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CHAPTER 27Jesus commands them to call the Church in his name—His mission and atoning sacrifice constitue his gospel—Men are commanded to repent and be baptized that they may be sanctified by the Holy Ghost—They are to be even as Jesus is. [Between A.D. 34 and 35] |
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1 AND it came to pass that as the disciples
of Jesus were journeying and were preaching the things which they had both
heard and seen, and were baptizing in the name of Jesus, it came to pass that
the disciples were gathered together and were aunited in
bmighty prayer and cfasting.
2 And Jesus again ashowed himself unto them, for they were praying unto the Father in his name; and Jesus came and stood in the midst of them, and said unto them: What will ye that I shall give unto you? 3 And they said unto him: Lord, we will that thou wouldst tell us the aname whereby we shall call this church; for there are disputations among the people concerning this matter.
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1a
D&C 29:6;
D&C 84:1 b Alma 8:10; D&C 5:24; D&C 29:2 c Mosiah 27:22; Alma 5:46; Alma 6:6; TG Fasting 2a 3 Ne. 26:13; TG Jesus Christ, Appearances, Postmortal 3a D&C 1:1; D&C 20:1
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4 And the Lord said unto them: Verily, verily, I say unto you,
why is it that the people should murmur and dispute because of
this thing?
5 Have they not read the scriptures, which say ye must take upon you the aname of Christ, which is my namea? For by this name shall ye be called at the last day; 6 And whoso taketh upon him my name, and aendureth to the end, the same shall be saved at the last day.
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5a ye must take upon you the name of Chirst, which is my name Now here is a question. The name Messiah is a title, it is not a name in the sense that it is totally individualized unto one person. So it is with Christ which is the same as Messiah in the Greek. Yet in Jewish tradition 'the name' of the Lord is considered so sacred by them that they will not so state it verbly as common public conversation. We do not know what understanding the Nephites had upon this matter. The Book of Mormon simply states that the called the church the church of Christ. In the latter days the initial name of the church was also that as in the Book of Mormon, that being the Church of Christ. It was later changed at Far West on April 26, 1838 as given by the Lord to be the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (D&C 115:3). This is the most proper name of the church for it includes the name given the Christ at his birth by order of the Angel Gabriel, Jesus. Now perhaps the Nephites use the descriptive name of the church according to the old Israelite tradition to reference the holy name of the Lord indirectly but not to state it openly in public, thus the descriptive name of Christ, meaning Messiah. And there are various such descriptive name so applied to the church, such as the Chruch of the Lamb of God, the Church of the Firstborn, the Church of Christ, even the Church of God. But these are but indirect references where as the actual name of Christ as given is Jesus. Yet even there in Jesus is but an English transliteration of the Greek equivalent to the name Jehoshua or Joshua. But it does most discidedly speak to the actual name of Jesus, even more so than does Joshua, which is shared by many. But in some societies even the name of Jesus has become a common first name, thus perhaps the needed qualification in the name of the church today by the Lord to be that of 'Jesus Christ' rather than just Jesus. |
5a
TG
Jesus Christ, Taking the Name of 6a Alma 32:13-15; Alma 38:2; 3 Ne. 15:9;
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7 Therefore, whatsoever ye shall do, ye shall do it in my name;
therefore ye shall call the church in my name; and ye shall call
upon the Father in my name that he will bless the church for my
sake.
8 And how be it amy bchurch save it be called in my name? For if a church be called in Moses' name then it be Moses' church; or if it be called in the name of a man then it be the church of a man; but if it be called in my name then it is my church, if it so be that they are built upon my gospel.
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8a
1 Cor. 1:12 (11-13);
D&C 115:4 b TG Jesus Christ, Head of the Church
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9 Verily I say unto you, that ye are built upon my gospel;
therefore ye shall call whatsoever things ye do call, in my name;
therefore if ye call upon the Father, for the church, if it be in
my name the Father will hear you;
10 And if it so be that the church is built upon my gospel then will the Father show forth his own works in it.
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11 But if it be not built upon my gospel, and is built upon the works
of men, or upon the works of the devil, verily I say unto you they have joy
in their works for a season, and by and by the end cometh, and they are
ahewn down and cast into the bfire, from
whence there is no return.
12 For their works do afollow them, for it is because of their works that they are hewn downa; therefore remember the things that I have told you.
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12a it is because of their works that they are hewn down In that agrument between faith and works, from the perspective of this phrase from verse 12, it might be will said that it is because of the wicked works of men that they are destroyed and cast out and are damned and placed in the eternal hell of God's just punishment. And it is also by due to man's righteous word that men are given the rewards of heaven. Now since all men have sinned and are therefore subject to God's just punishment, the only why for man to circumvent that punishment of hell, the separation of man from God, is to have their sins removed and forgiven through the blood of Christ's atonement. Thus for a man to be judged justly only according to his good works, he must exercise faith unto repentance and be baptized of the water and the spirit and live by the doctrine of Christ, continually repenting and advancing upon the path to God which is accomplish of continual renew of that covenant and receiving the further light and knowlede as is given him of the Holy Ghost. |
11a
Jacob 5:46;
Jacob 6:7;
Alma 5:52; D&C 132:13 b TG Hell 12a Rev. 14:13; D&C 59:2
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13 Behold I have given unto you my agospel, and
this is the gospel which I have given unto you—that I came into
the world to do the bwill of my Father, because my Father
sent mea.
14 And my Father sent me that I might be alifted up upon the bcross; and after that I had been lifted up upon the ccross, that I might edraw all men unto me, that as I have been lifted up by men even so should men be lifted up by the Father, to stand before me, to be ejudged of their works, whether they be good or whether they be evil— 15 And for this cause have I been alifted up; therefore, according to the power of the Father I will draw all men unto me, that they may be judged according to their bworks.
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13a I came into the world to do the will of my Father, because my Father sent me Jesus Christ, who is the same as Jehovah, did come into the world, that is the intent of his condessention, to do the will of God the Eternal Father of Spirits. Besides all the other purposes for which a spirit comes into the second estate, this was Jesus' particualar intent. And of course that 'will of the Father' was unto the redemption of the children of God. |
13a
Acts 10:36-40;
D&C 76:40-42;
TG
Gospel b John 6:39; TG Jesus Christ, Mission of 14a 3 Ne. 15:1; Morm. 2:19 b Moses 7:55 c Luke 9:44-45; 1 Ne. 11:33 d John 6:44; 2 Ne. 9:5; D&C 17:8; D&C 27:18 e TG Jesus Christ, Judge 15a TG Jesus Christ, Atonemnt through b 1 Sam. 2:3
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16 And it shall come to pass, that whoso arepenteth
and is baptized in my bname shall be filled; and if he
cendureth to the end, behold, him will I hold guiltless
before my Father at that day when I shall stand to judge the world.
17 And he that endureth not unto the end, the same is he that is also hewn down and cast into the fire, from whence they can no more return, because of the ajustice of the Father.
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16a
TG
Repentance b TG Baptism, Qualifications for c 1 Ne. 13:37; TG Endure; TG Steadfastness 17a TG God, Justice of
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18 And this is the word which he hath given unto the children of
men. And for this cause he fulfilleth the words which he hath
given, and he lieth not, but fulfilleth all his words.
19 And ano unclean thing can enter into his kingdom; therefore nothing entereth into his brest save it be those who have cwashed their garments in my blood, because of their faith, and the repentance of all their sins, and their faithfulness unto the end.
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19a
Alma 11:37;
TG
Uncleanness b D&C 84:24; TG Rest c Rev. 1:5 (1-6); Rev. 7:14; 1 Ne. 12:10; Alma 5:21-27; Alma 13:11-13
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20 Now this is the commandment: aRepent, all ye
ends of the earth, and come unto me and be bbaptized in my
name, that ye may be csanctified by the reception of the
Holy Ghost, that ye may stand dspotless before me at the
last day.
21 Verily, verily, I say unto you, this is my agospel; and ye know the things that ye must bdo in my church; for the works which ye have seen me do that shall ye also do; for that which ye have seen me do even that shall ye doa;
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21a the things that ye must doin my church; for the works which ye have seen me do that shall ye also do; for that which ye have seen me do even that shall ye do Jesus is the great exemplar. He does lead us and we are to follow him, doing and being even as He is. If we expect to one day be even as God is, we need to begin to so be now. Or else we are headed and are training ourselves in the wrong direction. |
20a
Ether 4:18;
Moro. 7:34 b TG Baptism, Essential c TG Sanctification d 1 Cor. 1:8; D&C 4:2 21a 1 Ne. 13:36; TG Gospel; TG Salvation, Plan of b TG Jesus Christ, Exemplar
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22 Therefore, if ye do these things blessed are ye, for ye shall
be lifted up at the last day.
23 aWrite the things which ye have seen and heard, save it be those which are bforbidden. 24 Write the works of this people, which shall be, even as hath been written, of that which hath been.
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23a
TG
Record Keeping b 3 Ne. 26:16, 18
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25 For behold, out of the books which have been written, and which
shall be written, shall this people be ajudged, for by them
shall their bworks be known unto men.
26 And behold, all things are awritten by the Fathera; therefore out of the books which shall be written shall the world be judged.
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26a all things are written by the Father Though we are commanded to keep our records, it is comforting to know that 'all things' are recorded by the Father in heaven. There is no chance that one man's record will condemn another based upon the record of a man. The parallel record keeping on earth and in heaven is more to the point that man might have an account of things for his use in this sphere and that man's perspective might be recorded and considered in comparision to the absolute truth of God. And of course the final judgment will be rendered out of the books which are acceptable unto God which are supported by the ultimate record as kept by the Father. |
25a
2 Ne. 33:15 (10-15);
W of M 1:11 b Ps. 33:15 (13-15); 1 Ne. 15:33 (26-36) 26a 3 Ne. 24:16; TG Book of Life
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27 And know aye that ye shall be
ajudges of this people, according to the judgment which I
shall give unto you, which shall be just. Therefore, what
cmanner of men ought ye to be? Verily I say unto you, even
das I am.
Becoming as He Is, means that we must first come to know Him. For we cannot
become like what and who we do not know. The 'Lecture on Faith' help set out
a few critical attributes of God which we can know of him and to which we
can strive to immulate in our own lives. It sets out that by faith in Christ,
the is by faith in God, we can act and be even as he is by such immulation of
him in our daily lives. Always asking 'What would Jesus do in this situation,
helps us to considered what it is that we are to do.' And as we always so
remember Him and set his example before us at all times, seeking to be even
as He is, by this constant and daily practice, we are then well on our way to
becoming even as He Is, even as the Gods are. And upon such a path we will
eventually, though Him, become even as God Is. 'As man is God once was, As
God is Man may become.' God himself has passed this way. We too may pass
the same way following after our example, Jesus Christ, and become even as
God Is. But it is not a thoughtless and activity-less process. We must
involve ourselves fully in it. We must so strive to be and become as He Is
while we are here, that by such 'pactice' of what we would become, we one day
will become. The key is 'pactice', 'practice', practice', for who ever becomes
something they do not practice at becoming?
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27a
1 Ne. 12:10 (9-10);
Morm. 3:19 b Rev. 20:4-6 c 2 Pet. 3:11; TG Godliness; TG Jesus Christ, Exemplar; TG Man, Potential to Become like Heavenly Father d Matt. 5:48; 3 Ne. 12:48
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28 And now I ago unto the Father. And verily I say
unto you, whatsoever things ye shall ask the Father in my name shall be given
unto you.
29 Therefore, aask, and ye shall receive; knock, and it shall be opened unto you; for he that asketh, receiveth; and unto him that knocketh, it shall be opened. 30 And now, behold, my joy is great, even unto fulness, because of you, and also this generation; yea, and even the Father rejoiceth, and also all the holy angels, because of you and this generation; for anone of them are lost.
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28a
John 16:10;
John 20:17 29a Matt. 7:7; 3 Ne. 14:7 30a John 17:12
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31 Behold, I would that ye should understand; for I mean them who are
anow alive of bthis generation; and none
of them are lost; and in them I have fulness of cjoy.
32 But behold, it asorroweth me because of the bfourth generation from this generation, for they are led away captive by him even as was the cson of perdition; for they will sell me for silver and for gold, and for that which dmoth doth corrupt and which thieves can break through and steal. And in that day will I visit them, even in turning their works upon their own heads. 33 And it came to pass that when Jesus had ended these sayings he said unto his disciples: Enter ye in at the astrait gate; for strait is the gate, and narrow is the way that leads to life, and few there be that find it; but wide is the gate, and broad the way which leads to death, and many there be that travel therein, until the night cometh, wherein no man can work.
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31a
3 Ne. 9:13 (11-13);
3 Ne. 10:12 b 3 Ne. 28:23 c TG Joy 32a Gen. 6:6; 3 Ne. 17:14 b 1 Ne. 12:11-12; 2 Ne. 26:9-10; Alma. 45:12 (10, 12); Hel. 13:6 (5-19) c John 17:12; 3 Ne. 29:7 d Matt. 6:19; 3 Ne. 13:19-21 33a Matt. 7:13-14; Luke 13:24; 3 Ne. 14:13; D&C 22:4 (1-4)
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