Hey there everybody welcome out to another episode of Redeem Through His Blood, Scott
and David Durfey here. How are you doing Dave? I'm good Scott. I'm good.
Well Dave, not much other than that to talk about this morning before we get rocking in
rolling. Yeah, we are right in the heart and center, Scott, of what it really means to repent.
And I just, I don't know, when we talk about repentance, it's my favorite part because I
really do believe it's the heart of it and it's so easy for I think individuals to skirt all
around repentance and never really get to the heart of it. And we've talked about the foundations
of repentance. We've talked about the conditions of repentance, meeting those conditions of a
broken heart, contrite spirit, godly sorrow, what all that means. And now we're in what I call the
actions. This is the actions of repentance. What does it really mean to repent? What do we have to
really do to repent? And after the actions of repentance, which is the heart of it, then we'll
talk in future podcasts about the manifestations of repentance. And I call the manifestations of
repentance even though they're part of the process because I think that's how the Lord describes
them in Dr. and Covenants section 58. He says, by this, by this, you shall know whether a man
hath repented of his sins. He will confess them and forsake them. So for example, confession and
forsaking is perhaps more of a manifestation that someone has repented than actual, actually being
the heart of repentance. I'm not saying they're not important. I'm just saying that the way the
Lord describes them, they're more of a manifestation of a person's repentance. And so repentance,
what does it really mean? You know, I think our guest last week, Nick, did a wonderful job describing,
you know, that it means a complete 180 degree turn, not a 45 degree turn, not a 90 degree.
I loved how he put that to that. He used to see it as a 90 degree. Yeah, and he saw repentance as a
90 degree turn that he would turn from his sins and then go try to go work it out for himself.
And then he could turn to the Savior. I'll do 90 now and then 90 later.
Yeah. Well, he said, I loved what he said because he had an interesting perspective. He thought that
the only way to be able to pray or to get to Jesus as I don't know a better way to put that,
was through the church. And he didn't feel like he could finish or complete that 180 rotation
until he had finished it with the church. And that was an interesting perspective,
one probably that's shared by a lot of us. I think most really strong, active Latter-day Saints
have maybe seen it like that. I don't know. And especially, especially perhaps those who have
been children of priesthood leaders. Right. You know? Yeah, it's really true because of the culture.
Bless their hearts. Right. But, you know, so we talk about repentance. And I think we did this
the week prior when we talked so much about repentance is just turn, I mean, maybe even
three weeks ago, turning to him. And so what we're going to be talking about today, because we,
you know, when we talk about turning to him, for example, Nick, he was confused on turning to him.
I've been confused on what it means to turn to him or what that process looks like. So the process
that we are going to be embarking on now or the topics that we'll be talking about are how that is
accomplished. And so just to just to string it all together, when we talk about turn to him,
we'll be talking about ways that we accomplish that in this podcast. Turn to him and come unto him.
Right. You know, you have to turn, but then you got to start moving in his direction. Yeah. Yeah.
You got you got to go to him. Yeah. And that that thought that you just said and come and come to
him, there's so much there as well. I know. So Scott, again, people may start the process of
repentance in many different ways. This is not a one, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight step
process. This is not a check repentance is not a checklist. There aren't five hours, six hours,
seven hours, eight hours, whatever. This, this accept that we rely on our Redeemer. We need to
remember that. That's what it is. The hours that are important. That's what it's all about.
Repentance is not an institutional event or process. It is through our Heavenly Father and
our Savior and Redeemer. So we should the actions of repentance. Let's just here's the heart of
repentance is really crying out to God in faith. Yeah. Crying out is the heart of repentance. And
then that's the turning, right? Turning and turning from our sins and crying out to God. And then
offering our whole souls to him, including our sins and everything, giving him our sins. You
know, King Lamone's father, I will give away all my sins to know thee. So just giving all of our,
our souls to God is, I think what it really means to come unto him. So let's, let's just maybe talk
about a few examples of that. Personal examples. Your examples, God, others that you've seen in,
in the addiction recovery programs. But maybe, maybe the scriptures are a good place for us to,
to kind of start all of the great examples of conversion and true repentance. And I think,
by the way, conversion to the Lord Jesus Christ is the same thing as repentance. I love, you know,
the anti Nephi Lehi's description of their conversion in Alma 24, when it says over and over
again, they were converted unto the Lord. They were converted unto the Lord. I think that's in
there about four or five times. I love that description. And that's really what repentance is.
I think repentance and conversion are almost synonymous. I don't think one's truly converted
unless they have truly repented and you haven't truly repented unless you become converted to
Lord Jesus Christ and, and his atoning sacrifice. But I think one of the great early examples of
the crying out is, is maybe Nephi, Nephi, his conversion. I know it didn't just start here. I
think Nephi seems to be always a pretty good boy. I think he was probably a teenager when they,
I mean, Hugh Nibley and others think Nephi was a teenager when he, when they left Jerusalem. And,
and he kind of describes his conversion experience briefly in the first Nephi 2 16. Scott, if you
want to read that, please. And it came to pass that I Nephi, being exceedingly young, nevertheless
being large in stature, and also having great desires to know the mysteries of God. And I think
that's important that we, that we point that out. You know, this crying out process required that he
have a great desire. Yeah, which was again the result of gratitude. Right. Always, always, always,
always. Let me start over and it came to pass that I Nephi being exceedingly young, nevertheless
being large in stature and also having great desires to know the mysteries of God. Wherefore,
I did cry unto the Lord. And behold, he did visit me and did soften my heart. And I did believe all
the words which had been spoken by my father. Wherefore, I did not rebel against him like unto
my brothers. That was the whole difference between him and his brothers was that he cried out unto
the Lord. And he knew where he stood with the Lord. And he knew he wasn't perfect. He knew he
wasn't sinless. He knew he was fallen. He got he understood all of that. And but that crying out
experience for him was what was the difference between? Yeah, absolutely. You know, one of the
things, Dave, that I noticed this time reading this, and this is the first time it really popped
out to me, I must admit. But there's a key here. You know, so often, we have a difficulty getting
the spirit in our lives or having Heavenly Father's presence in our lives through his spirit,
because of the hardness of our hearts. Yeah. And sometimes our hearts are just hard. And at
varying degrees and at various times in our lives, and it will happen to all of us continually. I
mean, that's just part of the mortal process or the mortal experience. But but what happened as a
result? I did cry unto the Lord and behold, he visited and did visit me and soften my heart.
Now, I can't believe Nephi's heart was very hard before he started that process. No. In fact,
I think it was probably broken. So you know, we talked about the conditions of repentance,
a broken heart and contrite spirit. And I think that's the condition that Nephi approached the
Lord. And the Lord gave him a new heart. I don't think the Lord heals our broken hearts. I think
he gives us a new. I love that perspective. That's what that's what Ezekiel says, right? And he will
give you a new heart. And that new heart is much softer, more pliable, more kind, more loving,
more loving, all of that. So the Lord, after Nephi cries out with a broken heart, he gets a new
heart, which is a soft heart. I love that. I just love that. That's that's what that's the first
example in the Book of Mormon. And there are there are many others. One of my favorites is
after King Benjamin's address in Mosiah chapter four, Scott, I after King Benjamin's address
speaking about the atonement of Jesus Christ and and what Christ was willing to suffer for us to
bleed from every pore because the anguish of his soul Nephi or King Benjamin describes in Mosiah
three. And after after the people listening to King Benjamin after their hearts are broken because
of the sacrifice of Jesus Christ, listen to the listen to what actions they take in Mosiah chapter
four verse two. And they had viewed themselves in their own carnal state, even less than the dust
of the earth. And they all cried aloud with one voice saying, Oh, have mercy and apply the atoning
blood of Christ that we may receive forgiveness of our sins. And our hearts may be purified, for
we believe in Jesus Christ, the Son of God, who created heaven and earth and all things who shall
come down among the children of men. That is such an interesting verse to me because it says they
cried out with one voice. Yep. And what and what it how does it start? What one voice? I don't know
how many hundreds or thousands of people were there. But they cry out in one voice. And how do
they start to cry out? Well, it says and they all cried aloud with one voice. Loud. Yeah. I mean,
this is not a metaphor. Right. I mean, I really this is a born again, Pentecostal, really, it really
is experience where they are crying aloud together. It would have been think how loud it
would have been. And they're not just thinking it. They're not just feeling it. They're crying out
loud. And what do they say? They said, Oh, have mercy and apply the atoning blood of Christ that
we may receive a forgiveness of our sins. And our hearts may be purified, for we believe in Jesus
Christ, the Son of God, who created heaven and earth and all things who shall come down among
the children of man. Have you ever offered a prayer like that? Scott, I have. And you know, when I do.
Yeah, there. So I don't I don't want to really want to take a ton of time doing this. Maybe it would
be appropriate to do it at a later podcast. But I had an experience where I thought my life needed
to be done, needed to be over. And one thing I'm not going to get into all but for the sake of time,
but one thing led to another. And then I began this process, I began to see myself. I had no
problem seeing my own myself in my own nothingness, right? That was less than the dust of the earth.
That was not a problem for me. But it was but it was ill directed. Yeah, the accuser. It was coming
from the accuser. And so, you know, there's a fine line there. But there is. There is. But but
even but even if we cry out even having been accused by the compute accuser that could capitulate.
Yeah, you know, that can be taken over by the father too. So yeah, I definitely had that. And I
remember and I know you had and because of your example on Parker Mountain when you were in high
school, you're crying out experience. You know, that was a great example for me. And and so I
at my crying out experience happened at the back of Tempanuki back at Tempanogis at Tempanuki in
that Tempanuki Tempanuki area. I was on my horse. I was alone and I had that crying out
experience and that began my road to recovery. Well, thank you. I I did cry out on my experience
right before my missions trying to I wanted to have an enus experience which we'll read about
in just a minute and went into the forest to hunt wild beasts. But I didn't I left my guns home.
Yeah. But I that's you had been hunting wild beasts. That's where we would have been with you
there. That's right. That's where we would hunt. So I wanted to have an enus experience without
guns or actually hunting wild beasts. And and of course, he went into the forest to hunt wild
beasts. But he didn't hunt any wild bees. He said, instead of finding any wild bees, he really
found God there. And I thought I would go to a similar place and I cried out before my mission
with all my heart turned to God and and asked for a redemption of sins. And that was an unbelievable
experience to me where he answered answered my cry and my prayers. And that wasn't the only time
in my life that I have experienced that I experienced it again on my mission, you know, in Pacific
Grove, California, in a in a bathroom of a boarding house where my companion and I were staying and
the crying crying and not, you know, just wanting to be a better disciple, a better missionary,
a better ambassador for the Lord Jesus Christ and and wanting to know again my standing. I think I
think Joseph Smith was was similar. You know, Scott, when he when he cried out to God as a as a
14 and a half year old boy and received the first vision, I mean, he was years light years ahead of
me. But as a 14 year old boy, he really want to know where he stood with God. Yeah. And his crying
out to God in the sacred Grove was not just to know his church was true, but it was to also know
where he stood and the condition of his soul. And in one of the accounts of his first vision,
the first thing the Lord tells him is that he's forgiven of his sins. And then and then three
three years later, you know, when he cries out to God again in the in the cabin, and I don't know
if he's on his knees or in bed. But when he cries out to God again, Moroni appears to him. And the
first thing Moroni tells him is that he's forgiven of his sins. This is not a one time lifetime thing.
This is a this is this crying out is something that we need to do often throughout our life daily
if possible, where we're really sincere. I don't think you can contrive it. I don't think that
you know, the Prophet Joseph Smith said that you should you should not treat daily repentance
in any sort of a trite, vain way that it has to be really sincere. But it's, it's, it's something
that we all need to do and we all need to do it more often. And it it's usually preceded by a broken
heart and contrite spirit. I think that's really key that broken heart and contrite spirit. And I
think King Benjamin makes point of that here too. You know, before I had my crying out experience,
I had to have a broken heart. And unfortunately, I had to be compelled. I mean, there was some
some compelling. There was, however you say that that that was part of that. To be humble.
Because of because of the wreckage, you know, that comes with alcoholism, addiction, and all the
other things that come with it. And I and I love how King Benjamin continues to tell them in verse
five, for behold, for behold, remember your nothing, exactly for behold, if the knowledge of the
goodness of God at this time has awakened you to the sense of your own nothingness. And I'll just
stop right there. I had been awakened to my own nothingness. Now that doesn't mean, and I felt
this way, but that doesn't mean my nothing. I'm nothing. You know, I'm obviously something Jesus
Christ died for me. Right. But but in terms of my ability, and that's what I mean in terms of my
ability to do this for myself, I there was just no way. You know, it had come to the point in my
life where I felt like maybe it was time to end my life because I was so discouraged and in so much
despair, because of it, I had been awakened to my own nothingness, which means there was no possible
way I could do this for myself. I had tried, you know, in the 12 steps about colleagues, anonymous,
I think it's really interesting how the first three steps kind of encapsulate what we're talking
about here. The first step is and I won't iterate them in their fullness. But the first step is,
is that my life's unmanageable and I guess can't recognize your nothingness. Exactly. The second
step is the second step is, is that there is a power greater than me who can restore me. Jesus
Christ, recognize God's goodness. The third step is, became willing to have God remove all these
defects of character to turn 180 degrees and face God moving his direction. So in other words,
if we were to abbreviate these, I can't, I acknowledge that he can and I'm going to let
him through the process that comes with that. I can't, he can, I'm gonna let him and I'm gonna let
him. That's awesome. And it really is, I'm gonna let him. I'm not gonna beg him to, I'm not gonna
pay him to, I'm not gonna try to earn my good graces so that he will. I'm just going to step
back and let him. Why do you think that's so hard for people in the church? Because it requires a
great deal of faith. Maybe I should reiterate that because it requires faith, a level of faith in
Jesus Christ. And when we say faith in Jesus Christ, faith is the evidence of things not seen.
We as humans, as mortals, like to have checkboxes, like to have miles post, like to have bellweathers,
like to have these types of things so that we can have something whereby to measure our progress.
It's ego driven by the accuser. Faith is a completely different thing.
It just, it just seems to me, you know, my sweetheart's own experience, you know, who just
could not, just could not let go of her sins. And they weren't major, but she just felt like she
kept repeating the same mistakes over and over again. And not until she knew her nothingness.
I mean, she really thought that you're saved by grace. After all, she could do and she could never,
it seemed, do enough. And there's just so many people in the church that get hung up on that.
And I love Nicks actually, you know, our interview last week. Nicks take on that.
We are saved by grace after all we, and that second we, he says, that's me and my savior,
all we can do. We're saved by grace after all we can do. And I loved his take on that. But
there's just so many, I think people in the church who are programmed to think that it's
it's through the church that we're forgiven of our sins. They don't, I don't know. I don't know
what the deal is, but they just don't cry out. They don't have this experience of crying out for
mercy like the people in King Benjamin's day. They cried out for mercy. And Scott, we didn't read
verse three, but what happens? I mean, and it's, and it's like immediately, right? What's, what's
the results of their crying out? Yeah. And after it came to pass that after they had spoken these
words, the spirit of the Lord came upon them and they were filled with joy, having received a remission
of their sins and having, I love it. They were filled with joy, having received because
because El President Nelson talks about practicing daily, the finding joy in practicing daily
repentance. Yeah, the repentance is joy. Exactly. They were filled with joy, having received a
remission of sin, of their sins and having peace of conscience. I know so many people that would
just do whatever they had to do to have peace of conscience because of the exceeding faith. And
there it is, which they had in Jesus Christ, in Jesus Christ, faith in Jesus Christ, who should come?
You know, we, we have, we have physical evidence that Jesus lived. They didn't even have that,
right? Right. And even come and sacrifice for our sins. Yeah. I just, I love that. I mean,
that's the promise. And I just, there's so many individuals who I think in the church have, have
experienced a broken heart and contrite spirit. They, they go around and they confess their sins
to everybody that they can and, and priesthood leaders and sometimes others and they try to
make restitution and they, they try to be better and they, they, you know, they try to forgive
themselves and others and they just try to keep all the commandments and they think that that's
repentance and they never get around to crying out. They just never cry out for mercy. Yeah.
But they, this is not an easy thing for some people and I don't get that, you know, because,
I guess, because I had such huge evidence of my need to crying out. But for example, you know,
I hear this frequently. You probably did too when you were teaching a Institute, but I hear this
frequently from people in our Institute class, you know, I just don't feel forgiven. I just,
I've done everything. I've, I, we, we talk about this stuff that we talk about in class, but I just
don't feel forgiven. And I see everything that's right. And they think they've done everything.
They think they've done everything. But then my question to them is, well, what was your crying
out experience like? Or have you been able to have that? And, you know, and you don't have to
orchestrate it. It doesn't have to look a certain way. You don't have to take a bow into the wilderness
and break it and then how you can freak out over it. It could be in your closet. It could be in your
car. It could be the side of your bed. It can be whatever. It doesn't need to be an orchestrated
plan. And it can be a process of several other experiences strung together. It doesn't have
to look a certain way. But, but to me, when we're not feeling forgiven, that there's a couple reasons.
One is that we don't have faith that we don't believe him, that we don't, all of that. But
another one is, is that our crying out experience has not either not been there or been incomplete.
Well, again, we know this from personal experience. I know this from personal experience
that you can skirt all around it. Yeah, you can do all these other things, all these other good
things. You can keep all the commandments. You can confess to everybody and still not feel forgiven.
Yeah, you can even wonder why. Why am I not forgiven? Because we have never
really reached the heart of repentance. We don't really understand the heart of repentance.
And Dave, that's why that, that's why that crying out experience for me was so important.
I had for many years tried and butted up against my own will. I had tried and tried and tried and
tried and tried. And finally, when I just realized I can't do it, and I came to the point where what's
the point of my life. And then I did cry out and I felt that relief. Now I have that to look back on.
Because there's days when I get discouraged. There's days when the human experience overtakes
my spiritual experience. And I can look back on that and others. You know, there's, there's,
it doesn't have to be just one big event to. Yeah. Well, let's, let's, let's just read Enos's
experience. We've referenced it, but let's just, for more reinforcement on this idea of the importance
of crying out, which is over and over again in the Book of Mormon and in the Bible and other places.
But Enos's experience in the Enos one, one verse four, Scott. And my soul hungered and I kneeled
down before my maker. And I cried unto him in mighty prayer and supplication for my own soul.
And all the day long did I cry unto him. Yay. When the night came, I did still raise my voice high
and it reached the heavens crying out. Maybe doesn't just describe the quality of our prayer,
but sometimes the quantity of our prayer. You know, when I, when I went to the Parker Mountains,
you know, as a 19 year old boy preparing for my mission just a few months before I went on my
mission, I man all day and into the night for three days and three nights. I mean, I was just kind
of walked and talked with God for three days and three nights crying out can, can sometimes take that.
I've heard some of the brother and speak about their crying out experience, which is for some of
them been an all night experience. And the sun started to come up in the morning and they realized
they'd been crying out all night. Now, I don't think it has to be a long prayer. It certainly
wasn't for the people in King Benjamin's day. They cried out with one accord and one verse.
So it, but sometimes it's, it's more than just the intensity or the quality of the crying out.
Sometimes, sometimes this crying out may last four days. I mean, and it may not just be in one place
before they receive a forgiveness of sin and an Enos all day and into the night. He cries out,
which is amazing. I think we need to read verse five and maybe even a little longer.
And there came a voice unto me saying, Enos, thy sins are forgiven thee, and thou shalt be blessed.
And I, Enos knew that God could not lie. Wherefore my guilt was swept away. And I said to the Lord,
how is it done? And he said unto me, because of thy faith in Christ, whom now has never before
heard, nor seen. Verse eight, that's my favorite verse. Verse eight. Yeah. Because of thy faith
in Christ. And I think that's important. You know, this crying out, there is a great reward that
can come about. I don't know, Dave, that there's ever been. And I thought about this. This isn't
just something that I'm flippantly sharing right now. I've thought about this. I don't think there's
anything more important to me in my life than that knowledge, that time. And in that time,
and it's, you know, when I go back and I still have that, that Heavenly Father loves me, that He
has made, that He knows me, that I'm His. That He heard you. Right. And that He was merciful to you.
That's so powerful. Well, Alma is an example of this. Ziazram and King Lomona's father are also
examples of conversions. And they're crying out, King Lomona's father, such a great example,
when he says, I'll give away half my kingdom to know God. And then he starts to pray who he's
never prayed to God before. And this is his very first prayer. And he cries out to God in Alma 22,
I think we're 17 and 18. And he says, I will give away all my sins to know thee. And he receives
remission of sins. But Alma, in Alma 36, got Alma after three days and three nights of hitting rock
bottom, right? Struck deaf and dumb. And here's a, here's a young man who's been in a period of
apostasy, trying to destroy the church and undermine all the work that his father, the
prophet has done. And because of the faith of his father, which is interesting, Scott, the faith
of his father brings about this experience. It's, it's Ziazram's experience is interesting because
it's, it's the faith of Alma and Alma crying out in behalf of Ziazram that Ziazram's life is changed.
Ziazram's conversion takes place because he, he's kind of a speechless and paralyzed and,
and it's Alma crying out for Ziazram. So sometimes it's, it's maybe a parent or others crying out.
That was my experience. My, but it was from the faith of a stake president. Yeah. And that was my
experience as well. My faith from him was what motivated me and gave me courage to go and do what
I did. So anyway, the Alma has been in a state of apostasy for, I don't know how long and,
and says that he's the vilest of sinners, describing his, his previous life to his
born again experience. But in Alma 36 verse 18, an angel appeared after the angel appears.
It's not the angel that changes him, Scott. No, it's not the angel. It's what he does
in verse 18 and 19 here. Before I read 18 and 19, I want to read 16 and 17 because it's important
to know that Alma felt the way that we sometimes felt filled to, right? And now for three days and
for three nights, I was racked even with the pains of a damned soul. Some of us have felt that for
longer than three days and three nights. And some of us are in the process of feeling it now,
even some of us who are members of the church. And it came to pass that I was thus racked with
torment while I was herald up by the memory of my many. So the accusers hard at work on Alma here
my many sins. I remembered also to have heard my father, as you would mention David,
prophesy unto the people concerning the coming of one Jesus Christ, a son of God,
to atone for the sins of the world. Here's 18. Now as my mind caught hold upon this thought,
I cried the thought that the son of God, exactly the atonement to atone for the sins of the world,
the atonement and suffering of Jesus Christ. When my mind caught hold on this thought.
Now as my mind caught hold upon this thought, I cried within my heart. Oh Jesus, he doesn't speak.
No. So I know, I know we were encouraged just last conference, this last conference to
pray out loud by Elder Holland. Yeah, pray out loud when you can. That Joseph Smith's first
vision was a result of a vocal prayer. He said, I never before per cried to pray vocally.
And it's important that we pray vocally. But in this case, he couldn't even speak. He couldn't
pray vocally. So he he's saying this prayer in his heart, which I think is really interesting.
And maybe some of us have had that experience where we can't pray vocally. I know I personally
have exactly. Now as my mind caught hold upon this thought, I cried within my heart. Oh Jesus,
thou son of God, have mercy on me who am in the gall of bitterness and am encircled about
by the everlasting chains of death. And now behold, when I thought this, I could remember
my pains no more. That's the effect the cause and it seems almost immediate. Yay.
I was harrowed up by the memory of my sins no more. I mean, that's a gift. This before he goes to
his dad, right? This before he goes to the bishop, this before he goes to the stake president.
He has this crying out, born again experience. And then he does go to his dad. And he does go and
his confessions. Now I'm not saying that it should always be this way, because I know it's not.
I know sometimes it's confession to a priesthood leader that helps an individual meet the conditions
of a broken heart and contrite spirit. I get that. I know that. I'm not subscribing the order here.
I'm just saying it's interesting in Alma's case that his crying out took place before any confession.
And oh what joy and what marvelous light I did behold. Yay, my soul was filled with joy
as it's as was as exceeding as was my pain. Yeah, well, what a born again experience and conversion.
I'm so grateful. I mean, just that chapter alone right now with chapter 36. Yeah.
This is worth all that the restoration cost. Anyway, I love I love all those examples, Scott.
And so this, this crying out, crying out to God in faith is at the heart of repentance.
And then there's, there's one more, a second part of this, of this heart of repentance,
the actions of repentance, besides crying out, we have to offer. We have to make an offering.
We have to offer our whole souls and all of our sins to God. We have to give them.
We have to offer them. We have to sacrifice them, take the out there, take them to the altar
and lay them on the altar and give them to Jesus. This is what it means to repent.
And we've made reference King Lamona's father. I will give away all my sins to know thee.
But we, I love the scripture in Alma chapter seven, Scott. In fact, I remember these for the
verses I, I love to always use to invite my investigators who we can now call friends.
When, when I was teaching as a missionary, I would always turn down the seven when I
felt the spirit prompt me to invite them to be baptized. And I would read Alma seven,
14 and 15. You want to read those two verses? Yeah. Now I say unto you that you must repent
and be born again for the spirit sayeth, if you are not born again, you cannot inherit the kingdom
of heaven. Therefore come and be baptized unto repentance that ye may be washed from your sins,
that ye may have faith on the Lamb of God who taketh away the sins of the world who is mighty
to save and to cleanse from all and righteousness. Yeah, I say unto you, come and fear not and lay
aside every sin which easily doth beset you, which doth bind you down to destruction. Yeah,
come and go forth and show unto your God that you are willing to repent of your sins and enter into
a covenant with him to keep his commandments and witness it unto him this day by going into the
waters of baptism. After reading those two verses, I would say, Brother Brown, will you accept that
invitation? I love those verses and if I was, if I was and I hope to be a missionary again,
I'll always use those two verses. I think those are just two beautiful verses and an invitation,
not from me, but from the Lord himself to be repented unto to be baptized unto repentance.
But I love this verse 15, verse 15, right, that I will give away again, I will lay,
how does it say it, Scott? Lay aside every sin which easily doth beset you, which doth bind you
down to destruction. So we've talked about this before. I just want to remind listeners,
I think the real key to repentance is not repenting of a sin, but to repent of sinning.
It has to be give away all my sins. It's to lay all my sins on the altar. It is, it's,
I don't know. I bet it's, I bet it's sweet for Heavenly Father when people are trying to repent
of adultery, but they're not willing to go to church. I bet it's sweet when people are trying
to repent of other serious sins, but they're not, they're not willing to repent of their sins of
omission. They're not willing to start reading their scriptures or doing other things. I'm telling
you, Scott, I, the number one thing, seeing, we were working with young adults in the church,
was they couldn't figure out, well, you just said this, they couldn't figure out why they
didn't feel forgiven. Right. And I would say, well, are you, are you doing your, are you,
are you ministering to others? Are you serving? Are you, are you taking the sacrament? You're
going to church? Are you, are you trying to go, are you, they, they can't figure out why they
don't feel forgiven of some major sin when they're not willing to lay aside all their sins that
beset them, when they're not willing to give all their sins to God. So the heart of repentance
is crying out to God and then giving our whole soul and all our sins to Him.
But then, Dave, it continues and enter into a covenant. So, so far we're talking about crying
out for a remission of sins and that we must lay all of our sins, give all of our sins to God,
right? Right. But there's more than that just required. It's more than our sins. It's our
lives. Yeah. We give our life to God, our will to God. You know, we sacrifice our sins, our lives,
you know, and that's when I talked about at the beginning of the podcast today, when I talked about
the first three steps about colleagues, anonymous, that is the third step. We become willing to give
our will and our entire lives over to the care of God. Well, I think this is really well described
in Omnai. You want to turn to Omnai? Yeah, yeah, yeah, it is. 122. I remember one general conference
a few years back, maybe four or five years now. It was before I retired, I know. And I think this
scripture was read like four or five times in a general conference. And I've always loved the
scripture, but it left an impression on me that so many of the prophets and the brother and
sisters who spoke felt impressed to share this conference, which to me was evidence that they
had been discussing it in the general councils of the church. And I think this is one of the
real keys to our, our spiritual progression or our lack of spiritual progression. So why don't you
read Omnai 122? Because I think this describes what the heart of repentance is. It's actually,
David, it's actually Omnai 126. Yeah, Omnai 126, you're right. Okay, Omnai 126. And now
my beloved brother and I would that you should come unto Christ, who is the Holy One of Israel,
and partake of his salvation and the power of his redemption. Ye come unto him and offer your whole
souls as an offering unto him and continue in fasting and praying and in dirt of the end.
And as the Lord liveth, you will be saved. David, I'm reading that. I'm getting chills. I'm filling
the spirit. I can tell you are me too listening to it. Really. Is there anything else that
summarizes the heart of repentance more than that? Not just the heart of repentance, but the heart of
our mortal existence. Yeah, I know. Really? There's just really nothing. So break that down, Scott.
Okay, you should come unto Christ. Right. So what does that mean? Come unto Christ. We talk 180.
Exactly. The whole not a 90, not a 90. And it's not a 90. And there's a difference between come
follow me and come unto me 180 degrees. And this is where we are following has inspired us to come
to him. You can turn around. Yeah. But you have to move in his direction. Correct. Now, who is the
Holy One of Israel? And break that down. Who's the Holy One of Israel? That means we must have a
testimony. We must have that relationship and know him as such as the Holy One of Israel.
And partake of his salvation and the power his salvation, his salvation, not our salvation.
Yeah, salvation. It is all through him and the power of his redemption, the power of his redemption,
and that power redemption, his redemption. And remember, his power is made available to us because
of his atonement. The power isn't the atonement. The power is Jesus Christ, the power of his
redemption. Yeah, come unto him and offer your whole souls as an offering. And I love that part.
Your whole kind of yeah, don't mostly I don't hang on to those little habits. I want to kind of
hang on to you know, your whole souls and that includes all your sins. Now, but but here's what
offering our whole souls looks like offering unto him and continue in fasting and praying
and in dirt of the end. We'll talk about in dirt of the end as we conclude the series of podcasts,
but because it means so much more than sometimes we think about. Well, in that praying to me,
when I hear praying, I think of crying out. That is crying out. You know, not just not just
sweetly kneeling and thanking Heavenly Father, not that's critical. That's so important. That's
prayer. But when I when I hear prayer in that context of that verse, I think of crying out.
It's an earnest intentional crying out to him. And over and over again in the scripture, Scott,
when it talks about crying to in the name, crying out in the name, crying to the name, over and over
again, that's in the scriptures. And whenever I read those phrases, I think that that's a crying
out unto Jesus for forgiveness of sins. You know, when the brother of Jared was chastised for not
calling upon the name of the Lord for three years. I don't believe for a minute that he
didn't pray for three years. I I'm I'm in my mind. I'm convinced and I've I've heard others,
brother and say this, that that it wasn't that he wasn't praying. It's that he wasn't crying out.
He wasn't he wasn't calling upon God in the same level of prayer that he needed to call upon the
name to call upon Christ to call upon his salvation to call upon his redemption to participate in
the ordinances of the gospel to work out his repentance. Anyway, this is the heart of repentance.
Dave, I love amulets experience or not experience, but teachings on this. Yeah. Yeah. So let me just
give some context to this. So the apostate Zoramites, right, right? They're on the hill of
Oneida and Alma, Alma, preaches to them about being compelled to be humble and then gives that
amazing analogy of likening the word of God, because he says it's better to be humble because
of the word. And then it's really not so much it is about faith. But the real analogy is that he
likens a seed unto the word of God and planning it in in your heart and then watching it grow into
this great tree of faith that you can pluck the fruit and taste eternal life. That's to be delicious,
is how he described. Yeah. So after that, and after after chapter 33, where he describes what the
word of God is, that it's Jesus Christ and him crucified, and all they have to do is look to the
word of God in Alma chapter 33, which may be one of my favorite chapters in the whole Book of Mormon,
then then his trusty companion, Amulek, he turns, he turns the discussion over to his trusty
companion. He says, Amulek, would you like to bear your testimony about this? And then Amulek says,
well, let me, let me tell you how it worked for me. Let me tell you, let me tell you what I see
as far as repentance and conversion goes. And let's remember that Amulek was not completely
aligned with living his life the way he had it at one point in his life. Yeah, he always did. But when
Alma and Amulek came together, it hadn't been, it hadn't been that way for him any longer, right?
So Amulek teaches powerfully what it means to cry into God. And this is after he's talked about,
right, faith unto repentance, faith unto repentance, faith unto repentance and the infinite atonement,
the infinite atonement. I mean, chapter 34 is really special because of some of the unique
phrases and terms that he uses. Well, let's start in 16 in there. And thus mercy can satisfy the
demands of justice, right? So this is kind of the conclusion of what he's talking about. I'm not
going to read that whole verse at the end of that verse. He says that has faith unto repentance is
brought about great and eternal plan of redemption. So that's the plan of redemption. Then I'm going
to read where he talks about right now. Verse 17, he begins to say, Therefore, may God grant unto
you, my brother, and that you may begin to exercise your faith unto repentance, that you begin to call
upon his holy name, call on his holy name. There it is again, that he would have mercy on you.
Call on his holy name. Why more than just praying. Okay, but his faith unto repentance. Dave, this is
what I get out of that. So he says, exercise your faith unto repentance. Why that he began to call
upon his name. Why that he would have mercy on you. So how do we obtain that mercy? It seems like
this crying out may be a way to obtain even more mercy or a greater degree of mercy from Jesus.
And so then going into 18, yeah, cry unto him for mercy, for he is mighty to save,
yeah, humble yourselves and continue in prayer unto him, crying to him that when you are in your
fields, crying to him when you are in your fields, yeah, over all your flocks. We, some of us don't
have fields and flocks today, but I think we know the meaning of that crying to him in your houses,
yeah, over all your household, both morning, midday and evening, cry over all your household.
I think it means Scott, he's talking about faith under repentance. Yeah, I'm crying,
I'm always crying out for my kids. Yeah, crying to him against the power of your enemies.
Pray that they repent and pray for them as Jesus. They come to know Jesus.
Yeah, crying to him against the devil, who is the enemy to all righteousness, crying to him over
your crops that your fill in your fields may prosper in them. Cry over your flocks of your fields
that they may increase, but this is not all. You must pour out your whole souls in your closets and
in your secret places and in your wilderness, your whole souls. Yeah, and when you do not cry
unto the Lord, let your hearts be drawn full out in prayer unto him continually for your welfare
and for also the welfare of those who are around you. Watch and pray always that you be not tempted
more than you're able. Well, anyway, Scott, the heart of repentance, the heart of repentance
is crying out and offering our whole souls to God. That's, that cannot be seen as a step or a checklist.
It comes without any guile, any hypocrisy. It takes place naturally as a result of a broken heart,
contrite spirit, godly sorrow, understanding what the Savior did for me, what He did for my family,
and to, to feel that gratitude and love for him because he loved me first and because of what
he has sacrificed for me, not just sacrificed for me, but sacrificed because of me, that he
suffered not just for me, but he suffered because of me, breaks my heart, leads me to a contrite
spirit, godly sorrow, and it naturally filling, being filled with gratitude and love for him,
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,
including my sins. I, I just, that's the heart of repentance and skirting around that
and doing everything else that people think, whatever their perspective is of repentance,
will not lead them to forgiveness. It may, it may lead to some good feelings that they're
accomplishing some things or making some progress, but, but forgiveness of sin and redemption, Scott,
it has to, it has to follow this crying out and offering of our whole souls to God.
That's what true conversion is, that's what it means to be converted under the Lord,
that's the way the Book of Mormon and all the holy scriptures and the words of the prophets,
that's, that's how it's described and that's what we must all as children of God experience
to really participate in his redemption. Right. I love this part of the, the, the course. I love
that too. We, we now we're getting into how do I really put on the atonement of Jesus Christ? How
do I really make that alignment? How do I make that 180 degree turn to him? And I think our
invitation today should be the same as Amueluk's word to those people of the Zormites when he's
said, and I'm not going to read all of this, but he invited them to in, in, in verses 32 through 34,
he invited them, guys do it now. Don't procrastinate it. Just do it. Just do it now. Quit holding on
to it. Quit waiting for the right time. Quit waiting for all the stars to align. Quit waiting for
this to happen and that to happen. Just cry out. Just allow him to come to you. You know, I, I, Dave,
you, we were talking earlier about something that you had seen a drug addict, a video or something
like that, a drug addict and having a conversation with, with the spirit, et cetera. And, and finally,
he just, the spirit just said, well, you just let me, just let me, just let me take it. He just
wants to, he wants so badly to just take it. Let's quit putting it off. Let's quit procrastinating
the day of our repentance. And in other words, let's quit procrastinating our day of coming
unto him. The invitation is clear. He wants us. Christ has purchased this. Scott, he's purchased
us. He's paid for our sins. They're his. Why would we not offer that? Why do we still hang on to him?
Why do we hang on to them? He suffered for them. He's not surprised when we make a mistake. He has
ransomed us. He's happy when we turn back to him every time we are his, whether we confess it now
or later, we are his purchased by his blood. And the sooner, the sooner that we can turn to him
and not just turn, but move in his direction and, and go and receive that holy embrace of mercy.
My, my arms are stretched out still and they always will be. And I hope that we can experience
this over and over again in our lives as do I. It's our, we, we testify that the things that we
talk about today and throughout the entirety of this course are the only, the one needful thing.
This is the needful thing. This is how we come to him. It's our invitation that we all engage in
that, participate that in that. And, and I am going to continue to answer Amulet's invitation to
not procrastinate this. Thanks for being with us today. We look forward to being with you again
next week. And until then, be well.