followHIM - Doctrine & Covenants 30-36 : Dr. Robert L. Millet Part II

Episode Date: April 3, 2021

Does missionary work scare you? We can help! In Part II, our Fantastic Four (and others, especially Orson Pratt and Edward Partridge) discover the “field is white and ready to harvest.” Dr. Robert Millet shares how we are 11th Hour Workers and the Lord of the Vineyard is with his Servants and this episode will excite and encourage you to “open your mouth” and share the Good News. Additionally, if you know a Bishop, you’ll want to learn how Edward Partridge is a hero we should celebrate for “wasting and wearing out” his life for the Lord. You will never see missionary work or Bishops the same way again.Shownotes: www.followhim.coYouTube: https://www.youtube.com/c/FollowHimOfficialChannelInstagram: https://www.instagram.com/followhimpodcastFacebook: https://www.facebook.com/followhimpodcast

Welcome to part two of this week's podcast. What stands out over and over, John, in our reading is that, what section is it? He who repents... Is my church. Is my church. Is my church. Yeah. Contend against no church, save it be the church of the devil in section 18.

Yeah, that was section 10, verse 67. Whoso repenteth and cometh unto me, the same is my church. Hey, let's move to 34 and 36. Two names that are very important to the history of the church, Orson Pratt and Edward Partridge. Let's talk about Orson Pratt here for a minute. What do we know about Orson and maybe Edward as well? You know, obviously Orson is the younger brother of Parley. Parley goes back when he gets the gospel and he visits with Orson, teaches him the gospel. He's baptized on the 19th of September, 1830, his 19th birthday. Oh, wow. And then what does he do? Within a matter of days, he's on a mission.

Yeah. He goes to Colesville as an ambassador of the Lord to preach the gospel. This revelation to Orson Pratt, to me, is just—so let me just say, and of course, Orson Pratt became one of the great minds of this dispensation. When you start listing the great intellects of our dispensation, you know, you think of James Talmadge, and you think of John Widsoe and so on and so on. Orson Pratt would be right up there. A brilliant man, not formally trained as far as education goes, but trained by God.

I mean, he had an amazing mind. He does. He's one that I've read about who wants to learn Hebrew. He wants to learn Greek. He's studying math. He's studying that I've read about who wants to learn Hebrew. He wants to learn Greek. He's studying math. He's studying English grammar. He is, and we're getting ahead of ourselves here, but he's going to be, I think, one of the first two people to enter the Salt Lake Valley.

He just seems to be a go-getter. He wants to be in front learning and leading. And he lives until 1881. So he lives to be 70. He is another illustration of someone, for example, who had his disagreements with President Brigham Young. I think that's worth noting. They loved each other. They respected each other, but they have differences. In this case, Brigham was right on those issues. But Brigham Young also said of Orson Pratt, I believe if we took this man and cut him up into 100 pieces, each piece would cry out, Joseph Smith was a prophet of God.

That's a great statement. So he's converted by his brother. As I'm just, we've read just a couple of sections here. Parley P. Pratt is instrumental. Well, if he didn't teach him, he baptizes them. Right. He's going to bring John. John Taylor is going to be a product of Parley P. Pratt. I don't know. Parley P. Pratt never becomes the president of the church, but the impact of Parley P. Pratt still is with us today. Maybe our greatest literary mind, just to read all the poetry that Parley P.

Pratt wrote. I mean, well, think of the hymns by Parley P. Pratt that we sing. Amazing man. This section to me is fascinating for a number of reasons, but I just want to show you one or two reasons. Obviously, it begins with the Lord bearing his witnesses in terms of who he is, the Redeemer. Verse 3, who so loved the world that he gave his own life. It sounds very much like John 3.16. So Orson is called to prepare the way of the Lord for the Lord's second coming.

But I want you to look at verse 10. Wherefore, lift up your voice and spare not, for the Lord God hath spoken, therefore prophesy, and it shall be given by the power of the Holy Ghost. I think that's the only person in the Doctrine and Covenants that's told, prophesy. And you know what? He does. Just yesterday, I grabbed my 26-volume set of the Journal of Discourses and went through and glanced at all of the sermons by Orson Pratt between 1851 and 1881, okay? Now, of that time period, Orson Pratt delivered 23 addresses on the signs of the times, the second coming, and the millennium. Therefore, prophesy.

Orson Pratt had more to say about the last days than any other person in this dispensation. Wow. He took it seriously. That's incredible. You know, it talks about him, preach my gospel. You are called of me to preach my gospel. I think I read, maybe it was in Susan's book, he crosses the Atlantic Ocean 16 times in missionary work. He, it was, as they say, lift up your voices with the sound of a trump, long and loud. These were,

he was going to do this for a long time. Like you said, until 1881, I think he's going to be the last surviving member of the original 12. That is correct. And think do this for a long time, like you said, until 1881. I think he's going to be the last surviving member of the original 12. That is correct. And think about this as a distinction for Orson as well. While Orson is a basically mission president over in Scotland, he writes a little pamphlet about Joseph Smith's visions, which includes the first vision. It's published in 1840 and happens to be the first published account of the First Vision, Orson Pratt's account of what Joseph told him. We have got missionary section after missionary section after missionary section.

I think those of us who want to do more missionary work, who feel it, I just want to share the gospel more. I think you can gain inspiration from these sections from Come Follow Me this week. It's let me just study this verse by verse and say, how can I be a better missionary? What can I gain for myself? And for me personally, it's open your mouth. And maybe today the Lord would say, and post on Instagram and post on Facebook and tell people who you are and what you believe. Here's a thought. I get asked occasionally as you're reading and studying the Doctrine and Covenants, how do you know which things are time-specific and specifically intended for that person versus which things really do apply to all of us? And maybe this is superficial,

but it occurred to me, those things that are doctrinal in nature, that's available to all of us. And maybe this is superficial, but it occurred to me, those things that are doctrinal in nature, that's available to all of us, the Lord's teaching. Occasionally, you'll read something, whether it's to Emma Smith about what she's to do with the hymn book. On the other hand, what does it say at the end of section 25? What I say unto one, I say unto all. So many, many times we can read a revelation, we see certain things pertain to Orson Pratt. He was to prophesy, but so many of these verses are for everyone. Blessed are you because you are called of me to preach my gospel. That is a say unto all type verse. Preach, teach, and heal. Should we talk about Edward Partridge in 36?

Because I'll tell you what, you're going to see me get excited. I sure love Edward Partridge. And anytime I see a bishop just wearing out their life in the service of their ward, I got to think of the church's very first bishop, Edward Partridge. Tell us about Edward. What do you know, Bob? Well, born in 1793 in Pittsfield, Massachusetts. I know Pittsfield, Massachusetts. That was in the Eastern States Mission. And so we used to go to Pittsfield on Monday and play basketball, the elders did, in the gym there. So that's my connection. 1793, so he's what, 12 years older than Joseph.

He's known for being a hatter. He apprenticed for four years under a hatter, a man who makes hats. And he went into his own business, owned his own hat shop. And for those who are listening, who are thinking, what in the world? A hatter? We got to say that a hat, a top hat, any hat was part of formal wear. If you're going to dress up nice, you're going to wear a nice hat. It's a different world now. When I was on a mission in primitive times, I was in the Eastern States mission. Our dress was to be the dress of the men on Wall Street, which meant dark suits, dark tie, and a hat.

I wore a hat the first six or eight months of our mission. Hats added some dignity, you know? Yeah. And so, you know, someone today might think, what? He had a job making hats? Yeah, it was very much like making a suit coat, right? Or being a tailor, something like that. Here's an interesting thought for you. Edward Partridge was fascinated with Unitarianism and Universalism. Now, I understand,

I think, almost perfectly why that's the case. Joseph describes this as, what, a man filled with piety, one of the great men, he describes him. Unitarianism, especially universalism. Universalism is the notion God will eventually save everyone. Okay. It's a positive, affirming thing. Father Smith and his father, Asel Smith, they started the first universalist society in their area. Now, why? Because President Smith had a soft heart. President Joseph Smith Sr. had a soft heart and just wanted God to save everyone. I see this fits this great man, Edward Partridge, so well. His wife, on the other hand, is drawn to the Campbellites.

He is a friend of Sidney Rigdon. I mean, here we go again, okay? So that when Sidney comes to Ohio, or to New York, excuse me, he brings Edward with him. So let's explain that. So Parley comes to Kirtland, tells them about the Book of Mormon, and the whole Kirtland group sends, basically to go check out Joseph Smith and what he's about, they send these two men, Sidney and Edward Partridge, saying, go, we'll trust your judgment. Does that sound about right? We'll trust your judgment.

Come back and tell us about him. Yep. Once he heard the message, he said he wanted to be baptized, but he said, if Joseph Smith will do it. He wants to meet him. Joseph baptized him. He returns to Ohio. Look this. He returns to Ohio, and three days later, he's called

the first bishop of the church. Oh, now, John and Bob, John, I know, has served as bishop. Bob, you served as bishop, have you? Twice. Twice. Isn't Edward Partridge the one who said, I don't think I have a bishop in me? I identify with that. Oh, maybe that's Newell Whitney. Well, I didn't think I had one in me. I'm still not so sure. Newell Whitney, yeah, the second bishop. Newell K. Whitney is going to be the second bishop. It's a heavy burden. It's a heavy burden. And it would have been even heavier

then because he's dealing with property and real estate. Oh, my goodness. He's called as the first bishop, and he's sent to independence. He writes back to his wife, Lydia, saying, I don't know if you want to come here. It is not what we're used to. It's rough. Yeah, it is a rough time. He's going to end up being tarred and feathered.

I mean, we can talk about this later, John, but he dies young. Our first bishop dies at 46. 46. 46 years old. In Nauvoo. But what a noble soul. Oh, just every time. And I don't want that to be a sign for bishops, right?

That you're going to wear yourself out and die young. But if there's anybody who, to me personally, demonstrates the character and goodness of a bishop, it's Edward Partridge. He's just that good. And he has a wonderful burial plot and a large headstone telling what kind of a man he was. And he really was a great man. And the Lord, you know, later in the Doctrine and Covenants, what section 124 pays serious tribute to Edward Partridge. What a great man. I mean, again, here's Joseph's language.

A pattern of piety. One of the Lord's great men. All right, what's the Lord's message to our soon-to-be-called first bishop, Edward Partridge? Well, look at the first two verses of section 36. Thus saith the Lord God, the mighty one of Israel, Behold, I say, you are blessed, and your sins are forgiven you. By the way, how often does that come up when the Lord talks to someone, when they receive the revelation? And you are called to preach my gospel as with the voice of a trump. Now look at this.

I will lay my hand upon you by the hand of my servant Sidney Rigdon. Isn't that beautiful? And you shall receive my spirit, the Holy Ghost, even the Comforter, which shall teach you the peaceable things of the kingdom. Lay my hand upon you by the hand of my servant, Sidney Rigdon. I'll tell you what it brought to my mind many years ago when I first read that seriously. It brought to mind this. I remember when I first read Elder McConkie's The Promised Messiah. It came out in 1978.

The preface, in the preface to The Promised Messiah, look what he writes. These are the opening words of the preface. Since the Lord laid his hands upon me on October 12, 1972, by the hands of his servant, President Harold B. Lee, and ordained me to the holy apostleship, I have had but one desire, to testify of our Lord's divine sonship and to teach in purity and perfection the truths of its everlasting gospel. But there it is, you see, by the hands of his servant, Harold B. Lee. That is the Lord's hands. I will lay my hand upon you by the hand of my servant, Sidney Rigdon. That's a beautiful idea, that you can

see those as the Lord's hands. Look at verse 7. This is an interesting expression. This commandment shall be given unto the elders of my church, that every man which will embrace it with singleness of heart may be ordained and sent forth even as I have spoken. I don't think we've talked enough in the church about what it means, for example, to have an eye single to the glory of God. I mean, it's such a, to me, it's a sobering verse. Singleness of heart. The great philosopher Kierkegaard said,

purity of heart is to will one thing, or it's the early brethren of this dispensation, the kingdom of God or nothing. It reminds me of a story I'm sure we'll tell in the future when Brigham Young asks, I think it's Lyman Johnson, whose kingdom are you trying to build? Right? The Lord's or Lyman Johnson's? Which one are you really focused on? I've noticed over and over in these early sections, Bob, that the Lord, he'll drop little hints here and there. And it seems that he drops another one in verse eight. I think this might be the first time this comes up. I will suddenly come to my temple. And they don't have one yet.

Yeah. And they're going, wait, what? Which one? He did that earlier with Zion, the cause of Zion. And he's kind of just saying, I'm just going to give you a little taste here. Let that sit for a little while and we'll be talking about this, you know, we'll be talking about this later. So don't forget it. That's good. Yeah, I read that too. That's the first mention of temple.

And then I put underneath it because I started noticing in the end of section 33, behold, I come quickly. In the end of section 34, behold, I come quickly. In the end of section 34, behold, I come quickly. In the end of section 35, behold, I come quickly. But in the end of section 36, I come suddenly, and it's to my temple. And I often joke with my students, what does quickly mean to you? Because he said this over 200 years ago or about 200 years ago i don't think that's very quick but if you look at as a synonym with suddenly i think that mcconkie says it's kind of there's no it it will be in an hour you think not there won't be time to prepare unexpected yeah it'll come with suddenness

and i that's a fun way to to notice quickly suddenly maybe your synonyms there but maybe not because it says suddenly to my temple. The Kirtland Temple experience hasn't happened yet. But that was fairly... That's got to be recent. Yeah, more recent for them. Relative terms. And that whole expression, I will suddenly come to my temple.

It also on occasion means to the earth. I will come to the earth. It's a Malachi phrase, isn't it? That's right. I love to see the Lord laying out these just line upon line here in the Doctrine and Covenants, helping this tiny, what we call the toddler church right now, John, just grow a little bit at a time. Never overwhelming them with too much. Just give them enough to where they can chew on it for a little while, digest it, and I'm going to give you a little bit more.

Well, I have to admire him because I would feel overwhelmed if I were Thomas B. Marsh and the Lord said, oh yeah, you just joined, you read 16 pages of the Book of Mormon, rejoice, the hour of your mission has come. See you later. Wow. Go be bishop. Right. Yeah. Now you're, can you imagine? So we've looked at all these missionary sections, but in the sections that we have this for this lesson, section 35 stands out as a little bit different. This one comes to Sidney Rigdon. They talk about the translation of the Bible here. Now, we've mentioned this a little bit on our podcast, but I'd love to hear, Bob, tell us what we know about Sidney, first of all. We've talked a little bit about him today. What we know about Sidney, because I think most members

of the church at least have heard the name. They know a little bit about this man. He becomes very important to the early church. And then also the project of the translation of the Bible. We'll let you take it. Born in 1793 in St. Clair Township, Pennsylvania. Pennsylvania is his home. He likes to go back to Pennsylvania, sometimes when he shouldn't. As we said, he was an associate of Alexander Campbell, eventually called, as we know, to be the first counselor to Joseph Smith in the first presidency in 1832. He's with Joseph Smith in the John Johnson home when they received the vision of the glories. Only a short time later, he and Joseph were both dragged out of their homes in the middle of the night

and tarred and feathered. And in the case of Sidney Rigdon, if I understand the circumstance, they tied his legs together and dragged him from a horse, dragged his head hitting the ground as they went. It was March 20th. That means really cold, solid ground. Sidney Rigdon, I remember hearing from the Milt Backman, which one of the great church historians say, he said, my study tells me Sidney Rigdon was never the same after that. And so I've been a little more patient with Sidney Rigdon.

That's a tough thing. I mean, basically, you know, he at least had a concussion, but he may have done some major damage. There are times when he just does crazy things, you know, like in Liberty Jail or in jail where he cries out and says, no one has suffered. I've suffered more than Jesus Christ. I've always been a little more patient with him than prone to condemn him because of that. But we're talking about somebody who played a really significant role. Let's talk about the JST. We don't know the exact date that the Lord commanded that this be done, the Joseph Smith translation of the Bible. But we know on two different places in the Doctrine and Covenants, section 42 and section 76, the words that are used,

the work to which we were appointed, the work to which we were appointed, the work to which we were appointed. I mean, when in 1 Nephi 13, we're told that part of the restoration will be the restoration of plain and precious truths and many covenants of the Lord. Well, the Joseph Smith translation and the Book of Mormon have to be the bulk of the restoration of those kinds of things. The earliest date we have would be June of 1830. If you look at the manuscripts, you'll see that's the first thing.

And what we read right away is what you and I have as Moses chapter 1. That is the revelation given to Moses on an unnamed mountain. And so then they begin working with the book of Genesis, move through Genesis, and they get as far as chapter 19, I think it's verse 42, when the Lord gives a revelation that is to us section 45 of the Doctrine and Covenants, saying, it's on March 7th, 1831, I want you to turn now to the New Testament. So they've only gone 19 chapters into Genesis, and they begin the very next day. Brother Matthews, Robert Matthews, who had such influence with this great work, said, I'm convinced they must have gotten that revelation at night, or he'd have started right then. Bob, you mentioned that they're working on the Bible. What does this look like? Do we know? Joseph Smith, are they reading together? Grandin's store and purchases a large pulpit-style edition of the Bible. It's produced by a King James Version produced by H&E Finney Company in Cooperstown, New York. It weighs about five pounds.

This is the Bible they worked with. And by that, what do I mean? Well, in the beginning, Joseph begins reading from the Old Testament and dictating to his scribe. Now, his first scribe was Oliver Cowdery, but Oliver's called on a preaching mission to the Lamanites, right? So John Whitmer steps in. Emma was involved. I've seen the manuscripts, and there's a section in Genesis. Beautiful handwriting. The only beautiful handwriting of all the scribes.

Emma's handwriting. But it's Emma's handwriting. And eventually Sidney Rigdon becomes the principal scribe. Sidney Rigdon is to the JST what Oliver Cowdery was to the Book of Mormon. Okay. So Sidney joins them. So it seems to me they're sitting down. Joseph is reading.

And as he reads, dictating what's to be changed. At this point, early in the process, the scribe is writing out everything longhand. I mean, the whole Old Testament, okay? And in there, there would be the changes. And so it's holding the Bible, reading from it, the scribe copying down. As they move into the New Testament, and as they get to about John 6, I think it is, they determine upon a shorter method. And the shorter scribal method works like this. I'm going to read this and include the

changes, but you're just now on the manuscript just going to put the change. Just put the change. In other words, you'd have a line, and then here's the word that's going to be changed. And so that's the way it looks. And now, at that point, you have a problem. How do you know, when you look at the manuscript, where the change is going to go or where it should be fitted? Answer, at this point, Joseph began, first in pencil, marking the Bible. He would make, for example, a colon as we know it, two little dots. That had a meaning. He would make four little dots, two around the Bible. He would make, for example, a colon as we know it, two little dots. That had a meaning. He would make four little dots, two around the word. That meant remove the word. The two little

dots meant insert something. Occasionally, he would circle a word, underline a word. Those markings in the Bible become very important. When the RLDS Church produces the first edition in 1867, they hadn't yet figured out the relationship between the manuscript and the marked Bible. Their 1944, New Corrected Edition, as it was called, that they finally figured out by then where the changes were to go exactly. And so they're moving through, now making just changes on the manuscript. For example, when they're working on John 5, and they're still writing things out at length, they come to verse 29, talks about the resurrection of life and of damnation. And at first, they just went on and wrote it out. But you can see that life and damnation have been crossed out,

and above them have been written just and unjust. Now, Joseph then says, we marveled at that change. I remember thinking many a time, well, it's not what you call an earth-shaking change. Right. But maybe they're marveling at why would we change it? But they did,, it's not what you call an earth-shaking change. But maybe they're marveling at why would we change it? But they did. And it's at that point that the vision of the degrees of glory is given to them. Remarkable thing. And of course, in that room, you have

Spencer Fluman can talk to you about this more, but you have in that room 12 people. They're watching as Joseph Smith and Oliver Cowdery are just lit up with light, and they know something's happening, and they'll occasionally hear—Follow Dibble says Joseph would say, what do I see? I see this. And Sidney would say, I see the same. And Sidney would say, what do I see? I see this. And Joseph would say, I see the same. Well, they did this at some length, and these 12

men just sit there silently watching a cute little episode where, at the very end, Joseph is robust and just on top of the world, and Sidney, he's described as being as limp as a washcloth. And Joseph says, Sidney's not as used to this as I am. Great moment. That is a great moment. I think the other thing I'd say about the JST, Hank, is that tremendous influence upon the revelations that are received thereafter.

The number of key revelations that came directly as a result of the translation or indirectly. And so we're talking, this was not just a parlor game for Joseph and Parley to play. This was serious stuff. Joseph called it a branch of my calling. And I think as a church for many, many years, we just did not take it seriously enough.

And it wasn't really until the work of Robert J. Matthews in the 1960s and 70s, in which he was finally given access to the marked Bible and to the manuscript, that we're able to determine the fact that the published version, 1944 on, of the JST is to be trusted. It's accurate. It's what Joseph Smith intended. Robert J. Matthews is one of those who has had such an impact on the modern church, and people don't even know who he is. And he was a giant of a man who was not very tall. And had a bald head. Do we have a number of directly or indirectly sections of the Doctrine and Covenants received during the process of doing the work on the JST? 76 is one.

91, which is an interesting short revelation, and what do we do with the Apocrypha? So that Bible had the Old Testament. It had the Apocrypha in the middle, and then the New Testament. And they come to this, and Joseph asked the question, what do we do with this Old Testament Apocrypha, is what it was. And the Lord says, there's some things in there that are true, some things that are the interpolation of men. There's no need to translate it. So 91. Maybe one of the more powerful ones they would have received as early as 1831 was section 132. The revelation that came to the prophet about eternal marriage, he first had inclinations of that as early as 1831.

It's not recorded until 1843. They know about this as early as 31. And there are a number of sections as you go along, you can see that this is directly related to the translation. I think the other thing I want to say is this. It wasn't that Joseph would take six months and work on the JST, and he'll take the next six months and receive some revelations. It's happening at the same time. I call it a concurrent revelatory process. Revelations are coming as a result of the Bible translation. Revelations are coming in the Doctrine and Covenants, all at one time. And so it's a pretty remarkable thing. I believe the JST is one of the greatest evidences of Joseph Smith's prophetic call.

I think it's changed my life. You read along and you'll see some of these changes. And so when someone says to me, well, wasn't he basically, I remember someone asked Brother Matthews, wasn't he just kind of basically Mormonizing the Bible? And Brother Matthews answered this way. He said, well, you know, if Elder McConkie had written Mormon doctrine in 1830, it would have been a really short book. That was his way of saying there wasn't much Mormonism to use in 1830, you know? Yeah, that's a fantastic statement. He's learning the doctrine as he goes. And that's one of the major reasons.

Obviously, a central reason is to restore plain and precious truths. But boy, what takes place in Joseph's mind and heart as he goes through. You watch him when he sermonizes. He's always, almost always quoting a biblical passage. Often Paul, by the way. I have no record of it saying he picked up the Bible and read. No, no, he's quoting. And how would he know that?

That Bible translation was an intense process. And so it was a great preparation for him. It seems that it may be another indication of what we talked about earlier with the Lord saying, I want you to do this. But he has a completely different purpose in mind. Joseph and Sidney are saying, yes, we're going to make some corrections here. We're going to go through the Bible. And the Lord is thinking, yes, you're going to do that, but you're also going to be asking

questions, which are going to lead to the restoration. That's exactly what happened. You know, I'd like to backtrack just a little bit and tell our listeners that if you go to byutv.org, go under the faith section and watch a documentary called That Promised Day. And it is all about the publication of the scriptures, the quad that we have now, incorporating the JST. And it is fascinating. I make my students watch it for extra credit. And you'll meet Robert J. Matthews, and he was on that Scriptures Publication Committee. I believe he had a lot to do with the

Bible Dictionary that we use now. He wrote it. Yeah. That's what I heard. He wrote it. He had a lot to do with it. And like I said, people don't even know how much of an impact he's had, but just you will be so, your appreciation for the scriptures we now have and the JST, which we're talking about now, just go watch that promised day about the publication of the Bible. I was in seminary, Hank was a toddler. I was in seminary the day that they said, pass in your Bibles, we're going to give you a new one right now. And I will never forget personally the moment of opening my Bible and seeing Book of Mormon footnotes. That was an amazing moment. And Doctrine and Covenants footnotes. And Doctrine and Covenants, and Bible Dictionary, and Topical Guide. And you'll watch that

documentary and you'll see that the footnote system that they invented was revolutionary. And three columns, you'll see experiments they did. It's really good. It was an award-winning Bible. Cambridge had never produced anything of that sort before. By the way, I'd say this. One of the questions the brethren, I mean the highest brethren, the senior brethren, had to make during the production of the new Bible, the LDS edition of the King James Bible, was whether the Joseph Smith translation would be included. And the person that made that decision was Spencer W. Kimball, who said, we will use it. Brother Matthews told me about that. And so what we have here in our Bibles now, we have about, I'd say, 800 to

1,000 of the 3,410 changed verses, but we have basically the most important ones, especially the most important doctrinal ones. So that LDS Bible is something, that Latter-day Saint edition. Let me say, you know, I was about to be hired at BYU, and I came out, and Brother Matthews offered me a job, and this is in the summer of 1983. And I had a free day or two, and Education Week was coming up. I went to Education Week, and Brother Matthews was speaking in the Bible, that they'd all been written by Elder Bruce R. McConkie. And at that point, Brother Matthews became very emotional. And he said, a man like Bruce R. McConkie comes around about once per dispensation. But the thought I had, because I knew Brother Matthews pretty well, is a man like Robert Matthews comes around about once per dispensation as well.

Can I share? I got to share a story. I've never, John, I don't think I've ever told you this, but both of you teach university classes. So you'll understand this. I went to a class. It was a, maybe a one o'clock class. I had already taught an 11 o'clock class and I had mentioned the JST. I just said, Oh, look at the Joseph Smith translation on this verse. And I remember this distinctively. I, it was, it wasn't that long ago, maybe, maybe a year or two.

I said, do you know the story of the, of the Joseph Smith translation? And they all just kind of looked at me. I said, do you know who Robert J. Matthews is? And they all just kind of looked quizzically at me. And I said, let me tell you this, because I heard him, you know, before he passed away, I got to hear him tell the story, right? Just flat out tell the story about when he's listening to General Conference on the radio. And he hears Joseph. The Joseph Fielding Smith.

Joseph Fielding Smith. Inspired version. And he said, what is that he started asking everybody what is that what is that and he said my mind was just i couldn't i was obsessed with it even his mission president said why are you so obsessed with this elder matthews why do you keep asking me about it do you know who his mission president was by the way no no oscar mcconkie senior bruce's father of course so i am i go intersections and just so you you you both know this the how rare this is i use almost the bulk of my time telling this story which just doesn't happen you know in, in a university class, I just, I've got to go. We've got to move forward. We've got things we've got to do, but I spend the bulk

of my time in just this one class. And I thought to myself, wow, that just threw us off right now. This one class is going to be behind, but I get an email later that day. And I, and I actually have it right here. A young lady in my class said, I just want to reach out and tell you, thank you for sharing the story of Bob Matthews in class today. He was my grandfather. I knew that he had done a lot of work with the church, but I had actually never heard the story of how he got the Joseph Smith papers, Joseph Smith translation. Listen to this. My memories of him usually consist of gardening and bugging him while napping.

Today, Brother Smith, before class, I was talking with a friend and I mentioned, I really want to learn more about my grandfather. And I was so surprised when not even a half hour later, you shared the story of Bob Matthews in the Joseph Smith translation. Thank you for sharing that story. It was an answer to a granddaughter's prayer. You know, we had a course, and Bob had created a course in the Joseph Smith Translation. And I had begun working on it myself, independent of Bob. I was in Florida working on a doctorate at Florida State, and I was doing some work with the JST, and so I began to write Bob. And I have some of the treasured letters I have asking him questions about the JST and him writing back. When I started at BYU, Bob came to me and said, listen, I'm going to teach the JST class.

He said, I want you to teach the JST class in the fall, and I'm going to teach it in the winter. I taught it for 25 years. And I have to say, I love teaching the Book of Mormon. It's obviously a favorite of mine. I love the New Testament, and so on and so on. Pearl of Great Price, Dr. Covens taught them all. But there's something special about this, because I saw more students' eyes just opened to, when I gave them the historical background, I remember we were covering some history,

and more than one student came up and said, are we ever going to get to the changes themselves? Yes, we're going to. But the historical setting, the background, is so inspiring. And, of course, I had to tell them about Brother Matthews because I sat in on his class. He never mentioned himself. And he was so instrumental in the church having it now. The only time I ever heard him say anything related to I was responsible for that, he told a story about being in Evanston, Wyoming. Is that where he grew up?

He grew up there. And he was like in the teacher's quorum or something. And some guy that he worked with in a garage or something said, hey, I've got an airplane. I'm going to take you flying this weekend. And he's pretty excited about it. And every day I'm going to take you flying this weekend. I'm going to take you flying. And this would have killed me because I love airplanes. But finally, it was Saturday and the guy said, I'm going flying tomorrow. And Brother Matthews was like, well, I don't think I can go. I got to go to church, you know, and turned down that and went to church. Well, that was in the days I went to church in the morning, came home a little bit, went back to church in the afternoon. He said,

in the afternoon, I came out of church. And I think he said, my sister-in-law said, hey, that airplane crashed. And is the pilot okay? Yeah, the pilot's okay, but his passenger was killed. And Brother Matthew said to us, now, I don't know, had I gone up, if I would have been killed, but if I had, this is the only thing ever, he said, you'd have a different Bible. And then he just went on with class. Then he just went on with class. And I thought that was so funny. It's the only time I ever heard him say anything to pat himself on the back even a little bit. You'd have a different Bible. I've heard many of the faculty ask Bob in small groups, do you think you were raised up to do this?

And every time he said, oh, no, no, no. He and I, one of the privileges was to spend so much time with him over a 20-year period. And we were on a church history jaunt. He and I were just traveling between Independence and Nauvoo. And I just poured question after question after question. And one of them, I said, you think you were raised up to do this? He said, yeah, I think so. That's the only time.

That's the greatest boasting I ever heard him do. Yeah, he's very behind the scenes. And that's why I hope I end up where he was, because nobody even knows who he is. But what an impact he's had. And if memory serves, he called the church historian of the community of Christ, the church, the reorganized church, 13 years in a row? Can I see the manuscripts? No, no.

And finally, there's a change in leadership. He calls and the guy says, yes. Richard P. Howard became the new church historian there. And Richard Howard, I'd say it this way, is a little more left-leaning and so was more open to it. And so Bob became good friends with Richard Howard. And for I don't know how many years, he would go back for three to four weeks at a time. He stayed in a cheap motel, walked to the auditorium in Independence, which is where the manuscript and the Bible were housed at the time, and would sit there with his typewriter and type it up. One of my treasures is that he made his own copy of every change, including marking where marks were made. He even created a little circle in one page and written in the

middle of it is, coffee stain. Somebody had spilled coffee on the original manuscript. And for him to be able to say, I brought you something. He walked in one day and he gave to me a Bible that was the same Bible that was printed in 1828, like the Finney Bible, and the Old Testament and New Testament manuscripts typed out by him with a manual typewriter. That's one of my treasures. Oh, you know, I think that just for those listening, we need to say, okay, he asked about the inspired version over and over again. And the message he got back, correct me if I'm wrong, guys, was that, well, we're not sure how accurate the printed inspired version is, how well it corresponds with the actual manuscripts. And we don't have the

manuscripts, the reorganized church does. Did I get that right? And so that's why he called every year. Can I look at the original manuscripts and got the nose for something like 13 years in a row? Then finally, and my memory is that he said he had photocopies at first. And then because he had made such friends with, oh, here's the originals. Because he couldn't tell if little marks were from the photocopier or whatever. And so he made friends there. And that's why he had to go back there to find them. And then was his master's thesis the JST or PhD or something? His master's thesis was a comparison of the King James and the JST on the Sermon on the Mount. His doctoral dissertation, which is this thick,

is the differences between the JST and the King James of the entire Bible and what is called the Bernheisel Manuscript, a manuscript that John Bernheisel, a friend of the prophet, made his own. Emma allowed him to do his own copy of the JST. That dissertation was huge. And what Bob established, among other things, he learned, one, there are key dates on the manuscript, which shows where these things happened in the history of the church and what it would have to do with certain

revelations in the Doctrine and Covenants. Two, this is crucial, the reorganized church had been people of integrity in terms of retaining what Joseph Smith had done. The Bible could be trusted. One of the questions was, one of the issues was, yeah, but it was never finished. Well, it depends on what you mean by finished. He attended from everything from Genesis to Malachi, attended to every book. Did he change every change that he wanted to make or felt he should make? No.

But for that matter, the Book of Mormon is not complete either. We've got more to see there. We've got more revelations in the Doctrine and Covenants to come, so forth. So it's a majestic work. It's one that Latter-day Saints neglect at their peril. It's just too important to miss. I've always been not very happy with the JST being backed by the maps in some cases. Who's looking back there?

You know, let's bring it up forward. That's our own sealed portion back there, right? Well, talk about the Lord orchestrating events. John, when you talked about the 1981 edition, that coincides with what Bob had been doing in the background for decades. And those lined up perfectly. They just lined up perfectly. So it's another example yet of the Lord's working his work over here.

He's working his work over there. And they're going to hit at the right moment with the right players in place. And it continues today. Hank, let me point us to one verse, verse 20 of section 35. This is one pregnant verse, okay? And a commandment I give unto thee, Sidney, thou shalt write for him.

He would become his scribe. And then get this language. And the scripture shall be given even as they are in mine own bosom. Think about that. What does that mean? These are the way I understand the scriptures. It's not bad.

To what? To the helpfulness of the saints? To the convenience of the saints? No. Get that. To the salvation of mine own elect. The Lord is saying this is the way I want it. This is near to my heart.

Yeah. Right? These scriptures are near to my heart, and it's going to bless you. Here's a statement from Joseph Smith that's found in what's called the Far West Record. Under the date of 25 October, the Far West Record reads as follows. Joseph said, The Lord will cut his work short in righteousness, and get this, except the church receive the fullness of the scriptures,

which was an expression described v. JST, unless the church receive the fullness of the scriptures, they will yet fall. I think that's saying we better take them seriously. Yeah. So one thing I really, I think we've hit over and over, so we don't need to hit it again, but the Lord tells Sidney he has been prepared. Can we see that over and over in all the stories we've shared today, that the Lord tells Sidney he has been prepared. Can we see that over and over in all the stories we've shared today, that the Lord is preparing people for a work ahead when it comes to Robert J. Matthews or Edward Partridge or Orson Pratt? The Lord is preparing these people. Maybe Sidney even a little more than some of the others because, I mean, that language of verses, what, 4, 5, 6, he's saying you were an Elias.

You laid a foundation for what took place. Yeah. The people in Kirtland were ready for the restoration. But then I like in 17 and 18, it's like, but Sidney, Joseph is the prophet. And verse 17, I've sent him in weakness have I blessed him. And I have given unto him the keys of the mystery of the things which have been sealed. So Sidney came with such a different background of talent and experience and everything than this weakness of Joseph. But it's cool to see the Lord say now, okay, I know who you are, Sidney, but keep your

eyes on Joseph. Do you remember the story that Parley P. Pratt tells of Philadelphia? When Parley's in Philadelphia and Joseph contacts him and says, I'm coming to visit. And so Joseph and Sidney came to Philadelphia. They had a packed house so Joseph could speak. Joseph called upon Sidney to speak first. In the accounts, Parley said, and Sidney spoke about the gospel, illustrating all his points from the Bible. And then he said, Joseph stood up like a lion about to roar and said, if nobody else can give the credit or something like that to the visions I've had, the dreams, the revelations, then I will do so and leave

the event with God, is the way he said it. And I've heard historians who know this a lot better than I do say, in some ways, Sidney never occupied quite the same place with Joseph after that. In other words, he gets up because he's a wonderful Bible scholar, Sidney is. And he does everything from the Bible, and Joseph gets up and says, no, we have a modern revelation to talk about. That goes back to what we said earlier with preach the revelations. And from what I've read, Sidney was a powerful speaker. I hope so, because he spoke for two hours at the dedication of the Kirtland Temple.

Wow. I know that he represented himself out of Liberty Jail in a court case, laid on a table flat on his back, and had the court in tears, they said, of his cause. So a powerful speaker. And yet the Lord says, I call upon in verse 13, the weak things of the world, those who are unlearned and despised to thrash the nations by the power of my spirit. So I think, I think I like what you said there, John. Yes, you have this incredible gift. You have these incredible talents. Joseph is the prophet and I'm going to use him almost because he is weak in these things. Well, and that kind of says you're going to be converted to the message and

not the messenger. If you're looking for credentials from Joseph Smith, you're going to get three years of formal education. So I'm going to take in the world's eyes, weak, unlearned, and despised. Yeah. And Sidney's the type that you would think now there's a speaker, a Bible scholar, there's a prophet, and yet he's a member of the first presidency, but he is not the prophet. And that might teach us a good applicable lesson that you might not think the person the Lord calls as the Relief Society president or the bishop or the state president or even a general authority is the most talented, right? Or the best for you might not see them as best for the job, but the Lord is saying, that's who I want. That's who I'm going to use. He mentions the parable of the fig tree.

For even now, already summer is nigh. What is the parable of the fig tree. For even now, already summer is nigh. What is the parable of the fig tree? That's verse 16. Okay. The parable of the fig tree, if I remember right, is the Savior pointing to a fig tree and teaching a lesson to his apostles. Just like the fig tree brings forth its... Right. You know that summer is nigh. I think that with fig trees,

leaves and fruit come at about the same time. So the idea is once you see something happening there, you know... It's time. Take heed. It's time. Yeah. Right. So there's another example of the Lord using something right in front of me to teach a principle. And the cursing of the fig tree, that was a different story, right? The cursing of the fig tree is, you are all hat and no cattle. You are all leaves and no fruit. But yeah. Do you find it interesting? Look over in verse 25. Well, let's look in 24. We're getting in contact. Keep all the commandments and covenants by which you're bound, and I will cause the heavens to shake for your good, and Satan shall tremble, and Zion shall rejoice upon the hills and flourish, and Israel shall be saved in mine own due time. And by the

keys which I have given shall they be led, and no more be confounded at all. That's much of the same language Paul used in Romans 11, verse 26, where he just says, Israel will be saved. All Israel will be saved. All Israel will be saved. This is something President Nelson, of course, has hit over and over. Something we've talked about on the podcast is the idea of the Lord remembers the promises he made generations ago to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, whose name was changed to Israel. And he's going to keep those promises. You said Romans 11?

Romans 11, 26, where Paul says, and all Israel will be saved. That's a very interesting thought, you know? Jesus will say to all Israel, come home, in the hymn, right? I'm glad you pointed that out, because that is very much, like you said, Hank, that's a President Nelson theme is gathering. I think a theme today in our Come Follow Me lesson is, yes, this is the Lord's work. Yes, we are His tools, but He is really preparing the way. All people, He has a plan for and is going to use you if you want to be used in this work in an important way. Hank, I just thought maybe a nice way to, a nice verse to look at last, if we're ready for that, is verse 26. It's just so positive. Lift up your hearts and be glad

your redemption draweth nigh. There's a lot of church history that we look at. It's pretty hard, a lot of trials, a lot of work, a lot of leaving your family, doing missionary work, but the Lord always has a very positive way of saying things. And I, redemption draweth and I, redemption cometh, a minute I said, and lift up your hearts, be glad. Glad tidings, great joy. I love those phrases here. Yeah, that is beautiful. I've noticed in over and over, you point that out, John, in these sections that the Lord finishes very positively for a lot of these, a lot of these. There's always, can you not read these things and rejoice? Yeah, section 19.

Lift up your hearts and be glad. Well, that last verse, 27, to me, it's you're going through some difficult times. You're going to go through some tough times, but I'm coming. I'm coming. You won't have to do this forever. Fear not, little flock. The idea of I'm your shepherd, right? I'm coming. I'm coming. You won't have to do this forever. Fear not, little flock. The idea of I'm your shepherd, right? I'm coming. Bob, Dr. Millett, you're a scholar in every sense of the word. You have, I mean, just prolific.

And it's okay that we gush a little bit here. John and I, I mean, when I think I told before you came on, I think I said, you know, every religion department faculty member that wants to write a book wants a foreword from Robert Millett. He must have asked to do a foreword, you know, because it's almost a stamp of it's really a stamp of this book knows what it's talking about. Really, you've done incredible work. And I would say that you, like all the people we've talked about, have been called and raised up for this work. I would love to, just for a minute, if we could, get into personal feelings of Bob Millett. Here's someone who has studied this full-time for upwards now of five decades. You don't look that old, but upwards now of five decades

as a teacher of the gospel. Longer than a lot of our listeners have been alive, you have been doing this. How do you respond to those who maybe are going through a bit of a faith crisis or are fearful to learn too much because they don't want to go through it. An experience. During one of our interfaith meetings, I think we were in Washington, D.C., the group of Latter-day Saints and evangelical scholars came together. And it was just before Richard Bushman's book came out. Rough Stone Rolling.

Rough Stone Rolling came out. And Richard was with us, and we asked Richard to make a presentation of his book. It wasn't out yet, but he was going to talk about it to this group, most of whom were a large group, by the way, many more than were in our dialogue group. But a number of evangelical people were there. And Richard stood up, and his opening line was this. He said, may I ask, is Joseph Smith an impossibility for you? Just a dead silence. Richard said, maybe you didn't hear my question.

Is Joseph Smith an impossibility for you? One of their very prominent historians spoke up and said, well, Dick, no, he's not an impossibility. We know God can reveal himself that way. He said, we don't necessarily believe that happened to Joseph Smith. But, you know, we know those things happen spiritually. They went on and talked some more. And one of their number cried out, well, Bob, I was kind of conducting the meeting, Bob, you have to understand, we take the Savior's words very seriously when he

says, beware of false prophets. And I said, and you should, and we should. I said, nobody wants to be deceived. I said, but one day, maybe you might consider taking seriously the very next verse in the Sermon on the Mount. What's that? By their fruits you shall know them. I said, and I think one of the important questions is, how could Joseph Smith pull this off? How could he do it? That same historian, I was at a conference a couple of years later.

He was there. I wasn't talking to him. I was two rows behind him. I had made a presentation. I'd made a presentation at a conference a couple of years later. He was there. I wasn't talking to him. I was two rows behind him. I had made a presentation. I'd made a presentation at this conference. And I'm sitting there. We're waiting for the meeting to start. And this fellow by the historian said, hey, what do you make of Millett's presentation?

And he said, well, it was kind of interesting. And the guy says, what do you make of these Mormons? And this very prominent historian said, well, I'm not ready to accept gold plates or even the first vision yet, but the Mormon community haunts me. He said it again, the Christian nature, the Christianity within the Mormon community haunts me. He said it again, the Christian nature, the Christianity within the Mormon community haunts me. Now, that's a long way of saying this for me. It's important to know the history. It's very important to know the backgrounds. It's important to know what was going on when. And I salute all the historians. I only wish I had more training

in history. Now, having said that, the way to judge Joseph Smith that we haven't given enough emphasis to is what came from him. The Latter-day Saint community are very Christian, he said. Now, why is that the case? Because what you believe affects what you do. What you profess affects how you act. And so, for me, the greatest treasure from Joseph Smith is the doctrine that came from him, the doctrine that derives from this simple plowboy that became a prophet. And I think maybe sometimes we haven't stepped back enough and just asked, how could someone like this have come up with this on his own? No one claims for Joseph Smith that has any sense or knows any history that he was a perfect man, because he certainly didn't claim it. But you know what? God certainly worked through him. I mean, I feel regularly like Brigham Young, who said, I feel like shouting hallelujah when I think I ever knew Joseph Smith, the prophet. One of the sayings that Joseph

uttered that to me is so powerful is this. Do you remember the occasion in the New Testament when Mark's gospel gives us best, I think, where they're in the boat, they're on the Sea of Galilee, the storm comes up. Jesus is asleep. And, of course, someone, they cry out, saying, Master, carest thou not that we perish? Jesus stills the storm. And then what do they say? What manner of man is this,

that even the storms and the winds respond to him? Well, in much less way. We worship Jesus Christ, we worship God the Father, and we do not worship Joseph Smith. But I'll tell you what, I hear sayings like this, and they move me. When Joseph said, It is my meditation all the day, and more than my meat and drink to know how I shall make the saints of God comprehend the visions that roll like an overflowing surge before my mind. And I say, what manner of man is that? That's my thought.

Wow. John, again, how does this happen every time? I'm so full. I just don't want it to stop. Dr. Millett, thank you. Thank you so much for your time and not just the time here on the podcast, but your time being a mentor to people like John and me and to so many others, thousands of students. I just, I at least want to give them a public thank you for all that you've done. My pleasure to be with you. It's been fun. Yeah. We'll have to do it again.

We'll have to do it again. We're grateful for you, our listeners. Thank you so much for spending time with us out of your busy schedules. We hope that this is blessing your life. We hope you'll find us on social media, on Instagram and on Facebook. Come to our website, follow him.co follow him.co, uh, for show notes. We're grateful for our producers, Steven, Shannon Sorenson. Uh, we're grateful for our production crew, David Perry and Lisa spice and our, uh, social media expert, Jamie Nelson. Uh, until we meet again, my friends come join us on our next episode of follow him.