stake either way, that's not something that most of us would, you know, giddily sign up for 0:18:03 - 0:18:25 and yet it was considered a blessing. And so a new truth that replaces old truth. Sometimes it hurts, but it's always good. So the thing about truth is that it's always worth acquiring no matter the cost. So what happens if you uh if you don't believe that if you'd rather pass on the new truth? Well 0:18:25 - 0:18:45 , there are very many scriptures that discuss this case and we'll go over a couple of them here in second Nephi 2027. It says yay will be unto him that say we have received and we need no more. Second Nephi 942 it says in the wise and the learned and they, that are rich who are puffed up because of their 0:18:45 - 0:19:08 learning and their wisdom and their riches. Yeah, they are. They whom he despise and save, they consider themselves fools before God and come down in the depths of humility. He will not open unto them. So God despises those who uh believe that they know all there is to know and they don't think that 0:19:08 - 0:19:29 God knows more than them and they aren't willing to submit to him. Second Nephi 928 says o that cunning plan of the evil 10 the vain and the frailties and the foolishness of men when they are learned, they think they are wise and they hearken not unto the counsel of God for, they set it aside, supposing 0:19:28 - 0:19:48 they know of themselves wherefore their wisdom is foolishness and it profiteth them not and they shall perish. Some people mistakenly think that pride is to know something that's actually pride's not a function of what you know, it's a function of what you don't know that you think, you know. So in other 0:19:48 - 0:20:11 words, uh the safe way to avoid pride is to remember that God knows much more than you do and that anything you currently believe is either incomplete or incorrect. And if you really believe that you'll act in a much different way towards the opportunity to obtain further light and truth than if you 0:20:10 - 0:20:33 believed otherwise. So in second Nephi 2830 it said, uh God says, I will give unto the Children of men, line upon line, precept upon precept here a little and there a little and blessed are those who hearken unto my precepts and lend an ear unto my counsel for. they shall learn wisdom for unto Him that 0:20:33 - 0:20:55 receives, I will give more and from them that shall say we have enough from them shall be taken away even that which they have. So the idea that you can reject putative truth and stay where you are is a lie. You can either move forward or you can move backward. But that's, that's it. In the words of 0:20:55 - 0:21:20 Joseph Smith, he said, when God offers a blessing or knowledge to a man and he refuses to receive it, he will be damned. So to whom can God reveal again? This may be a simple question. But if you analyze what you actually believe, it might diverge from what you think you would, you believe or what you 0:21:20 - 0:21:47 would like to believe or what's in the scriptures. So in doctrine and covenants 1 28 18, the Lord says, um that things which have, which never have been revealed from the foundation of the world but have been kept hid from the wise and prudent shall be revealed unto babes and sucklings in this, the dispensation 0:21:46 - 0:22:16 of the fullness of times. So this is interesting because we're told that things not minor things. These are things that are deep enough that they're hid from the wise and prudent shall be revealed unto babes and sucklings. So important, deep things and revealed to babes and sucklings, not the wise and 0:22:16 - 0:22:44 prudent per se. So that's interesting because if God's willing to reveal great things to babies, what is he willing to reveal to you? So what controls who God reveals these things to? Is it some lottery of birth or uh stature in one's religious organization? The scriptures don't support that idea. In 0:22:44 - 0:23:04 fact, they teach something quite different in alma 2622. It says He that repenteth and exercise faith and bringeth forth good works and pray continually without ceasing unto such. It is given to know the mysteries of God. Yeah, unto such. It shall be given to reveal things which never have been revealed 0:23:03 - 0:23:30 . Yeah, and it shall be given unto such to bring thousands of souls to repentance. So it says very clearly that the only criteria for having things revealed to you and not just minor things but things that have not been revealed to anyone else ever. The criteria are to repent, to exercise faith, to bring 0:23:29 - 0:24:04 forth good works and to pray continually. That's it. Those aren't radical things to do. They're simple things that most people gloss over or are lazy about. But if you do them, God says very clearly that He will reveal things to you that have never been revealed ever. So how will he do this in doctrine 0:24:03 - 0:24:22 ? And covenants 82, it says, behold, I will tell you in your mind and in your heart by the holy ghost which shall come upon you and which shall dwell in your heart. Doctrine. And covenants 1113, he says, verily, verily, I say unto you, I will impart unto you of my spirit, which shall enlighten your mind 0:24:21 - 0:24:46 , which shall fill your soul with joy. So he says, these things come to you in your mind and in your heart by the Holy Ghost easy enough. But can you actually describe what that's like? Do you understand what that's like? Do you know how to maximize that experience? So in de 5019, the Lord says, he that 0:24:46 - 0:25:08 receive the word of truth doth. He receive it by the spirit of truth or some other way, let's break this down. So the word of truth. So if a person learns something that's true, how did he learn it? Did he learn it by the spirit of truth or some other way? What does this mean? Well, we just read that 0:25:08 - 0:25:34 the spirit of truth, the Holy Ghost, the light of Christ, it operates inside of you. So you can hear something that's true, let's say from someone else or you read it in a book or whatever it comes from external, it can bypass that light that's inside of you. And you can just assume it's true. If you 0:25:34 - 0:26:03 do that, it's by some other way and you will um incur a cost in doing that, which is that when troubled times arise and they will, you may not stick with that idea because it never went through your internal uh light that internal adoption process. But if you have a personal experience with that light 0:26:03 - 0:26:29 , as you're evaluating and accepting this putative truth, it will become a part of you and you'll be more convicted in following it. So revelation always comes from inside of you, from the light that God has put there. So the light's from God, but it's inside of you. And uh when you learn things in some 0:26:29 - 0:26:52 other way, you're missing out on the full experience. And it's important to cultivate that uh capability because as you do that, you develop the, the ability to receive revelation, not just in response to someone talking to you or you reading a book or something like that, but you cultivate your ability 0:26:51 - 0:27:14 to hear God's voice uh all the time. And that's very, very important. So Paul describes this light inside of you by saying what man knoweth the things of a man, save the spirit of man, which is in Him. Even so the things of God knoweth no man but the spirit of God. So the Holy ghost interacts with your 0:27:14 - 0:27:37 mind and your heart. But the light is, is in the light, it's not in your mind and heart, it interacts with your mind and heart. It quickens your mind and your heart. And if you want to understand truth, you have to cultivate that light. And it's not just a matter of thinking about something or a matter 0:27:37 - 0:28:04 of what you feel, it's a matter of, of um the interaction of your mind and heart with that light. So how does this happen? Uh Well, revelation is information and it can come through impressions, words, voices or visits and you know, think of a visitation if an angel came to you or uh if alma came to 0:28:04 - 0:28:27 you like he did to emule, an angel came to emule as well. Um Those are external stimuli, right? So another personage is there speaking to you. Well, voices, words and impressions are just as external. Um We think of these things is, is emanating from inside of us, but it's not actually true, right? Uh 0:00:00 - 0:00:27 Revelation learning and discerning. Part one of two. This talk is based on Seek ye this Jesus and The Glory of God is intelligence books that are available on amazon.com and in free PDF form at upward thought.blogspot.com. This talk assumes that the listener believes in God believes in the Bible book 0:00:27 - 0:00:49 of Mormon doctrine and covenants and that Joseph Smith was a prophet. If that's not the case, you're invited to visit the blog or to watch more videos where a case for these things is made. So we'll start talking about revelation and what God can reveal. It's a simple question and you probably have a 0:00:49 - 0:01:10 pre baked answer, but I invite you to think about what you really believe versus what you would say, you believe on this topic. What do I mean by that? Well, we tend to think of this in other topics, uh like bowling and if you've ever taken a kid bowling, sometimes they have those inflatable gutters 0:01:09 - 0:01:32 to keep the ball within predetermined lanes. And uh revelation is one of these topics where we tend to have predetermined lanes and where we draw the lines may be quite different from where God draws the lines. So let's look at some scriptures to see where his lines are drawn on this topic. In Mark 422 0:01:31 - 0:01:52 Jesus says there's nothing hid, which shall not be manifested. Neither was anything kept secret but that it should come abroad in Jeremiah 3033 he says, call to me and I will answer you and will tell you great and hidden things that you have not known in moon I 10 5. It says by the power of the Holy 0:01:52 - 0:02:17 Ghost, you may know the truth of all things. So the question is, what is the domain of revelation? And God's answer is all things specifically, including all hidden things, all things that you don't know and all things that are, that are secret. Well, that might be very different than the bowling bumpers 0:02:16 - 0:02:42 that you have set up. So keep an open mind. What types of revelation are there? Well, there are three types, there uh is new truth that's independent of old truth. There's new truth that expands old truth and there is new truth that replaces old truth. So the first key insight here is that revelation 0:02:41 - 0:03:04 consists of new truth. It's additional information additional to what to what you already know. Now that word no is tricky. It's a fun word. Uh It doesn't really mean what we think it means when you say no, what you actually mean is believe. What's the difference between believing something and knowing 0:03:04 - 0:03:29 something well, it's OK to use them interchangeably as long as you remember what the, what you really mean. So uh to know something in the way that you probably use it uh would imply that it's final and complete. But by virtue of, of the definition of the word revelation means that something you thought 0:03:29 - 0:03:50 before, something you believed before was not final, it was either incomplete or incorrect. OK. So that's the first takeaway. Now, let's get back to these three types of new truth. So the first is new truth that is independent of old truth. This one's nice and safe. We feel comfortable with this one 0:03:49 - 0:04:11 . We are OK, getting around it in our thinking pajamas with our makeup off. So new truth that is independent of all truth, think of a Venn diagram where the circles do not overlap and the left circle is what you believe already. And the right circle is something new. So if you think of uh maybe you have 0:04:11 - 0:04:32 some knowledge about a car engine and then you learn something about having pet rabbits, probably there's no overlap there, right? So the second type is new truth that expands old truth. Now, in this case, maybe you know something about how to change the oil on a car and you learn something about how 0:04:32 - 0:04:52 to fix the air conditioning. So these are both related, but uh they don't contradict each other. The final type, which is the dangerous one. It's the one we're scared of. It's the one we only think about when we're in the mood and we have special preparation for it and we still feel uncomfortable. That's 0:04:52 - 0:05:15 new truth that replaces old truth. And in my opinion, this is the most important kind because the purpose of revelation is to teach us things and revelation that replaces old truth is the most valuable, it teaches us the most. So, what does this look like? Well, this is when you've got a Venn diagram 0:05:14 - 0:05:37 and circles are right on top of each other and you can't have both, you have to pick one. So in this case, uh using our car engine analogy, imagine if you had a horse and buggy and that's all you knew. And you obviously would derive a lot of value over that uh from that, over walking around. Uh but if 0:05:37 - 0:06:02 someone invented the car, you have a choice to make and that choice isn't always easy. So the Lord said in the Joseph Smith translation of John 724 judge not according to your traditions, but judge righteous judgment. This is very important because um when we talk about new truth that replaces old truth 0:06:02 - 0:06:27 , which we're going to dive into more deeply because it is difficult. We're talking about that type of truth. We have to think about what our traditions are and what it means to judge righteous judgment. So your tradition is whatever you currently believe, sometimes we talk about false traditions, but 0:06:26 - 0:06:49 um that might be redundant, right? If a tradition is what you currently believe, and if you believe that God knows more than you do, then you probably should assume that whatever you believe is incorrect or incomplete. And what that would imply is that whatever you currently believe there is something 0:06:48 - 0:07:16 better out there. So uh in, in one sense, there's an awful lot encoded into this short simple verse. Judge not according to your traditions. So don't, don't measure the correctness of new ideas based on what you currently believe. That's the first half, but judge righteous judgment. So what, what does 0:07:16 - 0:07:47 righteous mean? Well, righteous is uh what it more closely reflects God, right? So if you believe that God knows all things and you believe that He is better than you, then to judge righteous judgment is to measure the value of new ideas based on what God knows and what God feels rather than what you 0:07:46 - 0:08:19 know, and what you feel. So when um Paul says in first Corinthians 1311, when I was a child, I spake as a child, I understood as a child, I thought as a child. But when I became a man, I put away childish things thinking about Children probably makes this uh a little easier to do. Um Children are completely 0:08:18 - 0:08:42 flooded by learning experiences every day. They are immersed in observations that indicate that other people know more than them that there is more to know than what they know and that better things await them than what they presently have. They have an optimistic assumption about the availability and 0:08:42 - 0:09:14 value of information adults, not so much. So we have to actively overcome our assumption that what we know is all we need to know that what we have is all there is to have and so on. So one key idea that can help us in this is to understand that positive experiences with present beliefs, uh do not preclude 0:09:13 - 0:09:39 the existence of better beliefs. So in Luke five, Jesus gave two parables about uh a new garment and an old garment and about new wine bottles and old wine bottles and parables are deep and they can mean different things. But there's an application here that's quite valuable relating to new truth that 0:09:39 - 0:10:02 replaces old truth. So let's start with the uh the patch on the old garment. So Jesus says in Luke 536 no man put a piece of a new garment upon an old, if otherwise, then both the new maketh a rent and the piece that was taken out of the new, agree not with the old. So in plain language, he's saying 0:10:01 - 0:10:20 when you patch a pair of pants, you use an old pair of pants, not a new pair of pants or a new piece of cloth anyway. And why is that? Because the new cloth is stronger than the old cloth? And it will actually tear a bigger hole in the pants as you use them or whatever. It's not just pants and they didn't 0:10:20 - 0:10:46 wear pants back then. But you get the point. So, um when we're talking about the value of ideas of beliefs, there exist beliefs that require a new system. There, there exist beliefs that aren't going to fit well with uh all of your old beliefs and perhaps it has to replace some of them. Jesus continues 0:10:45 - 0:11:07 with the wine bottle parable. And he says, no man put new wine into old bottles. Else, the new wine will burst the bottles and be spilled and the bottles shall perish. But new wine must be put into new bottles and both are preserved. And here's the thing. Well, I'll read the last verse. No man also having 0:11:06 - 0:11:32 drunk old wine Straightway desire new for he saith the old is better. It's a funny thing about humans. We strongly prefer what we currently have to something new. Uh We like the false sense of security it provides. But um this is about as silly as trying to cross monkey bars without letting go of the 0:11:31 - 0:11:52 rail behind you to move forward. You can't actually do those things at the same time, they're mutually exclusive. And if you believe that God knows all things and you do not, you also have to believe that at least some of the truth that you have to learn to traverse that golf will require letting go 0:11:51 - 0:12:19 of things that you currently believe and things that currently provide you value. So after understanding this, you should never again say this purported new truth can't actually be true because I have derived value from what came before. So as we move forward on those monkey bars, and we learn more uh 0:12:19 - 0:12:43 from God through revelation, we should expect that sometimes that is going to involve experiences that are unpleasant to the cardinal mind. And when it comes to new truth that replaces old truth, uh I like the example of Amy in the book of Mormon. So, Aye says that he was the descendant of a menai who 0:12:43 - 0:13:00 interpreted the writing which was upon the wall of the temple, which was written by the finger of God and a descendant of Nephi, who was the son of Lehi, who came out of the land of Jerusalem, who was the descendant of Manasseh, who was the son of Joseph, who was sold into Egypt by the hands of his brethren 0:12:59 - 0:13:22 emule had a spiritual pedigree. He was no chump but not only that, he didn't just have impressive uh ancestors, he was also impressive. He said he was a man of no small reputation among all those who knew him. He said I have many Kindreds and friends and I have also acquired much riches by the hand of 0:13:22 - 0:13:51 my industry. So by all measurements, Amye was a guy who already had quite a bit of truth. He had inherited a rich spiritual heritage uh from his ancestors. And he had also made use of the resources around him to acquire wealth and to build a good reputation. So he's a man, uh a presumed high character 0:13:50 - 0:14:18 . And yet he says he continues uh that God had tried on several occasion occasions to teach him more. Uh But unfortunately, he didn't listen. He said I did harden my heart for I was called many times and I would not hear. Therefore, I knew concerning these things yet I would not know. Therefore, I went 0:14:18 - 0:14:38 on rebelling against God and the wickedness of my heart. So what does he mean by these things while he's talking about in this, in this passage? He's talking about what he and his preaching companion, Alma were teaching, which was new truth that replaced old truth to the people that heard. They came 0:14:38 - 0:14:57 and they said, yeah, well, you've gotten a lot of value out of what you currently believe, but we're going to replace it with something better. So listen to us and Amy had the opportunity to learn and believe these things uh before Alma came into his life. But he wouldn't listen because he relied too 0:14:57 - 0:15:27 much on those outward trappings of uh of truth. So on what he presumed was the irreplaceable value of what he believed before and yet there was something better. And in Amy's own words, he says, um that an angel told him that a prophet of the Lord would come and visit him, chosen man of God. And that 0:15:27 - 0:15:51 through receiving him, aye would also receive blessings for him and his house and that the blessing of the Lord would rest upon him and his house. And then Amy says, I know that the things were of he the angel um or sorry uh Alma hath testified or true for behold, I say unto you this the Lord liveth 0:15:51 - 0:16:12 even so has he sent his angel to make these things manifest unto me? And this he has done while this Alma hath dwelt at my house for behold, he hath blessed mine house. He has blessed me and my women and my Children and my father and my kinsfolk. Yeah. Even all my kindred hath he blessed in the blessing 0:16:11 - 0:16:37 of the Lord hath rested upon us according to the words which he spake. So in amex own words and his point of view, the new truth that Alma brought that replaced his old truth was a blessing to all his kindred, his father, his kinsfolk, his Children, his women, and himself. So that sounds good, right 0:16:36 - 0:17:01 ? Except what that included is probably an experience that most of us would shy away from. Because in Alma 1516, it says aye having forsaken all his gold and his silver and his precious things which were in the land of ammonia for the word of God. He being rejected by those who were once his friends 0:17:00 - 0:17:26 and also by his father and his Kindred. So this is really interesting because it explicitly says that God had blessed his father and his Kindred. And, and then later it says that that Aye was rejected by those people specifically. And uh we could go further with this because the believers uh those that 0:17:26 - 0:17:45 believed on what am Elma and Amye preached, were rounded up and burned at the stake, right? So, and they were made to watch that. And it's possible that Amy's family was included in, in those people. But one of two things is true here. Uh Either he was rejected by his family and we know at least his 0:17:45 - 0:18:04 father and his kindred, whatever that means and his friends rejected him. But it's possible that his family did too, or his father and his kindred and his friends rejected him and his family was burned at the stake either way, that's not something that most of us would, you know, giddily sign up for 0:18:03 - 0:18:25 and yet it was considered a blessing. And so a new truth that replaces old truth. Sometimes it hurts, but it's always good. So the thing about truth is that it's always worth acquiring no matter the cost. So what happens if you uh if you don't believe that if you'd rather pass on the new truth? Well 0:18:25 - 0:18:45 , there are very many scriptures that discuss this case and we'll go over a couple of them here in second Nephi 2027. It says yay will be unto him that say we have received and we need no more. Second Nephi 942 it says in the wise and the learned and they, that are rich who are puffed up because of their 0:18:45 - 0:19:08 learning and their wisdom and their riches. Yeah, they are. They whom he despise and save, they consider themselves fools before God and come down in the depths of humility. He will not open unto them. So God despises those who uh believe that they know all there is to know and they don't think that 0:19:08 - 0:19:29 God knows more than them and they aren't willing to submit to him. Second Nephi 928 says o that cunning plan of the evil 10 the vain and the frailties and the foolishness of men when they are learned, they think they are wise and they hearken not unto the counsel of God for, they set it aside, supposing 0:19:28 - 0:19:48 they know of themselves wherefore their wisdom is foolishness and it profiteth them not and they shall perish. Some people mistakenly think that pride is to know something that's actually pride's not a function of what you know, it's a function of what you don't know that you think, you know. So in other 0:19:48 - 0:20:11 words, uh the safe way to avoid pride is to remember that God knows much more than you do and that anything you currently believe is either incomplete or incorrect. And if you really believe that you'll act in a much different way towards the opportunity to obtain further light and truth than if you 0:20:10 - 0:20:33 believed otherwise. So in second Nephi 2830 it said, uh God says, I will give unto the Children of men, line upon line, precept upon precept here a little and there a little and blessed are those who hearken unto my precepts and lend an ear unto my counsel for. they shall learn wisdom for unto Him that 0:20:33 - 0:20:55 receives, I will give more and from them that shall say we have enough from them shall be taken away even that which they have. So the idea that you can reject putative truth and stay where you are is a lie. You can either move forward or you can move backward. But that's, that's it. In the words of 0:20:55 - 0:21:20 Joseph Smith, he said, when God offers a blessing or knowledge to a man and he refuses to receive it, he will be damned. So to whom can God reveal again? This may be a simple question. But if you analyze what you actually believe, it might diverge from what you think you would, you believe or what you 0:21:20 - 0:21:47 would like to believe or what's in the scriptures. So in doctrine and covenants 1 28 18, the Lord says, um that things which have, which never have been revealed from the foundation of the world but have been kept hid from the wise and prudent shall be revealed unto babes and sucklings in this, the dispensation 0:21:46 - 0:22:16 of the fullness of times. So this is interesting because we're told that things not minor things. These are things that are deep enough that they're hid from the wise and prudent shall be revealed unto babes and sucklings. So important, deep things and revealed to babes and sucklings, not the wise and 0:22:16 - 0:22:44 prudent per se. So that's interesting because if God's willing to reveal great things to babies, what is he willing to reveal to you? So what controls who God reveals these things to? Is it some lottery of birth or uh stature in one's religious organization? The scriptures don't support that idea. In 0:22:44 - 0:23:04 fact, they teach something quite different in alma 2622. It says He that repenteth and exercise faith and bringeth forth good works and pray continually without ceasing unto such. It is given to know the mysteries of God. Yeah, unto such. It shall be given to reveal things which never have been revealed 0:23:03 - 0:23:30 . Yeah, and it shall be given unto such to bring thousands of souls to repentance. So it says very clearly that the only criteria for having things revealed to you and not just minor things but things that have not been revealed to anyone else ever. The criteria are to repent, to exercise faith, to bring 0:23:29 - 0:24:04 forth good works and to pray continually. That's it. Those aren't radical things to do. They're simple things that most people gloss over or are lazy about. But if you do them, God says very clearly that He will reveal things to you that have never been revealed ever. So how will he do this in doctrine 0:24:03 - 0:24:22 ? And covenants 82, it says, behold, I will tell you in your mind and in your heart by the holy ghost which shall come upon you and which shall dwell in your heart. Doctrine. And covenants 1113, he says, verily, verily, I say unto you, I will impart unto you of my spirit, which shall enlighten your mind 0:24:21 - 0:24:46 , which shall fill your soul with joy. So he says, these things come to you in your mind and in your heart by the Holy Ghost easy enough. But can you actually describe what that's like? Do you understand what that's like? Do you know how to maximize that experience? So in de 5019, the Lord says, he that 0:24:46 - 0:25:08 receive the word of truth doth. He receive it by the spirit of truth or some other way, let's break this down. So the word of truth. So if a person learns something that's true, how did he learn it? Did he learn it by the spirit of truth or some other way? What does this mean? Well, we just read that 0:25:08 - 0:25:34 the spirit of truth, the Holy Ghost, the light of Christ, it operates inside of you. So you can hear something that's true, let's say from someone else or you read it in a book or whatever it comes from external, it can bypass that light that's inside of you. And you can just assume it's true. If you 0:25:34 - 0:26:03 do that, it's by some other way and you will um incur a cost in doing that, which is that when troubled times arise and they will, you may not stick with that idea because it never went through your internal uh light that internal adoption process. But if you have a personal experience with that light 0:26:03 - 0:26:29 , as you're evaluating and accepting this putative truth, it will become a part of you and you'll be more convicted in following it. So revelation always comes from inside of you, from the light that God has put there. So the light's from God, but it's inside of you. And uh when you learn things in some 0:26:29 - 0:26:52 other way, you're missing out on the full experience. And it's important to cultivate that uh capability because as you do that, you develop the, the ability to receive revelation, not just in response to someone talking to you or you reading a book or something like that, but you cultivate your ability 0:26:51 - 0:27:14 to hear God's voice uh all the time. And that's very, very important. So Paul describes this light inside of you by saying what man knoweth the things of a man, save the spirit of man, which is in Him. Even so the things of God knoweth no man but the spirit of God. So the Holy ghost interacts with your 0:27:14 - 0:27:37 mind and your heart. But the light is, is in the light, it's not in your mind and heart, it interacts with your mind and heart. It quickens your mind and your heart. And if you want to understand truth, you have to cultivate that light. And it's not just a matter of thinking about something or a matter 0:27:37 - 0:28:04 of what you feel, it's a matter of, of um the interaction of your mind and heart with that light. So how does this happen? Uh Well, revelation is information and it can come through impressions, words, voices or visits and you know, think of a visitation if an angel came to you or uh if alma came to 0:28:04 - 0:28:27 you like he did to emule, an angel came to emule as well. Um Those are external stimuli, right? So another personage is there speaking to you. Well, voices, words and impressions are just as external. Um We think of these things is, is emanating from inside of us, but it's not actually true, right? Uh 0:28:27 - 0:28:57 So these things emanate from God, but they interact with the light that's inside of you. And that interaction is what can yield this information to you. Uh It all comes through your internal light and this is important. And in part two, we'll dive more into what to do with this. So stay tuned.