Book of Mormon [Mosiah 11-17] Insights with Maria Eckersley

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Welcome back, everyone.

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This is week 20 of Our Mothers Knew It, and this week we get to go

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solidly into the story of Abinadi.

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You're going to cover his whole story in this week's chapters.

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So you go from Mosiah 11, all the way through Mosiah 17.

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And it's awesome.

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A good block of study.

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Not just for the story itself, a story that's compelling and will get your kids

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excited to get into their scriptures, but also for the doctrine that he teaches.

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It's just rich and nuanced and full of application for our day.

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I think you're going to love this week's study.

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For me, one of the things I loved the most about studying

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Abinadi was seeing his poise.

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I think, I've always loved that talk from Elder Bragg last year where

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he spoke about Christ like poise.

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And I think you see that in Abinadi this week.

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He is just steady and grounded and tethered to a rock that no matter

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what is happening around him, whether he's on the streets being grabbed

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by people or in front of King Noah's court or even when he's got a church.

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You know, bundles of sticks pressed against his skin, he is steady,

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and he will get his message out.

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I just feel like, when we hear President Nelson talk about grabbing hold of the

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power that God wants us to have, that choosing to live our lives differently

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so that we can access that power, Abinadi is your example of what that looks like.

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Not just in his face that shines out, but in his steadiness amidst all of this.

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all of the circumstances around him.

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It's just awesome to me.

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In fact, I loved in Elder Bragg's talk, he compared Peter and the Savior.

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Remember, it's right outside the Garden of Gethsemane.

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So you have to almost imagine what the Savior has been through in the last 12,

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24 hours and the exhaustion he must feel.

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And in that moment when the guards come and Peter cuts off the ear of

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the The Savior, in his poise, heals.

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I'm sure he could have done a number of other things, but in that moment, he

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does what is right and what is needed.

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And that is remarkable to me.

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That's what you're going to see in Abinadi this week.

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He is someone who chooses to act rather than be acted upon.

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And it is awesome.

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Trust me, you're going to love this week's study.

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Grab your scriptures.

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Grab your notes.

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It's time to get started.

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In case you're new here, let me explain what we do.

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Basically, I'm going to give you a 3 3 3 approach.

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So, three sparks, three ideas that came to mind or things that I found

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myself studying as I tried to approach these chapters with fresh eyes.

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Then three good questions.

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Things that will help you get curious, get into your scriptures,

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and hopefully have good conversations with the people around you.

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And then we'll do a separate video of three object lessons.

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So that you can take what you're learning and what you're excited about

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and find a way to kind of pass that to the next generation, ideally so that

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they can learn it and then teach it to others, whether they're, you know,

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teaching their classes or their quorums.

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I hope, I hope these tools help.

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Okay, so since we have so many chapters to cover, I thought it would be good

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to give you a summary of each as we head in so that you at least know

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what ground is covered this week.

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So just so you get your bearings, we're about 150 years before the

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Savior comes among the Nephites.

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It's been 30 to 40 ish years since King Benjamin gave his message, but

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you want to remember that Benjamin and Noah are in different lands, right?

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Benjamin's people are up in Zarahemla, Noah's people are down in the land

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of Nephi where the Lamanites are, and it's just different places,

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but they kind of happen similarly.

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In Mosiah 11, that's where we This is where you learn How

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King Noah handles his kingdom.

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We left last week with this kind of high, right?

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His dad, Zenith, had fought his whole life to protect his people.

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He's using the strength of the Lord to win battles, even though they're in

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this place that I don't think the Lord wanted them to go in the first place.

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You get, you're on this high.

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And then the torch is passed to Noah and we take a very rapid descent.

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A lot of that you're going to see in chapter 11.

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This is when you learn what kind of king Noah is and what's going on with

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his priests and his people and you see why a prophet needed to be sent.

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And so at the beginning or the end of 11 you'll see Abinadi come into town.

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Then in Mosiah 2 you get two years later.

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So this is when Abinadi comes back again.

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The first time he came with warnings and the second time he comes

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with stronger warnings and bigger consequences because they continue

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to choose to turn against God.

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So that you'll see in 12.

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When you go into 13, this is when Abinadi has been grabbed and he is now testifying

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in front of the court of King Noah.

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These are the chapters you just want to take your time to because this is

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Abinadi with his face shining out.

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This is him testifying of things like the Ten Commandments and teaching them about

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the Law of Moses and how it can't save.

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This is rich.

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Good doctrine.

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Then 14 and 15, he amplifies it because he focuses our attention on

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the Savior, and he's going to teach us the meaning behind Isaiah's words.

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The priests try to trip him up with their questions about Isaiah's words,

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and he just can't be tripped up.

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You know, he's like the Savior in that respect.

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He knows who he is, and he knows who the Savior is, and he will testify.

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And so he answers their questions.

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expertly.

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He almost turns the tables on them.

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So where they were questioning him, he shifts and he starts questioning them.

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And it's just awesome.

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He teaches about the suffering servant and the kind of God that they

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should anticipate coming and what that God will do when he comes and

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takes on this tabernacle of flesh.

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So you'll see that between 14 and 15.

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Mosiah 16 to me is almost like he's saying your time is almost up.

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It's like he's trying to emphasize that you don't have

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forever to make this decision.

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You have been sent a prophet and I have taught you truth and

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now you need to make the call.

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And let me tell you what happens if you choose option A or if you choose option

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B and he lays them out really clearly so that they have to make a choice.

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And then 17 is where you see what choice.

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they make.

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That's when you see Abinadi's execution happen, you hear his

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testimony ring out through the flames, and you feel the repercussions of

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Abinadi's testimony just begin.

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Almost the way like if you see a pebble tossed into the water and the ripples

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start out really small and then over the course of time they grow big and

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large and wide and that's what you see with the end of this week's study.

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You see Abinadi's message just create that initial ripple and then in

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the subsequent weeks we're going to see how far those ripples spread.

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It's rich and good and you're going to love it.

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Time for spark number one.

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I call this one Abinadi's Tower, because I really loved the stark

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contrast between what we studied with King Benjamin's Sermon and

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what you see with Abinadi's Sermon.

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Their messages are actually really similar, it's just their audience and

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their setting that is so vastly different.

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Where King Benjamin is someone who, You know, he invites people

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to come hear him speak, and so many come, they can't count them.

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And so many want to hear him, that he erects a tower so

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that more people can hear him.

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And so many still want to hear him, that he has his words written down so that

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they can study them and take them home.

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Like, he has this incredible prophetic experience up in Zarahemla.

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And Abinadi, who is his contemporary of sorts, even though, you know,

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there's a few decades between them, he is someone who has a very

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different prophetic experience.

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And I think this teaches you something about prophets.

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Prophets.

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Go where the Lord needs them to go, no matter what those circumstances are.

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And Abinadi's road is, is a hard one.

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In fact, the people he teaches are hard.

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Where King Benjamin's people were faith filled to the degree that they came, and

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then were so enriched by the Spirit that they wanted to make covenants with God.

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Like, they were ready for something big.

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Abinadi's group that he teaches, are cold, they're hard, they reject, they

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turn away from any inkling of the spirit that they get in these moments.

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And it must be so hard to be Abinadi.

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But what I love about Abinadi is he's poised, right?

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He is focused and he will get his message out.

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What I thought was really interesting is he goes twice.

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You know, he goes the first time, he teaches what the Lord needed him

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to teach and people reject it and he's kind of pushed out of the city.

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And then he comes back two years later.

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And I found myself wondering like, Why does he have to go back?

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You know, like, he did his job.

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He did what the Lord needed him to do.

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They made their choice.

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Why does he have to go back?

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And I think the answer you can find when you get into Nephi's writings.

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So back in 2 Nephi, we studied this before, but there was something new

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that popped out at me this time.

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And it helped me answer why God sends prophets to people who are hard.

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This is in 2 This is the second half of the verse.

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He inviteth all to come unto him and partake of his goodness.

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He denieth none that come unto him, black and white, bond and free, male and female.

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He remembereth the heathen, and all are alike unto God, both Jew and Gentile.

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I think this is the Book of Mormon's way of saying that God is in relentless

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pursuit of all of his children.

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You know, just like Elder Kieran taught us, he is, he does not give up and he

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will send prophets to inspire and to reclaim if people will hear and listen.

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And I think that's.

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Abinadi's message.

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What I thought was interesting about that verse this time, I'd never

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read it this way before, but I've always pictured bond and free as

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something that's like slavery, right?

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Something related to being a slave.

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And although I think it does apply there, I think there are

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lots of other kinds of bondage.

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In fact, you're going to see a lot of other kinds of bondage

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in the chapters of Mosiah.

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Bondage comes when you are Doing anything that tries to lean

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into the natural man, right?

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I think anytime, anything that's difficult to escape, addictions or

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habits or tendencies or, you know, entanglements that you get into,

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those are all a form of bondage.

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There's this beautiful talk from President Oaks from maybe 10 years ago where he

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basically talked about this and here's two of the ways he described bondage.

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He said, Bond includes those who are held down by traditions or customs

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contrary to the commandments of God.

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And finally, Bond also includes those who are confined within the

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boundaries of other erroneous ideas.

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I think this is the kind of bondage they're in.

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There's this false religion that's being preached.

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There's, you know, this lavish lifestyle by their king.

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These heavy taxes.

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They're, they're swimming in.

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Ideas that are erroneous, and they have, that's a kind of bondage.

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And basically, when the Lord sends a prophet, it is to liberate those captives.

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I think the prophet sees them as bound up by this sin, and the

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circumstances of their lives, and he wants to liberate them.

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In fact, in that same talk from President Oaks, he quoted Joseph

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Smith, who basically said that we preach to liberate the captives.

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That's why we teach the gospel of Jesus Christ, because it frees men from bondage,

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spiritual bondage, physical bondage.

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It opens up those gates.

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And Abinadi's work is basically to do that.

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What's ironic about Abinadi to me is, in order to liberate those who think

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they are free, but really are in chains, he has to let himself be chained.

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It's, he offers himself in order to help them see how

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heavy their chains really are.

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What's interesting is what he teaches.

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It's so similar to King Benjamin.

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In fact, I found myself stacking their sermons against each

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other to see the similarities.

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And they're everywhere.

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I wish I could go through them here with you verse by verse, but

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for example, you'll see both men teach about the nature of Christ

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and what his atonement really is.

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With King Benjamin, he talked about the atonement and then how we need it for

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salvation, and you get that same message when you hear it from Abinadi's words.

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He's going to talk about Christ as the Father and the Son and

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the gift of the atonement.

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You also hear both of them speak about salvation and redemption,

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where that comes from, what it means.

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In King Benjamin's sermon, he talks about how it comes only

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through the name of Christ.

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And Abinadi will reiterate that, but he'll say something more specific

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about salvation not coming through anything except repentance and

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faith on the Lord Jesus Christ.

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It's almost as if you can hear echoes, right, where we heard King Benjamin's

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story coming from this beautiful tower.

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You hear Abinadi's sermon coming from a whole different angle.

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In fact, the two contrasting images for me were powerful.

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Where Abinadi gives his sermon, he's at essentially the lowest part, right?

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He, in the place where they are, it sounds like they're in

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the temple that Nephi built.

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I don't know that for certain.

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Maybe it was rebuilt over time.

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But remember how the verses talk about how King Noah deliberately built

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inside their ways for the priests to be elevated so that King Noah was elevated

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and the priests are elevated and they can lounge and Listen, in fact, if you

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watch the Book of Mormon video You'll see this where Abinadi is deep down in

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this pit almost when he's preaching this sermon and it is this vivid contrast to

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King Benjamin on his tower But because their messages are so much the same

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and so much about Jesus Christ and the salvation he offers I feel like they both

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have towers They look very different.

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But they are standing on this tower of faith and it is commanding.

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It is rich.

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Both of them will talk about the natural man.

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King Benjamin will urge us to set down the natural man and try to

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become a saint through Christ.

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Abinadi will teach something really similar.

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He doesn't use the phrase natural man, but he teaches us about the risks of sin and

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how we need a transformation to happen.

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You're going to see that in the verses.

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Both of them Show service and love.

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King Benjamin speaks about it, how they should serve and give,

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and I feel like Abinadi lives it.

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He demonstrates it for the people by offering himself almost as a sacrifice

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in order to get this message across.

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And then I think they both talk about accountability and judgment.

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Both of them emphasize that this is a probationary time and you

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need to make the right call.

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They both speak about the final judgment, about the resurrection.

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This week in Abinadi's sermon, you're going to hear him talk about the first

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resurrection and how all of us are going to stand eye to eye with the Savior

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and need to account for our choices.

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There is this weight in both of their sermons.

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They just have very, very different circumstances.

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Honestly, I think the results of their two sermons are really similar.

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I think they look different on the surface, but they're not different.

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I think King Benjamin's sermon created thousands and thousands

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of converted hearts, and Abinadi's sermon does the same.

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It takes another generation or so for that to fully take effect, but thousands

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come to the gospel because of Abinadi's message, just like thousands came to

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the gospel because of King Benjamin.

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Amen.

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That's how prophets teach.

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That's the effect they have on the people, no matter where they are

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and what their circumstances are.

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I think you'll love studying it.

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Spark number two, I call The Boy Who Lived, and there's all kind of Harry

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Potter references in here, and I hope it doesn't come off as irreverent, but

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honestly, you guys, my understanding of Harry Potter helped me think about how

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I could teach these chapters to my kids.

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Because they get Harry Potter, and I'm hoping by understanding these

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key things about him, that They'll understand the Savior better as well.

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Let me tie things together for you.

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Basically, what Abinadi teaches gets a little bit murky in the middle.

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Because he speaks about Jesus Christ, the Savior of the world, coming

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and being the Father and the Son.

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And it gets a little hard to understand, because he makes

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them sound like they are one.

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And most of us think about the Father being the Eternal Father, Elohim.

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And what he's referencing in these chapters is not so much God the

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Father as this divine part of himself.

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Basically, what you're gonna find in these chapters is Abinadi is trying to explain

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to them that Christ is going to come in flesh, just like we heard King Benjamin

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speak about this tabernacle of clay.

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That's kind of what the message here is.

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He's trying to help them understand the kind of God who will come and save the

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people, that he won't look like what they anticipated a God will look like.

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He is someone who will come and look very different and have incredible power.

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This is Elder McConkie speaking.

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So he said, God, Jehovah, will become a man, Jesus.

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Spirit and flesh shall be brought together in the form of one God, who is

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the Eternal Father of heaven and earth.

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It's these two sides of the Savior, the mortal man side that he inherited

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from his mother, Mary, that will allow him to feel pain and hunger and thirst

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and fatigue, that will allow him to ultimately experience death, and then

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there is this father side of him, this divine investiture he has from

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the father that gives him the power to overcome those things, the power

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to overcome death and to rise again.

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He's got both of these sides.

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The reason that applies to Harry Potter for me is I feel like

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you see that to some degree.

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with the character of Harry Potter.

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He is someone who, on the surface, looks sort of vulnerable and even weak at times.

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He experiences a lot of heartache and pain and struggle and being

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cast out from a lot of places.

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Like, he is not someone who is respected, except for he has this other side of him.

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That is this prophecy that he will eventually, you know, Conquer all evil.

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And what makes those books compelling is that Harry has to

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wrestle with those sides of him in which he's going to let dominate.

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In fact, almost every single book, the reason there is this rejoicing at

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the end is because Harry has chosen to believe the prophecy side about him

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rather than what is on the surface.

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What he thinks he is, he sets that down and chooses to lean into what

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he could be and what people have told him he is from the very beginning.

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And that's essentially what happens.

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with the Savior in these writings of Abinadi.

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Well, I guess it's Alma that writes them, but what Abinadi teaches is that

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the Savior experienced all those hard things, but he does not give in to them.

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He never lets the mortal side of him that allows him to be compassionate and feel

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all the things that we feel, he doesn't ever let that dominate the father side

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of him that is divine, that is holy.

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You know, he can choose which side he's going to let dominate and with

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the Savior in his perfect life He always lets the father side of him

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dominate the son flesh side of him.

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That's what Abinadi is trying to teach us So let me give you some examples in

Maria: 00:17:57

the verses This is Mosiah 15 1 through 3 and now Abinadi said unto them I would

Maria: 00:18:03

that you should understand that God himself shall come down among the children

Maria: 00:18:06

of men, and shall redeem his people.

Maria: 00:18:07

God, meaning Jehovah, will come down.

Maria: 00:18:10

And because he dwelleth in the flesh, he shall be called the

Maria: 00:18:13

Son of God, that mortal side.

Maria: 00:18:15

And having subjected the flesh to the will of the Father, the power of God's

Maria: 00:18:19

side, being the Father and the Son.

Maria: 00:18:21

The father, because he was conceived by the power of God, and the

Maria: 00:18:24

son, because of the flesh, thus becoming the father and the son.

Maria: 00:18:28

He is both.

Maria: 00:18:29

The same way Harry Potter is both, right?

Maria: 00:18:32

He is this weak, young, little, aspiring wizard, and he is this wizard

Maria: 00:18:36

that is bound to conquer all evil.

Maria: 00:18:38

He is both.

Maria: 00:18:39

And what makes his story compelling is he has to choose to let

Maria: 00:18:43

one side dominate the other.

Maria: 00:18:44

I just think that's what you see in Harry Potter.

Maria: 00:18:46

In the Savior's story, especially as told by Abinadi, because he

Maria: 00:18:49

speaks about his suffering and the hardship that he experiences.

Maria: 00:18:52

Like if you look in verse 7 of 15, Yea, even so he shall be led, crucified,

Maria: 00:18:57

and slain, the flesh becoming subject even unto death, the will of the

Maria: 00:19:01

Son, that mortal side of him, being swallowed up in the will of the Father.

Maria: 00:19:05

That divine, That divine eternal side of him.

Maria: 00:19:09

It swallows up all of those mortal Experiences and allows him to do

Maria: 00:19:14

something remarkable and that remarkable thing is voiced in eight And thus God

Maria: 00:19:19

breaketh the bands of death having gained victory over death giving the

Maria: 00:19:23

Sun power to make intercession for the children of men And this is nine.

Maria: 00:19:27

Having ascended into heaven, having the bowels of mercy being filled with

Maria: 00:19:31

compassion towards the children of men, standing betwixt them and justice,

Maria: 00:19:35

having broken the bands of death, taken upon himself their iniquity and their

Maria: 00:19:38

transgressions, having redeemed them and satisfied the demands of justice.

Maria: 00:19:43

The Savior never flinches.

Maria: 00:19:45

He never doubts.

Maria: 00:19:47

He never has these insecurities that conquer his ability to like, You know,

Maria: 00:19:52

to be that stoic, strong representative for God the Father, he always allows

Maria: 00:20:01

that side of him to dominate whatever his natural man experiences are.

Maria: 00:20:06

He chooses to live humbly and accept any hardship that comes his way, but he

Maria: 00:20:10

doesn't let those hardships dominate.

Maria: 00:20:12

You see this a little bit more in 14.

Maria: 00:20:15

This is like two to four.

Maria: 00:20:16

I won't read each verse, but this is where they talk about him having no form or

Maria: 00:20:19

comeliness that people would desire him.

Maria: 00:20:21

He's despised and rejected of men.

Maria: 00:20:23

He's acquainted with grief.

Maria: 00:20:25

In fact, it was that word.

Maria: 00:20:27

that kind of kicked off this idea, this spark in me.

Maria: 00:20:30

I love that he says he's acquainted with grief because I think that's

Maria: 00:20:34

what the Savior chooses to do.

Maria: 00:20:35

He came to experience this mortal life so he could become acquainted

Maria: 00:20:39

with sorrow, acquainted with grief, acquainted with pain, acquainted with

Maria: 00:20:44

all of those hard parts of this fallen mortal world, but he doesn't let those

Maria: 00:20:50

Dominate him or control him he chooses to experience them and to transcend

Maria: 00:20:55

to let that divine eternal side of him Overpower everything else which allows

Maria: 00:21:00

him to bear our griefs and carry our sorrows With his stripes, we are healed.

Maria: 00:21:05

That's what Abin and I teaches us in these chapters.

Maria: 00:21:09

My favorite quote about this, and you can go on the notes and get the full

Maria: 00:21:11

quote, but this is Elder Holland.

Maria: 00:21:13

He said, no one's eyes were more penetrating than his, and much

Maria: 00:21:17

of what he saw pierced his heart.

Maria: 00:21:19

Surely his ears even heard cries of distress in every sound of

Maria: 00:21:23

want and despair to a degree far more than we will ever understand.

Maria: 00:21:26

He was a man of sorrows and acquainted with grief.

Maria: 00:21:29

Indeed, to the layman in the streets of Judea, Christ's career must have

Maria: 00:21:32

seen a failure, a tragedy, a good.

Maria: 00:21:34

Man, totally overwhelmed by the evil surrounding him

Maria: 00:21:36

and the misdeeds of others.

Maria: 00:21:37

He was misunderstood and misrepresented, even hated from the beginning.

Maria: 00:21:42

No matter what he said or did.

Maria: 00:21:43

His statements were twisted.

Maria: 00:21:44

His actions suspected his motives impugned in the entire history of the world.

Maria: 00:21:49

No one has ever loved so purely or served so, so, so selflessly and had been

Maria: 00:21:54

treated so diabolically for his effort.

Maria: 00:21:57

Yet nothing could break his faith in his father's or his father's

Maria: 00:22:02

plan or his father's promises.

Maria: 00:22:04

Even those darkest hours at Gethsemane and Calvary he pressed on, continuing

Maria: 00:22:08

to trust in the very God whom he whom he momentarily feared had forsaken him.

Maria: 00:22:14

That's the God we worship.

Maria: 00:22:16

That's what he offers us.

Maria: 00:22:18

That's why he is this pillar of an example for us of conquering the natural man.

Maria: 00:22:22

That's what he did here, and he gave us this beautiful path to follow.

Maria: 00:22:27

One of my favorite verses on this came from Elder Holland's address.

Maria: 00:22:30

This is Psalm 34, 18, and 22.

Maria: 00:22:34

The Lord is nigh unto them that are of a broken heart, and saveth

Maria: 00:22:37

such as be a contrite spirit.

Maria: 00:22:39

The Lord redeemeth the soul of his servants, and none of them that

Maria: 00:22:42

trust in him shall be desolate.

Maria: 00:22:44

That's his promise.

Maria: 00:22:45

Because of what he experienced, and how he chose to experience

Maria: 00:22:48

it, no one is desolate.

Maria: 00:22:51

No one need be left behind.

Maria: 00:22:55

Spark number three I call, Oh death, where is thy sting?

Maria: 00:22:58

Because one of the things I think is so remarkable about Infiniti is he doesn't

Maria: 00:23:01

seem to be afraid of death, at least not the way Noah expects him to be.

Maria: 00:23:06

Noah keeps kind of throwing that out, right?

Maria: 00:23:08

You'll see it throughout the chapters when he first encounters King Noah,

Maria: 00:23:12

that's the first thing Noah wants to do.

Maria: 00:23:13

He wants to have him killed, or he wants to slay him himself, like he

Maria: 00:23:16

threatens this all the time, but Abinadi doesn't seem to be concerned.

Maria: 00:23:20

When he's testifying before the court of King Noah, knowing that the words

Maria: 00:23:23

he's saying could inflame them and cause his execution, Abinadi speaks anyway.

Maria: 00:23:28

He just doesn't care.

Maria: 00:23:30

have fear.

Maria: 00:23:31

This is in Mosiah 13 verses 6 through 9.

Maria: 00:23:34

And he spake with the power and authority of God, from God,

Maria: 00:23:37

and he continued his words.

Maria: 00:23:38

This is when the guards have tried to grab him while he's in King Noah's court

Maria: 00:23:42

and he's testifying and they can't.

Maria: 00:23:45

And this is what he says, Ye see that ye have not power to slay

Maria: 00:23:48

me, therefore I finish my message.

Maria: 00:23:50

Yea, I perceive that it cuts in To your hearts because I tell you the

Maria: 00:23:53

truth concerning your iniquities.

Maria: 00:23:55

Yay.

Maria: 00:23:55

And my words fill you with wonder and amazement and with anger.

Maria: 00:23:59

But I finished my message and then it matters not whether I go,

Maria: 00:24:02

if it's so be that I am saved.

Maria: 00:24:04

This to me is what we saw in the Old Testament with Shadrach,

Maria: 00:24:07

Meha, and Mego stepping into that fiery furnace when they say.

Maria: 00:24:12

Our God can save us.

Maria: 00:24:13

But if not, you know, and they're just, they're okay with whatever comes next.

Maria: 00:24:18

I think it's because of what they know.

Maria: 00:24:20

It's not that they have this stoicism that makes them unafraid of death, I think

Maria: 00:24:24

that's part of the natural man experience.

Maria: 00:24:26

But they also know so profoundly about the Savior and what He

Maria: 00:24:30

offers that death has no steam.

Maria: 00:24:33

Almost the same way like if you.

Maria: 00:24:35

If you pictured being around a hornet's nest and that panic that sets in, you

Maria: 00:24:38

know, we had a hornet's nest somewhere around our backyard because anytime

Maria: 00:24:42

we stepped outside last summer, these hornets would swoop in and it made me stay

Maria: 00:24:46

inside a lot of times because I couldn't figure out where they were coming from.

Maria: 00:24:49

But if someone had told me, oh Maria, those hornets actually have no sting.

Maria: 00:24:53

Like they can't actually do anything to you.

Maria: 00:24:54

They, they're just going to be a nuisance.

Maria: 00:24:56

Then I would have gone out and just kind of, you know, swatted

Maria: 00:24:58

them away or sprayed or something.

Maria: 00:25:00

But because I knew they could hurt me, I cowered and I feel like that's.

Maria: 00:25:04

What he's trying to teach us, when he says death has no sting,

Maria: 00:25:06

he's saying, yes, death is hard, but death is not the worst thing.

Maria: 00:25:10

The worst thing is dying unrepentant, or willfully rebelling

Maria: 00:25:14

against God, and then dying.

Maria: 00:25:16

That's the worst thing.

Maria: 00:25:18

Death itself, there's no sting there.

Maria: 00:25:20

We all will be resurrected.

Maria: 00:25:22

He teaches them about the first resurrection, and those who are included

Maria: 00:25:25

in the first resurrection, that it will be the prophets, and those who

Maria: 00:25:28

listen to the prophets, and those who would have accepted the gospel had

Maria: 00:25:31

they heard it in their mortal life.

Maria: 00:25:33

Little children, like he teaches them how raw that first resurrection is.

Maria: 00:25:37

But then he testifies that there will be a time when all are resurrected and all must

Maria: 00:25:41

stand before Jesus Christ to be judged.

Maria: 00:25:44

And he warns what that will feel like if you have an unrepentant heart.

Maria: 00:25:48

I think in his moment of testifying, Abinadi's not worried about himself dying.

Maria: 00:25:53

I think he's terrified for all the people around him dying because he knows

Maria: 00:25:58

what their experience will be like.

Maria: 00:25:59

He teaches us about it in the verses.

Maria: 00:26:02

So, for example, he says, this is 15 verse 16, But behold, and fear and tremble

Maria: 00:26:07

before God, for you ought to tremble.

Maria: 00:26:09

For the Lord redeemeth none such that rebel against him and die in their sins.

Maria: 00:26:13

Yet even all those who have perished in their sins, ever since

Maria: 00:26:16

the world began, that they have willfully rebelled against God.

Maria: 00:26:19

And have known the commandments of God, and would not keep them.

Maria: 00:26:22

These are they that have no part in the first resurrection.

Maria: 00:26:25

Therefore ought ye to tremble, for salvation cometh to none such, for

Maria: 00:26:29

the Lord hath redeemed none such.

Maria: 00:26:31

Yea, neither can the Lord redeem such, for he cannot deny himself, and he cannot

Maria: 00:26:35

deny justice when it has its claim.

Maria: 00:26:38

This is Mosiah 16, 5.

Maria: 00:26:41

Or two, sorry.

Maria: 00:26:41

And when they shall, when then shall the wicked be cast out, and they shall have

Maria: 00:26:45

cause to howl and weep and wail and gnash their teeth, and this because they would

Maria: 00:26:49

not hearken unto the voice of the Lord.

Maria: 00:26:51

Therefore the Lord redeemeth them not.

Maria: 00:26:54

They will be resurrected eventually, but they cannot be exalted

Maria: 00:26:58

because they chose to rebel.

Maria: 00:27:00

They had knowledge in front of them.

Maria: 00:27:02

They had a prophet of God teach, and they rejected it.

Maria: 00:27:05

They knew the commandments.

Maria: 00:27:08

That's what Abinadi's version of hell is.

Maria: 00:27:12

It's not death, that's not what he fears.

Maria: 00:27:14

It's this experience, what happens when you cross over.

Maria: 00:27:18

And so he teaches and testifies that the Savior's atonement neutralizes that sting.

Maria: 00:27:24

It neutralizes the sting of death and hell.

Maria: 00:27:26

It removes that sharp, localized pain and allows it not to travel through

Maria: 00:27:31

your body, like that sting that comes from a scorpion or from a hornet.

Maria: 00:27:35

He, he pulled all that away so that you won't experience it.

Maria: 00:27:38

What I really like is, I was listening to Jan Martin, she's a BYU scholar.

Maria: 00:27:42

And her words reminded me a lot of the Because of Him campaign from a few Easters

Maria: 00:27:46

ago where she basically mentioned that Christ doesn't just conquer mortal death,

Maria: 00:27:51

like the physical death of the body.

Maria: 00:27:53

He also conquers every other kind of death.

Maria: 00:27:56

You know, He is someone who, because of Him, sorrow dies.

Maria: 00:28:01

Because of Him, disappointment dies.

Maria: 00:28:03

Unfairness dies.

Maria: 00:28:05

Darkness and confusion die because of Him.

Maria: 00:28:08

He is what ties us to this infinite hope.

Maria: 00:28:12

So knowing that, We don't need to be afraid.

Maria: 00:28:15

I really loved, there was a talk that I listened to, I don't know if

Maria: 00:28:18

you've heard Melissa in a way, she passed away recently from cancer,

Maria: 00:28:21

but she's this beautiful scholar and philosopher, and I've been reading more

Maria: 00:28:25

of her words lately after her passing.

Maria: 00:28:27

And she said this.

Maria: 00:28:28

Death is not the worst thing.

Maria: 00:28:30

The worst thing is to live life in a way that requires no transformative struggle

Maria: 00:28:34

for ourselves and that makes no difference for the good in the lives of others.

Maria: 00:28:38

I thought that was such a great way to sum up what makes a good life.

Maria: 00:28:42

You go in this process, you struggle in order to transform yourself and

Maria: 00:28:46

Put down the natural man and become something greater through Christ.

Maria: 00:28:48

And you seek to do good in the lives of others.

Maria: 00:28:51

That's a good life.

Maria: 00:28:52

And that's why Abinadi is not afraid of death.

Maria: 00:28:54

And it's driving Noah crazy.

Maria: 00:28:56

The same way I think it made Herod crazy and Pilate crazy that when the Savior

Maria: 00:29:00

was brought before them, he didn't cower and he didn't plead for his life

Maria: 00:29:04

and he didn't beg for deliverance.

Maria: 00:29:05

He had this poise and this presence and he, he was unafraid.

Maria: 00:29:10

I just think it's remarkable to watch.

Maria: 00:29:13

You can see more in the verses and go in the notes, and you

Maria: 00:29:16

can see a little bit more.

Maria: 00:29:17

But I love that what Abinadi teaches is why there is hope.

Maria: 00:29:20

He says this in 8 and 9.

Maria: 00:29:23

But there is a resurrection.

Maria: 00:29:24

Therefore the grave hath no victory, and the sting of death

Maria: 00:29:27

is swallowed up in Christ.

Maria: 00:29:29

He is the light and life of the world.

Maria: 00:29:31

Yea, a light that is endless, that can never be darkened.

Maria: 00:29:33

Yea, and also a life which is endless, that there can be no more death.

Maria: 00:29:37

Even this mortal shall put on immortality, this corruption shall put on incorruption,

Maria: 00:29:41

and shall be brought to stand before the bar of God, to be judged of him

Maria: 00:29:45

according to their works, whether they be good or whether they be evil, and

Maria: 00:29:48

if they be good, to the resurrection of endless life and happiness.

Maria: 00:29:53

That's what Abinadi knows.

Maria: 00:29:54

That's why he can look Noah and all of his threats, he can look him straight

Maria: 00:29:58

in the eye and say, I am unafraid.

Maria: 00:30:00

In fact, I guess the more I thought about it, I think Abinadi still does

Maria: 00:30:05

fear, but what he teaches us in these verses, I think every one of us fears

Maria: 00:30:08

death to some degree, but I think his fear is swallowed up in this gift

Maria: 00:30:14

of the atonement of Jesus Christ.

Maria: 00:30:16

He knows.

Maria: 00:30:17

That's what Christ's offering will do.

Maria: 00:30:19

And he knows the life he's lived so far.

Maria: 00:30:22

And so he, although he might be, he might be nervous in this

Maria: 00:30:26

moment and uncomfortable due to the pain, he is not afraid.

Maria: 00:30:30

His pain is swallowed up in the atonement of Christ.

Maria: 00:30:34

And that's a powerful example for all of us.

Maria: 00:30:37

Time to head into our questions.

Maria: 00:30:38

Okay, question number one.

Maria: 00:30:40

This is framed around the question that the priest had for Abinadi.

Maria: 00:30:44

When he comes, one of the first things they ask him is

Maria: 00:30:46

what these scriptures mean.

Maria: 00:30:48

They recite some of Isaiah's passages about prophets, you know, being

Maria: 00:30:51

these messengers who send good news out, you know, that they have these

Maria: 00:30:54

beautiful feet on the mountains and they call out the Spirit.

Maria: 00:30:56

Beautiful message, and it seems as if they're saying basically,

Maria: 00:30:59

you don't sound like this.

Maria: 00:31:00

What, what does this passage mean to you?

Maria: 00:31:02

Because you're giving us a message of doom and gloom.

Maria: 00:31:04

And what you hear from Avenidae over the course of a few chapters,

Maria: 00:31:08

and by the end he answers them in chapter 15, is he's trying to help

Maria: 00:31:12

them understand what beautiful feet upon the mountains really look like.

Maria: 00:31:15

That beautiful feet are not people who offer kind, happy words, you know, they

Maria: 00:31:20

don't just tell you what you want to hear or condone your wicked lifestyle.

Maria: 00:31:24

They're people who teach truth, and they teach it unvarnished.

Maria: 00:31:27

And so to me, beautiful feet are like Savior's feet.

Maria: 00:31:30

They are wounded trying to teach and help others.

Maria: 00:31:34

know the truth.

Maria: 00:31:35

So then I was able to look back at people like King Benjamin and think

Maria: 00:31:38

about what kind of beautiful feet he had.

Maria: 00:31:40

You know, feet that were probably weathered in the service of his fellow men

Maria: 00:31:43

and that were shaking up on that tower, but those are beautiful feet because

Maria: 00:31:47

they were given in the service of God.

Maria: 00:31:49

Abinadizer is similar, right?

Maria: 00:31:50

He's, I imagine, a lot younger, but he's somebody who Spent these

Maria: 00:31:54

last days of his life probably without anything on his feet.

Maria: 00:31:58

They're probably dusty and dirty.

Maria: 00:31:59

In fact, eventually they're charred.

Maria: 00:32:00

Like that, those are beautiful feet.

Maria: 00:32:03

And they cry out from the tops of the mountains because they teach truth.

Maria: 00:32:08

So my question for you related to these verses is, when have you

Maria: 00:32:11

seen beautiful feet upon mountains?

Maria: 00:32:13

Like theirs, like Benjamin's, like Abinadi's, like the Savior's,

Maria: 00:32:17

when have you seen a person who has beautiful feet and what

Maria: 00:32:22

message of peace did they publish?

Maria: 00:32:24

I hope you'll think about it, stew on it, and if you have a chance, share

Maria: 00:32:28

some thoughts with me in the comments.

Maria: 00:32:30

Question number two comes from Mosiah 15, this is verse 23.

Maria: 00:32:33

This is when Abinadi is teaching about who's going to come forth

Maria: 00:32:36

in the first resurrection.

Maria: 00:32:37

And we went through this in the insights, but he has all these people who, you know,

Maria: 00:32:40

will get, be greeted by the Savior and they'll come and they'll rise with him.

Maria: 00:32:45

And I think there's this interesting word choice.

Maria: 00:32:47

He basically says that they are raised to dwell with God.

Maria: 00:32:51

And that visual was, caught my eye.

Maria: 00:32:53

I don't know why it caught me this time, but I think we often think about coming

Maria: 00:32:57

into God's presence as just a stepping forward, almost like we're on this

Maria: 00:33:01

Same plane and we just stepped forward.

Maria: 00:33:03

I really like the idea of being raised to see God I don't think

Maria: 00:33:07

this is just about being raised from death like our bodies rising again.

Maria: 00:33:11

I think there's something I haven't figured it all out yet, but in my

Maria: 00:33:16

mind, I think there's something there.

Maria: 00:33:17

So my question to you is this, how does it change your perspective, your perspective

Maria: 00:33:21

to think about being raised in this way?

Maria: 00:33:24

And how does it relate to ever overcoming the fall?

Maria: 00:33:27

I think there's more there.

Maria: 00:33:29

I just haven't sorted it all out just yet.

Maria: 00:33:31

Okay.

Maria: 00:33:31

This is question number three.

Maria: 00:33:32

Mosiah 17, 13 through 19.

Maria: 00:33:35

I think Abinadi is a very obvious type of Christ, right?

Maria: 00:33:39

He is despised and rejected among his own countrymen, he is cast out, he's

Maria: 00:33:44

in bonds, he's executed unfairly, all these ways he is a type of Christ.

Maria: 00:33:50

So by the time we got to the end of his story, I kind of expected one

Maria: 00:33:54

of those phrases like the Savior offers of, Father forgive them

Maria: 00:33:57

for they know not what they do.

Maria: 00:33:58

You know when the Savior says that so powerfully from the cross.

Maria: 00:34:02

I sort of anticipated that Abinadi being this really bright,

Maria: 00:34:06

vibrant type of Christ, that there would be something like it.

Maria: 00:34:09

And there isn't really.

Maria: 00:34:10

In fact, it's, it's really different.

Maria: 00:34:12

When Abinadi is being executed, he calls out prophecy, and he calls out truth.

Maria: 00:34:18

warnings, almost what I would call it cursing, like he's, it's a prophecy.

Maria: 00:34:22

I don't think he is cursing them.

Maria: 00:34:24

What he is prophesying is the hard that will come to them.

Maria: 00:34:27

And it's fascinating to me.

Maria: 00:34:28

So in 19, he says this, well, he first, he talks about the diseases

Maria: 00:34:32

that they're going to suffer, that they're going to be scattered

Maria: 00:34:34

and smitten and even hunted down.

Maria: 00:34:36

And then in 19, he says, thus, God executed the vengeance upon

Maria: 00:34:40

those that destroy his people.

Maria: 00:34:42

Oh God, receive my soul.

Maria: 00:34:44

So before Abinadi.

Maria: 00:34:45

chooses to die in this moment or experiences death, he almost curses,

Maria: 00:34:51

you know, it's just very different.

Maria: 00:34:53

Here's my question.

Maria: 00:34:54

Why does a loving God ever execute vengeance?

Maria: 00:34:57

Why is this a fitting warning for this particular group and how are they

Maria: 00:35:01

different than the Roman soldiers?

Maria: 00:35:03

Remember, this is a different circumstance, and I think the

Maria: 00:35:05

circumstance matters a lot.

Maria: 00:35:07

So I'm hoping you can set those two thoughts side by side and

Maria: 00:35:10

see what the Spirit teaches you.

Maria: 00:35:12

If you want some hints, at least where I'm going next, where I found some

Maria: 00:35:15

good conceptual understanding, there's a BYU speech from 2012, and it's from

Maria: 00:35:21

Elder Rasband, not the Apostle Elder Rasband, but another, and it's called

Maria: 00:35:24

The Faiths to Forgive Grievous Harms.

Maria: 00:35:26

I think it's James Rasband.

Maria: 00:35:28

And he teaches a little bit about how the Atonement offers forgiveness.

Maria: 00:35:32

Recompense.

Maria: 00:35:33

Like it helps in other ways than we tend to articulate it and I think

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it will help us understand how God can choose to cause vengeance.

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Anyway, I'm curious about your thoughts.

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We're going to head into the object lessons here in just a

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second, but I wanted to leave you with one last little thought.

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We often get to the end of Abinadi's story and we wonder if he knew.

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Right?

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Did he know that Elmo was going to take his words and write them all down and

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share them with hundreds of others?

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And did he know that he made an impact?

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And I think those are fun thoughts to have.

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I just, the more I studied the Benedict, the more I think, I

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don't think he cared about that.

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Not that he doesn't care that the work goes on, but all he cares about, I think

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in these moments is that, is God pleased?

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Did he do the work he was sent to do?

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And I think because he knows that, He doesn't worry about the rest.

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He doesn't have to worry about Getting feedback from others this horizontal

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feedback that tells him that he did a good job or that his time was well spent

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or that His sacrifice was worth it.

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He's not worried about pleasing men even men like Alma He's just worried

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about pleasing God and I think because he knows he delivered the message he

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was sent to deliver he can be at peace.

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In fact, I was prepping for my YSA lesson this week and came across this

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verse about the Lord speaking to Joseph Smith and I felt like it could have

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easily been said to Abinadi with that same tone of love and compassion.

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It's this, D& C 122 verse 9, Therefore hold on thy way, and the priesthood

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shall remain with thee, for their bounds are set they cannot pass.

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Thy days are known, and thy years shall not be numbered less.

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Therefore, fear not what man can do, for God shall be with you forever and ever.

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That's the message God gives to his prophets.

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They don't need to worry about what happens next, or if their words

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are going to be cherished or not.

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They simply have to worry if God is pleased with their efforts.

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And if, if they can feel that, then I think they can be at peace.

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President Kimball has this beautiful talk about martyrs, and I have the full link

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in the notes if you want to go find it.

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Here's just a little snippet of what he had to say.

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In the final hours of the life of a martyr comes a calm serenity

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that baffles all human explanation.

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But martyrs do not die.

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They live on and on.

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Amen.

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When the Savior said it is finished, he referred to his mortal experience,

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for his crucifixion marked but a milepost in his ever expanding power.

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Hundreds of millions had been influenced for good by his

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perfect life and martyr's death.

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He had said himself, And whoso layeth down his life in my cause for my

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name's sake shall find it again.

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His work continues to spread to this day.

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The blood of martyrs is the seed of the church.

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This is a milepost in Avinidi's progression, not the end.

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And his work carries on.

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In fact, as you and I study it and revere it and teach it to our kids, that

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light that he carried, it, it continues.

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So I think it's our job to hold it and cherish it and push it forward.