Category: Scripture Notes
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You need not suppose
Behold, I command you that you need not suppose that you are called to preach until you are called. Doctrine & Covenants 11:15 Wanting to serve and hoping to serve are not substitutes for being called to serve. Just because the desires are righteous doesn’t mean that the authority has been granted. Even if we…
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Dig a pit for thy neighbor
A stark contrast between Heavenly Father and Satan is that Satan teaches people to go as low as (or lower than) those they have decided to oppose while Heavenly Father insists that those who follow him must not sink with their adversaries in order to prevail.
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Understanding the context
Nephi was able to tell his brothers what the words of Isaiah meant because his vision had given him the context of what Isaiah was prophesying.
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What are you building next? And how?
This is the outline of how I imagine the lesson tomorrow unfolding. Review the 1820-1830 “days never to be forgotten” with the personal “decade never to be forgotten” that Elder Stevenson described. Compare those periods of time and consider how they relate to your current and upcoming years. Talk about the origin story nature of…
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Israel among the gentiles
In many ways, what Isaiah said to Israel anciently applies to modern Christianity. They talk about Christ while frequently rejecting His doctrine. They invoke the name but forego the covenant path. Gentile Christians today done have the same covenant relationship that Old Testament Israel had but many of the same principles apply.
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Apostolic Criteria
Contend against no church, save it be the church of the devil. Doctrine & Covenants 18:20 It is easy to contend but we should be looking for that which unites us with others who are honestly striving to be good rather than focusing on points of difference. Those who are contentious make themselves part of…
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All things in their time
Because neighbor writes of things from the time they were in Jerusalem it is easy to assume that he was writing as he went but the reality is that he didn’t begin either of his records until after crossing to the promised land. Whether in the large plates or the small plates the record from…
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Spiritual learning
Because you did not translate according to that which you desired of me, and did commence again to write for my servant, Joseph Smith, Jun., even so I would that ye should continue. Doctrine & Covenants 9:1 I’m coming to understand what happened here and how the process of spiritual learning works. Oliver Cowdery asked…
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Fear not to do good
Do good; let earth and hell combine against you, for if ye are built upon my rock, they cannot prevail. Doctrine & Covenants 6:34 We can move forward with confidence in doing good because as long as we keep ourselves aligned with heaven we won’t be destroyed.
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Be ready to move
The biggest problem for Laman and Lemuel after they got to the land Bountiful was that they were content with where they were after their journey and not humble enough to accept the call to do more work to find a better land.