Luke 12-17, John 11 - Come Follow Me with Sam

 Welcome!

Luke ends with zingers

Luke puts some zingers at the end of these chapters. Lets explore them

Chapter 12

51 Suppose ye that I am come to give peace on earth? I tell you, Nay; but rather division:

52 For from henceforth there shall be five in one house divided, three against two, and two against three.

 These are especially good verses to dive into after President Nelson's talk on being a peacemaker in the the April 2023 general conference session.

Later in the year we are going to read this verse in John. 

Peace I leave with you; my peace I give unto you: not as the world giveth, give I unto you.

Here are some basic principles to follow

1. The peace we are seeking for is not the peace of the world - it is something beyond what we are used to.

2. Whoever we contend with, remember Christ died for them. He also suffered for everything you did that intentionally or unintentionally hurt them.

3. When we speak the words of Christ, they will divide. When we hear the words of Christ, they will unify.

More on this once we get to John 14:27

Chapter 13

34 O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, which ^akillest the prophets, and stonest them that are sent unto thee; how often would I have gathered thy children together, as a ^bhen doth gather her brood under her wings, and ye would not!

I wonder what would happen if you asked Jerusalem about this statement. They probably would say 'Us? Stone the prophets? no you must be mistaken, we are the chosen people who receive the prophets and keep their word! Has not God seen fit to only send us His chosen prophets? Are we not the only worshippers of Jehovah in a lost and fallen world? Do we not dedicate our time and our effort to listen to Torah in Synagogue every sabbath, to write copy the words using our scribes, and to rule our people by these laws? We are the last place you should go if you are thinking about rejecting or heaven forbid, stoning them.'

Within a year or two they would crucify Jesus, the chief stone and corner.

The years and decades after that they would persecute His disciples and drive out His believers.

Food for thought.

Chapter 14

33 So likewise, whosoever he be of you that ^aforsaketh not all that he hath, he cannot be my ^bdisciple.

34 ¶ ^aSalt is good: but if the ^bsalt have lost his savour, wherewith shall it be seasoned?

We are in a fallen world there are some 8 billion people constantly striving to find peace, hope and happiness. Many are striving for theirs by taking such from others. Others are simply lost, floating the tides of life, striving to stay afloat, and manage a world they did not come from, but are destined to work their salvation under with such little guidance and teaching.

Of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter day saints, there are a paltry 17 million, .2 %.

Luckily there are billions of faithful Christians who also took the baptismal covenant, and billions others of various faiths who are dedicated to making the world better.

Everyone can be the salt of the earth, but I know the covenants that the  members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints have made, so I am going to speak directly to them. I do this not with any authority except as a fellow brother working out his salvation just as much as you.

When you took the name of Christ upon you, in the church that claims to be restored directly from Him, you promised you would follow Him, do as he does, says as He says. You took His name upon you, in His church. That would be too bold of a thing to do if He handed commanded it, but He has given that commandment to you and you did it, and now you have the obligation to follow him.

You are the salt of the earth.

There are 8 billion sons and daughters of God on this planet who cry for help every day. He hears every single one of their cries and knows every single one of their pains.

We need to help them. 

We aren't the Savior, so we don't need to worry about saving anyone. We just need to do whatever Christ tells us and everything in our power to help them. Because we are not the savior, so we will basically fail. But if we are doing what Christ has commanded us to do, He will make weak things strong unto us, and our sincere efforts into His glory and his success.

But whatever we do, it is not good enough to simply be good members of the church and worry about only our own salvation. We are the salt of the earth. We need to help them.

Chapter 15

31 And he said unto him, ^aSon, thou art ever with me, and ^ball that I have is thine.

32 It was ^ameet that we should make merry, and be glad: for this thy brother was dead, and is alive again; and was lost, and is found.

There is so much we can learn about the meaning of our lives on earth, whether we feel ourselves to be the prodigal or the stalwart.

Chapter 16

27 Then he said, I pray thee therefore, father, that thou wouldest send him to my father’s house:

28 For I have five brethren; that he may testify unto them, lest they also come into this place of torment.

29 Abraham saith unto him, They have ^aMoses and the prophets; let them hear them.

30 And he said, Nay, father Abraham: but if one went unto them from the ^adead, they will repent.

31 And he said unto him, If they ^ahear not Moses and the ^bprophets, neither will they be ^cpersuaded, though one rose from the dead. 

This scripture is basically the end of a parable of a rich man, who finding himself in torment after death, thinks to send a righteous one from the dead to warn his family. Abraham responds that it won't do any good - if you reject the prophets, it doesn't matter in what form they come to those people.

Now, given, I'm sure you have all heard some messengers truly poor in word choice and delivery. So I'm sure there is a mite of mercy for those instances where the message really does get garbled and destroyed. But taking an imperfect message into your heart is part of the test and for us on this planet right now it is not optional. If you need the word of god on a silver platter or nothing, you aren't worthy of the kingdom and you will probably toss the platter to the ground anyway.

The fact that the church missionary program is comprised of a bunch of idiot younglings, most of whom haven't held a job, and the rest being sisters who I'm sure have their own problems to wrestle with as well, is not a defect, it is a feature of the program. If you can take the gospel from them, you can take it from about anyone; you are definitely ready to listen.

There are times such as Christ coming to the Americas, where people have been able to receive His word directly. Then there were times, like when the Israelites were in the wilderness, and Baalam was the only person the Lord had on hand, where you only get the words of an opiniated ass. You need to to listen for the words of life, just the same.

Chapter 17

32 Remember ^aLot’s wife.

33 Whosoever shall seek to save his life shall lose it; and whosoever shall ^alose his life shall preserve it.

Jeffrey R. Holland gave a remarkable talk on the first verse. 

John 11

one single quote from John 11. Martha was looking for salvation on the promises given, Christ told her that Salvation was here, before her.

24 Martha saith unto him, I know that he shall rise again in the resurrection at the last day.

25 Jesus said unto her, I am the ^aresurrection, and the ^blife: he that ^cbelieveth in me, though he were ^ddead, yet shall he ^elive: