D&C 85-87: Beyond Come Follow Me

hi everyone my name is tom petty and welcome back to this week's episode of beyond come follow me this week i am coming to you from the beautiful town of palmyra new york now of course the sections you're studying this week in your come follow me lessons did not take place in palmyra but while i'm here traveling the appointed time for me to be with you has come and so even though i'm on the road i'm excited to be with you but you'll have to forgive my casual attire as i talk to you about the historical context surrounding sections 85 86 and 87. now when i looked at these three sections recently i thought well what's really relevant to us here we're talking about a letter that's going to w phelps answering this question that's section 85 86 the lord just clarifies some of the symbolism between behind the wheat and the tears parable that he gave in the new testament and the last section that we're looking at section 87 has to do with the prophecy that joseph made about the american civil war and that of course has already come to pass so how relevant could these sections be but then as i dove in and looked at it and some of the doctrine that's contained as well as the historical context i found that these three sections in the doctrine covenants are some of my favorite sections of the doctrine and covenants now and i'm excited to share with you why so i am standing in the middle of a field beautiful field surrounded by by corn and it's behind it's located behind the beautiful palmyra steak building here in palmyra if you were to go that way about a 150 yards you'd see the palmyra temple and if you go that way about 200 yards you'd run into the sacred grove going that direction about three miles you'd find yourself climbing the hill gamora so this is where i am and i'm excited to be with you regardless of where i am but let's jump into it section 85. now we got to understand what's going on here historically joseph section 85 the majority of it is a letter written by joseph to w.w phelps who's in missouri and he's having some problems down there the church is and he is as one of the leaders and he writes to joseph some concerns and he has some questions section 85 comes in response or at least in part a response to those questions that w phelps has but although it's joseph that's writing this letter to w.w phelps why it's recorded in doctrine covenants in the doctrine covenants as a revelation is because verse 10 these things i say not of myself says joseph therefore as the lord speaketh he will also fulfill so whether it be my voice or the voice of my servants is the same the lord says so although this is a letter from joseph we take it as as revelatory instruction now what's going on in missouri you'll remember from the past several sections particularly those contained within the 50s 50 to 59 and elsewhere where the lord is calling individuals on missions to go to missouri and to settle that area to set it up so that it can be a gathering place because that's the place that it's been revealed as the place that zion will be established so he he sends people out there ww phelps you're going you're going to set up a print shop so and so you're going to go you're gonna do this and he sends all those people out there he's establishing the temporal affairs of of that land so that when he starts to send his saints there there's a place where they can thrive spirit temporally and spiritually of course well there was a few rules with this first those who were to go to missouri needed to be called and asked to go to missouri in fact they had to carry with them a certificate authorizing their migration to zion and so the lord he he he he kept the influx of people moving design in check so that all the temporal affairs and assets that were being set up there in missouri could support all these people who were moving down there the fear was and we'll see that it became a reality is that people would go too fast too soon and overwhelm the system that the lord had set up and when that happened and that's one of wwe phelps's concerns people are coming too fast we can't handle all this what happens is not only is the system being overwhelmed now people are becoming disgruntled some of them fall into apostasy because it's not as zionistic as they had hoped and now the missourians are going to start taking notice and say hey what's going on here there's a lot of people and the church that's supposed to be taking care of them can't because they're being overwhelmed and so this is where the missourians start to become frustrated irritated and start to fight with the saints so that's all coming but here is the beginning one of the beginning variables the other problem that w.w phelps had is the people who were coming to zion weren't following rule number two so a lot of them were breaking rule number one a lot of them were breaking rule number one and two some of them a lot of them were breaking just number two and that rule number two is when you arrive in zion you're to consecrate everything live the law of consecration by turning in all your temporal possessions to the bishop who is edward partridge and edward partridge would then in turn give back based upon needs so if i was to leave kirtland with a certificate in hand and i'm authorized to go to zion i would take my money and my whatever i had with me my tools my my tangible assets and i would go and meet with the bishop and say bishop i'm consecrating all i've got for the church and in turn edward partridge would say to me well brother pettit you've got a beautiful wife and five wonderful children and based on that we're gonna give you a farm we're gonna give you a place to build a home you'll be able to raise crops we'll give you these temporal assistance and in exchange of course we want you to help build zion take care of your neighbors love each other and and help establish zion here in missouri so that's the way it was to work but rule number one and rule number two we're being broken so w.w phelps writes a letter to joseph and says hey things aren't working out the way that they're supposed to be these good saints that we love they're having a hard time listening and so we we get here i want to pull out a couple of things in verse 6. joseph starts to go through and he's and he's not mixing words he's getting pretty um direct on the the repercussions that could happen because these two rules are being broken and he gets down to number six and i find this quite interesting here's the prophet of god yea thus saith the still small voice which whispereth through and pierceth all things and so here's joseph saying w.w phelps i am sending you this letter and it's not my opinion but it's the whisperings of the spirit that are prompting me to say what i'm saying now why is that significant one because it's it now becomes revelatory words and that's why i said it's included in the doctrine covenants but two i find it quite significant that the prophet who is used to having direct clear revelation from heaven reveals to us acknowledges to us that even though he's a prophet of god he still listens to this still small voice and it's the still small voice that reveals things to joseph what a lesson to us as we all try to hear him and try to practice our own in receiving our own personal revelation that it's that it's that reminder joseph is or it's that or joseph is giving us that reminder that it's the still small voice that we listen to that we and when we hear it that we're directed by let's take you to verse number seven through nine now here joseph and i won't read it to you but here joseph gets pretty straightforward and very direct that uh if things don't get straightened out there's gonna be problems and as you might know there were problems to come in missouri as we got driven down and there was lots of bad problems stories that when we get there chronologically in the doctrine covenants i'm i'm looking forward to sharing with you but he's saying look we've got to be careful here or there's going to be a lot of trouble so that's verses seven through nine it's a big warning but then in verse 10 again he says now hold on don't blame me although he's not diverting any blame from him to the lord but he is reminding the reader uh and all those who who might hear the counsel from from this letter that these things i say not of myself therefore as the lord speaketh he will so fulfill now as we look in here we talk you read in seven and eight about the god sending one who is mighty and strong holding a scepter of power in his hand now for many years since that revelation came about until 1905 now whatever that math is 70 years or so the members of the church and it could be even done today as to what's joseph talking about here is this prophecy are we waiting for this mighty one to come and uh and and give judgment and so the first presidency in 1905 they gave an interpretation of verse 7 in which they say that verse 7 is contingent upon bishop partridge's faithfulness in other words if edward partridge failed in his duties and fell into transgression then the lord would call one mighty and strong to replace him now he wasn't replaced so he could this have been a warning to edward partridge we know outside of section 85 the lord had sent other letters to edward partridge giving the warning of you know the rules from the lord let's make sure zion is established accordingly so is this another of those reminders direct and bold reminders to edward partridge perhaps but we do know the end of the story edward partridge of course died in nauvoo years after missouri but he died faithful in the church from this time of the revelation all the way to that uh to his death he was faithful and true and so according to the first presidency we're probably not waiting for that individual to come in verse seven but that individual didn't need to come because edward partridge hearkened to the voice of the prophet he was speaking on behalf of the lord and he rose up and he did his duty he did what he was supposed to do and uh and and got it done uh so the second issue that had been discussed by early saints and maybe saints of today which was also addressed by that first presidency letter dated 1905 was about uh in verse eight while that man who was called of god and appointed that putteth forth his hand to steady the ark of god shall fall by the shaft of the of death like the tree etc as you'll as you'll read on your own now let's remind ourselves of what that means steadying the ark that's a reference to the old testament you might remember that when they were moving the ark in the covenant there were only certain people who were had permission to handle the ark it's going along one day and one of the people who was authorized to carry the ark he kind of stumbled and the ark was on its way over and so there was a man by the name of uza if i'm pronouncing that right uzi and as we read he put forth his hand to hold the ark is what it says in first chronicles and when he did the lord smote him and and he died now why because he wasn't authorized to touch the ark so what do we learn from this there could be a lot of things and maybe you interpret it yourself but here's in that first presidency letter they they said that this is illustrating the fate of those who seek to manage the affairs of god without authority and that's what we started to see in missouri is people were coming down with their own ideas their own objectives and their own way of doing things and they were breaking the rules that the lord had set up to properly establish zion and the lord's given that warning he says hey listen we need to and it's just as applicable today in 2021 that we need to listen to those that are chosen to lead now almost nearly every sunday when you go to church you're sustaining people into their new callings what does that mean well sustaining means a lot of different things but the bottom line is is that we sustain those that are called and authorized by heavenly father to lead in that we show that we are willing to follow those leaders as they follow according [Music] to the directions of the lord now if you have a leader that steps outside the general handbook of instruction you shouldn't be following that that individual but as long as that individual as we learn here in section 85 is doing everything that the lord has asked of them and they're doing it the best they can they're human come on give them a break but as they're doing the best that they can to fulfill the responsibility that the lord has entrusted them with then it's our responsibility and privilege really to follow that leadership and so that's what the lord is reminding the saints in missouri here is that he's authorized individuals to do certain things and we need to if we play within the bounds that the lord has set for us then everything will come out right unfortunately that lesson wasn't listened to or hearkened to quite explicitly enough by enough members to see zion fully established and ultimately this and other reasons the saints would be driven from missouri now i'm not excusing the missourians for pushing us our saints out of the state there's there's nothing that would provide excuse for the things that they did to the early church members and so i'm not saying that the saints had it coming but had the saints been more obedient perhaps the story would have been a little different the lord certainly doesn't look for opportunities to punish the lord looks for opportunities to bless but the opportunities to bless can only come if we're willing to be obedient and follow the counsel not only of the lord but those that the lord has chosen for us to to lead us all right there's a little breeze here you're gonna have to forgive me with my scriptures and my and my some of my notes and quotes here and i kind of fumble in the breeze to keep them straight but i want to take you now to section 86 86 came while joseph was translating the bible at this point he had left the hiram ohio the john johnson farm where section 76 of course famously was received he's moved back to kirtland sydney rigdon had been acting as scribe but during that tar and feathering which i talked about a few weeks ago sydney suffered a real head injury and he wasn't he wasn't up to the task and so joseph asked one of the counselors in the first president say frederick g williams to act as as scribe and so they're in kirtland with frederick g williams acting ascribe joseph continued and would ultimately complete the translation of the bible well they get to matthew 13 and uh they take a look at it that's the parable of the wheat and the tares and section 86 comes in response to the questions of what's called symbolism and the lord spells out exactly what the symbolism is he doesn't doesn't leave us guessing and he tells it to us pretty straight now 86 after looking at it this last week this has got to be one of my most favorite revelations in all doctrine covenants and i'm excited to share it with you the historical context i just gave it to you but the doctrine contained in 86 is exciting it's thrilling and i want to share with you some of the things that president nelson has recently said in general conference as it relates directly to what's going on in section 86 now you might say well i don't remember president nelson talking about wheat and tears in general conference i don't either i don't remember president nelson talking about quoting from section 86 i don't either but i tell you the things that he is repeatingly repeatedly telling us over and over again is the exact same thing that the lord is telling us in section 86 and so it's quite timely here as well so we look at section 86 but before we get into it i want to take you to the last verse of 86 and point out something so that i could get all of your ears okay all of you listeners to to tune in by showing you who this revelation benefits therefore blessed are ye if you continue in my goodness a light unto the gentiles and through this priesthood a savior unto my people israel the lord hath said amen now he's talking about those who are blessed through his goodness they're a light unto the gentiles and through this priesthood those individuals who have been blessed that have the light will be a savior unto my people israel now he says and through this priesthood he doesn't say and because of the priesthood holders or and thanks to those who hold the priesthood or those who have been ordained to an officer in prison he doesn't say that so if you go back to my video on section 84. so a couple of weeks or just last week i gave you lots of quotes from president nelson president oaks about how priesthood power and authority is available accessible to all men women old young any calling in the church whatever calling in the church we all have that and so here the lord's reminding all of us members of the church his saints who he has blessed who have the light of christ who have the holy ghost as a constant companionship who have access to this priesthood power and authority which all of us do that qualifies us to be a savior in gathering israel under my people israel okay now let me take you back to the beginning let me take you through the parable let me bring in president nelson's quotes and then i'm going to bring it back to verse 11. and it's it's exciting so here we go all right now well i just had a thought here it says a light unto the gentiles who's how are we a light to the gentiles well by the way we live by the way we uh alma says by the way we have the savior's count the light of christ and our countenance it reminds me of a time when i was on my mission my buddy my missionary companion elder anderson and i were tracking knocking doors in australia and this lady opens the door and we start giving her a spill about the book of mormon or something about the restoration i don't even remember i don't remember what we said i just remember what she said and she kind of cut us off and she said who are you and we said well we're representatives from the church of jesus christ latter-day saints she says no no who are you well elder petty and alder anderson you know we're both from california in america and she says no no there's something different about you we get preachers here at our door all the time but something's different about you you just look different now she she didn't know she didn't he couldn't put it into words but hopefully hopefully what she was seeing was the light of christ in our eyes i i just hope that's that's what i that i had that and and still do as we all strive to the other story that makes me think of is being light unto the gentiles now this story is about the jerusalem center in jerusalem and the story goes that when we were the church was negotiating the land purchase and then started building it boy there's a big long back story that maybe i'll share with you some other other time but the end of the story is this that when the jerusalem center was built part of the agreement between the church and the government was no cross lighting you can't come in and knock down doors you can't stand on street corners and preach the book of mormon you can come and have your jerusalem center bring your students in but no pros lighting and the church said no problem and they still stand by that agreement even today that's 40 years later but then the government official comes back to the church representative and says okay you won't proselyte but what are you going to do about the light in the eyes of the students this government official recognized that these young single adults who were attending his students at the jerusalem center there was something about him something in their eyes a light and what are you going to do about that light because that's enough to be cross lighting well let's get back to the section here 86 the lord goes through the parable of the wheat and the tariffs and in verse 1 we find verily verily let's say the lord unto you my servants about the parable of the weed and the tears behold verily i say the field was the world so i won't recount the entire story maybe i will in just 15 seconds here okay the lord in matthew chapter 13 go read it it's only four or five verses the lord says hey we've got our wheat those are that's the symbolic of the righteous people we've got our tares that's symbolic of the wickedness of the world and when the the world is moving on as it has over the centuries these wheat and tears start to co-mingle with each other they're we we kind of can't tell them apart we've got we've got the wicked and the righteous and they're they're all kind of living together that's the weed in the tears as they do out in the field now the interesting thing is that the wheat and the tears when they start first start growing you can't tell them apart apparently i'm no farmer but that's what i understand is you can't tell them apart and so when the angels here in the parable say hey lord can we go down and take and get rid of the tares and the lord says no you can't because if you try to get rid of the tears you're going to destroy the wheat so we just got to let it go for now but then eventually there's going to be a separation and it's going to be a clear separation no wheat with the tares no tears with the wheat and that's that's the parable here that we're talking about so the lord clarifies a couple of things behold verily i say the field in the parable that's the world so we're talking about the entire world and the apostles were the sowers of the seed now these were the ancient apostles the apostles back in the lord's day new testament time and after they meaning the apostles have fallen asleep that great persecutor of the church the apostate the even babylon comes in and starts to choke the weeds now what do you mean the apostles fell asleep does that mean they got lazy no as joseph fielding smith explains that means they they died and thus started the apostasy so when the when the church from new testament times was taken from the earth then the apostles died there was no more authority on the earth no more of revelation the guy to church at that time that babylon stepped in and started um how does the lord say choke the wheat and drive the church into the wilderness so this was the beginning of the apostasy now he uses the word babylon what does babylon mean or represent again joseph philly smith says that babylon is symbolic of anything that's that's not of heavenly father so anything that's wicked anything that's evil is represented under the term of babylon so we can look around the world today and say okay what what deprives us of the spirit and we could just umbrella that underneath the term well that's babylon you know babylon is is full of of wickedness and hate and and contention and anything that's not um from from our heavenly father so i look at it this way let me put my book down as the lord starts to go through this parable we say okay we've got the wheat and the tares we're all in in the world and we get to verse three because i put it down too soon and verse three we start to get down or excuse me verse four but behold so the tares are gonna come and choke choke the wheat and drive the church into the wilderness we've got an apostasy verse four but behold in the last days even now so this is 1832. so in 1832 is the last day so in the last days even now while the lord is beginning to bring forth the word and the blade or the wheat is springing up and is yet tender and we're going to continue on there but but let's go back to babylon and now we've got the last days the lord is going to start dividing the wicked from the righteous the wheat and the tares are going to start to have a divide so i look at it this way not long ago the moral standard established by the lord and adhered to by the saints of the church was pretty much the same as what the world accepted as right and wrong and the moral standard was pretty close and you think back it wasn't very long ago but then what's happened over the last even few years we find moral decay and the tears are coming in and pushing the wheat further away and so we start to get this little gap and now the stand the lord standard and the world standard are not the same and so as this divide has taken place as church members we kind of look at that divide and say you know what yeah that's right i'm sticking here and the world's here but a trap that some could fall into all of us could fall into is that we could get comfortable with that gap and as the as babylon the world continues that moral decay and going further and further and further from the lord do we stand firm or do we stay with that gap because it's comfortable and so as long as that gap is there we're all right is that the lie we tell ourselves because as the world continues to go down we got to stay firm and steady even if that gap gets wider and wider and wider and this parable tells us that that gap is going to get wider and so what is the world is claiming is acceptable we got to make sure that we always stay firm with what the lord is teaching the acceptability level to be so here's the question how should the field be harvested because in verse 5 we say behold verily i say unto you the angels are crying unto the lord day and night saying hey we're ready to go down and make this separation happen and the lord says hold on not do it don't do it yet in verse six and then in verse seven therefore let the weed and the tears grow together until the harvest is fully ripe so until the end cometh hold on we're gonna let these things grow right those two gaps we're going to see what they do to each other or particularly not the two with the what what are the saints going to do in relation to that gap that the world is forcing upon us so therefore let the wheat and the tears grow together until the harvest is fully ripe then ye shall first gather out the wheat from among the tares and after the gathering of the wheat behold and low the tares are bound in bundles and the filled remaineth to be burned now here's that that's the distinction between matthew 13 and doctrine and covenants 86. in matthew 13 in this parable it's we're going to gather out it says uh in fact i'll quote it to let the wheat and the tears grow together until the harvest and at the time of the harvest i will say to the reapers gather ye first the tares and buy them and bundle it and bind them in bundles and then gather the wheat into my barn but section 86 says just the opposite let the wheat and the tares grow together until the harvest is fully ripe then ye shall first gather out the wheat now here's the point of trying i know i'm repeating myself and it's because there's a point that's coming that i'm so thrilled and excited to share with you that before this great division of the wheat and its hairs first and foremost the wheat is going to be gathered you've heard that word gathering so how's the gathering taking place how is the lord gathering the wheat now i'm not going to answer that yet once you think about that how is the gathering of the wheat taking place right now in verse five so now i'll take you back here and let's go a little bit deeper behold verily i say unto you the angels are crying unto the lord let's let us go down and get to work let's separate this thing and the lord says not yet in in 1894 130 or whatever years ago at the dedication of the salt lake temple president wilford woodruff said this god has held the angels of destruction for many years lest they should reap down the wheat with the tares but i want to tell you now that those angels have left the portals of heaven and they stand over this people in this nation now and are hovering over the earth waiting to pour out the judgments and from this very day they shall be poured out calamities and troubles are increasing in the earth and there's a meaning to these things remember this the prophet says and although it was in 1894 it is so applicable now he says remember this and reflect upon these matters if you do your duty and i do my duty will have protection and shall pass through the afflictions in peace and safety that was 1894. now without recounting all the calamities that elder president woodruff was saying were coming between 1894 and 2001. let me take it back just 18 months what sort of calamities have we suffered in the last 18 months that we weren't suffering two years ago war famine flooding earthquakes weird temperatures we got heat waves here and freezing temps there when they shouldn't be we've got hurricanes and most recently calamities that we would describe as political divisions social divisions oh and let's not forget that little thing called covet 19. and so are the calamities increasing elder president woodruff back in 1894 said they are and boy now here we are 130 some odd years later and we can reflect very quickly without any effort that they certainly are and so first remember this is the clarification that we get because of the joseph smith translation of the bible first we gather the wheat before the division and i'll ask again without answering yet how are we how are we gathering the wheat i want to quote to you from president nelson my dear young brothers and sisters speaking specifically to the youth these surely are the last days and the lord is hastening his work to gather israel that gathering is the most important thing taking place on earth today nothing else compares in magnitude nothing else compares in importance nothing else compares in majesty and if you choose to if you want to you can be a big part of it you can be a big part of something big something grand something majestic when we speak of the gathering we are simply saying this fundamental truth every one of our heavenly father's children on both sides of the veil deserves to hear the message of the restored gospel of jesus christ they decide for themselves that they want to know more any time you do anything to help anyone on either side of the veil take a step toward making covenants with god and receiving their essential baptismal and temple ordinances you are helping to gather israel it's as simple it's as simple as that is president nelson giving us a warning that the prophecy that the savior gave in [Music] doctrine and covenants 86 excuse me 85 no 86 coming to pass boy i think so let me read to you a couple more things from president nelson in regards to this but i'll ask you again how's the gathering taking place how are you gathering israel verse 9 he says this to those who are called to help gather israel gather the wheat those who gather the wheat are described in verse 9 for ye are lawful heirs according to the flesh and have been hid from the world with christ and god so you're those who are called to gather israel go get the wheat before the separation of the tares those individuals are lawful heirs of what and they've been hit up what does that mean here's a couple ideas lawful heirs lawful meaning according to the laws of god heirs meaning receiving all that god has to offer so those are members of the house of israel members of the church those who have been partakers of the blessings of the gospel we are lawful heirs are we not and so verse 9 speaks to us members of the church for year lawful errors according to the flesh and have been hid from the world now we go back to the youth devotional by president nelson when he says this and while i read these two quotes to you from that devotional think of what it means to be hid from the world our heavenly father has reserved many of his most noble spirits perhaps i might say his finest team for this final phase those noble spirits those finest players those heroes are you my dear extraordinary youth you were sent to earth at this precise time the most crucial time in the history of the world to help gather israel there is nothing happening on this earth right now that is more important than that there is nothing of greater consequence absolutely nothing this gathering should mean everything to you this is the mission for which you were sent to earth so my question to you is are you willing to enlist in the youth battalion of the lord to help gather israel said verse nine who are the lawful heirs the people president nelson just described and hid up saved hold held back they're not out in the world until the time of the harvest and president nelson said you youth were specifically reserved held back until this final moment that's the mission you came to earth to fulfill and his question and my question as well are you in now we're completing an indexing challenge as a worldwide beyond come follow me community today is not august yet i won't tell you what day it is it just for whatever reason but august 1st is still coming and i've got um i'll wait until after august 1st so this next video i will share with you i'll talk to you all about the completion of this indexing challenge not only am i going to give you the number but i'm going to share with you incredible stories about people throughout the world uh it's been something else uh for me to be on this end of the challenge and see the results of your work um it's uh it's it's i'm excited for net the next video to take some time and share with you these sorts of things but also as a uh as a whatever um as a little prelude to uh my next announcement which will be coming in the next two or three weeks um it's uh i i've got another challenge for us to be a part of this gathering of the wheat and so when you study section 86 this week realize that's you realize that you have done that that you are doing it and in the next couple weeks i'm going to invite you to do something else that's really going to make you if you choose to participate make it jump in to this uh gathering of the wheat with two feet and i'm i'm excited about this next challenge that i'm going to share with you let's go to section 87 and of course we'll conclude here because that's the last section of this week so in section 87 um as you go through it you'll see the verse seven the first seven verses the lord has really given out some strong warnings and he knows that these things are going to happen because his people are going to reject his laws his people are going to reject the loving heavenly father that he is and because of that calamity is going to come and it's going to come big time and it's going to be the start of a lot of calamity now the lord isn't excited about that of course not the lord would very much like the world to be wheat only and uh and accepting of his laws and obedient to his laws and accepting of his love but knowing that that's not the case that we we've got tares and babylon in the world he in verses one through seven he describes the results of that now in section 87 if you're familiar with the american civil war which i'm not going to spend time on but we say we just say hey this was this is because of the slave issue southern states wanted to have slaves the northerns wanted to have all free people there was a conflict and yes that's all true how horrific how tragic how horrible how disgusting um that this was even an issue um but it was and and men and boys fought over the issue and and over 600 000 lost their lives over the issue however the disagreements between the southern states specifically south carolina and the federal government started long before back in the early 30s in the newspapers of the day they would read about this growing conflict between south carolina and the federal government and it really started with in south carolina's mind and probably rightfully in their mind that the federal government was providing greater tax benefits to the northern states than they were to the southern states and so this uh south carolina they've passed the law that we're done we're dissolved we're no longer part of the united states of america and word got up to washington of course with andrew jackson and and he retaliated said not a chance this is the way it is it's my way or the highway and they're like thanks we'll take the highway and andrew jackson says no no no you're not leaving and if you try there's going to be blood in the streets is what the president of the united states says well they came to some sort of an agreement enough that both sides quieted down well during that conflict is when joseph gave this prophecy that there's going to be a big time problem war and it's going to start with the rebellion of south carolina now as the 30 1830s and 1840s played out the the problem that i just described was somewhat resolved and there wasn't this big war that in the early 1830s when joseph gave this prophecy was predicted and so a lot of people could have said hey joseph you missed that one that prophecy didn't come to pass well joseph was about 30 years ahead of the game because then later at fort sumter in south carolina the confederate army would attack that fort which was being which was held which was owned by the union army the the united the army of the united states of america and they attacked it openly attacked it threw out a ton tons of shots at him and finally conquered that fort and that's thus started this the american civil war and so that's what the prophecy was about is that this this war that was coming now so joseph may have looked foolish but you know a prophecy is a prophecy and they're going to come to pass not in our time but in the lord's time and what the lord was talking about was not that little squabble over the taxes in 1830 but it would be a much bigger moral issue and it's the moral issues that the lord gets involved in isn't it you know there's debates on capitol hill in every state and every country and uh but it's when it's a moral issue is on the ballot or being discussed is when the leadership of the church intervenes and says okay we know right from wrong and remember members of the church we need to be beyond the on the lord's side on these things and thus it was with the civil war the it being over the slave issue i want to share with you and in the uh the opening picture you know the picture you saw that you clicked on to see this video it had a big picture of abraham lincoln you're thinking what's abraham lincoln doing on this picture you know we haven't even talked about him well and we're not but i am going to quote from abraham lincoln because he was the president of the united states at the time of the civil war i'm giving that brief history for all my friends who who aren't privy to the united states history but it's abraham lincoln 16th president of the united states and he had to see to it that these this conflict that cost 600 000 lives bloodiest war still in american history and he had to resolve the conflict and keep the union intact one nation under god indivisible with liberty and justice for all abraham lincoln saw to it that that would be the case but here are some interesting quotes from abraham lincoln and they are so relevant in their council today because he's going through this dark time where it's just the trials are overwhelming he's having a hard time seeing the good from the evil and but he's but he's but he's staying diligent he's staying after it he's trying his best to do so and it's these quotes that i want to share to you with you that that help us understand how abraham lincoln got through the civil war successfully on what he relied and leaned upon to get him through those times because now we see a world full of conflict we see and it's not just conflict of war but it's a conflict of of the environment the conflict of the upheaval of hurricanes and whirlwinds and tornadoes and earthquakes and flooding and droughts and famine and pandemics but now we're also seeing the calamity as we started with of political divides social divides and so we also live in a world of turmoil maybe we're not sending young men to the battlefield to fight their brothers and fathers as many did in the civil war but the calamities that are upon this and other nations throughout the world are still great today and so the council that abraham lincoln gives in the 1860s is just as relevant and just as important for us as latter-day saints as we strive our best to navigate through the trials and sufferings of the world of 2021 here are some of the quotes and may we say these same things for ourselves it would do us well abraham lincoln i have had so many evidences of god's direction so many instances when i have been controlled by some other power other than my own will that i cannot doubt that this power comes from above i am satisfied that when the almighty wants me to do that what the almighty wants me to do or not do a particular thing he finds a way of letting me know it he not knowing it but he was striving to hear him and then he says this i know i am right because i know that liberty is right for christ teaches it and christ is god i seem to know that providence has protected and will protect us against any fatal defeat all we have to do is to trust the almighty and keep on obeying his orders and executing his will another quote that the almighty directly intervenes in human affairs is one of the plainest statements in the bible next it is the duty of nations as well as all men to own their dependence upon the over rule excuse me i better start that again it's a great quote i just fumbled it it is the duty of nations as well as of men to own their dependence upon the overruling power of god when we as latter-day saints saints living in the last days do well to put our dependence upon the overruling power of god [Music] he also said those nations only are blessed whose god is the lord another one we have been the recipients of the choicest bounties of heaven we have grown in number wealth and power as no other nation has ever grown but we have forgotten god we have forgotten the gracious hand which preserved us in peace and multiplied and enriched and strengthened us and we have vainly imagined in the deceitfulness of our hearts that all these blessings were produced by some super wisdom and virtue of our own we have become too self-sufficient to feel the necessity of redeeming and preserving grace too proud to pray to the god who made us remember to call upon and confide in our great and good and merciful maker who will not turn away from us in any extremity he notes the fall of the sparrow and numbers the hairs of our head he will not forget the dying man who puts his trust in him did you know that president lincoln while serving as president of the united states he went to the library of congress big library in washington dc and he checked out a book he had it for 10 months and he underlined a lot of the words in that book he highlighted and wrote in the margins of that book and he had it for 10 months in the white house the book of course is the book of mormon he had it for 10 months i can't imagine what that overdue fine was it's probably still outstanding with interests well i'm getting away but the point being is not only was abraham lincoln being guided by the principles of the bible but he was obviously influenced as well by the things taught in the book of mormon and i'll conclude here with verse 8 of this civil war prophecy and here in many ways this can become so relevant to each of us it says wherefore stand in holy places and be not moved until the day of the lord come for behold it cometh quickly saith the lord amen great verse i want to focus on just half of it wherefore stand ye in holy places and be not moved [Music] one thing that i don't think this means is this is to stand idle or passive and just let the world go in moral decay all around you i think rather to stand is not to stand and just stand and be passive and do nothing but i think it might be stand boldly with both feet firmly on the ground to be immovable in your effort to do what's right to stand up for what's right to stand for truth and while doing so gather some wheat so my challenge to you brothers and sisters and the challenge i i need to take myself is to be the wheat to find the wheat to invite and gather the wheat and bring everybody as close as we can to our loving heavenly father these three revelations that we've gone through briefly today brothers and sisters now you can see perhaps why i think they're some of my favorites particularly 86 as it talks directly to us about our responsibilities and 87 how it concludes as to how we do those things how do we be weak we stand in holy places we stand strong we stand firm we're resilient we we fight back when necessary in order to make sure that uh that we don't get that we're not on the wrong end of the prophecy and be choked out by the terrors but that we're the wheat that will be gathered in the last day brothers and sisters this church is true the gospel is of god it's his church he stands at the head of it and i'm grateful for that testimony and the opportunity to share it with you briefly today and i say that in the name of jesus christ amen

Channel: Stories of the Restoration

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Id: UG8h3Z3yWSs

Length: 52min 16sec (3136 seconds)

Published: Sat Jul 31 2021