followHIM - Doctrine & Covenants 88 Part 2 : Dr. Anthony Sweat

Episode Date: August 8, 2021

Can you explain the importance of baptism or marriage in one sentence? Can you describe the significance of the temple endowment in one sentence? Understanding  the temple endowment can be more complicated. Still, Dr. Anthony Sweat continues shares how the School of the Prophets enabled the Savior to reveal Himself to a company of endowed priests and priestesses and teaches the purpose of the endowment--a purpose you can share in a sentence!Shownotes: https://followhim.co/ Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/followhimpodcastInstagram: https://www.instagram.com/followhimpodcastYouTube: https://www.youtube.com/c/FollowHimOfficialChannel"Let Zion in Her Beauty Rise" by Marshall McDonaldhttps://www.marshallmcdonaldmusic.com/products/let-zion-in-her-beauty-rise-pianoPlease rate and review the podcast.

Welcome to part two of this week's podcast. I'm excited. You seem to enjoy this School of the Prophets. You may have mentioned it before in the podcast. I don't know if I do or not. I maybe enjoy it so much because like, you know, like everything, everything we write is autobiography, really. And, you know, John, you mentioned the Holy Invitation. I wrote that book because I sensed a large number of young people were not grasping the endowment. As you could take the average Latter-day Saint and say, in one sentence, give me the purpose of baptism. And they could do it pretty well. In one sentence, give me the purpose of the sacrament, they could summarize it well. In one sentence, even give me the purpose of an eternal marriage,

and they could summarize it well. But if you say in one sentence, give me the purpose of the endowment, the answers start to become nebulous, and they they shift and they're not very clean and they hem and they haw. And they come with general answers like, oh, it's a gift. And you say, a gift of what? They'll say, a gift of knowledge. Well, a gift of knowledge of what? A gift of knowledge of God for what? They just don't know.

So one of the reasons why I'm so passionate about this is because I actually think Section 88 unlocks the endowment for us. I think it gives us a key to understand what the Holy Temple is trying to do and what the endowment is all about, which is why I wrote that book, The Holy Invitation, The Holy Invitation, because this at this time in church history is where this invitation is extended. And understand that we have to back up a little bit to the June 1831 conference of the church that that, you know, you've talked about it in your podcast where the Lord says, hey, I want everybody to gather to Ohio. And if you, in section 38, if you will gather to Ohio, I will endow you with power from on high. That's section 38, verse 32. And when they get to Ohio in the summer of 1831 at the June 1831

conference, they get there to receive an endowment. The first endowment in this dispensation was not in the Kirtland Temple. It was not in the Nauvoo Temple. The first endowment was on the Isaac Morley farmhouse right outside of Kirtland, Ohio, in a little log cabin where about 60 men had gathered together, in the words of John Corll, quote, that they might receive an endowment. I would say that a broader definition of endowment is to receive a power or a capacity. So the question is, what great power and capacity was God trying to give these elders who gathered on the Morley farm in June of 1831? Well, he was trying to give them the great power and capacity of ancient high

priests, people like Enoch and like Melchizedek and like Isaiah and like the brother of Jared. This is where Joseph's translation of the Bible ties in. Joseph had been translating in Genesis 14. Joseph learned about great high priests who could divide the seas and put at defiance the armies of nations and break apart mountains. He had translated about enoch um he had you know and he had learned that melchizedek was a great high priest and what joseph wanted to do at the june 1831 conference is give these elders help them become high priests now when i say high priest we think

ecclesiastically in the church we think of like stake presidents and bishops and that isn't after the June 1831 conference, Joseph will start to use high priests to preside. But the theological line, the doctrinal line finds its fruition in the temple today. How do I make people get power and capacity to become great high priests, and then Joseph will extend it to women and priestesses unto God. That is what's happening at the June 1831 conference. And Joseph promises them that, let me read, Joseph says at the June 1831 conference, quote, not three days should pass away before some should see the Savior face to face, end of quote. Levi Hancock said at the June 1831 conference, Joseph simply promised them, quote, you shall see the Lord at this conference. And I mean, you guys, could you imagine being

invited to a conference, promised that within three days, if you live pure enough and sanctified enough, that you'll have the power and capacity to rend the veil and see God face to face? I mean, that's what's happening at the June 1831 conference. And some of them do. Harvey Whitlock, Lyman White, they leave recollections that at the June 1831 conference, they did experience power. They did have the heavens parted. Some of them did say that they saw God. Most of them failed, however, at it. Like I'm sure you and I would if we were at that conference. At least I know I would. And the reason why I'm setting all this up is because this is what Joseph and the Lord through his prophet is going to work on.

You guys grasp this if I can try to say it clearly. How do I create a nation of priests and priestesses who have power in their life, heavenly power, who can understand God, know God, know his ways, know his will, that they can bring about his purposes, that they can perform miracles, that they can build the kingdom. How do I create those kind of women and men? And that is what the school of the prophets is going to try to help instigate that is going to be started in section 88 so did i make that connection clear enough about what's yeah i think so and not and not only how do i make them how do they how do i get them to choose it yeah right because i can't righteousness isn't righteousness if it's forced

exactly i've got to persuade you to choose this so let me back up just a little bit more go to section 67 of your doctrine and covenants because this will make a tie-in to section 88 we often only read section 67 in the context of publishing the book of commandments so if you look at the heading of section 67 this is given in november of 1831 so what five months have passed since the june 1831 conference largely these are the same group of elders who were trying to receive the power and capacity of great high priests endowment at the june 1831 conference go to section 67. It's now November of 31. Look at verse 3.

The blessing which was offered to you. He endeavored to receive the blessing which was offered unto you. What blessing was offered? It was the blessing of endowment. It was the blessing of knowing God, having the heavens opened, having his mysteries revealed. But verily I say unto you, there were fears in your hearts. And verily this is the reason you did not receive. Now jump over to verse 10 in section 67.

And again, verily I say unto you that it is your privilege and a promise I give unto you. I would highlight that line because you're going to see it in section 88. A promise I give unto you that have been ordained unto this ministry. Their ordination was to become great high priests. That in as much as you strip yourselves from jealousies and fears and humble yourselves before me, for you are not sufficiently humble. The veil shall be rent and you shall see me and know that I am. Not with the carnal, neither natural mind, but with the spiritual.

You cannot be carnal and have endowment in your life. Have great power and capacity. Verse 12. A natural man cannot abide the presence of God. Verse 13. You are not able to abide the presence of God now. Neither the ministering of angels. Wherefore, continue in patience until you are

perfected, until you're ready. You've got to work at this. Let not your minds turn back. And when ye are worthy in my own due time, ye shall see and know that which was conferred upon you by the hands of my servant, Joseph Smith, Jr. Amen. That which was conferred upon you by the hands of my servant, Joseph Smith, Jr. Amen. That which was conferred upon them was to become great high priests and to have the power and capacity of endowment. Isn't that awesome, that context? Now flip, now go to section 88 with that context. As you guys are flipping there, Joseph said after, you know, Joseph says this in October of 1831, could we all come together with one heart and one mind and perfect faith? The veil might as well be rent today as next week or any other time. If we will but cleanse ourselves and covenant before God, it is our privilege. You got to be

pure. You got to be covenant people in order to have endowment happen. So now go to section 88 and look at the fruition of this. Go to verse 68. you know when you walk into schools and they have like a motto that's up there like you know so and so elementary our mission statement is to well i like to call verse 68 the mission statement or the motto for the school of the prophets. Verse 68, therefore sanctify yourselves, in other words, become more pure and clean and holy, that your minds become single to God. And then look at this, and the days will come that you shall see him, for he will unveil his face unto you, and it shall be in his own time and in his own way and according to his own will. Now, I want to make a caveat. There are many ways that God

manifests himself to us. This doesn't have to be a literal physical appearance, but the promise is there that God will unveil himself to you. Now look at 69. Remember the great and last promise which I have made unto you. So he ties in that promise. You have to tie in section 67 verse 3 there, and you have to tie in the June 1831 conference to understand the great promise. And if I could put it in my own language, the great and last promise is the promise that you can be endowed with high priestly heavenly power

in your life to come into the presence of God, to know him, to know his will, to have revelation, to be guided and to be one with him and to receive a fullness of his blessings. That's the promise. Do you see why I'm geeking out about this? Do you see why I get so excited about it? Yes. awesome. Thank you so much. And then also flip over to verse 74 and 75, right in the middle of 74. Sanctify yourselves. I'm in the middle of 74.

Sanctify yourselves. Purify your hearts. Cleanse your hands and your feet before me that I may make you clean, that I may testify unto your Father clean before God and we've got a covenant with God. So I know that we're used to talking about the school of the prophets almost like a glorified missionary training center. And I think that's an appropriate way to look at it. But a higher way to look at it is that God is trying, he's going to make a school of prophets, a school of Melchizedeks and Eneks and Noahs and Adams, a school of Moseses that can have the same revelatory power and capacity and miracles in their life, and to try to get them to achieve this.

And then he's going to lay out patterns of living or an order of living so that you can live this ancient high priestly order in your life. It's just awesome to me to see it. Hey, Tony, I know my own kids, when we get to verse 69, they're going to say, does God not want us to laugh, right? Your excess of laughter far from you. Can you clarify what that means? There's a great cross reference to first

peter four that's uh where peter is talking about you know you used to live this way i want you to be a saint and he says uh when you walked in lasciviousness lust excess of wine revelings and abominable idolatries that's different than having a laugh no i agree i mean you guys kick off this podcast with with we love to learn we love to laugh you know yeah um you have to remember in context here the lord is trying to get rid of light-mindedness a flippant, a low, a base, a telestial way of living, a way that's like just crude, crass, careless, light about things that shouldn't be made light of. Or we all know that there are times when things get really sacred, for example. There's just a general heavenly sense that it's not the right time to be flippant and jokey.

And so I think the Lord seems to be saying, have an appropriate humor in an appropriate way at the appropriate time. It's not saying don't enjoy life and have a good sense of humor. I think that is of God, but it's in the right way in the right time. Well, you just made a little sermon there, Tony. Crude, crass, and careless. Hey, triple C, baby. Yeah, crude, crass, and careless.

I'm going to use that because that's humor that has a bad aftertaste, I call it. Crude, crass, and careless. Sorry, John, what were you going to say? No, I think that I have been, and I bet you have too, Hank. I've been to, and probably you too, Tony, you've been at a youth conference or something. And I remember one time, I will never forget it. There was just, I don't even remember who was speaking. It was like the last talk, a testimony meeting. And it was a great, there was a wonderful spirit in the chapel and they sat down and nobody wanted to leave. There was, and the crazy thing that happened was

somebody gave the thumbs up to the people in the gymnasium to start the dance. And all of a sudden in the gym, we started hearing the boom, boom, boom, boom, boom. And you could see a pained look on the teenagers in the room as, as some, it was just dances aren't evil, but it was not the same spirit that was in the chapel. And there's, uh, what you said about just kind of a time and a place and appropriate. And there were some, I stayed in the chapel with a bunch of kids that just wanted to stay in there and talk about wonderful things. And I was delighted to miss the dance and to stay with them. And I bet you've both seen that sort of thing happen where a different spirit just came and that's where you would not want the excess of laughter. And we just sat and talked about wonderful things in the chapel.

And it was the best part of the youth conference was not the dance. I love that. It was that we just sat there on the pews and talked about the gospel and our testimonies for hours. One time when I was young in my seminary teaching days, when I was learning how to become an educator, one of the harshest rebukes I received from a supervisor, and I'm glad he did, was at the end of a class, he said to me, he said, Sweat, you know what? You want to know why your class is missing a certain level of power? And I said, why? And he goes, because you're too consistently trying to be funny the whole time. And then he said, you're too light. And you're treating some sacred things too flippantly and too carelessly.

And that rebuke stung. I'm going to be honest with you. I bristled a little bit. But as I reflected on it over the next number of days, I found that he was right. And don't get me wrong. Again, this is the balance. Have fun. Enjoy life.

Have appropriate humor. But there's the right time and there's the right place. And one time Joseph himself wrote a letter and he said, our solemn assemblies. I mean, this section tells them to call a solemn assembly. And that very word means it's time to get serious. It's time to get sacred. And Joseph said, sometimes our solemn assemblies have been too light, too vain, and too trifling were the words that Joseph used in the context of that. I remember President Hinckley saying,

in all of living, have much fun and laughter, right? Remember he said that? And with both of you, I have laughed. Just in our conversations, I have laughed. And I felt so good about that because it's never been crude, crass, or careless. And never been in a in a setting where we needed to to kind of bring our our minds into a spiritual focus it's been in just you know we go out to dinner and we have and you can feel the spirit of friendship and uh and there's a there's a purity there so yeah i just i thought we'd catch that verse just real quick tony just making sure that you know yeah all laughter is bad excess of laughter is the idea of don't take anything seriously i'm really gonna use this crude crass and careless i'm gonna use this a lot you go buddy i remember reading something i think it

was in the stephen robinson and dean Dean Garrett commentary where they pointed out excessive laughter here. All laughter in this same section in verse 21. But this is talking about more of now you're in the temple. Organize a house of, you know. And it's the idea of a time and a place and i really appreciate something truman madsen did once where he talked about differentiating light-heartedness from light-mindedness and that was that was helpful as well and all three of us know that i've used humor in my classes sometimes as a learning hook but then there are times when it would be inappropriate to use it,

where there is genuine interest in a wonderful topic. You don't need it. You don't need it. Because people are locked in and they're listening in the spirits there, and then it wouldn't be right. And I think we've all experienced that. Yeah. And I'll tie into into this you could add verse 121 there you know hank you read verse um that's 69 you had 69 jump over from and i'll come back to these 121 cease from all your light speeches and it's all laughter there. And all laughter in context of this, your lustful desires, your pride, your light-mindedness, your wicked doings. He seems to be classifying it that type of laughter and inappropriate humor there. Both of you are masters of this though, of the right

type of humor, of humor that just helps us enjoy life and the beauties of it and the follies of it but then balancing that with keep keeping holy things holy at the right time and place oh i hope so or i'm in so much trouble me too okay verse 117 is the shift verily i I say unto you, my friends, call your solemn assembly. Verse 119. So this sacred, I want you to call a sacred meeting. Organize yourself in 119. Prepare every needful thing and establish a house, even a house of prayer, a house of

fasting, a house of faith, a house of learning, a house of glory, a house of order, a house of God. That is the command there. So the Lord says, all right, the Morley farm was great, that little schoolhouse. But if we're going to endow people, I want solemn places, solemn rooms, solemn assemblies in a house of God. And listen to this letter, back to the letter that Joseph writes W. W. Phelps, just on January 11th, a few weeks after this, he writes W. W. Phelps, the Lord commanded us in Kirtland to build a house of God and establish a school for the prophets. This is the word of the Lord unto us and then just listen to Joseph's humility and we must yea the Lord helping us we will obey as on conditions of our obedience he has promised us great things yea even a visit from the heavens to honor us with his presence

we greatly fear before the Lord lest we should fail of this great honor, which our master proposes to confer upon us. We are seeking for humility and great faith, lest we be ashamed in his presence. End of quote. And that's the context. So let me just try to say this clearly. The modern day school of the prophets is the Holy Temple. That is where the Lord calls us to solemn assemblies. And he tries to teach us patterns and orders and celestial laws and ways of living to achieve the power of endowment in our life. Do not confuse the presentation of the endowment with the power

of endowment. The presentation of the endowment is a ceremony. It's a dress rehearsal. It's a ritual trying to teach concepts so that we can achieve endowment in our lives. Don't confuse the two. There's a difference between the presentation and the power. In these early years in Kirtland, God is trying to communicate how to get the power of God in your life, how to live a celestial way to receive a fullness of his blessings. Later in Nauvoo, it will get packaged, all these concepts will get packaged into a presentation. But those are two different things. I would be so bold as to say, you can participate in the ceremony of the endowment

and never be endowed with power in your life. Interesting. So, how do we get endowed with power? Well, notice what the Lord starts laying out. How do we achieve the great promise to become great high priests and priestesses? See if this doesn't ring a bell to people. Go to verse 121. Get rid of your light speeches, your laughter.

We already talked. So get rid of light speech and inappropriate laughter. Get rid of all your lustful desires what do we call the law in the church that tries to get you and i to control our lustful desires we call that the law of chastity so live the law of chastity get rid of your pride and light-mindedness get rid of all your wicked doings. In other words, learn how to be obedient. Look at verse 123. See that you love one another. Cease to be covetous. Learn to impart to one another as the gospel requires. What do we call the law in the church that tries to get you and I to love our neighbor as ourselves and to impart of what we've been given. That's called the law of consecration.

I mean, the Lord, and then we can keep going. Look at verse 138. Don't receive anybody into this school unless they're clean from the blood of this generation. How do we get clean from the blood of this generation? Well, we get received by the ordinance of the washing of the feet. For unto this end was the ordinance of the washing of the feet. For unto this end was the ordinance of the washing of the feet instituted. Joseph will, when the school is organized, he will wash the members' feet in remembrance of how the Savior washed his apostles' feet.

But they will then later extend this washing into a whole body washing. When the Kirtland Temple will be built in 1836, they will wash their entire bodies as well. So you guys, look at this pattern. Wow. You want to come into the presence of the Lord. You want to get his power in your life. You want him to unveil his face, give you his mysteries, reveal himself. Well, so you call a solemn assembly in a holy temple.

You commit to getting rid of inappropriate speech and light-mindedness. You covenant to live the law of obedience, the law of chastity, and the law of consecration. And you try to become clean from the blood of this generation through a ceremonial washing that will induct you or initiate you into this school of future high priests and priestesses. This is laying the foundation for the Holy Temple today. Sometimes I hear people say, if you want to understand the endowment, study the Old Testament. I think that can help, but I would say if you want to understand the endowment, study the Doctrine and Covenants, because in the pages of the Doctrine and Covenants,

the Lord reveals the purposes and procedures of the endowment bit by bit, line upon line. And section 88 is a major one of those. That's awesome. Isn't that so cool to see that? It's right there. I mean, yeah. But I didn't see it until you started pointing out those phrases. And I want to say too, like when we read verse 119, where it

says establish a house, even a house of order, we kind of sometimes interpret that as a house of organization or a house of neatness. I want to give another definition that's appropriate, but another definition is a house of a type of person. So all of you Harry Potter fans out there, you know about like Harry Potter and the Order of Phoenix. Meaning an order is also a select group of individuals or a type of person. So the Lord is not only going to establish a house that has order, he's going to establish a house to institute an order. And the order that he wants to institute is what Joseph Smith calls the order of the son of God or the order of Melchizedek. It's the order of great high priests. Again, back to June 1831. I want to make you great

high priests like Melchizedek. So I'm going to initiate you into the order of Melchizedek or the order of the Son of God. When you go to the holy temple today, you are going to be washed and anointed ceremonially, sacredly, appropriately with chaste and it's solemn and it's sacred, but you're going to be initiated to say you can become part of this order. You are then, through a metaphor, you're going to enter a solemn meeting, a solemn assembly in a sacred temple, and you're going to be taught laws and patterns and ways of living that are Christ-like. And the church has published these five major laws. You can read them on temples.churchofjesuschrist.org.

You can also read them in the handbook of instructions under section 28, I believe. Five major laws of celestial living. Obedience. Sacrifice. The higher law of the gospel, Jesus' higher teachings as embodied in the Sermon on the Mount, the law of chastity, and the law of consecration. So when you become endowed, the Lord is trying to teach you, when you go through the ceremony, he's trying to say, to the degree that you can learn to pattern your life after these laws is the degree that you're going to learn to get the power of God in your life. And you'll grow in light and you'll grow in truth and you will metaphorically part veils and you will watch the plan of salvation be unfolded unto you like prophets have.

And you will come into my presence. It's all section 88 it's all school of the prophets as you were speaking i remember um when the veil is parted for the brother of jared uh elder holland spoke on that moment and i think it ties it well in here he said it was declared when the brother of jared did that that ordinary people with ordinary problems he said this is a man whose once best ideas were rocks a man who doesn't even have a typical name a man who forgot to pray and for once and all for all time it was declared that ordinary people with ordinary problems can rend the veil. And it seems like that's what the Lord is saying here in 88.

I want you here. I love that. That is what he's saying. And again, back to these laws that section eight sets up, you and I do not have to be perfect. We don't have to be otherworldly. We can be ordinary. As you said, Hank, the question is, what do we love? What do we strive? What do we want? Well, I want to be chaste. I want to be obedient. I want to sacrifice. I want to be consecrated. And I'm going to continue to work with that and strive for those things in my life. And hopefully we all do who are listening to this podcast. And I am convinced that as you strive and desire, God will work miracles through you. He'll unveil his face to you in his own way, in his own time.

He will manifest himself. He'll give you mysteries, meaning you'll understand God. You'll understand his purposes, his ways. You'll get power in your life to perform miracles. I just know that's true. I like also in these verses, Tony, and then John, I'll hand it over to you. I like also in these verses, Tony, the idea that we need each other, right? As all, he says in 118, as all have not faith, you know, seek ye diligently and teach one another. He says that again in 122, appoint among yourselves a teacher. Don't let everybody speak at once, speak one at a time that you all may be edified out of all verse one 23, see that you love one another, um, close yourselves

in the bond of charity, uh, that I don't know about you both, but as we're being, as this is recorded, we're just coming out of COVID getting back to church. And I, it was like, for me personally, it was like a, it was like drinking fresh water, being back with, being back with my ward family. I actually, when I'm having in-person classes, I actually put up verse 122, like, this is how we're going to do class, you know? I've been appointed your teacher, but I'd like everybody to have a chance to speak and, and that we all want to edify each other is so I love 122, but I was going to ask, I don't want to unfairly characterize, um, other, other faiths or denominations,

but I just think it's so wonderful. For me, part of my testimony is this idea that the temple was so important in the New Testament. And now in the restoration, here's the temple, and then there's another and another, and we get kicked out of, we don't even build the one in Missouri, but keep getting kicked out and Brigham Young comes into the valley first day, puts his cane down and says, here, we build the temple. And the prop guy put a stick and a rock there for Wilford Woodruff to, you know, if you're watching the movie, it's really convenient. He just, oh, here's something. He's like, oh, here it is. Let me just whack that in. Kind of, yeah. He kind of marks the spot. But I'd the idea of as part of the restoration, what happened to temples?

And I hope I'm not being unfair, but look at how important temples are in the restoration. And the other thing I was going to add is I love the Joseph Smith statement that why did the Lord command us to gather the Jews? I think he said the Jews or the house of Israel in any age of the world. And what was the purpose? To build a temple, because there are certain things that God wants to give us, I'm paraphrasing, that have to be built in a house for that purpose. Am I getting that right? Yeah. Yeah. And I just thought of President Nelson's quote, the temple is the object of every activity,

every lesson, every progressive step in the church. All our efforts in the church lead to the holy temple. Like from the beginning, the temple was central. And it's to me, one of the signs of the fruits of the restoration of the church is that the temple is central. And Tony, maybe as someone would, I can hear a student asking me, I thought Christ was central. If you look closely enough, if you're careful, the Savior is throughout your endowment, right? He is throughout the temple. The temple is trying to teach you how to come unto Christ and be perfected in him, to quote Moroni 10. It is trying to say, live these celestial laws and ways and receive these ordinances and bind yourself and take his name upon you. As Elder Bednar said, in the temple, you more fully and completely

take upon you the name of Christ. Baptism points you to the temple. Our Savior is in and through every aspect, down to the clothing, down to the light, down to the rooms, down to the signs, the sacred symbols. um, uh, veil itself, the veil, um, that Christ is, we are trying to come under Christ and the temple is the house that allows us to put him, his name upon us fully.

Yeah. I don't think it would be overstating to say, if you want to come unto Christ as closely as possible as you can in this life, the temple is the, is the way to do it. Yeah. Amen to that. Amen. And can I, I mean, back to coming into Christ, I got to share with you just a little bit about what happens with when they organize this. By the way, we get the name School of the Prophets from verse 127. I lost it myself. There it is.

It's one. Yeah. 127. The order of the house prepared for the presidency of the School of the Prophets. So this is that January 3rd revelation. Like, okay, I just told you to call us all assembly and organize yourself together. Let me give you some instructions. They're going to call it the school of the prophets. And then here's a fun thing. In verse 130, when the teacher shows up first, he needs to be first. You got to be early,

be on time teacher. Verse 131, I want him to pray and offer himself up to God. But then, and when any, verse 132, when any shall come in after him, let the teacher arise and with uplifted hands to heaven. Joseph Smith will teach, by the way, and Zebedee Coltrane and others will leave records of this. He teaches the school of the prophets to pray with uplifted hands. As a matter of fact, verse 120, that your incomings may be in the name of the Lord, that your outgoings may be in the name of the Lord, that all your salutations may be in the name of the Lord with uplifted hands to the most high. So when anybody came to the school, there was a worthiness check. So let me jump to 132.

And when any shall come in after him, let the teacher arise, and with uplifted hands to heaven, ye, even directly salute his brother or brother with these words, Art thou a brother or a brother? And I salute you in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ, in token of remembrance of the everlasting covenant covenant in which covenant I receive you to fellowship and a determination that is fixed and movable and unchangeable to be your friend and brother through the grace of God in the bonds of love to walk in all the commandments of God blameless

in thanksgiving forever and ever amen and he that is found unworthy of this salutation shall not have place among you. For ye shall not suffer that my house shall be polluted by him. The reason I wanted to read this is from the very beginning, the Lord is establishing worthiness requirements to enter the school of the prophets or enter what I would call the modern day school of the prophets of the temple today. And it's a covenant based that you are willing to live the commandments, to love each other, to this covenant based living. Tony, I can hear the idea of like there has to be good feelings. Yeah. Between everyone in this. Exactly. Yeah. There's has to be good feelings between everyone in this.

Exactly. There's got to be good feelings between people. You've got to be each other's brothers and sisters and be in harmony with each other. And he that cometh in and is faithful before me, I'm in 135, and is a brother, or if they be a brethren, they shall salute the president or the teacher with uplifted hands to heaven and this same prayer and covenant or by saying amen in token of the same. So there is also this feeling of you need to be in harmony with each other. I don't want to say more than I can, but there are sometimes those who try to say, you know, Joseph Smith just ripped off the temple endowment from Freemasonry, for example. While there is an undoubted overlap between aspects of Freemasonry

and the presentation of the endowment, again, those are two different things, endowment and presentation of the endowment. The endowment has nothing to do with masonry. Now, the presentation, how these concepts are presented, there is overlap and there is connection. But Joseph is learning about the power of endowment, the covenants of endowment, the concepts of endowment, the principles of it, long before he ever becomes a Mason, long before he ever establishes the ceremony. He's learning about it line upon line, precept upon precept. And this is evidence of that. This is almost a decade before.

This is almost a decade before he does the presentation of the endowment in Nauvoo. The Lord's already, and this isn't the first time it's even been mentioned. No, he started back in June of 1831. Sometime in 29 to 30, Joseph visits with Michael or Adam on the banks of the Susquehanna and receives keys to detect true messengers of God from false ones. Joseph is learning principles of truth and error, light and darkness, coming into Christ, coming into God, living celestial ways, line upon line, precept upon precept, all trying to help us be endowed with power. He even hints it in 137, right? That this school of the prophets will be a tabernacle of the Holy Spirit to your edification.

The tabernacle of the Old Testament is a temple. I love it. I love it. And then I've got to read this story. Like, they're so... One of the things I love about these early saints is they are so obedient. They get this revelation in December and the first week of January. Joseph writes W.W. Phelps on January 11th.

And then at the end of January, they start the School of the Prophets. Within a month, they've got the school going. They are so obedient. They meet in the Newell K. Whitney store. You guys have both been there many times. They meet in that upper little room, you know, a dozen or so people. It's not very big. It's not very big. How did you get that many people in there? I know. Orson Hyde is appointed to be a teacher. One of the most sacred ones on one of the first days, as I mentioned, Joseph washes their feet. Frederick G. Williams washes Joseph's feet as a sign that he is committed to be Joseph's friend and brother.

They speak in tongues. The Lord pours out his spirit upon them. And then let me read you this from Zebedee Coltrane. It's a later recollection of Zebedee Coltrane, but he was there. Listen to what he says. Quote, at one of these meetings after the organization of the school, the school being organized on the 23rd of January, 1833, when we were all together, Joseph having given instructions, and while engaged in silent prayer, kneeling with our hands uplifted, each one praying in silence, no one whispered above his breath. A personage walked through the room from east to west, and Joseph asked if we saw him. I saw him, and I suppose the others did.

And Joseph answered, That is Jesus, the son of God, our elder brother. Afterward, Joseph told us to resume our former position in prayer, which we did. Another person came through. He was surrounded with a flame of fire. I experienced a sensation that it might destroy the tabernacle as it was consuming fire of great brightness. The prophet Joseph said, this was the father of our Lord Jesus Christ. And then Zebedee Coltrane says, I saw him. The prophet then said,

brethren, now you are prepared to be the apostles of Jesus Christ. For you have seen both the father and the son. End of quote. Powerful stuff. Powerful stuff. Powerful stuff. That's right there in that Newell K. Whitney store.

And that tiny little room. And there in that quote, Zebedee Coltrane says, you're now prepared to be apostles. That could hint towards quorum of the 12 apostles. Zebedee Coltrane has never a the Quorum of the Twelve, but it can also hint to little a apostle, meaning, like, why do we want our missionaries to be endowed before they go out into the world? Because again, we want our missionaries to be part of this sacred order.

We want our missionaries to have Christ's name upon them. We want our missionaries to be part of this sacred order. We want our missionaries to have Christ's name upon them. We want our missionaries to be promised to become great high priests and priestesses. We especially want our missionaries to know God's purposes, his patterns, his ways, his order that help people come unto Christ and be perfected. They want people to metaphorically know how to come into the presence of God and learn of him through things like obedience and sacrifice and consecration and chastity so that then they can go out and represent God to the world. They can knock on someone's door or message them or Zoom them or Facebook, chat them or FaceTime them and say, I know God. I know his purposes. I know his ways. I know his

patterns. The Holy Temple has taught them to me. And that will give them power and it'll help them lead other people to the temple to gain power in their life. It's so clear to me. And that will give them power and it'll help them lead other people to the temple to gain power in their life. I just, it's so clear to me. And that's why it, that's why it just pains me. Sorry, I shouldn't get emotional. It pains me when, for various reasons, people can't see this in the house of the Lord. We need to be better as parents, as teachers, as leaders. We need to understand the temple better.

We need to then teach our children better. So that then our children can come to the temple and find this power in their life and find the meaning in the temple. Otherwise, they do miss it and they do struggle with the temple and they do struggle sometimes with the endowment because we've never taught them these fundamental central purposes of what the Holy Temple is trying to do. And I just apologize for being emotional there, but for me, I have found so much meaning in studying these revelations from Joseph Smith and taking them to the temple and having aha moments to go, I see it. I see what

the endowment is trying to do through symbol and ceremony and allegory of how it's trying to teach me these things. And I just hope we can prepare people as, you know, as we're recording this, the church just announced they're rolling into phase three of temples opening back up. I hope we have a people that go back to the temple not only excited to be back in the holy house but excited to grasp what the endowment is trying to do as they participate in the modern day school the prophets today oh yeah it reminded me of our um discussion with uh with brother Mike Wilcox, where's your heart? Who has your heart? Yeah.

Because if the Lord has your heart, you're going to want to be in that temple. And Tony, what you said, what do we love? What do we strive? Did you say, what do we chase? I thought, what are we going after? Sounds right. What are we going after sounds right what are we going after yeah where is our heart i wanted to mention one thing as an insight and then john i'll hand it over to you um oftentimes you hear in the temple and you hear it here in section 88

the idea of becoming clean from the blood of this generation i was sitting with a, um, I was sitting in a meeting once where, uh, Dr. Stephen Covey, uh, who has since passed away was teaching from the scriptures. He talked about in there that, um, Joseph Smith long before anyone else has the idea of DNA passing on weaknesses and difficulties, you know, that we kind of inherit from our grandparents and our parents and how the temple can allow us to even cleanse ourselves or give us power to overcome our own DNA, to be cleansed from the blood of this generation.

I, that stuck with me. It stuck with me for so long, the blood and blood of this generation. That stuck with me. It stuck with me for so long. The blood and sins of this generation. Tony, I just thought it would be cool if you mentioned that we can ask people, give me in a sentence or two, what's the purpose of baptism? What's the purpose of the sacrament? After all of this, can we ask you, give us Tony's, put the endowment in a couple of sentences. Here's my one sentence summary. It's the power and capacity to come into the

presence of God and receive a fullness of his blessings. Period. That's what the endowment is trying to do. It's the power and capacity to come into the presence of God and receive a fullness of his blessings. You know, when I teach the Tower of Babel, I love to tell my students, I might even be right, but that it's like a counterfeit temple. It's we're going to force our way into God's presence on our terms. And Babel means God's gate. So that was their attempt to get Nimrod, the hunter, to kind of hunt down God. And the real temple though is, here's how God is inviting us into his presence on his terms. I like that, John, because the Tower of Babel is, here's how God is inviting us into his presence on his terms. I like that, John, because the Tower of Babel is, they're trying to build a tower to get to God.

And we sometimes look at the drawings and illustrations of this big circular stairway trying to get, no, the tower that gets us to God is a temple. I can understand, you know, if they're literally trying to build a scaffolding stairway up into the heavens, God would just laugh at that and say, well, that'll collapse after five stories. But the moment somebody, if we read the Tower of Babel as a temple, the moment someone starts to say, I'm going to subvert and pervert the laws and ordinances of exaltation. And I'm not going to abide by the law that is established for celestial ways of living to come into God's presence. God has no tolerance for that. I can see him getting really upset over that. Right. Not only am I not going to live it,

I'm going to teach others to not live it. Yeah. Yeah. Right. I'm going to, I'm going to take them with me. Tony, once again, you've been, uh, you've, you've opened our eyes to, uh, these, uh, another revelation. I would encourage anyone who is just getting started with the podcast, go back to our very first episode on section one. Uh, when we were, we, we had no clue what we were doing, right, John? I don't know if we do yet, but we were throwing this together and Tony just knocked it out of the park for us. And then back to our episode on section 29 with Tony. So please go back to those. Tony bears testimony twice in those episodes in just powerful, powerful terms. So at the end of this episode, Tony, let's talk about, let's talk about, um, Tony Sweat's view of,

of Joseph Smith, right. And, and what he has done. Um, tell me about him. What have you learned about him? What do you, what do you think about Joseph Smith and the restoration? You know, I, I appreciate you saying that Hank. I can't remember if on the last time I was on your podcast, I think I quoted Richard Bushman that says, you know, a religion that works must be taken seriously. And I love that line. And I talked about one of the reasons why I love the restoration is because it has it works for me it helps bring out the best of myself but what comes to mind as you ask that question right now you know I could talk about Joseph's character I could talk about Joseph's the greatness of his soul, his weaknesses and his strengths, his

unbounding love, his sometimes passionate temper. Joseph was human, just like all of us. He was quick to reprove, as we've seen here in section 88 with some of his letters to W. W. Phelps. And I love, by the way, I didn't say at the end of his letter to W. W. Phelps, he ends it with a postscript saying like, and you need to do a little bit better with what you're publishing in the evening and morning star otherwise the newspaper is going to fail um just a little side note Joseph was quick to rebuke um he he would reprove b times with sharpness. But then afterward, he would show an increase of love. Lest his brother esteemed him as his enemy. I could talk about all those things with Joseph.

But, you know, we've kind of talked a little bit as we ended the podcast here on about the temple. And when I think about the temple, I was at the temple before it closed, before COVID. I remember looking around at all these women and men in their ceremonial symbolic clothing to one day become great high priests and priestesses, talking about the potential of exaltation to become like God, for families to be bound with the same sociality that exists among us here, exists among us there. Looking at people finding such meaning and strength in the ordinances, this gathering

place. And I just remember thinking, man, if Joseph could see this, he would be like, this is awesome. Like, look what, look what, what i mean you get look look how hard it is just even you guys have created a great podcast could you imagine creating a religion that millions and millions and millions of people over hundreds and hundreds and hundreds of years find the most profound depth and meaning in and I just looked at that in the temple going, how did this come about if it was not God-inspired, this rejoicing in the house of the Lord? Even as

much as I revere Moses, sometimes Joseph Smith is called the modern Moses. I know we call that to Brigham, but the Lord likens Moses to Joseph because what was Moses trying to do? Well, Moses was trying to create a nation of priests and his people weren't ready. And I'm convinced if Moses showed up today and looked at a modern day temple endowment session, he'd say to Joseph, my goodness, Joseph, you have created a nation of priests and priestesses. And Joseph would be like, I know. Isn't it a miracle? And Moses, Tony, Moses had 120 years. Joseph had 38.

Yeah. He's a kid. I can't hit that enough. He is a kid. He is. I mean, again, he's 27 years old as he's revealing these things. And I go to the temple and I find so much meaning in it, in its ordinances, in its promises, in its rituals, in its symbols. And I just can't help but see the finger of God just written through the whole thing. And when I think of, you know, I think of things like, you know, Hank, you mentioned, where is Christ in the temple? He's everywhere. And that's just one of the things about the temple, about the restoration, about Joseph. I am a more chaste person. I'm a more consecrated person. I'm a more obedient person.

I strive to live the higher law of the gospel. I strive to sacrifice because of my love of Jesus, but because of the Jesus that the restoration has made him so big to me and it's helped me grasp him so much better. You know, it's almost like the restoration, the revelations of Joseph are like a magnifying glass to Jesus. You know, I can see him on a certain level, but the restoration and the revelations of the restoration just magnify him and therefore magnify me. And so because of that, I just, you know, I just want the, you know, I'm looking out my window and looking at the mountains here. I just want to climb up on this mountaintop and shout to the world that the Joseph Smith is a prophet of God. And where can we find his match? You know, where can we see somebody who was like him?

Surely we don't see his match in the last few hundred years. And there's probably Joseph ranks among a handful of people, of great religious leaders to mobilize and marshal and find meaning in the purpose of life. So I just love Joseph. I love him as a prophet. I love the restoration because of how it's magnified God to me and his son and the purpose of life. And I see that when I go to the Holy temple and I hope your listeners do as well. Tony section 88 to me is, is changed.

It's transformed. I hope, I hope everyone, when you listen to our podcast, I hope you don't just listen to the podcast and be, and that's it because there's so much more in these sections that we don't get to cover. I hope it's spurring you. And I think John, you'd say the same thing. I hope listening to this is spurring you to sit down with your doctrine and covenants and, and find, you know, find your own. And if any of your listeners out there are struggling over valid things, things we worry

about, things we think about. But again, if you want to get to the root of these sections, like Hank is saying, you know, obviously, number one, sit down and read the Book of Mormon and ask yourself, where did it come from? sections like 76 and 84 and 88 and 93, 121, 122. And just ask yourself, where are these concepts, these words, these ideas, these doctrines, these ordinances, these exalting principles, where are they coming from? And you basically have two options. One is that Joseph Smith is just a religious genius, or two, they are being revealed from on high from God through his chosen servant in these last days. So I hope, as Hank's saying, you don't just listen to what

I might say or Hank or John or any other guests that are on here, you get in here and just marinate in these words and let the spirit of them marinate on you. And just embed themselves into your life and mind and character. Yeah, I think there's something sacred about finding somewhere quiet and sitting down and reading section 88 slowly, carefully that there that's a sacred experience, uh, all by itself. I can't tell you how many countless times I've read this section and just preparing for this podcast. I read it last night again, and I read it this morning again. And as I read it last night, I just was like, you know,

I was totally not doing where it tells me to go to bed early i was sitting up at midnight reading it reading a section telling me to go to bed early but as i was reading it i was just blown away again like the power of this of this section it's the pen of heaven um it's yeah it, it's just absolutely, I don't know. There's not a word to describe it besides, I don't know, sublime, sacred. Yeah. It takes you to a new level. I don't want to get out of topic, but I feel the same way about the Pearl of Great Price.

Lots of, where did this come from? I mean, what was the papyrus? What was this? What was that? Just read it and go, whoa, where did this come from? Yeah. And I understand, you know, again, I sympathize with people who have various struggles and those are real and acknowledged, but sometimes we get caught up on minor details. You know, it's a little bit like looking at the mona lisa and noticing a brush stroke that seems a little awry and missing the greater painting or you know van gogh's starry

night and going like well you know this or this in the painting bothers me but don't overlook the fact that it's a masterpiece still and and there will be aspects i one time said to somebody you know someone said to me how do you explain this about Joseph? Or how do you reconcile that? And I said, I don't try to reconcile Joseph Smith. I just try to reconcile myself to God. You know, the scriptures tell us be reconciled to God, not be reconciled to Joseph. Joseph will have to work out his own salvation with fear and trembling before the Lord like we all will.

And so there are certain aspects or things that I'm like, yeah, that's difficult for me, or I don't know how to explain that, or I can't explain that brushstroke. But I do see the masterpiece in the overall canvas of the restoration that came through the artist of Joseph. Yeah. You imagine taking one of those pieces, seeing the brushstroke you just don't quite understand or don't like and tossing out the whole, the whole painting. What a tragedy in my mind. What a tragedy. Yeah. I love the, the Richard Bushman statement. I feel like the, the older I get, I think when I was young, I expected a testimony to be a feeling. And I think so much more now that I'm older, I'm just recognizing fruits all over the place.

And the way you said that, Tony, a religion that works must be taken seriously. I have seen it work for so many people and bless them and change them. And they are walking witnesses all around me of what it does for what a religion that works does for people. Yeah. I think Stephen Harper one time said, I think it was Steve, we not only need to show people that the church is true, we also need to show them that the church is good. And I like that line because, and one of the ways that we show people that the church is good is that the church produces good. And it doesn't mean that there aren't bad people in the church. It doesn't mean there aren't things that are wrong in the church. As we move forward in the ongoing restoration, things that still need to be rectified and revealed and clarified and fixed and errors that need to be made right. But, you know, that which edifies

is of God, as section 50 says. And watch the church edify you and watch it edify others as we learn to live these principles that are revealed in sections like 88. Because they bring us, they take bad to good and good to great and great to God, which is what I think it's trying to do for us and will do if we'll follow its ordinances and principles. I think all three of us, we watch these students come into our classrooms and sometimes just these delightful countenances and just faithful kids. And I feel something whisper, behold the fruits of the gospel right in front of you. Look at how unusual these young adults are. And they're just delightful and bright. And there it is right in front of me.

It's a testimony. Yep. Amen. Amen to that. And so many of those listening to this podcast, they are the very fruits. They're the very kind of people that show that the restoration is real. You know, young and old, it's a marvel to me. I think if you guys knew me back when I was in the 1900s, you would say the gospel is true.

Look what it took. It took that and turned it into that. I'm going for God's most improved. You might get the most improved player of the year award, but I might get the runner up right behind you. I can't remember if I said this before, and if you want to exit out, go ahead. But when I was a seminary student, when I was a teenager, I was not the best kid. You know, I say that I was more concerned with being cool than I was with being kind. You know, I was more centered on being an all-state basketball player than an all-state priesthood holder, all-state priesthood holder, as I should have been. And my seminary teacher called my mother and said, Sister Sweat, this is Brother So-and-so.

I don't know how to say this, but every time your son enters my class, the spirit leaves. And then later, oh, and he was probably right um when i uh later after my mission uh when i became a seminary teacher we were at a meeting and he saw me as a newly hired seminary teacher and he walked up to me and he goes tony sweatat, is that you? And I said, yes. And he hugged me and all he did, he just shook his head and just said, the church is true. The church is true. Oh, yeah, that's another fruit, right? It's another fruit of just what it's done to us. Well, we are all a work in progress and let's allow others,

including those who have gone before us in church history to be a work in progress, you know? Yeah. I'm a work in major progress. That spells wimp, but yeah. I want to finish today by quoting section 88, verse 133. You are both my friends and my brothers through the grace of God and the bonds of love. I hope people can sense that.

I feel the same way. It's such an honor to be with you again. Thanks for having me on your podcast again. I just love you both and so grateful for all the great work that you both do. Thank you for being my friends. Yeah. And we love you. Thank you. We want to thank Dr. Anthony Sweat, Tony, for being with us. We want to thank all of you for listening. We're grateful for your support. We want to thank our executive producers, the wonderful Steve and Shannon Sorenson. And we have a great production crew, don't we, John? People who are working behind the scenes on this that we've got to, oh, we feel like people come up to us.

I love your podcast. The podcast is helping so much. And that, you know, we've got this team that's doing all this work and no one's walking up to them and telling them. So, so we, we want to make sure that David Perry and Lisa spice and Jamie Nielsen and Kyle Nelson and Will Stoughton and Maria Hilton gets the love of, um, uh, the love that they deserve.

Uh, we love you and we're grateful for our team. We hope you will join us on our next episode of Follow Him.