NEW TESTAMENT 2023 WEEK 23 [JOHN 14-17]

“Continue Ye In My Love”

June 5 – June 11

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Welcome back everybody. This is week 23 of Creative. Come follow me for the New Testament and this week we are just in the Book of John. So we're gonna go from John 14 through John 17 and it's this hollowed ground. You remember how I told you last week that John's version of the Last Supper is chapters longer than anybody else's?

That's cuz he includes things that we don't find in other places. Like what we're gonna read today, you guys, this is some of the best scripture. Even prophets have called this some of the best scripture in the entire quad. So this is a really pivotal week of study. I have to tell you, last week I thought we were jumping straight into Luke 22.

I thought we were gonna head right into the garden of Kissame, but there is this cushion that was almost a delightful surprise to see what we're gonna study this week cuz basically what you're gonna study. Are his last words to his apostles. They're not gonna be his final words, but his last words to them as a group.

And you know what it reminded me of just two weeks ago, my parents had their mission farewell addresses. So they're heading out to New York City next week. They leave for the mtc. So they're, I mean, this is happening really fast. And two Sundays ago, I got to sit in the congregation with a whole bunch of my siblings and their spouses and all of their posterity.

There are 103 now in this little family that my parents began. And I got to hear what they had to say along with so many others. And what was beautiful about it is there were a lot of similarities between what they taught in that address and what they've said to us, you know, in the two weeks since then.

And what I see the savior saying to his apostles, it is a powerful message about. Who he loves and why he does the work he does. You know, my parents began their messages at the pulpit with their conversion stories. They converted as newlyweds and then created this gigantic family together. And so I heard why they love God and why they're gonna sacrifice this year of time in order to give more fully to him.

They also talked about warnings and blessings that they hope their posterity will hold onto, especially in their absence. They talked about where they find peace. You know, they testified of things like the Holy Ghost and the scriptures and how they find peace in hard times. All of these same messages you're gonna see from the Savior.

And then when you get to John 17, you're gonna see his intercessory prayer. So for me, I picture this, like the prayer my parents will say as they head out on the plane to New York. You know, we're all adults, but they've got a lot of posterity below the adults. Now there's grandkids and great grandkids who are watching them, and I see.

The intercessory prayer where the savior prays to his father in heaven for his apostles and for everyone those apostles will teach kind of like the prayer that you would say as you're heading on the plane to go. You know you're saying, I've taught everything I can teach. I've tried to help them in every way I can.

Please keep them, please keep them, not just individually, but collectively. Hold onto them. Let them feel a onement like I feel with you. There is just this beauty in the Savior's words this week and I really think you're going to devour it. It is just easy to read. Every verse has countless applications.

It's just rich. So if that doesn't get you excited to get into this week study. Hopefully what I have to say next will, will get you ready. Cuz there is some beauty in these verses. So grab your scriptures, grab your notes. It's time to get started.

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One of the things I love about this week's study is it is so hope filled and optimistic, despite the fact that so much hard is about to hit the Savior. He chooses to focus on hope. So in the first verse of 14, he says, let not your heart be troubled. Ye believe in God, believe also in me. It's this invitation to choose how they're gonna react.

I think he knows that over the next 24 even, you know, 36 hours, they're gonna be troubled. At least their circumstances will be troubling. But I think his message is, Choose not to be. I just, you know, it almost implies it's like the opposite of what we heard from President Nelson where he talked about joy and he said, joy does isn't dependent on your circumstances and what's happening or not happening in your life.

You can choose to focus on Christ and then have joy in that. I think it's the same message the savior you're saying here about sorrow or troubling. He's saying you don't have to choose to let all those circumstances pull you. You can choose to stay centered if you grab on to hope. And what I love about it is it implies that you can use your agency to do that.

So Elder Anderson talked a little bit about this in a conference talk. He was saying that Alma, the younger, basically exemplifies this. You can read the talk in the notes, but he said that moment when Alma, the younger is racked with torment and all the weight of his sins are making him want to be like buried in all.

And he says he gets this. This thought in his mind of something that his father taught and he chooses to catch hold. Like I almost picture it like a life preserver thrown out by his father probably years or decades before that his son now catches hold of. And it's in that choosing to catch hold that he finds hope and that he feels a change in his circumstances.

I think that's what the Savior's trying to say. He's saying, let the words that I'm gonna tell you tonight, be that life preserver tomorrow and the next day and 30 years from now when you're being persecuted. And you know, like he's saying, remember this life preserver. I want you to catch hold of it. Let not your heart be troubled.

I think it's the same thing he's offering to us in these same words. And then he talks about how, so he doesn't just say, choose not to be troubled. He says, let me show you why you don't need to be afraid. And he gives him a whole bunch of reasons. The first one happens in two. It's where he talks about the many mansions.

First off, I love that he says there's many. I think he's basically saying like, there is room there. There is room for anyone who will follow me. Bring as many as you can and I will prepare a place for you. I also love that he says, if it were not so, I would've told you, because I think that's his character, right?

And we decided in that moment that we would promise to each other and to our kids, that they would never hear hard news from anybody else but us. They would never be surprised and find out that other people knew about his health conditions before they did. And I gotta tell you, sometimes that's been really hard because that's promise that we made to our kids, um, is hard to hold onto when you have really hard news.

You know, his cancer has come back several times over the last six and a half years, and sitting them all down in the living room and having to have that talk is always hard, especially with the little ones like Violet. You can just see her face, you know, she just looks deflated and it's so hard. But it's.

It's something that I think has built to trust with our kids over the last six years, that they know that if there was hard news, I would tell them. And if I'm not telling them, then they should rejoice. You know? Like they don't need to be afraid that there's some looming thing that's in the on the horizon.

They know that mom and dad will tell them if there's something to worry about. So if we didn't say anything, then things are okay. And I think that's what the savior is trying to say. I would've told you if there wasn't room for you, I would've told you if you had to be absolutely perfect to get into heaven, I'm telling you there is room.

Just do what I've asked. Be obedient and you'll see the rewards come in. So then he gives them some more reasons why they shouldn't be afraid. In three, he talks about how he's gonna come again, and then in four he talks about how they know the way to where he's going. I just kind of love this cuz they don't seem to process.

How you know, they're, they're basically saying, he's telling them like, you have the tools available to get where I am going. I have equipped you with those, and they don't know how that's possible. So Thomas asks, he says, Lord, we know not wither thou go, and how can we know the way? And then Jesus answers in the most succinct, beautiful passage of scripture by saying Jesus, say a unto them, I am the way, the truth and the life.

No man come with unto the Father, but by me. Everything he's taught them, both in his words and in his actions, is essentially their gps to get back home. If they continually align themselves to how he has handled things and how he has acted and how he serves and studies and prays, then they'll have. The court needs to get back.

That's a promise. He is the way. In fact, he is the only way. So they don't have to worry about eliminating other options. They just have to focus on what he has taught them so far. And if they do that, they'll have the way. So that's his promise and it's, it's the same promise he offers to us. Elder Rudolph has this great talk where he basically says, we have that same promise that we weren't sent here just to kind of meander through life in the hopes that we might stumble upon the gospel.

We were sent here to find it. And there are guideposts and there are maps, and there are tools at our disposal so that we can find our way back home. We weren't sent here to wander. We were sent here to become, so you can find that in the notes as well. Then when you go around verse seven, he starts to shift about how they're gonna know God, the Father as well.

So in seven it says, if he had known me, you should have known the Father also. And from henceforth, you know him and you've seen him. He's trying to give them comfort. You know, I think this is a little bit, um, describing that final destination. So he helps them feel comforted in that they will, that this God that he loves, you know, God the Father that he loves and speaks of so often is a God that they will be familiar with because they know him.

It's the same thing Elder Holland tried to teach us. So do you remember that talk he gave about the grandeur of God? And he said, one, he thought one of his, one of the missions of the Savior was to help us love God because all of those wonderful attributes we believe about Jesus are in God. You know, they came from God, the Father.

So by loving Jesus, we by default love the Father who taught him all those ways. So I think that's what he is trying to say, is like, you don't need to be afraid, Philip. You know, Philip is worried and he doesn't need to be, be not troubled. Then when you go a little bit further, you see the promises that the words that he's given them and the works they've seen him do came from the father, and that same father will bless and inspire them.

In fact, what he promises in 12 is that they will do greater works than these. I love this cuz I, if I were in their shoes, I would be worried. You know, I would be worried that as soon as the savior goes, that the miracles would cease. I mean, they've seen some amazing things and it's why people chose to even listen to the savior because they often saw a miracle first.

So if I'm an apostle and I'm trying to teach, I would worry that I can't do the same miracles that he has done. But that's his promise. He says, greater than these, you shall do. I was reading from Elder Holland in his book and he talked about how this isn't greater vertically, meaning like they'll accomplish something that the savior never did as much as it is horizontally.

Elder Holland was talking about how the savior only got to teach in for three years, and in this, you know, less than a hundred square mile area, but we get to teach everybody else. Everybody the Xavier wishes, he could have taught, he will instead inspire us to teach. And that's what he's trying to say to the apostles.

And I especially like that when you combine it with what we learned from elder Stanfield at conference, that he uses the same patch of scripture and says, I know you're gonna feel insufficient. You know, he's the one that talks about the imperfect harvest. But he basically says, The grace of God will make up the difference.

So do what you can and then watch the miracles happen greater than these will be reached and taught and converted because these apostles choose to continue the Savior's ministry. Isn't that just a beautiful promise? Um, you a little bit further and you're gonna see him teach about the cycle of love and obedience, that we show our love for God the Father, by being obedient to him.

So that starts around verse 15. He says, if you love me, keep my commandments. It's really simple. His list of how to show our love and our devotion back to him is really simple. Keep the commandments and then 16 and I will pray the Father and he will give you another comforter that he may abide with you forever.

So you can go on the footnotes and see that this is referencing the Holy Ghost. I, I've studied a lot about the comforter lately. I think two big things came to mind this week. First, just last week, was Jack's welcome home. So he finished his two year service mission and his welcome home address was last week.

This is probably the first legit adult talk that Jack has ever had, and we talked about how his situation, his autism, makes him uncomfortable in a lot of settings, especially missionary settings. And so one of the beautiful things that the spirit did was help him. Be comforted. You know, like sweet things happened on his mission.

I'll have to let him tell you the story sometime, but little things would happen. Like he was nervous to be an ordinance worker at the temple cuz he just felt uneasy about everything. And then when he got there, he got invited to be part of the baptistry where he felt comfortable and he was familiar cuz he'd been going there since he was, you know, 14 or so.

So it was just this comfort. There were a few different situations like that on his mission where he thought he was gonna be wildly uncomfortable and the spirit prompted someone to make Jack comfortable. And I think that's one piece of what it means to be a comforter, to, to find ways that make us comfortable and yet still stretched.

Another one that came to me is what we studied back in Isaiah. Do you remember how we talked about how the comforter isn't. Comfortable. The comforter is more like we, we compare to and Isaiah, like the, the guy in the corner in a boxing match, like the coach that's in the corner, you know, like in Rocky, like Mick, who sits in the corner and he like, you go out and you fight and then you come back and you get guidance and you get correction sometimes.

And you get like a, you know, they wipe your brow, they give you a drink of water. That's the comforter. To me it is. It's not. Comforting in the way of like, oh, you're just fine. You don't need to do anything. Instead, it is a comforter meeting. I want you to progress and I want you to progress to a very high level, so I'm gonna prep you.

You're gonna have to go back out in the ring sometimes, and I can't be right next to you all the time. So I'm gonna coach you, I'm gonna give you guidance, I'm gonna correct you when you need it, and I'm gonna encourage you to keep going. That's the comforter, and that's what he's gonna send them. For whatever reason, you can go on the Bible dictionary and learn more about this, but they don't have the fullness, the gift of the Holy Ghost that we have today at this point in time, and nobody really knows why, but on the day of Pentecost, this will come, they'll have this fullness of the gift of the Holy Ghost, and then they will know, and they'll have that as a constant companion.

That's what he's alluding to and promising will come, which is just. A really kind thing, right? If you're about to leave and leave everybody behind and make them worry to say, you don't need to be afraid, even though I can't be here, there is someone who will constantly be with you and he will guide you back to where I am.

You don't need to be afraid. Let not your heart be troubled. So that's what he guides them with. I will send you the comforter in 18. I will not leave you Comfortless. I will come to you. He will give you these little tender mercy moments to let you know that he is closer than you think he is, and that he is watching over you and he wants you to come back home.

That's what he's promising. When you a little further you learn more about the Holy Ghost, that he's this spirit of truth. I think that's really valuable in our day, cuz truth seems sort of relative to a lot of people, but the spirit is one that teaches you. Truth, how things have always been, how they are and how they will always be.

That's the gift that he's promising these apostles. And then I really love what you see in 19. You get a little while and the world sees me no more, but ye see me because I live. Ye shall live also, that's an apostle's role is to testify and be a special witness, that there is a living Christ and that they have known him and that they believe that he is actively working with his saints today.

Like that's their job. So you can see him planting those seeds and setting the stage for that understanding. And then in 21 he promises them something powerful, especially for someone who is about to depart. He that have commandments and keep it. He that have my commandments and keep it them. He it is that love with me and he that love with me shall be loved of my father and I will love him and I will manifest myself to him.

I think this is a promise that they will see him again, not just much, much later when they pass through the veil, but that they will. See him through the spirit, they'll know him and he will. Be with them. I just think, I think we're gonna see this as we go past the gospels and into the acts of the apostles.

You're gonna see how he manifests himself in them and it's just beautiful to study. So I, it will help you look forward to what's coming next. When you go a little bit further, you're gonna see that they don't understand it all. They struggle with it a little bit. So in 26, but the comforter, which is the Holy Ghost, whom the father will send in my name, he shall teach you all things and shall bring all things to your remembrance whatsoever.

I have said unto you. What I love about this is they, they have to be wrestling with this difficulty, right? I mean, if I were them, I would be thinking, why didn't I write down those sermons? Why didn't I keep better notes? You know, there's been times when I've gone to a, like a women's conference or something like that, and I struggle because I didn't write down enough.

So I go back home and I'm trying to wrestle with what I forgot or what I didn't write down. And then I find over the course of time that the spirit works with me. And those thoughts that are important will come back to my mind. Sometimes when I'm studying scriptures, sometimes when I'm wrestling with a problem, what's important and what is needed is brought back and their promises, all of it will be brought back.

This comfort of that I'm sending you will bring all things back to your remembrance. I mean, that's just a, that's a beautiful promise. And so that should comfort their hearts, and that's where he leads in 27. Peace I leave with you. My peace I give on you, not does the world giveth give on to you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither.

Let it be afraid. This promise of peace. In fact, that word that's translated into peace is usually shalom. And one of my favorite things I learned from one of the scholars I read this week is that that word shalom doesn't just mean a good feeling, it means a gift. It's an endowment. It's a, it's something that you can hold onto from a divine source, and that's a different kind of peace, right?

It's not fleeting, it's not dependent on my circumstances. It is lasting peace. That's what he's promising. If I live worthy to have the spirit of the Holy Ghost with me, you know, to have that spirit with me at all times, then I can have peace. No matter what my circumstance is, I can find rest, and I just love that promise.

When you go a little bit further into 28, he talks about his love. I go away and come again unto you. If you loved me, you would rejoice because I said I go unto the father. For my father is greater than I. This is when he's basically saying to them like, we are friends. You know me and you know where I'm going.

Rejoice with me. I think there's a sweetness in that. Um, when we truly love somebody and they need to go, I think we can choose to rejoice with them if we know exactly where they're going. If we really believe that what we've hoped and held onto our whole lives is true, then we can rejoice when they need to go, even if it's hard.

And I think that's what the apostles have to wrestle with as well.

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The comfort keeps rolling in John 15, although I think it helps to get a good visual of what a vineyard looks like when you jump into these. Verses because he's gonna paint this picture of a true vine. So in verse one, I am the true vine and my father is the husbandman. And then he talks about how they are the branches and that the goal is to produce much fruit.

And he warns about getting detached. So here's the visual that helped me. I went and studied a little bit more about vineyard keeping growing grapes. And one of the things I learned, so if you've ever seen a vineyard from a distance, you've seen these very neat rows of. Vines, they kind of look like tree branches or tree roots.

And then they, the vines go up from the branches and spread along, usually like along steel ropes or things like that that kind of go between, from tree to tree. And the reason for that is I learned that if you go and you try and grow grapes, the best way to do it, it's not let this tree, this initial tree get really tall.

In fact, you lop it off when it starts to get to a certain height so that the power goes into the branches. You actually want the grapes to produce along these branches. And in order to get that to happen, you have to continually prune it. It is this constant process and that's what you see him illustrating here.

He's basically saying, the gardener who planted this vineyard and planted me as this true behind is continually working at it. Again, I think this is the savior trying to help us understand the nature and character of God the father, that he is not someone who just planted the vineyard and walked away.

He is someone who is constantly watching his vineyard. It's just like what we see in Jacob five in the Book of Mormon. So if you look in two, it says, every branch in me that beareth not fruit, he take it the way and every branch that beareth fruit, he purchased it. Then it may bring forth more fruit. This is this.

In order to be planted in the Lord's vineyard, you have to be willing to submit to his pruning. You know, it's that current bush analogy. You have to be willing to trust in the gardener so that you can grow as much fruit as possible and you have to stay planted at, you know, in this taking your strength and your nourishment from this true vine.

So that's what he warns about. Abide in me in four and I in you as the branch cannot bear fruit of itself accepted. Abide in the vine. No more can ye accept you. Abide in me. To abide doesn't just mean to stay by or to stay close. To abide means I am one with you. What I think is really powerful about this is it's similar to what we studied in the Old Testament, that Satan's goal is not to create sin for us, like, not to get us to sin as much as it is to get us to separate from God, and sin is a tool that he uses.

Remember we made that wedge and we talked about how sin is a wedge that he uses to kind of separate us from God, and that's what he's warning about here. He's like, because oftentimes, if you've ever looked at a vineyard, I, I, I only learned this this week, but when you look at a vineyard, you'll have that original vine that grows up outta the ground and then it kind of spirals off on onto the sides.

Sometimes 15, 20 feet away from the original stem. You have grapes growing. So you could see in a, in analogy kind of way that there gets to be a point where you feel pretty confident that you're fine. The further you feel like you are, you don't, and you're producing things. Okay. You might think, actually, I'm pretty confident.

I think I can lo myself off from this mine. I don't wanna feel bound by it anymore. And he warns. The risk of that is that you cannot, that's what he's basically saying is there is no way to stay flourishing and producing fruit. If you separate from me, I am your connection point to nourishment, to, to eternal life.

You cannot cut yourself from me. And if you do, you'll wither, and then you'll be one of those branches that gets purged. And so he invites you to just be. Grounded. That's what he says in five. I am the vine. You're the branches. He that abi in me and I in him, the same, bring us forth much fruit. For without me, you can do nothing like you as great and luscious.

You might look, you can't do this on your own. You need me with you. And the promise is essentially, it doesn't matter what I bring to the table because he is the vine. I'm gonna be just fine and I can produce much for, I think that's also what Elder Stanfield was trying to teach us. So he talks about how you stay, how you abide in him.

That's in seven. If he abide in me and my words abide in you, then you shall ask what you will and it shall be done unto you. That's how you abide. That's how you stay. One, you treasure his words, not just the words. In the scriptures that we're studying today, the words of living prophets, the words that you learn from personal revelation about how to direct your life, if you feast on those words, You will stay united with him and you will flourish.

That's the promise he gives to his bases and to us. And then in nine, as the father has loved me, so if I loved you, continue ye in my love. What I love about that phrase is it almost seems like he's saying you're not gonna have to do a whole, I know that's not it necessarily the implication, but it almost seems like we're in this current of compassion and he's saying just continue, especially the apostles like they are in that current, where they've been, they've been riding with the savior on this current of goodness and choosing to, you know, do good in their lifetime and they just need to continue on that trajectory.

If they continue, then they're in good shape and that's what he promises. If you keep my commandments, you shall abide in my love. Even as I have kept the father's commandments and abide in his love, he. Chooses how to act because he thinks about what the father would do and he does it. And now he invites the apostles and us to follow that same pattern.

Think about what I would do and do it. You know, I, I dunno if you saw President I ring this week on Instagram. He was talking, they did a little video of him that the church put out where he basically said that this is how he tackles every problem. He simply tries to figure out the will of God and then commits to doing it.

So he says in 12, this is my commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you. Greater love has no man than this, than a man lays down his life for his friends. And then he talks about why he's calling them friends. It's sort of a special name that he gives. It's in the doctrine covenants as well.

He calls the apostles friends because they're gonna have to serve him in a very specific way for their whole lifetime. And so he calls them friends and he basically says, the greatest way I can show love is to give my life for you. But what I love about that is what we've learned from prophets and apostles today that talk about he didn't just give his life on the cross, he gave his whole life.

That's how Thomas will know the way, right? Because he is seen the savior. Lead the way in all these actions, and it's the way we know it too. He chose to live his life and then also to give his life so that we could use him as an example. And that's how you show love for your friends. I just thought it was powerful.

And then he teaches about what they need to remember if they start to doubt. So in 16, you have not chosen me. I've chosen you and ordained you that you should go and bring forth fruit, that your fruit should remain and that whatsoever you shall ask of the father in my name, he may give it you. These are apostle the Lord, and their job is to bring forth much fruit and that's gotta be an incredibly intimidating task.

But if they stay planted and if they let themselves be pruned, then they can do it right, because they'll be connected to him and he is infinitely able to produce fruit. So as long as they're grafted in with him, they're in good shape. So that's his promise. I really love that understanding of. Ordination.

I think we often don't talk enough about the authority of the apostles. Uh, I, that same talk that I referenced last week from Sister Dew at Women's Conference, she was commenting about how, you know, when a prophet walks into the room and everybody hushes. In fact, I heard a pastor on YouTube talk about this.

He had visited conference and he thought it was so remarkable that the whole crowd in this giant conference center got quiet when the prophet walked in. You know, like, cuz that doesn't even happen to the president of the United States. Like it's this. He's like, I haven't seen anything like that before.

And what Sherry mentioned in her talk is she said, it's not the man that we reverence and stand up for. It's his keys. We reverence those keys and we're grateful for the man who is carrying them cuz he is living worthy of them. I just love that connection point. So he's trying to remind them like, you didn't just stumble into this calling, I chose you and I've equipped you.

You can do this work. You're ordained. So then you go a little bit further and he says in 17 these things I command you, that you love one another as a brotherhood. They're gonna love each other and take care of each other. That's what he's trying to help them hold onto in 19. If you were of the world, the world would love his own, but because you're not of the world, but I have chosen you out of the world, therefore the world hated you, it's remember, this is his straight talk.

He's not gonna mince words. What I think is really powerful about this is you don't wanna picture the world as like, The globe. You know, I don't think he means like the vast majority of people on the planet will hate you. The world means worldliness. You're gonna see that a lot of times in the footnotes.

So it just means those who have chosen to separate themselves from God will hate you for what you're saying. Those who are turning their back on truth will hate you. And that that's a big difference to me. Cuz otherwise it seems like it's one or 15 men versus 7 billion. And I don't think that's the case.

I think world is a little bit different. And then he gives them comfort saying like, if you're not popular, don't be surprised because you're not like the world. You're not like those people who have turned their backs on truth. You are different. And so they're not gonna get along with you and you just need to prepare yourselves for that.

And then he says, basically, I've been there. I know exactly what you're feeling. They persecuted me, they're gonna persecute you. Remember, he's trying to help them not be troubled. And one of the ways they can not be troubled is to see themselves as. Running in sync with the savior. You know, they saw him be persecuted.

They saw him be crucified. So when these things happen to them, they can feel some comfort in the fact that there's promise in this, that this means I'm more like the Savior than I am like the world. And there's comfort there, even if it's not comfortable. So you'll see some of his guidance in there. And then when he goes a little bit further, he talks a little bit more about the comforter and about the attributes of the Father.

So he talks about how the people who hate him will also hate the father and then about the comforter in 26. But when the comforter is come, whom I will send unto the unto you from the Father, even the spirit of truth, which shall proceedeth from the Father, he shall testify of me. What I like about this is I think what he's saying is even if everybody you encounter hates what you have to say and hates who I was and hates all you stand up for and believe in, I will send you someone who cannot be taken from you that will testify that I am.

Real that everything you've seen and everything you believe is true, that will sustain you and that will comfort you. Not in the comfortable kind of way, but in a way that will push them forward. And I think that kind of promise when you're in the face of so much opposition, is a really weighty one.

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The warnings keep rolling in John 16. In fact, they get a little more intense. This is when he says they will all be martyrs essentially, and that the people who kill them will think they're doing God a service because they don't know him. In fact, that's how it's phrased in three. And these things will they do unto you because they have not known the father nor me.

That's the warning. I think it's why Joseph Smith taught us about this. I don't have the quote in front of me, but he talked about how all of us, in order to really worship God, need to know his character and his attributes. We need to connect with him. That happens through covenants and through keeping covenants.

That's how we come to know the nature and character of Jesus Christ and God the Father. And that's what you lose if you disconnect from that true vine. And so he warns that that's gonna motivate people to come against you. And then he adds to it by saying he's gonna go, like he talks about how, he says in five, he says, but now I go my way to him that sent me, and none of you ask at me wither go with though I thought this was kind of interesting and this is totally me.

I don't know what this verse means, but I think it's interesting that they didn't ask. Maybe they just assume, right, based on what they've known in Jewish tradition, that he's going to ascend to heaven to that temple in heaven. I, I'm not sure, but they think he's gonna. They think they know where he is going.

And what I think is so interesting is by not asking, they maybe miss out on Revelation. I don't know this for sure, this is just how I read it, but I wonder if they had asked, where are you gonna go? You know, instead of worrying so much and being so sad about the fact that he is leaving, if they'd taken some time at this point to say, where are you gonna go?

Then maybe he could have taught them more about the spirit world and maybe he could have taught them more about the other sheep that he has that are not of this fold, but they weren't asking. So he doesn't say it. I just, I don't know. But I think it, it inspired me to continually. Ask to not make assumptions and to just constantly be engaged with the spirit to say, you know, I don't know.

What does this mean? I just think he's saying, why didn't you ask? There's more to learn. The mysteries will continue to unfold as we ask for them to be unfolded. So that's what he's saying. Ask. So I love that piece of John 16. You'll little bit further, and you see that he talks about what's gonna happen next.

I love the phrasing. It says in seven, nevertheless, I tell you the truth, it is expedient for you that I go away for. If I go not away, the comforter will not come onto you, but if I depart, I will send him onto you. He's basically saying like this has to happen. He's taught them a lot about who he is. He's taught them a lot about who God the father is.

Now he's gonna teach them a lot about that other member of the Godhead, the Holy Ghost. And how he needs to go so that they can have the Holy Ghost with them. This Holy Ghost has a lot of roles, you know, like we, you can go in the notes and learn a whole bunch of them, but he needs to be a part of their life in order for them to advance and progress the same way he needs to be a part of our lives.

That's why it's, he's part of that covenant path because we need him. He's a sanctifier. He is someone who teaches truth. He's someone that gets our message into the hearts of other people, like he has so many important roles and while another member of the Godhead, Jesus Christ is among them, the Holy Ghost is somehow at least partially dormant.

I don't think he's dormant entirely like we saw him at the baptism of the Savior. We know he must be helping people get a testimony of Christ cuz they testify that he is the Christ, but in some way he is limited and when the Savior goes, the Holy Ghost can come in its fullness and they will be. More converted through that witness, but he tells them that you're not gonna get this yet.

In fact, I love the way he says it in 12. He says, I have yet many things to say unto you, but you cannot bear them. Now he's, I think this is why we should be so grateful that we live in this dispensation, cuz you guys, we have a lot of those answers already. The Book of Mormon teaches us. Countless things about the Holy Ghost.

The doctrine Covenants teaches us amazing things about what the Holy Ghost does. Even our modern prophets and apostles like, there's a great talk in the notes from President Oaks where he lays out all of the many things we learn from all of the scripture about what the Holy Ghost does for us. Now. He talks about how it enlightens your mind, how it helps you know, truth and unfold mysteries.

It helps you teach. It also gives you a fullness of that remission of sins. You know, cause you need to be baptized by water and by fire. It's this fullness of sanctification that can only come through the Holy Ghost, but they can't bear all that now. So he's just saying, over time you're gonna understand.

And a lot of that's not gonna come until they have the fullness, you know, the gift of the Holy Ghost that's coming on the day of Pentecost and continues with them. After that. I, I just think he's continually trying to plant those seeds. When you go a little bit further, you can see 16 that he warns that he's not gonna be there very long.

A little while I'm gonna be gone from you. And then a little while I'll come back. He's trying to help them understand and they struggle to understand it. And then in 19 he says, do you inquire among yourselves of that? I said, A little while, you shall not see me. And again, a little while, you shall see me barely.

I say unto you, this is in verse 20, that you shall weep and lament, but the world shall rejoice and you shall be sorrowful, but your sorrow shall be turned into joy. He promises that it will be worth it, and that over time, the He, the Holy Ghost, will help them understand. They won't grasp it all now, but he will be turned into joy.

And then he uses this beautiful analogy. So he talks about a woman in childbirth and how as soon as she has that baby, things shift and she doesn't remember the pain anymore. She just rejoices. It was interesting cuz I just saw my new grandson, Ezra, be born just a few weeks ago and I got to be in the hospital room with Hannah and Jake and it was just, I wouldn't say that Hannah doesn't remember the pains per se, but I think they get swallowed up and in this flash of light, you know, like in a moment that things shift from fear and worry and pain to relief and rest and rejoicing and it's just, I mean, it is one of the most miraculous things I've ever seen.

I just think that's what he's trying to describe. That immediacy of the change will happen for you as you come to understand who I am and you really start to appreciate what I did for this world. You know, I don't think they grasp it fully yet, that he's gonna overcome death and hell and for all men that that is something that will be a miraculous gift and I just think he's trying to help them understand it.

When you go even a little bit further, he talks about the joy, the joy that can't be taken. So 22. And you now see therefore sorry. And you now therefore have sorrow. But I will see you again and your heart shall rejoice. And that joy, your joy, no man, take it from you. That's how you know you're planted with the vine, that you're a part of that vine because his joy flows through you.

You know, the same way that vine soaks up the water from the soil and the nutrients, and it shoots it out into the branches. That's what he's promising his joy will. He has joy, and because he has joy, we can have joy. If we're connected to him, it will flow through us. That's what President Nelson was trying to teach us.

It's not this Pollyanna-ish like hope. It's no, you're tethered to God. And when you're tethered to Jesus Christ, his joy just naturally will flow through you. You'll find peace and assurance and it can't be taken from you. That's a pretty impressive promise to people who are facing what these apostles are facing.

Then he talks about how he's not gonna speak to them in Proverbs anymore. He's, he basically is saying like, I've had to be a little bit cryptic in my teachings because of all the different people who are listening from this point forward through the Holy Ghost. That won't need to happen anymore. He'll teach plainly and in clarity.

And so that's what he does in this moment. He teaches them plainly who he is, and then I love what you see in 30. Now we are sure these are the apostles speaking. Now we are sure that thou know us all things and need us. Not that any man should ask the, but by this, we believe that thou came as forth from God and then Jesus asks, answers them in 31.

Do you now believe. Behold, the our cometh ye is now come that you shall be scattered every man to his own and shall leave me alone. And yet I am not alone because the father is with me. He knows the same thing he was trying to teach. Peter, I know you feel confident in your testimony right now. I appreciate your devotion.

You have no idea what's coming, and neither do these apostles. They're gonna get scattered for a time, but he knows that he will have what he needs. He knows that he will not be alone even if they abandoned him. I don't think this is the savior comforting himself in this moment. I think he's comforting them because I think they're all gonna feel remorse for not being at his side throughout the trial and throughout the crucifixion.

I can't imagine that they wouldn't. I don't know why they're not all there, but I imagine they're gonna struggle a little bit. So I think in this moment he's trying to comfort them and he's saying, I understand that this is gonna happen. Don't worry, I'm never alone. You're gonna worry that I was abandoned in my hour of need.

The three apostles who kept falling asleep are gonna worry that they. Weren't there for him in his hour of need, and what he's telling them is, I'm never alone. What's hard about that is we know from our study last week and what we'll see next week is that there are times in the garden of Kissame that he feels utterly alone when the father isn't with him and he continues it, it doesn't matter.

He continues. What I love about it is he promises that will never happen to us. There's this beautiful talk from Elder Maxwell where it's called Yet Thou Art There, I think, and he talks about this how in the scriptures over and over again, there are prophets who deal with incredibly hard things and the Savior is there, the comforter is there.

They have peace despite all these hard circumstances, and that's something I think we can rest on, that we will never be asked to do what the Savior did, where he is utterly alone and tr trus the wine press by himself. We don't have to do those things because he did them. We always have something and someone with us, that's his promise.

And then this beautiful climactic verse and 33, these things I've spoken on to you that in me, you might have peace in the world, you'll have tribulation, but be of good cheer. I have overcome the world. He wants him to choose cheer. It's the commandment he gets to us as well. I think we have to choose it, you guys.

I think we have to own joy and hold onto it, and we can't let the circumstances of this crazy world we live in or our families or whatever is wherever our struggles are, take that joy from us. We have to remember where that joy is coming from. That is coming from deep roots of a true vine and it cannot be shaken.

In fact, I just love the word choice, the reason I love that phrase, overcome the world. I actually like to split off over and come because I feel like. What I've learned from the savior is he is the only one that has gone over the mountains that I'm gonna have to go over. The ones that I've already gone over and whatever relies ahead of me.

He's the only one that has gone over that, and I trust that when he beckons me to come, that whatever the view is up there is worth it. Right? That's his promise. He's like, Maria, I have already gone over all the things I'm asking you to do. Come for me. When I read the phrase I have overcome the world.

That's what it feels like to me. He's saying, trust me, the view is worth it. Come and you will see what I see. I, I just think it, like sends chills down my spine. I think it's an a pretty impressive promise that we can rest on.

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Chapter 17 is usually called the intercessory prayer or sometimes the great high priestly prayer cuz this is when the savior actually prays to the father for his apostles and they're in the room and they get to hear it. And he also prays for everyone who will ever hear the apostles messages. So that extends all the way through time down to us.

And it is a remarkable prayer. In fact, the tone of it felt similar to me to do. You remember during the pandemic when President Nelson prayed, there was this video where he spoke really up close to the camera and you could just see his eyes. They were just right and he talked to the camera for a little while and then he bowed his head and he prayed for the world.

And there was just this rest. I felt when he spoke there was a, a comfort that even though the circumstances of the world were so hard, I could find comfort in the fact that we were being watched over and that there was someone, there was someone. As an intercessor between heaven and our situation, that the prophet was basically this intermediary, and that's what the intercessory prayer is.

It means he, as our advocate with the Father, is going to pray for us, and his prayer is a sweet one. So he begins and he, they talk about his posture. So these words speak Jesus and lifted up his eyes to heaven and said, father, the hours come glorify thy son. That th son also glorify the, he knows what's coming.

You can see it in four. He says, I finished the work that thou gave us me to do. He's not fully finished, like after this will be the garden of Yosemite and then the crucifixion and then the resurrection. There are things yet to be done, but I love that his focus is so. Forward. It reminded me of a long time ago I heard a podcast with Michael Phelps.

You know that, you know, Olympic medalist swimmer that got a whole bunch of gold medals. He talked about his training regimen and that what he would do was meditate. So before a race he would go on his own and he would visualize every single stroke. And a lot of his racists were really long, but he would visualize every single stroke and then visualize his victory.

And he said if he would do that, well then when he actually got in the water, it was almost like muscle memory and he, his body would do what his brain had directed it to do. I mean, it was just something he had honed over years of practice. And I sometimes think that's what's happening with the savior here.

Like he is so all in at this point and at at every point to do whatever God has in store for him, that he, he already feels like it is finished because he knows how committed his heart is. I actually think it's powerful to see. I also love the way he describes life, eternal. So if you look in verse three, and this is life Eternal, that they might know the the only true God and Jesus Christ whom thou has sent, that's the promise at the end, right?

That we will know them, that the way they know each other, that we will know them. I also love the fact that he describes 'em as a true God because I think given the world we live in, there are lots of other gods to choose from. You know, there are gods that are very manmade. There are gods that are made in the image of man, you know, comfortable gods.

As Elder Holland talks about them, gods that tell you to run along and pick marigolds that don't really have any expectations. He wants us to know the true God. And that's where joy comes from when we actually know the true God. So he, he puts a big emphasis on those, that phrase, and then he talks about the glory that will happen.

You know, as, as God's work and glory is finished, there will be a glory that comes back to the Savior, which then comes back to God the Father. It's this reciprocal nature of glory that is just beautiful. We'll talk about it in the object lessons, and then he adds. How people will overcome this is when he shifts his prayer to be about the disciples or the apostles.

So when you look around six, he talks about praying for them. So he says, I have manifested thy name unto the men, which thou gave us to me outta the world. Thine they were, and thou gave us them. Me. And they have kept thy word to me. I feel like he's saying these words and praying to the Father, but he's also praying vocally so that they will hear him.

You know, the same way sometimes in a family prayer, I will pray for each of my children individually and say what they need and in the hopes that they will hear me pray for them and know and feel assured, you know, that even if their life is in commotion, their mom is praying for them. And I just think that's what he is trying to say to these apostles, I, you're in my heart and God gave you to me.

You are chosen and ordained. Don't ever forget who you are and who's you are because you've been, you're ready for this. That's what I think. He's trying to say. That You're ready. You've kept my word. You're ready for this next phase. So then he talks about his word innate for I have given unto them the words which thou gave us to be.

And they have received them and have known surely that I came out of the, and that they believed that thou did send me. And so then he prays for them and he prays for all of them, all of them that were God the Fathers, and then we're Christ. And now he's sending them out into this world. See why I think this is almost like a, as you're leaving on the airplane and praying for your family as you go, that's kind of the same idea.

So he prays to the Father that they, none will be lost. In fact, he says none of them were lost except the one who chose. I thought this was really interesting. So if you go in 11, it says, and now I am no more in the world, but these are in the world and I come to the Holy Father, keep them through th own name.

Those whom thou has given me that they may be one as we are. While I was with them in the world, I kept them in thy name. Those that thou gave us me, I kept, and none of them is lost, but the son of tradition that the scripture right and be fulfilled. What I think it's really interesting is he almost makes it seem like Judas is choice.

Isn't him getting lost? It's a choice. And I think the reason this resonated with my heart is I know a lot of us wrestle with children who are choosing to not follow the gospel plan. You know, they go off the covenant path in some way. And what he, what he's demonstrating for me is that he's saying, I've done all I could do.

I, I've done all I could. He chose, he's not lost. It's not through neglect that he wandered off the path, he chose it. And so I think that's what he's trying to show us, is that if we've done what we could, and we're in a situation where we have the savior's help and we have his grace to perfect us so we don't have to do things perfectly the way he did.

If we have done what we can do and we are continually trying, then we can turn our face to the Lord and say, I've done all I could. I couldn't get all, but they chose it. You know, I just think there's this. Assurance in that he can hold his head high and say, there is one that chose other. Uh, but none are lost.

And I, I love that. Even I think Judas isn't lost to the savior, even if he is a son of tradition. I think he's basically teaching us that none are lost. Even the one that wandered or that went, that turned aside. And then he teaches about, teaches about his joy. So if you've gone 13, he talks about how he prays that the apostles will be filled with his joy.

What I liked about this is, you know, that quote that we always say, I think I've even said it this week already about President Nelson where he teaches about joy not being in your circumstances, but in the focus of your life. And it wasn't until this week that I started reading the paragraphs that come after that one, and he talks about this is what missionaries are.

Sent out to do. Missionaries aren't sent to increase the numbers of the church. They're sent to teach people about the joy and the peace that can only be found by being connected to the Tru Vine. And the only way they can connect to the Tru Vine is through covenants. And we need the priesthood in order to do that.

And that means you need to come into this gospel. Like that's what we're teaching. That's the message that's supposed to go out. So I love that you see that with the apostles as well. That's how their joy will be. They'll feel his joy because they connect to that turbine. Then you little go a little bit further and he talks about being in the world, but not of the world.

I just thought this was powerful. So he basically says in 14, I've given them thy word and the world had hated them because they're not of the world, even as I am not of the world, and I pray not that thou should, has taken them out of the world, but that thou should, has keep them from evil. To me, this is the prayer of every parent who sends their kid to high school or middle school or anywhere.

You know, you're just like, I, I don't want, I, it's tempting to keep them home and to shelter them, but I have to put them into the world. So please keep them. I just love the message of it. He's basically saying like, you can trust God, that he will help you keep them. He won't control their agency, but he will help you keep them.

We're not a church that teaches that we should all isolate and, you know, live really close together and hide. We're supposed to be the Levin. You guys we're supposed to live out in the world and send our kids out into the world so that their goodness and their solid testimonies can lift and teach everybody else.

So we, we can't hide, but we can pray that our kids will be kept. I just, I just love that praising. And then he teaches about how, so he talks about sanctification, sanctify them through thy truth. Thy word is truth. That's the, that's the way we can insulate our kids from the world and still send them out into it.

We help them understand his truth and his word. If they know his word. If they believe in his word, then you can endure almost anything. You know, you see that throughout the scriptures. You can be in all kinds of environments and still. Make it. You see that with Morone, for example, it must have been hard for Mormon to decide to have children because look at the world he was in, and yet look at Morone.

And wouldn't it have been a shame if Mormon had been like, Ugh, the world's too messy. It's not worth it. Like if Morro, I can make it in his world, then our kids can make it in this one. But the way you make it is by connecting to the word, you know, his word insulates and creates that sin resistant coating that Joy Jones talked about.

And then he also talks about how he's gonna do it first. So in 19, for their sakes, I sanctify myself that they also might be sanctified through the truth. He's gonna have to go first. So he chooses to lead the way. It's the same direction we're supposed to get. That as a parent, I have to, if I want my kids to cherish the word and get that insulating layer, then I have to cherish the word and I have to show them the joy that comes from it.

So I think it's this invitation to lead, to lead out. And then he talks about his goal that they will be one. For me, I just think this goal is a beautiful one cuz he's not just talking about this quorum of the 12 being one. And he's not just talking about his saints being one. He's saying like All saints in all time, that they will all be knit together.

That's what his gospel teaches. That we can, that we can be this one great body of Christ. It's what makes it, I think it's, for me, it's temple, it's ordinances, it's the ceiling powers. It's our ability to feel connected through those ordinances to people in the past. You know, I can feel connected to someone like Ruth or even Eve because I know the ordinances that I've.

Participated in and the promises I've kept, they kept as well. So it's his goal is to help us be one and we are one, as we cherish his word. Then at the very end, you see him pray directly to the father and he expresses his incredible love for the Father. I, I can't even summarize it. You really should just read it word for word, but he says in 25, oh righteous Father, the world has not known thee, but I have known thee and these thou has, these have known that thou has sent me and I have declared unto them thy name and will declare it that the love wherewith thou has loved me, may be in them and I in them.

Before he goes, before they experience all the trauma that's coming, he reminds them that he is right there with them and that he will always be right there with them. And if they trust that the father and the son are united, then they should be able to trust that they also are united. Cuz if they're connected to that true vine, then their roots go just as deep.

That's the promise. And I feel like it's a promise that we can rest on too.

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Welcome back guys. This is the creative side of week 23 and I have some good things in store. So if you have a notice on your chart, this is guts and glory week. So fire is coming your way. This creative side of the course is designed to help kickstart things for you, so you don't need to do all three of these.

You don't even need to do one. I just hope that you'll see that there are creative ways to apply the gospel so that you try to find some cool way to help your kids connect with these verses, cuz these are powerful verses of scripture that prophets and apostles, the women leaders of the church, so many people reference these verses and you want them to.

Pack a punch. So that's where the object listen's coming. For those of you who are watching on YouTube or listening on a podcast, I'm gonna just take you through each of them in a quick preview, and then for those of you in the full course, I'll walk you through how to pull off each one and give you a lot more detail and also give you the principles in the notes so that you're, you can do it a little easier.

Okay, here we go. So, since discussing glory week and we had to incorporate fire in some way, I wanted to come up with some way to teach about the father and the son. One of our key doctrines is that the father and son are one in purpose and in heart and all those things, but they are two separate and distinct beings.

And so there's a really cool way. That you can show this with fire. So for this one, you, your supplies list is you need a candle of some kind. If you have these tapered candles, like a dinner, what you'd put in a candle stick. These work really great and have the longest burn. Um, so it doesn't matter if you've used it in the past or not, you're gonna trim it down anyway.

But you need one or two of these candles on hand. If you don't have these and you don't wanna run to the store, you can kind of. Make your own version of it with birthday candles. So if you have a couple birthday candles on hand, you can use two candles and a straw in the center to create that long tapered candle.

Look, the only other supply you're gonna need for this is a needle. It helps if it's a longer sewing needle. So if you don't have those on hand, just get a pack of long ones. You're gonna use that in two different object lessons this week. Um, and then you just need some drinking glasses. So for us, we use like goblets, but if you have like two hydro flas, the taller they are, the cooler this looks.

So if you can find something tall and ideally clear that are exactly the same height, like drinking glasses or goblets, something like that, then you'll be good to go on that one. Okay, second one. I wanted to have a way to teach about the savior's analogy of the vine and the branches. You really can't improve on it.

It's such a perfect way to describe our connection to him and his goals for us. I'm not trying to. Make it bigger than it is. What I'm hoping to do is give you the tools to make it more memorable to your kids. So it's simply a printable that I'm giving you so that you can talk your kids through his analogy.

So on the it's, it's a little box that you can fill with grapes. In fact, I'm giving you a recipe for sour patch grapes. If you wanna make these with just a little bit of zing, I'll give you a recipe in the printable as well. But my hope is that you can actually use the visuals on the printable to teach the core concepts of what a vineyard looks like, how he's the vine, and we are the branches and what the fruit is, all that good stuff.

So this one is just a way to teach the Saviors example, like his story in a little more kid friendly way. So you'll learn that one in just a minute. The last one is teaching about the Holy Ghost. One of the great additions that we get from the Savior this week is how much he talks about the comforter and how they will soon have the fullness of the comforter with them.

This gift of the Holy Ghost that will. Give them peace and comfort after he's gone. And I just wanted some way to demonstrate the value of the Holy Ghost. I have to tell you that this object lesson, we're gonna make a compass essentially out of a needle and a magnet. And this inspiration came from listening to another Come Follow Me podcast.

So I was listening to Follow Him, the one that's Hank Smith. And John, by the way. They had a guest down that was talking about Stephen Covey and one of the strategies he used to teach people about True North. And it just lit up in my mind like, oh, we should make an object. But Credit goes to the Follow Him podcast for putting it in my mind.

So for this one, you have a few supplies that you're gonna need. You're gonna need a magnet, ideally, kind of a stronger one, but it doesn't, it doesn't have to be super fancy. And then that same needle that you've used before, you're gonna use that this time as well. A bowl of water. And then if you have a leaf on hand that works really well, you're gonna show your kids how you can create a compass.

And then since I wanted some way that. Your kids could take it home with them. Like if you're a primary teacher or a seminary teacher, or even if you were just teaching at home and you wanted your kids to be able to preserve this, I decided to make a compass kit. So you could either go buy your kids a compass from the store, or you could make one out of these jam jar lids.

So these are just regular jam jar lids that I have turned into, kind of like, you know, like a pirate's compass that flips open like this. And then the idea is that they could store the magnet on the backside, the needle on the inside, and then have a little kit where they could actually teach someone else this idea of how the Holy Ghost is like art compass.

So I'll walk you through how to create it and how to have your kids teach it right after this.

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Thanks so much for being here, you guys. I hope you enjoy week 23. There are so many verses that you could even just study a verse in isolation and pull a whole bunch out of it. So don't feel like you have to cover everything.

But if you have any questions, feel free to leave me a question on YouTube or in the on the discussion boards in the course, and I'll get to those as quick as I can. I'll be keeping an eye on my phone throughout our trip. I'm sure I just. Won't be working a lot. So anyway, I hope you enjoy this week of study and come find me next week as we go into week 24.

This is when we step into the garden of a kissame. Again, we read it from Luke's perspective, and you guys know how much I love Luke, like it's warm and rich and full of empathy, and I think you're really gonna love it. So come back next week for week 24, and we'll step into the Garden of Yosemite and see a little bit more about this incredible gift of the atonement of Jesus Christ and what it offers us in the process.

So don't miss it. All right, enjoy your week you guys, and I will see you for week 24.