Hank Smith: 00:00 Hello everyone. Welcome to followHIM Favorites. My name is Hank Smith and I am the host of a podcast called followHIM. I have an amazing co-host. His name is John Bytheway. Hi John.

John Bytheway: 00:12 Hi Hank.

Hank Smith: 00:12 Now, every week we do a followHIM Favorites, which is a very mini version of our podcast because we know some of you can’t listen to the entire podcast. It’s just too difficult, too impossible. So, we do a thing called followHIM Favorites. So, John, this week’s lesson is on Doctrine and Covenants, sections 98 through 101, and you get to choose a followHIM favorite.

John Bytheway: 00:33 Okay. I’m going to choose from Section 101. And the Saints are going through a lot of hard things, and I just love these verses because I just think we’re gonna go to our death with a lot of questions. But listen to the promise that the Lord makes here. In fact, my students–Hey, what about dinosaurs? Hey, what about evolution? Hey, what about this? Now, listen to these verses starting 32: “Yea, verily I say unto you, in that day, when the Lord shall come…” When I see “in that day”, I always look at the footnote. It almost always says Second Coming. “…in that day when the Lord shall come, he shall reveal all things–” And then listen to this list–“Things which have passed, and hidden things which no man knew, things of the earth, by which it was made, and the purpose and the end thereof”.

01:21I mean, we’ve got, “let there be light” in Genesis, right? Well, I’m gonna tell you a little bit more. I’m gonna be more specific. Things of the earth, by which it was made, the purpose and the end thereof. Things most precious, things that are above, things that are beneath, like the thing above, beneath, things that are in the earth and upon the earth and in heaven. And then I’m gonna skip to 36: “Wherefore, fear not even unto death; for in this world your joy is not full, but in me your joy is full.” There’s so many places we look for joy where we won’t find it. And the Savior says in me, your joy is full and in me, I’m going to give you one day. Trust me, I will tell you everything. So, I love those verses right there.

Hank Smith: 02:04 That’s fantastic. Your questions will be answered.

John Bytheway: 02:08 Right.

Hank Smith: 02:08 My followHIM favorite also comes from section 101, where the Lord says in verse six. Now remember this is 1833 when he says that he is causing some, not causing, but allowing some difficulty into the lives of the people in Zion, Jackson County, Missouri, because he doesn’t like what’s going on with them. Some things. He says there were jarrings, jarrings are like clashing with one another. Contention, envying strife, lustful and covetous desires among them. And that pollutes their inheritance. So, he decides they need to be taught a little bit. And there will be some chastisement. And I thought, if this is 1833, what would the Lord say about 2021? Is there any jarrings and contentions and envyings and strife and lustful and covetous desires? I think that’s a good description of our culture.

03:06All of those things, look what the Lord uses. They pollute us. They pollute our blessings. So I think we could probably, before we need to be chastened, we could probably get on that beforehand and say, you know what? I’m gonna get rid of these things in my life as much as I can. Jarrings, contentions, envying, strife, lustful and covetous desires. Now, John, we have a guest with us almost Dr. Sherilyn Farnes. She’s gonna be a Ph.D. Her Ph.D.’s gonna be complete here in about a year. She joins us on our full podcast, so we hope everyone will come join us to hear from her. But Dr. Farnes, almost Dr. Farnes, you get to choose one followHIM favorite out of this lesson.

Sherilyn Farnes: 03:50 Okay. Mine actually comes from this, the verse that John skipped over. It’s 101 verse 35. It says, “…all they who suffer persecution for my name, and endure in faith, though they are called to lay down their lives for my sake yet shall they partake of all this glory”. And the reason I love that, and it stands out to me is because in the persecution of the Saints in Jackson County, so when mobs are coming against them and trying to fight against them, Edward Partridge is essentially beat up and tarred and feathered. So they pour this sticky black substance all over him. It’s kind of a way of making fun of him and treating him as an outcast, making him an other. So, after this happens, one of the men that did this, or one of the men of this mob comes by his house and says this to him.

04:34He says that if he lived, the mob member, until next Tuesday night, that Partridge would die. And so Partridge– love this courage–he refuses to run and hide. His wife says a lot of the church members understandably, had gone into the woods to hide. And we don’t blame them for that, trying to preserve their lives. But Partridge didn’t want to hide, but he does say, Tuesday came. And while I waited for the mob to come and take me, I had many disagreeable sensations running through my mind. And so, he’s human. He’s a little bit scared of what’s gonna go on, but he’s not willing to hide. And then he writes a letter to some people a month later. He does live–spoiler alert, but he says, I feel willing to spend and be spent in the cause of my blessed master that he was willing to suffer. And that’s a great example to me. What am I willing to suffer for the cause of Christ?

Hank Smith: 05:23 Oh, that is wonderful. I’m willing to spend and be spent in the cause of my master. Anybody listening to this followHIM Favorites. You need to join us on our followHIM podcast so you can hear, learn more about Edward and Lydia Partridge. Dr. Farnes is gonna teach us about those. So, make sure that you join us there, if not, totally okay. We still love you, and we hope you’ll join us next week for followHim Favorites.