followHIM - Matthew 11-12; Luke 11 Part 2 • Dr. John Hilton III • Mar. 13 - Mar. 19

Episode Date: March 8, 2023

Dr. John Hilton III examines Jesus Christ’s teaching about commandments, the Law, and the Atonement’s healing power.Teaching with the Chosen: https://johnhiltoniii.com/thechosen/“Seeking Jesus�� with John Hilton III: https://johnhiltoniii.com/seekingjesus/00:00 Part II– Dr. John Hilton III00:08 God is calling us to be like Him01:58 Jesus and Fence Laws about the Sabbath05:39 Parenting, Fence Laws, and Commandments07:44 John shares a story about shoveling snow on the Sabbath08:41 Dr. Hilton shares a story about his dad and a roommate10:27 Jesus heals a man’s hand on the Sabbath12:14 Dr. Hilton shares a story about his mission and a man bringing his family to church15:07 Jesus doesn’t ritually wash and calling out bad behavior18:28 Straining at a gnat20:07 Dr. Hilton shares a story about movies and Fence Laws23:19 Corianton and Alma26:09 The importance of following the prophet28:37 Dr. Hilton shares a personal story about flying lessons30:10 Jesus instructs the disciples about prayer36:11 Jesus instructs about idle words37:38 Dr. Hilton shares a story about his mission40:32 Dr. Hilton does a Dobby impression42:50 Comparisons between Jesus and Jonah47:50 Jesus and his mother and siblings51:11 Jesus helps us carry our heavy burdens52:28 Jesus and the The Founder of Our Peace: Christ-Centered Patterns for Easing Worry, Stress, and Fear57:57 End of Part II–Dr. John Hilton IIIShow Notes (English, French, Spanish, Portuguese): https://followhim.coFacebook: https://www.facebook.com/followhimpodcastInstagram: https://www.instagram.com/followhimpodcastYouTube: https://www.youtube.com/c/FollowHimOfficialChannelThanks to the followHIM team:Shannon Sorensen: Executive Producer, SponsorDavid & Verla Sorensen: SponsorsDr. Hank Smith: Co-hostJohn Bytheway: Co-hostDavid Perry: ProducerKyle Nelson: Marketing, SponsorLisa Spice: Client Relations, Editor, Show NotesJamie Neilson: Social Media, Graphic DesignWill Stoughton: Video EditorKrystal Roberts: Translation Team, English & French Transcripts, WebsiteAriel Cuadra: Spanish Transcripts"Let Zion in Her Beauty Rise" by Marshall McDonaldhttps://www.marshallmcdonaldmusic.com/products/let-zion-in-her-beauty-rise-piano

Welcome to part two with Dr. John Hilton, Matthew 11 and 12 and Luke 11. In the October 2022 General Conference, Elder Uchtdorf introduced the FSY guide like this. He said, it's also important to know what For the Strength of Youth does not do. It doesn't make decisions for you. It doesn't give you a yes or no about every choice you might ever face. For the Strength of Youth focuses on the foundation for your choices. It focuses on values, principles, and doctrine instead of every specific behavior. The Lord through his prophets has always been guiding us in that direction. He is pleading with us to increase our spiritual capacity to

receive revelation. He's inviting us to hear him. He is calling us to follow him in higher and holier ways. And we are learning in a similar way every week in Come Follow Me. And also, President Nelson, when your greatest desire is to let God prevail to be part of Israel, so many decisions become easier. So many issues become non-issues. You know how to best groom yourself. You know what to watch and read, where to spend your time and with whom to associate. You know what you want to accomplish. You know the kind of person you really want to become. Now, my dear brothers and sisters, it takes both faith and courage to let God prevail. It takes persistent, rigorous spiritual work to repent and put off the natural

man through the atonement of Jesus Christ. And that talk was October 2020. But those things help us realize, and they've added kind of a subtitle for the strength of youth. They want us to call it a guide for the strength of youth guide, a guide to making choices. Not here, we're going to make the choices for you, but this is a guide to help you make good choices. Not here, we're going to make the choices for you, but this is a guide to help you make good choices. Yeah. And to remember that Jesus Christ is the strength of youth. And if he's at the center of whatever these fences that we're inspired to create, then things are going to go well. So let's jump back into Matthew chapter 12 and see how the savior interacts with some of the Pharisees fence law. So this is right after his talk about the yoke chapter 12 and see how the savior interacts with some of the Pharisees fence law. So this is right after his talk about the yoke chapter 12, verse one. At that time, Jesus went on the Sabbath day

through the corn and the disciples were hungry and began to pluck the ears of corn and to eat. But when the Pharisees saw it, they said unto him, behold, thy disciples do that, which is not lawful to do on the Sabbath day. Now, just to be clear, there's nothing in the law of Moses that says you can't pluck some grain on the Sabbath. The commandment is don't work. But the question is, what does it mean to work? Like if I check my email on Sunday, is that working? If I tell my kids to do the dishes on Sunday, they tell me that is a clear violation of the Sabbath day. Do the dishes on Sunday, right? So what does this mean? And one of the fence laws that the Pharisees had put in place was you don't pluck grain on the Sabbath because that could lead you to the work of

harvesting. Okay. So they're breaking a fence law. Breaking a fence law. Jesus says, have you not read what David did when he was hungry and they that were with him, how he entered into the house of God and did eat the show bread, which was not lawful for him to eat, neither for them that were with him, but only for the priests. So that's the story we looked at last year in first Samuel 21, David was on the run. He was hungry and he ate the special bread that shouldn't have been eaten by the common person. So there was an exception. Jesus points it out. He continues, or have you not read in the law how on the Sabbath days, the priests in the temple profane the Sabbath and are blameless. But I say unto you that in this place is one greater than the temple. So in other words, sometimes you have exceptions to fence laws. This is one of them.

And then Jesus quotes from Hosea 6.6. He says, but if ye had known what this meaneth, I will have mercy and not sacrifice. That's Hosea 6.6. Ye would not have condemned the guiltless. For the Son of Man is Lord, even of the Sabbath day. Now that phrase from Hosea is really important. Just three chapters earlier in Matthew 9, Jesus was eating with sinners. I don't know if you remember this from a week or two ago. It says, when the Pharisees saw it, they said to the disciples, why eateth

your master with publicans and sinners? But when Jesus heard that, he said unto them, they that behold have not need of a physician, but they that are sick, but go and learn what this means. I will have mercy, not sacrifice. Again, Hosea 6.6, not to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance. So the idea of mercy, not sacrifice is really important to Jesus Christ. And when he says that he's referring sacrifice, there refers to the sacrificial offerings of the law of Moses. So Jesus is saying, I want you to prioritize mercy over rituals. He cared less about the strict observance of pharisaical fence laws, such as prohibitions against eating with sinners or plucking grain on the Sabbath. What he really wants is he wants us to be filled with mercy.

A similar passage we looked at last year, mercy Not Sacrifice, is Amos 5, 21-24. One translation of this verse says, the Lord speaking, I hate all your show and pretense, the hypocrisy of your religious festivals and solemn assemblies. I will not accept your burnt offerings and grain offerings. I won't even notice all your choice peace offerings. Away with your noisy hymns of praise. I will not listen to the music of your harps. Instead, I want to see a mighty flood of justice, endless rivers of righteous living. So, Hank, John, this idea of mercy, not sacrifice, what do you think this might look like today? How could

we be seeing similar situations that we're talking about from Matthew 9, Matthew 12, and the Savior's interaction with fence laws? I was thinking about how I, as a parent, I'm probably breaking the commandments in the way that I enforce my fence laws. I'm judging and condemning when one of my children hasn't actually broken a real commandment. Not that that would even merit that kind of reaction, but I think we can be harsher in the ways we try to teach and try to get our children to be obedient. And we're in that act of trying to make them obedient. We ourselves are breaking commandments of being kind and merciful and just.

And I think the Lord would come down and say, look, one of you did break commandments here. And it wasn't the kid. It was you. Although Hank's kids, I don't know if you listen to Follow Him podcast, but you should still do what your parents say. You should. Thank you, John.

Thank you. But here's a concrete example of this, Hank. I don't know what family scripture study is like with John and Hank at your guys' house. Probably there's special musical numbers and lots of reverence. And we're pretty good at our house, but sometimes people aren't paying attention or kids are wrestling. And there's been a time when I'm like, shut up, everyone, be quiet. We're trying to feel the Holy Ghost. Right, right. They were with the Holy Ghost. They were with the Holy Ghost. It wasn't their fault. The whole goal of this family scripture studies were trying to come closer to Jesus Christ. But like you were saying, my actions could totally negate that. Yeah.

And now I'm just trying to get obedience through force, which is- Yeah. Not what I wanted in the first place. I love that this is coming on the heels kind of, of Matthew 5, 6, and 7, the Sermon on the Mount, where everything that was so outward and observable in the law of Moses, like sacrifices, Jesus is making it higher and internal. What are the intents of your heart? And when the verse of mercy, not sacrifice, I think sacrifices of the law of Moses, here's these outward observable things. We had an occasion in my ward one time ago when we had a pretty substantial snowstorm.

And I remember going into priesthood meeting back when we used to have a three-hour block. And our bishop just got out the chalk and said, we have a lot of elderly folks in our ward who need their walk shovels. It was Sunday and we divided up everything on the chalkboard of who was going to go do what. And we all went home and got our snow shovels out on the Sabbath day, if you can imagine, and remove snow for all these folks so that they could get out of their houses the next day. It was such a beautiful lesson about which is more important. Well, we don't mind if these folks slip and break a hip

because at least we didn't break the Sabbath or this Bishop stewardship. He decided, no, this is more important. Let's gather all in here and let's do this. And I'll never forget that day of running home and putting on our blue jeans and getting our snow shovels on the Sabbath. So my dad generally is part of his worship of honoring the Sabbath day, didn't watch television. So that was a fence law that he created for himself to keep the Sabbath. When he was in college, he had a roommate that completely was not participating in church activities, but there was a certain TV show that this roommate loved and it was only on Sunday nights. So my dad started making some treats every Sunday night and would sit down and watch the TV show with his roommate.

And over time, they built a friendship and his roommate started coming back to church, got married in the temple. And to me, what you just shared, that's mercy, not sacrifice. I'm not so focused on the nitpicky rule. I'm seeing the big picture of loving God, loving my neighbor. That doesn't mean anything goes. That doesn't mean, well, yeah, all my friends are going to the beach today, so I better support them. We still have to be smart, but sometimes we can err on the sacrifice side. And Jesus is reminding us, be careful about that. Yeah. It reminds me of the story of Brigham Young. You both know where they had handcart pioneers that were stuck out in the snow and it was general conference. It says the next morning at Sunday morning services in the Bowery

in Salt Lake City, President Young announced with an urgency he said was dictated by the Holy Ghost. Many of our brothers and sisters are on the planes with hand carts and they must be brought here. Go and bring in those people now on the planes and attend strictly to those things which we call temporal. Otherwise, your faith will be in vain. Don't sit here and sing songs and talk about the gospel. Go live it right now. Leave and go. That was his general conference talk. And it says by the end of that October, 250 rescue teams were on the road. I'm going to live my beliefs here. It's interesting, Hank, John, those examples you shared were kind of around church communities and how they were balancing mercy, not sacrifice. So let's keep going in Matthew chapter 12, verse nine, because

right after the controversy of plucking grain on the Sabbath, there's another controversy. And by the way, both of these Matthew 12 controversies, great clips from the chosen. And again, I think it's really fun to watch these and then go into the scriptures. So Matthew 12, nine, it says when he was departed, thence he went into their synagogue. Behold, there was a man which had his hand withered and they asked him saying, is it lawful to heal on the Sabbath days that they might accuse him? And Jesus said to them, what man shall there be among you that shall have one sheep? If it fall into a pit on the Sabbath day, will he not lay hold on it and lift it out? How much then is a man better than a sheep? Wherefore it is lawful to do well on the Sabbath days. Then saith he to the man, stretch

forth thy hand. And he stretched it forth and it was restored whole like as the other. So to us, this whole story seems like common sense. Of course, it's good for Jesus to heal the man. Why is this even a question? But the fact that they're having a discussion about it suggests that there's some kind of fence laws that are in play. And is Jesus going to break them or not? In fact, just after this healing, we read that the Pharisees went out and held a council against him, how they might destroy him.

So they're clearly focused on the fence, not the mark. Do you feel the absurdity of this? He healed a man. You're not supposed to do that. But plotting to kill somebody on the Sabbath day, that's okay. It's so easy to point a finger at the Pharisees and say, boy, can you believe what they're doing? But I want to share a story where I'm involved, where we see something kind of similar with the church community. So I'm on my mission in Denver,

Colorado, and there's a man that we've baptized. He's married and he has three kids, but his wife and kids are not members of the church. They've never been to church. We're always telling Brian, invite your wife, invite your family. And on this one particular Sunday, my companion and I were speaking in church. So we really put the pressure on Brian. You've got to come. So it's that Sunday morning. I'm on the stand. Brian's not there. It's the opening hymn, opening prayer, sacrament hymn starts. He's still not in the room. And I started to get nervous because this word had a little tradition where I'd say it's a little fence law where during the sacrament, some of the teachers in the Aaronic priesthood would shut the chapel doors and they'd stand by the door. So people don't go in or out.

I think this is sort of like a little fence law to protect the sanctity of the sacrament, keep it a reverent atmosphere. So the sacraments being passed and I see Brian swing open the chapel door and he walks in with his wife and three kids. And I see the look on his face and he's so proud. It's yes, I did it. I made it to my new church. I'm here with my wife and kids. And I watched a 15 year old say to him, Hey, you can't be here. Now I know what the 15 year old meant was, okay, we've got a little fence slide. Can you just come back in, in two minutes? But Brian's confused. He doesn't, he doesn't know why this kid has said, don't be in here. So he turns around and he walks out. Now, what should I have done in that exact second? Jump off my seat, right? Get go, right. But could I break the fence slot? Could

I disrupt the sanctity of the sacrament? So in my mind, I'm like, okay, well, I'm just going to wait. I'm going to wait until the sacrament's over and we'll see what happens. So I wait, sacrament's over. Brian does not come back into the chapel. At that point, I did get up. We drove to his house, but it was too late. Brian said, I was humiliated. And he said, I will never come back to your church. And he didn't. I am not being critical of, I'm sure there was a great ward council that was thinking and praying, how do we help the sacrament be more reverent in our ward? And I was a missionary. I definitely should have known better. But sometimes we create these extra

structures that I think we could maybe liken that a little bit to the sacrifice, right? I'm so focused on God to have a reverent sacrament meeting that I missed the mark of mercy and love and outreach. So I do think that we can see these same kinds of things even today. Wow. What a story, John. Oh, that's painful. That's a gut punch. And to me, that's a reminder for me, like Hank, you've talked a lot about leading in the home as a parent. John, you've mentioned yourself as the elders quorum president or a bishop. So it's a reminder that whether it's at home or as we serve in local church callings, to be careful that we're really focused ourselves in helping those we serve

to be focused on the mark, loving God, keeping the commandments, and then focusing on Jesus Christ, as opposed to getting so tied up in these extra rules or fence laws or things we put in place that we missed the mark. So let's turn over to another example of Jesus interacting with fence laws. This one's in Luke 11. So we'll flip over to another chapter that's part of our Come Follow Me studies this week. So in Luke 11, verse 37, we read, a certain Pharisee besought Jesus to dine with him. And he went in and sat down to meet. And when the Pharisee saw it, he marveled that Jesus had not first washed before dinner.

So Jesus doesn't wash his hands and the Pharisees amazed. And just to be clear, we're not talking about good hygiene here. This is not like wash your hands, use sanitizer, don't double dip the chip. That's not what the Pharisees focused on. This was a fence law or some extra rules that had been put in place in order to do some

purification, some washings that weren't specified in the law of Moses for ordinary people to do, but had been added by later tradition. So the Pharisees surprised Jesus doesn't do this extra washing. And then Jesus says to him, you Pharisees clean the outside of the cup and of the dish, but inside you are full of greed and wickedness. You fools did not the one who made the outside make the inside also. So give as alms, those things that are within, and then everything will be clean for you. But woe to you Pharisees for you tithe mint and rue and herbs of all kinds and neglect justice and the love of God.

It is these you ought to have practiced without neglecting the others. That's a really powerful passage. There's lots to unpack there. Anything that you guys kind of want to start commenting on? only the outside of things like bowls and cups. You could then relate this to the need to be righteous, not just in our outward deeds, but in our inward thoughts and feelings. That's a good analogy. Even a kid wouldn't understand. Let's just watch the outside of that bowl, not the inside. This is the same way Jesus is going to say, you're like a whited sepulcher on the outside.

You're very clean on the inside. You're full of death and excess. It's like, oh, can you be any more plain? sepulcher. On the outside, you're very clean. On the inside, you're full of death and excess. It's like, oh, can you be any more plain? I don't know about you, but we talked earlier about video depictions of Jesus Christ. We don't usually see videos of Jesus saying these words. The video depictions we see of Christ are usually a lot, he's kind, doing loving acts. But this is a reminder that sometimes Jesus said some really hard things. The Savior's not afraid to call out bad behavior and say, this isn't right. Notice where he says, you tithe mints and all kinds of herbs and neglect justice and the love of God.

So again, kind of saying, I'm really focused on making sure I exactly obey the tiniest nitpicky rule, but then I forget about loving my neighbor. Strain at a gnat? Swallow a camel. And to be clear, you've been alluding to Matthew 23. Matthew 23 and Luke 11 have some similarities. So camels and gnats are both not kosher animals. You shouldn't eat either one, but why would you go to all this effort to strain out the gnat only to turn around and swallow the camel? John, talk about that some more. Talk about straining your water and what that is. Cause I think strain might sound like a muscle strain, but tell them what's really happening. Yeah. So what you're sharing, John, I've got a glass of water, but what if a gnat has accidentally fallen into my cup?

So I'm going to strain, I'll put it into a strainer to make sure that in case there's any gnats that have accidentally fallen in, I won't drink them. So I'm going to all that effort. There's a little comic I've seen, you know, where there's a guy has a tiny little gnat in his cup and the man next to him has a gigantic camel and he's eating camel soup. And he's like, there's a gnat in your soup. Why would you go to all this trouble to strain out the gnat if I'm going to turn around and have a camel steak? And I think it's interesting that Jesus says, these you ought to have practiced without neglecting the others. So he's not saying, hey, anything goes, do whatever you want. Both are important, but you're clearly missing the

emphasis. I'm focused on the nitpicky and neglecting what's really important. The outward and observable rather than the inward and invisible, the love of God. Yeah. So in Luke chapter 11, people criticize Jesus for skipping the extra washing, but they miss all the miracles that he's performing. Maybe we can talk about a practical application here. Hank, you mentioned earlier that your wife does a great job of teaching the why to her kids about the fence laws. I know I've done this myself, been a teacher where I'm like, fence, fence, fence, fence. And the students might walk out of the class and say,

I'm not sure about what the law is, but I'm really clear on the fence. I got the fence. So here's a little example from my life. I don't know what your guys' opinions about PG-13 movies are, but maybe you'll agree with me that there's some PG-13 movies that are so good. It's fine for the kids to watch. There's others that are so naughty. I shouldn't watch them.

There's a wide range. So when my son Levi was 10 years old, he wanted to watch this certain PG-13 movie. And I didn't want to have to always be having conversations. You can already tell I'm a bad parent. I'll always be talking to my kids about which movies are okay, which movies aren't. So I just on the spot, I created a fence law. I said, oh, Levi, don't you know that in our family, we don't watch PG-13 movies till we're 13. And he's an obedient kid. He's like, oh, Levi, don't you know that in our family, we don't watch PG-13 movies till we're 13. And he's an obedient kid. He's like, oh, okay.

And I was like, sweet. Just saved myself three years of arguing about movies. But of course, you can guess on the day he turned 13, what did he want to do? Watch three PG-13 movies. He had a big list. Yeah. So he had a big list. So a few years later, I've learned a little bit more about these principles that we've been talking about. And so now my daughter, Maria, she's 11 years old. She wants to watch a PG-13

movie with her friends. She's like, dad, can I watch this movie? And I said, well, honey, what do you think? Why don't you look it up and see what's in the movie? And she stopped. She's like, dad, what? I thought in this family, we don't watch PG-13 movies till we're 13. And I said, honey, why do you think we have that rule? And she thought for a minute, I know you don't want us to watch bad stuff until we're older. She completely understood the fence, right? But the core law, you want to have the Holy ghost with you. And sometimes bad movies are going to drive away the spirit. Like I had completely not taught the doctrine. And I think another way to think about this idea, we've been talking about fence laws and core laws

comes from Elder David A. Bednar, who's emphasized doctrines, principles, and applications. So doctrines being the core eternal laws and principles growing out of those doctrines, and then applications would be more like the fence laws we've been discussing. Soderbender said, applications, such as items on the lengthy to-do lists of many members, tend to receive disproportionate and excessive attention. I am not suggesting, he says, that applications should never be studied, learned, or taught. Appropriate applications are necessary, but can never stand alone. What is needed is a balance among doctrines, principles, and applications. And for many

conscientious and diligent members, a serious imbalance exists. You guys can educate me on this, but I remember President Boyd K. Packer emphasizing that verse Alma 12, 32 about he gave Adam and Eve commandments after having made known to them the plan of redemption. And if I remember correctly, after that, all the seminaries would spend the first couple of weeks of every school year reviewing the plan of salvation. And then you had a place to make sense of all the do's and don'ts. You had the why behind it all. And isn't that true that the seminary started doing that, started teaching the plan, reviewing the plan the first week or two of school? Yeah, first two days of class.

And I think it's interesting if you go later to Alma 39 through 42, as Alma was talking to his son, Corianton, who had been involved with some sexual sin. Alma does not spend a ton of time talking about the do's and don'ts of the law of chastity. It goes through resurrection and spirit world. And then Elder Packer said, true doctrine understood changes attitudes and behavior. Quicker than a study of behavior will improve behavior. Seminary teachers love that verse. That's kind of the Alma 31.5 thing. Hank, you mentioned that.

Are your standards fences or guardrails? I think similar to Elder Bredner, I had a tree in there and say, if your boss said to you, hey, remove that tree, and all you did was hand him a bag full of leaves, he might say you missed most of the tree. And the leaves don't just float out there. They're supported by branches, which are tied to a trunk and roots. And in the same way, the rules are like the leaves. Don't watch entertainment that is vulgar, immoral, pornographic in any way. That's the rule. What's the principle? What's the branches? Well, whatever you look at or listen to has an effect on you. What's the doctrine? Keep the whatever you look at or listen to has an effect on you.

What's the doctrine? Keep the spirit. We've made a covenant at the sacrament table. We would live in a way that we could always have a spirit to be with us. And that's the doctrine and the roots. Okay, well, what offends the spirit? That's when we try to create defense law. What is it that is offensive to the spirit? And one of the things I noticed in all of the,

for the strength of youth additions over the years is it always comes down to the spirit, even dress and grooming dress in a way that you can have the spirit to be with you watch media in a way that doesn't offend the spirit. So I'm saying, well, that doesn't offend me. Well, that's not the standard. The standard is, does it offend the spirit? Boy, that's a higher, holier way, isn't it? That puts the burden on us. What is offensive to the spirit? Like we've talked about, go figure that out through your own prayer and pondering. James E. Faust, who I just loved when I was a kid, he said something once that has stuck

with me through my parenting and through anything that I've done in the church. Very simple statement, but it is really helpful. He says, your criticism may be worse than the conduct you are trying to correct. And that seems to happen all the time to the Savior with the Pharisees, that they're trying to correct him, but in their correction, it's actually worse than the conduct that they're trying to correct. And I've seen that with my parenting and my own children. Sometimes my criticism makes the situation much worse than the conduct that they were involved in. Same thing at church. We can come down on people way too harshly for

things that their heart was in the right place. They were trying to do the right thing, the best thing. And we come down on some rule because we feel so strongly about it, our criticism can be worse than the conduct we are trying to correct. That's an important point. I do want to shift gears to some other teachings in these chapters, but I do, before we leave this point, I want to be so clear about the importance of following the prophet. John, you brought up a higher and holier way and letting God prevail in our lives. If I don't approach the New for

the Strength of Youth pamphlet with that paradigm, I'm missing the mark as well. It reminds me of, I was on a tour in Israel with a group and we were talking about fence laws on the bus. And as we're getting off the bus, I hear the mom say to her 10-year-old son, okay, don't forget to stay with your buddy. And the 10-year-old's like, oh mom, that's just a fence law. We have to be careful that we don't throw out things that are really important. Yes, we do need to be careful that we don't become overly burdened with too many fence laws or miss the mark. But at the same time, if the prophet is teaching something, that is a totally different category than the types of fence laws that we've

been talking about. I mean, you could imagine the prophet teaching a specific fence law and a person saying, I don't see why I need that fence. But another person might say, well, that's the point. It's a prophet seer and revelator, see or see things that we don't see. It reminds me of the statistic that 93% of Americans think that they're above average drivers. And you don't have to be a mathematician to know that 93% of Americans think that they're above average drivers. And you don't have to be a mathematician to know that 93% of Americans are not above average drivers. But we tend to think that we're better than we are. So I'm more likely to think, oh, well, yeah, I'm an exception. I don't need that prophetic guidance and teaching.

But I remember President Eyring one time saying, every time in my life when I've chosen to delay following inspired counsel or decided that I was an exception, I came to know I put myself in harm's way. Every time I've listened to the Council of Prophets, felt it confirmed in prayer and then followed it, I found that I've moved towards safety. So in these issues we've been talking about, I know that as we follow the prophet, as we listen, really listen, we give diligent heed to the Holy ghost. We'll be able to balance things out. And I do hope that this discussion has given us kind of a helpful lens to

think about some issues that are really common and prevalent in our lives. It will be bumping up against a lot. Excellent. The Lord is not going to hold the, for the strength of youth book accountable for your choices. He's going to hold you accountable for your choices. And the For the Strength of Youth is a guide for making choices. Just what we've talked about, which is so good. I have been talking about fence laws when I took flying lessons down at the Provo airport

and how one time I wasn't kind of watching my altimeter when you're in the pattern, the rectangle, one side of which is the runway, you're supposed to be at a thousand feet. And I was at 800 and I hadn't just hadn't been watching. And my instructor reached over and pulled my throttle out and just basically put my engine on idle and said, save our lives and land the plane. And it was a simulation. So I, in the pattern turned base and final, and I, the trees by Utah Lake state park were coming up too fast and we're not going to make it. And I could see we weren't going to make it. Our sink rate was too much. So I had to push the throttle in and that was a fence law. Don't go below pattern

altitude, a thousand feet. I remember elder Hartman Rector Jr., which you guys won't remember, but he talked about- Flat hatting in the Navy. Flat hatting. I'm so impressed. I remember. I got you, John. He said, we had a commandment, thou shall not fly thy airplane in the trees. Do you remember that? He said, so I added my own a thousand feet extras to make sure that if my engine sputtered, I wouldn't be in the trees. The fence law is important.

This is really helpful. It could save your life. We don't just throw them out, like stay with your buddy in Jerusalem, but we get the core laws you've talked about. Well, there's lots more on the topic of fence laws. If people are interested, I've got a whole section of my website that's dedicated to it, johnhiltonii.com slash fence laws, if you want to explore more. But let's turn to some other important topics.

And maybe we'll go first to Luke 11. So at the very beginning of Luke chapter 11, we read that Jesus was praying. And after he prayed, one of his disciples said unto him, Lord, teach us to pray. So Jesus gave them some instructions. And the first thing he said was when you pray, say our father, which art in heaven, hallowed be thy name. And I think it's worth pausing just there. Like that's the most simple part, but some scholars have suggested that the simplicity of the address father was unique. These scholars have suggested that there's more complicated titles for God that might

have been prevalent in prayer at that time. Something like dear Lord, God of Abraham, Lord of Isaac, Lord of Jacob, or yeah, mighty creator of the universe, king of, you know, and it's so interesting that rather than given this lengthy, complicated title, Jesus says, Father. And probably for us, we're used to praying, Dear Heavenly Father, or something like that. We don't even think about that. That just seems normal,

rather than potentially being sort of a revolutionary teaching. That was out there for them, wasn't it? Yeah, to say, you're talking to your Father. And of course, with the phrase hallowed be thy name, Jesus is still pointing out God's sacred character. I'm not talking to my buddy. I am praying to a sacred being. So continue with his instruction on prayer. Jesus tells us to pray thy kingdom come, thy will be done as in heaven, so on earth. Give us day by day our daily bread and forgive us our sins for we also forgive everyone that is indebted to us and lead us not into temptation, but deliver

us from evil. So I'd love to hear any of your thoughts on this prayer. But one thing that I think is interesting is that Jesus says, forgive us our sins for we also forgive everyone. It's in the present tense. So in Luke chapter 11, it's like saying, forgive us our sins for we too, right now in the present tense are forgiving those who have wronged us. And that's not always an easy prayer to say. Sometimes forgiveness can be excruciatingly difficult. I think it's just interesting that this is one of the things that Jesus emphasizes about prayer. Anything else that you guys want to highlight

here on this version of the Lord's prayer? Yeah, I think that it gives us another layer of meaning because the Matthew is forgive us our debts as we free of our debtors. And maybe that debts is people who sin against us because the way it said here, instead of our debtors is our sins. And then everyone that is indebted to us, which is, I guess, another layer of meaning. Are they really debts like we're giving out loans? Are they people that have sinned against us? Yeah, I think that's an interesting difference between the two. I also think that there's some JST additions that are helpful here, like lead us not into temptation.

Well, is our Heavenly Father ever going to lead us into temptation? Probably not. So you see the JST down there, and let us not be led unto temptation. And I think the Matthew JST also, suffer us not to be led into temptation. Because he's not going to lead us into temptation, but he can deliver us from evil. To me, I think that's a really practical example. It makes me think about my prayers.

In 3 Nephi chapter 18, as Jesus is ministering to the people in the Western hemisphere, he says, you should follow the example of the prayers that I've been getting to pray the way that I've been praying among you. This is, I think, part of that. And so it makes me wonder how often am I praying to be delivered from temptation? Am I praying for the Lord's kingdom to come? And these are some simple, but I think powerful things that maybe should be more a part of my personal prayers than they have been.

I really enjoy the simplicity of this prayer, that we could be really ornate and complicated in our prayers, but it seems like the Lord is saying, honor God, talk about your own needs. It's okay to talk about your own needs. Thy will be done, and how can I better treat other people and keep my life in line? It seems to me to be very simple, and it's probably going to lead us to not so focus so much on the prayer itself, but on what's being said and how it could be incorporated into my life. I think the simplicity is what makes it powerful.

Yeah, I agree. Jumping down to Luke chapter 11, verse 14, we read that Jesus was casting out a demon that was mute. But when the demon had gone out, the one who had been mute spoke and the crowds were amazed. But again, there's a controversy, right? People start to say, well, I think Jesus is casting out demons through the ruler of demons. And Jesus kind of shows how silly of an idea that is. And then in verse 20, he says, if it is by the finger of God that I cast out the demons, then the kingdom of God has come among you. I just think that's so

interesting because these exorcisms are pretty common in Matthew, Mark, and Luke. We read a lot about them. And that's sort of a miracle that might be a little bit harder for us to apply or think of today. But to me, kind of stepping back, when you see this phrase, the kingdom of God has come among you, a key lesson that I think we can learn from Christ's exorcisms, these miracles, is that Jesus has power over Satan, period. He is showing he is establishing his kingdom by conquering Satan. The demons are being driven out. His kingdom is coming. Sometimes in our lives, it might feel like the forces of evil, they just can't be defeated.

But through Jesus Christ, they can be. They are right now. They will be. I think that's a really helpful message. So you or I might not be literally possessed by demons right now, but we might feel like there's demons in our lives. There's challenges and problems and the kingdom of God is among us. So we don't need to fear. I love it. Let's jump back to Matthew chapter 12. We spent a little bit of time at the beginning of Matthew 12 in verse 36. We read one of my favorite verses from these weeks chapters. Jesus is talking and he says, every idle word that men shall speak, they shall give account thereof in the day of judgment. I mean, that's a scary thought. I am kind of curious. Hey, John, you both do a lot of public speaking. Have any of you ever had any incidences with a hot mic where you said something you didn't think you were on, but you were on and oh man,

that better have neither of you. Well, I just added here every word, idle word that men shall speak. And I've added or text or blog or comment or post. Yeah. They shall give an account there. I like, man, the Lord's going to bring up my Twitter feed or my Instagram feed and say, did you mean this specific part? Yeah. That wasn't me.

Because these aren't words you give in a talk. These are idle words. Right. It's just an off thethe-cuff comment. Yeah. This is the second scariest verse in the standard works. What's the scariest? Oh, thank you.

You just did exactly what I wanted you to do. I think the scariest is Alma 12, 14. I link these two together. Our words will condemn us. Our works will condemn us. Our thoughts will condemn us. And in this awful state, we shall not dare to look up to our God. What does it say?

We would faintly be glad if we could command the rocks and mounts to fall upon us and hide us from his presence. So if you need a Halloween activity, there's a couple of verses you can read that are scary. So a quick little story from my life on this. So I was serving my mission at the University of Colorado. I was a singles ward and I've been there for a little while. So I knew pretty much everyone in the ward and at sacrament meeting one day, and I noticed a woman come into church late. I didn't recognize her and she kind of looked out of place. Her clothes were kind of gross and her hair was all falling apart.

So she kind of didn't fit in. And as soon as the closing prayer was said, she like got up and just ran out of the chapel, but I ran faster and introduced myself, found who she was. Turned out that she was a less active member of the church, but we arranged to meet with her at the Institute building that Wednesday night. So we get to the chapel Wednesday night or the Institute building Wednesday night.

I look around, she's not there, but on the couch was the Relief Society president. And I'm thinking to myself, I'm not really going to be able to help this sister. She's already there, but on the couch was the Relief Society president. And I'm thinking to myself, I'm not really going to be able to help this sister. She's already been baptized. I need to connect her with the Relief Society president. So I go over to the Relief Society president and start telling her about this woman's situation. And I said, yeah, you know, I could tell she didn't fit in.

She had kind of really bad hair and really terrible clothes. And she was late to church. And I hear this voice behind me say, I wasn't late. And I turned around. In fact, she had been in the room the whole time. Like when I walked in and looked around, but now her hair was nicely combed. No, it was just looked so different. Her hair was combed. She was wearing difficult. I did not even recognize her. So this moment of time is just frozen in my mind. I just looked at her and I was like, I have to go to the bathroom. And I just like ran to the bathroom.

Just so you know, she continued to come to church after that. So hopefully all was in loss. But every idle word, even like you were saying, John, those words that we're not even thinking of, we're not scripting. So that is a reminder to just be careful what we say. I'm fascinated of the idea that the gospel actually asks us to think our thoughts according to a plan. The look unto me in every thought was at the end of section six, I think. And that we can let idle things happen.

We can let our thoughts be random or what we go through today. And there's a little bit of mental discipline of, wait, I don't want to think about that. I'm going to think about this instead implied there, which, but I wonder if either of you have ever been answering a text message and you put one on the wrong thread and then had to say, nevermind, that wasn't for you. Have you ever done that? That's a terrible moment. I was thinking that we often get too casual at home in the way we speak. That we are pretty, when we're out among strangers or acquaintances, we're pretty careful about what we say. But at home, we can be a little too casual with our children or with our spouse and say things that are hurtful.

And the Lord's going to bring those up at judgment and say, why did you say that to this child? Why did you say that to your spouse? And you think, oh, I shouldn't have, right? I shouldn't have said that. So a little funny story with that one. Just last night, we're having a home evening activity at our house and Hank and John, you guys both do amazing impersonations. I've been trying to do a Dobby impersonation recently. And so I'm talking to my kids and my Dobby impersonation, Dobby will save you. And my son is recording what I'm saying. And he's, I'm going to share this with all my friends.

And I sound very silly. And all of a sudden I realized, wow, what if, well, first of all, that's cyber bullying. Don't do that. But then second of all, what if, what if my son is recording every conversation that goes on in my house and these are all going to be broadcast? How do I feel? I think it's kind of similar along the lines of what you're talking about, Hank. Yeah.

Make sure that you're okay with the Lord being involved in every conversation that you have, that you'd be comfortable with him being there. That changes the way we think and speak. Because even if there's not a hot mic and even if no one's recording us, there's that celestial recording. Right. And boy, these days, there's that celestial recording. Right. And boy, these days, you guys are both teachers. You ever approach a hard topic or try to answer a hard question and see people's phones come up, you know, like they're, I'm going to record this. We don't want to be, make each other an offender for a word, but I like the advice here that, you know, be careful what you say. So speaking of that phrase, make people an offender for the word, that is definitely

the environment Christ is teaching in where people are trying to trap him, trick him. And if we jumped down to chapter 12, verse 38, we read certain of the scribes and of the Pharisees told Jesus, we want to see a sign from you. But he answered and said unto them, an evil and adulterous generation seeketh after a sign, and there shall be no sign given to it but the sign of the prophet Jonah. For Jonah was three days and three nights in the whale's belly, so shall the Son of Man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth. The men of Nineveh shall rise in judgment with this generation

and shall condemn it, because they repented at the preaching of Jonah and behold, a greater than Jonah is here. And again, once again, there's lots to unpack in this verse. There's been a few times, both in chapters 11 and 12 and over in Luke 11, where the Savior is kind of drawn a contrast between this other group had this level of knowledge. You have so much more and you're missing the mark. It reminded us we have a ton of light and knowledge today in our time where much is given, much is required. But where I want to focus on is this idea of the connection between Jesus and Jonah. Just a few weeks ago in our Come Follow Me readings, we were in Mark chapter four,

where Jesus fell asleep in a storm, just like Jonah was asleep on a storm. And I want to read a quote from one of my favorite Christian authors. His name is Timothy Keller. He said, both Jesus and Jonah are in a boat. Both are in storms described in similar terms. Both boats are filled with others who are terrified of death. Both groups wake the sleeping prophets angrily, rebuking them. Both storms are miraculously calmed and the companions saved, and both stories conclude with the men in the boats more terrified after the storm is stilled than they were before. Every feature is the same, with one rather large apparent

exception. Jonah is sacrificed into the storm, thrown into the deep, satisfying the wrath of God so the others will be saved from it. But Jesus is not. Or are the accounts so different at that point? Actually, Jesus is the ultimate Jonah who was thrown into the ultimate deep of eternal justice for us. How ironic it is that in Mark 4, the disciples ask, teacher, don't you care if we drowned? They believe he is going to sleep on them in their hour of greatest need. Actually, it's the other way around. In the garden of Gethsemane, they will go to sleep on him. They will truly abandon him, yet he loves them to the end. Jonah was thrown overboard for his own sin, but Jesus is thrown into the ultimate storm for our sin. That's the end of the quote there.

I do think that's a really powerful reminder of the connections between Jesus and Jonah might be even more deep than we sometimes see on the surface. That's Keller. Yeah. Timothy Keller. So what comes next is a strange teaching that I've puzzled over sometimes. And maybe you have to, Jesus tells a story about an unclean spirit being cast out of a person. He says,

when the unclean spirit has gone out of a man, he walketh through dry places, seeking rest and findeth none. Then he said, I will return into my home from seeking rest and findeth none. Then he saith, I will return into my home from whence I came out. And when he has come, he findeth it empty, swept and garnished. Then go with he and taketh with himself seven other spirits more wicked than himself. And they enter in and dwell there. And the last state of that man is worse than the first. Even so shall it be into this wicked generation. So I'm puzzled over this passage and I hope you find this a little bit humorous. I turn to Jesus, the Christ and Elder

Talmadge actually refers to this as a quote, weird example. I mean, I feel good. If Elder Talmadge thinks it's a weird example, then maybe it's okay with me to continue the quote from Jesus to Christ. Elder Talmadge says in this weird example is typified the condition of those who have received the truth and thereby been freed from the unclean influences of error and sin so that in mind and spirit and body, they are as a house swept and garnished and set in cleanly order, but who afterward renounce the good, open their souls to the demons of falsehood and deceit and become more corrupt than before. And we see something kind of similar in the Joseph Smith translation, which makes it clear

that in this passage, the Savior is discussing the sin of blasphemy against the Holy Ghost. So here's JST 12, 43 through 45. Then came some of the scribes and said to a master, it is written. Every sin shall be forgiven, but ye say, whosoever speaketh against the Holy ghost shall not be forgiven. How can these things be? And he said to them, when the unclean spirit has gone out of the man, he walketh through dry places, seeking rest and fighteth none. But when a man speaketh against the Holy Ghost, then he saith, I will return into my house from whence I came out. And when he is come, he fighteth an empty, swept and garnished for the good spirit, leaveth him unto himself.

So the idea of blasphemy against the Holy Ghost that sometimes used interchangeable terms like denying the Holy Ghost or the unpardonable sin. I don't know if you guys have things to expound on this. I remember when I was a little kid, I was about 11 years old. I had heard that the unpardonable sin was to deny the Holy Ghost. And I was walking home from school one day and this little thought popped into my head, I deny the Holy Ghost. And I was like, no, I'm doomed. It's all over for me. But Joseph Smith said, to deny the Holy Ghost is like seeing the sun, S-U-N, looking at it and saying it doesn't exist. Or President Kimball said, you have to have this immense amount of knowledge to deny the

Holy Ghost. So I think for us, the best way to maybe liken this parable is the idea that we see frequently in the Book of Mormon, that those who had the truth and left it, their state is worse than if they had never known it to start out with. I went right there. Alma 2430. Oh, nice.

So let's just conclude with one more story. Let's jump down to Matthew 12, verse 46. I think this is a beautiful message. While Jesus was still speaking to the crowds, his mother and his brothers were standing outside wanting to speak to him. Somebody told him, look, your mother and your brothers were standing outside wanting to speak to him. Somebody told him, look, your mother and your brothers are standing outside. They want to talk to you. But to the one who had told him this, Jesus replied, who is my mother and who are my brothers? And pointing to his disciples, he you want to be a part of my family?

It's easy. Come unto me. Do the things that I'm saying and I'm teaching, and then we are part of this family together. That's a beautiful invitation to the people around. Sometimes you might think of this as the Savior insulting his immediate family, but I don't think he is. He's trying to say, these are all my family in this room. Everyone who's trying to do the will of my Father, which is in heaven, you're my family. It reminds me of John 17, where the one thing he asks God for in John 17 is all those whom now has given me be with me

where I am. It sounds like he really believes that anyone who follows him is his family. This is John 17, 24. I will that thou also whom thou has given me, that they also whom thou has given me be with me where I am, that they may behold my glory, which thou has given me for thou loves me before the foundation of the world. And he finishes that the love wherewith thou has loved me may be in them. So I think he really does deep in his heart, believe that those who follow him are his family. That's beautiful. You know, Hank, it's interesting how you mentioned it seems like Jesus might be putting down his family. In Mark's account of the same scene,

it does seem that at least some of Jesus's family members think that Jesus is kind of going crazy. They're hearing all the stuff that's happening and say he's out of his mind. So Mark seems to suggest that at least maybe some of Jesus's family members might be going to correct Jesus Christ. But I'm reminded of Mary, the mother of Jesus, who we read recently in John chapter two. In fact, John chapter two are the last words that we hear Mary speak in scripture. And she says to the servants, do whatever he tells you. I think that's powerful.

We often think of how Jesus's father introduces him, hear him. And now Jesus's mother says, do whatever he tells you. So I'm not as worried about Jesus's mother and siblings, you know, trying to correct Jesus, but rather kind of what you're saying. Jesus, he knows his mother's faith. He knows that Mary has said, do whatever he tells you. He's trying to maybe not so much dis his family, but include everyone in his family. You're all part of this, like that beautiful verse you shared in John 17. We get really used to calling each other brother and sister at church. This is a good reminder.

Who is it, Jacob or King Benjamin that says, be familiar, talking about the things with which you have been blessed? Look at the word familiar. What's the root? Family. Be family with each other. To wrap this up, I want to take both of you to a November 2006 ensign. This is Elder Dallin H. Oaks. He heals the heavy laden. And he starts his talk with, the Savior said, come unto me, all ye that labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Nelder Oak says, many carry heavy burdens. Some have lost a loved one to death or care for one who is disabled.

Some have been wounded by divorce. Others yearn for an eternal marriage. Some are caught in the grip of addictive substances or practices like alcohol, tobacco, drugs, or pornography. Others have crippling physical or mental impairments. Some are challenged by same-gender attraction. Some have terrible feelings of depression or inadequacy. In one way or another, many are heavy-laden.

To each of us, our Savior gives this loving invitation. Come unto me, all ye that labor and are heavy-laden. I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn of me, for I am meek, lowly in heart, and ye shall find rest unto your souls, for my yoke is easy and my burden is light. The title for this week's lesson is I Will Give You Rest. So I wanted to give both of you an opportunity to comment on, I think we have many listeners who would love to have more of that peace in their lives. John Hilton, I know that you wrote a book called The Founder of Our Peace,

talking about some of these ideas. So what would you say to our listeners who really need the peace that the Savior is offering? Well, I think it's embedded in that front part that Jesus Christ says, come unto me. And my guess is that all of us, we're trying in lots of different ways to come unto him. I found that in my own life, sometimes though, if I'm not careful, I can become a box checker rather than a come unto Christ-er. I did a reading of scripture today, check. Found scripture today, check. Pray, check.

Went to the temple, check. But in all of these things that we're doing, if I'm sitting in sacrament meeting, am I sitting in sacrament meeting coming unto Christ? And for me in my own life is I found that I'm centering myself in Jesus Christ. There's so much that's in the periphery. There's all these fence laws. There's other things. But as I focus on Jesus Christ, even as I'm doing really good things like studying my scriptures,

if I can focus that on the Savior, then I find that invites peace into my life. I love that. It's not coming to me and you can be more anxious. It's coming to me and you can find rest. And I'm reminded of the Korihor story. Is it Gadona who says, why do you teach this people? There will be no Christ to interrupt their rejoicings. I'm like, oh, so if we believe in Christ, we should be rejoicing. We shouldn't be so anxious. We should be rejoicing. Thanks for

reminding us of that, John. Elder Oaks goes on to say, the atonement of Jesus Christ and the healing it offers do much more than provide the opportunity for repentance. The atonement also gives us the strength to endure pains and afflictions and temptations of every kind. Because our Savior also took upon him the pains and sicknesses of his people. Brothers and sisters, if your faith and prayers and the power of the priesthood do not heal you from an affliction, the power of the atonement will surely give you the strength to bear the burden. And then he quotes again, come unto me, all ye that labor and are heavy laden, the Savior said, and I will give you rest unto your souls. What a great day we've had today. John Hilton III.

We want to encourage all of our listeners to go visit John Hilton III. Remember? John Hilton III. Go visit his website. Learn more about defense laws and how you can use the chosen in your teaching. All of those things are available to you at John Hilton's website, which I'm a frequent visitor. John, we want to thank you for being with us today.

Thanks for taking your time to teach us. It's been fantastic. Thank you. Such a joy to be with you guys. Let's do it again. We want to thank our executive producer, Shannon Sorenson. We want to thank our sponsors, David and Verla Sorenson. And of course, remember our founder, the late Steve Sorenson.

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