1
00:00:00,000 --> 00:00:20,360
Hey there everybody welcome out to another episode of Redeem Through His Blood, Scott

2
00:00:20,360 --> 00:00:25,720
and David Durfey here. How are you doing Dave? I'm good Scott. I'm good.

3
00:00:25,720 --> 00:00:32,320
Well Dave, not much other than that to talk about this morning before we get rocking in

4
00:00:32,320 --> 00:00:36,960
rolling. Yeah, we are right in the heart and center, Scott, of what it really means to repent.

5
00:00:36,960 --> 00:00:44,000
And I just, I don't know, when we talk about repentance, it's my favorite part because I

6
00:00:44,000 --> 00:00:51,840
really do believe it's the heart of it and it's so easy for I think individuals to skirt all

7
00:00:51,840 --> 00:00:59,080
around repentance and never really get to the heart of it. And we've talked about the foundations

8
00:00:59,080 --> 00:01:06,480
of repentance. We've talked about the conditions of repentance, meeting those conditions of a

9
00:01:06,480 --> 00:01:14,240
broken heart, contrite spirit, godly sorrow, what all that means. And now we're in what I call the

10
00:01:14,240 --> 00:01:20,680
actions. This is the actions of repentance. What does it really mean to repent? What do we have to

11
00:01:20,680 --> 00:01:29,080
really do to repent? And after the actions of repentance, which is the heart of it, then we'll

12
00:01:29,080 --> 00:01:36,720
talk in future podcasts about the manifestations of repentance. And I call the manifestations of

13
00:01:36,720 --> 00:01:42,240
repentance even though they're part of the process because I think that's how the Lord describes

14
00:01:42,240 --> 00:01:51,440
them in Dr. and Covenants section 58. He says, by this, by this, you shall know whether a man

15
00:01:51,440 --> 00:01:58,960
hath repented of his sins. He will confess them and forsake them. So for example, confession and

16
00:01:58,960 --> 00:02:07,920
forsaking is perhaps more of a manifestation that someone has repented than actual, actually being

17
00:02:07,920 --> 00:02:15,040
the heart of repentance. I'm not saying they're not important. I'm just saying that the way the

18
00:02:15,040 --> 00:02:24,520
Lord describes them, they're more of a manifestation of a person's repentance. And so repentance,

19
00:02:24,520 --> 00:02:32,880
what does it really mean? You know, I think our guest last week, Nick, did a wonderful job describing,

20
00:02:32,880 --> 00:02:42,680
you know, that it means a complete 180 degree turn, not a 45 degree turn, not a 90 degree.

21
00:02:42,680 --> 00:02:49,320
I loved how he put that to that. He used to see it as a 90 degree. Yeah, and he saw repentance as a

22
00:02:49,320 --> 00:02:55,520
90 degree turn that he would turn from his sins and then go try to go work it out for himself.

23
00:02:55,520 --> 00:03:02,840
And then he could turn to the Savior. I'll do 90 now and then 90 later.

24
00:03:02,840 --> 00:03:08,160
Yeah. Well, he said, I loved what he said because he had an interesting perspective. He thought that

25
00:03:08,160 --> 00:03:15,120
the only way to be able to pray or to get to Jesus as I don't know a better way to put that,

26
00:03:15,120 --> 00:03:21,000
was through the church. And he didn't feel like he could finish or complete that 180 rotation

27
00:03:21,000 --> 00:03:26,160
until he had finished it with the church. And that was an interesting perspective,

28
00:03:26,160 --> 00:03:32,240
one probably that's shared by a lot of us. I think most really strong, active Latter-day Saints

29
00:03:32,240 --> 00:03:38,440
have maybe seen it like that. I don't know. And especially, especially perhaps those who have

30
00:03:38,440 --> 00:03:46,240
been children of priesthood leaders. Right. You know? Yeah, it's really true because of the culture.

31
00:03:46,240 --> 00:03:52,120
Bless their hearts. Right. But, you know, so we talk about repentance. And I think we did this

32
00:03:52,120 --> 00:03:57,600
the week prior when we talked so much about repentance is just turn, I mean, maybe even

33
00:03:57,600 --> 00:04:01,920
three weeks ago, turning to him. And so what we're going to be talking about today, because we,

34
00:04:01,920 --> 00:04:06,880
you know, when we talk about turning to him, for example, Nick, he was confused on turning to him.

35
00:04:06,880 --> 00:04:12,800
I've been confused on what it means to turn to him or what that process looks like. So the process

36
00:04:12,800 --> 00:04:19,000
that we are going to be embarking on now or the topics that we'll be talking about are how that is

37
00:04:19,000 --> 00:04:23,760
accomplished. And so just to just to string it all together, when we talk about turn to him,

38
00:04:23,760 --> 00:04:31,720
we'll be talking about ways that we accomplish that in this podcast. Turn to him and come unto him.

39
00:04:31,720 --> 00:04:37,360
Right. You know, you have to turn, but then you got to start moving in his direction. Yeah. Yeah.

40
00:04:37,360 --> 00:04:44,840
You got you got to go to him. Yeah. And that that thought that you just said and come and come to

41
00:04:44,840 --> 00:04:54,760
him, there's so much there as well. I know. So Scott, again, people may start the process of

42
00:04:54,760 --> 00:05:02,040
repentance in many different ways. This is not a one, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight step

43
00:05:02,040 --> 00:05:10,040
process. This is not a check repentance is not a checklist. There aren't five hours, six hours,

44
00:05:10,040 --> 00:05:17,360
seven hours, eight hours, whatever. This, this accept that we rely on our Redeemer. We need to

45
00:05:17,360 --> 00:05:21,880
remember that. That's what it is. The hours that are important. That's what it's all about.

46
00:05:21,880 --> 00:05:32,720
Repentance is not an institutional event or process. It is through our Heavenly Father and

47
00:05:32,720 --> 00:05:41,240
our Savior and Redeemer. So we should the actions of repentance. Let's just here's the heart of

48
00:05:41,240 --> 00:05:51,840
repentance is really crying out to God in faith. Yeah. Crying out is the heart of repentance. And

49
00:05:51,840 --> 00:06:01,080
then that's the turning, right? Turning and turning from our sins and crying out to God. And then

50
00:06:01,080 --> 00:06:10,400
offering our whole souls to him, including our sins and everything, giving him our sins. You

51
00:06:10,400 --> 00:06:18,960
know, King Lamone's father, I will give away all my sins to know thee. So just giving all of our,

52
00:06:18,960 --> 00:06:29,440
our souls to God is, I think what it really means to come unto him. So let's, let's just maybe talk

53
00:06:29,440 --> 00:06:37,960
about a few examples of that. Personal examples. Your examples, God, others that you've seen in,

54
00:06:37,960 --> 00:06:45,960
in the addiction recovery programs. But maybe, maybe the scriptures are a good place for us to,

55
00:06:45,960 --> 00:06:54,080
to kind of start all of the great examples of conversion and true repentance. And I think,

56
00:06:54,080 --> 00:07:02,240
by the way, conversion to the Lord Jesus Christ is the same thing as repentance. I love, you know,

57
00:07:02,240 --> 00:07:08,240
the anti Nephi Lehi's description of their conversion in Alma 24, when it says over and over

58
00:07:08,240 --> 00:07:13,720
again, they were converted unto the Lord. They were converted unto the Lord. I think that's in

59
00:07:13,720 --> 00:07:19,160
there about four or five times. I love that description. And that's really what repentance is.

60
00:07:19,160 --> 00:07:27,880
I think repentance and conversion are almost synonymous. I don't think one's truly converted

61
00:07:27,880 --> 00:07:34,320
unless they have truly repented and you haven't truly repented unless you become converted to

62
00:07:34,320 --> 00:07:43,960
Lord Jesus Christ and, and his atoning sacrifice. But I think one of the great early examples of

63
00:07:43,960 --> 00:07:54,400
the crying out is, is maybe Nephi, Nephi, his conversion. I know it didn't just start here. I

64
00:07:54,400 --> 00:08:01,720
think Nephi seems to be always a pretty good boy. I think he was probably a teenager when they,

65
00:08:01,720 --> 00:08:10,480
I mean, Hugh Nibley and others think Nephi was a teenager when he, when they left Jerusalem. And,

66
00:08:10,480 --> 00:08:18,040
and he kind of describes his conversion experience briefly in the first Nephi 2 16. Scott, if you

67
00:08:18,040 --> 00:08:24,760
want to read that, please. And it came to pass that I Nephi, being exceedingly young, nevertheless

68
00:08:24,760 --> 00:08:31,200
being large in stature, and also having great desires to know the mysteries of God. And I think

69
00:08:31,200 --> 00:08:37,160
that's important that we, that we point that out. You know, this crying out process required that he

70
00:08:37,160 --> 00:08:46,800
have a great desire. Yeah, which was again the result of gratitude. Right. Always, always, always,

71
00:08:46,800 --> 00:08:51,920
always. Let me start over and it came to pass that I Nephi being exceedingly young, nevertheless

72
00:08:51,920 --> 00:08:57,480
being large in stature and also having great desires to know the mysteries of God. Wherefore,

73
00:08:57,480 --> 00:09:05,120
I did cry unto the Lord. And behold, he did visit me and did soften my heart. And I did believe all

74
00:09:05,120 --> 00:09:12,480
the words which had been spoken by my father. Wherefore, I did not rebel against him like unto

75
00:09:12,480 --> 00:09:21,120
my brothers. That was the whole difference between him and his brothers was that he cried out unto

76
00:09:21,120 --> 00:09:27,440
the Lord. And he knew where he stood with the Lord. And he knew he wasn't perfect. He knew he

77
00:09:27,440 --> 00:09:35,080
wasn't sinless. He knew he was fallen. He got he understood all of that. And but that crying out

78
00:09:35,080 --> 00:09:44,800
experience for him was what was the difference between? Yeah, absolutely. You know, one of the

79
00:09:44,800 --> 00:09:49,880
things, Dave, that I noticed this time reading this, and this is the first time it really popped

80
00:09:49,880 --> 00:09:58,000
out to me, I must admit. But there's a key here. You know, so often, we have a difficulty getting

81
00:09:58,000 --> 00:10:03,240
the spirit in our lives or having Heavenly Father's presence in our lives through his spirit,

82
00:10:03,240 --> 00:10:09,760
because of the hardness of our hearts. Yeah. And sometimes our hearts are just hard. And at

83
00:10:09,760 --> 00:10:14,680
varying degrees and at various times in our lives, and it will happen to all of us continually. I

84
00:10:14,680 --> 00:10:20,800
mean, that's just part of the mortal process or the mortal experience. But but what happened as a

85
00:10:20,800 --> 00:10:28,240
result? I did cry unto the Lord and behold, he visited and did visit me and soften my heart.

86
00:10:28,240 --> 00:10:34,760
Now, I can't believe Nephi's heart was very hard before he started that process. No. In fact,

87
00:10:34,760 --> 00:10:39,160
I think it was probably broken. So you know, we talked about the conditions of repentance,

88
00:10:39,160 --> 00:10:46,960
a broken heart and contrite spirit. And I think that's the condition that Nephi approached the

89
00:10:46,960 --> 00:10:54,480
Lord. And the Lord gave him a new heart. I don't think the Lord heals our broken hearts. I think

90
00:10:54,480 --> 00:10:59,520
he gives us a new. I love that perspective. That's what that's what Ezekiel says, right? And he will

91
00:10:59,520 --> 00:11:08,160
give you a new heart. And that new heart is much softer, more pliable, more kind, more loving,

92
00:11:08,160 --> 00:11:16,600
more loving, all of that. So the Lord, after Nephi cries out with a broken heart, he gets a new

93
00:11:16,600 --> 00:11:24,240
heart, which is a soft heart. I love that. I just love that. That's that's what that's the first

94
00:11:24,240 --> 00:11:29,000
example in the Book of Mormon. And there are there are many others. One of my favorites is

95
00:11:29,000 --> 00:11:38,440
after King Benjamin's address in Mosiah chapter four, Scott, I after King Benjamin's address

96
00:11:38,440 --> 00:11:46,760
speaking about the atonement of Jesus Christ and and what Christ was willing to suffer for us to

97
00:11:46,760 --> 00:11:53,760
bleed from every pore because the anguish of his soul Nephi or King Benjamin describes in Mosiah

98
00:11:53,760 --> 00:12:00,480
three. And after after the people listening to King Benjamin after their hearts are broken because

99
00:12:00,480 --> 00:12:10,880
of the sacrifice of Jesus Christ, listen to the listen to what actions they take in Mosiah chapter

100
00:12:10,880 --> 00:12:17,640
four verse two. And they had viewed themselves in their own carnal state, even less than the dust

101
00:12:17,640 --> 00:12:25,520
of the earth. And they all cried aloud with one voice saying, Oh, have mercy and apply the atoning

102
00:12:25,520 --> 00:12:32,760
blood of Christ that we may receive forgiveness of our sins. And our hearts may be purified, for

103
00:12:32,760 --> 00:12:38,680
we believe in Jesus Christ, the Son of God, who created heaven and earth and all things who shall

104
00:12:38,680 --> 00:12:45,280
come down among the children of men. That is such an interesting verse to me because it says they

105
00:12:45,280 --> 00:12:52,560
cried out with one voice. Yep. And what and what it how does it start? What one voice? I don't know

106
00:12:52,560 --> 00:12:58,560
how many hundreds or thousands of people were there. But they cry out in one voice. And how do

107
00:12:58,560 --> 00:13:06,280
they start to cry out? Well, it says and they all cried aloud with one voice. Loud. Yeah. I mean,

108
00:13:06,280 --> 00:13:16,160
this is not a metaphor. Right. I mean, I really this is a born again, Pentecostal, really, it really

109
00:13:16,160 --> 00:13:22,320
is experience where they are crying aloud together. It would have been think how loud it

110
00:13:22,320 --> 00:13:29,480
would have been. And they're not just thinking it. They're not just feeling it. They're crying out

111
00:13:29,480 --> 00:13:36,760
loud. And what do they say? They said, Oh, have mercy and apply the atoning blood of Christ that

112
00:13:36,760 --> 00:13:42,880
we may receive a forgiveness of our sins. And our hearts may be purified, for we believe in Jesus

113
00:13:42,880 --> 00:13:47,640
Christ, the Son of God, who created heaven and earth and all things who shall come down among

114
00:13:47,640 --> 00:13:56,400
the children of man. Have you ever offered a prayer like that? Scott, I have. And you know, when I do.

115
00:13:56,400 --> 00:14:04,320
Yeah, there. So I don't I don't want to really want to take a ton of time doing this. Maybe it would

116
00:14:04,320 --> 00:14:12,600
be appropriate to do it at a later podcast. But I had an experience where I thought my life needed

117
00:14:12,600 --> 00:14:18,920
to be done, needed to be over. And one thing I'm not going to get into all but for the sake of time,

118
00:14:18,920 --> 00:14:24,960
but one thing led to another. And then I began this process, I began to see myself. I had no

119
00:14:24,960 --> 00:14:30,000
problem seeing my own myself in my own nothingness, right? That was less than the dust of the earth.

120
00:14:30,000 --> 00:14:37,200
That was not a problem for me. But it was but it was ill directed. Yeah, the accuser. It was coming

121
00:14:37,200 --> 00:14:44,840
from the accuser. And so, you know, there's a fine line there. But there is. There is. But but

122
00:14:44,840 --> 00:14:50,080
even but even if we cry out even having been accused by the compute accuser that could capitulate.

123
00:14:50,080 --> 00:14:54,480
Yeah, you know, that can be taken over by the father too. So yeah, I definitely had that. And I

124
00:14:54,480 --> 00:14:59,880
remember and I know you had and because of your example on Parker Mountain when you were in high

125
00:14:59,880 --> 00:15:05,160
school, you're crying out experience. You know, that was a great example for me. And and so I

126
00:15:05,160 --> 00:15:11,560
at my crying out experience happened at the back of Tempanuki back at Tempanogis at Tempanuki in

127
00:15:11,560 --> 00:15:15,520
that Tempanuki Tempanuki area. I was on my horse. I was alone and I had that crying out

128
00:15:15,520 --> 00:15:25,000
experience and that began my road to recovery. Well, thank you. I I did cry out on my experience

129
00:15:25,000 --> 00:15:30,040
right before my missions trying to I wanted to have an enus experience which we'll read about

130
00:15:30,040 --> 00:15:36,080
in just a minute and went into the forest to hunt wild beasts. But I didn't I left my guns home.

131
00:15:36,080 --> 00:15:41,800
Yeah. But I that's you had been hunting wild beasts. That's where we would have been with you

132
00:15:41,800 --> 00:15:46,000
there. That's right. That's where we would hunt. So I wanted to have an enus experience without

133
00:15:46,000 --> 00:15:51,720
guns or actually hunting wild beasts. And and of course, he went into the forest to hunt wild

134
00:15:51,720 --> 00:15:58,760
beasts. But he didn't hunt any wild bees. He said, instead of finding any wild bees, he really

135
00:15:58,760 --> 00:16:06,400
found God there. And I thought I would go to a similar place and I cried out before my mission

136
00:16:06,400 --> 00:16:17,680
with all my heart turned to God and and asked for a redemption of sins. And that was an unbelievable

137
00:16:17,680 --> 00:16:23,760
experience to me where he answered answered my cry and my prayers. And that wasn't the only time

138
00:16:23,760 --> 00:16:30,160
in my life that I have experienced that I experienced it again on my mission, you know, in Pacific

139
00:16:30,160 --> 00:16:36,800
Grove, California, in a in a bathroom of a boarding house where my companion and I were staying and

140
00:16:36,800 --> 00:16:46,080
the crying crying and not, you know, just wanting to be a better disciple, a better missionary,

141
00:16:46,080 --> 00:16:54,400
a better ambassador for the Lord Jesus Christ and and wanting to know again my standing. I think I

142
00:16:54,400 --> 00:17:02,560
think Joseph Smith was was similar. You know, Scott, when he when he cried out to God as a as a

143
00:17:02,560 --> 00:17:08,160
14 and a half year old boy and received the first vision, I mean, he was years light years ahead of

144
00:17:08,160 --> 00:17:17,440
me. But as a 14 year old boy, he really want to know where he stood with God. Yeah. And his crying

145
00:17:17,440 --> 00:17:24,720
out to God in the sacred Grove was not just to know his church was true, but it was to also know

146
00:17:24,720 --> 00:17:31,440
where he stood and the condition of his soul. And in one of the accounts of his first vision,

147
00:17:32,080 --> 00:17:36,960
the first thing the Lord tells him is that he's forgiven of his sins. And then and then three

148
00:17:36,960 --> 00:17:43,200
three years later, you know, when he cries out to God again in the in the cabin, and I don't know

149
00:17:43,200 --> 00:17:51,040
if he's on his knees or in bed. But when he cries out to God again, Moroni appears to him. And the

150
00:17:51,040 --> 00:17:57,920
first thing Moroni tells him is that he's forgiven of his sins. This is not a one time lifetime thing.

151
00:17:58,880 --> 00:18:06,640
This is a this is this crying out is something that we need to do often throughout our life daily

152
00:18:06,640 --> 00:18:12,880
if possible, where we're really sincere. I don't think you can contrive it. I don't think that

153
00:18:13,840 --> 00:18:18,720
you know, the Prophet Joseph Smith said that you should you should not treat daily repentance

154
00:18:19,280 --> 00:18:31,200
in any sort of a trite, vain way that it has to be really sincere. But it's, it's, it's something

155
00:18:31,200 --> 00:18:36,720
that we all need to do and we all need to do it more often. And it it's usually preceded by a broken

156
00:18:36,720 --> 00:18:41,360
heart and contrite spirit. I think that's really key that broken heart and contrite spirit. And I

157
00:18:41,360 --> 00:18:46,800
think King Benjamin makes point of that here too. You know, before I had my crying out experience,

158
00:18:46,800 --> 00:18:52,640
I had to have a broken heart. And unfortunately, I had to be compelled. I mean, there was some

159
00:18:52,640 --> 00:18:58,080
some compelling. There was, however you say that that that was part of that. To be humble.

160
00:18:58,080 --> 00:19:04,320
Because of because of the wreckage, you know, that comes with alcoholism, addiction, and all the

161
00:19:04,320 --> 00:19:11,040
other things that come with it. And I and I love how King Benjamin continues to tell them in verse

162
00:19:11,040 --> 00:19:17,200
five, for behold, for behold, remember your nothing, exactly for behold, if the knowledge of the

163
00:19:17,200 --> 00:19:21,920
goodness of God at this time has awakened you to the sense of your own nothingness. And I'll just

164
00:19:21,920 --> 00:19:27,360
stop right there. I had been awakened to my own nothingness. Now that doesn't mean, and I felt

165
00:19:27,360 --> 00:19:32,640
this way, but that doesn't mean my nothing. I'm nothing. You know, I'm obviously something Jesus

166
00:19:32,640 --> 00:19:39,360
Christ died for me. Right. But but in terms of my ability, and that's what I mean in terms of my

167
00:19:39,360 --> 00:19:45,600
ability to do this for myself, I there was just no way. You know, it had come to the point in my

168
00:19:45,600 --> 00:19:51,120
life where I felt like maybe it was time to end my life because I was so discouraged and in so much

169
00:19:51,120 --> 00:19:58,480
despair, because of it, I had been awakened to my own nothingness, which means there was no possible

170
00:19:58,480 --> 00:20:04,320
way I could do this for myself. I had tried, you know, in the 12 steps about colleagues, anonymous,

171
00:20:04,320 --> 00:20:08,640
I think it's really interesting how the first three steps kind of encapsulate what we're talking

172
00:20:08,640 --> 00:20:14,800
about here. The first step is and I won't iterate them in their fullness. But the first step is,

173
00:20:14,800 --> 00:20:21,920
is that my life's unmanageable and I guess can't recognize your nothingness. Exactly. The second

174
00:20:21,920 --> 00:20:29,200
step is the second step is, is that there is a power greater than me who can restore me. Jesus

175
00:20:29,200 --> 00:20:35,520
Christ, recognize God's goodness. The third step is, became willing to have God remove all these

176
00:20:35,520 --> 00:20:41,520
defects of character to turn 180 degrees and face God moving his direction. So in other words,

177
00:20:41,520 --> 00:20:48,720
if we were to abbreviate these, I can't, I acknowledge that he can and I'm going to let

178
00:20:48,720 --> 00:20:55,440
him through the process that comes with that. I can't, he can, I'm gonna let him and I'm gonna let

179
00:20:55,440 --> 00:21:01,120
him. That's awesome. And it really is, I'm gonna let him. I'm not gonna beg him to, I'm not gonna

180
00:21:01,120 --> 00:21:07,920
pay him to, I'm not gonna try to earn my good graces so that he will. I'm just going to step

181
00:21:07,920 --> 00:21:13,600
back and let him. Why do you think that's so hard for people in the church? Because it requires a

182
00:21:13,600 --> 00:21:21,840
great deal of faith. Maybe I should reiterate that because it requires faith, a level of faith in

183
00:21:21,840 --> 00:21:27,920
Jesus Christ. And when we say faith in Jesus Christ, faith is the evidence of things not seen.

184
00:21:28,640 --> 00:21:35,760
We as humans, as mortals, like to have checkboxes, like to have miles post, like to have bellweathers,

185
00:21:35,760 --> 00:21:41,120
like to have these types of things so that we can have something whereby to measure our progress.

186
00:21:41,840 --> 00:21:47,520
It's ego driven by the accuser. Faith is a completely different thing.

187
00:21:48,080 --> 00:21:55,440
It just, it just seems to me, you know, my sweetheart's own experience, you know, who just

188
00:21:55,440 --> 00:22:04,960
could not, just could not let go of her sins. And they weren't major, but she just felt like she

189
00:22:04,960 --> 00:22:11,200
kept repeating the same mistakes over and over again. And not until she knew her nothingness.

190
00:22:12,080 --> 00:22:19,440
I mean, she really thought that you're saved by grace. After all, she could do and she could never,

191
00:22:20,320 --> 00:22:26,160
it seemed, do enough. And there's just so many people in the church that get hung up on that.

192
00:22:27,280 --> 00:22:32,640
And I love Nicks actually, you know, our interview last week. Nicks take on that.

193
00:22:32,640 --> 00:22:40,960
We are saved by grace after all we, and that second we, he says, that's me and my savior,

194
00:22:42,000 --> 00:22:48,400
all we can do. We're saved by grace after all we can do. And I loved his take on that. But

195
00:22:48,400 --> 00:22:55,360
there's just so many, I think people in the church who are programmed to think that it's

196
00:22:55,360 --> 00:23:03,520
it's through the church that we're forgiven of our sins. They don't, I don't know. I don't know

197
00:23:03,520 --> 00:23:13,120
what the deal is, but they just don't cry out. They don't have this experience of crying out for

198
00:23:13,120 --> 00:23:20,400
mercy like the people in King Benjamin's day. They cried out for mercy. And Scott, we didn't read

199
00:23:20,400 --> 00:23:26,800
verse three, but what happens? I mean, and it's, and it's like immediately, right? What's, what's

200
00:23:26,800 --> 00:23:31,440
the results of their crying out? Yeah. And after it came to pass that after they had spoken these

201
00:23:31,440 --> 00:23:38,080
words, the spirit of the Lord came upon them and they were filled with joy, having received a remission

202
00:23:38,080 --> 00:23:43,120
of their sins and having, I love it. They were filled with joy, having received because

203
00:23:43,120 --> 00:23:50,560
because El President Nelson talks about practicing daily, the finding joy in practicing daily

204
00:23:50,560 --> 00:23:54,960
repentance. Yeah, the repentance is joy. Exactly. They were filled with joy, having received a

205
00:23:54,960 --> 00:24:01,840
remission of sin, of their sins and having peace of conscience. I know so many people that would

206
00:24:01,840 --> 00:24:07,440
just do whatever they had to do to have peace of conscience because of the exceeding faith. And

207
00:24:07,440 --> 00:24:14,320
there it is, which they had in Jesus Christ, in Jesus Christ, faith in Jesus Christ, who should come?

208
00:24:15,360 --> 00:24:20,640
You know, we, we have, we have physical evidence that Jesus lived. They didn't even have that,

209
00:24:20,640 --> 00:24:27,760
right? Right. And even come and sacrifice for our sins. Yeah. I just, I love that. I mean,

210
00:24:27,760 --> 00:24:38,320
that's the promise. And I just, there's so many individuals who I think in the church have, have

211
00:24:38,320 --> 00:24:44,480
experienced a broken heart and contrite spirit. They, they go around and they confess their sins

212
00:24:44,480 --> 00:24:49,840
to everybody that they can and, and priesthood leaders and sometimes others and they try to

213
00:24:49,840 --> 00:24:55,600
make restitution and they, they try to be better and they, they, you know, they try to forgive

214
00:24:55,600 --> 00:25:02,080
themselves and others and they just try to keep all the commandments and they think that that's

215
00:25:02,080 --> 00:25:10,080
repentance and they never get around to crying out. They just never cry out for mercy. Yeah.

216
00:25:11,040 --> 00:25:16,320
But they, this is not an easy thing for some people and I don't get that, you know, because,

217
00:25:16,320 --> 00:25:24,880
I guess, because I had such huge evidence of my need to crying out. But for example, you know,

218
00:25:24,880 --> 00:25:29,920
I hear this frequently. You probably did too when you were teaching a Institute, but I hear this

219
00:25:29,920 --> 00:25:35,120
frequently from people in our Institute class, you know, I just don't feel forgiven. I just,

220
00:25:35,120 --> 00:25:40,400
I've done everything. I've, I, we, we talk about this stuff that we talk about in class, but I just

221
00:25:40,400 --> 00:25:45,600
don't feel forgiven. And I see everything that's right. And they think they've done everything.

222
00:25:45,600 --> 00:25:50,720
They think they've done everything. But then my question to them is, well, what was your crying

223
00:25:50,720 --> 00:25:55,520
out experience like? Or have you been able to have that? And, you know, and you don't have to

224
00:25:55,520 --> 00:26:00,000
orchestrate it. It doesn't have to look a certain way. You don't have to take a bow into the wilderness

225
00:26:00,000 --> 00:26:03,920
and break it and then how you can freak out over it. It could be in your closet. It could be in your

226
00:26:03,920 --> 00:26:10,080
car. It could be the side of your bed. It can be whatever. It doesn't need to be an orchestrated

227
00:26:10,080 --> 00:26:15,920
plan. And it can be a process of several other experiences strung together. It doesn't have

228
00:26:15,920 --> 00:26:21,120
to look a certain way. But, but to me, when we're not feeling forgiven, that there's a couple reasons.

229
00:26:21,120 --> 00:26:26,080
One is that we don't have faith that we don't believe him, that we don't, all of that. But

230
00:26:26,080 --> 00:26:31,040
another one is, is that our crying out experience has not either not been there or been incomplete.

231
00:26:31,680 --> 00:26:35,280
Well, again, we know this from personal experience. I know this from personal experience

232
00:26:35,840 --> 00:26:40,800
that you can skirt all around it. Yeah, you can do all these other things, all these other good

233
00:26:40,800 --> 00:26:49,120
things. You can keep all the commandments. You can confess to everybody and still not feel forgiven.

234
00:26:49,120 --> 00:26:53,600
Yeah, you can even wonder why. Why am I not forgiven? Because we have never

235
00:26:54,320 --> 00:27:00,160
really reached the heart of repentance. We don't really understand the heart of repentance.

236
00:27:00,160 --> 00:27:04,800
And Dave, that's why that, that's why that crying out experience for me was so important.

237
00:27:04,800 --> 00:27:13,200
I had for many years tried and butted up against my own will. I had tried and tried and tried and

238
00:27:13,200 --> 00:27:18,160
tried and tried. And finally, when I just realized I can't do it, and I came to the point where what's

239
00:27:18,160 --> 00:27:26,160
the point of my life. And then I did cry out and I felt that relief. Now I have that to look back on.

240
00:27:26,160 --> 00:27:30,480
Because there's days when I get discouraged. There's days when the human experience overtakes

241
00:27:30,480 --> 00:27:37,200
my spiritual experience. And I can look back on that and others. You know, there's, there's,

242
00:27:37,200 --> 00:27:44,560
it doesn't have to be just one big event to. Yeah. Well, let's, let's, let's just read Enos's

243
00:27:44,560 --> 00:27:54,080
experience. We've referenced it, but let's just, for more reinforcement on this idea of the importance

244
00:27:54,080 --> 00:28:00,080
of crying out, which is over and over again in the Book of Mormon and in the Bible and other places.

245
00:28:00,880 --> 00:28:08,800
But Enos's experience in the Enos one, one verse four, Scott. And my soul hungered and I kneeled

246
00:28:08,800 --> 00:28:15,200
down before my maker. And I cried unto him in mighty prayer and supplication for my own soul.

247
00:28:15,840 --> 00:28:22,960
And all the day long did I cry unto him. Yay. When the night came, I did still raise my voice high

248
00:28:22,960 --> 00:28:31,360
and it reached the heavens crying out. Maybe doesn't just describe the quality of our prayer,

249
00:28:31,360 --> 00:28:37,200
but sometimes the quantity of our prayer. You know, when I, when I went to the Parker Mountains,

250
00:28:37,840 --> 00:28:44,000
you know, as a 19 year old boy preparing for my mission just a few months before I went on my

251
00:28:44,000 --> 00:28:53,200
mission, I man all day and into the night for three days and three nights. I mean, I was just kind

252
00:28:53,200 --> 00:29:00,080
of walked and talked with God for three days and three nights crying out can, can sometimes take that.

253
00:29:00,080 --> 00:29:06,240
I've heard some of the brother and speak about their crying out experience, which is for some of

254
00:29:06,240 --> 00:29:12,800
them been an all night experience. And the sun started to come up in the morning and they realized

255
00:29:12,800 --> 00:29:17,920
they'd been crying out all night. Now, I don't think it has to be a long prayer. It certainly

256
00:29:17,920 --> 00:29:23,040
wasn't for the people in King Benjamin's day. They cried out with one accord and one verse.

257
00:29:24,480 --> 00:29:34,240
So it, but sometimes it's, it's more than just the intensity or the quality of the crying out.

258
00:29:34,240 --> 00:29:43,360
Sometimes, sometimes this crying out may last four days. I mean, and it may not just be in one place

259
00:29:43,360 --> 00:29:54,160
before they receive a forgiveness of sin and an Enos all day and into the night. He cries out,

260
00:29:54,160 --> 00:29:59,920
which is amazing. I think we need to read verse five and maybe even a little longer.

261
00:29:59,920 --> 00:30:06,000
And there came a voice unto me saying, Enos, thy sins are forgiven thee, and thou shalt be blessed.

262
00:30:06,000 --> 00:30:12,720
And I, Enos knew that God could not lie. Wherefore my guilt was swept away. And I said to the Lord,

263
00:30:12,720 --> 00:30:19,600
how is it done? And he said unto me, because of thy faith in Christ, whom now has never before

264
00:30:19,600 --> 00:30:27,440
heard, nor seen. Verse eight, that's my favorite verse. Verse eight. Yeah. Because of thy faith

265
00:30:27,440 --> 00:30:34,240
in Christ. And I think that's important. You know, this crying out, there is a great reward that

266
00:30:34,240 --> 00:30:39,200
can come about. I don't know, Dave, that there's ever been. And I thought about this. This isn't

267
00:30:39,200 --> 00:30:43,680
just something that I'm flippantly sharing right now. I've thought about this. I don't think there's

268
00:30:43,680 --> 00:30:49,680
anything more important to me in my life than that knowledge, that time. And in that time,

269
00:30:49,680 --> 00:30:55,120
and it's, you know, when I go back and I still have that, that Heavenly Father loves me, that He

270
00:30:55,120 --> 00:31:02,800
has made, that He knows me, that I'm His. That He heard you. Right. And that He was merciful to you.

271
00:31:04,560 --> 00:31:13,520
That's so powerful. Well, Alma is an example of this. Ziazram and King Lomona's father are also

272
00:31:13,520 --> 00:31:19,760
examples of conversions. And they're crying out, King Lomona's father, such a great example,

273
00:31:19,760 --> 00:31:25,600
when he says, I'll give away half my kingdom to know God. And then he starts to pray who he's

274
00:31:25,600 --> 00:31:32,160
never prayed to God before. And this is his very first prayer. And he cries out to God in Alma 22,

275
00:31:32,160 --> 00:31:41,520
I think we're 17 and 18. And he says, I will give away all my sins to know thee. And he receives

276
00:31:41,520 --> 00:31:50,080
remission of sins. But Alma, in Alma 36, got Alma after three days and three nights of hitting rock

277
00:31:50,080 --> 00:31:57,200
bottom, right? Struck deaf and dumb. And here's a, here's a young man who's been in a period of

278
00:31:57,200 --> 00:32:04,000
apostasy, trying to destroy the church and undermine all the work that his father, the

279
00:32:04,000 --> 00:32:11,760
prophet has done. And because of the faith of his father, which is interesting, Scott, the faith

280
00:32:11,760 --> 00:32:19,520
of his father brings about this experience. It's, it's Ziazram's experience is interesting because

281
00:32:19,520 --> 00:32:29,200
it's, it's the faith of Alma and Alma crying out in behalf of Ziazram that Ziazram's life is changed.

282
00:32:29,200 --> 00:32:37,680
Ziazram's conversion takes place because he, he's kind of a speechless and paralyzed and,

283
00:32:38,240 --> 00:32:44,560
and it's Alma crying out for Ziazram. So sometimes it's, it's maybe a parent or others crying out.

284
00:32:44,560 --> 00:32:51,120
That was my experience. My, but it was from the faith of a stake president. Yeah. And that was my

285
00:32:51,120 --> 00:32:57,680
experience as well. My faith from him was what motivated me and gave me courage to go and do what

286
00:32:57,680 --> 00:33:06,240
I did. So anyway, the Alma has been in a state of apostasy for, I don't know how long and,

287
00:33:06,240 --> 00:33:11,760
and says that he's the vilest of sinners, describing his, his previous life to his

288
00:33:11,760 --> 00:33:18,880
born again experience. But in Alma 36 verse 18, an angel appeared after the angel appears.

289
00:33:20,000 --> 00:33:25,200
It's not the angel that changes him, Scott. No, it's not the angel. It's what he does

290
00:33:25,200 --> 00:33:32,480
in verse 18 and 19 here. Before I read 18 and 19, I want to read 16 and 17 because it's important

291
00:33:32,480 --> 00:33:38,240
to know that Alma felt the way that we sometimes felt filled to, right? And now for three days and

292
00:33:38,240 --> 00:33:43,920
for three nights, I was racked even with the pains of a damned soul. Some of us have felt that for

293
00:33:43,920 --> 00:33:48,000
longer than three days and three nights. And some of us are in the process of feeling it now,

294
00:33:48,000 --> 00:33:53,120
even some of us who are members of the church. And it came to pass that I was thus racked with

295
00:33:53,120 --> 00:33:59,440
torment while I was herald up by the memory of my many. So the accusers hard at work on Alma here

296
00:34:00,560 --> 00:34:05,600
my many sins. I remembered also to have heard my father, as you would mention David,

297
00:34:05,600 --> 00:34:12,080
prophesy unto the people concerning the coming of one Jesus Christ, a son of God,

298
00:34:12,080 --> 00:34:17,840
to atone for the sins of the world. Here's 18. Now as my mind caught hold upon this thought,

299
00:34:17,840 --> 00:34:24,720
I cried the thought that the son of God, exactly the atonement to atone for the sins of the world,

300
00:34:24,720 --> 00:34:30,560
the atonement and suffering of Jesus Christ. When my mind caught hold on this thought.

301
00:34:32,160 --> 00:34:38,640
Now as my mind caught hold upon this thought, I cried within my heart. Oh Jesus, he doesn't speak.

302
00:34:38,640 --> 00:34:43,920
No. So I know, I know we were encouraged just last conference, this last conference to

303
00:34:43,920 --> 00:34:48,800
pray out loud by Elder Holland. Yeah, pray out loud when you can. That Joseph Smith's first

304
00:34:49,440 --> 00:34:54,800
vision was a result of a vocal prayer. He said, I never before per cried to pray vocally.

305
00:34:54,800 --> 00:34:59,120
And it's important that we pray vocally. But in this case, he couldn't even speak. He couldn't

306
00:34:59,120 --> 00:35:04,000
pray vocally. So he he's saying this prayer in his heart, which I think is really interesting.

307
00:35:04,000 --> 00:35:08,960
And maybe some of us have had that experience where we can't pray vocally. I know I personally

308
00:35:08,960 --> 00:35:16,960
have exactly. Now as my mind caught hold upon this thought, I cried within my heart. Oh Jesus,

309
00:35:16,960 --> 00:35:25,680
thou son of God, have mercy on me who am in the gall of bitterness and am encircled about

310
00:35:25,680 --> 00:35:32,160
by the everlasting chains of death. And now behold, when I thought this, I could remember

311
00:35:32,160 --> 00:35:38,000
my pains no more. That's the effect the cause and it seems almost immediate. Yay.

312
00:35:38,000 --> 00:35:46,080
I was harrowed up by the memory of my sins no more. I mean, that's a gift. This before he goes to

313
00:35:46,080 --> 00:35:50,800
his dad, right? This before he goes to the bishop, this before he goes to the stake president.

314
00:35:51,360 --> 00:35:59,280
He has this crying out, born again experience. And then he does go to his dad. And he does go and

315
00:35:59,280 --> 00:36:04,320
his confessions. Now I'm not saying that it should always be this way, because I know it's not.

316
00:36:04,320 --> 00:36:10,400
I know sometimes it's confession to a priesthood leader that helps an individual meet the conditions

317
00:36:10,400 --> 00:36:16,960
of a broken heart and contrite spirit. I get that. I know that. I'm not subscribing the order here.

318
00:36:16,960 --> 00:36:24,400
I'm just saying it's interesting in Alma's case that his crying out took place before any confession.

319
00:36:25,200 --> 00:36:32,400
And oh what joy and what marvelous light I did behold. Yay, my soul was filled with joy

320
00:36:32,400 --> 00:36:42,000
as it's as was as exceeding as was my pain. Yeah, well, what a born again experience and conversion.

321
00:36:43,440 --> 00:36:48,240
I'm so grateful. I mean, just that chapter alone right now with chapter 36. Yeah.

322
00:36:50,400 --> 00:37:00,480
This is worth all that the restoration cost. Anyway, I love I love all those examples, Scott.

323
00:37:00,480 --> 00:37:11,280
And so this, this crying out, crying out to God in faith is at the heart of repentance.

324
00:37:11,280 --> 00:37:19,680
And then there's, there's one more, a second part of this, of this heart of repentance,

325
00:37:20,480 --> 00:37:28,480
the actions of repentance, besides crying out, we have to offer. We have to make an offering.

326
00:37:28,480 --> 00:37:36,640
We have to offer our whole souls and all of our sins to God. We have to give them.

327
00:37:36,640 --> 00:37:42,480
We have to offer them. We have to sacrifice them, take the out there, take them to the altar

328
00:37:42,480 --> 00:37:49,280
and lay them on the altar and give them to Jesus. This is what it means to repent.

329
00:37:49,280 --> 00:37:55,440
And we've made reference King Lamona's father. I will give away all my sins to know thee.

330
00:37:55,440 --> 00:38:01,840
But we, I love the scripture in Alma chapter seven, Scott. In fact, I remember these for the

331
00:38:01,840 --> 00:38:10,080
verses I, I love to always use to invite my investigators who we can now call friends.

332
00:38:10,960 --> 00:38:15,360
When, when I was teaching as a missionary, I would always turn down the seven when I

333
00:38:15,360 --> 00:38:22,320
felt the spirit prompt me to invite them to be baptized. And I would read Alma seven,

334
00:38:22,320 --> 00:38:31,040
14 and 15. You want to read those two verses? Yeah. Now I say unto you that you must repent

335
00:38:31,040 --> 00:38:35,920
and be born again for the spirit sayeth, if you are not born again, you cannot inherit the kingdom

336
00:38:35,920 --> 00:38:43,280
of heaven. Therefore come and be baptized unto repentance that ye may be washed from your sins,

337
00:38:44,000 --> 00:38:49,440
that ye may have faith on the Lamb of God who taketh away the sins of the world who is mighty

338
00:38:49,440 --> 00:38:56,000
to save and to cleanse from all and righteousness. Yeah, I say unto you, come and fear not and lay

339
00:38:56,000 --> 00:39:03,760
aside every sin which easily doth beset you, which doth bind you down to destruction. Yeah,

340
00:39:03,760 --> 00:39:10,160
come and go forth and show unto your God that you are willing to repent of your sins and enter into

341
00:39:10,160 --> 00:39:16,560
a covenant with him to keep his commandments and witness it unto him this day by going into the

342
00:39:16,560 --> 00:39:24,960
waters of baptism. After reading those two verses, I would say, Brother Brown, will you accept that

343
00:39:24,960 --> 00:39:35,840
invitation? I love those verses and if I was, if I was and I hope to be a missionary again,

344
00:39:38,000 --> 00:39:44,720
I'll always use those two verses. I think those are just two beautiful verses and an invitation,

345
00:39:44,720 --> 00:39:53,840
not from me, but from the Lord himself to be repented unto to be baptized unto repentance.

346
00:39:54,400 --> 00:40:02,960
But I love this verse 15, verse 15, right, that I will give away again, I will lay,

347
00:40:02,960 --> 00:40:09,360
how does it say it, Scott? Lay aside every sin which easily doth beset you, which doth bind you

348
00:40:09,360 --> 00:40:16,000
down to destruction. So we've talked about this before. I just want to remind listeners,

349
00:40:16,000 --> 00:40:25,680
I think the real key to repentance is not repenting of a sin, but to repent of sinning.

350
00:40:27,200 --> 00:40:36,560
It has to be give away all my sins. It's to lay all my sins on the altar. It is, it's,

351
00:40:36,560 --> 00:40:45,040
I don't know. I bet it's, I bet it's sweet for Heavenly Father when people are trying to repent

352
00:40:45,040 --> 00:40:52,240
of adultery, but they're not willing to go to church. I bet it's sweet when people are trying

353
00:40:52,240 --> 00:40:58,000
to repent of other serious sins, but they're not, they're not willing to repent of their sins of

354
00:40:58,000 --> 00:41:04,240
omission. They're not willing to start reading their scriptures or doing other things. I'm telling

355
00:41:04,240 --> 00:41:10,560
you, Scott, I, the number one thing, seeing, we were working with young adults in the church,

356
00:41:10,560 --> 00:41:14,400
was they couldn't figure out, well, you just said this, they couldn't figure out why they

357
00:41:14,400 --> 00:41:18,800
didn't feel forgiven. Right. And I would say, well, are you, are you doing your, are you,

358
00:41:18,800 --> 00:41:23,920
are you ministering to others? Are you serving? Are you, are you taking the sacrament? You're

359
00:41:23,920 --> 00:41:29,360
going to church? Are you, are you trying to go, are you, they, they can't figure out why they

360
00:41:29,360 --> 00:41:37,600
don't feel forgiven of some major sin when they're not willing to lay aside all their sins that

361
00:41:37,600 --> 00:41:45,360
beset them, when they're not willing to give all their sins to God. So the heart of repentance

362
00:41:46,160 --> 00:41:53,920
is crying out to God and then giving our whole soul and all our sins to Him.

363
00:41:53,920 --> 00:42:03,360
But then, Dave, it continues and enter into a covenant. So, so far we're talking about crying

364
00:42:03,360 --> 00:42:09,440
out for a remission of sins and that we must lay all of our sins, give all of our sins to God,

365
00:42:09,440 --> 00:42:15,280
right? Right. But there's more than that just required. It's more than our sins. It's our

366
00:42:15,280 --> 00:42:23,120
lives. Yeah. We give our life to God, our will to God. You know, we sacrifice our sins, our lives,

367
00:42:23,120 --> 00:42:27,760
you know, and that's when I talked about at the beginning of the podcast today, when I talked about

368
00:42:27,760 --> 00:42:32,960
the first three steps about colleagues, anonymous, that is the third step. We become willing to give

369
00:42:32,960 --> 00:42:40,960
our will and our entire lives over to the care of God. Well, I think this is really well described

370
00:42:40,960 --> 00:42:47,440
in Omnai. You want to turn to Omnai? Yeah, yeah, yeah, it is. 122. I remember one general conference

371
00:42:47,440 --> 00:42:55,200
a few years back, maybe four or five years now. It was before I retired, I know. And I think this

372
00:42:55,200 --> 00:43:02,080
scripture was read like four or five times in a general conference. And I've always loved the

373
00:43:02,080 --> 00:43:07,760
scripture, but it left an impression on me that so many of the prophets and the brother and

374
00:43:07,760 --> 00:43:13,360
sisters who spoke felt impressed to share this conference, which to me was evidence that they

375
00:43:13,360 --> 00:43:18,240
had been discussing it in the general councils of the church. And I think this is one of the

376
00:43:18,240 --> 00:43:25,280
real keys to our, our spiritual progression or our lack of spiritual progression. So why don't you

377
00:43:25,280 --> 00:43:31,280
read Omnai 122? Because I think this describes what the heart of repentance is. It's actually,

378
00:43:31,280 --> 00:43:38,400
David, it's actually Omnai 126. Yeah, Omnai 126, you're right. Okay, Omnai 126. And now

379
00:43:38,400 --> 00:43:44,800
my beloved brother and I would that you should come unto Christ, who is the Holy One of Israel,

380
00:43:45,440 --> 00:43:53,680
and partake of his salvation and the power of his redemption. Ye come unto him and offer your whole

381
00:43:53,680 --> 00:43:58,480
souls as an offering unto him and continue in fasting and praying and in dirt of the end.

382
00:43:59,280 --> 00:44:04,480
And as the Lord liveth, you will be saved. David, I'm reading that. I'm getting chills. I'm filling

383
00:44:04,480 --> 00:44:12,720
the spirit. I can tell you are me too listening to it. Really. Is there anything else that

384
00:44:12,720 --> 00:44:19,040
summarizes the heart of repentance more than that? Not just the heart of repentance, but the heart of

385
00:44:19,040 --> 00:44:24,800
our mortal existence. Yeah, I know. Really? There's just really nothing. So break that down, Scott.

386
00:44:24,800 --> 00:44:30,480
Okay, you should come unto Christ. Right. So what does that mean? Come unto Christ. We talk 180.

387
00:44:30,480 --> 00:44:35,360
Exactly. The whole not a 90, not a 90. And it's not a 90. And there's a difference between come

388
00:44:35,360 --> 00:44:42,800
follow me and come unto me 180 degrees. And this is where we are following has inspired us to come

389
00:44:42,800 --> 00:44:49,280
to him. You can turn around. Yeah. But you have to move in his direction. Correct. Now, who is the

390
00:44:49,280 --> 00:44:54,400
Holy One of Israel? And break that down. Who's the Holy One of Israel? That means we must have a

391
00:44:54,400 --> 00:45:00,400
testimony. We must have that relationship and know him as such as the Holy One of Israel.

392
00:45:01,920 --> 00:45:07,920
And partake of his salvation and the power his salvation, his salvation, not our salvation.

393
00:45:08,480 --> 00:45:16,560
Yeah, salvation. It is all through him and the power of his redemption, the power of his redemption,

394
00:45:16,560 --> 00:45:23,680
and that power redemption, his redemption. And remember, his power is made available to us because

395
00:45:23,680 --> 00:45:29,440
of his atonement. The power isn't the atonement. The power is Jesus Christ, the power of his

396
00:45:29,440 --> 00:45:35,440
redemption. Yeah, come unto him and offer your whole souls as an offering. And I love that part.

397
00:45:36,000 --> 00:45:41,520
Your whole kind of yeah, don't mostly I don't hang on to those little habits. I want to kind of

398
00:45:41,520 --> 00:45:49,040
hang on to you know, your whole souls and that includes all your sins. Now, but but here's what

399
00:45:49,040 --> 00:45:55,600
offering our whole souls looks like offering unto him and continue in fasting and praying

400
00:45:56,400 --> 00:46:01,200
and in dirt of the end. We'll talk about in dirt of the end as we conclude the series of podcasts,

401
00:46:01,200 --> 00:46:05,760
but because it means so much more than sometimes we think about. Well, in that praying to me,

402
00:46:05,760 --> 00:46:11,520
when I hear praying, I think of crying out. That is crying out. You know, not just not just

403
00:46:11,520 --> 00:46:19,200
sweetly kneeling and thanking Heavenly Father, not that's critical. That's so important. That's

404
00:46:19,200 --> 00:46:25,600
prayer. But when I when I hear prayer in that context of that verse, I think of crying out.

405
00:46:26,880 --> 00:46:33,520
It's an earnest intentional crying out to him. And over and over again in the scripture, Scott,

406
00:46:33,520 --> 00:46:42,560
when it talks about crying to in the name, crying out in the name, crying to the name, over and over

407
00:46:42,560 --> 00:46:48,880
again, that's in the scriptures. And whenever I read those phrases, I think that that's a crying

408
00:46:48,880 --> 00:46:55,680
out unto Jesus for forgiveness of sins. You know, when the brother of Jared was chastised for not

409
00:46:55,680 --> 00:47:01,760
calling upon the name of the Lord for three years. I don't believe for a minute that he

410
00:47:01,760 --> 00:47:08,720
didn't pray for three years. I I'm I'm in my mind. I'm convinced and I've I've heard others,

411
00:47:08,720 --> 00:47:15,760
brother and say this, that that it wasn't that he wasn't praying. It's that he wasn't crying out.

412
00:47:15,760 --> 00:47:24,800
He wasn't he wasn't calling upon God in the same level of prayer that he needed to call upon the

413
00:47:24,800 --> 00:47:34,080
name to call upon Christ to call upon his salvation to call upon his redemption to participate in

414
00:47:34,080 --> 00:47:42,560
the ordinances of the gospel to work out his repentance. Anyway, this is the heart of repentance.

415
00:47:43,440 --> 00:47:49,200
Dave, I love amulets experience or not experience, but teachings on this. Yeah. Yeah. So let me just

416
00:47:49,200 --> 00:47:56,240
give some context to this. So the apostate Zoramites, right, right? They're on the hill of

417
00:47:56,800 --> 00:48:02,800
Oneida and Alma, Alma, preaches to them about being compelled to be humble and then gives that

418
00:48:02,800 --> 00:48:11,040
amazing analogy of likening the word of God, because he says it's better to be humble because

419
00:48:11,040 --> 00:48:17,680
of the word. And then it's really not so much it is about faith. But the real analogy is that he

420
00:48:17,680 --> 00:48:25,920
likens a seed unto the word of God and planning it in in your heart and then watching it grow into

421
00:48:25,920 --> 00:48:33,840
this great tree of faith that you can pluck the fruit and taste eternal life. That's to be delicious,

422
00:48:33,840 --> 00:48:40,400
is how he described. Yeah. So after that, and after after chapter 33, where he describes what the

423
00:48:40,400 --> 00:48:45,840
word of God is, that it's Jesus Christ and him crucified, and all they have to do is look to the

424
00:48:45,840 --> 00:48:52,400
word of God in Alma chapter 33, which may be one of my favorite chapters in the whole Book of Mormon,

425
00:48:53,120 --> 00:49:00,160
then then his trusty companion, Amulek, he turns, he turns the discussion over to his trusty

426
00:49:00,160 --> 00:49:04,480
companion. He says, Amulek, would you like to bear your testimony about this? And then Amulek says,

427
00:49:04,480 --> 00:49:10,320
well, let me, let me tell you how it worked for me. Let me tell you, let me tell you what I see

428
00:49:10,320 --> 00:49:17,760
as far as repentance and conversion goes. And let's remember that Amulek was not completely

429
00:49:17,760 --> 00:49:23,360
aligned with living his life the way he had it at one point in his life. Yeah, he always did. But when

430
00:49:23,360 --> 00:49:28,240
Alma and Amulek came together, it hadn't been, it hadn't been that way for him any longer, right?

431
00:49:28,240 --> 00:49:34,560
So Amulek teaches powerfully what it means to cry into God. And this is after he's talked about,

432
00:49:34,560 --> 00:49:40,960
right, faith unto repentance, faith unto repentance, faith unto repentance and the infinite atonement,

433
00:49:40,960 --> 00:49:47,520
the infinite atonement. I mean, chapter 34 is really special because of some of the unique

434
00:49:47,520 --> 00:49:53,440
phrases and terms that he uses. Well, let's start in 16 in there. And thus mercy can satisfy the

435
00:49:53,440 --> 00:49:57,200
demands of justice, right? So this is kind of the conclusion of what he's talking about. I'm not

436
00:49:57,200 --> 00:50:03,440
going to read that whole verse at the end of that verse. He says that has faith unto repentance is

437
00:50:03,440 --> 00:50:08,560
brought about great and eternal plan of redemption. So that's the plan of redemption. Then I'm going

438
00:50:08,560 --> 00:50:15,040
to read where he talks about right now. Verse 17, he begins to say, Therefore, may God grant unto

439
00:50:15,040 --> 00:50:21,600
you, my brother, and that you may begin to exercise your faith unto repentance, that you begin to call

440
00:50:21,600 --> 00:50:26,800
upon his holy name, call on his holy name. There it is again, that he would have mercy on you.

441
00:50:26,800 --> 00:50:33,200
Call on his holy name. Why more than just praying. Okay, but his faith unto repentance. Dave, this is

442
00:50:33,200 --> 00:50:39,360
what I get out of that. So he says, exercise your faith unto repentance. Why that he began to call

443
00:50:39,360 --> 00:50:45,760
upon his name. Why that he would have mercy on you. So how do we obtain that mercy? It seems like

444
00:50:45,760 --> 00:50:52,160
this crying out may be a way to obtain even more mercy or a greater degree of mercy from Jesus.

445
00:50:53,440 --> 00:50:59,120
And so then going into 18, yeah, cry unto him for mercy, for he is mighty to save,

446
00:50:59,120 --> 00:51:04,800
yeah, humble yourselves and continue in prayer unto him, crying to him that when you are in your

447
00:51:04,800 --> 00:51:12,160
fields, crying to him when you are in your fields, yeah, over all your flocks. We, some of us don't

448
00:51:12,160 --> 00:51:17,200
have fields and flocks today, but I think we know the meaning of that crying to him in your houses,

449
00:51:17,200 --> 00:51:23,600
yeah, over all your household, both morning, midday and evening, cry over all your household.

450
00:51:23,600 --> 00:51:28,800
I think it means Scott, he's talking about faith under repentance. Yeah, I'm crying,

451
00:51:28,800 --> 00:51:33,440
I'm always crying out for my kids. Yeah, crying to him against the power of your enemies.

452
00:51:34,560 --> 00:51:40,800
Pray that they repent and pray for them as Jesus. They come to know Jesus.

453
00:51:41,600 --> 00:51:46,960
Yeah, crying to him against the devil, who is the enemy to all righteousness, crying to him over

454
00:51:46,960 --> 00:51:52,000
your crops that your fill in your fields may prosper in them. Cry over your flocks of your fields

455
00:51:52,000 --> 00:51:59,120
that they may increase, but this is not all. You must pour out your whole souls in your closets and

456
00:51:59,120 --> 00:52:05,360
in your secret places and in your wilderness, your whole souls. Yeah, and when you do not cry

457
00:52:05,360 --> 00:52:13,120
unto the Lord, let your hearts be drawn full out in prayer unto him continually for your welfare

458
00:52:13,120 --> 00:52:19,920
and for also the welfare of those who are around you. Watch and pray always that you be not tempted

459
00:52:19,920 --> 00:52:27,440
more than you're able. Well, anyway, Scott, the heart of repentance, the heart of repentance

460
00:52:28,400 --> 00:52:37,440
is crying out and offering our whole souls to God. That's, that cannot be seen as a step or a checklist.

461
00:52:37,440 --> 00:52:51,120
It comes without any guile, any hypocrisy. It takes place naturally as a result of a broken heart,

462
00:52:51,120 --> 00:53:00,640
contrite spirit, godly sorrow, understanding what the Savior did for me, what He did for my family,

463
00:53:00,640 --> 00:53:14,240
and to, to feel that gratitude and love for him because he loved me first and because of what

464
00:53:14,240 --> 00:53:24,000
he has sacrificed for me, not just sacrificed for me, but sacrificed because of me, that he

465
00:53:24,000 --> 00:53:33,840
suffered not just for me, but he suffered because of me, breaks my heart, leads me to a contrite

466
00:53:33,840 --> 00:53:41,920
spirit, godly sorrow, and it naturally filling, being filled with gratitude and love for him,

467
00:53:42,560 --> 00:53:51,040
I am going to cry out to him for mercy and I'm going to offer him all that I have, all that I am,

468
00:53:51,040 --> 00:54:00,080
including my sins. I, I just, that's the heart of repentance and skirting around that

469
00:54:01,280 --> 00:54:07,280
and doing everything else that people think, whatever their perspective is of repentance,

470
00:54:07,280 --> 00:54:15,840
will not lead them to forgiveness. It may, it may lead to some good feelings that they're

471
00:54:15,840 --> 00:54:23,440
accomplishing some things or making some progress, but, but forgiveness of sin and redemption, Scott,

472
00:54:25,520 --> 00:54:33,520
it has to, it has to follow this crying out and offering of our whole souls to God.

473
00:54:34,400 --> 00:54:38,000
That's what true conversion is, that's what it means to be converted under the Lord,

474
00:54:38,640 --> 00:54:42,960
that's the way the Book of Mormon and all the holy scriptures and the words of the prophets,

475
00:54:42,960 --> 00:54:51,280
that's, that's how it's described and that's what we must all as children of God experience

476
00:54:51,280 --> 00:55:00,480
to really participate in his redemption. Right. I love this part of the, the, the course. I love

477
00:55:00,480 --> 00:55:06,880
that too. We, we now we're getting into how do I really put on the atonement of Jesus Christ? How

478
00:55:06,880 --> 00:55:13,040
do I really make that alignment? How do I make that 180 degree turn to him? And I think our

479
00:55:13,040 --> 00:55:19,040
invitation today should be the same as Amueluk's word to those people of the Zormites when he's

480
00:55:19,040 --> 00:55:25,920
said, and I'm not going to read all of this, but he invited them to in, in, in verses 32 through 34,

481
00:55:25,920 --> 00:55:33,200
he invited them, guys do it now. Don't procrastinate it. Just do it. Just do it now. Quit holding on

482
00:55:33,200 --> 00:55:37,840
to it. Quit waiting for the right time. Quit waiting for all the stars to align. Quit waiting for

483
00:55:37,840 --> 00:55:46,400
this to happen and that to happen. Just cry out. Just allow him to come to you. You know, I, I, Dave,

484
00:55:46,400 --> 00:55:51,120
you, we were talking earlier about something that you had seen a drug addict, a video or something

485
00:55:51,120 --> 00:55:58,480
like that, a drug addict and having a conversation with, with the spirit, et cetera. And, and finally,

486
00:55:58,480 --> 00:56:04,800
he just, the spirit just said, well, you just let me, just let me, just let me take it. He just

487
00:56:04,800 --> 00:56:10,080
wants to, he wants so badly to just take it. Let's quit putting it off. Let's quit procrastinating

488
00:56:10,080 --> 00:56:15,680
the day of our repentance. And in other words, let's quit procrastinating our day of coming

489
00:56:15,680 --> 00:56:23,440
unto him. The invitation is clear. He wants us. Christ has purchased this. Scott, he's purchased

490
00:56:23,440 --> 00:56:30,400
us. He's paid for our sins. They're his. Why would we not offer that? Why do we still hang on to him?

491
00:56:30,400 --> 00:56:37,360
Why do we hang on to them? He suffered for them. He's not surprised when we make a mistake. He has

492
00:56:37,360 --> 00:56:45,920
ransomed us. He's happy when we turn back to him every time we are his, whether we confess it now

493
00:56:45,920 --> 00:56:54,480
or later, we are his purchased by his blood. And the sooner, the sooner that we can turn to him

494
00:56:54,480 --> 00:57:02,320
and not just turn, but move in his direction and, and go and receive that holy embrace of mercy.

495
00:57:02,880 --> 00:57:10,160
My, my arms are stretched out still and they always will be. And I hope that we can experience

496
00:57:10,160 --> 00:57:18,480
this over and over again in our lives as do I. It's our, we, we testify that the things that we

497
00:57:18,480 --> 00:57:26,800
talk about today and throughout the entirety of this course are the only, the one needful thing.

498
00:57:26,800 --> 00:57:33,040
This is the needful thing. This is how we come to him. It's our invitation that we all engage in

499
00:57:33,040 --> 00:57:39,840
that, participate that in that. And, and I am going to continue to answer Amulet's invitation to

500
00:57:39,840 --> 00:57:44,080
not procrastinate this. Thanks for being with us today. We look forward to being with you again

501
00:57:44,080 --> 00:58:10,640
next week. And until then, be well.