0:00:00 - 0:00:19 Um I'm gonna try to share some thoughts here. So first off, uh, apologize for the get up, this is uh paint, this is an outdoor shirt. It's really cold and I got up early and, uh I don't wanna, I can, I've mastered the art of sneaking out of the bedroom like a ninja, but I always go back in like an elephant 0:00:19 - 0:00:44 and I'd rather not wake up my wife. I got up really early. Um Sometimes when I wake up, um, thankfully, this is not frequently the case, but I will have so much um intensity of emotion and thought that I can't start writing right away. I have to simmer down a bit and, uh, this morning it was one of the 0:00:44 - 0:01:14 mornings with three hours in and I'm just about ready to, to, um kind of get into a more flow kind of uh session of writing. I've been pecking away at different notes and just kind of trying to find stuff on the internet that helps me get traction in the, um in that intensity and that's not gonna make 0:01:14 - 0:01:40 any sense. Uh So I apologize. I can't, I don't have the tools to describe that better right now. Um E except to say, and this is very much related to where we're going with this video. Um The phrase Paul's phrase Hope against Hope echoes in my mind. And when we think about faith, it, it's so important 0:01:39 - 0:02:17 that to, to realize the power of that God has given us to think and feel beyond the confines of this world and to tap into things so pure and noble and good and beautiful that they, they transcend anything you can find here and to, to somehow harness that and bring it down and clumsily make something 0:02:16 - 0:02:48 here that in some way distantly echoes that more than it was before. Um What a tremendous gift we have each day and how he's designed us and everything around us to be able to do that. It's just amazing in, in every single aspect of reality, every single second of every day, no matter how mundane what 0:02:48 - 0:03:28 we're doing seems that's what we have the, the power to attach it to and to use life as a canvas to somehow instantiate more of his glory here. It's an amazing, amazing gift. So, uh I got an email from a gal and uh I had asked her about an experience I know she's had in life and I have a very strong 0:03:28 - 0:03:58 , um not impression, but I have strong reasons to believe that she could help others by sharing her own experience with this. And um she wrote back a sincere email which I appreciated. But anyway, she said amongst other things, she said, you know, I feel very cautious about this because, and she quoted 0:03:57 - 0:04:23 give, not that which is holy unto the dogs. Neither cast ye your pearls before swine lest they trample them under their feet and turn again and rend you. So somewhere I wrote and I, I can't help you in finding where this is at the moment. Nor can I even tell you if it's published or not? It might just 0:04:23 - 0:04:46 be in my notes that aren't published yet. But somewhere I wrote that the thing about pigs is that what they value is slop, not pearls and pearls are more valuable, much, much more valuable. In fact, pearls can be exchanged for a whole lot of slop and yet if you give pearls to a hungry pig, it's just 0:04:46 - 0:05:14 gonna trample on them and maybe try to eat you. And uh those of us who've kept pigs, we know what that's about, but all of us have experienced human pigs and possibly acted like them, likely in fact acted that way at one time or another. Now, the closer you grow to the Lord, the more often anything you 0:05:14 - 0:00:00 do will actually be more similar to pearls than slop. And so the question is, what do you do about it? Do you hold back? Do you turn down the damper? Do you um reduce your intensity or do you just get trampled. Well, this is a tough topic. Thankfully, there are a lot of scriptures that address this. 0:00:00 - 0:00:00 So, first off, let's, let's talk about why you might want to put your pearls on full display and just pause your, if you, if you have a AAA tendency here to say, well, what about that scripture? Didn't Jesus say not to do that? Um Just hit pause on that. Um Well, maybe we'll just address that right, 0:00:00 - 0:06:41 right now up front. Um Did he say not to do it? I mean, he says, give not, but is that a commandment not to do it or is he telling you what the consequences are? Did he do that? Did Jesus give his pearls to swine? What are the most valuable pearls this world has ever seen? If not the life of Jesus, did 0:06:41 - 0:07:07 he put it on full display for three years? He did. Um Now you might say, well, didn't he say some things in private to the apostles that he didn't say to the public? Sure. Did he say some things one on one to people that were contextual that he did not say to, to the world? Yes. OK. But he very clearly 0:07:07 - 0:07:38 followed the, the practice, the following principle. He did not preach to the general public at a safe level, give the least common denominator. Does that make sense? He did not preach in a general way to the least um righteous person, the person with the least like the person who is most likely to hurt 0:07:37 - 0:08:09 him. He didn't stay safe. He preached publicly. How could this be phrased? He preached publicly the level of light that he needed to, to reach those that needed him specifically? So let's take this from another facet. He did not blast out all the light he had all the time, but he always lived according 0:08:08 - 0:00:00 to the level of light that he needed to, to be recognized to the people, he could uniquely help, recognized by the people. He could uniquely help. Does that make sense? I guess to understand this, we have to think about truth windows again. So I'll do a hand drawing. You might remember this picture, 0:00:00 - 0:08:50 but I had a graph and I had some bars like this and then, you know, it keeps going up. And so there's like this slight overlap between adjacent bars and those are windows of truth or value or light. However you wanna phrase it, it's all the same property where you can only see what's good or what's right 0:08:50 - 0:09:16 or what's beautiful or what's valuable slightly beyond how good, right? Beautiful, et cetera. You are very, very important property. OK? You can see down clearly, but you can't see up very far. You, you'll never escape that. The only solution if you want to see more is to become better. OK? So, or to 0:09:16 - 0:09:44 see better or to see more beautiful or valuable or whatever. So those those lost sheep. You know, we think of lost sheep as like black sheep as, as, you know, rebels who wander far a field. Um Not so, not so, so the lost sheep were actually better. They're sheep that wander off because they're looking 0:09:43 - 0:10:16 for grass. That's better. It's, they need better than what everyone else is satisfied on. And those are the people Jesus came uniquely to save. Now, now he came to save everyone because we were all subject to Adams corruption, death. But um everyone else can be saved by lesser uh uh I wanna say lesser 0:10:16 - 0:10:39 representations of Jesus, right? Lower resolution pictures of the gospel. That's, that's fine for them. They're satisfied with that. Go to any old church. It's full of people like this by, by default, right? They're fine with the gruel that they're served up every day. It's the same thing every Sunday 0:10:39 - 0:11:01 and they never change. And that's just, that's what they go for. And if you gave them anything else, they would be very angry with you. OK? But Jesus came to uniquely save people that uniquely needed what he could uniquely give, which was better than all of that. And so the people that followed him in 0:11:01 - 0:11:31 his life, a lot of them were not satisfied with or attracted to what the Pharisees were serving up. It wasn't enough, it wasn't good enough. You know, Peter was not a devout Jew in the sense that he wasn't a pharisee he wasn't uh you know, he, he worked full time. He hadn't dedicated his life to God 0:11:30 - 0:11:59 in the way he did after Jesus came along and said, follow me when Jesus said that he said, Lord depart from me. I'm a sinner. So there was something added in that was missing before something better. Now, what, what many of you do not realize is that God has sent you to this world at a specific time 0:11:59 - 0:12:25 in a specific place because there are people who need you. You know, God. God doesn't need us, but he needs people just like us, right? The puzzle requires, you know, the jigsaw puzzle. It's got a lot of pieces that look very different from each other and that's all part of it. It's necessary and there 0:12:25 - 0:12:54 are ways that need to be explained uh that proved this, but I can't do that right now. Um But you'll see it in time, you'll see it clear as day and it's essential the way this works. It's essential. So all of us have a role to play. And so what, how do we provide that peace to the world? That's pie ce 0:12:53 - 0:13:17 . Well, um what, what does the baptismal covenant say? Uh We're gonna be pulling a lot from Book of Mormon Scriptures here. So thank God for, for that. Um But there's nothing, you know, for those who haven't uh delved into that yet. Um There's nothing controversial that we're gonna cover. It's just super 0:13:17 - 0:13:40 clear. So this could be on the back of a Denny's place map for all I care and it would be just as true. Um And that, that's not said to denigrate it quite the opposite. Ok. So let's start in Mosiah 18 and let's talk about baptism. So when you get baptized, what are you promising God uh that you are willing 0:13:40 - 0:14:03 to mourn with those that mourn? Ok? Comfort those that stand in need of comfort, all right, and stand as witnesses of God at all times and in all things and in all places that you may be in, even until death that ye may be redeemed of God and be numbered with those of the first resurrection that ye may 0:14:03 - 0:14:25 have eternal life. This is Mosiah 18 9. Now. Um Well, I'll, I'll read the next one too. Now. I say unto you, if this be the desire of your heart, what have you against being baptized in the name of the Lord as a witness before Him, that you have entered into a covenant with Him, that you will serve Him 0:14:25 - 0:14:45 and keep His commandments that He may pour out His spirit more abundantly upon you. And that's the trade, right? That's the trade. People get uncomfortable with this concept of trading God for things. Um And rightfully so if they think the trade is even now, how anyone can think that I don't understand 0:14:44 - 0:15:12 , but we give him everything we have not just now everything we could be, which requires a lot of ini initiative, right? And forethought and deliver it effort. But in exchange for that, all of our heart might mind and strength, which is everything we have to give. Do you know what we get? We get everything 0:15:11 - 0:15:43 he has to give and guess how that looks in the scales as we pour out everything he's given us. And by the way, that's another reason it's the easiest trade in the world because you don't have anything. Everything we have is on loan from him, even the breath we take each moment and uh long term, the exchange 0:15:43 - 0:16:06 yields everything he has, which is everything there is to have, which is way better than whatever you have right now. But immediately, so there's a process for that, but immediately you get more of his spirit. It isn't, I mean, what, what more could you want? And so as you pour out what he has given 0:16:06 - 0:16:26 you, he gives you more. And what we do is we try to trim that down from everything to less than everything. And it's like, well, what can I get for this? Well, I'm willing to go to church on Sundays. What can I get for that? Like I don't wanna give you my whole heart, my mind and strength. But what can 0:16:26 - 0:16:56 I get for 10% of my income? You know, that's the way people look at Christianity as a way to justify bad things they wanna do or a way to like a limited list of things where if I do this, I, if ic if I constrain myself to this in this, then everything's e everything else goes everywhere else. Like all 0:16:56 - 0:17:28 I have to do is this, this and this and then whatever I do outside of that, it's all good no matter what. And that's just not true. Right? To be a witness of God is to follow His example in all things at all times, to do, say and feel what he would in your place. It says at all times and in all things 0:17:27 - 0:00:00 and in all places that you may be in, that's universal folks. And and is there a limit like does it say except when people will be really mean to you if you do this? No, even until death, it's not just a time limit. It's also a lack of breath limit meaning even if they kill you, you need to do this. 0:00:00 - 0:18:40 Now, let's talk about that need we, we have several phrases in my house, most of them we've taken from movies. So um you know, you, you don't have to be whitewashed. Uh sterling, squeaky, clean, perfect in the world's eyes to love God with everything you have to give. And truth is found in funny places 0:18:39 - 0:19:03 . Truth is found in strange places and it glorifies God when you reach in and you grab it and you pull it out and you say this is good. I'm keeping this, you know, and you throw out all the garbage around it. So there's this funny, funny scene from a movie where, um, this idiot of a guy does an idiot 0:19:02 - 0:19:25 thing and he tries to make it up to this, this, this, it's a, it's a kids soccer team and he's their coach and so he gets them each, a little cage with a pet bird and he's like, I got you all finches and they're like what? And one of the kids says, do we have to, do we have to keep it or something like 0:19:25 - 0:19:47 that? And he, he says you get to keep it. Yeah, you get to keep it. It's really funny. So um that's become a catchphrase in our house whenever a kid says, do I have to whatever? Like, you know, do I have to go clean this up or do I have to take out the trash? You will hear some random person immediately 0:19:46 - 0:20:22 say you get to take out the trash. Yeah. And I love it. I love it. Um So uh you don't have to stand as a witness of God at all times and in all things and in all places you get to, you get to. So why is it a privilege? OK, let's break down what this means and this, this video. So I know a lot of times 0:20:22 - 0:20:42 it sounds like I'm really letting you have it and criticizing you or whatever and that's not what's going on. But I understand that that's what it's gonna seem like. That's fine. But this video, this is really about encouragement. It's not, it's not like that. It's the other way, but there's no other 0:20:42 - 0:21:12 way, but it's a different light. So you get to stand as witnesses and let's break down what this means. So you are who you are and I am who I am. Well, let me, let me talk about it this way. Um Growing up this, this shouldn't be so difficult to put into words, but for some reason, it is, I always had 0:21:12 - 0:00:00 an idea. So I thought of, of who I was, meaning how I was, you know, and um I've lived a pretty rich life in spite of still being less than 40 um for a little while longer. And um through all those experiences which, which started as early as I can remember. Just, just life experiences. I mean, not, 0:00:00 - 0:22:03 not the deep things going on underground like an iceberg under the surface, but through all these things, um and experiences, you know, I thought I had a pretty decent idea of who I was. And then God came along and just uh sort of ignited this atomic bomb on all of that. And it's interesting because 0:22:02 - 0:22:32 in the rubble um in the rubble of that. Uh So, so I got to know the Lord when I was 18 and that's when the bomb went off. And so looking at that, um, I could see things, uh, from before then that were very much tied up into my new identity in Christ. Um, and, and then I saw a whole lot that I previously 0:22:32 - 0:22:51 thought was part of who I was, that actually wasn't part of who I was at all. It's who I thought I was. But I guess to put this in a different way, it was only a couple of years ago now that it just sort of out of nowhere. I had this epiphany that I felt like myself for the first time in my life is the 0:22:51 - 0:23:12 weirdest thing. It was almost like I had met someone that I knew very, very well, but we had been away from each other for a long time and maybe you've had this experience in life. I have. Um, but there's a gentleman living with us right now, which I'm very grateful for. But he's a, he's a good friend 0:23:12 - 0:23:35 of mine and we've been very close friends since like fourth grade and we kind of went our separate ways when, uh when I found the Lord that was basically, it coincided with a bunch of things in both of our lives that were uh point of departure in time and space. But, um, we, we still remained in contact 0:23:35 - 0:24:00 . We're just living in different places, doing different things and, and now we've, we've sort of rejoined forces. So to speak in more recent times and, and uh it's been like that. So maybe you've had something like that, but it's really something you know. So, um, since I met the Lord at 18, I've and 0:24:00 - 0:24:28 became acquainted with verses like this, I've done everything I've known to do um to fulfill this and after doing this for some time now, um it's very clear to me that it's quite a privilege to test to, to be given the opportunity to testify and demonstrate of someone who's infinitely better than we 0:24:28 - 0:24:51 are. I mean, think of that. So not only do we have the opportunity to emulate his example, but we actually have not just the opportunity but the charge to demonstrate what he is like to others, Jesus. And we're not gonna go there now. But in the New Testament, he made it very plain that his mission was 0:24:51 - 0:25:22 to come and demonstrate the father to the world and that our mission was to demonstrate him to the world. That's amazing, isn't it? And how do we do it? Well, we, we can read the scriptures and get an idea of what he's like. Um And we should, we should study those uh devoutly and with tenacity and we 0:25:22 - 0:25:48 have to live everything we learn. But the gold mine of getting to know Jesus is the holy ghost. And you know, if we had time, we'd, we'd lay all this out. It's a, it's a, it's a lot to unpack, but to sum it all up, that's a channel of information that you gain access to. And it's like a knob where you 0:25:48 - 0:26:10 turn up, the intensity, the clarity, the volume, the depth, the breadth. And what happens is you're in a place where you're getting to know the Lord way better than the average person on the street even can, even if they wanted to. Right. Because they'd have to traverse the same kind of path you have 0:26:09 - 0:26:38 to get there and that takes time and effort and all these things. And there's a, there are things you can hand off to people that will accelerate their journey. Um It doesn't come for free. There are some consequences to that, but that in a nutshell, that's what a covenant is. OK. However, since I brought 0:26:38 - 0:27:02 it up, covenants aren't like God has a box and he hands it off to a prophet or mediator, I guess, be more technically correct, which is a special kind of profit. Hands it off to the mediator and says now go give this box to the world and it's not that it's not that up in heaven. There's a shelf that 0:27:02 - 0:27:29 says covenants and here's the law of Moses and here's this and here's that um it doesn't work that way. Covenant is a relationship or a process or a system. Mm And what flows through that pipe? It's all the same pipe. It's all the same process. The variables are just the people involved and necessarily 0:27:28 - 0:27:53 the law that they live or the, the exact snapshot of the ideas they have about God and reality and all these things cause and effect, you know, so the blessings that can flow through that differ, but it's just a process. It's not some weird regimented scary thing. It's just this flow, it's a flow up 0:27:53 - 0:28:31 and it's a flow down and the process is described by the word covenant anyway. Um And, and they're all, they're all resolutions of the covenant because there's really only one which is called the new and everlasting covenant, which is the process whereby we become more like Jesus. That's it. So, um what 0:28:30 - 0:28:55 a privilege we have to not only emulate the Lord but to show other people more of what he's like and how do we know more of what he's like? Because we've come up a little further. It is as soon as you live up to what you know, he gives you more and he gives you more. And then the holy ghost is like the 0:28:55 - 0:29:21 afterburner on this jet and we get more and more and more, faster, faster, faster, right? And we just keep going and as we show others what he's like as far as we understand him to be, we help them come up to the same. That's what it's all about. Ok. So what, what does this have to do with pigs and pearls 0:29:20 - 0:29:44 , pigs and pearls? So, someone should write a song about that. That'd be a little bit more interesting than most of the hymns people sing. Um So we read in the sermon on the Mount, sermon on the mount. Uh Jesus says things like blessed are ye when men shall revile you and persecute you and shall say 0:29:44 - 0:30:07 all manner of evil against you falsely for my sake. Now, what does that mean for my sake? What he's saying is if people treat you this way because you're doing and saying and feeling what you sincerely believe I would in your place, then you're blessed. Now again, let's take this apart and talk about 0:30:07 - 0:30:36 the privilege. It's funny how privilege has become a bad word, but we're using it in the good sense. So um if you act like yourself like you used to be before you knew the Lord, no one's gonna care. Ok? But if they did care and in a negative way, then they're persecuting you. Not because you're like 0:30:36 - 0:00:00 Jesus, but because you're like you, right? There's no blessing there. That's like if you kick a wall really hard and it hurts, you're just an idiot. You're not blessed, you're just stupid, right? Enjoy your hurt, your, your hurt foot. But if it's for his sake, if it's because you're acting like him, 0:00:00 - 0:31:26 they're not reacting to you, they're reacting to him. Now, what does it mean to be blessed again? So blessed is a covenant term and I, I just explained what covenants are blessed means in the ancient languages. It means um two things depending on the direction. It means to kneel down in order like to 0:31:26 - 0:31:43 stoop down to give something. And it also means to kneel down to receive, which is kind of like reaching up. But it, it means to kneel down. And why do you need to kneel down to receive from someone who's reaching down? Because if you don't humble yourself, you can't receive something from above. It's 0:31:43 - 0:32:08 going, it's going to clash with some part of who you think you are or what you think is right or what you think is best. And so you have to use the faculties that God gives us, namely reason, separate yourself from the emotional baggage and really see things as they are and say, wow, this is great. This 0:32:08 - 0:32:37 is totally worth it. Ok? So blessed is also something that doesn't refer to the outward appearances of here. And now, so if you go down the sermon on the mount, you'll see that the conditions that are described are mostly future conditions. So, so you know, the meek will inherit the earth. But right 0:32:37 - 0:33:01 now we read in another place, the dominions of those that actually follow Christ are few. They're not running many things here and now they're in little pockets of life in little places on the planet because you know, they have to go work for some knucklehead and they're living in some government that 0:33:01 - 0:33:23 , that is run by knuckleheads and their neighbors are knuckleheads. So their dominions are few, but one day they'll inherit the earth and it's not, it's not different in the sense of what's going on. It's just different that in the sense that everything else changes and the same thing that they're doing 0:33:23 - 0:33:48 that they were doing before, it results in a very different outcome later. Um, so it, it's like, it's like pumping something full of air and then one day it explodes and it's just constantly pumping it full of air. And there's this slight change over time, but it looks mostly the same and then all of 0:33:48 - 0:34:07 a sudden there's this sudden change, but it's not all of a sudden at all. If you, if you model all the laws of physics of what's going on and whatever you're inflating, it's, you could predict exactly when the explosion is gonna happen and it's not a sudden change. It's just the direct result of everything 0:34:06 - 0:34:34 you were doing until then anyway. And then we also read, um uh well, we could go on to where it talks about this is how it's been for all the profits, right? This is how it's been for all the prophets, all those who believed in God and lived like him. This is how you get treated by the world and this 0:34:34 - 0:35:04 is how it's going to be until his kingdom is established in the earth. So let's cross that one off the list. So if we know that that's the way, the more like God, you are, the more the world will treat you like it treated Jesus, right? It's cause and effect. It's a natural reaction. It's like putting 0:35:03 - 0:35:24 baking soda into vinegar. It's no surprise what happens. If you put in a half a cup, you're gonna get a half a cup reaction. You put in a quarter cup, you're gonna get a quarter cup reaction. So how is this a privilege? No one wants that, right? Well, it's not that part. That's the privilege. That's 0:35:23 - 0:35:46 , you know, God is good and he's warning us about how things are gonna be. It's like you said in the parable of the guy who's building the tower or the king going out to war, you need to know what you're in for and it's no secret that this is up to and including death. Ok? So the cost has been made plain 0:35:45 - 0:36:02 and when it happens to you, you can't say, oh, where did this come from? I'm so surprised. I thought, I thought Christianity was just praise Jesus. Praise Jesus. Life is good. Everything's wonderful. God will take care of it. I don't have to worry about anything. La di da, you know, show me the puppies 0:36:01 - 0:36:33 and the rainbows, but he never said any of that, right? In fact, if you look at where he said my piece I give to you. Not as the world gives um if you look at where he says, uh uh rejoice right there, he says, he says, yeah, he says uh be of good cheer for I have overcome the world. If you look up that 0:36:33 - 0:36:59 verse right before that, right before that like right there he says, the world is going to overcome you the and then he says, but be of good cheer because I have overcome the world, right? So people always say, oh, you know, the battle's already won. It's just what's to be determined is whose side you're 0:36:58 - 0:37:28 on. Yeah. OK. Sure, true. But it's more than that Jesus already told you you're gonna lose. It's not optional and it's no question. You are going to get your butt kicked. The question is, will you choose to let that result in you choosing him and actually living like him and drawing nearer to him or 0:37:27 - 0:37:52 will you turn away before then and retreat into the world thinking that that's gonna bring you some kind of joy or security or anything else worth having. And now we tap into the many, many, many old Testament examples of Israel as a nation and also Israel, this thing being described figuratively in 0:37:52 - 0:38:14 scripture, but whether literal or figurative, it doesn't matter. Israel turning to other nations like Egypt for support, instead of turning to God, they don't change and they don't become better and more righteous in order to say, Lord, we trust you. Therefore, we're going to do this thing. That's better 0:38:14 - 0:38:33 . We're gonna be better in order to trust you. Now they say no, we're just gonna go turn to this other nation and they'll help us defeat our enemy. That's kicking our butt right now. So when the world kicks your butt and you're a Christian, you don't say like, where did this come from? Jesus promised 0:38:32 - 0:38:58 me peace. What the, you say, Jesus promised me peace. Therefore, if I don't have it, it's revealing that I need more Jesus. Therefore, I'm gonna look at my life and say, what can I change to be better? And that's where you're gonna go and the kicking of your butt gives you a greater willingness to do 0:38:58 - 0:39:20 more than you'd otherwise do to, to make a greater sacrifice. And I talked about this often, I had an email exchange with someone else about this recently where they were sharing their experience with this as a true principle. God gives you the opportunity to offer willingly what he absolutely is going 0:39:20 - 0:39:53 to take from you later anyway, anything you have in your life or in yourself, that is not 100% founded on him as the rock, the foundation you are going to lose it, period. The question is, will you give it to him willingly before that day comes? And I didn't mean to get into all this today, but this 0:39:52 - 0:40:18 is where it's taken us because it's going to be taken away. You know it, people look at the sacrifice of job and they think, wow, what a, what a crazy thing. I'm so glad God doesn't require that of us. Yes, he does. The way he did it to job was different so that it could give us an easier to see example 0:40:17 - 0:40:43 . See if everything that happened to job was internal. There would be no book of job. There couldn't be because even if it was written down, no one would believe it and no one would feel it. What do I mean by that? It takes massive amounts of faith to have revelatory experiences and anyone who's doesn't 0:40:42 - 0:41:07 live that they'd read accounts of tremendous emotional experience and only interpret that through their narrow lens of this is all I've ever felt and that just doesn't work. They'd read it and say, well, this is exactly like my life. I don't understand why I have such a different life. Then if this is 0:41:07 - 0:41:27 exactly what I'm going through when it's not anything like what you're going through. You know, this is why the account says Jesus sweat, um, drops of blood in the Garden of Gethsemane because without that, you're gonna be tempted to squish down everything else that he went through there into like, maybe 0:41:26 - 0:41:46 this is like that one day I had, that was really bad and I thought about maybe, uh ending my life. No, no, it was nothing like that. It was a million times worse. Can't even measure it the difference. Ok. So, and, and because of that drops of blood, we have a little barometer to say, well, I wasn't sweating 0:41:46 - 0:42:16 blood, so maybe there's some difference there, right? You get it. So, um, anyway, everything requires everything. It's not optional. The question is, when are you gonna give it up? Do you do it voluntarily early or do you wait until he just takes it? And then your only, the only sacrifice you can make 0:42:15 - 0:42:39 at that point is to accept that he's taken it. That's what Joe had to do is he had to accept that it was taken from him. But it's a very different thing to walk into the Garden of Yosemite because the father told you to go and then to, to willingly stay there to not pull away when he's beating you. Okay 0:42:38 - 0:43:07 . So um these are not uh comfortable topics for people to hear, but whatever they need to hear it. It's true. So, but, but why is it a why is it a blessing to be persecuted for his name's sake? For, for, for living up to his example or, or according to his example, as far as you understand it, at least 0:43:06 - 0:43:28 in Alma 29 9, we read, I know that which the Lord hath commanded me and I glory in it. I do not glory of myself, but I glory in that which the Lord Hath commanded me. Yeah. And this is my glory that perhaps I may be an instrument in the hands of God to bring some soul to repentance. And this is my joy 0:43:27 - 0:43:51 . Ok? So the one idea that's worth pointing out in this is as you demonstrate, Jesus, you're going to have to do and say the things that He would do and say in your place. And one, you think the persecution comes from the atheists and a lot of times it does. But you know what bothers some people the 0:43:51 - 0:44:13 most. It's, it's the Christians that are bothered the most seemingly because or I should just say the religious people, uh the Romans crucified Jesus, but they only did it because the Pharisees um not only asked them to but persisted and insisted that they do it. Pilot said, I find no fault with this 0:44:13 - 0:44:35 man. He interrogated him and he said, I find no fault in this man, but the Pharisees would not relent. And so they crucified him and that's how it is with. This is some of the most bitter persecution comes from the religious Jesus said, the time will come when they kill you and they think they're doing 0:44:34 - 0:44:59 God a service. So um as you say, and do what he would say and do in your place, people will get very angry at you. How dare you do and say what Jesus would do and say in your place when they should be rejoicing as long as it's even right if you're a hypocrite, it's a different story. But if you're evenly 0:44:59 - 0:45:21 doing it and you're not just saying what he would say and when it's convenient to you or it makes you look good, so you think, or whatever, see, only a fool would actually do that to look good because if you do it at all, you'll see people hate you for it. Right? But, um, you're not glorying in yourself 0:45:20 - 0:45:41 . We started this whole thing. You're testifying of Jesus, right? And that is who you've become. You've become the person you are, but it's not the person you used to be because you've left that behind. It's, it's, it's been nuked and some of the pieces have come forward, but they're only the ones that 0:45:41 - 0:46:04 fit in the form of Jesus and he's filled in the rest and it's a lot better than what you started with and you glory in that, right? Because of course you, you love that and that's what motivates you to do. This is at the first level. So it's not out of begrudging obedience to God, like dragging your 0:46:03 - 0:46:27 feet. Oh, no, I've got to say what Jesus would say in my place. I've got to do what Jesus would do in my place. No, it's that by doing this, you can help someone somewhere. See more of what God is like to believe a little bit more that it's worth following him and that by doing so, you will have joy 0:46:27 - 0:46:57 So, but it's important to, uh, to remember that, that being an instrument in his hands, you're doing what can't be done otherwise you're not, uh just sort of a convenience accessory in the plan. He needs people to witness of him at times in, in places that people would not otherwise see as much of him 0:46:56 - 0:47:25 . That's the purpose. OK. So it says this is my joy, but here's a question for you. Um Well, we, we, we, we'll cement this idea and then move on. So another version of this is, is Alma 3624. It's the same idea. So Almah saying that after he repented, he said from that time, even until now, I've labored 0:47:24 - 0:47:45 without ceasing that I might bring souls unto repentance, that I might bring them to taste of the exceeding joy of which I did taste that they might also be born of God and be filled with the Holy ghost. You see. So the purpose of the, the purpose of what we do is to help others receive more of the Holy 0:47:45 - 0:48:10 ghost. Why? So that through that means they can learn more of what God is like and, and that's how it all rolls forward. But we read, we've read twice now that this motivation, it's, it's based on the response or the hope of a response. But here's the thing, the more like God, you become, the less reasons 0:48:09 - 0:48:34 you will have to believe that anyone is going to listen and there are reasons for that, but we don't want to go too deep into all this, right, this second. But, um, you need to keep the hope that someone's out there somewhere needs to hear exactly what only you could say and needs to receive, what only 0:48:34 - 0:48:53 you could do. Now, I need to clarify what I mean by that is not necessarily that you can say something better than what anyone else could say or that you could do something better than what anyone else could do. Although by definition, that has to be true for someone somewhere. Ok. What I mean is like 0:48:53 - 0:49:21 maybe where you live, God doesn't have anybody else on the ground who can do the things that you're doing. Maybe in the, um, background that you have, you're particularly well suited to reach people like that. Does that make sense? So it's, it's just like an army when you have an army. And, uh, the general 0:49:20 - 0:49:42 says we need to take this region and the colonels go out and then they make their plans for the specific areas and it breaks down, down, down down when it gets down to the private whose boots are on the ground. His sergeant says, look, you see that ridge, you see any person from here to here, you shoot 0:49:41 - 0:50:06 them until they stop moving. That's your job, you got it. See you, if that person doesn't do what only they can do it all bubbles up to the whole cause. And so the person in the trench can't say, oh well, the general's got this, it's, I, whatever, I don't feel like shooting today, I'm just gonna go to 0:50:06 - 0:50:31 sleep. Right. So this is super important to understand. You need to do what only you can do and what is that? Well, it's the best you can do. That's, that's what defines it and that you're, you're serving a unique purpose and if that doesn't get done, you absolutely are incapable of seeing the consequences 0:50:30 - 0:50:56 of that. It's a, it's a vastly important thing. You'll only know by doing it now. Now we get to this idea. Yeah. Well, what if, what if, what if I, no matter how much I think about it, how much I'd like to believe, I just can't believe anyone's gonna listen. So, the faith that what you're doing is so 0:50:56 - 0:51:19 that someone will listen, it can take you very far and that space is an enormous improvement over where most people are. Maybe that's what you need to take away from this. And if so great carry on because it does matter. And somewhere out there there are people who need exactly who you are. You with 0:51:19 - 0:51:42 all your warts and everything else. That's who they need and you, you need to shine the light that God has given you because, because there are hungry people that are desperate that need it and they need it just like you've got it. Ok. You need to understand God can't send them some angel out of heaven 0:51:42 - 0:52:01 to tell them what you can tell them. It's against his laws. It wouldn't help them because that, you know, you say, well, I'm flawed and I don't know this and all I know is that and sometimes I make mistakes and, you know, even when I try to phrase things just right. I sound like an idiot. They need an 0:52:00 - 0:52:23 idiot. Trust me. That's, that's, that doesn't excuse you from what I'm saying, it qualifies you for what I'm saying. Right. Imperfect people need imperfect people to teach them. Now, I'm not saying like just go willy nilly, fill your life with sin and you'll be a powerful preacher. That's not what I'm 0:52:23 - 0:52:42 saying. I'm saying. You don't worry about what you lack, you live what God has given you and you will, you will see his light flow through you into the lives of other people in ways that you cannot imagine right now. But if you do it, you'll see it and you'll be able to say it just like I am, you'll 0:52:42 - 0:53:04 , you'll have that much confidence. I promise. There's only one way this can go folks. There's, it all goes one way and it's up, you know, it's already been decided. So you can participate that in that or not, but it's your choice. You have everything you need to, to take part and as you do, you'll get 0:53:04 - 0:53:24 everything. You lack to take a greater part. That's the way it works. So, so why does God need idiots? So some people take offense to how often I call folks idiots. Um, someone wrote me and said, you know, maybe if you stop calling us stupid all the time, well, don't be stupid and you won't get called 0:53:24 - 0:53:44 stupid, right? So there's not a person watching these videos who feels, who feels bad. if a humble and stupid, they're like, you know, I am being an idiot and B or B I should say they're not being an idiot and so it just rolls off them. They're like, oh, he's not talking to me. No, I'm not. If you're 0:53:44 - 0:54:07 not being an idiot, I'm not talking to you. But God needs idiots. Ok? So let's talk to at all. Every one of us who knows that we are still flawed in some way that that should be everyone, right? Why when God sends a higher messenger, the requirement of sincerity is not waived and that person has to be 0:54:06 - 0:54:29 on full blast. Now, it doesn't mean that they don't take care and how, what they say and how they say it, but they are limited in what they can say based on how they would, uh whether or not they'd feel sincere saying it, you can only break down the truth so much before you need to. Um, you need someone 0:54:29 - 0:54:55 who is flawed in order to teach it in a way that maintains sincerity but is still accessible to someone of a much lower truth window. I hope that makes sense. It's kind of a big concept. Ok. I'll talk about it later but do not. The point is the takeaway is do not diminish the, the power that God can 0:54:54 - 0:55:20 effect through you that, that you might be very aware of the limitations that you have. That's not your problem. You just shine the light that God has given you whatever light you see came through all those limits, didn't it? So who are you to limit it to someone else? If you've already got it, you shine 0:55:19 - 0:55:45 it, you sign it and by the way, fix all the limits while you're at it, just do that too. OK? Work on it. All right. But what happens when you can no longer have hope for people believing you? Um I'm sorry, there was one more scripture I was meant to share on that point. Mosiah 28 3. This is the level 0:55:45 - 0:56:06 of intensity you can have and desiring to reach those people that, that are currently not reached. Uh Now they were desirous that salvation should be declared to every creature for they could not bear that any human soul should perish. Yeah. Even the very thought that any soul should endure endless torment 0:56:05 - 0:56:32 to cause them to quake and tremble. Uh The, the Hebrew word for parish is interesting because it's not always total like, I think in English when we hear perish, we think die, right? So you're either dead or you're not. But the Hebrew word parish is um it's, it, it can be a process and it can be by degrees 0:56:31 - 0:56:55 , it's just anything that degrades, really, anything that marches you towards death and you can get into some really deep studies with this idea of the way of death. So parish is a much richer word in Hebrew than it is English. So um if, if you fulfill this verse here in Mosiah 28 3 or as you become 0:56:55 - 0:57:21 more like this, what you'll, what you'll find is you have immensely strong feelings when it comes to seeing folks or imagining folks imagining that there are folks who um who suffered in the least bit or who are impeded from any degree of blessing because they lack what you already have and it motivates 0:57:20 - 0:57:44 you strongly to go and do things. This is uh it was said of Alma and others, he could not rest. There wasn't a moment where he could just let down his hair, so to speak. Um because he knew that that no matter how much he did, there would still be people out there who needed what he had and he just kept 0:57:44 - 0:58:15 going like the energizer bunny. So what happens when you have met? You have invested such effort in doing this that you have accumulated so many examples of no one really listening to what you have to say and terrible things happening to you as a result of showing great love that you are beyond hope 0:58:14 - 0:58:40 that anyone is going to listen, you can no longer rely on that sufficiently to motivate the next attempt to stick out your neck for somebody. And that is what you're doing. Here's a principle. You can't love someone without giving them weapons to hurt you. You can't even help somebody without making 0:58:40 - 0:59:04 it easier for them to hurt you. You will absolutely expose yourself to the harm caused by others proportional to how much you help others. If you want to make a difference, the only way is by putting yourself in harm's way, the reverse is not true. It's not the fact of the case that if you just put yourself 0:59:04 - 0:59:35 in harm's way you're helping people. But it's absolutely the case that the more you help people, the more exposed you will be to harm caused by others. You cannot avoid that. And that is why we have to adopt charity. Charity is the only thing that can overcome all things. The love that God has for us 0:59:35 - 1:00:07 . We have to have that same love for everyone else. And that's the only way that will continue to do this. And thankfully, this happens by degrees until we're at that point. But it's something we have to exercise and do and it happens under increasing opposition. And I wanna read a story uh from the 1:00:07 - 1:00:34 book Mormon that illustrates just how powerful love is. Uh Well, it's actually, it's insufficient for that even, but it takes the needle up a bit from where most people are. So we'll read it. The only story that illustrates how powerful love is is Jesus. So this is from Alma 24 and I'll start reading 1:00:34 - 1:01:01 in verse 22 and to give the back story. So you've got a group of people called the Lamanites who traditionally hated this group of people called the Nephites. And a segment of the Lamanites had decided to repent and uh follow God. And um they were hated by the, the majority of people that they left behind 1:01:00 - 1:01:22 . And so that majority attacked them, but the minority had made a covenant with the Lord that they would not fight back because they care too much about those people to kill them. And because they had come from a life of killing that they refused to pick up again. They just wanted to stay clear of it 1:01:22 - 1:01:46 and they believed that that's what God wanted them to do. So we'll pick up the story. Now we're at this battle and uh I should read one before this. Um Now when the people saw that they were coming against them, they went out to meet them and prostrated themselves before them to the earth and began to 1:01:46 - 1:02:07 call on the name of the Lord. And thus, they were in this attitude when the Lamanites began to fall upon them and began to slay them with the sword. And thus, without meeting any resistance, they did slay 1000 and five of them. And we know that they are blessed. Remember we were talking about that for 1:02:06 - 1:02:29 they have gone to dwell with their God. Now, when the Lamanites saw that their brethren would not flee from the sword. Neither would they turn aside to the right hand or to the left, but that they would lay down, lie down and perish and praised God even in the very act of perishing under the sword. Now 1:02:29 - 1:02:46 , when the Lamanites saw this, they did forbear from slaying them and there were many whose hearts had swollen in them for those of their brethren who had fallen under the sword for, they repented of the things which they had done. And it came to pass that they threw down their weapons of war and they 1:02:46 - 1:03:26 would not take them again for, they were stung for the murders which they had committed and they came down even as their brethren relying upon the mercies of those whose arms were lifted to slay them. Uh uh So enough can't be said about the power of love to change the hearts of people. And it's going 1:03:25 - 1:03:53 to be the case that there will be casualties in this battle, but it's a battle that can't be lost, it can't be lost because love conquers everything. Now, I guess we can we can come back to where we started? Now? Give not that which is wholly unto the dogs. Neither Casti your pearls before swine lest 1:03:53 - 1:04:35 they trample them under their feet and turn again and rend you. So you don't have to get trampled. You get to get trampled. And what a blessing that is in my, what seems like perpetual naivete. I've had many experiences with people in general and one on one, let's just say in public and one on one where 1:04:34 - 1:05:10 my ignorance of better ways of doing things led me to expose more of what I value then would have been in their best interest. Uh unknowingly, I think I put them in a trial that that was um within their ability but harder. Um It was a greater trial than I can't phrase this. Right. I'm sorry, looking 1:05:09 - 1:05:42 back, I see many opportunities in, in my life where I could have, I could have given people a smaller piece a smaller increment of truth than I did because I didn't understand um that that was possi possible or useful or um I didn't understand just how far from it they were uh because we all have a tendency 1:05:41 - 1:06:08 to project upon others, whatever is in our own heart. And that goes opposite ways for good people and bad people if there is such a thing. But um even with everything that the Lord has taught me so far in helping refine my methods to become more like what he would actually do in my place, even though 1:06:08 - 1:06:35 I was always doing what I thought he would do in my place in those instances, sometimes with a whole lot of material to back it. In fact, um now I've reached the point where I can invite and I've talked about this and giving people the smallest increment of truth that you could, um I can invite people 1:06:34 - 1:06:57 to improvement without them even knowing that I'm doing it. And I do. And, you know, I had an interaction with a guy and not too many weeks ago and it was on the subject of gardening. It's a guy I just met randomly to talk about gardening with and I gave him like six invitations for improvement within 1:06:57 - 1:07:20 five minutes. And he thought we were just talking about gardening. There's no sense of moral preaching there. But the, but the, the lifelines were given and because he didn't take them up, I stopped and we were good. Right. But in a, in the old me would have blasted him with this huge leap forward and 1:07:20 - 1:07:42 it would have been a wonderful opportunity if he took it because that's the way it works. The, the giant invitations, they require much more faith. But if you take them, you're much better off. The little ones have far fewer blessings. It's not, um, it's not an even ratio if that makes sense. So it's 1:07:41 - 1:08:08 not that you just take this big thing, you chop it down to here and that's the blessings that you'll get. It's way lower than that. Uh, if that makes sense anyway. However, even with all of that, that I now know in giving the smallest increment, there are absolutely times and places where for me it's 1:08:08 - 1:08:40 like time slows down and this happens less often because I just, I don't know, I just, uh, I'm just not concerned about the cost anymore, but time will slow down. And it's like you see the two paths in front of you and you can back away and back down and say less or you can go out like a lion and you 1:08:40 - 1:09:08 know, that's what Jesus would do in that particular case, you know exactly what he would do or say and you have the choice, turn in or turn away, but you cannot be the same anymore. And as you go for the better option, more often than not, they will turn again and rend you, sometimes it happens in real 1:09:08 - 1:09:32 time. Sometimes it takes them a bit to turn but they do. Um And it's possible and we hope for the cases where they don't and they just leap ahead further than they ever could have been if they never met you. And that happens guys that happens and it will happen for you. God will absolutely use you in 1:09:32 - 1:10:03 that way. But we have to develop the faith and the love to do it anyway, you have to do it anyway. You get to do it anyway. You don't have to, but you get to, you get to and what a tremendous privilege it is because only the people who do things like what Jesus did, we'll really, truly see what he's 1:10:03 - 1:10:29 like when they're with him. And those that don't go down those paths can't know him as well. Not even close. There's a giant chunk of who he is that's per permanently sealed off to you unless you're the kind of person that does this without exception, when the opportunities arise, which incidentally 1:10:28 - 1:10:55 , incidentally, the more you do this, the more the Lord will put you in places where you need to do it because he does not have troops. He can send into those battles. There are few and far between the laborers are few and you know, if the laborers are few to go into the harvest where the wheat is ripe 1:10:54 - 1:11:26 , imagine how few the laborers are to go mow down the weeds. I've shared this story before I was at a conference or something while I was a missionary in Chile. And I heard a story or two about these, these missionaries who prayed to the Lord to tell him uh or to tell them where to go to meet people 1:11:26 - 1:11:52 to preach to and, and they had this miraculous experience and found this person and it was this miracle. I said, wow, that sounds way easier than knocking doors. So with full faith, full faith, I knelt down and um I was praying with my, my partner there and I was, I was the one speaking. I was praying 1:11:52 - 1:12:18 aloud. And I said, Lord, because I said we could do this elder, we can, we could pray and the Lord will tell us where to go. I believe it. And so let's pray. And OK, so we knelt down and I said, Lord, show us where to go. And we had an assigned area is very large and it's crazy. I saw the whole place 1:12:18 - 1:12:55 . So let me just say, I was expecting the Lord to say like go to such and such a street number 52 at two pm today, I was fully expecting that. And instead, what happened was I saw the whole area somehow and he said, where have you not knocked? And I saw it on the map. It was like 65% of the map or something 1:12:54 - 1:13:29 , you know, and it was their huge chunks. And then there were little bits where we kind of went around random places, done some of it. And I said, yeah, all of this and he said, come back to me, come back to me once you've done everything. And I said, OK, and he said, he said something like anyone can 1:13:28 - 1:14:04 teach those who want to hear the gospel. I have plenty of people who can do that. I need you to go and explain this with such clarity that they're left without excuse the ones who don't, I need you to go to everyone. It said, I'll give you people here and there. So it's not too terrible for you. I'll 1:14:04 - 1:14:32 give you people here and there who will listen. But I need you to go and preach to the other ones with such clarity that on the day of judgment, they can't say that I didn't love them. They didn't try everything that could be done. I said, OK, and I mean, my, my partner didn't hear any of that. He, I 1:14:31 - 1:15:16 , he probably just thought I was thinking or something. I don't know. And I got up and I said, I know where to go. We went outside, we knocked every single door in that city. You should feel cautious in sharing the things that God has given to you and you should exercise all of the, the methods. I guess 1:15:15 - 1:15:49 that the Lord lays out in the scriptures. So I'm thinking of Alma 12, for example. So when someone receives a little bit, you give them a little more, but I sincerely invite you to not withhold the light that God has given you. And if, if you choose to share only a part of what you have, let it be because 1:15:49 - 1:16:25 it's what benefits that person the most and don't let it be in any way, fear of what they might do to you if you give them what they need. Perfect love. It casts out all fear when you have the love for others that God has for you, there is no place for fear. Now, what do you call that? Maybe you call 1:16:25 - 1:16:57 it courage. I just call it an honest recognition of how good God is because if you're anywhere near that, anywhere near that, how could you not do everything you can to help anyone you can in the best ways? You imagine the best ways you can sincerely think. So. That's what I have to say about the pearls 0:00:00 - 0:00:19 Um I'm gonna try to share some thoughts here. So first off, uh, apologize for the get up, this is uh paint, this is an outdoor shirt. It's really cold and I got up early and, uh I don't wanna, I can, I've mastered the art of sneaking out of the bedroom like a ninja, but I always go back in like an elephant 0:00:19 - 0:00:44 and I'd rather not wake up my wife. I got up really early. Um Sometimes when I wake up, um, thankfully, this is not frequently the case, but I will have so much um intensity of emotion and thought that I can't start writing right away. I have to simmer down a bit and, uh, this morning it was one of the 0:00:44 - 0:01:14 mornings with three hours in and I'm just about ready to, to, um kind of get into a more flow kind of uh session of writing. I've been pecking away at different notes and just kind of trying to find stuff on the internet that helps me get traction in the, um in that intensity and that's not gonna make 0:01:14 - 0:01:40 any sense. Uh So I apologize. I can't, I don't have the tools to describe that better right now. Um E except to say, and this is very much related to where we're going with this video. Um The phrase Paul's phrase Hope against Hope echoes in my mind. And when we think about faith, it, it's so important 0:01:39 - 0:02:17 that to, to realize the power of that God has given us to think and feel beyond the confines of this world and to tap into things so pure and noble and good and beautiful that they, they transcend anything you can find here and to, to somehow harness that and bring it down and clumsily make something 0:02:16 - 0:02:48 here that in some way distantly echoes that more than it was before. Um What a tremendous gift we have each day and how he's designed us and everything around us to be able to do that. It's just amazing in, in every single aspect of reality, every single second of every day, no matter how mundane what 0:02:48 - 0:03:28 we're doing seems that's what we have the, the power to attach it to and to use life as a canvas to somehow instantiate more of his glory here. It's an amazing, amazing gift. So, uh I got an email from a gal and uh I had asked her about an experience I know she's had in life and I have a very strong 0:03:28 - 0:03:58 , um not impression, but I have strong reasons to believe that she could help others by sharing her own experience with this. And um she wrote back a sincere email which I appreciated. But anyway, she said amongst other things, she said, you know, I feel very cautious about this because, and she quoted 0:03:57 - 0:04:23 give, not that which is holy unto the dogs. Neither cast ye your pearls before swine lest they trample them under their feet and turn again and rend you. So somewhere I wrote and I, I can't help you in finding where this is at the moment. Nor can I even tell you if it's published or not? It might just 0:04:23 - 0:04:46 be in my notes that aren't published yet. But somewhere I wrote that the thing about pigs is that what they value is slop, not pearls and pearls are more valuable, much, much more valuable. In fact, pearls can be exchanged for a whole lot of slop and yet if you give pearls to a hungry pig, it's just 0:04:46 - 0:05:14 gonna trample on them and maybe try to eat you. And uh those of us who've kept pigs, we know what that's about, but all of us have experienced human pigs and possibly acted like them, likely in fact acted that way at one time or another. Now, the closer you grow to the Lord, the more often anything you 0:05:14 - 0:00:00 do will actually be more similar to pearls than slop. And so the question is, what do you do about it? Do you hold back? Do you turn down the damper? Do you um reduce your intensity or do you just get trampled. Well, this is a tough topic. Thankfully, there are a lot of scriptures that address this. 0:00:00 - 0:00:00 So, first off, let's, let's talk about why you might want to put your pearls on full display and just pause your, if you, if you have a AAA tendency here to say, well, what about that scripture? Didn't Jesus say not to do that? Um Just hit pause on that. Um Well, maybe we'll just address that right, 0:00:00 - 0:06:41 right now up front. Um Did he say not to do it? I mean, he says, give not, but is that a commandment not to do it or is he telling you what the consequences are? Did he do that? Did Jesus give his pearls to swine? What are the most valuable pearls this world has ever seen? If not the life of Jesus, did 0:06:41 - 0:07:07 he put it on full display for three years? He did. Um Now you might say, well, didn't he say some things in private to the apostles that he didn't say to the public? Sure. Did he say some things one on one to people that were contextual that he did not say to, to the world? Yes. OK. But he very clearly 0:07:07 - 0:07:38 followed the, the practice, the following principle. He did not preach to the general public at a safe level, give the least common denominator. Does that make sense? He did not preach in a general way to the least um righteous person, the person with the least like the person who is most likely to hurt 0:07:37 - 0:08:09 him. He didn't stay safe. He preached publicly. How could this be phrased? He preached publicly the level of light that he needed to, to reach those that needed him specifically? So let's take this from another facet. He did not blast out all the light he had all the time, but he always lived according 0:08:08 - 0:00:00 to the level of light that he needed to, to be recognized to the people, he could uniquely help, recognized by the people. He could uniquely help. Does that make sense? I guess to understand this, we have to think about truth windows again. So I'll do a hand drawing. You might remember this picture, 0:00:00 - 0:08:50 but I had a graph and I had some bars like this and then, you know, it keeps going up. And so there's like this slight overlap between adjacent bars and those are windows of truth or value or light. However you wanna phrase it, it's all the same property where you can only see what's good or what's right 0:08:50 - 0:09:16 or what's beautiful or what's valuable slightly beyond how good, right? Beautiful, et cetera. You are very, very important property. OK? You can see down clearly, but you can't see up very far. You, you'll never escape that. The only solution if you want to see more is to become better. OK? So, or to 0:09:16 - 0:09:44 see better or to see more beautiful or valuable or whatever. So those those lost sheep. You know, we think of lost sheep as like black sheep as, as, you know, rebels who wander far a field. Um Not so, not so, so the lost sheep were actually better. They're sheep that wander off because they're looking 0:09:43 - 0:10:16 for grass. That's better. It's, they need better than what everyone else is satisfied on. And those are the people Jesus came uniquely to save. Now, now he came to save everyone because we were all subject to Adams corruption, death. But um everyone else can be saved by lesser uh uh I wanna say lesser 0:10:16 - 0:10:39 representations of Jesus, right? Lower resolution pictures of the gospel. That's, that's fine for them. They're satisfied with that. Go to any old church. It's full of people like this by, by default, right? They're fine with the gruel that they're served up every day. It's the same thing every Sunday 0:10:39 - 0:11:01 and they never change. And that's just, that's what they go for. And if you gave them anything else, they would be very angry with you. OK? But Jesus came to uniquely save people that uniquely needed what he could uniquely give, which was better than all of that. And so the people that followed him in 0:11:01 - 0:11:31 his life, a lot of them were not satisfied with or attracted to what the Pharisees were serving up. It wasn't enough, it wasn't good enough. You know, Peter was not a devout Jew in the sense that he wasn't a pharisee he wasn't uh you know, he, he worked full time. He hadn't dedicated his life to God 0:11:30 - 0:11:59 in the way he did after Jesus came along and said, follow me when Jesus said that he said, Lord depart from me. I'm a sinner. So there was something added in that was missing before something better. Now, what, what many of you do not realize is that God has sent you to this world at a specific time 0:11:59 - 0:12:25 in a specific place because there are people who need you. You know, God. God doesn't need us, but he needs people just like us, right? The puzzle requires, you know, the jigsaw puzzle. It's got a lot of pieces that look very different from each other and that's all part of it. It's necessary and there 0:12:25 - 0:12:54 are ways that need to be explained uh that proved this, but I can't do that right now. Um But you'll see it in time, you'll see it clear as day and it's essential the way this works. It's essential. So all of us have a role to play. And so what, how do we provide that peace to the world? That's pie ce 0:12:53 - 0:13:17 . Well, um what, what does the baptismal covenant say? Uh We're gonna be pulling a lot from Book of Mormon Scriptures here. So thank God for, for that. Um But there's nothing, you know, for those who haven't uh delved into that yet. Um There's nothing controversial that we're gonna cover. It's just super 0:13:17 - 0:13:40 clear. So this could be on the back of a Denny's place map for all I care and it would be just as true. Um And that, that's not said to denigrate it quite the opposite. Ok. So let's start in Mosiah 18 and let's talk about baptism. So when you get baptized, what are you promising God uh that you are willing 0:13:40 - 0:14:03 to mourn with those that mourn? Ok? Comfort those that stand in need of comfort, all right, and stand as witnesses of God at all times and in all things and in all places that you may be in, even until death that ye may be redeemed of God and be numbered with those of the first resurrection that ye may 0:14:03 - 0:14:25 have eternal life. This is Mosiah 18 9. Now. Um Well, I'll, I'll read the next one too. Now. I say unto you, if this be the desire of your heart, what have you against being baptized in the name of the Lord as a witness before Him, that you have entered into a covenant with Him, that you will serve Him 0:14:25 - 0:14:45 and keep His commandments that He may pour out His spirit more abundantly upon you. And that's the trade, right? That's the trade. People get uncomfortable with this concept of trading God for things. Um And rightfully so if they think the trade is even now, how anyone can think that I don't understand 0:14:44 - 0:15:12 , but we give him everything we have not just now everything we could be, which requires a lot of ini initiative, right? And forethought and deliver it effort. But in exchange for that, all of our heart might mind and strength, which is everything we have to give. Do you know what we get? We get everything 0:15:11 - 0:15:43 he has to give and guess how that looks in the scales as we pour out everything he's given us. And by the way, that's another reason it's the easiest trade in the world because you don't have anything. Everything we have is on loan from him, even the breath we take each moment and uh long term, the exchange 0:15:43 - 0:16:06 yields everything he has, which is everything there is to have, which is way better than whatever you have right now. But immediately, so there's a process for that, but immediately you get more of his spirit. It isn't, I mean, what, what more could you want? And so as you pour out what he has given 0:16:06 - 0:16:26 you, he gives you more. And what we do is we try to trim that down from everything to less than everything. And it's like, well, what can I get for this? Well, I'm willing to go to church on Sundays. What can I get for that? Like I don't wanna give you my whole heart, my mind and strength. But what can 0:16:26 - 0:16:56 I get for 10% of my income? You know, that's the way people look at Christianity as a way to justify bad things they wanna do or a way to like a limited list of things where if I do this, I, if ic if I constrain myself to this in this, then everything's e everything else goes everywhere else. Like all 0:16:56 - 0:17:28 I have to do is this, this and this and then whatever I do outside of that, it's all good no matter what. And that's just not true. Right? To be a witness of God is to follow His example in all things at all times, to do, say and feel what he would in your place. It says at all times and in all things 0:17:27 - 0:00:00 and in all places that you may be in, that's universal folks. And and is there a limit like does it say except when people will be really mean to you if you do this? No, even until death, it's not just a time limit. It's also a lack of breath limit meaning even if they kill you, you need to do this. 0:00:00 - 0:18:40 Now, let's talk about that need we, we have several phrases in my house, most of them we've taken from movies. So um you know, you, you don't have to be whitewashed. Uh sterling, squeaky, clean, perfect in the world's eyes to love God with everything you have to give. And truth is found in funny places 0:18:39 - 0:19:03 . Truth is found in strange places and it glorifies God when you reach in and you grab it and you pull it out and you say this is good. I'm keeping this, you know, and you throw out all the garbage around it. So there's this funny, funny scene from a movie where, um, this idiot of a guy does an idiot 0:19:02 - 0:19:25 thing and he tries to make it up to this, this, this, it's a, it's a kids soccer team and he's their coach and so he gets them each, a little cage with a pet bird and he's like, I got you all finches and they're like what? And one of the kids says, do we have to, do we have to keep it or something like 0:19:25 - 0:19:47 that? And he, he says you get to keep it. Yeah, you get to keep it. It's really funny. So um that's become a catchphrase in our house whenever a kid says, do I have to whatever? Like, you know, do I have to go clean this up or do I have to take out the trash? You will hear some random person immediately 0:19:46 - 0:20:22 say you get to take out the trash. Yeah. And I love it. I love it. Um So uh you don't have to stand as a witness of God at all times and in all things and in all places you get to, you get to. So why is it a privilege? OK, let's break down what this means and this, this video. So I know a lot of times 0:20:22 - 0:20:42 it sounds like I'm really letting you have it and criticizing you or whatever and that's not what's going on. But I understand that that's what it's gonna seem like. That's fine. But this video, this is really about encouragement. It's not, it's not like that. It's the other way, but there's no other 0:20:42 - 0:21:12 way, but it's a different light. So you get to stand as witnesses and let's break down what this means. So you are who you are and I am who I am. Well, let me, let me talk about it this way. Um Growing up this, this shouldn't be so difficult to put into words, but for some reason, it is, I always had 0:21:12 - 0:00:00 an idea. So I thought of, of who I was, meaning how I was, you know, and um I've lived a pretty rich life in spite of still being less than 40 um for a little while longer. And um through all those experiences which, which started as early as I can remember. Just, just life experiences. I mean, not, 0:00:00 - 0:22:03 not the deep things going on underground like an iceberg under the surface, but through all these things, um and experiences, you know, I thought I had a pretty decent idea of who I was. And then God came along and just uh sort of ignited this atomic bomb on all of that. And it's interesting because 0:22:02 - 0:22:32 in the rubble um in the rubble of that. Uh So, so I got to know the Lord when I was 18 and that's when the bomb went off. And so looking at that, um, I could see things, uh, from before then that were very much tied up into my new identity in Christ. Um, and, and then I saw a whole lot that I previously 0:22:32 - 0:22:51 thought was part of who I was, that actually wasn't part of who I was at all. It's who I thought I was. But I guess to put this in a different way, it was only a couple of years ago now that it just sort of out of nowhere. I had this epiphany that I felt like myself for the first time in my life is the 0:22:51 - 0:23:12 weirdest thing. It was almost like I had met someone that I knew very, very well, but we had been away from each other for a long time and maybe you've had this experience in life. I have. Um, but there's a gentleman living with us right now, which I'm very grateful for. But he's a, he's a good friend 0:23:12 - 0:23:35 of mine and we've been very close friends since like fourth grade and we kind of went our separate ways when, uh when I found the Lord that was basically, it coincided with a bunch of things in both of our lives that were uh point of departure in time and space. But, um, we, we still remained in contact 0:23:35 - 0:24:00 . We're just living in different places, doing different things and, and now we've, we've sort of rejoined forces. So to speak in more recent times and, and uh it's been like that. So maybe you've had something like that, but it's really something you know. So, um, since I met the Lord at 18, I've and 0:24:00 - 0:24:28 became acquainted with verses like this, I've done everything I've known to do um to fulfill this and after doing this for some time now, um it's very clear to me that it's quite a privilege to test to, to be given the opportunity to testify and demonstrate of someone who's infinitely better than we 0:24:28 - 0:24:51 are. I mean, think of that. So not only do we have the opportunity to emulate his example, but we actually have not just the opportunity but the charge to demonstrate what he is like to others, Jesus. And we're not gonna go there now. But in the New Testament, he made it very plain that his mission was 0:24:51 - 0:25:22 to come and demonstrate the father to the world and that our mission was to demonstrate him to the world. That's amazing, isn't it? And how do we do it? Well, we, we can read the scriptures and get an idea of what he's like. Um And we should, we should study those uh devoutly and with tenacity and we 0:25:22 - 0:25:48 have to live everything we learn. But the gold mine of getting to know Jesus is the holy ghost. And you know, if we had time, we'd, we'd lay all this out. It's a, it's a, it's a lot to unpack, but to sum it all up, that's a channel of information that you gain access to. And it's like a knob where you 0:25:48 - 0:26:10 turn up, the intensity, the clarity, the volume, the depth, the breadth. And what happens is you're in a place where you're getting to know the Lord way better than the average person on the street even can, even if they wanted to. Right. Because they'd have to traverse the same kind of path you have 0:26:09 - 0:26:38 to get there and that takes time and effort and all these things. And there's a, there are things you can hand off to people that will accelerate their journey. Um It doesn't come for free. There are some consequences to that, but that in a nutshell, that's what a covenant is. OK. However, since I brought 0:26:38 - 0:27:02 it up, covenants aren't like God has a box and he hands it off to a prophet or mediator, I guess, be more technically correct, which is a special kind of profit. Hands it off to the mediator and says now go give this box to the world and it's not that it's not that up in heaven. There's a shelf that 0:27:02 - 0:27:29 says covenants and here's the law of Moses and here's this and here's that um it doesn't work that way. Covenant is a relationship or a process or a system. Mm And what flows through that pipe? It's all the same pipe. It's all the same process. The variables are just the people involved and necessarily 0:27:28 - 0:27:53 the law that they live or the, the exact snapshot of the ideas they have about God and reality and all these things cause and effect, you know, so the blessings that can flow through that differ, but it's just a process. It's not some weird regimented scary thing. It's just this flow, it's a flow up 0:27:53 - 0:28:31 and it's a flow down and the process is described by the word covenant anyway. Um And, and they're all, they're all resolutions of the covenant because there's really only one which is called the new and everlasting covenant, which is the process whereby we become more like Jesus. That's it. So, um what 0:28:30 - 0:28:55 a privilege we have to not only emulate the Lord but to show other people more of what he's like and how do we know more of what he's like? Because we've come up a little further. It is as soon as you live up to what you know, he gives you more and he gives you more. And then the holy ghost is like the 0:28:55 - 0:29:21 afterburner on this jet and we get more and more and more, faster, faster, faster, right? And we just keep going and as we show others what he's like as far as we understand him to be, we help them come up to the same. That's what it's all about. Ok. So what, what does this have to do with pigs and pearls 0:29:20 - 0:29:44 , pigs and pearls? So, someone should write a song about that. That'd be a little bit more interesting than most of the hymns people sing. Um So we read in the sermon on the Mount, sermon on the mount. Uh Jesus says things like blessed are ye when men shall revile you and persecute you and shall say 0:29:44 - 0:30:07 all manner of evil against you falsely for my sake. Now, what does that mean for my sake? What he's saying is if people treat you this way because you're doing and saying and feeling what you sincerely believe I would in your place, then you're blessed. Now again, let's take this apart and talk about 0:30:07 - 0:30:36 the privilege. It's funny how privilege has become a bad word, but we're using it in the good sense. So um if you act like yourself like you used to be before you knew the Lord, no one's gonna care. Ok? But if they did care and in a negative way, then they're persecuting you. Not because you're like 0:30:36 - 0:00:00 Jesus, but because you're like you, right? There's no blessing there. That's like if you kick a wall really hard and it hurts, you're just an idiot. You're not blessed, you're just stupid, right? Enjoy your hurt, your, your hurt foot. But if it's for his sake, if it's because you're acting like him, 0:00:00 - 0:31:26 they're not reacting to you, they're reacting to him. Now, what does it mean to be blessed again? So blessed is a covenant term and I, I just explained what covenants are blessed means in the ancient languages. It means um two things depending on the direction. It means to kneel down in order like to 0:31:26 - 0:31:43 stoop down to give something. And it also means to kneel down to receive, which is kind of like reaching up. But it, it means to kneel down. And why do you need to kneel down to receive from someone who's reaching down? Because if you don't humble yourself, you can't receive something from above. It's 0:31:43 - 0:32:08 going, it's going to clash with some part of who you think you are or what you think is right or what you think is best. And so you have to use the faculties that God gives us, namely reason, separate yourself from the emotional baggage and really see things as they are and say, wow, this is great. This 0:32:08 - 0:32:37 is totally worth it. Ok? So blessed is also something that doesn't refer to the outward appearances of here. And now, so if you go down the sermon on the mount, you'll see that the conditions that are described are mostly future conditions. So, so you know, the meek will inherit the earth. But right 0:32:37 - 0:33:01 now we read in another place, the dominions of those that actually follow Christ are few. They're not running many things here and now they're in little pockets of life in little places on the planet because you know, they have to go work for some knucklehead and they're living in some government that 0:33:01 - 0:33:23 , that is run by knuckleheads and their neighbors are knuckleheads. So their dominions are few, but one day they'll inherit the earth and it's not, it's not different in the sense of what's going on. It's just different that in the sense that everything else changes and the same thing that they're doing 0:33:23 - 0:33:48 that they were doing before, it results in a very different outcome later. Um, so it, it's like, it's like pumping something full of air and then one day it explodes and it's just constantly pumping it full of air. And there's this slight change over time, but it looks mostly the same and then all of 0:33:48 - 0:34:07 a sudden there's this sudden change, but it's not all of a sudden at all. If you, if you model all the laws of physics of what's going on and whatever you're inflating, it's, you could predict exactly when the explosion is gonna happen and it's not a sudden change. It's just the direct result of everything 0:34:06 - 0:34:34 you were doing until then anyway. And then we also read, um uh well, we could go on to where it talks about this is how it's been for all the profits, right? This is how it's been for all the prophets, all those who believed in God and lived like him. This is how you get treated by the world and this 0:34:34 - 0:35:04 is how it's going to be until his kingdom is established in the earth. So let's cross that one off the list. So if we know that that's the way, the more like God, you are, the more the world will treat you like it treated Jesus, right? It's cause and effect. It's a natural reaction. It's like putting 0:35:03 - 0:35:24 baking soda into vinegar. It's no surprise what happens. If you put in a half a cup, you're gonna get a half a cup reaction. You put in a quarter cup, you're gonna get a quarter cup reaction. So how is this a privilege? No one wants that, right? Well, it's not that part. That's the privilege. That's 0:35:23 - 0:35:46 , you know, God is good and he's warning us about how things are gonna be. It's like you said in the parable of the guy who's building the tower or the king going out to war, you need to know what you're in for and it's no secret that this is up to and including death. Ok? So the cost has been made plain 0:35:45 - 0:36:02 and when it happens to you, you can't say, oh, where did this come from? I'm so surprised. I thought, I thought Christianity was just praise Jesus. Praise Jesus. Life is good. Everything's wonderful. God will take care of it. I don't have to worry about anything. La di da, you know, show me the puppies 0:36:01 - 0:36:33 and the rainbows, but he never said any of that, right? In fact, if you look at where he said my piece I give to you. Not as the world gives um if you look at where he says, uh uh rejoice right there, he says, he says, yeah, he says uh be of good cheer for I have overcome the world. If you look up that 0:36:33 - 0:36:59 verse right before that, right before that like right there he says, the world is going to overcome you the and then he says, but be of good cheer because I have overcome the world, right? So people always say, oh, you know, the battle's already won. It's just what's to be determined is whose side you're 0:36:58 - 0:37:28 on. Yeah. OK. Sure, true. But it's more than that Jesus already told you you're gonna lose. It's not optional and it's no question. You are going to get your butt kicked. The question is, will you choose to let that result in you choosing him and actually living like him and drawing nearer to him or 0:37:27 - 0:37:52 will you turn away before then and retreat into the world thinking that that's gonna bring you some kind of joy or security or anything else worth having. And now we tap into the many, many, many old Testament examples of Israel as a nation and also Israel, this thing being described figuratively in 0:37:52 - 0:38:14 scripture, but whether literal or figurative, it doesn't matter. Israel turning to other nations like Egypt for support, instead of turning to God, they don't change and they don't become better and more righteous in order to say, Lord, we trust you. Therefore, we're going to do this thing. That's better 0:38:14 - 0:38:33 . We're gonna be better in order to trust you. Now they say no, we're just gonna go turn to this other nation and they'll help us defeat our enemy. That's kicking our butt right now. So when the world kicks your butt and you're a Christian, you don't say like, where did this come from? Jesus promised 0:38:32 - 0:38:58 me peace. What the, you say, Jesus promised me peace. Therefore, if I don't have it, it's revealing that I need more Jesus. Therefore, I'm gonna look at my life and say, what can I change to be better? And that's where you're gonna go and the kicking of your butt gives you a greater willingness to do 0:38:58 - 0:39:20 more than you'd otherwise do to, to make a greater sacrifice. And I talked about this often, I had an email exchange with someone else about this recently where they were sharing their experience with this as a true principle. God gives you the opportunity to offer willingly what he absolutely is going 0:39:20 - 0:39:53 to take from you later anyway, anything you have in your life or in yourself, that is not 100% founded on him as the rock, the foundation you are going to lose it, period. The question is, will you give it to him willingly before that day comes? And I didn't mean to get into all this today, but this 0:39:52 - 0:40:18 is where it's taken us because it's going to be taken away. You know it, people look at the sacrifice of job and they think, wow, what a, what a crazy thing. I'm so glad God doesn't require that of us. Yes, he does. The way he did it to job was different so that it could give us an easier to see example 0:40:17 - 0:40:43 . See if everything that happened to job was internal. There would be no book of job. There couldn't be because even if it was written down, no one would believe it and no one would feel it. What do I mean by that? It takes massive amounts of faith to have revelatory experiences and anyone who's doesn't 0:40:42 - 0:41:07 live that they'd read accounts of tremendous emotional experience and only interpret that through their narrow lens of this is all I've ever felt and that just doesn't work. They'd read it and say, well, this is exactly like my life. I don't understand why I have such a different life. Then if this is 0:41:07 - 0:41:27 exactly what I'm going through when it's not anything like what you're going through. You know, this is why the account says Jesus sweat, um, drops of blood in the Garden of Gethsemane because without that, you're gonna be tempted to squish down everything else that he went through there into like, maybe 0:41:26 - 0:41:46 this is like that one day I had, that was really bad and I thought about maybe, uh ending my life. No, no, it was nothing like that. It was a million times worse. Can't even measure it the difference. Ok. So, and, and because of that drops of blood, we have a little barometer to say, well, I wasn't sweating 0:41:46 - 0:42:16 blood, so maybe there's some difference there, right? You get it. So, um, anyway, everything requires everything. It's not optional. The question is, when are you gonna give it up? Do you do it voluntarily early or do you wait until he just takes it? And then your only, the only sacrifice you can make 0:42:15 - 0:42:39 at that point is to accept that he's taken it. That's what Joe had to do is he had to accept that it was taken from him. But it's a very different thing to walk into the Garden of Yosemite because the father told you to go and then to, to willingly stay there to not pull away when he's beating you. Okay 0:42:38 - 0:43:07 . So um these are not uh comfortable topics for people to hear, but whatever they need to hear it. It's true. So, but, but why is it a why is it a blessing to be persecuted for his name's sake? For, for, for living up to his example or, or according to his example, as far as you understand it, at least 0:43:06 - 0:43:28 in Alma 29 9, we read, I know that which the Lord hath commanded me and I glory in it. I do not glory of myself, but I glory in that which the Lord Hath commanded me. Yeah. And this is my glory that perhaps I may be an instrument in the hands of God to bring some soul to repentance. And this is my joy 0:43:27 - 0:43:51 . Ok? So the one idea that's worth pointing out in this is as you demonstrate, Jesus, you're going to have to do and say the things that He would do and say in your place. And one, you think the persecution comes from the atheists and a lot of times it does. But you know what bothers some people the 0:43:51 - 0:44:13 most. It's, it's the Christians that are bothered the most seemingly because or I should just say the religious people, uh the Romans crucified Jesus, but they only did it because the Pharisees um not only asked them to but persisted and insisted that they do it. Pilot said, I find no fault with this 0:44:13 - 0:44:35 man. He interrogated him and he said, I find no fault in this man, but the Pharisees would not relent. And so they crucified him and that's how it is with. This is some of the most bitter persecution comes from the religious Jesus said, the time will come when they kill you and they think they're doing 0:44:34 - 0:44:59 God a service. So um as you say, and do what he would say and do in your place, people will get very angry at you. How dare you do and say what Jesus would do and say in your place when they should be rejoicing as long as it's even right if you're a hypocrite, it's a different story. But if you're evenly 0:44:59 - 0:45:21 doing it and you're not just saying what he would say and when it's convenient to you or it makes you look good, so you think, or whatever, see, only a fool would actually do that to look good because if you do it at all, you'll see people hate you for it. Right? But, um, you're not glorying in yourself 0:45:20 - 0:45:41 . We started this whole thing. You're testifying of Jesus, right? And that is who you've become. You've become the person you are, but it's not the person you used to be because you've left that behind. It's, it's, it's been nuked and some of the pieces have come forward, but they're only the ones that 0:45:41 - 0:46:04 fit in the form of Jesus and he's filled in the rest and it's a lot better than what you started with and you glory in that, right? Because of course you, you love that and that's what motivates you to do. This is at the first level. So it's not out of begrudging obedience to God, like dragging your 0:46:03 - 0:46:27 feet. Oh, no, I've got to say what Jesus would say in my place. I've got to do what Jesus would do in my place. No, it's that by doing this, you can help someone somewhere. See more of what God is like to believe a little bit more that it's worth following him and that by doing so, you will have joy 0:46:27 - 0:46:57 So, but it's important to, uh, to remember that, that being an instrument in his hands, you're doing what can't be done otherwise you're not, uh just sort of a convenience accessory in the plan. He needs people to witness of him at times in, in places that people would not otherwise see as much of him 0:46:56 - 0:47:25 . That's the purpose. OK. So it says this is my joy, but here's a question for you. Um Well, we, we, we, we'll cement this idea and then move on. So another version of this is, is Alma 3624. It's the same idea. So Almah saying that after he repented, he said from that time, even until now, I've labored 0:47:24 - 0:47:45 without ceasing that I might bring souls unto repentance, that I might bring them to taste of the exceeding joy of which I did taste that they might also be born of God and be filled with the Holy ghost. You see. So the purpose of the, the purpose of what we do is to help others receive more of the Holy 0:47:45 - 0:48:10 ghost. Why? So that through that means they can learn more of what God is like and, and that's how it all rolls forward. But we read, we've read twice now that this motivation, it's, it's based on the response or the hope of a response. But here's the thing, the more like God, you become, the less reasons 0:48:09 - 0:48:34 you will have to believe that anyone is going to listen and there are reasons for that, but we don't want to go too deep into all this, right, this second. But, um, you need to keep the hope that someone's out there somewhere needs to hear exactly what only you could say and needs to receive, what only 0:48:34 - 0:48:53 you could do. Now, I need to clarify what I mean by that is not necessarily that you can say something better than what anyone else could say or that you could do something better than what anyone else could do. Although by definition, that has to be true for someone somewhere. Ok. What I mean is like 0:48:53 - 0:49:21 maybe where you live, God doesn't have anybody else on the ground who can do the things that you're doing. Maybe in the, um, background that you have, you're particularly well suited to reach people like that. Does that make sense? So it's, it's just like an army when you have an army. And, uh, the general 0:49:20 - 0:49:42 says we need to take this region and the colonels go out and then they make their plans for the specific areas and it breaks down, down, down down when it gets down to the private whose boots are on the ground. His sergeant says, look, you see that ridge, you see any person from here to here, you shoot 0:49:41 - 0:50:06 them until they stop moving. That's your job, you got it. See you, if that person doesn't do what only they can do it all bubbles up to the whole cause. And so the person in the trench can't say, oh well, the general's got this, it's, I, whatever, I don't feel like shooting today, I'm just gonna go to 0:50:06 - 0:50:31 sleep. Right. So this is super important to understand. You need to do what only you can do and what is that? Well, it's the best you can do. That's, that's what defines it and that you're, you're serving a unique purpose and if that doesn't get done, you absolutely are incapable of seeing the consequences 0:50:30 - 0:50:56 of that. It's a, it's a vastly important thing. You'll only know by doing it now. Now we get to this idea. Yeah. Well, what if, what if, what if I, no matter how much I think about it, how much I'd like to believe, I just can't believe anyone's gonna listen. So, the faith that what you're doing is so 0:50:56 - 0:51:19 that someone will listen, it can take you very far and that space is an enormous improvement over where most people are. Maybe that's what you need to take away from this. And if so great carry on because it does matter. And somewhere out there there are people who need exactly who you are. You with 0:51:19 - 0:51:42 all your warts and everything else. That's who they need and you, you need to shine the light that God has given you because, because there are hungry people that are desperate that need it and they need it just like you've got it. Ok. You need to understand God can't send them some angel out of heaven 0:51:42 - 0:52:01 to tell them what you can tell them. It's against his laws. It wouldn't help them because that, you know, you say, well, I'm flawed and I don't know this and all I know is that and sometimes I make mistakes and, you know, even when I try to phrase things just right. I sound like an idiot. They need an 0:52:00 - 0:52:23 idiot. Trust me. That's, that's, that doesn't excuse you from what I'm saying, it qualifies you for what I'm saying. Right. Imperfect people need imperfect people to teach them. Now, I'm not saying like just go willy nilly, fill your life with sin and you'll be a powerful preacher. That's not what I'm 0:52:23 - 0:52:42 saying. I'm saying. You don't worry about what you lack, you live what God has given you and you will, you will see his light flow through you into the lives of other people in ways that you cannot imagine right now. But if you do it, you'll see it and you'll be able to say it just like I am, you'll 0:52:42 - 0:53:04 , you'll have that much confidence. I promise. There's only one way this can go folks. There's, it all goes one way and it's up, you know, it's already been decided. So you can participate that in that or not, but it's your choice. You have everything you need to, to take part and as you do, you'll get 0:53:04 - 0:53:24 everything. You lack to take a greater part. That's the way it works. So, so why does God need idiots? So some people take offense to how often I call folks idiots. Um, someone wrote me and said, you know, maybe if you stop calling us stupid all the time, well, don't be stupid and you won't get called 0:53:24 - 0:53:44 stupid, right? So there's not a person watching these videos who feels, who feels bad. if a humble and stupid, they're like, you know, I am being an idiot and B or B I should say they're not being an idiot and so it just rolls off them. They're like, oh, he's not talking to me. No, I'm not. If you're 0:53:44 - 0:54:07 not being an idiot, I'm not talking to you. But God needs idiots. Ok? So let's talk to at all. Every one of us who knows that we are still flawed in some way that that should be everyone, right? Why when God sends a higher messenger, the requirement of sincerity is not waived and that person has to be 0:54:06 - 0:54:29 on full blast. Now, it doesn't mean that they don't take care and how, what they say and how they say it, but they are limited in what they can say based on how they would, uh whether or not they'd feel sincere saying it, you can only break down the truth so much before you need to. Um, you need someone 0:54:29 - 0:54:55 who is flawed in order to teach it in a way that maintains sincerity but is still accessible to someone of a much lower truth window. I hope that makes sense. It's kind of a big concept. Ok. I'll talk about it later but do not. The point is the takeaway is do not diminish the, the power that God can 0:54:54 - 0:55:20 effect through you that, that you might be very aware of the limitations that you have. That's not your problem. You just shine the light that God has given you whatever light you see came through all those limits, didn't it? So who are you to limit it to someone else? If you've already got it, you shine 0:55:19 - 0:55:45 it, you sign it and by the way, fix all the limits while you're at it, just do that too. OK? Work on it. All right. But what happens when you can no longer have hope for people believing you? Um I'm sorry, there was one more scripture I was meant to share on that point. Mosiah 28 3. This is the level 0:55:45 - 0:56:06 of intensity you can have and desiring to reach those people that, that are currently not reached. Uh Now they were desirous that salvation should be declared to every creature for they could not bear that any human soul should perish. Yeah. Even the very thought that any soul should endure endless torment 0:56:05 - 0:56:32 to cause them to quake and tremble. Uh The, the Hebrew word for parish is interesting because it's not always total like, I think in English when we hear perish, we think die, right? So you're either dead or you're not. But the Hebrew word parish is um it's, it, it can be a process and it can be by degrees 0:56:31 - 0:56:55 , it's just anything that degrades, really, anything that marches you towards death and you can get into some really deep studies with this idea of the way of death. So parish is a much richer word in Hebrew than it is English. So um if, if you fulfill this verse here in Mosiah 28 3 or as you become 0:56:55 - 0:57:21 more like this, what you'll, what you'll find is you have immensely strong feelings when it comes to seeing folks or imagining folks imagining that there are folks who um who suffered in the least bit or who are impeded from any degree of blessing because they lack what you already have and it motivates 0:57:20 - 0:57:44 you strongly to go and do things. This is uh it was said of Alma and others, he could not rest. There wasn't a moment where he could just let down his hair, so to speak. Um because he knew that that no matter how much he did, there would still be people out there who needed what he had and he just kept 0:57:44 - 0:58:15 going like the energizer bunny. So what happens when you have met? You have invested such effort in doing this that you have accumulated so many examples of no one really listening to what you have to say and terrible things happening to you as a result of showing great love that you are beyond hope 0:58:14 - 0:58:40 that anyone is going to listen, you can no longer rely on that sufficiently to motivate the next attempt to stick out your neck for somebody. And that is what you're doing. Here's a principle. You can't love someone without giving them weapons to hurt you. You can't even help somebody without making 0:58:40 - 0:59:04 it easier for them to hurt you. You will absolutely expose yourself to the harm caused by others proportional to how much you help others. If you want to make a difference, the only way is by putting yourself in harm's way, the reverse is not true. It's not the fact of the case that if you just put yourself 0:59:04 - 0:59:35 in harm's way you're helping people. But it's absolutely the case that the more you help people, the more exposed you will be to harm caused by others. You cannot avoid that. And that is why we have to adopt charity. Charity is the only thing that can overcome all things. The love that God has for us 0:59:35 - 1:00:07 . We have to have that same love for everyone else. And that's the only way that will continue to do this. And thankfully, this happens by degrees until we're at that point. But it's something we have to exercise and do and it happens under increasing opposition. And I wanna read a story uh from the 1:00:07 - 1:00:34 book Mormon that illustrates just how powerful love is. Uh Well, it's actually, it's insufficient for that even, but it takes the needle up a bit from where most people are. So we'll read it. The only story that illustrates how powerful love is is Jesus. So this is from Alma 24 and I'll start reading 1:00:34 - 1:01:01 in verse 22 and to give the back story. So you've got a group of people called the Lamanites who traditionally hated this group of people called the Nephites. And a segment of the Lamanites had decided to repent and uh follow God. And um they were hated by the, the majority of people that they left behind 1:01:00 - 1:01:22 . And so that majority attacked them, but the minority had made a covenant with the Lord that they would not fight back because they care too much about those people to kill them. And because they had come from a life of killing that they refused to pick up again. They just wanted to stay clear of it 1:01:22 - 1:01:46 and they believed that that's what God wanted them to do. So we'll pick up the story. Now we're at this battle and uh I should read one before this. Um Now when the people saw that they were coming against them, they went out to meet them and prostrated themselves before them to the earth and began to 1:01:46 - 1:02:07 call on the name of the Lord. And thus, they were in this attitude when the Lamanites began to fall upon them and began to slay them with the sword. And thus, without meeting any resistance, they did slay 1000 and five of them. And we know that they are blessed. Remember we were talking about that for 1:02:06 - 1:02:29 they have gone to dwell with their God. Now, when the Lamanites saw that their brethren would not flee from the sword. Neither would they turn aside to the right hand or to the left, but that they would lay down, lie down and perish and praised God even in the very act of perishing under the sword. Now 1:02:29 - 1:02:46 , when the Lamanites saw this, they did forbear from slaying them and there were many whose hearts had swollen in them for those of their brethren who had fallen under the sword for, they repented of the things which they had done. And it came to pass that they threw down their weapons of war and they 1:02:46 - 1:03:26 would not take them again for, they were stung for the murders which they had committed and they came down even as their brethren relying upon the mercies of those whose arms were lifted to slay them. Uh uh So enough can't be said about the power of love to change the hearts of people. And it's going 1:03:25 - 1:03:53 to be the case that there will be casualties in this battle, but it's a battle that can't be lost, it can't be lost because love conquers everything. Now, I guess we can we can come back to where we started? Now? Give not that which is wholly unto the dogs. Neither Casti your pearls before swine lest 1:03:53 - 1:04:35 they trample them under their feet and turn again and rend you. So you don't have to get trampled. You get to get trampled. And what a blessing that is in my, what seems like perpetual naivete. I've had many experiences with people in general and one on one, let's just say in public and one on one where 1:04:34 - 1:05:10 my ignorance of better ways of doing things led me to expose more of what I value then would have been in their best interest. Uh unknowingly, I think I put them in a trial that that was um within their ability but harder. Um It was a greater trial than I can't phrase this. Right. I'm sorry, looking 1:05:09 - 1:05:42 back, I see many opportunities in, in my life where I could have, I could have given people a smaller piece a smaller increment of truth than I did because I didn't understand um that that was possi possible or useful or um I didn't understand just how far from it they were uh because we all have a tendency 1:05:41 - 1:06:08 to project upon others, whatever is in our own heart. And that goes opposite ways for good people and bad people if there is such a thing. But um even with everything that the Lord has taught me so far in helping refine my methods to become more like what he would actually do in my place, even though 1:06:08 - 1:06:35 I was always doing what I thought he would do in my place in those instances, sometimes with a whole lot of material to back it. In fact, um now I've reached the point where I can invite and I've talked about this and giving people the smallest increment of truth that you could, um I can invite people 1:06:34 - 1:06:57 to improvement without them even knowing that I'm doing it. And I do. And, you know, I had an interaction with a guy and not too many weeks ago and it was on the subject of gardening. It's a guy I just met randomly to talk about gardening with and I gave him like six invitations for improvement within 1:06:57 - 1:07:20 five minutes. And he thought we were just talking about gardening. There's no sense of moral preaching there. But the, but the, the lifelines were given and because he didn't take them up, I stopped and we were good. Right. But in a, in the old me would have blasted him with this huge leap forward and 1:07:20 - 1:07:42 it would have been a wonderful opportunity if he took it because that's the way it works. The, the giant invitations, they require much more faith. But if you take them, you're much better off. The little ones have far fewer blessings. It's not, um, it's not an even ratio if that makes sense. So it's 1:07:41 - 1:08:08 not that you just take this big thing, you chop it down to here and that's the blessings that you'll get. It's way lower than that. Uh, if that makes sense anyway. However, even with all of that, that I now know in giving the smallest increment, there are absolutely times and places where for me it's 1:08:08 - 1:08:40 like time slows down and this happens less often because I just, I don't know, I just, uh, I'm just not concerned about the cost anymore, but time will slow down. And it's like you see the two paths in front of you and you can back away and back down and say less or you can go out like a lion and you 1:08:40 - 1:09:08 know, that's what Jesus would do in that particular case, you know exactly what he would do or say and you have the choice, turn in or turn away, but you cannot be the same anymore. And as you go for the better option, more often than not, they will turn again and rend you, sometimes it happens in real 1:09:08 - 1:09:32 time. Sometimes it takes them a bit to turn but they do. Um And it's possible and we hope for the cases where they don't and they just leap ahead further than they ever could have been if they never met you. And that happens guys that happens and it will happen for you. God will absolutely use you in 1:09:32 - 1:10:03 that way. But we have to develop the faith and the love to do it anyway, you have to do it anyway. You get to do it anyway. You don't have to, but you get to, you get to and what a tremendous privilege it is because only the people who do things like what Jesus did, we'll really, truly see what he's 1:10:03 - 1:10:29 like when they're with him. And those that don't go down those paths can't know him as well. Not even close. There's a giant chunk of who he is that's per permanently sealed off to you unless you're the kind of person that does this without exception, when the opportunities arise, which incidentally 1:10:28 - 1:10:55 , incidentally, the more you do this, the more the Lord will put you in places where you need to do it because he does not have troops. He can send into those battles. There are few and far between the laborers are few and you know, if the laborers are few to go into the harvest where the wheat is ripe 1:10:54 - 1:11:26 , imagine how few the laborers are to go mow down the weeds. I've shared this story before I was at a conference or something while I was a missionary in Chile. And I heard a story or two about these, these missionaries who prayed to the Lord to tell him uh or to tell them where to go to meet people 1:11:26 - 1:11:52 to preach to and, and they had this miraculous experience and found this person and it was this miracle. I said, wow, that sounds way easier than knocking doors. So with full faith, full faith, I knelt down and um I was praying with my, my partner there and I was, I was the one speaking. I was praying 1:11:52 - 1:12:18 aloud. And I said, Lord, because I said we could do this elder, we can, we could pray and the Lord will tell us where to go. I believe it. And so let's pray. And OK, so we knelt down and I said, Lord, show us where to go. And we had an assigned area is very large and it's crazy. I saw the whole place 1:12:18 - 1:12:55 . So let me just say, I was expecting the Lord to say like go to such and such a street number 52 at two pm today, I was fully expecting that. And instead, what happened was I saw the whole area somehow and he said, where have you not knocked? And I saw it on the map. It was like 65% of the map or something 1:12:54 - 1:13:29 , you know, and it was their huge chunks. And then there were little bits where we kind of went around random places, done some of it. And I said, yeah, all of this and he said, come back to me, come back to me once you've done everything. And I said, OK, and he said, he said something like anyone can 1:13:28 - 1:14:04 teach those who want to hear the gospel. I have plenty of people who can do that. I need you to go and explain this with such clarity that they're left without excuse the ones who don't, I need you to go to everyone. It said, I'll give you people here and there. So it's not too terrible for you. I'll 1:14:04 - 1:14:32 give you people here and there who will listen. But I need you to go and preach to the other ones with such clarity that on the day of judgment, they can't say that I didn't love them. They didn't try everything that could be done. I said, OK, and I mean, my, my partner didn't hear any of that. He, I 1:14:31 - 1:15:16 , he probably just thought I was thinking or something. I don't know. And I got up and I said, I know where to go. We went outside, we knocked every single door in that city. You should feel cautious in sharing the things that God has given to you and you should exercise all of the, the methods. I guess 1:15:15 - 1:15:49 that the Lord lays out in the scriptures. So I'm thinking of Alma 12, for example. So when someone receives a little bit, you give them a little more, but I sincerely invite you to not withhold the light that God has given you. And if, if you choose to share only a part of what you have, let it be because 1:15:49 - 1:16:25 it's what benefits that person the most and don't let it be in any way, fear of what they might do to you if you give them what they need. Perfect love. It casts out all fear when you have the love for others that God has for you, there is no place for fear. Now, what do you call that? Maybe you call 1:16:25 - 1:16:57 it courage. I just call it an honest recognition of how good God is because if you're anywhere near that, anywhere near that, how could you not do everything you can to help anyone you can in the best ways? You imagine the best ways you can sincerely think. So. That's what I have to say about the pearls 1:16:57 - 1:16:58 and the swine.