153: Persuasion, Part 3

This is the third part of a series about Persuasion, in which Denver discusses the role of persuasion in establishing Zion, how prophets have used persuasion in fulfilling their roles, and why no matter how good they otherwise might be, those who employ conflict, envy, strife, tumult and contention cannot be invited to the wedding of the Lamb. As Nephi paraphrased Isaiah in the concluding chapter of Nephi’s use of Isaiah and his material, he left out a phase that appears in Isaiah 29 and I believe he did it very wittingly. I believe he did it so that as you look at the material, you’ll ask yourself “why did he leave that out?” And you’ll think about the omission. “And the vision of all is become unto you as the words of a book that is sealed.” He left out “the vision of all.” Well, you're talking about Zion here, yesterday and today, and as is usual any time you get to a substantive topic that’s worth paying a lot attention to, the Book of Mormon has something to say. In fact, while it doesn’t comment at extraordinary length, the substance of what it has to say on this subject is really quite startling, and that is described for us in Fourth chapter of Nephi. But before the Fourth chapter of Nephi picks up, the last verse of chapter 30 of Third Nephi is a precaution to us, that are going to inherit this book, which Mormon made sure was inserted at this point in the narrative. What’s remarkable as you look at that verse is how it then ties into the description that we’re going to receive of the practice of Zion among those in the Book of Mormon, "Turn, all ye Gentiles, from your wicked ways; and repent of your evil doings, of your lyings and deceivings, and of your whoredoms, and of your secret abominations, and your idolatries, and [of] your murders, and your priestcrafts, and your envyings, and your strifes, and from all your wickedness and abominations, and come unto me, and be baptized in my name, that ye may receive a remission of your sins, and be filled with the Holy Ghost, that ye may be numbered with my people who are of the house of Israel" (3 Nephi 30:2 ). Keep in mind that list of defects as we look into the things that are right and proper in the Zion that we find in Fourth Nephi. In Fourth Nephi, [chapter 1] verse 2, it tells us that, all the people were “converted unto the Lord, upon all the face of the land, both Nephites and Lamanites [and that’s all good and well, but it goes on to say] and there were no contentions and disputations among them [which you have to add, because if you’ve been to any gospel doctrine class or any High Priest group meeting, or any Elders Quorum or Relief Society, there’s always that, you know, fellow or gal or group, who have an incapacity to depart from contention. So it’s not just being converted, see they’re narrowing it down, you get converted, but then you reach at some point a unanimity or an agreement upon what the Gospel really means. And, well take a look around. Oh ye Gentiles, turn from your wicked ways, and ask yourself, ok, confine it to your own ward, to your own quorum to your own Relief Society group, to your own Stake, confine to whatever you want it to be confined to, are there no contentions or disputations among them? It’s a serious defect, it’s a serious challenge and it’s one that we aren’t meeting very well, and it’s one of the reasons why we tend to neglect the Book of Mormon, because the Book of Mormon is always stepping on our toes. The relentless message of the Book of Mormon is, hey repent, you suck, you’re just, you’re a mess, you, not them, I mean it’s not a matter of I got religion, I’m safe, I’ve got a recommend, I’m on the “in club”, I can get into those buildings that other people [can’t] that doesn’t matter, you still, you’ve got to repent. You’re a defective item incapable of resonating at the right frequency and receiving the Spirit of the Lord and finding, not contention, but love in bringing people together and coming to become one. You can be absolutely in disagreement over a doctrine, and lovingly, and gently, and patiently persuade them to come unto Christ. Or, you can hold a Council, and kick ‘em out. So, after they manage not only to have the same faith and to eliminate from him contentions and disputations, then they go on and, “every man did deal justly one with another.” See, there’s a difference between mercy and justice. Justice is a tougher standard. We don’t want justice. We want a merciful Redeemer, who will come in and who will make up for our defects. But this is saying, “Every man [Me, inside me, this is the turf we’re talking about], did deal justly [the higher standard] with one another.” You don’t have to give me mercy, because I’m going to give YOU justice. I’m going to be tougher on myself. It is fair that I do this for you. Oh no, no, you don’t have to do that. No, no, no, the standard by which they are evaluating their conduct internal to themselves is the more difficult standard. They’re going to deal justly with one another. I will break my heart, I will break my wallet, I will break my life before I will not deal justly with you and give you everything that you’re entitled to. See, it’s putting the shoe on the other foot and it’s not the more relaxed and kindly and gentle standard, because when they’re dealing with one another they want to deal justly, a real problem for all those car dealers among us. So after we fixed the religious diversity and we fixed the contentions and the disputation and we’ve grown enough now that we’re willing to treat ourselves as the one upon whom justice has reign, then they get to the point that they had all things common among them. Anytime in the Book of Mormon, they’re ticking off a list and they do it everywhere in the Book of Mormon, this and this and this, and this, generally what the writer is doing, because they’ve had a lot of time to reflect upon it and they’re etching on metal plates, which is a difficult thing to do, they are being extraordinarily careful with the material that they’re committing to you. So when you encounter a list, you ought to look at it and say to yourself, is this a progression? Is what they’re doing is telling you here is how you get from one point to another and we’ve encountered that already in fourth Nephi, you encounter it throughout. The Book of Mormon is a manual on how to return to God and we read it like, well, like we do in gospel doctrine, when we’re cover eight chapters in 50 minutes. When Joseph Smith restored Enoch’s record (now found in Genesis), Joseph learned about the last days’ Zion. It revealed, And the Lord called his people Zion because they were of one heart, and...one mind, and [dwelt] in righteousness, and there [was] no poor among them (Genesis 4:14 RE). I do not believe this was their ancient goal, but it was a byproduct. Such a society cannot be organized but can be gathered. Individuals rarely are able to persuade one another through arguing to expose the other man’s error. Even among people who keep their eyes on the Lord and pay no heed to their neighbor’s failure still must grow to become: People who refuse to judge and belittle others;Those who are humbled by the opportunity to build a house of God;Those who refuse to become an accuser.Even among humble people the Lord can use to restore His house, there will be many things on which to disagree. Therefore, we should ask ourselves:What if I don’t need to always be right?What if you don’t need to be wrong?What if we don’t need to debate?Can people with different backgrounds be of one heart?Can we have different ideas, value one another, and be of one mind?Is it possible to disagree with one another about meanings of Scriptures and still dwell in righteousness?Can we explore, consider, and respectfully discuss incomplete or inaccurate ideas?What if no poor among us includes sharing the wealth of diverse and interesting ideas? This path of sober, thoughtful, open welcoming of differences is the only way first steps can be taken. We cannot jump into Zion. We must crawl there on bended knee, asking the Lord to bring us there. He’s given us a blueprint in the Answer and Covenant. I am someone trying to understand and to teach truth with a recognition that the greatness of God dwarfs the capacity of any man to adequately convey to another. The best that we can do is to invite and to persuade and to say and to deliver constantly the message: Come, come and see for yourself. I believe that God will reveal Himself to everyone. The way in which He may reveal Himself at first may be very limited. It may be very small, but we ought to appreciate even that, and we ought to prize even that. By the time a person is given the opportunity to stand in the presence of God, they’re not standing in the presence of God because God is trying to impress them or because God is trying to give them greater faith in Him. It’s because, in all of the little ways in which God has previously revealed and made Himself known, the person has accepted with deep appreciation and humility and come to the recognition that we are all really, utterly dependent upon Him. Within your family/within your marriage are you and your wife learning to use persuasion? Within your marriage are you and your husband learning to use gentleness in dealing with one another? Are the two of you, together, facing one another in all of the difficulties that come as a result of being married? Are you facing that together in meekness? Do you find that in all the relationship troubles, turmoils, and challenges what predominates is kindness? Is there a search for understanding that results in pure knowledge when it comes to a dilemma? What the Lord wanted was to impart some intelligence about the scriptures so that understanding the scriptures they might be believing. And if they by being believing through understanding what the scriptures had to say about Him,...