0:00:00 - 0:00:22 Or something this morning. And I, um, noticed as I was looking through a big pile of presentations that have just been gathering up over the years, I noticed this, um, set of, of presentations that I haven't recorded or published and, uh, they're from four years ago. So I figure I may as well go ahead 0:00:21 - 0:00:45 and do that. Um It's funny to me, uh, to think about the time gaps and I don't know, I'm tempted to, to uh share some thoughts about that, but let's stick to the, the content here. So this is uh part four of a series, the first three parts of which have been on youtube for quite some time. And so if 0:00:45 - 0:01:09 you, I think if you're watching this, you'll see a, uh, links to the playlist. And I encourage you to actually begin on part one, but uh feel free to navigate through these, how you will and there's a lot of content in this. So I hope you uh dig in. Now, I'm presenting these slides unmodified from how 0:01:09 - 0:01:30 they were in 2019 when I, when I made them. Um, and I do want to call your attention to some books I've written. Um here, I'm, I'm specifically calling attention to the glory of God is intelligence and seek you as Jesus. And I think if I were to redo this slide, I'd actually point you to reading repentance 0:01:29 - 0:01:53 first and then through faith and then the glory of God is intelligence. Um But every person is gonna be a little different in terms of the ideal order. So you'll have to figure that one out. Uh You can get those on Amazon. You can download the PDF for, for free from my blog. You can also uh listen to 0:01:52 - 0:02:13 seek as Jesus. The full audio book is here on youtube. Um I've not finished posting the glory of God as intelligence mostly because I think in fact, I'm not even sure if I've posted the first few chapters. I think I have. Um I think the content is just too dense for anyone to pretend like they're getting 0:02:13 - 0:02:46 anything out of an audio book for that one. Um But through faith and repentance are both uh here on youtube as an audio book for free. So enjoy. OK. Um So in John 15, the Lord uh teaches us about the true vine and there are so many aspects of the gospel that you can uh explore using this paradigm. So 0:02:45 - 0:03:08 one of them that we're going to look at uh today is how we understand things from God and uh how we ought to. And so maybe I think all of this, this entire passage is, is wonderful and I don't think you can read it enough times or, or ever get through finding all of its applications. But maybe we'll 0:03:08 - 0:03:36 just focus um here on the fact, this, this notion of all good things coming from God. Now, what's weird about this is as plain as it, is that theme in this passage and, and elsewhere. It's a theme that Jesus repeats over and over and over again. The gospels, we have this persistent idea in, in common 0:03:35 - 0:00:00 Christianity. At least that there's some kind of dual duality and our existence, that there's a portion that has to do with God and that there's a portion that's something else so that something else might be the separation that we impose between our temporal lives and our spiritual lives so called. 0:00:00 - 0:04:27 Whereas God, he explicitly says he never gave a temporal commandment. All of his commandments are just His commandments. He's, he's not a bifurcated being he's integrated and he desires us to be integrated. And uh this, this uh true vine analogy or um paradigm, I guess allegory, whatever the word we 0:04:26 - 0:04:50 use for it, it, it has this strong undertone. I mean, it's more than an undertone, the strong theme of total submission to God and not just submission in the sense that you know, if you beat a slave down, they will do what you say as long as you stand there with the whip but actual willing submission 0:04:50 - 0:00:00 to or the adoption of God's purposes. And so as we approach that idea that uh ideal everything changes and our perception of things changes in an explicit way and also in a, in a kind of a meta way. So what do I mean by this? Let's look at a picture and just kind of think about this at a high level. 0:00:00 - 0:05:39 So in the world, you have all these experiences, you, you go to school, you have a job, you know, we as, as, as a human race, we have all this science and technology and our lives are filled every single day with these experiences where we interact with the physical world. And so scripturally speaking 0:05:38 - 0:06:04 , you can um you can categorize all of these interactions as what we see now. That doesn't mean that it's only our eyes that, that conduct all these interactions with the world. But um that is that is principally how they're described uh in the scriptures. And so it's this metaphor for the literal tangible 0:06:03 - 0:06:31 physical um manifestation of all there is. And if it's not obvious right away, this is an extraordinarily limited way of perceiving things because it turns out that not only do we have eyes, we also have brains and hearts and just like eyes, brains and hearts are metaphors in the scriptures for what 0:06:31 - 0:07:02 would otherwise be a very difficult thing to wrap a simple term around. Um So it turns out that um you know, our, our brains are a great metaphor for how we think and uh everything that goes along with it, all sorts of ideas tied to reason and wisdom, understanding knowledge, et cetera in our hearts 0:07:01 - 0:07:29 . They're a useful metaphor for our desires, what we want and how we feel. And those things are very tightly coupled by the way. So there are interactions between these three metaphors for how we perceive and um the ones that entail a a direction from the eyes to the rest. So, from how we perceive things 0:07:29 - 0:07:53 to how we think about them or how we perceive things to how we feel about them. Typically, those are not described as ideal in the scriptures and in fact, far from it. So um when it comes to what you see with your eyes doing air quotes around the word sea and eyes, we get these phrases like the arm of 0:07:53 - 0:08:20 the flesh or the natural man or um you know, whether these are actually whether they're talking about our hearts, our eyes or our, our minds occupying those in this rash or um in this temporal limited um application, it's not described well to be carnally minded as opposed to spiritually minded, having 0:08:19 - 0:08:52 your heart set on evil, as opposed to having your heart set on God, the the lust of the eyes, right? So none of those are good things, but there are alternatives, right? So to be a spiritual man um to walk by faith, not by sight. So, I mean, but what is this even talking about? So it, it turns out that 0:08:52 - 0:09:17 the informational resources we're surrounded by are not a unique source. It turns out that they're the uh at least in a natural sense, the stronger source, the more easily perceptible source, but they are not the most abundant or the most valuable. It turns out turns out that there are spiritual sources 0:09:16 - 0:09:41 of information. And that's a word that is used to mean a lot of things by a lot of people. But uh basically, there's a transcendent level of information that includes everything that's temporal, but it expands far beyond that. And so, uh we're told, for example, to search diligently in the light of Christ 0:09:40 - 0:10:05 to no good from evil. The reason for this is that it's not easy to know good from evil. It turns out it turns out that it's a lifelong pursuit because even when you have it figured out at a certain level, there still remains many more um stimuli, many more levels of awareness to navigate through. And 0:10:04 - 0:10:32 uh we have to continuously seek out and apply information that transcends what is right before our eyes so that we can attune our eyes and our mind and our hearts to a higher channel of information, something more closely approaching what God sees, what God thinks and what God feels. And so this channel 0:10:31 - 0:10:51 , you could call it the spirit of God. You could call it the light of Christ. You could call it reality. You could call it things as they really are. Uh the truth, you could call it a lot of things. Uh You could call it by a lot of names, but it's, it's all referring to the same thing. So we're going 0:10:50 - 0:11:16 to dive into that a little bit more here. All right. So, in, in this diagram, what I've done is I've included this transcendent source of information and uh the icon I'm using to depict this is a sun because um one, one of the one word descriptors that you could use for this concept is light and that's 0:11:15 - 0:11:42 occupied frequently in the scriptures for this purpose. So what we find is as we dig through the scriptures is we find um more than suggestion, instruction after instruction to minimize the direct connection between our eyes and what we think and what we feel. So, for example, when Jesus says, judge 0:11:42 - 0:00:00 , righteous judgment, what he's saying is perceive things as they really are, not just as they seem, or in other words, perceive things as God does, not as you're inclined to. And so we have to call into question this direct connection between our uh fleshy faculties and our faculties of the spirit. 0:00:00 - 0:12:37 And they do have a connection and that connection is actually extremely important. However, we don't naturally take things as they should be used. So we should focus our eyes on the light and focus our minds on the light and focus our hearts on the light. Now, one interesting thing about this is that 0:12:37 - 0:13:02 in the temporal realm, our eyes, our minds and our hearts all detect different information. They're all, it's almost like they're, they're totally separate beings in a way. Sometimes it feels that way, the disjoint sources of information more often than not. And so in your thoughts, you can explore the 0:13:02 - 0:13:28 world from a certain facet and in your heart, you can do the same with your eyes, you can do the same and the degree to which these things overlap or align. It varies, it varies by a lot of things. But one of those elements that, that uh influences the variation is our own effort, our own effort in bringing 0:13:28 - 0:13:55 those things into alignment. And that'll be something that I speak about a lot more later. It's, it's incredibly important. So temporarily, you know, these, these different um metaphorical organs can run amok and really cause a lot of damage. So many songs have been written about hearts that uh just 0:13:54 - 0:14:13 sort of go for what they want and the person goes along with it. And typically that doesn't turn out well or minds that go amok. There are movies and things about this real life stories of people who've just sort of become obsessed about certain ideas. You might know some people like that and then we're 0:14:13 - 0:14:34 very familiar with what happens when you chase after your eyes? Ok. So how does all this work on the spiritual side? The Lord said, I will tell you in your mind and in your heart by the holy ghost. Well, the holy ghost is a channel of light. And so we read here that there are direct connections between 0:14:34 - 0:15:15 that light and our mind and our heart. So we know that those exist. We also know that um let's see, the we have facilities to be able to validate this information. So in John 717, um and there are parenthetical in this and that, that's from this translation, the amplified version is a version of the 0:15:15 - 0:15:39 the scriptures where uh scholars have tried to include the, the typically more numerous senses of words in Hebrew or Greek uh to bring them over into English. Whereas translations that directly translate to English are subject to the limitations of the senses of the words we have, which typically are 0:15:39 - 0:16:00 much more focused than Hebrew or Greek words can mean a lot of different things and that those subtleties are hard to bring over. So uh the amplified version uses these, these parenthetical to do that, right? So we read here, if any man desires to do his will, God's pleasure, he will know have the needed 0:16:00 - 0:16:23 illumination to recognize and can tell for himself whether the teaching is from God or whether I'm speaking from myself and of my own accord. And on my own authority. Um This is, this is a slight side note but it's, it's very important this scripture, no matter what translation you read it in uh is very 0:16:23 - 0:16:48 powerful and beautiful. So the Lord, when he was conducting his mortal ministry, he did not appeal to authority per se in uh what he taught, what, what he said and, and what this, this verse in particular focuses on is this idea that if something is good, it will stand on its own legs, it might take 0:16:47 - 0:17:15 some time. But wisdom is vindicated by experience. And he, he said as much in, in different words, in another place. Um And that's really important because it's one of many safeties that the Lord provides in his path. You see God asks much of us. In fact, he asks everything. And so there's a, there's 0:17:15 - 0:17:41 a massive potential for being led astray because when you're in the space of extreme decisions that come constantly, it's very easy to uh imagine a situation where you get way off track very quickly and that the consequences of doing so would be enormous. And what Jesus says here is one of the hallmarks 0:17:41 - 0:18:11 of his path is that when you do the will of God, you will know whether it's from God or not. And that's really important. It's really important. So God's path vindicates itself and um by their fruits, you will know them. So anyway, the, the reason this scripture is here in this presentation is to give 0:18:11 - 0:18:37 evidence that we have the ability to validate the information that comes through, through the spiritual channel. This is not the only way. Um Well, maybe it's, maybe it's more accurate to say that while it's the only way there are many levels of one's ability to do this because uh in order to evaluate 0:18:36 - 0:18:59 the goodness of something, you have to actually understand what's good and that's actually not trivial as we've already sort of touched on. So here's another one that um that talks about this as an information source, the light inside of you. Now, my son, I would not that you should think that I know 0:18:59 - 0:19:19 these things of myself, but it is the spirit of God, which is in me, which maketh these things known unto me for. If I had not been born of God, I should not have known these things. So we talked about being born again in one of the other presentations in this playlist. But what, what Alma is saying 0:19:19 - 0:19:45 here is that because he's been born again. He's saying that he has access to and he uses this channel, the spirit of God within him in order to learn things. So he's not directly relying on his brain. He's relying on his brain quickened by the spirit of God. So using your eyes or your brain or your heart 0:19:44 - 0:20:06 without the spirit of God, it's um it's like driving a car full speed with all of the, the windows painted black. It's a really bad idea and you can do it and you, it might work for a while. But eventually it's gonna, it's gonna be a tragedy guaranteed. Eventually you're gonna crash into something. You 0:20:06 - 0:20:29 might not make it that far at all. So, just because you can use something for a certain purpose, doesn't mean it was designed for that purpose, doesn't mean that there isn't something much better that you could do with it. So continuing with this idea of the spirit being able to show us all things. So 0:20:29 - 0:20:53 in John eight, Jesus says, the son can do nothing of himself but what he seeth the father do for what things soever he doeth these also doeth the son likewise. Uh I'm sorry, this is John five for the father, loveth the son and showe him all things that himself doeth and he will show him greater works 0:20:52 - 0:21:17 than these that ye may marvel. So the question is how and when did the father show all of this to the son? There are people out there who think that every day Jesus got up and then an angel came or some portal opened to heaven where he had this open vision. And the father sat there and said, OK, here's 0:21:16 - 0:21:38 what you're gonna do today. You're gonna go into this village and you're gonna see this guy and he's gonna be born blind and this is what you have to do this exact thing and this is what you're going to do. So, um, it didn't happen that way and it's really important to understand that it didn't happen 0:21:37 - 0:22:00 that way because if you believe it happened that way, then it's really easy to say. Well, that's all, well and good that Jesus did all these things, but he had special secret, extra help to do it. And because the father doesn't come to me every morning with uh you know, a set of angels and a white board 0:22:00 - 0:22:21 and, and lay out every single thing I'm gonna do during the day without me ever having to think about it or ever having to do anything. Uh And then it just magically happens, I follow the playbook because that doesn't happen to me. I have no responsibility to use Jesus as a model for my life. Well, unfortunately 0:22:20 - 0:22:53 , that's the way common Christianity rolls and he explains a lot. Um It turns out that when he says things like in John eight, uh he says that as my father hath taught me, I speak these things and uh he that sent me is with me. The father hath not left me alone. He's not saying that he could see the 0:22:53 - 0:23:18 father standing by his side 24 7 telling him, OK, now raise your left hand just a little, all right. Now extend your pinky just a little bit more. That's not how this was going. Jesus created a model of the father in his, in his mind and in his heart line upon line through learning everything that he 0:23:18 - 0:23:44 was taught and doing everything he was taught. And in doing so, he received more light and he lived according to the model, he updated the model any time he learned more and that's how his life went. So just like we mentioned before, how the scriptures speak in negative terms about using the eyes of 0:23:44 - 0:24:11 the flesh. So lusting after things and chasing after the the wicked um things that we desire that we see just as that, that can be described in that way, you can also use the same kind of metaphorical language to say things like this. Um He showe him all things that himself doeth. It doesn't literally 0:24:10 - 0:24:37 mean that Jesus saw with his eyes, the things that the father wanted him to do what it means was he observed and learned qualities of the nature of the father. And as he implemented them in his own life and chose to adopt the purposes of his father. The father showed him more again, metaphorically by 0:24:36 - 0:25:05 teaching him more things. So visions and visitations and all of that, that that really happens. It really happens, it happens today just as it always has. And I've received many of these things myself. But the greater portion of what God has to reveal to us is going to come at all times and in all places 0:25:04 - 0:25:33 through our eyes, our hearts and our minds, just as he said, we saw that a couple slides ago. Where was it? Here you go. I'll tell you in your mind and in your heart by the Holy ghost, right? And then in John 15 5, when we started with the, the true vine, it's another reference to this idea of adopting 0:25:33 - 0:25:56 the purpose or the nature of God. Without me, you can do nothing. Jesus said he that abideth in me and I in him, the same bringeth forth much fruit. Again. What does this mean in me? I and him, him and me all that. John 15, you go to John 17, you see it in the intercessory prayer. John eight, the father 0:25:56 - 0:26:27 have not left me alone. He that sent me is with me how because of their similarity in nature, Jesus said he was one with the father. It's uh it's more accurate to simplify that into the same as it's more accurate than to picture this as two beings standing side by side and to clarify the same as doesn't 0:26:27 - 0:27:00 mean um doesn't mean the same exact being, it means of an interchangeable nature. All right. So again, how do we see quote unquote these things, doctrine and covenants 39 and six. This is my gospel, repentance and baptism by water and then cometh the baptism of fire and the holy ghost, even the comforter 0:26:59 - 0:27:28 which showe all things and teach the peaceable things of the kingdom. There you go. Now, can you have a vision through the power of the Holy Ghost? Yes, you can. Can you receive uh the visitation of angels or even Jesus himself? Yes, you can. But this describes a more holistic, continuous experience 0:27:27 - 0:27:50 that's not bounded by specific interactions with specific individuals. It's just a constant, just like the sun radiates. You don't have to touch it, right? You don't have to go to the sun any time you go outside, you get hit with it and actually it even affects you when you're in a building. It's just 0:27:50 - 0:28:13 the radiation is, is mostly shielded. John 1426. We have a similar thing, the comforter, which is the holy ghost whom the father will send in my name. He shall teach you all things and bring all things to your remembrance whatsoever I have said unto you. So does this necessarily mean that you're having 0:28:13 - 0:28:43 a conversation with a uh specific being? Well, so sometimes it does but not all the time in the constant influence. It's, it's just on your understanding, I shouldn't say just but it is what actuates this higher order of thinking and feeling that is your birthright to experience at all times if you choose 0:28:42 - 0:29:09 to willingly submit yourself to God's purpose. Again, second ke 5 32 3, the words of Christ will tell you all things what you ye should do. Does that mean that he the ideal in the ideal situation. He is going to be standing by your side and giving you a play by play. OK. Now, press the Z key on your 0:29:09 - 0:29:30 keyboard. OK, good. Now take a breath. All right. Now press the Y key on your Z board. OK. On the Y key on your Z board. Y key on your keyboard. OK. Shift. And F five. All right. You're walking down the street and he says, OK, plant the heel of your foot. OK? Roll forward on your toes. OK? Next foot 0:29:29 - 0:29:55 , little forward. All right. No, that's not what's gonna happen. The words, this is a deep topic but word does not mean. Here's a collection of letters with an associated meaning that is not what it means in the scriptures. It's much, much more than that. They're, they're ideas, they are articulated 0:29:54 - 0:30:19 ideas. That's what words means. So what this says is as you model, how Christ is, that model will tell you everything that you should do. In other words, if you think what Jesus would do in your place and you're paying attention, you're seeking to learn more about that. You actually read your scriptures 0:30:18 - 0:30:44 , you think about it, you talk to people about it between all of that and the Holy Ghost. What, what the Holy Ghost will tell you directly in your heart and mind. You will always have an idea of what Jesus would do in your place. That's what that says. First Corinthians chapter two, God Hath revealed 0:30:44 - 0:31:11 them unto us by his spirit. For the spirit searches all things. Yeah, the deep things of God. And this is Paul describing the, the spirit is sort of an api to use our modern technology, uh an api between us and God and it delivers, it delivers the fullness scoped down to our specific circumstance. And 0:31:10 - 0:31:45 then in Alma 713, the spirit knoweth all things big ideas here, but they're big ideas that render complicated things simple. OK. Um This passage which I didn't cite um this is about how um we gain access to the Holy ghost. It's called the tongue of angels. Speaking with the tongue of angels is one of 0:31:45 - 0:32:06 the qualities of possessing the holy ghost. What's interesting is that this channel is common to the speaker and the hearer you read about this in doctrine and covenants 50 as well. But that, that channel of the Holy Ghost, it, it opens up a line of communication or extra bandwidth that otherwise would 0:32:06 - 0:32:32 not be there. And that's exactly what we were talking about with these diagrams in this light. It, it gives us access to a transcendent channel that can carry more information and better information. And uh well, we'll skip over that. So there's this idea from the scriptures of the Kingdom of God being 0:32:32 - 0:32:58 within you. So, Luke 1721 the the Lord mentions this and it's interesting in that verse that passage, he's giving a warning and He says, look, be careful because some people are gonna say, hey, the Kingdom of God is over here. The Kingdom of God is over there. But he says the Kingdom of God cometh not 0:32:57 - 0:33:24 with observation. He says the Kingdom of God is within you. There's a lot encoded in this brief passage. One big idea is that you should never look for the Kingdom of God to exist in some external way that's independent from who you have become. You will never gain access to heaven beyond how much like 0:33:24 - 0:33:52 God you have become, period, period. If someone comes promising some covenant, some kingdom, some blessing some power, some authority, whatever of God, independent of becoming more like Him, you can rest 100 and 10% assured that that person is either lying or is really ignorant, but either way they have 0:33:52 - 0:34:13 nothing to offer you and don't get excited about all that either because people get enticed and they say like, wow, some other way isn't this great? I can have all the goodies without any of the cost and that's about as smart as breaking into a bank and trying to rob it cause you're probably gonna get 0:34:13 - 0:34:33 shot. So spiritually speaking, you're probably going to get roped up to some set of ideas that will guarantee that you're going to go to hell in place of your, your shortcut to heaven. You're going straight to hell and it will be exceedingly difficult for anyone to extricate you from that line of thinking 0:34:33 - 0:34:59 because it would be so enticing to think. No, I have so much because I've done this or I've done that or I've said this or I've said that or I give money to this or I give money to that. Who cares? Doesn't make you more like God is and nothing will without your choosing for it too. And so these are all 0:34:59 - 0:35:38 keys that'll keep you safe. All right, let's keep going. Um OK, so kind of the point to this one is again, these things are unified. If you gain more understanding, you will also become more like God. And if you become more like God, you will also gain more understanding. They're, they're tied together 0:35:37 - 0:35:58 . Now, that doesn't mean that you do everything, you know, that's a choice. But in this path, you're just not gonna go very far in the first place if you don't do all that, you know, because remember from the other presentation uh or presentations, you have to reconcile yourself to God as far as you 0:35:58 - 0:36:19 already know Him in order to learn more about Him. And so you don't even have the chance of knowing without doing because the second, those two things decouple, you are off the path. You are out of the way and you don't just step out of it. Like if you're running a marathon and you're halfway there and 0:36:19 - 0:36:36 then you walk off the course, you're still halfway there. It doesn't work like that with the gospel. Do you instantly go all the way back to the beginning? And in fact, you're worse off than you were before. That's why Jesus said it's possible to be in a place where it's better that you were never born 0:36:35 - 0:36:54 because at least you were where you were before you were born and if you come higher and then you get off the path, you lose much of what you thought you had. Ok, I'm gonna cut this off now. Um, and I'll pick back up on the next part.