followHIM - Revelation 15-22 • Part 2 • Dr. Richard D. Draper • Dec 25 - Dec 31

Episode Date: December 20, 2023

Dr. Richard Draper further examines the significance of Jesus Christ as the “bright and morning star.” He explores the reasons behind His invitation to experience peace and rest, especially in times of turmoil.

Welcome to part two with Dr. Richard Draper, Revelation chapters 15 through 22. All right, moving on then to 19. At this point, the long excursus that began in chapter 11 ends, and the story picks up where 1115 left off. Let's go back over to chapter 1115, and let me show you how this works. It says, and the seventh angel sounded, and there were great voices in heaven saying, the kingdoms of the world have become the kingdoms of our Lord and his Christ, and he shall reign forever and ever. And then verse one of chapter 19, and after these things, I heard a great voice of much people in heaven saying, Alleluia, salvation and glory and honor and power unto our Lord

God, for true and righteous are his judgments, for he hath judged the great whore which did corrupt the earth with her fornication and hath avenged the blood of his servants at her hand. We could have just skipped all of that middle part and got right to here. I can't really shorten Revelation a lot, but I'm glad that middle part's there because it steps back and said, now let me explain to you why the horrors of chapters eight and nine and wars that are there are going to happen. And so we have this wonderful excursus then that now ends. And we move forward in chapter 19. 1 through 8 is the heavenly host, Sam, rejoicing of marriage of the lamb with the bride at last.

Let me ask you a question. Would I be correct in saying in the book of Revelation, I've almost got a creation, chapters four and five, a fall that we've just been through, and now I'm getting to the end of the story, the atonement creation fall? Yes, that's very good. In fact, chapters eight, nine, and 15 and 16 are actually decreation. So those are the decreation chapters. Now we're going to get into the re-creation chapters. I really like what you said there, Hank. I think that's very insightful. Now we get into the good stuff. The Lord has avenged his saints and things are moving forward. So 9 and 10, the angel's instructions for John to write, to let everybody know that, ooh, if you're invited to the marriage supper of the Lamb, you are really good. Things are absolutely wonderful. The power of this verse, though,

is in verse 8, where it says, and to her was granted that she should be arrayed in fine linen, clean and white, for the fine linen is the righteousness of the saints. So, white linen. Notice that it's the linen that's the righteousness of the saints. Well, if that's the case, what's the white? And the white is victory. The saints have now overcome, and therefore they're dressed in righteousness. And that righteousness is highlighted by the fact that now they are victors. They have come through everything that's there. Let me read this. The wording in verse 8 is telling, to her has been granted to be clothed in splendid pure linen.

That's my translation, by the way. The thrust of the verb, edothe, means to give, conveys the impression of an impartation, a bestowal, or an endowment. The active agent is God. He is the bestower of the garment. All righteousness centers in him. Even man's righteous deeds result from God's goodness in that the spirit and light within man, as well as all law, come from God. Here, looking at D&C 88, 11 through 13. As Joseph McConkie and Robert Millett have pointed out in their book, Doctrinal Commentary on the Book of Mormon, and I'm quoting them, in the strictest sense, no one can work out his or her own salvation.

No person can create himself or herself, resurrect himself or herself, ransom himself or herself from sins, or clean their own heart from the taints of the world. These are the actions of a God of an infinite being. We can seek and ask and petition and supplicate. We can apply his blood, take his name, accept his enabling power, and acquire his nature, but we cannot save ourselves. The saints of God seek above all things to be for the sanctifying powers of the Spirit in their lives. Through this process, they have their beings changed, and by means of that spirit,

they are motivated to righteous works, the works of God. In that sense, Christ has begun to live in them. Thus Paul implored, Wherefore, my beloved, as ye have always obeyed, not in my presence only, but now much more in my absence. Work out your own salvation with fear and trembling. And then note the apostle's words, for it is God which worketh in you both to will and to do his good pleasure. Philippians 2, 12 and 13. That was marvelous insight by these two great brethren. The point is all salvation is in the Lord. It's his grace and his strength that gives us the power to be able to do. I would like to stress a point. Remember that they give me grace and power to do what I want to do when what I want to do is what they would have me do.

Therefore, it doesn't violate agency. It, in fact, enhances my agency because I want to do what they would have me do. Verses 11 through 15, the triumphal warrior comes with powers and titles. The one point that it really makes here, verse 11, and they saw the heavens open and behold the white horse and he that sat upon him

was called faithful and true and in righteousness that he judge and make war. Now notice how continually the book of Revelation stresses, yes, things are horrible. Yes, people are really going to get it in the neck. But remember that what happened is just and true and right.

God gave them every possible means. He coaxed. He cajoled. He promised good things. He threatened bad things. He did everything in his power to get them to come follow him. And they just simply wouldn't. And not only that, they become nasty and mean. And therefore,

he moved against them. Verses 11 through 12, the coming of the great warrior then, notice that his offensive weapon is the sword. And according to the Joseph Smith translation, the sword is the word of God that will humble the nations. When Jesus comes, there really isn't a fight. When he comes, the fighting stops. It's not that he comes and joins in the fighting. He comes and the fighting stops. It is over. I think of Alma the Younger meeting the angel.

Boy, he and the sons of Moriah are out really causing havoc with the church. And then here comes the angel and he speaks and the ground treles. Well, Jesus is going to speak to the rebellious. And let me tell you, it's going to be a hundred times more than what Alma experienced on that occasion. 16 through 21, the warrior vanquishes all his enemies. It does not hit us as it would John's readers, the end result of the enemies when they become carrion for birds and for wild beasts. In that society, whether it's Greek or Jewish, to be unburied was absolutely the worst enigma that could fall to a person. And these are not only unburied, they become food for vultures, for the wild beasts, and so on. The horror for these people is unimaginable, but they have proved themselves to be worthy of nothing less than ignominy, and therefore they will suffer ignominy.

It is at this point where the beast and the false prophet are at last cast in the fire. That is to say, the philosophies and the false theories now have proven themselves faithless, and therefore they have no more power. And that pretty well brings 19 to an end. As I looked at chapter 19, we talked about this marriage for the lamb and his wife. Isn't John, and I think he's done this throughout the book, is using Old Testament language, Old Testament symbols throughout the whole book. And this is something that John, we got a lot of in our Old Testament year was the Savior being the groom and the church or his people being the wife or Zion being the wife and the Lord is coming to his people. So we talk about this marriage. If John's readers, I'm assuming they're versed in the Old Testament, is there anything else they would see that perhaps

we don't see because we're not as versed? I would say maybe not. The reason is that as Latter-day Saints, marriage means an awful lot to us. And marriage was very, very important to the Jewish people. It was the foundation of their society. And being the foundation of their society meant that the nation moved according to the power of the families. If we were to talk from the standpoint of the world in which you and I live, yeah, let me tell you, there's a lot of meaning and power here. But as Latter-day Saints, we understand the importance of family and what family is all about and what marriage is really all about. I remember Isaiah using this symbol. I think it's Isaiah 54, that there's this woman that the Savior is calling to. I have a home for you. Come back to me. Yeah, exactly right.

My son texted me the other day and said, wow, the Lord's coming down pretty hard on the daughters of Zion here in 2 Nephi 13. Yeah, and the daughters ofion are us because it's the church and the walking and mincing as they go and the round tires like the moon and the calls and the crisping pins and all that stuff he's mentioning are i'm trying to babble on yeah i'm trying to attract other lovers when i am engaged to to christ and the most hurtful metaphor imaginable would be to be engaged and have your spouse going after other lovers. So this metaphor is used here.

I love the idea of the marriage supper of the lamb because I've noticed so many times that in the gospels, to eat with someone was to accept them and affirm them and invite them to your table. And we're invited to the sacrament table in a way. The Lord's every week come and eat with me, even though we're men, the three of us, we're daughters of Zion because Christ is the groom. Did I say that right?

Beautifully done. Very beautifully done. All righty. So chapter 20 follows in chronological sequence, the verses, that is to say what happens in 19. In chapter 20, the dragon, the old serpent, the devil of Satan is bound for a thousand years. So now we move into the millennial period. It is interesting to know that at this point, the binding of Satan is not punitive, but precautionary, because we're going to find out in just a few verses later, he's coming back. He's really going to do what he can to be able to destroy the Lord, because he's got one more shot at it. Verses four through six, then, are the first resurrection. Those who will come forward, the reward they will receive, but also a note of those who are not going to come forward, the reward they will receive, but also a note of those who are not

going to come forward in the first resurrection. They're going to have to stand back for a while. 7 through 10 are the Battle of Armageddon, the great last battle that finally demolishes the Lord's enemies. Again, I'd like to bring a non-apocalyptic view of this event. This is from the Doctrine and Covenants, 88, 112 through 115. Michael, the seventh angel, even the archangel, shall gather together his armies, even the hosts of heaven. And the devil shall gather together his armies, even the hosts of hell, and shall come up to battle against Michael and his armies. And then cometh the battle of the great God, and the devil and his armies shall be cast away into their own place, that they shall not have power over the saints any more at

all. For Michael shall fight their battles, and shall overcome him who seeketh the throne of him who sitteth upon the throne, even the Lamb. The battle of Gog and Magog, the final standoff. And again, as with the second coming in Armageddon, Jesus doesn't come to fight. Jesus comes to put an end to the fighting. And so too at the battle of Gog and Magog, he doesn't come to fight. He comes to put an end to the fighting.

It's over once he says it is over. This is from Charles Erdman in his book on Revelation. It's called the Revelation of John. He says, after the destruction of the beast and the false prophet, the seer's interest next centers upon the destruction of Satan. The great truth symbolized is clear and vital. It is this. It is not enough to overthrow the agents or the instruments of evil, but evil itself must be overthrown. It is not enough to cast the beast, that is the institutions, and the false prophets, that is the philosophy and theology, into the lake of fire. The devil, who has empowered them must share their

doom. War cannot be ended by pacifism or militarism, not by treaties or by leagues, while hate and malice and lust for power rule in the hearts of men. A better social order cannot be secured by political revolution, but by love unfeigned and the rule it brings. Thus, the judgment of Satan must precede the perfecting of God's kingdom. I think he just said it in a very magnificent way there. Love has got to prevail, and that's what Jesus does as he brings that love to the floor. A special note is that when God determines that wickedness will end, it will end. There will be no argument, no retort, no rebuttal, only the irresistible and overpowering explosion of divine fire in which all corruption will be eternally consumed and evil

forever incarcerated. Not a whisper of computation will overreach or penetrate to the massive and frozen walls of Gehenna, where Satan and his angels will languish in eternal impotence. When Jesus comes, he puts a stop to it. I'd just like to emphasize again, Jesus doesn't come to fight the war. He comes to stop the war. That's what he is really all about. Verses 11 through 15 end with the final judgment and its result for the righteous. I just have a personal connection through my dad's autobiography in World War II with verse 13. I've seen different interpretations of this, but my dad saw a mass burial at sea in World War II, 123 wounded on the USS Saratoga. And he was a teenager, but he saw the chaplain say a prayer over these bodies

that were in body bags. And then because they ran out in mattress bags, a five-inch shell stuck in there for weight and saw these comrades being dumped overboard. Those unmarked graves all over, I imagine, the sea. He talked about the parents getting the telegrams at home. And he even said, and he wasn't a member of the church, but he said, there was a tall LDS redheaded boy from Provo in that group. So that verse has always meant a lot to me that they'll come back. Yeah, death cannot hold them. Yeah, they're all coming back.

That's beautiful. Chapter 21 looks at the future and the reward of those who have overcome. They will be rejoined with the Father and the Son. We have a new heaven and a new earth. What is interesting here in verse 1, I saw a new heaven and a new earth. For the first heaven and the first earth are passed away, and there was no more sea. For John's readers, and even for the modern reader of Revelation, the sea is the abyss. Chaos, right? Yes, that's Satan's home. He is the chaos monster. This is

the home of Leviathan and Rahab and all of the evil that they are able to produce. And it is gone. It is absolutely gone forever, forever and ever. Then we have something marvelous in verses five through seven. This is the first time in the entire book of Revelation where God moves. In chapter four and five, we saw God. We feel his power, his might, his majesty. But what's interesting in four and five, he doesn't even breathe. He is just this magnificent, powerful being who sits. It is the lamb where all the focus is. All through the thing, it's been Christ that has been moving until we get to chapter 21.

And in these verses, God speaks. It is interesting to me that he has exactly seven statements. I think you've already run into the idea of seven with the other presenters. Let's be sure not to overlook the significance that there are seven things that the Lord says of where he witnesses of himself. The point made by this portion of the vision is important. It means that the separation between God and his children caused by the fall has now been totally overcome. No longer does Jesus need to act as the intermediary. With spiritual death done away in behalf of these people, the great Elohim himself can once more administer directly to these who are his children. I just love that. We're back.

We're back fully. One of the things I would like to note is chapter 8 that speaks of those who are hell bound. And it says, but the fearful and the unbelieving and the abominable and murderers and whoremongers and sorcerers and idolaters, and all liars shall have their part in the lake of fire and brimstone, which is the second death. Now, what I find interesting here is that the cavalcade of the hellbound are headed by the fearful and the unbelieving. It seems a little odd, if you think about it, that they should be categorized with the abominable, with murderers, with whoremongers. So why is that the case? This is what I get out of it, okay? What is surprising is that those who lead the cabal gate of the hellbound are cowards and the unfaithful.

Though few would ever dismiss these vices as an important, fewer yet would place them among such great sins. The reason the seer may have placed them before all others grows out of the context of the revelation itself. John saw the latter days in which Christ and the beast would vie for the souls of men. He understood that opposition to goodness and virtue would constantly increase. The result would put increasing pressure on people to abandon the ways of God. Under these excruciating conditions, courage and faithfulness

would be supreme virtues. Cowardice and unfaithfulness would become great sins. That's the message I get out of that particular verse. Chapters 9 through 12, the angel opens the vision of the glory of the new Jerusalem. Chapters 15-27 are the description of the heavenly Jerusalem and its holiness. Of that one, I have written as follows, though this section, the vision continues in its highly symbolic style. Here, the need to do so may be more acute than at any other point in his work. This is because heaven so transcends anything we mortals can imagine that the only way to get us even close to that reality is through very powerful symbols. As Paul says, I have not seen or e'er heard, neither hath it entered into the heart, that is the imagination of men, the things which God hath prepared for those who love him. Through symbols, John is able to get as close as he can. John's readers in every age that they may live, who persevere in righteousness and are able to resist all

temptation, the vicissitudes that life can throw at them, qualify to enter the holy city that God has prepared for the faithful. The one thing that sticks out to me in 21 is verse 22. There's no temple there. And I've heard it explained, well, the reason is because the whole thing is a temple. But unfortunately, that doesn't get to the point. Yes, it is the abode of God. The temples is where we do the work for the dead, but we also do the work for the living. Temples are where families are sealed together, that it is where the family of Christ is sealed

so that Christ can then present his family to God and we can be born again unto the Father. As it says in section 70 seconds, we will be born again and therefore there's no need for the temple because all the work has been done. It is over. It is through. It is wonderful. Anything on chapter 21. Thank you for that idea of I saw no temple therein because the work was done.

Sometimes I feel like the Lord has just given us a task that seems so impossible. Go find the name of every person who's ever existed and one by one, take them through the temple. And there's so many beautiful stories about how that work is being accomplished. When you said that, it reminded me of Joseph Smith's statement that appeared in the Wentworth letter. And if I have the story right, the Chicago Democrat asked for a description of the beliefs of the church.

And this Wentworth letter that I think was never published, it had the articles of faith in it, but it also had this statement, which we've read before. Maybe it's good to read this on the last day of the year, huh, Hank? The standard of truth has been erected. No unhallowed hand can stop the work from progressing. on the last day of the year, huh, Hank? The standard of truth has been erected.

No unhallowed hand can stop the work from progressing. Persecutions may rage, mobs may combine, armies may assemble, calumny may defame, but the truth of God will go forth boldly, nobly, and independent, till it has penetrated every continent, visited every clime, swept every country, and sounded in every ear, till the purposes of God shall be accomplished, and the great Jehovah shall say, the work is done.

That reminded me of that verse, and also it's just thrilling to me to think of what came next in the Wentworth letter. Number one, we believe in God, the eternal Father, and in His Son, Jesus Christ, and in the Holy Ghost. The articles of faith came after that, which is cool to me. I think this whole idea is that there's going to come a time when the work is done. There's going to come a time when the day of grace is passed, and all of these things are going to happen, but eventually the work will be done. This is prophecy.

John, Richard, let's go back just briefly. Revelation 21.4 has some significance for anyone who is listening, who is in some form of suffering. It can be emotional or spiritual or physical suffering. Back in October 2016 General Conference, a member of the Seventy, Evan A. Smoots, gave a talk called God Shall Wipe Away All Tears. I want to share a story that he shared there, a heartbreaking story. But I think it's important to realize, as Richard said earlier, that we're not immune from the fall. Let me read a portion of this talk.

During a recent state conference assignment I attended in the Philippines, my heart was broken as I learned of the tragic experience of Brother Daniel Apolato. Brother Apolato and his wife were baptized in 1974. They embraced the restored gospel and were sealed in the temple. They were blessed with five beautiful children. On July 7, 1997, when Brother Apollotto was serving as stake president, a fire broke out in their small home. Brother Apollotto's oldest son, Michael, rescued his father, pulling him from the burning structure, and then ran back into the

house to rescue others. It was the last time Brother Apollado saw his son alive. Taken in the fire were Brother Apollado's wife, Dominga, and each of their five children. The fact that Brother Apollado was living a life pleasing unto God when this enormous tragedy struck. It did not prevent the tragedy, nor did it make him immune from the sorrow that followed. But his faithfulness in keeping his covenants and exercising his faith in Christ gave him assurance in the promise that he would be reunited with his wife and children. This hope became an anchor to his soul. During my visit, Brother Apollotto, now the stake patriarch, introduced me to his new wife, Simonette, and to their sons. Truly that their sorrows and sufferings are of little consequence. Don't compare, but seek to learn and apply the principles as you wade through the furnace of your own afflictions. Towards the end of his message, Elder Smuts says, We can take strength in knowing that all the hard experiences in this life are temporary.

Even the darkest nights will turn into dawn for the faithful. When all is finished and we have endured all things with faith in Jesus Christ, we have the promise of Revelation 21.4. We have the promise that God shall wipe away all the tears from our eyes. To anyone who is listening, Richard and John, I think that message coming out of this wonderful book can be more soothing than almost any other, that the Lord will wipe away the tears from your eyes. There shall be no more death or sorrow or crying. Neither shall there be any more pain. I will make all things new. From my perspective, I am just impressed that the book of Revelation is very realistic. It's not pie in the sky. It looks at the end rather than at the middle. And for

those of us who are living here in the middle, the messy middle, the admonition that we have to remain tough and keeping our faith going no matter what else happens is the real key to success. And that as hard as it may seem right now, God will show that it's worth it. Yeah. That verse gives that ultimate ending. What's the hymn? There's hope smiling brightly before us. We know that deliverance is nigh. There's a someday all of this will be over. And the image of God wiping away tears from our eyes, I mean, that's just so personal and intimate even that God will wipe them from our eyes. Wow. And maybe in that moment, like you said, Richard, then we'll say to be here, that was worth it.

The end is worth the middle richard john being true to how we began we made it to the end the last chapter of the new testament is revelation chapter 22 to anybody who's been with us the entire time thank you what a treat to come to this last chapter and to have Dr. Drape walk us through it. Absolutely. Chapter 22 then consists of the blessing of the righteous. So we have seen the cursing of the wicked. Now we contrast that with the blessing of the righteous. Verses one through five constitute division, a description of the interior of the city and the blessed state of the righteous as they dwell with God and the Messiah. Of note here is that there is one throne. I want

to stress that there is one throne, but it is occupied by two people. The source of power, the source of life is God, but that through which that life flows is Jesus Christ. And therefore, it shows the equality of the teamwork of the Father and the Son as both then sit on the throne and rule and reign in heaven. It is also interesting to me that water continually flows from underneath the throne. It flows down the river. That is to say, it flows down the streets of the eternal city. And again, the symbol of course, water is life and life from the Father and from the Son that moves through everything and gives everything their life. We have the image of the tree that heals the nations. There is no sickness, no poverty, no injustice. Everything is perfectly full and complete. And in this imagery, John reveals three aspects of eternal life that I really like.

The first is exemplified by the throne itself. That's its source, which is God in Christ. The second aspect that comes from the water, whichever flows, which is the quantity of eternal life. Death will never have power again. And the third one is exemplified by the purity of the water, that is, its quality. Such life is untainted, uncorrupted, and concentrated. The power in that symbolism is almost overwhelming, but what really pushes up, and that is the tree we learn from Nephi's vision and the water that we learn both represent the love of God. And therefore, continually flowing life and love from the Father and the Son. The Hebrew word for love, ahav, denotes love freely given, a love coming from what God is toward those who are his. This love is not irresistibly drawn from him by virtuous persons,

but is freely given even to sinners. The Old Testament underscores the unworthiness of many of whom God loved and is a means of highlighting the purity of the love that flows from him. The constancy of his love, therefore, depends on what he is rather than what we are. The very soul of love is care and concern for others. And that is what God is all about. This is my work and my glory, right? To bring to pass the immortality and eternal life of man. And that's a great place to kind of conclude verses 6 through 15 are just reassurance of the truthfulness of the word.

And then don't you dare touch or mess with this word or we're going to get you. So, in conclusion, I'd like to make four points. The first one is that Revelation highlights one of the important reasons for the second coming. We've mentioned this already, but it comes out of the chapter 11, verse 18, which notes that as God and Christ move and become more operative, more obvious in history, that the nations are angry. Isn't that interesting? As God really builds his hand, it's not humility. It's angry. This statement from the Septuagint version of Psalms 9.1, and the Lord has begun to reign and the people are enraged. And from Exodus 15.14, the nations heard and were enraged. Isn't that interesting?

As God reveals himself, the response is anger of these people. As Christ begins to pick up the reign, the minions of Satan, therefore, directed by Satan, determined that if they cannot have the world, neither can Christ. And therefore, they are going to destroy it. Therefore, the message of Revelation 11, Christ comes to destroy those who would destroy the world. A non-apocalyptic response from 1 Nephi 22, 16 through 19. This should be very reassuring for saints. For the time soon cometh that the fullness of the wrath of God shall be poured out upon all the children of man. For he will not suffer that the wicked shall destroy the righteous. Wherefore he will preserve the righteous by his power, even if it so be that

the fullness of his wrath must come, and the righteous be preserved, even under the destruction of their enemies by fire. Wherefore the righteous need not fear. For thus saith the prophet, they shall be saved, even if it so be as by fire. Behold, my brethren, I say unto you, that these things must shortly come. Yea, even blood and fire and vapors of smoke must come, and it must needs be upon the face of the earth, and it cometh unto man according to the flesh, if it so be that they will harden their hearts against the Holy One of Israel. For behold, the righteous shall not perish. For the time surely must come that all who fight against Zion shall be cut off. So, point one,

the second coming is to destroy those who destroy the earth. God's not going to let that happen. Christ is not going to let that happen. The second point is the proximity is not going to be good enough. In chapter 11, going back there again, verse 1, we find that John himself measures the temple. But what is interesting is he measures the altar and the court and those who are worshiping therein. But it specifically says, don't measure the outer court, for it is given unto the Gentiles to trample. The lesson that I get out of this is that no unrighteousness is exempt, even if found among the saints.

All in the church must never forget the Lord's declaration, which says, Behold, vengeance acometh speedily upon the inhabitants of the earth, a day of wrath, a day of burning, a day of desolation, of weeping, of mourning, of lamentation. And as a whirlwind it shall come upon all the face of the earth, saith the Lord, and upon my house shall it begin. And from my house shall it go forth, saith the Lord. First among you, those among you, saith the Lord, who have professed to know my name and have not known me

and have blasphemed against me in the midst of my holy house, saith the Lord. Section 112, verses 24 through 26. Under the power of his judgment, the mask of pretended righteousness will be ripped off, hypocrisy will be fully exposed, and those saints, or would-be saints or false saints will then, with the wicked, raise up their eyes in hell for what they have done. The third, the key to safety, is being a Zion people. I'm reaching back for these lessons. This is out of chapter 14, verse 1, where the Savior is there with 144,000. What we have to understand is that

Satan is not particularly afraid of the church. He is terrified of Zion. The reason he's not particularly terrified of the church, we also see earlier as the dragon, we have the beautiful mother who is in travail, the dragon is there. Chapter 13, to consume the babe. Why doesn't he consume the mother? It's because he's not particularly worried about the church. I mean, take a look at the Old Testament. How does Malachi and Haggai end? It is with kind of a hopelessness and only a looking to the future. Things are really bad. How does the book of Ether end? Apostasy. You know, the nation goes down. How does the book of Ether end? Apostasy. You know, the nation goes down.

How does the book of Mormon end? Apostasy. The nation goes down. How does the New Testament end? Interestingly enough, if we did not have Revelation, we got James and what did he say? I'm here to preach the gospel,

which was once preached unto us. It's no more. The church again has folded and so on. Well, thank goodness they have the book of Revelation because the good guys win in the book of Revelation. But my point is that Satan is not particularly worried about the church. He trips that into apostasy every thrice in a while. Zion, however, Zion never falls to apostasy. Zion comes and Zions go, but they never apostatize. That is where the real strength is. The way that Satan operates, the way that the false prophet or Babylon, the great work, is not by attacking good works directly, but by changing the doctrine. And by changing the doctrine, you can get good

people to do bad things. Let me just give a couple of examples. One, the Lord has assured us, the earth has enough and despair. We're not going to run out of anything. Lithium, whatever it is, we're not going to run out of it. If we believe that there's not enough to spare, good people can do bad things. Good people change the doctrine. They can do bad things. For instance, what about marriage? We as Latter-day Saints know that marriage is eternal, that heaven itself is built on the family and the family structure. It's the government of heaven and so on. Our job, of course, is to promote the nuclear family. Therefore, we have to promote Zion. We have to strengthen families. We have to do missionary work, get out there. We have to do

temple work so that the foundation is very, very solid. We have to live to promote spirituality and personal purity. If Zion is pure, Satan has to make us impure. We've got to fight against that, and we have to promote love and unity. And what will be the result? The saints will not need to fight the battles of the last days. Let me read this. The reason we won't have to fight is that the enemy cannot move against the righteous saints. By the time the army gathers, the Lamb will have established places of refuge

in Zion and in her stakes and in Jerusalem. Indeed, the gathering together upon the land of Zion and upon her stakes will be for a defense and for a refuge from the storm that will be poured out without mixture upon the whole earth. As we have seen already, the lamb will be with the saints on Mount Zion and the glory of the Lord shall be there and the terror of the Lord shall be there in so much that the wicked will not come unto it. In fact, they will say, let us not go up to battle against Zion, for the inhabitants of Zion are terrible, wherefore we cannot stand.

It will be at this time that every man that will not take up his sword against his neighbor must need to flee to Zion for safety, and they will be the only people that shall not be at war one with another. Thus, the task of the saints is to rely on God and continue to push forward in faith. Finally, the last takeaway from this. The most important thing we can do is to prepare and to proselyte.

That's really, really what we should be about in these latter days. In modern times, the Lord has declared, and there my witnesses' testimony shall go forth unto the condemnation of this generation if they harden their hearts against me. For a desolating surge shall go forth among the inhabitants of the earth, and shall continue to be poured out from time to time, if they repent not, until the earth is empty, and the wicked inhabitants thereof are consumed away and utterly destroyed by the brightness of my coming, which is Doctrine and Covenants 5, 18 and 19. Further he warns, For behold, and lo, vengeance cometh speedily upon the ungodly, as the whirlwind, and who shall escape it?

The Lord's scourge shall pass over by day and by night, and the report thereof shall vex all people, yea, it shall not be stayed until the Lord come, for the indignation of the Lord is kindled against their abominations and all their wicked works. That's Doctrine and Covenants 97, 20 through 224. Once the plagues begin, as I noted earlier, there is no way to stop them. But what of the saints? And this is the glory of the whole thing. The Lord has warned, Zion shall escape if she observed to do all that we can. In closing, chapter 22, verse 17, And the spirit of the bride say, Come, and let him that hear us say, Come, and let him that is a thirst come, and whosoever will, let him take the waters of life freely. That's what you and I need to be about. We know what's coming. We know it's going to be bad. And

therefore, we need to reach out to others to put away our shyness, to put away our concerns, our self-consciousness, and so on, and be able to reach out to others and bring them into the fold of Zion so that they, with us, can be assured that they can have peace and rest during troubled times. And then, may we, and we started with this one, John, you mentioned this one, chapter 15, verses 3 and 4. And they sing the song of Moses, the servant of God, and the song of the Lamb, saying, Great and marvelous are thy works, Lord God Almighty, just and true are thy ways, thou King of saints. Who shall not fear thee, O Lord, and glorify thy name? For thou only art holy.

For all nations shall come to worship before thee. For thy judgments are made manifest. That's really what we are all about. And the power is there. These are brutal chapters. But what we see in them is the power of God moving. And that power is upon his saints. And if we will just do as he wants us to do, the future promises to be unlike anything

we've seen before as God moves on to the stage of history, as he dwells with his people, and as we prepare for the great millennial reign. It is my prayer and my hope that we will reach out beyond ourselves and say to others, come, come be with us. I do not partake in the plagues of Babylon. That was beautiful. I'm so glad it ends with hope and with the tree of life and an invitation. Everybody come. Yeah, that invitation. If you want it, come to it. I wonder if Joseph Smith said, this is the plainest book.

Maybe because by the end, you realize the choice is easy. One kingdom will fall. One will prevail. Choose. Take your pick which one you want. This is from Orson F. Whitney. I want to read this to you. He says, we put our lives and liberties in jeopardy when we preach that which is unpopular

and brings upon us the wrath and hatred of the world. We desire as much as any man can desire the salvation of our fellow men. Our mission is to save, not to condemn. This is the gospel of salvation, not a gospel of damnation. But damnation follows as a necessary alternative to the rejection of truth. Men who reject truth damn themselves. The man who will shut the door at his own face keeps himself out of the kingdom. The waters of life are free. Come and partake of them without money and without price. If you will not partake of them, how can you blame anyone but yourself if you die of thirst

in the desert? If you put out the light by persecuting the saints of God, how can you blame any but yourself if you're left in darkness? We invite men to come into the sunlight, but they prefer to stay in the shade. Who is to blame but themselves? They have their choice. Light has burst forth in the midst of darkness. God is merciful, but responsibility rests like a mountain upon those who hear the truth and reject it. That seems to be the message of revelation that there's an obvious winner in this and you can be on that side. I'm so grateful for these scholars, Hank, and to be able to sit here and learn like this is just an amazing blessing and thankful for all the listeners. I can't tell you the love I feel from people that are benefiting from all of these

scholars. It's just a blessing, and I just want to say thanks to everybody. Yeah. It's been a wonderful three years of this. It seems like yesterday I was calling you saying, hey, by the way, we're starting a podcast. And you said, we are? Yeah, we are. And here we are three years later, and we have the likes of Richard Draper here to teach us and our listeners. Such a blessing. Such a blessing. What a blessing. We want to thank Dr. Richard Draper for spending his time with us today. What a treat.

We want to thank our executive producer, Shannon Sorensen. Thank you for another year of scripture study, Shannon. We want to thank our sponsors, David and Verla Sorensen. And we always remember our founder, the wonderful Steve Sorensen. We hope you'll join us next week because we are starting our study. John, I know you're excited. We are starting with our first episode on the Book of Mormon next week on Follow Him. Today's transcripts, show notes, and additional references are available

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