Quality company in celestial glory

These are they who have come to an innumerable company of angels, to the general assembly and church of Enoch, and of the Firstborn. (D&C 76:67)

There are some neat things in this verse that I learned as I was pondering it.

who have come to an innumerable company of angels – How neat is it that qualifying for celestial glory will bring us among angels!  Sometimes, when I have eyes to see, I can look around our congregation and see that my fellow ward members are already becoming angels to each other, bringing messages of hope, comfort, and inspiration.  They also help each other in times of need, in small but nonetheless extraordinary ways.   There have been times when I have been helped by my ward, and when I look back at those times, I think that if an angel from heaven had come down, they would have done exactly the same thing as those ward members did.  

And just think of someday joining an innumerable company of angels!  I grew up in Illinois, where members of the church were few and far between.  I remember what excitement I always felt when I got to go to Especially For Youth and meet so many Mormon youth who held similar standards to me.  Those were watershed days for me, and I was always sad when it had to end after a week.  When I went to college at Brigham Young University and I got to be with a whole university of students and teachers that shared my beliefs, it is hard to describe how wonderful that was to me.  I figure that when I come to the innumerable company of angels in the celestial kingdom, I will have that same sense of excitement.

who have come…to the general assembly and church of Enoch – Did you ever think that we will mingle with Enoch and his people?  When I first read this, I kind of took it for granted—duh, we’re Zion, right?—but as I thought about it, I realized how neat it will be to fraternize with them, even though several thousand years separated our respective generations during mortality.  It brought home to me that there are no generation gaps in the celestial kingdom.  Living the same principles of the gospel and partaking of the Spirit of God brings all the generations of Saints together.

and of the Firstborn – If we remember the Biblical practice, the firstborn inherited a double portion from their father.  In the Abrahamic covenant, the firstborn inherited the birthright blessing with authority in the patriarchal order.  In the Mosiac covenant, the firstborn were to be given to the Lord’s service, or else redeemed with a sacrifice.   The Bible dictionary enumerates the ways Christ was the Firstborn:

• Firstborn of the spirit children of Heavenly Father
• The Only Begotten of the Father in the flesh (first and last)
• The first to rise from the dead in the resurrection

Faithful Saints will inherit all things the Father hath, through Jesus Christ, just as if they were also “firstborn,” so they become the church of the Firstborn.  In Genesis, Joseph received the inheritance from Jacob, even though Joseph wasn’t the firstborn.  So did Ephraim, even though he wasn't the firstborn.  In these stories I see a type and shadow of the promise given to us that we will inherit all the Father has, if we are faithful.  We can become firstborn.

Here’s something else I was pondering: 

They who dwell in his presence are the church of the Firstborn; and they see as they are seen, and know as they are known, having received of his fulness and of his grace; (D&C 76:94)

That bit about how they “see as they are seen, and know as they are known” takes some probing to understand and appreciate, at least for me.  One way to rephrase it might be, “they see and are seen, and they know and are known,” which to me implies full participation and honor in the celestial society, that every individual knows, recognizes, and appreciates every other individual and receives the same themselves.    How many of us feel like we are not fully known by others?  How many of us feel like we are not fully appreciated and recognized for all the talents we have built, for all the things we can do, for who we are, and for the good we have done?  Someday all of that will be made known, everything will be rewarded, and we will truly KNOW each other and see each other for who we really are.

I really look forward to that day.  I really want to know my fellow Saints better.  There is so little time to talk it seems, and I’ve gotten to the point in life where I realize there is so much more to every person than what meets the eye, so much that each person has learned by experience and study, so much wonderful variety in talent. 

So now I ask you, dear reader, what is something about you that you wish people could know and appreciate?

The Lord of the vineyard had preserved

…and they did keep the root and the top thereof equal, according to the strength thereof.  And thus they labored, with all diligence, according to the commandments of the Lord of the vineyard, even until the bad had been cast away out of the vineyard, and the Lord had preserved unto himself that the trees had become again the natural fruit; and they became like unto one body; and the fruits were equal; and the Lord of the vineyard had preserved unto himself the natural fruit, which was most precious unto him from the beginning. (Jacob 5:73-74)

When I was reading this verse, I noticed that the final results of grafting in the natural branches to the tree are listed, and we can learn some good things from this list.

the trees had become again the natural fruit -  This is kind of an awkward phrase, but we know what it means.  It expresses a transformation of character, that the good works we do will become an inseparable part of our identity.

they became like unto one body – This expresses how we will become unified with each other through the Spirit.  This is quite amazing, considering how congregations are all over the world.

the fruits thereof were equal – This gives us a vision of how the Lord sees our honest efforts, no matter what calling we have.

the root and the top kept equal, according to the strength thereof – We could look at this like a genealogical tree, where all the generations are kept equal with each other.  Or we could look at this like a church hierarchy where all the callings are kept equal.

I love the repetition of the phrase “the Lord of the vineyard had preserved unto himself” as it is applied to both the trees and the fruit.  That word “preserved” makes me think of salvation and how the Lord is concerned about us as individuals and about our works. 

Thy walls are continually before me

Behold, I have graven thee upon the palms of my hands; thy walls are continually before me. (1 Nephi 21:16)

Here Nephi quotes Isaiah, who speaks as if from Christ’s perspective. 

I have graven thee upon the palms of my hands – This imagery makes me think of Christ’s crucifixion and the suffering He went through for us.  It is as if we were the nails that pierced Him, and every time He looks at the marks in of the hands of His resurrected body, He remembers the sacrifice He made for us.

thy walls are continually before me – In one way, this can be interpreted to mean that Jesus is always watching over us, caring for us, and thinking of us.  In another way, it expresses how He knows the walls we have put up in our lives to try to keep Him out, and He wishes He could get through to us if we would only let Him.

Spreading tender mercies

I looked through my journal today and I ran across this entry from 2006 that I wanted to share. 

We went to the temple tonight.  After doing a session, I went into the dressing room, and I saw a woman sitting on a bench with a very glum look on her face.  I said to myself as I passed, “Self, she looks like she needs a hug.”  Then the still small voice spoke to me.  Go back and give her a hug.  I immediately went back and sat next to her.  “You look like you could use a hug,” I told her, and I gave her one.  She told me she had been waiting for her locker to be freed up.  Then she asked me, “Were you reading my mind?”  I told her I wasn’t.  She told me that seven years ago from tomorrow her husband had died, and this was the first time she had attended the temple near the anniversary of his death.  So I guess my being told to give her a hug was one of those tender mercies from the Lord to her to let her know that He was mindful of her.  I’m very glad I obeyed the prompting immediately. 

Will you share a time when you found you were the means of bestowing a tender mercy from the Lord?

The heavens, they are many

Image: http://thingstolookathigh.com/outer-space-stars/

And the Lord God spake unto Moses, saying: The heavens, they are many, and they cannot be numbered unto man; but they are numbered unto me, for they are mine. (Moses 1:37)

That word “heavens” is baffling.  We know only one sky and one space, so it is hard to say in what manner there can be many.  Because if there are many heavens, then that means there is a discrete and discernable boundary between one and another.  Meteorology has advanced to the point that it can detect pressure gradients in the atmosphere and cold and warm fronts and temperature differences, but that makes sky into amorphous flowing blobs; it doesn’t result in a countable sky.  And it only has to do with earth.    So there must be other astronomical bodies that must have their own heavens with their own characteristics.  And probably space has its own “weather” and gradients and concentrations of particles.

And God can quantify all of this!  He is the ultimate scientist. 

Unexpected indirect blessing of tithing: learning to de-clutter

Bring ye all the tithes into the storehouse, that there may be meat in mine house, and prove me now herewith, saith the Lord of hosts, if I will not open you the windows of heaven, and pour you out a blessing, that there shall not be room enough to receive it. (Malachi 3:10)

This verse contains the great blessing that comes with paying tithing—that there will not be room enough to receive the blessing poured out. However, if we also look at it from the perspective of de-cluttering, it teaches another principle—the necessity of being able to perceive when there is “not room enough.” Finding there is not room enough is an invitation to give away the surplus and be blessed further.

These days many people are not able to tell that they have no room to receive more. They live their lives with homes stuffed with goods that are not important enough to the way they are living their lives now. This verse gives us the hint that an indirect blessing of paying tithing is that we will begin to discern what we need and what we don’t and be able to tell when we have been given more than we are able to receive. If we are able to tell the difference between what we can receive to make use of and what we don’t have room to receive, we will be able to de-clutter, our lives will be simpler, and our possessions will be streamlined in a manner that will really facilitate our lives of discipleship rather than inhibiting us.

How does tithing help us do this? When we pay tithing, we learn it is possible to live with what is left over. It gives us a chance to cultivate greater efficiency in our expenditures. That skill of efficient use can spill over to other parts of our stewardship, such as considering how our space is used and whether the things we have that fill up our space are really serving us as they should. Paying tithing takes practice, and de-cluttering takes practice too. Paying tithing gives us practice in sacrificing, so it will be easier for us to let go of what we don’t need when we de-clutter.

Sacrament talk on being committed & being converted to Christ

The following is my talk I gave in church this last Sunday about being committed and being converted to Christ. I had to cut some of it out in the interest of time, but I wanted to post the whole of it here as I would have liked to give it. The opportunity to research and bring my life in harmony with this topic was a great blessing to me, and I was so happy to share what I learned about it with my ward. Read on..

Definition of commitment—

“the trait of sincere and steadfast fixity of purpose”;

“the act of binding yourself (intellectually and emotionally) to a course of action;

Scriptural language for being committed expresses it in different ways:

· Coming to the Lord with full purpose of heart. (3 Nephi 10:6)

· Offer your whole souls as an offering unto him (Omni 1:26)

· Loving the Lord with all our heart, soul, and mind. (Matthew 22:37)

· Having a determination to serve the Lord to the end (D&C 20:37)

I wanted to see what Jesus had to say about being committed.

26 If any man come to me, and hate not his father, and mother, and wife, and children, and brethren, and sisters, yea,

[or husband, yea and his own life also; or in other words, is afraid to lay down his life for my sake; cannot be] my disciple.

27 And whosoever doth not

bear his cross, and come after me, cannot be my disciple.

28 For which of you, intending to build a

tower, sitteth not down first, and counteth the cost, whether he have sufficient to finish it?

29 Lest haply, after he hath laid the foundation, and is not able to finish it, all that behold it begin to mock him,

30 Saying, This man began to build, and was not able to finish.

31 Or what king, going to make war against another

king, sitteth not down first, and consulteth whether he be able with ten thousand to meet him that cometh against him with twenty thousand?

32 Or else, while the other is yet a great way off, he sendeth an ambassage, and desireth conditions of peace.

33 So likewise, whosoever he be of you that forsaketh not all that he hath, he cannot be my disciple. (Luke 14:26-33, emphasis added, JST added in square brackets)

There are two important analogies Jesus uses to teach about being committed in this section. In the first, he compares it to counting the cost of building a tower. It’s about considering what effort it is going to take to do what must be done to get the final result (which is eternal life). Being committed to the gospel for our whole lives is like building a tower. But it isn’t done all at once. To make the best progress, we have to do all the building we can every day of our lives. Are we going to stop in the middle and say, “Okay, that’s good enough for me,” or are we going to get to a certain level one day and say, “Whoa, I’m starting to be scared of heights here,” or are we going to say “I’m getting really tired of this”? If we start, we have to finish it.

In the second part, he compares being committed to a king going to make war with another king, consulting to see if he has enough men to beat the opposition. The lesson is that we are going to face opposition in living the gospel and we have to be willing to do what it takes to fight and overcome whatever Satan attacks us with, even though we are outnumbered. We have to be ready to fight, no matter the cost.

Next, there were some interesting conversations Jesus had with two disciples that are instructive:

19 And a certain scribe came, and said unto him, Master, I will follow thee whithersoever thou goest.

20 And Jesus saith unto him, The foxes have holes, and the birds of the air have nests; but the Son of man hath not where to lay his head.

21 And another of his disciples said unto him, Lord, suffer me first to go and bury my father.

22 But Jesus said unto him, Follow me; and let the dead bury their dead. (Matthew 8:19-22)

Here two different people want to follow Christ and He shares with them some important information about being committed. The first one is very enthusiastic and says, “I’ll go wherever you go.” Jesus tells him that unlike the animals, Jesus has no place to sleep. I don’t think Jesus was trying to discourage this man; He was just being honest about what the man would experience if he were to follow Jesus around everywhere. The scribe wouldn’t have his own bed anymore. He had to be aware that there was going to be discomfort and a lot of traveling. Jesus wanted the scribe to make his choice based on full information about what was required to come along so he could be fully committed. The message for us is that you can’t take a rest from being a disciple of Christ. Being a disciple of Christ isn’t a 9-to-5 job; disciples of Christ are always on the clock.

The second man wanted to come with Jesus…but wanted to do it…later. He wanted to wait until after his father was dead. Maybe his father wasn’t excited about his interest in following Jesus and was making life tough for the man. In response, Jesus said, “Follow me, and let the dead bury their dead.” In other words, he was to not let his father get in the way of following Christ. The message for us is that commitment to Christ is something we have to do NOW. It can’t be delayed until conditions are right; that would be like waiting to start a trip until all the stoplights have turned green.

How do we stay committed to follow the Lord when it is hard?

And if it seem evil unto you to serve the Lord, choose you this day whom ye will serve; whether the gods which your fathers served that were on the other side of the flood, or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land ye dwell: but as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord. (Joshua 24:15)

I used to see this scripture as meaning that one decision is enough to last us through our whole lives, but I recently began to see it in a different way. When it seems really hard, we just need to break it down into manageable pieces. One day at a time. Make a firm decision that TODAY you will follow and serve the Lord. Make it the best day possible. (We can handle a single day, right?) Then, tomorrow, make a firm decision that THAT DAY, you will follow and serve the Lord. And make that firm decision each day of your life.

Personal Experience: For the last few months I’ve been struggling with internal chatter of the doubtful, fearful variety that was causing me to waver when I wanted to be firm. I wondered for a long time what I could do about this. I prayed for courage, and I struggled as best I could. When I was asked to give this talk, I realized immediately that commitment and conversion was exactly what I needed. I also knew that I would not be able to give this talk until I strengthened my own commitment to the Lord. So I began taking steps immediately. Whenever that negative chatter started tearing at me, I would say strongly to myself, “I will follow the Lord.” I repeating that to myself as often as necessary, “I will follow the Lord.” It said that to myself quite a lot for the first three days. I worked to be more vigilant in my small choices. I also asked my husband give me a blessing so I could escape the buffettings of Satan. And each day I would recommit myself to follow the Lord that day. It really helped me.

How do we show our commitment to the Lord?

It starts with obedience to the basic principles of the gospel-- faith in Christ, repentance, then baptism, then receiving the gift of the Holy Ghost.

We continue to show our commitment and renew that commitment when we take the sacrament and keep the other commandments that we’ve been given.

What kinds of experiences have people had when they’ve made a commitment to the Lord?

There are a number of examples in the Book of Mormon that illustrate how commitment brings great blessings, but in the interest of time, I thought I would focus on the stripling warriors.

The stripling warriors were committed both to following the Lord and to fighting in all cases to protect the liberty of their fathers. What the scriptures have to say about their character never ceases to be inspiring to me.

· They were “strict to remember the Lord their God from day to day” (Alma 58:40)

· They kept God’s “statutes, and his judgments, and his commandments continually” (Alma 58:40)

· They “[stood] fast in that liberty wherewith God [had] made them free” (Alma 58:40)

· They had “exceeding faith in that which they had been taught to believe” (Alma 57:26)

· “Their faith was strong in the prophecies” (Alma 58:40)

· They put their trust in God continually” (Alma 57:27)

· “They were…true at all times in whatsoever thing they were entrusted” (Alma 53:20)

· They were men of truth and soberness” (Alma 53:21)

· They were “exceedingly valiant for courage” (Alma 53:20)

· Were “firm and undaunted” (Alma 57:19-20) when many Nephites were “about to give way” (Alma 57:20)

I so want to be firm and undaunted.

Story told by Elder John B. Dickson of the seventy:

In 1979…missionaries began proselyting in a lush, green area called the Huesteca. 52 people joined the Church in Panacaxtlan. … A short time later, a meeting was called in Panacaxtlan at which Church members were given the following options: denounce the Church, leave the village, or be killed (not an idle threat). The members, particularly the women, said they knew the Church to be true and would not denounce it. They also indicated they had worked just as hard as the rest of the community to secure their homesteads, and they would not leave. Boldly stepping forward, they told their taunters if they were going to kill them, to get on with it. The moment grew tense as machetes were raised, then finally lowered while the Latter-day Saints stood up for that which the Spirit had testified to them to be true. These Saints eventually learned, as most of us do, that it is harder to live the gospel day by day than to die for it in an instant, but their early commitment came because the Spirit had touched their hearts and changed their lives. Their conversion process had taken place as the Book of Mormon helped build their faith in Jesus Christ, the Son of God” (“The Incomparable Gifts,” Ensign, Feb. 1995, 7).

What blessings do we receive when we commit to follow the Lord?

Ezra Taft Benson said:

“Men and women who turn their lives over to God will discover that He can make a lot more out of their lives than they can. He will deepen their joys, expand their vision, quicken their minds, strengthen their muscles, lift their spirits, multiply their blessings, increase their opportunities, comfort their souls, raise up friends, and pour out peace. Whoever will lose his life in the service of God will find eternal life” (The Teachings of Ezra Taft Benson [1988], 361).

CONVERSION

(from the Bible Dictionary) Conversion “Denotes changing one’s views, in a conscious acceptance of the will of God. If followed by continued faith in the Lord Jesus Christ, repentance, baptism in water for the remission of sins, and the reception of the Holy Ghost by the laying of hands, conversion will become complete, and will change a natural man into a sanctified, born again, purified person—a new creature in Christ Jesus. Complete conversion comes after many trials and much testing. To labor for the conversion of one’s self and others is a noble task.”

What shall we compare the conversion process to? Let’s compare it to taking an old car out of the junkyard and fixing it up. Let’s say it is a ’62 Chevy pick-up truck. It is a rusted-out dented shell, with torn leather seats, cracked and broken windows, birds nests behind the grill, blown head gasket, bent axel, a real clunker. Little by little, you take it apart and replace everything bad with new parts of the highest quality. You replace the body panels, put in new seats, replace all the glass, put in a new engine and new axel. You give it a gleaming, new paint job. It’s still a ’62 Chevy pick-up when you’re done with it, but it isn’t the same as it was.

Or, compare conversion to a caterpillar that makes a cocoon for itself and then comes out at the end of a time as a butterfly. It’s still the same animal, but in a totally different form. It can do things it couldn’t do before. It doesn’t become a butterfly all at once. It takes days of tiny incremental changes for the transformation to occur.

Why must we be converted?

"And [Jesus] said, Verily I say unto you, Except ye be converted, and become as little children, ye shall not enter into the kingdom of heaven." (Matthew 18:3) Conversion is absolutely necessary.

King Benjamin said, “For the natural man is an enemy to God, and has been from the fall of Adam, and will be, forever and ever, unless he yields to the enticings of the Holy Spirit, and putteth off the natural man and becometh a saint through the atonement of Christ the Lord, and becometh as a child, submissive, meek, humble, patient, full of love, willing to submit to all things which the Lord seeth fit to inflict upon him, even as a child doth submit to his father.” (Mosiah 3:19)

Conversion is both instantaneous, and it is a process.

It is a change of view, which is then followed by a process of transformation of action and character, from grace to grace, from glory to glory. Grace, or the power of God, is what makes this change happen.

When King Benjamin gave his great sermon to his people, they believed him, and their hearts were changed. Mosiah 5:2-7 has a list of all the things they felt that characterized their conversion:

· Knowing the surety of the words because of the Spirit they felt

· A might change in their hearts

· No more disposition to do evil, but to do good continually

· Great views of that which is to come through the manifestations of the Spirit

· Feeling as if they could prophecy of all things if they had to

· Great knowledge

· Rejoicing with exceedingly great joy

· Willing to enter a covenant with God to do his will and be obedient in everything to the end of their lives

So now, I would ask of all of you, like Alma asked his people, “if ye have experienced a change of heart, and if ye have felt to sing the song of redeeming love, I would ask, can ye feel so now?”(Alma 5:26)

As I was studying for this talk, I started to see that I have had moments of conversion throughout my life, and that they arose out of specific commitments I made.

· I remember when I was baptized and how clean I felt afterwards. I knew I had been changed.

· I remember the conscious commitment I made to start reading the scriptures on my own and the change that happened in me because of it.

· I remember the commitment that I would try to express my individuality by being a better person, instead of rebelling.

· Or the commitment I made to pay tithing, even when it was hard.

· Or the decision I made that I would be brave enough to admit the times I was wrong.

· Or the decision I made to keep the Sabbath holy.

· Or the decision I made to forgive a difficult roommate rather than harbor resentment.

Each of those commitments and many others have been part of my conversion process. Going back to the analogy of fixing up a truck, it has been like a new axel here, a new leather seats there, and so on. I have more commitments to make, and so do you.

The power of Christ’s atonement is such that not only does it make sinners into saints, but it will make saints into gods. He gives us the power to maintain good works that we otherwise would not have power to continue on our own. I can testify that is true. I have seen it in my life more times than I can count.

I pray that we will follow the Lord today, then tomorrow, and onward until our faithful commitments have allowed the Lord to seal us His, and complete our conversion into rightful heirs of the celestial kingdom. In the name of Jesus Christ, amen.

Dwelt in captivity all his days

30 And it came to pass that Hearthom reigned in the stead of his father. And when Hearthom had reigned twenty and four years, behold, the kingdom was taken away from him. And he served many years in captivity, yea, even all the remainder of his days.

31 And he begat Heth, and Heth lived in captivity all his days. And Heth begat Aaron, and Aaron dwelt in captivity all his days; and he begat Amnigaddah, and Amnigaddah also dwelt in captivity all his days; and he begat Coriantum, and Coriantum dwelt in captivity all his days; and he begat Com. (Ether 10:30-31, emphasis added)

That’s a lot of captivity. Verse 31 has massive history compression, and all you learn about four generations is that they were all in captivity.

So I began to wonder, what does it mean when a king is in captivity? What is the character of this captivity?

While I was starting to think about that, I realized that this idea of kings in captivity is repeated over and over in the Book of Ether. Its repetition suggests that it has great importance to us.

In one way, it is important because it shows the fulfillment of the prophecy made by the brother of Jared that kingship brings into captivity. But in another way, it is important because those of us who are endowed have been promised that we will become kings and queens, priests and priestesses unto the most high God hereafter, and yet WE may still be living now in spiritual captivity!

Reading those verses about the Jaredite kings has always given me a feeling of sadness that they lived at a level so far below their privileges. But now I see that it may be just as true of me as well, if I don’t repent and keep a broken and contrite heart.

13 O that ye would awake; awake from a deep sleep, yea, even from the sleep of hell, and shake off the awful chains by which ye are bound, which are the chains which bind the children of men, that they are carried away captive down to the eternal gulf of misery and woe. (2 Nephi 1:13)

29 And not choose eternal death, according to the will of the flesh and the evil which is therein, which giveth the spirit of the devil power to captivate, to bring you down to hell, that he may reign over you in his own kingdom. (2 Nephi 2:29)

18 Or, that a cursing should come upon you for the space of many generations; and ye are visited by sword, and by famine, and are hated, and are led according to the will and captivity of the devil. (2 Nephi 1:18)

For the time cometh, saith the Lamb of God, that I will work a great and a marvelous work among the children of men; a work which shall be everlasting, either on the one hand or on the other—either to the convincing of them unto peace and life eternal, or unto the deliverance of them to the hardness of their hearts and the blindness of their minds unto their being brought down into captivity, and also into destruction, both temporally and spiritually, according to the captivity of the devil, of which I have spoken. (1 Nephi 14:7)

And they that will harden their hearts, to them is given the lesser portion of the word until they know nothing concerning his mysteries; and then they are taken captive by the devil, and led by his will down to destruction. Now this is what is meant by the chains of hell. (Alma 12:11)

Wherefore, this land is consecrated unto him whom he shall bring. And if it so be that they shall serve him according to the commandments which he hath given, it shall be a land of liberty unto them; wherefore, they shall never be brought down into captivity; if so, it shall be because of iniquity; for if iniquity shall abound cursed shall be the land for their sakes, but unto the righteous it shall be blessed forever….(2 Nephi 1:7)

We escape captivity through faith in Christ, repentance, and keeping the commandments.

Delegating opportunities to baptize

You can find some interesting things when you compare the KJV to the JST.

Here are some verses as given in the KJV:

1 When therefore the Lord knew how the Pharisees had heard that Jesus made and baptized more disciples than John,

2 (Though Jesus himself baptized not, but his disciples,) (John 4:1-2)

Here are the verses that we ran across today in the JST that clarify the above:

1 When therefore the Pharisees had heard that Jesus made and baptized more disciples than John,

2 They sought more diligently some means that they might put him to death; for many received John as a prophet, but they believed not on Jesus.

3 Now the Lord knew this, though he himself baptized not so many as his disciples;

4 For he suffered them for an example, preferring one another. (John 4:1-4)

The difference between the JST and the KJV gives us several bits of information that we wouldn’t have otherwise.

First, it shows us that the Pharisees were keeping track of the size of the following of these grassroots leaders, and when they saw Jesus was making and baptizing more followers than John the Baptist had, they plotted Jesus’s death more intently. It seems they opposed Jesus from virtually the beginning of His ministry.

Second, while the KJV says that Jesus didn’t baptize, the JST says that Jesus did baptize. It confirms that baptism is an important ordinance and Jesus Himself performed it.

Third, these verses give us the intriguing information that Jesus allowed his disciples to baptize more than He baptized. He could have insisted on personally baptizing all of His disciples, but He didn’t. That makes me think that He wanted His disciples to get practice using their priesthood authority. “[H]e suffered them for an example” suggests that it may have been painful at times for Jesus to watch them, but He let them anyway, even allowing them to set their own examples for others.

This has a good message about delegating priesthood authority and opportunities to use that authority. Perhaps we underestimate the service an experienced priesthood leader does when he gives chances to use the priesthood to someone who is less experienced.

God’s kindness to Zion is compared to the kindness to Noah

8 In a little wrath I hid my face from thee [Zion] for a moment;

but with everlasting kindness will I have mercy on thee, saith the Lord thy Redeemer.

9 For this is as the waters of Noah unto me:

for as I have sworn that the waters of Noah should no more go over the earth;

so have I sworn that I would not be wroth with thee, nor rebuke thee. (Isaiah 54:8-9)

I always had a hard time seeing how these two ideas were associated together, but I finally got it. The Lord compares the time that Zion has been desolate to the time of Noah when the floods were over the earth with all that rain. Then He says that just as He promised Noah that He would never flood the earth so badly again, He promises everlasting kindness forthwith to Zion.

I find that very encouraging for these days, don’t you?