Follow Him: A Come, Follow Me Podcast - 3 Nephi 12-16 Part 2 • Dr. Brad Wilcox • September 30 - October 6 • Come Follow Me

Episode Date: September 25, 2024

Dr. Brad Wilcox continues to illuminate the powerful teachings of Jesus during his visit to the Americas including the power of prayer, covenants, and the process of accessing God’s power. SHOW NOTES/TRANSCRIPTSEnglish: https://tinyurl.com/podcastBM40ENFrench: https://tinyurl.com/podcastBM40FRGerman: https://tinyurl.com/podcastBM40DEPortuguese: https://tinyurl.com/podcastBM40PTSpanish: https://tinyurl.com/podcastBM40ESYOUTUBEhttps://youtu.be/msrnYMLmxPQALL EPISODES/SHOW NOTESfollowHIM website: https://www.followHIMpodcast.comFREE PDF DOWNLOADS OF followHIM QUOTE BOOKSNew Testament: https://tinyurl.com/PodcastNTBookOld Testament: https://tinyurl.com/PodcastOTBookWEEKLY NEWSLETTERhttps://tinyurl.com/followHIMnewsletterSOCIAL MEDIAInstagram: https://www.instagram.com/followHIMpodcastFacebook: https://www.facebook.com/followhimpodcastTIMECODE00:00 Part II - Dr. Brad Wilcox01:22 Three levels or attitudes03:02 3 Nephi 12:31-32 - Divorce and adultery05:11 3 Nephi 12:48 - Perfection, completion, finished10:17 Using Jesus’s Atonement to be cleansed and changed12:39 3 Nephi 13 - Ezra Taft Benson’s talk on pride16:58 Prayer: connection and power22:23 Vain repetitions and the “net” of prayer25:32 3 Nephi 14:21-23 - “I know a guy”31:44 Contract thinking vs. relationship thinking33:04 3 Nephi 14:1-6 Judge not35:27 3 Nephi 14-15 - Righteous judgment and other sheep39:13 Jesus reveals himself and reminds them of their heritage41:25 3 Nephi 16 - Remember who you are.46:33 The Rome Temple is a “hinge point”48:10 How does the Book of Mormon stand against other books?53:37 Becoming like Christ is a process57:17 End of Part II – Dr. Brad WilcoxThanks to the followHIM team:Steve & Shannon Sorensen: Cofounder, Executive Producer, SponsorDavid & Verla Sorensen: SponsorsDr. Hank Smith: Co-hostJohn Bytheway: Co-hostDavid Perry: ProducerKyle Nelson: Marketing, SponsorLisa Spice: Client Relations, Editor, Show NotesJamie Neilson: Social Media, Graphic DesignWill Stoughton: Video EditorKrystal Roberts: Translation Team, English & French Transcripts, WebsiteAriel Cuadra: Spanish Transcripts"Let Zion in Her Beauty Rise" by Marshall McDonaldhttps://www.marshallmcdonaldmusic.com

Welcome to part two with Dr. Brad Wilcox, third Nephi chapters 12 through 16. Brad, you've heard me talk about the three attitudes. It rhymes with the attitudes, but it's the three attitudes, not nearly as profound. But Hank, I love what you said. It reveals where you're at. If your attitude is, how bad can I be? If you're in search of minimums, how far can I go? Where's the line exactly so that I don't cross it but I want to get as close as possible to it?

That is, blessed are they that hunger and thirst after minimums. No, that's not the attitude. And then maybe it's, well, how good do I have to be with this resignation? Well, no, that's not it either. It's, blessed are they that hunger and thirst after righteousness. This is King Lemoni's father in one of my favorite prayers. In the whole Book of Mormon, he's not even baptized yet. King Lemoni's father says, Oh God, Aaron hath told me there is a God, and if there is a God and if thou art God,

wilt thou make thyself known unto me? And then this is just poetry, and I will give away all my sins to know thee." He didn't say, well, how bad can I be and still know thee? What's the minimum? He didn't say, well, how good do I have to be? He said, I'll give them all away. That is hungering and thirsting after righteousness. Now, if some of you listening are thinking, boy John that was good, turn to the September 2024 issue of the For the Strength of Youth magazine and John has written an article. You can then turn to your youth and your

teenagers and you can help them evaluate themselves on those three levels the way that John just described. After the Beatitudes, if I'm getting the message here Brad from 3512, it's what is happening internally to you because don't kill, that's a pretty easy commandment for me to keep, but don't get angry, that stretches me. That's tough. Yeah. Praying for your enemies. The law says that you can love your neighbor and hate your enemy. But I want you to love your enemies. That's about what's happening internally to me. If he strikes you on the right cheek, turn to him the other. This is hard stuff. Yeah. So could I say it this way that everything

we've been talking about today, from the new strength of youth pamphlet to the Sermon on the Mount here, it should stretch me more, not less. That's a wonderful way of saying it. Yeah. The Sermon on the Mount is something that, if you're thinking to yourself, I'm doing pretty great.

I feel like I'm hitting pretty much my ceiling when it comes to righteousness. There's plenty to find. There's plenty of things to look at. That's what you told us it is, Brad. It's a way to become like Christ. And you realize when you read this, you have a ways to go and that's okay. It is. Look at divorce. Look at 31 and 32 of 3rd Nephi 12. He says, it hath been written that whosoever shall put away his wife, let him give her a writing of divorcement. Then bottom of 32, whoso shall marry her who is divorced, committeth adultery. Now, that's a scripture that can hurt a lot of people. That's a scripture that's painful to read for a lot of people who have dealt

with divorce, who have experienced divorce, who have experienced the repercussions of divorce. That's really hurtful until we read what he's really saying. In this case, divorce means separated. So he's saying, if you're going to separate from your wife, give her a writing of divorcement, make it legal. He's not saying there's never a reason that you should get divorced or he's not saying that divorce is wrong under any circumstance. There are reasons that divorce has to happen, but he's saying do it legally. He's saying if you don't do it legally, you're committing adultery because you haven't legally been separated from each other.

This was a huge problem in Chile where divorce wasn't even legal until 2004. People couldn't even get a divorce and now in that country you can get a divorce but it's so expensive that a lot of people still don't do it. My missionary spent more time getting people married so that they could get baptized than they did getting people baptized. He's saying if you're going to do that, do it legally so that it's not going to keep you from entering and renewing this covenant relationship with me. See, you could look at that and say, what does divorce have to do with anything? This sermon is so disjointed. Or you can look at the whole and realize that he's saying, don't let this get in the way of your living the

first principles and ordinances of the gospel, because that's how you can become like me. Look at 48, another one that causes a lot of grief to a lot of people, therefore I would that ye should be perfect even as I or your Father who is in heaven is perfect. Now, people will always follow this and say, yes, but in the Greek, teleios, it means complete, finished, or fully formed. Like that's supposed to comfort me? Oh, you don't have to be perfect, just be complete, fully developed, fully formed. Come on, it's the same thing. So where do I find the comfort?

I find it in that prefix. Tele, as in telephone, as in television, as in telescope, vision at a distance, communication at a distance. If I can see that he's saying, be ye therefore perfect at a distance, then all of a sudden I don't have to freak out. Suddenly I can say Christ himself is not calling himself perfect

until he is resurrected. Because in the Bible it says, be therefore perfect as my father. Here he's saying even as I or your Father, but now he's resurrected. Well, if we have until the resurrection, then we can calm down and we can take a deep breath and we can realize that this is perfection at a distance or as Elder Holland put it, be ye therefore perfect, eventually, eventually. It's only through his grace, through his help that we can be perfect.

It's not something we can do on our own. That's why he wants us to enter a covenant relationship with him so that we have access to his grace, so that we have access to his power, that he can't give us until we choose to enter that relationship and choose to receive it by taking the sacrament. And that's what we need to remember here. Brad, I recently had a great young man, his name's Talmadge Wright. He said, Hank, how do you know if you're doing enough?

What do you mean, Talmage? And he said, well, I want to know that I'm doing enough to go to heaven. I told him to read two talks, both given by my friend Brad. His grace is sufficient. We talked about that earlier. And then your general conference talk, worthiness is not flawlessness. Let's imagine Talmage is in front of you, Brad. He says, how do I know if I'm doing enough to go to heaven? What would you tell him?

I would say, Talmage, are you being honest? Are you trying? Then his grace is sufficient and he will empower you to keep staying in your covenant relationship. God can deal with weakness very differently than he deals with rebellion. And Talmage, as long as you're not being rebellious, as long as you're not throwing your papers up in the air and saying I'm out of here. I quit. This is ridiculous It's too hard to even try as long as you're not doing that then trust be confident in God's care and Trust that within that covenant relationship that you were renewing Every time you partake of the sacrament, you are learning how to

overcome. But that's going to take some time. Like we said, tele, telephone, it takes some time, it takes some distance. It's not going to be something that happens Harry Potter style. Poof, you are perfect. It doesn't happen like that. It's going to be, as President Nelson says, a process. The fact that you're asking the question is evidence that you are hungering and thirsting after righteousness. Am I doing enough? What kind of question is that? It says that you care, that you're trying. Most people who aren't trying, they're gonna say, I'm doing way too much. The church expects too much of me. See, that's the prideful, unrepentant attitude. And as long as

you're not there, then you're on the right track. I love what you did, Brad, with the tele thing, the eventually thing, because look at every one of the Beatitudes. They sound like, I'm not an English major, but I think it says, blessed are the present tense for they shall be. That is a future possibility. That is a future becoming. Blessed are you right now because hang on, you shall be, you eventually can become this. All of them give me hope for that because you're in a bad state right now, but hang on, because you Shelby, here's a future possibility and a future promise. That gives me hope, but that's what I'd say to Talmadge. Brad, you said this, you said, the older I get, and this was back in

2011, now you're getting even older. There's the persecution. Oh man, the teasing. The older I get, you said, the more I understand this wonderful plan of redemption, the more I realize that in the final judgment, it will not be the unrepentant sinner begging Jesus, let me stay. No, he will probably, the unrepentant sinner, will be saying, get me out of here. Knowing Christ's character, I believe that if anyone is going to do the begging on that occasion it would probably be Jesus begging the unrepentant sinner, please choose to stay. Please use my atonement, not just to be cleansed but to be changed so that you want to stay.

That's a paradigm shift. A lot of people to say, wait, what? He's going to be begging me to come into the celestial kingdom, not me begging him to let me in? You know, in Mosiah 3 19, we read the scripture that says, the natural man is an enemy to God and has been from the fall of Adam and will be forever and ever unless he yields to the enticings of the Holy Spirit and putteth off the natural man and becomeeth the saint. And that's what Jesus can do with us. When I read that scripture, I always think the natural man is the prideful, unrepentant,

makes himself an enemy to God by being proud and being unrepentant makes himself an enemy to God by being proud and being unrepentant. But God is not his enemy. God is his very best friend because it's God that can help him change. And how? How do you change? That's what we've been talking about throughout this entire podcast. The principles of the gospel, the faith, repentance, baptism, the gift of the Holy Ghost enduring to the end. This is how He's teaching us how to come to Him and be changed. I love that.

Therefore, I would that you should be perfect even as I or your father who is in heaven is perfect. It's almost if I added that one word that you I hope that you want to be perfect Even as I or your father who is in heaven is per hungering and thirsting after it. This is what you desire. Yeah Thank you, Hank as we get into 13, he jumps into a completely different topic. But let's think for just a minute. If you were going to remember President Benson for something he taught during his presidency, what would it be? His landmark talk on pride.

The overcoming pride, the Book of Mormon, if you were going to remember President Monson for one thing, what would it be? Service. Helping the widows and the orphans. Yeah. Yes, going to the rescue. He's the one that added caring for the poor and needy to one of the purposes of the church. to one of the purposes of the church. That's what we remember. If we were to remember Christ for his most prevalent teaching, what would it be? Hmm. Look at the introduction to 13 and you'll find a clue.

Jesus teaches the Nephites what? The Lord's Prayer. Mark Barrio Nuevo did some research looking at what was the most prevalent teaching of Jesus Christ in the entire standard works and its prayer. And why? Why would that be so important? Because prayer is how we keep that connection with God. I went to a wedding reception the other night, and it was the wedding reception of a beautiful young lady who just married a wonderful returned missionary, and they were sealed in the temple. But get a load of this story. This was a story that was in the December 3rd, 2023 church news. It's talking about this young woman named Kaylee

who'd been struggling with some emotional challenges because she had had an accident as a cheerleader. It left her with kind of a concussion. And so she was having to be tutored at home and she was missing her friends and she kind of got depressed and finally a friend said, why don't you have the missionaries come talk to you about Jesus Christ? She did. She loved their messages. She felt that God himself was reaching out to her and telling her everything she needed to know. She felt the spirit in a way that she had never before felt it.

Kaylee tells her mother, Michelle, I have never before felt like God loved me. At this moment, right now, I know he loves me. I know it. And then she tells her mom that she wants to be baptized. And that's when her mom tells her, we used to be members of that church. We left the church when you were a little girl. Her parents thought they were doing their daughter a favor. Oh, now she's going to be able to grow up without all these extra meetings

and without all these extra rules and regulations and she'll grow up so much happier. And here this girl is in the depths of depression learning that it's a connection with God that can make her happy. And she says to her parents, you kept me from a connection with God. Her parents realized the mistake they had made. She, Michelle, and her husband Brock went to the bishop. They said we want to come back. Now isn't it interesting that some of the questions and social issues that took them out of the church 10 years earlier hadn't really changed.

The church hadn't changed its position on this or on that, but now they reached out because they realized what they were missing. In the article, listen to what Brock Randall says. He says, I came back because I wanted to be close to God again. Feeling close to God and reconnecting with Him, especially through prayer, restores people's faith. No wonder He is telling us to pray, because He needs us to feel that connection with God. And that prayer is what happens. In the research, and the article talks about some research that's been done at BYU about those who have left the church and then returned to the church, it says 80% of those in the study said they still had not resolved some of the questions and concerns that took them away from the faith, but their personal connection with

God trumped their disbelief. Wow! No wonder Jesus taught prayer more than anything else. He taught prayer because he wanted us to have that connection. I remember a time when I was speaking at an event in Florida and my daughter, my youngest daughter Whitney was having a baby. I was sad that I had to be away at this time that was so exciting for the family. So I made my wife promise that she would keep me updated on

what was going on. And she was sending me texts and I leaned over to Emily Freeman, who was with me and to Sister Sherry Dew, who was speaking at the same event. And I said, I'm going to be a grandpa again. This is so exciting. They said, well, keep us informed on how things are going. Well, we got to a point at which the texts stopped coming. And I texted my wife and I said, what's going on? What's wrong? She didn't respond. And then I got really nervous. And I said, Debbie, tell me what's happening. Finally, she texted me and she said, Brad, the baby was born and the baby's gray. The baby wasn't breathing. She said, they just rushed the baby off to the NICU. My son-in-law Landon ran off with them because he wants to give the baby a blessing. She said, they didn't

even let Whitney see the baby. We have no idea what's happening. My first thought was, I've got to pray, and I've got to pray with all these sisters. I ran up on the stage and Sherry Dew was speaking and she said, Oh, Brad has an announcement. His daughter's having a baby. Let's see what the announcement is. And I grabbed the microphone and I said the baby was born, but it's not doing well. The baby was posturing.

That means jerking and it usually is a sign of brain damage. I said to these sisters, four thousand of them, I said, sisters, I need you to pray, pray for me, pray for my baby, pray for my baby's baby. And Sherry said, Brad, we were born for this. This is what the sisters of the church do. We pray. We pray for each other. We pray. This is what we do. And I often think, why was that so important to me? That I would know that others were praying with me? Why? Because he who gets the most prayers wins. If I pray alone in my closet, then God's not gonna listen. But if 4,000 women in Florida are praying, then he's gonna listen. If we put names on a prayer roll, then God will listen because more

people are praying. No! I don't think it has anything to do with that. There's something special that happens as we are humble enough to ask others to pray with us and there's something special that happens as we are selfless enough to pray for others, even names on a prayer roll. People we don't even know, but we pray in earnest desire for their earnest desires. I don't think that prayers are what earn us blessings. I fully believe that God knows exactly what we need before we even ask. There's something that connects us to God and connects us to Heaven as we pray.

And it's in that relationship. That's where we start understanding why we pray. It's not to get what we want. It's to build a relationship that's so personal and so strong that we can trust God even when we don't get what we want. Now I'm happy to report that that little baby that was struggling so much hit every developmental milestone. She is now a very precocious and darling little first grader. She's doing great. But I also want to report that even if she hadn't been blessed in that way. It's the prayers that allow me to know God so that I can trust him

whether or not his will is to bless the baby or to take the baby. That's what we have to remember when we're thinking about prayer. And that's the attitude the Lord takes to prayer, isn't it? In this chapter, shut thy door, pray to thy father who is in secret. Don't use vain repetition, but really, really pray. And vain repetitions aren't prayers that are repeated because then the sacrament could be called a vain repetition. It's a matter of, do you sincerely mean the words you're saying, even when you pray for the same things over and over? Brad, your story of your daughter was so touching. I wanted to read you something I saved years ago.

This was a friend on Twitter. His name is Scott Adams. He said, Today is our state conference. We walked in late because of broadcast problems, so I didn't catch the name of the speaker. She told the story of losing her daughter. She experienced immense grief and anger at God who would allow this. She said she was given a dream about five days after her daughter's passing. She was hanging white-knuckle over the edge of a cliff with a black void below. She was terrified of falling, but her hands were cut and fatigued and she was afraid of

losing her grip. In her dreams, she got the impression to let go. This seemed impossible to her because the void below was so dark. She was terrified, but again and again she was impressed to let go. And finally she trusted that feeling and released. As she was falling, she saw a net of light below her. She could tell it was going to give her a soft, safe landing. When she hit the net, she felt wrapped in love and warmth. Then she examined

the net, and what she saw surprised her. She noticed that there were people at the ends of the net, and that the weave of it was made from light that streamed from them. This is the part that caught my attention. She was told in the dream that the strands of the net were made up of the prayers they had offered on her behalf. She saw people close to her who loved her and they had the brightest and the biggest strands. But she also noticed there were hundreds of people she didn't recognize. She was told that the people she didn't recognize were all the people who had heard what had happened and offered prayers from afar. She closed with the message that no prayer is ever wasted. I just liked the story. I thought the two go really well together, that we think, oh, it's just a prayer, right? It's not doing much. But what if it is? What if it is doing

more than you think? And look at her story ended very differently than my story. In my story, my granddaughter has been very blessed. Her daughter died, but it doesn't change the fact that the prayers made a difference. And that difference was in our trusting relationship and being able to be close to God so that He could help us through whatever the outcome was going to be. And that's why we pray. It's because that's how we come to know God.

Look right here. He says in 14, 21, 22, and 23, not everyone that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven, but he that doeth the will of my Father who is in heaven, many shall say unto me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in thy name, and in thy name have cast out devils, and in thy name have done many wonderful works, and then will I profess unto them, I never knew you. Joseph Smith translation of the Bible, you never knew me. When Bob Millett was asked, if I get to the gates of heaven, what am I supposed to say? When somebody asks, do you deserve to be here? Bob Millett said, well, don't say I deserve to be here because I was the

Deacon's Quorum president or I was the assistant to the president on my mission or I served as a bishop or I served as a Relief Society president or I served as a, uh-uh. He says, that's not the right answer. He says, if somebody greets you at the pearly gates and says, why do you deserve to be here? Brother Millett said, the answer is, I don't. But I know a guy. See, it really is all about who you know. It's all about knowing Jesus. And it's on his merits, on his mercy, on his grace, that we will be able to enter. When we're praying and somebody says, you're not going to get what you pray for. So why are you praying for it? Or what if you don't get what you pray for? Then you say, it's not about getting what I'm praying for. It's about knowing a guy.

It's about knowing God. It's about knowing Jesus in whose name I pray. It's about building this strong relationship with them because it's through that relationship that we will one day not only be able to enter heaven, but we will be able to become heavenly. but we will be able to become heavenly. You have used a phrase several times today, but I want you to elaborate some more on it. We had a wonderful lesson I heard through the grapevine at our ward from someone who heard you at Education Week. You have talked about a covenant relationship. She, repeating you, said that there's a difference between a covenant contract and a relationship. Can you elaborate on that?

Because you've used that, and I think it's a perfect place to talk about it. It was Truman and Ann Madsen who said covenant is not a cold contract, but a warm relationship. And what I shared at Education Week is that when there's a married couple, then they have a public covenant relationship with each other. And that changes, it changes the expectations, it changes what they can expect of each other, it changes what they can receive from each other.

I would hope that both parties are entering a marriage because they choose it. And as we choose to enter a covenant relationship with God and Christ, then it's like entering a marriage. In fact, Christ said, I am the bridegroom, the church is the bride. When we're in that relationship, then he can expect something more of us than he does of anybody else. And we can expect something more of him than we do of anybody else because of that relationship. Think about a marriage. Does the woman have more access to her husband's time? Does she have more access to her husband's attention? Does she have more access to her husband's money than some girl

who had a crush on him in high school? Yes. When you have a marriage relationship, then somehow it's deeper and more profound than a crush or people living together. In that relationship, we see a depth of love and a depth of trust that we don't always see in those earlier relationships. That's why we can receive more because we have chosen to enter this relationship that gives us more than somebody who has a crush on God, interested, fascinated with God and angels for two whole weeks, or somebody who wants to live with God. All the benefits, none of the responsibilities, don't give me any commandments, don't give me anything I have to do, don't tell me I need to change. When we're in this relationship, then we are in a position that's very different when it comes to God and Jesus. And that does change everything.

Brad, I love the word relationship. Instead, I keep thinking of a contract, words and a signature. Yeah, I got baptized, so I made this covenant. No, this is the beginning of a relationship. This is a connection. I want to use the word connection because Sister Spanaus in the last general conference gave a talk called Faithful to the End. She said the For the Strength of Youth guide explains covenants connect you to Heavenly Father and the Savior. They increase God's power in your life. There's that you have access to God's power. And then she quoted President Uchtdorf.

I love this. A house doesn't survive in a storm because the house is strong. It also doesn't survive because the rock is strong. Okay, that's the three little pigs story. The house is strong. The house survives the storm because it is firmly attached to the strong rock. It's the strength of the connection to the rock that matters. It's the strength of the connection to the rock that matters. We've taught covenants as two-way promises for many years, and that's true. It's absolutely true. But it's more than a promise, because if it's the contract, then you hear people say, well,

I'm not getting baptized because I don't want to sign that dotted line, because then I'm going to be expected to live these commandments. I'm not going to the temple, because then I'm going to be worse off if I break these covenants than if I didn't make them in the first place. See that's contract thinking. We got to switch that to relationship thinking. Who is better off without a stronger relationship with God and Jesus. And it's baptism, it's the temple covenants that allow us to have that stronger relationship.

It's not that God doesn't want to give all of his children all of his power. It's that he can't until they use their agency to welcome it. And that's what we're doing. When we enter into that relationship, that covenant, we're welcoming His power because He's not going to force it on us. He's not going to force blessings on us.

He's not going to force happiness on us. We have to choose it. Now let's go back to 14 and let's read the first verses there in that chapter. It says, Jesus turned to the multitude, opened his mouth and said, Verily, verily, I say unto you, Judge not that ye be not judged. Boy, if there was a war cry for this generation, that is the war cry. Judge not. I've had people who are self-professed atheists tell me, judge not that ye be not judged. They literally quote the King James language of the Bible. King James, judge not that ye be not judged. And they quote it to me and they are self-proclaimed atheists and they don't understand something

that President Oaks has taught to us. He says, I have been puzzled that some scriptures command us not to judge and others instruct us that we should judge and even tell us how to do it. The key is to understand that there are two kinds of judging. Final judgments like go to hell, damn you. See those are final judgments that we, he says, are forbidden to make. And intermediate judgments which we are directed to make but based on righteous principles. People who love to quote, judge not that you be not judged, need to continue reading the rest of this chapter. He tells us that we should judge and some of the principles that we should judge on. Verse 3, why beholdest thou the

mote that is in thy brother's eye and considereth not the beam that's in your own? Why are you going to notice the sliver in your brother's eye and not see the lumber construction beam in your own eye? What's the principle for judging? He says, let's remember the principle is that we need to worry more about ourselves than other people. Look at 6, give not that which is holy unto the dogs, neither cast ye pearls before swine. We're being told to judge. You better figure out who a dog is and you better figure out who a swine is. What's the principle? Well, we don't know the end of the story and we don't know when that swine or when that dog might turn around and

when the pearls that we are keeping from them will finally be appreciated. Look at 15. Beware of false prophets who come to you in sheep's clothing. Man, we are told to judge. You better know a false prophet from a true one. And how are we told to judge the principle? By their fruits ye shall know them. Yes, we are to make intermediate judgments, but based on righteous principles. That's what we've got to remember here. As we go into chapter 15, he says, you are a remnant of the house of Israel, verse 12, and not at any time hath the Father given me commandment that I should tell it unto

your brethren in Jerusalem." 16. This much did the Father command me that I should tell unto them that other sheep I have which are not of this fold. Then he goes on in 20 and says, there are other tribes of Israel that I have also been commanded to visit. He says, they are sheep that will hear my voice and there will be one fold in one shepherd. Now some people read this and they say, why on earth did the Latter-day Saints believe that Christ visited America and that he visited other parts of the world as well? Anybody who's read the Bible America, and that he visited other parts of the world as well. Anybody who's read the Bible has to face the fact that the question isn't, why could the

Latter-day Saints believe this? How crazy that they could believe this? The question is, why doesn't everybody believe this? Jesus told his apostles, go ye into all the world. When did Jesus ever give a commandment that he didn't keep? He said, love those who persecute you. Did he do it? Yes.

He said, get baptized. Did he do it? Yes. And now he's giving a commandment. Why doesn't every Christian believe that Christ would go into all the world. We happen to be the ones who have tangible proof of that and that proof is found in the Book of Mormon. Why doesn't everyone believe it? Yeah, I was gonna say one of the things I love about the title page of the Book of Mormon is that purpose that Jesus is the Christ, the eternal God manifesting himself unto all

nations. One of the things that it doesn't really say is when he went to visit other tribes, were they in one place or many places? It doesn't say, but it sounds like they could be in many places. We could have so many books of scripture to study after all this comes out. You'll never get through school, you'll never get through school. You'll never get through institute. Yeah, I can't wait till I'm teaching those classes, John. In England, I visited the London England mission when President Dave Chekets was the president there and I got to speak to the mission. They sang the mission song. And it's an Anglican

hymn that talks about Jesus coming to the shores of England and walking in England. And they sing it as their mission song, and I loved it. I saw an article on meridianmagazine.com, some guy went to Russia and he saw this painting, it was on an album cover, and it showed Jesus in Russia. And this man asked him, now, what's going on here? And well, there's this legend that Jesus came here after his resurrection. They asked this Russian Orthodox preacher, so are you saying that Jesus could have gone other places after he was resurrected?

The Russian Orthodox priest said, you're talking about the Book of Mormon. I thought so. Brad, as you've walked us through these chapters so far, I'm seeing what you told us earlier, which is watch for the Savior revealing himself. What did you call it? An autobiography. We sing that song, I'm trying to be like Jesus. What'd you call it? An autobiography. We sing that song, I'm trying to be like Jesus. And do we really mean it? Because sometimes I think we say, I'm trying to be like Jesus. I'm trying to be nice.

There's a lot more to becoming like Jesus than being nice, although that is a good start. Yeah, it's a good start. Why do you say to someone who maybe is a little overwhelmed like me, as I'm reading 12, 13, 14, all of this internal change that has to happen, and then from those same chapters, I have to turn outward and here you are in 15 saying the Savior is going to other people. I need to be going to other people keeping that commandment as you said. How do I not get overwhelmed with all the expectations? Does it go back to what you said earlier? Calm down, take it a step at a time.

It goes right to what Jesus says in chapter 15. He says, remember who you are. It is a lot to ask of anyone. You're not just anyone. You are a child of God. Yes, you are. It is a lot to ask of anyone. You're not just anyone. You are a child of God. Yes, you are a disciple of Christ. Yes, you were saved for the last days. But look at what Jesus tells them. You are a remnant of the house of Israel.

You are of the house of Israel. And He's saying, remember who you are, because you have claim on the same blessings and the same power that Abraham, Isaac and Jacob had claim on, because you have entered the exact same covenant, the everlasting covenant that they entered. He's saying, yeah, this could be overwhelming, but remember who you are. You're not just anyone. You were born of those who were reserved to be able to come forth at this time

and prepare the world for Christ's second coming. In fact, as we go into chapter 16, that's exactly what he's teaching. It says Jesus will visit other lost sheep and then it says in the latter days the gospel will go to the Gentiles and he will bring again Zion. Gentile is a tricky word because it means outsider. It can be used by many different people to distinguish between themselves and an outsider. But let's think of circles. Remember who you are. We're in a very inner circle. We're church members with covenants that we've made. We're church members with covenants that we've made, and we know that we are of the House of Israel by revelation given to patriarchs. And why is that so important? So that we can say we're better than everybody else? No. It's so that we can help other people be better. Then we go to that next circle and these are Israelites, those who have been born

of the blood of Israel, but they are in Gentile nations. They are Israelites, but they are in Gentile nations and they need to have a covenant. They were born to be gathered so that they could have a covenant. Then we go to another circle and that includes Jews. Jews know they are of Israel. Jews know they are of the covenant. They still need to enter a covenant with Jesus Christ. We are going to Israelites who are in Gentile nations, and then we are going to Jews. Now, somebody listening to this broadcast is going to laugh

and say, are you calling Jews Gentiles? Because wait, Jews are the ones that call us Gentiles. They are not Gentiles. They're of Israel. They still have yet to enter a covenant. And that's what we must help them do one day. And then finally, all of that is for another large circle. And that includes all of God's children. God's so exclusive, your church is so exclusive. No, no, He trusts us to take the gospel to Israelites who are in Gentile nations, and to Gentiles and Jews who do not yet have a covenant with Jesus Christ. He's asking us to bring them into the circle. Then they can help us bring all of God's children. And this is the work that will commence in the Millennium. And Jesus starts here to talk about the Millennium,

a capital called Zion that will rule the world temporally, a capital called Jerusalem that will govern the world spiritually. And it's in the millennium that ultimately we will invite all of God's children to have the chance to enter into the covenant, to be able to return to Him. Yeah, what would I say who return to Him. Yeah, what would I say to somebody who's overwhelmed? Hang in there. We're playing prelude music. Right now it's prelude music, but one day Jesus is going to come and then, as we're told in the Doctrine and Covenants, the work will commence. And when Jesus is here, we're going to see these circles grow and expand to include every child of God who has ever been born on this earth, who will ever be born. That circle will include everyone. Brad, I love what you've talked about here.

It seems that Jesus is bringing up here, now he's given the Sermon on the Mount, he's bringing up covenant Israel. This hasn't been something that's been talked about in the book for quite a while. It's been almost all the way back to Jacob since we've really heard about covenant Israel. And now the Lord seems to be setting the stage for His second day. His second day is going to be, guess who you are? Maybe they've forgotten, maybe since Nephi and Jacob, a lot of years have passed by. Maybe they don't know who they are and they've got to be reminded. Yeah, and they're being reminded who they are. Think about John the Baptist

feeling overwhelmed because he was given the responsibility to prepare the world for Christ's first coming, and he was overwhelmed. But he did it. And we look now and we would say he was foreordained to be born at a turning point in history and I would say that we have been foreordained to be born on a turning point in history. When President Nelson went to dedicate the Rome temple he said this is a hinge point and look at how many temples have been announced and built since the Rome temple was dedicated. This is the turning point and we are preparing so that we can welcome all of God's children into this circle.

Yeah, I feel overwhelmed. Well, remember who you are, like John the Baptist. Remember who he was. Remember who you are. And this is not beyond us. Guy, I hear from people almost every day, hey, I was listening. And thank you, because so many feel overwhelmed. I'm glad you asked that question. I remember something I saw on a refrigerator magnet that I thought was so helpful. Somebody named Carl Bard said, while no one can go back and make a brand new beginning, all of us can begin where we are and make a brand new ending. I would say that is exactly what the gospel does. That's what that covenant relationship does.

God can help us make a brand new ending. Get on that covenant path. Let's become lifelong disciples. Don't feel overwhelmed with your shortcomings in the past. Let's look forward and connect with God. There's a reason a windshield is so much bigger than a rearview mirror. Mmm, that's a nice thought. That's good. This is is so much bigger than a rearview mirror. That's a nice thought. That's good. This is the way we're going.

We're going this way. Brad, you've taught us so much as we've walked through these chapters. Let me ask you the last question. You're a pretty well-educated guy. You've gone through University of Wyoming, a PhD there. You've taught at a university for years, done both gospel scholarship and academic scholarship. I think you've read quite a few books. You've written quite a few books.

How does the Book of Mormon stand against the many great books that you've read? And then also, if you could tell us, what does reading do for people, specifically reading the Book of Mormon? I know that's a lot there. And basically, take your expertise and teach us about this book. Everything I've ever done as I've studied the Book of Mormon and as I have researched the Book of Mormon in names in the Book of Mormon, everything has strengthened my faith. has strengthened my faith. I have written books. I have written books meant to inspire. I have written books that I hope have been a product of inspiration. And yet nothing touches the Book of Mormon. Every book I've ever written has been revised and revised and revised and revised

with editor after editor after editor. We may say that J.K. Rowling, when she finally wrote the final volume of Harry Potter, had professional editors working full time, just cross-checking, making sure that she wasn't contradicting what she'd said in an earlier book in her final volume. Joseph Smith didn't have that. He didn't have the editors. I mean, even this podcast today, which is actually going to make the three of us sound like we know what we're talking about, nobody will ever see what Lisa has done, what David has done, what Jamie has done, as they have edited this podcast, and they've taken out the parts where the cell phone rang, and they've taken out the parts where the dog barked.

Joseph didn't have that. And yet this book not only stands, but it stands stronger and stronger. The more it is under the magnifying glass, the more we realize that anybody who blows it off and says, oh, Joseph Smith just wrote that. Joseph Smith just wrote that. I know not just as a believer who has gained a witness of the Holy Ghost, but I know as a writer that Joseph Smith did not write this. If he could, where's volume two? Where's volume three? I've written multiple books. John, by the way, has written multiple

books. Hank, you have written multiple books. We have done it again and again and again. Where's volume two of the Book of Mormon? We have to acknowledge that this is not the product of Joseph Smith. You can go into word print analysis and you can prove it. Stand up in a court of law, prove it. But you don't even have to go there to recognize that there is no way that this little boy, this young man, could do this on his own. I bear testimony of the book but I also bear testimony of the doctrines in the book. Those were far beyond the Christianity of Joseph Smith's day. They were far beyond what Joseph would have known as a Christian in his day. I know that the Jesus who is revealed in the book, this Jesus who is coming to the rest of the world,

I know that he is real and that His help, His grace, His power is real. And here in these very chapters we've been looking at, He's inviting us to welcome His power into our lives. In the scriptures we read, where much is given, much is required. And yes, Hank, John, that can be overwhelming. Wow, I've been given much. God can require all this of me and how am I ever going to do that? Let's turn it around and say, where much is required, much is given. And that is the Jesus that we find in the Book of Mormon.

A Christ who gives us His power, His grace, His goodness, His strength. Where much is required, much is given. And I bear that testimony of the Book of Mormon, of the doctrines in the Book, of the Jesus Christ that is unveiled in the Book. Brad, thank you for taking your time with us today. We could make show after show after show on the doctrine of Christ. It would be really good. Faith, repentance, baptism, and the Holy Ghost becoming like Christ. It's an unending resource there. John, I know you love the first principles and going over there and seeing those in the Sermon on the Mount, that's exceptional. I love that they're all a process. Faith in the Lord Jesus Christ is an ongoing process,

repentance ongoing process. What Brad taught us today, baptism is an event, but the process of being meekly coming back to the sacrament table and renewing that covenant is a process. And following the gift of the Holy Ghost is a process. And enduring to the end is the process of processes because we're not just enduring to the end, the end of the youth conference, the end of the mission, the end of life. No, we're enduring to our end. Be ye therefore perfect, even as Christ and Father. We are enduring to our eventual end and that is to become like them.

Yeah, beautiful. We want to thank Dr. Brad Wilcox for being with us today. It's been a joy to have you back, Brad. I love you guys. We want to thank our executive producer, Shannon Sorensen. I love her too. Our sponsors, David and Verla Sorensen. I love her too. Our sponsors, David and Verla Sorensen. I love them too.

And we always remember our founder, who you knew Brad, Steve Sorensen. And I loved him too. We hope you'll join us next week. We've got more of the Savior's visits to the people of Nephi on Follow Him. Before you skip to the next episode, I have some important information.

This episode's transcript and show notes are available on our website, followhim.co. That's followhim.co. On our website, you'll also find our two free books, Finding Jesus Christ in the Old Testament and Finding Jesus Christ in the New Testament. Both books are full of short and powerful quotes and insights from all our episodes from the Old and New Testaments. The digital copies of these books are full of short and powerful quotes and insights from all our episodes from the Old and New Testaments. The digital copies of these books are absolutely free. You can watch the podcast on YouTube.

Also, our Facebook and Instagram accounts have videos and extras you won't find anywhere else. If you'd like to know how you can help us, if you could subscribe to, rate, review, and comment on the podcast, that will make us easier to find. Of course, none of this could happen without our incredible production crew. David Perry, Lisa Spice, Jamie Nilsen, Will Stoketon, Crystal Roberts, Ariel Cuadra, and Annabel Sorensen. Whatever questions or problems you have, the answer is always found in the life

and teachings of Jesus Christ. Turn to Him. Follow Him.