John Bytheway: 00:00:01 Welcome to part two with Dr. Matt Richardson, the Book of Ephesians.

Dr. Matt Richardson: 00:00:07 I remember talking with a missionary once. We were talking about, “Are we doing any good?” Sometimes they listen to our message and I said, “Yes, you’re doing great.” Could you imagine if people just adhered to simple principles we taught. Not the restored truths, but what would happen to this world? What would it look like if everyone kept the word of wisdom? Just the basic principles of the word of wisdom. Would it change the world? How many marriages would be saved? How many cases of abuse would be eliminated because we just get rid of the chemical addictions? It would be a different world just based on that.

  00:00:38 We all know that the word of wisdom is not simply a physical health code. Yes, it has a temporal aspect. Because it must because the soul is the body and the Spirit. They impact each other. But we do good when we teach these little principles of how different would the world be if husbands truly loved their wives.

  00:00:57 I’m not even talking about having the benefit of the covenant yet. It would never do anything that would harm them because they get into a we mentality than a me mentality. Because if I hurt her or she hurts him, then we’re hurting us. It’s every time we damage us. But what do prophets, seers, and revelators say if we had any counsel on marriage and family? Oh, just President Nelson alone, “Your highest personal priority is your spouse, husband to wife and wife to husband. Your commitment to each other is eternal. Your families, children and grandchildren are yours forever. Through appropriate means, keep them as close as you can, even though distances between you may be great, let them feel of the feeling as you serve the Lord in his work.” Isn’t that interesting? Let them feel the feeling as you serve the Lord in his work your capacity to love is like Christ.

  00:02:00 That’s a prophet, seer, and revelator. That was in a seminar in June of 2017, so it was a little while back, but that right there for me is chapter 5 in Ephesians from a living prophet, seer, and revelator. Oh, what do you mean by serve? So am I a servant there? And don’t get caught up in that part. Look at the general principle of faith that’s being taught here, and we cannot refute that important principle. And you can do that in every aspect in Ephesians. It has not been lost on modern prophets, seers, revelators. How many bishops are talking about this in their fifth Sunday experiences? Why? So that we may come to a unity of faith so that there is one body, this is chapter four, verse 3, endeavoring to keep the unity of the Spirit and the bond of peace.

  00:02:44 That’s verse 3, in one body, one spirit, even as you’re called in one hope of your calling, one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God, and father of all who is above all and through all. And I love this line. And in you all. How does that come? What does Paul say? It’s grace. He does such a good job with grace here, but what is he telling us? You can’t do it on your own. You can qualify, but you never merit his grace. But we need to rely on him. And sadly what’s happening is we’re abandoning the very essence. We’re abandoning God, Christ, the ability to even exercise faith in temporal things, let alone spiritual things, prophets, seers, and revelators, oh, they’re just nice old men. They don’t know what it’s like to live. We’re abandoning the very thing that will provide us the answers to our great mysteries.

John Bytheway: 00:03:39 You mentioned something, it makes me want to go back because as I knew we were going to be talking about this, I went to Ephesians 2, 8 and 9 and I’ve had members of other faiths quote these to me as if they were problematic. And the more I’ve learned and the more helpful discussions have gone on about this and about 2 Nephi 25 about after all we can do, there’s nothing that I see in there that’s problematic. Do you know what I mean? Do you feel like we have grown to understand Ephesians 2:8 and 9, “For by grace are you saved through faith and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God, not of works lest any man should boast.” I think some of our critics say that we… And maybe some of us feel this way. We are trying to earn our salvation.

  00:04:29 Now, I read these verses and I don’t see anything problematic in that. This reminds me of King Benjamin saying, “Are we not all beggars?” We’re in the position of someone that is begging for our salvation. We’re not earning it.

Dr. Matt Richardson: 00:04:44 Do we understand that better? I think we talk about it better, and I think that our understanding is more illuminating now as Latter-day Saints. We’re in a position where we’re being more thoughtful, in my opinion. Does that mean we understand it? I still wonder about that one and I think that’s manifest in our daily attitudes where sometimes we can’t even forgive ourselves. Yet we’ve gone through and we believe in the Atonement and it’s because I made a mistake.

  00:05:08 Well, let God do his great goodness. Let his power his grace work upon you. I don’t see it as a contradiction. I’m with you, John. I don’t see that as a contradiction. As a matter of fact, one of my favorite writers is Brother Lewis. Brother CS Lewis.

John Bytheway: 00:05:21 Yes.

Dr. Matt Richardson: 00:05:22 I say brother because I think he’s joined in the Spirit world. I think he’s-

John Bytheway: 00:05:25 I think I know where you’re going with this.

Dr. Matt Richardson: 00:05:27 But he talked about this great dichotomy or what people would set up as an opposition where he would say faith and works. And he compared it to scissors. And he says, “This is asking which blade does the work in scissors? And the answer is you need both blades to cut.” I look at it as like a coin, and this is going back to embarrassing times. It was when I was playing little league football and I was the captain. I was just little. And the referee brings out the coin for the coin toss and he says heads or tails? He flips the coin of the air and I said, “Both.” And he’s like, “What?” I go, “Both, both.” He goes, “You can’t call heads and tails,” and I go, “I just want the quarter.”

  00:06:10 And yet we take that position in our lives as we don’t see the value in the coin. We emphasize either heads and we always say this, it’s not heads and tails, it’s heads or tails. Justice or mercy. The value is when you combine heads and tails, works and grace. The verse that you read, this kind of is a subtle way to look at it. Verse 8, “For by grace, ye are saved through faith.” I believe that true 100% and I believe that grace is beyond my comprehension and how he administers that is beyond me. That’s why I want to be like him.

  00:06:50 But then the verse goes on and it says, “And that not of yourselves,” Joseph Smith translation, “but it is the gift of God.” Grace is. Not by yourself, but grace is the gift of God. But then you got to keep on reading. “Not of works lest any man should boast.” Boast what? Well, this is where the Book of Mormon comes. Don’t boast of yourself for when you become learned, ye think ye are wise. Yes, we need to keep our humility to God. But then Paul goes on in verse 10, “For we are his workmanship created in Jesus Christ under good works, which God hath before ordained.”

  00:07:31 There’s that preordained experience again. But here’s the second side of the coin. Even Paul is using that one that we should walk in them. You still have to walk. Yes, it’s a gift. You need to open the gift. You need to try on the new shoes. You need to take the gift and use it. So yes, we must do all that we can do. Now here’s the fine line for me. So in my desire to be better, I pray like you cannot believe that God will help me to be strong, to overcome temptation, to be the type of husband and father that I need to be, to be the type of fellow citizen that I should to others.

  00:08:07 I pray for that strength. And then when I do all that I can do, is that Matt Richardson doing it all or is that Matt Richardson’s effort combined with God answering my prayer? Well, let’s look at it this way. Sometimes I think we take a little license with this one and maybe we don’t quote it quite right. He talks about opposition and we say there’s opposition in all things. Actually read the verse carefully. It says, “There is an,” A-N, “an opposition in all things.”

  00:08:35 So I don’t think God’s up there saying, “I’m going to give you opposition to everything. Just wait for me to show up and here comes the hard part.” I think he’s constantly teaching us and gives us opportunity to understand there will always be an opposite in everything. There’s an opposite of bad. So, when things are going horribly wrong, know deep down there is an opposition, an opposite, and it’s called things going well.

  00:08:56 Now, the question is how do I get out of this and how do I reverse the titles? Things are going great. Please know that there’s an opposition and opposite to that. So, stay the course and stay the path. It gives us hope. Hope in what? It’s the Book of Ephesians that when we’re at the end of our rope that there are things that can be done and God will reveal his secret. And he will redeem you. He will always redeem you by his good grace, his grace.

  00:09:25 But that’s not predetermined, but it’s asking us to become like him. We do our best to act like him and he gives us the power to do so. Yes, he is in everything. God is in everything. Even our good works. When we are at our best, we have to praise God. Why? Well, Paul says, “Because I don’t want you to boast of yourself.”

Hank Smith: 00:09:46 You did this somehow.

Dr. Matt Richardson: 00:09:48 Yeah. Come with me and I’ll show you something as we used to tell our missionaries because it’s true. We told our children this as well. But we said one of the great secrets to missionary work in disciple’s life is when you understand this is not about you and Ephesians is the same. This isn’t about you. This is about our gentile converts. This isn’t about you, this is about your spouse. This isn’t about you, this is about being humble enough to receive counsel from God through prophet, seers, revelators, patriarchs, teachers, bishops, et cetera. It’s not about you. We tell our missionaries, “As soon as you can get it through your head that this is not about you.” “Yeah, but I am tired.” “This isn’t about you.”

  00:10:32 But here’s the great secret and Christ taught it in this way is if you labor and lose your life, then what happens? You find it or you find a life that is beyond what you ever imagined you become, here we go again, a convert, a new creature in Christ. So, here’s the weird part, as soon as we start to learn, it’s not about me, and this is what prophets are always teaching us. Here’s this. It’s not about you. All of a sudden you realize this is all about me.

  00:10:59 He is saving me. He is making me more. He is interested in my happiness and my eternal joys. He is interested in me doing my part for others to find their lives. It’s that great paradox. How can this come together? It’s two sides of the coin. It’s not about you, it’s all about you. And we will be saved by his good grace. So that’s a long-winded way to say, John, I’m with you.

Hank Smith: 00:11:27 Matt, earlier you talked about we are rejecting the very thing that can save us. And it reminded me of when we discussed these people, the Ephesians back in Acts and how Paul comes into town and some people are being converted. And then there was Demetrius, the silversmith who did not like Paul. He says to his friends, “This is our craft. We build these idols and you can see we have our wealth.” And Paul is persuading and turning away many people. And then he says, “We know that Diana is the best and we don’t want her despised.” But really this is really bad for business. What Paul is teaching is really bad for business.

  00:12:10 I wonder if that’s one of the reasons we sometimes become Demetrius in that we reject these teachings from prophets and apostles because it’s very uncomfortable and it’s going to alter the way I live. It’s going to cause me to have to change. And it’s bad for business maybe like Demetrius.

Dr. Matt Richardson: 00:12:30 I think you’re absolutely right and I don’t think we might be like that. I think we are all like that depending on what prophets, seers, and revelators say. We’re okay with a certain degree of being uncomfortable, but don’t threaten my very essence. And for most of us, pick your poison. It’s the reasons we reject prophet, seers, and revelators are usually something when it hits a little close to the nerve. And when you start to look at what’s happening with the silver trade as far as that goes, that was getting close to the nerve of their livelihood. It wasn’t like, “Oh, it’s good for you but it’s not good for me, whatever.”

  00:13:02 It’s like you are now threatening me and who I am. Prophets, seers, and revelators voices are challenging because they go contrary to the natural tendencies of all of us because we are natural men. So, you go back to King Benjamin’s address is natural men and women, natural mankind will be an enemy to God and always will be the case unless something happens. And you all know how that works is we put off the natural man. We have to put it off and we must yield to the enticing of the Spirit.

  00:13:36 Now, with that in mind, this is Ephesians because if you look at conceptually what’s taking place, we’re saying that the mysteries will be revealed. It’ll be done through prophets, seers, and revelators. Most of all the verses you’ll see this thing going back and forth and it’s almost like he’s reading lists. But conceptually, here’s the thought is it looks like those lists are saying, avoid the things that cause you to be distanced from the Spirit and do the things that cause you to be closer to the Spirit.

  00:14:06 Because revelation is spirit born. Isaiah taught that God’s ways are not man’s ways and therefore we usually cast them off. We trod upon them. We think that they’re weird because his ways are higher than our ways. And when prophets speak, if they’re truly prophets and they’re speaking God’s will in his design, yes, we are the silversmiths of the modern age and it threatens who I am. We take our identity by the things that we do in our living. “I am a fill in the blank.”

  00:14:36 I’m a butcher, I’m a baker, I’m a candlestick maker. That’s who I am actually. I think that’s what we do. What we do. Who we are is not our craft, it’s our integrity. When prophets start to speak about something that might change my candlestick making business or my silver trade, you are now talking about me personally. It’s personal. And that’s where we are not going to become any type of a new creature, but we love our natural man. The only way we’re going to be able to do this is put it off. Prophet, seers and revelators help us with that. And we yield.

  00:15:15 Everyone must learn to yield. Now, I’m glad you brought this one up, Hank, because actually in Paul’s visit, because the letter was written in his first imprisonment, at least that’s what most historians think. So, he’s in prison and he’s reflecting upon his experience with the Ephesians. So, what we read in the Book of Acts and what you just talked about was very dicey, but now later he’s writing to him and saying, “Way to go, guys. You’re hanging in there.” Some to the point of callings and elections. You’ve made the choice and you didn’t let the world define you.

  00:15:48 So how does that compare to Christ’s great intercessory experience where here he knows he’s going to death and then resurrection. And he tells the apostles, “I’m not taking you guys with me. I’m leaving you here. You need to be here. You must be in the world.” But then comes the caveat, but not defined by it. You must be in that great sermon on the mount. You need to stay here and be the light. You need to light the world, not in the world’s light, but your light. My light. You need to be the salt. You must give flavoring.

  00:16:24 What salt is supposed to do is it brings out natural flavoring. If it’s administered appropriately, it brings out natural the goodness of natural flavoring of foods not necessarily changes the taste of food, it brings out the goodness of foods. So, if we are supposed to be those who bring out the best flavoring of mankind in the world we live, even the Ephesians in that crazy Greek Roman experience, we can’t be defined by the world. We must not be of the world.

  00:16:54 You’re right, this is a hard thing. And yet somehow this saint is like, “I guess I’ll pat them on the back as at least a lot of them are hanging in there.” And they did not succumb to the pressure of the craftsmen. And then my heart just feels sad for where I’m defined as being a silversmith. That’s who I am, not what I do. And I think these are good counsel or points for us all to go through and say, “So what does this have to do with me? Am I defined by what I have. If I lose this, will I not be me?” That’s one of the things that our missionaries, they were so worried about losing themselves. “But I won’t be Jeff anymore. I’m just going to be Elder Smith,” or something like that.

  00:17:35 You go, “Is that a bad thing?” And we fight back upon it. And when you read a standard, it’s like, “I don’t want to do that anymore. What do you mean I can’t listen to country western music? Heavenly Father, he listens to country western music,” whatever. Well, he doesn’t right now because this is part of a unique thing is learn to become something new. I think that most of it is practicing to become new creatures and allowing ourselves to exercise faith and give our all to him without knowing every detail.

Hank Smith: 00:18:03 Yeah. Demetrius seems to, instead of yielding, it’s like, “Let me get other people upset. Let me get a big group of people upset.” And John, this is the point, if you remember, some cried one thing, some cried another.

John Bytheway: 00:18:16 Oh, I love it. And some didn’t even know why they were there. And I thought, “Oh, that’s our world. Hey, there’s a protest, let’s go. What are we protesting? I don’t know. Hold this sign. And let’s just be mad.” So, I keep thinking back to your beautiful quotation of President Nelson about peacemakers. He said, “Even online people just, behind a screen they can be so mad and sometimes malicious to each other.” And I thought, “That’s a good point even online to be a peacemaker.”

Hank Smith: 00:18:43 I can yield or I can gather up a bunch of other angry people and we can attack.

Dr. Matt Richardson: 00:18:50 Go back to what you said about one of the early statements of our prophet, John. You said, “Let God prevail.” Isn’t that what we’re talking about right here? We don’t let God prevail in our lives. We don’t yield. As soon as something goes through, it’s kind of like if you hit the nerve, it causes pain, immediately we react. Typically, we do not pause and say, “Ooh, that’s interesting.” It’s kind of like even in parenting, you have a child that comes, “You’re a bad dad.” “No, I’m not a bad dad.” They’re five years old. “I’m not a bad dad. As a matter of fact, I have three PowerPoint presentations of why I’m a good dad. Let me show you why I’m a good dad.”

  00:19:25 And sometimes it behooves us, or as Paul uses even the Ephesian, he uses the word beseech. That’s a visceral invitation. I beseech you, I’m begging, I’m pleading. I’m on my knees. It beseeches us to contemplate and say, “Why would my five-year-old say I’m a bad dad?” And get over my pride and the nerve of hurt and say maybe there’s something that he’s saying that I need to do better. I should be better. And when it comes to prophets, seers, and revelators, it’s amazing. I remember when President Nelson gave the talk, I think it was to single adults and he talks about labeling. I thought it was such a masterful talk. And then I remember looking for a quote and it took me to… Must’ve been Deseret News or something like that. You know where people can comment after the article on don’t label. Man, talk about vitriol and hatred.

  00:20:15 It just was one after another where I’m going and he’s like, “He’s labeling everybody.” No, he was actually asking us not to label, but yet our disposition, our natural man, there was no yielding of contemplation “Maybe there’s something here that could be beneficial”. And that’s the world we live in. It’s a hotbed mess. Why? We’re not willing to put things off and we are definitely… In general terms, I still am very hopeful. We’re definitely not into yielding. Hardly any of us are into yielding. By the way, what’s one of the biggest challenges in marriage relationships? Yielding, putting off our old kind of thing. What’s the biggest challenge with our coming with new friendships, yielding with new cultures, yielding.

  00:21:01 We don’t sell the farm. We don’t give up the doctrinal foundation of base, but it’s this concept. It’s a disposition, it’s an attitude. So, you can see that this is what Ephesians is about. It’s natural men and women.

John Bytheway: 00:21:13 I just keep thinking how different it is living in a… Can I say this, a center stake of Zion or just living in a well established stake and how different it must have been for them when you’ve got Jewish longtime members that are now converts and then you’ve got gentile converts. And that’s Paul’s backdrop with all of these. Wow. That’s got to be tougher than anything I think I’ve experienced in my ward or stake to have those kind of backgrounds. And maybe other wards and stakes may be different, but I think, “Wow, what he’s dealing with here, this is tough.”

Dr. Matt Richardson: 00:21:50 And isn’t that interesting? But yet principally, whether it’s on the Wasatch front or whether it’s in an emerging area of the church, principally speaking, we’re all wrestling with the same thing, is putting off our natural tendencies and being able to yield to the enticing of the Spirit. So how do we do that? Read the Book of Ephesians or other of these great books is it says, here’s how you come closer to the Spirit. That’s where when I was thinking about our podcast today, I’m like going, so should I go through line by line. After a while, like I said, it’s kind of like reading through these lists. Here’s some good things you can do to do what? Get close to the Spirit.

  00:22:25 And here’s some things you should not be doing. And he lists those, why? They take you away from the Spirit. But here’s the real question, in my opinion, not what we should and shouldn’t do, although those are very critical. It comes down and says, “Why is that important?” And the theme of this one is the Spiritual things can only be known through spirit. Therefore, revelation is a spiritual manifestation and it can only be known through the Holy Ghost, through the Spirit.

  00:22:52 You must have the Spirit to be sacramental prayers always to be with you. So, here’s things to get the Spirit with you. Why? So you can receive revelation. Why is that important? So that you can receive the prophet, seers and revelators revelation. And sometimes what happens is we don’t. What Paul, I believe is doing in Ephesians, he’s saying, Look, life is mysterious and it’s hard. I know some of you’re throwing your hands in the air. You’re getting pressures from the outside. We can’t, so you’ve been trying super hard and things are rough. Don’t you dare give up because it’s mysterious. It’s a secret that God will tell you.

  00:23:29 How is he going to tell you? Through revelation, both personal revelation and prophetic utterance. And those two, by the way, they should align. Are wards struggling with this? Yes. And then you have a prophet today doing the same thing. So, he stands up and he says, this is October conference of 2021, “The voices and pressures of the world are engaging and numerous. But too many voices are deceptive, seductive, and can pull us off the covenant path.” This is pretty interesting stuff. So then what does he say?

  00:24:02 “To avoid the inevitable heartbreak that follows. I plead with you today to counter the lure of the world by making time for the Lord in your life.” Isn’t that a simple thing? Just make time for the Lord in your life each and every day. That was October conference of 2021. So, it’s almost like you can hear Paul or you can hear President Nelson when you’re reading Ephesians, that’s what he’s saying. Put off the world, yield.

  00:24:31 Here’s where you read through all this stuff, and if you get the theme going on here, and you’re like going, “Hey look, you need to be converted individuals and you’re on the path, you’ve joined the church and we’re everywhere in between new converts to those who are doing super well in their faith and their conversion process.” It’s deep in their hearts and everything in between.

  00:24:53 And then Paul does this really great thing, and I think it’s fitting here because it’s the Ephesians and it’s because of their port city, and it’s because their interaction with Rome and all the things that they would know well as all of a sudden when you get towards the end here and you start to get into chapter 6, he starts to bring up this really interesting little concept and he says, Don’t just rely on grace. You’re going to have to suit up here. This is going to be a fight. If you think that this is going to be something you’ll lie around and all of a sudden you receive salvation because it just came in a FedEx package kind of thing. You’ve got to rethink this one.

  00:25:29 And all of a sudden he starts to frame this in a great wrestle. And in my opinion, our conversation actually framed chapter 6 super well because we have been talking in my opinion this whole time of the wrestle between worldliness and godliness. Natural man and new creature of Christ. And he says, “Children obey your parents and the Lord for this is right.” I think that’s a fascinating wording right there. Why should I do that? So, you can get a car because your parents will give you a chariot when you’re 16, Ephesians. This is why you should obey your parents.

  00:26:05 No, he says because it’s the right thing to do. Why is it right? Read chapter 5. It’s the way that we treat people. It’s the way we treat our loved ones. And then he goes, “Honor thy father and thy mother,” which is the first commandment, “with promise so that it may be well with thee and thou mayest live long on the earth.” Your legacy will live long on the earth. Your image, your quality, your character, your helping will live long on the earth. This is fascinating words that are coming down here. I remember hearing prophet, seers, and revelators.

  00:26:35 James E. Faust used to talk about this a lot is, “The best way to honor your parents is to live an honorable life.” It’s not simply about doing everything they say, but do what is right. Honor your heavenly parents and it will bring ultimately honor to your parents. My father is a convert to the church. I get a little emotional thinking about this situation. When he finally decided to join after 23 sets of missionaries, when he finally came and received his own personal testimony to start his conversion, his family essentially said, “You have a choice to make.”

  00:27:08 Back in those days, you can be a Mormon is what they said, or you can be a Richardson but you can’t be both. He joined the church and then I didn’t know this. I was little at the time, but we went to every family reunion when we were not invited. I just thought everybody from where he was from were just mean and ornery people. I didn’t realize it was because my dad joined the church.

John Bytheway: 00:27:31 Wow.

Dr. Matt Richardson: 00:27:32 But yet he was a disciple of Christ and he said, I cannot abandon the great gifts that I have and therefore I must be a good son. And in my dad’s mind, I admire this deeply about it. Looking back on it, it was a moment of courage for him, I’m sure. But when it came down to it, he says, “I will honor my mother and my father. Not by doing what they told me to do or avoiding the church and stuff, by being honorable in my own conversion and coming to Christ and making sure that I do my best to be part of their world.” But even if it’s a situation of showing up when it was uncomfortable.

  00:28:04 Honor thy father and mother, which is the first great commandment with promise and thy days shall be long. And we still continue to do our best to bring honor through an honorable life by honoring God the Father, our heavenly parents. So then don’t provoke your children in verse 4. Verse 5, “Servants be obedient to them that are your masters.” It starts to talk about this interesting element and it’s going to be a fight and it’s going to be what we’ve been talking about wrestle. So, you go to verse 12. For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against rulers of the darkness of this world against spiritual wickedness in high places.

  00:28:43 Now, is that not describing what we are wrestling with today? The intensity might be varied and the way that it’s manifest might be a little divergent, but it seems that we’re doing this. I mean we’re living in such a hostile world that feels like that we can’t be friends hardly no matter what, unless you’re exactly like me. But you look at that as we’re wrestling against principalities, powers, rulers, darkness and wickedness in high places and in low places.

  00:29:16 So what do you do about this? And I love the way Paul does this is he’s talking about all this stuff as, “Well, okay, you’re going to have to be in the world folks, but don’t go unprotected.” So, you go to the next verse and there it starts with verse 13, “Wherefore,” or in other words, by definition the word, wherefore. “Because of this, because of what we’ve been talking about…” I don’t know if it means just chapter 6 or if it means everything that we have talked about in my letter so far because I don’t think he probably delineated his letter as chapter 1 or paragraph 1 or it was a continuous whole, “Wherefore because of all these things that we’ve been talking about, take unto you the whole Armor of God.”

  00:30:00 Why? “So that ye may be able to withstand in the evil day and having done all and I believe with the grace of God to stand. Now, I don’t think that it was an accident that the wording of this is manifest as it is. So, it says take on the whole Armor of God. Why? So that you’ll do two things: One, withstand in the evil day and two, it comes down and it says having done all to stand. So, if you look at that, is that just a matter of semantics? Well, if you read this in the Greek, it gives you two different types of connotations here that I think is at least worthy to mention.

  00:30:47 We take on the Armor of God and we’re not done, but we’re doing it for purpose. So, when you start to look at withstand in the text that comes from the Greek, anthistemi, which means by definition we translate as withstand to stand opposite of, or to stand against something to oppose and to resist actively.

  00:31:12 This is almost like a pushback experience. And there are times where we put on the Armor of God so that we will be able to push back. We’re going into the fight, into the fray. We’re not just hunkering down. There’ll be times. This reminds me of Moroni, Captain Moroni. He’s so frustrated with verse 12. What he’s wrestling with Amalickiah and all of that that’s going on, right? And what does he do? He goes through and he expresses his frustration and things he wants to stand for. Then the next thing he does is he goes and he puts on his armor, kneels in his own apartment or wherever he lives, lodge, and he enters into a covenant.

  00:31:52 And then he goes out to fight the fight. So he is withstanding the pressures of his world. He asks, “Is there anybody else who will come with me?” And they run and get their armor on and come out and they kneel in the streets and they enter into a covenant. The rest is this great massive mobility of an active withstanding. Does that make sense? In the evil day and what it says in verse 12. But then it says having done all, having done perhaps this withstanding, it says, “In the end result, there are times you’ll be able to stand.” It says in verse 11, “Stand against the wiles of the devil and having done all, you’ll be able to stand,” in verse 13.

  00:32:31 So there’s a standing part here which is histemi. Not anthistemi, but histemi. Histemi is to abide, to continue to establish or to hold up. And it kind of connotes an upright position that you’re not moving. I envision it like king of the hill, we used to play when we were little kids. You try to knock somebody off of the mountain. And what you do is you gird up for it and somebody comes to push you off of it and you lean into it, but you don’t move. You will not move.

  00:33:03 So no wonder when Paul talks about stand ye in holy places and be not moved, he’s talking about histemi. He is talking about, “Hunker down, do not be moved and people are going to try to knock you off. Hold the line, be brave, but wear the Armor of God so that you can stand.” Now here’s the kicker, “And there are times you’re going to have to fight back. We must do both.” Sometimes we get too comfortable with just hunkering down and weathering the storm when we also need to advance and actively fight against.

  00:33:41 And not everything is always going to be an active fight against. And I think everyone who is listening and all of us, we have been in circumstances where we know that we must have the Armor of God on to be able to be in the world we’re at. And there’s a time where it’s best not to fight the fight with your friends, but to withstand and hold your own for the time that comes when you can actively pursue. I think it’s no accident that when you put the Armor of God, and we’ll go through that in just a minute, is so much of it is withstanding material, help you withstand. And then there’s a couple of active fight things like the sword and the shield perhaps. Does that kind of make sense to lay that foundation?

John Bytheway: 00:34:19 Mm-hmm.

Dr. Matt Richardson: 00:34:20 And why is this important? Because we’re wrestling with the world. And what must we do? We are going to have to withstand the world so that we can feel the Spirit to receive revelation and to be able to accept the words of the prophet, seers, and revelators to understand the mysteries of how we can become new creatures in Christ. And there will be times like Paul is a perfect example. You’re going to have to go out and fight, but don’t go out there without the protection of God.

  00:34:44 I’ll even say it this boldly, the grace of God is make sure you put on the whole armor not a piece of armor. And then of course what he does as you know is he goes through and he says, verse 14 starts off, “So continue stand histemi. Continue abide, hold up, be upright in a position therefore having your loins gird about with truth, having on the breastplate of righteousness. Your feet shod with the preparation of the gospel of peace. But above all take the shield of faith wherewith you’re able to quench the fiery darts of the wicked. Take on the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God, praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit.”

  00:35:29 Here comes back why we’re talking about is Paul in this whole book is saying, Here’s what you do to have the Spirit. Here’s what you have to avoid to have the Spirit. It comes down because it says praying always with all power and its supplication in the Spirit and watching thereunto with all perseverance and supplication for all saints. And for me, the utterance may be given unto me that I may open my mouth boldly, or in other words, anthistemi to make known what? The mystery of the gospel.

  00:35:59 And here comes the mystery. But when we start to look at this Armor of God situation is really so important and I think it’s such a powerful visual. And Paul would’ve seen legions, the Roman legions. He would’ve seen that. There’s no doubt about that as would all the people in Ephesus because it was a port city and it was also a place where they would embark and go to other parts of the Roman Empire as far as that goes. But one of the great things that I think is worth considering here is I would call it even landmark and where did it come from? A prophet, seer, and revelator who talked about the Armor of God in a unique way, and that’s a Harold B. Lee experience where he starts to talk about what that means, et cetera. And he says, “Okay. Paul is using imagery here.” What we’re trying to protect is the kill zones in literal physical ways.

  00:36:47 Head protect your brain, protect your chest because it has your lungs, protect your loins, the vital organs, intestinal, et cetera as far as that goes. And protect your feet. Some people say, “Hold on. You can have your foot amputated and you’re not going to die kind of thing.” But in battle that your feet represent mobility. If you are wrestled, knocked down, then they will attack all other vital organs and you will lose the conquest. Mobility ability to retreat when necessary, ability to advance when necessary or ability to histemi is to hold fast and maintain in the holy place.

  00:37:29 Now, when it talks about that, it says, “Okay. Here’s what you’re going to do. You’re going to have your feet shod.” I always thought that this was like shin guards, but it’s your feet that are shod here as the armor. And the Romans actually did this as they would wear sandals and you’d think they should be wearing boots, steel-toed boots or something like that. But the Romans actually, the soldiers, they would wear what they often called hobnailed sandals.

  00:37:54 They would take spikes and drive them through the soles of their sandals. So, they would go on the outside. So that’s where they were hobnailed. And then they would bend the nails over. It’s the equivalent of what we would call today as cleats. Cleats that would give them traction to move forward when necessary for victory or to retreat or to hold their line. So, they understood the value of that one is mobility and they shod their feet with something that would help them to advance or retreat or to hold their line.

  00:38:24 So each one of these pieces of armor is saying, “Okay. So how do we protect your mobility? Hobnailed sandals. How do we protect your loins? Oh, you better put the girdle on. How do you protect your chest? That part will put on a breastplate, wear a helmet of course.” But Paul says, We’re not wrestling in flesh but we’re wrestling against these greater concepts. What does this mean?

  00:38:45 Now this is where Harold B. Lee comes in and he says, Hey look, you can look at your brain here as your thoughts. We need to protect our thoughts. And he’s talking about discipleship now. I think it ties in with yielding to the enticing of the Spirit, putting off the natural man. You need to think the thoughts. So, he says, What do you do with that? You put on your helmet. How do you protect your thoughts as a disciple? You put on your helmet of salvation, of salvation.

  00:39:12 What does that mean? Well, read King Benjamin’s talk. You know this. We all know this one. As he comes down, he says, “I was salvation. The salvation comes by no other name than Jesus Christ.” So, in other words, put on the helmet of Jesus Christ. He will help you with your thoughts to think the right thoughts and to change your thoughts and to be able to manifest new thoughts, et cetera.

  00:39:32 Harold B. Lee goes on to say is the breastplate of righteousness when it comes down to it, the breastplate is righteousness. It’s your actions, your obedience. It’s your dedication to it. How do you do that? Well, that will protect you. Every time you’re righteous, it’s like putting on a layer of a sense of a breastplate. It’s a layer of the invisible force field, if you will. And the more righteous we become, the thicker our breastplate is, and then what is represented by our loins. And he says, that’s virtue. That’s your chastity.

  00:40:03 In the day and age that you’re living in is you’re going to have to protect your chaste thoughts, your virtue, your chastity. Think about that one. Joseph Smith said, “That’s going to be the greatest temptations as elders of Israel is our chastity.” So how do you protect it? What does Paul say? Here’s how you protect virtue in the last days is with truth. And you think about the lies that go out there about everything that deals with sexuality and everything that does with our virtue, our morality. And then how do you protect your feet?

  00:40:33 Preparation in the gospel of peace? And you’re like, “Well, how does that mean?” How do you protect your objectives, your goals, your movement, where you’re going in your life? Make sure that you’re prepared in the gospel of peace. The gospel will teach you so many things to be prepared. It will cause you to look at things differently. It’s like CS Lewis where he says, “I believe in Christ as I do the noonday sun. Not because I see it,” meaning the sun, “but because by it I see everything else.” It’s going to change your plans and where you’re trying to go in your movement, et cetera.

  00:41:06 I think it’s really cool that he says we need to have our mysteries solved. And mysteries can be solved and they’re going to come through revelation, both personal and through prophets, seers, and revelators. And you’re going to be in this world figuring this out and it’s going to be a mess. So, here’s some things you can do to help you have the Spirit and here’s some things you best avoid because it will distance you from the Spirit and therefore you will not receive revelation personally and you will not be in a position to hear the words of the prophet, and you’ll dismiss them because they sound like foolishness to the world. But there’s hope here. While you’re working this one through saints in Ephesus, whether you’re a brand new convert or you’re thinking about joining, or whether you’ve evolved to the point where you’re settled within your conversion and it’s deep in your heart, you need to make sure you put on the Armor of God.

  00:41:58 You need to have thoughts and think like Christ. You need to be protected by keeping the commandments, the breastplates of being righteous or doing righteous things. You need to know the truth to protect your morality and your virtue, and you need to make sure that you are having the gospel of Jesus Christ as your means of movement so that you can retreat when necessary and know when to retreat and advance and know when to advance or when it’s time to hunker down and to be able to maintain and stand in holy places.

  00:42:34 I love this. And then it says, “Don’t forget your shield when it comes down to it.” It says, “Make sure that you have the shield of faith,” which by the way, is that a weapon or is that a protection? For the Romans, by the way, it was both. They use it for battering rams and it was movable. I love this imagery. So if you’re getting attacked from atop and they’re pouring that hot chicken noodle soup that they used to do off of castle walls when you’re sieging or whatever, move it up here, move it here. Go to wherever the added protection is needed. And what is it that’s going to protect your thoughts when you’re in a barrage? Faith. Puts a shield of faith up there as well as let your thoughts be centered upon Christ.

  00:43:14 If you’re in a moment of weakness, put it down here to cover while you’re trying to keep the commandments long enough to get your strength there so that you’ll be able to have your righteousness within you. If you need to learn more truth about morality and your virtue, add your faith. And then also I like that. And then of course it’s not only the shield, but you also have the sword and the sword of the Spirit that’s going to direct you and that sometimes is your offensive weapon.

  00:43:38 So it’s kind of a cool thing. Now, I’ll just add one last thought on this one. Just food for thought. So here Paul established this Armor of God is big time. I remember the church did a video of the Armor of God for seminaries and institutes.

Hank Smith: 00:43:52 I remember that, yeah. The song. Yeah, I remember the song.

Dr. Matt Richardson: 00:43:57 They did a nice job of saying, “Look, you may not wear literal armor but you’re still wrestling with the same problems. So, you’re going to be okay. Make sure that you’re protecting your thoughts and your morality and your righteousness. Make sure that your motivation, and your direction, your movement is determined by the gospel. Make sure that you have faith and you’re using it the best that you can in times of need. Put it where you have to double up, et cetera. I just love that one and the imagery. But then all of a sudden you see this Armor of God, almost word for word passage. Once again, this great passage here of protection for the saints and where you see it almost word for word is D&C Section 27.

  00:44:31 And it was added on to that section, Section 27, as we know if you were to read through that is dealing with sacrament. It’s dealing with the emblems of the sacrament. Then it talks about the great sacraments of the past that we remember the Passover, talks about the great sacrament meeting that we will have in the future, which seems clearly to be at the gathering of Israel in the last days of Adam-ondi-Ahman, et cetera, kind of a thing and is saying, “Hey, this is what we do and that’s what sacrament does.” It causes a look to the past, but look to the coming of the Savior again. And then all of a sudden out of the blue it says, “Wherefore,” comes down on that one, it says, “Take unto you the whole Armor of God,” in Section 27.

  00:45:14 It’s like, was the Lord revealing to Joseph and saying, “This was so good in the New Testament, we better have it in the Doctrine & Covenants too. And might as well just insert it here in Section 27.” Perhaps that’s the case or maybe it’s tied to the sacrament. So, there’s some interesting thoughts of that one and I think it’s worth at least looking at it. We partake of the sacrament on a weekly basis when we possibly can. Is it possible that our sacrament meetings is the locker room for the saints where they’re readjusting, putting their Armor of God back on through the sacrament experience? If you think through the sacramental prayers, there’s some interesting ties on that one is that we promise that we’ll always remember him, that our thoughts will be focused upon him at all times.

  00:45:58 Is that putting on the helmet of salvation through our sacramental covenants and we are promising this week? My thoughts will be centered and focused on the Savior and he will determine my thoughts. Is there any merit to the fact that we promise when we partake of the sacrament and that we promise that we will keep his commandments?

  00:46:18 Is that possibly adjusting the breastplate of righteousness and our commitment to be more righteous? Is it possible that when it comes down to putting on the girdle of truth that there’s something about our commitment and the process we do and our sacramental covenants that we will always have his spirit to be with us because only the Spirit can teach us truth in every circumstance, every situation? And therefore, when you’re going to need it the most is if you have the Spirit to be with you. You’ll either avoid compromising your morality or your virtue or it will help you to learn to escape like Joseph of Egypt.

  00:46:57 I think there’s something that might be there. And then of course if you look at the feet, shod where the gospel of peace is, we promise that we’ll take the Savior’s name upon us and that it will guide and direct us. And the way that he lived will be our guiding force and our motivation. I just can’t help but think of whenever I read in Ephesians, and I love the Armor of God, and I see the practical use of that. There’s so many applications of that. I think also of D&C Section 27, and I can’t help be grateful, at least for me personally, that I have a chance. For me, I can see a connection there for me.

  00:47:36 I love going to my sacrament meeting and thinking, “Okay, this is more than just thinking about what I need to do better. This is also my protection so that I might be able to stand and withstand in my day this week. It’s an interesting element there. And then I have the sword of the Spirit and then of course my protection of faith.

Hank Smith: 00:47:59 I’ve often told the youth that I’ve spoken to as we talk about the Armor of God, it’s a fun thing to talk about with youth that most of it to me doesn’t sound super comfortable. It’s not the hoodie of happiness, it’s the breastplate of righteousness. It’s not the pajamas. This doesn’t sound super comfortable, but yet it’s not there to be comfortable, it’s there to protect me. Oftentimes in the gospel, I want it to be a little more comfortable. I want these principles and doctrines to be a little more comfortable for me, make it a little easier for me. But that’s not its purpose. Its purpose is to protect me. I can deal with the uncomfortable knowing that it’s protecting me.

John Bytheway: 00:48:38 You guys probably remember when they used to have this thing at BYU called the CES symposium. I’m still hanging on to some of those cassette tapes I’ve got from those wonderful, wonderful sessions. But Elder Jeffrey R. Holland spoke in one of those about the Armor of God. I don’t know. It just sounded like an offhanded comment, but I loved what you’ve talked about, Matt, because it reminded me of this. He said, “Most of this is defensive.” Are we just supposed to get beat up by the world? He said, “No, the weapon that is mentioned, which allows us to actually do battle with the world is the sword of the Spirit.”

  00:49:14 I’m so glad you tied Section 27 into that because every week those priests at the sacrament table help us re-arm by saying, “We can always have the Spirit to be with us.” And when I read the Book of Mormon, the demise of the Nephites when Mormon and Moroni are having this conversation at the end, I fear the Spirit of the Lord has ceased striving with them. And it wasn’t they’re doing this, they’re doing this, they’re doing this, they’re doing this. As you have put it so well today, Matt, this whole thing is keep the Spirit of the Lord with you. That’s what brought down the Nephites. They’ve lost the Spirit of the Lord.

  00:49:52 When those young priests get up and promise us that if we will always remember him, take his name upon us, keep his commandments, which he’s given us, we can always have his spirit, that sword to be with us. Boy, that’s what I always think about, and I’ve heard Hank say this many times and I love it. Don’t confuse your friends and your enemies. That sword of the Spirit is so helpful and discerning. Who are our friends in this world and who are our enemies? That’s where I go to when I think about this. We’re not wrestling against other enemies in the Mediterranean who have their ships. We are wrestling against powers, rulers of darkness. Oh, wow. We are going to need this kind of armor. We’re going to need the Spirit of the Lord and the sword of the Spirit. I just love this metaphor.

Dr. Matt Richardson: 00:50:46 That’s so good. As a matter of fact, it sounds like we’re going to need grace. And that’s what Paul says. We need the grace of Christ, but we must be doing our part. John, I’m glad you brought that one up and I was touched by that imagery as well is every once in a while I look at the Aaronic priesthood who are administering such an important process of this one. And I cannot help but think in my mind of stripling warriors of individuals who are going into battle and yet they’re providing this for like the stripling warriors did for their fathers who had not. They step in and there’s an image there. Does that help young men aspire to be more by administering the sacrament? I believe it does.

  00:51:28 Are they there yet? Not quite. Perhaps some are. But all of this combined and the way that you’re talking about that and where we are fellow citizens in the household of faith. And that sacrament service becomes not just a time where we reflect, but it is a time of suiting up. It’s a suiting up and seeing more. IT is. It’s an armor up experience. Well said. And why is that so powerful? I guess to some, it’s a mystery, but those who see it and those who embrace it, Hank, to your comment, it is uncomfortable. I don’t think that that’s why the Lord designed it. He says sometimes we think about this with prophets, seers, and revelators. What are the prophets, revelators thinking of to make our lives miserable? No more pizzas.

Hank Smith: 00:52:14 They’re having fun. They must be stopped.

Dr. Matt Richardson: 00:52:19 I don’t think it was designed to be uncomfortable, but it’s uncomfortable to the natural man. Like you’re saying. There’s no doubt about it. But here’s the weird part. I think all of us to certain degrees have experienced this. The uncomfortable becomes comfortable probably because we start to change. So, I saw this with missionaries is where, “Oh, I can’t wear a tie. I’m dying.” Sisters, “why do I have to wear matching ensembles or whatever?” I didn’t even know what an ensemble was.

  00:52:51 But here’s the interesting thought. When they first come out, all the standards, they don’t call them rules… In our mission, we never called them rules. We called them standards, missionary standards for disciples of Jesus Christ. And it’s hard because we are natural individuals when we come onto our missionary service and called to do some things that are uncomfortable but are really, in my opinion, every standard in the missionary book is for protection.

  00:53:18 There’s a reason you can’t go swimming, and it’s not because Satan is going to take your soul, it’s because we’ll start diving into two feet of water and do something crazy. But it’s a little uncomfortable. But that armor becomes comfortable as we change. And pretty soon missionaries, they don’t even think twice. They don’t even know they’re wearing a tie. They don’t know that they’re wearing sensible footwear kind of a thing. It becomes part of them. And you’re right, Hank, it’s uncomfortable, but I found that those who stick with it and they wear Armor of God, it’s almost as if they don’t know that they’re wearing it and they are running around and they’re playing basketball, they’re playing tag in their armor and they have become accustomed, or in other words, they became new creatures in the force of wearing the protection. It’s really quite lovely and beautiful.

Hank Smith: 00:54:09 These new creatures can wear this and it becomes comfortable to them.

Dr. Matt Richardson: 00:54:14 Yeah. Why do they wear it? Because that’s who they are. That’s what they do.

Hank Smith: 00:54:18 It’s not a burden, it’s a quest.

Dr. Matt Richardson: 00:54:21 Here’s an interesting thought if you know Roman warfare as far as that goes, is they used a shorter sword because they would fight in proximity. So, when they would get in there, they were lethal when they were in hand-to-hand combat, but they used their shield and their sword in unison where sometimes there’s a movement shield up and then you can go underneath with this short sword and stuff. So, think of the imagery that you could use on that one as using the shield and the sword together in the Armor of God.

  00:54:46 But they also used it in situations… You see this in movies, but they actually would do it, is you would combine where they would use the shield with other warriors and they would make a little pod.

Hank Smith: 00:54:58 Yeah, they could connect them together. A little tortoise-like shell.

Dr. Matt Richardson: 00:54:59 They would connect them together. Some would put it on top and some would make the outer wall. They still had mobility so they could move, but they were like in what we would call today a tank. Now think about that concept of strangers and foreigners now being unified in one faith and in one gospel where we combine our faith in the different sizes and shapes that that shield comes from, and we link ourselves together to protect our families, our congregations, our friends. There’s something special about this is the Armor of God is not just for the solo protection of an individual, but it is used when we are strong. Then the one becomes the many and no wonder we’re organized in quorums and classes, and wards, and stakes, and families, and marriages, is that we link our armor together in something that protects not just me, but we. It’s actually quite lovely. It’s beautiful.

Hank Smith: 00:56:02 Love it. I remember talking about that. It’s the tortoise formation.

Dr. Matt Richardson: 00:56:06 Oh, I like it. Yeah.

Hank Smith: 00:56:08 Matt, you’ve centered your message today on this, and John, you brought it up earlier with come back to the Spirit, come back to getting the Spirit. Whenever possible. I like to emphasize one role of the Holy Ghost, which is maybe even the least understood, but maybe the most applicable is the role of the Holy Ghost in bringing the Atonement into your life. Two quotes from President Eyring, “if you have felt the influence of the Holy Ghost during this day or even this evening”, he’s talking to a group of young adults. “If you have felt the Holy Ghost, you may take it as evidence that the Atonement is working in your life.”

  00:56:50 And then on a different occasion, he said, “reception of the Holy Ghost is the cleansing agent as the Atonement purifies you. And when the Holy Ghost is your companion, you can have confidence that the Atonement is working in your life.” I just love whenever I get a chance to tie the Spirit to the Atonement because the power of the Spirit is bringing the power of the Savior’s Atonement into your heart and mind. Just like the Spirit can enter your heart and mind.

John Bytheway: 00:57:23 Yeah. If you ever have those kind of inklings of the Spirit, what is that telling you? That’s telling you you’re on the path. I feel like that’s telling you, you’re feeling the Spirit. The Atonement is working. That’s what you just said, that President Eyring said. For so many of us who feel beat up and I’m not good enough or whatever, well, that very feeling, the fact that that may come from the Spirit, kind of a wretched man that I am type feeling is telling you, “No, you’re okay because you’re feeling that right now.” The Atonement is working in you. That’s a wonderful evidence that it’s working.

Hank Smith: 00:57:56 Yeah. There’s an Ephesians type moment, again, from President Eyring. We could just bring in where President Eyring talks about speaking of each other in the best light possible. He says, “The Lord will let you feel his appreciation for you choosing to step away from the possibility of sowing seeds of disunity.” And then this is 2008, so this is 15 years ago. He said, “You must follow that same principle as the Lord gathers more and more people who are not like us.” Almost like President Eyring in 2008 is seeing we’re going to see more nations brought into this, more and more different types of people.

  00:58:41 He says, “What will become more obvious to us is that the Atonement brings the same changes in all of us. We become disciples who are meek, loving, easy to be entreated, and at the same time fearless and faithful in all things. We still live in different countries, but we come into the church through a process that changes us. We become by the gifts of the Spirit, what the Apostle Paul saw ‘for through him, we both have access by one Spirit unto the father. Now, therefore, you are no more strangers and foreigners, but fellow citizens with the saints in the household of God.’”

  00:59:18 And then this last statement. “With the unity I see increasing, the Lord will be able to perform what the world will think as miraculous.” That seems to tie in Ephesians all up in one.

Dr. Matt Richardson: 00:59:32 Well, I love that thought and I think President Eyring is really illuminating the things that have been taught by prophets, seers, and revelators. And not only miraculous, but as I mentioned, it’s mysterious to many and that’s the saddest part is in many cases there are so many of God’s children, they don’t know where to find the truth. They don’t know where to find it. I’ve seen this through my own personal experience and then going out in the world, et cetera. There’s so many people who want to do the right thing and they’re trying.

  00:59:59 So many of our saints, they want to do the right thing, but they’re not quite sure how. So, I love this experience where miracles are brought forth because the revelators, what they do is they reveal. That’s what revelator means is to reveal. It’s almost like taking something that has a covering on it and saying, “Ta-da.” And in so many ways what they’re doing is revealing what saints can do to be able to receive the miracles because I think God is generous and he wants things to be in our lives that are like His.

  01:00:27 That’s the whole point. But for me is looking at Ephesians, there’s a lot of ways that one can read this and glean from it. So many things that I’ve learned today in our discussions from just different viewpoints, and I think that you can gain something by reading this. It’s a short book, but I think also you can gain a lot by understanding the context. And all of a sudden you start to see piece by piece coming together. It’s like this grand jigsaw puzzle and you’re seeing this coming together and you’re saying, “This is why.”

  01:00:54 They would say warning. But one thought here is I can’t just help but look at the way that Paul ended his letter. And whether this was the actual ending, I don’t know, but it’s the way that we have of the remnant text. Usually for me when I write letters or communicate with others, my goodbyes are usually where I think I better say something good here kind of thing. And that’s usually where we talk about, “Sure love you.” We go through the things that are probably the things of our heart, or at least to be able to put… I don’t want to be dramatic, but maybe the exclamation point to our efforts rather than just a period.

  01:01:31 And I look at Paul’s ending after all that he has done, and regardless of where the saints in Ephesus are, I just can’t help but think of that. This is a message for all and everyone can glean from this. He says, “I am in,” verse 20, this is chapter 6, verse 20, “I am an ambassador that therein I may speak boldly.” And here is coming back to this concept where it goes through and it says the letters of Paul and the writings of Paul’s are always a vigorous expression of his person that I may speak boldly. I just love that, as I ought to speak.

  01:02:10 But then he goes and he says, “But that ye may also know my affairs and how I do.” And he says, “The Lord will make known,” and he talks about Tychicus here and it goes through, “make known unto you all things”. There’s the message. The Lord wants you to know these things. So, I’ve been talking about all this stuff, mystery. Bottom line, what I want you to know more than anything else before I hang up the phone, before I sign my name, before I give my ado, is it comes down, is that the Lord wants and shall make known unto you all things.

  01:02:41 Then he goes on, “Peace be to the brethren and love with faith from God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. Grace be with all them that love our Lord Jesus Christ in sincerity.” Don’t you think that’s wonderful? It’s not grace be to all of them who are doing everything that the Lord said to do, but every single one of us, all of us, wherever we are in our progression, we all can manifest our sincere love for the Lord, whether it’s in trial or triumph. I just love the way Paul words these things and he says, “Grace will be, the power of God will be upon all those who will love the Lord Jesus Christ.” Its sincerity. And he says, “I will make known to all those wherever they are more of my truth and those things that are troubling you and are not known” and wondering if things will ever work out, if my children will return, if my health will sustain, if I’ll ever find love in my life, if I’ll ever find joy and peace in just waking up in the day or if I can get out of bed.

  01:03:56 There’s something about this. This is the message of Jesus Christ is for all of his children. And how does that come? Well, I guess we could call everybody and say, “You’re doing great,” which might be helpful. But when the Spirit calls and we feel the grace of Jesus Christ upon us, is there any wonder why we’re striving to have the Spirit with us, to validate those times when we cannot find validations, where we can fill the assurance and confidence in the Atonement of Jesus Christ, which is far more than just to be able to compensate for our sins? But it helps us to overcome all things and including our own arrogance and including to be able to understand and frame the good times in our life. The Atonement is just as valuable then as it is for overcoming the deaths. And so isn’t Paul great?

Hank Smith: 01:04:43 Yeah.

Dr. Matt Richardson: 01:04:44 Isn’t he wonderful and doesn’t he do a good job? Because this is a very personal letter to individuals who need a personal push, but it applies to all. Whenever I can come across and say that I can have greater faith, that I can have more peace, and then my hearts, I like that part. My heart might be comforted and that I can have peace. I’m all over it, so I just love the way Paul just says his goodbye before he says his Amen. He ends with those three short verses there, which are really what this whole chapter or what this whole book is about.

Hank Smith: 01:05:14 Wonderful. John, what a great day we’ve had with Dr. Richardson.

John Bytheway: 01:05:21 Yep. Taking a lot of notes. Thank you so much, Matt.

Hank Smith: 01:05:24 Matt, it’s been a treat to have you.

Dr. Matt Richardson: 01:05:27 Oh, it’s been my pleasure. Thank you for letting me be part of just this discussion and to be fed like this. This is a beautiful blessing.

Hank Smith: 01:05:34 I’m sure our listeners are happy. Time well spent. We want to thank Dr. Matt Richardson for being with us today. We also want to thank our executive producer, Shannon Sorensen. We want to thank our sponsors, David and Verla Sorensen, and we always remember our founder, Steve Sorensen. We hope you’ll join us next week. We have another episode of followHIM.

  01:05:56 Today’s transcripts, show notes and additional references are available on our website, followhim.co. That’s followhim.co. You can watch the podcast on YouTube with additional videos on our Facebook and Instagram accounts. All of this is absolutely free and we’d love for you to share it with your family and friends. We’d like to reach more of those who are searching for help with their Come, Follow Me study. If you could subscribe to, rate, review, and comment on the podcast, that will make us easier to find. Of course, none of this could happen without our incredible production crew, David Perry, Lisa Spice, Jamie Neilson, Will Stoughton, Krystal Roberts, Ariel Cuadra, and Annabelle Sorensen.

President Nelson: 01:06:35 Whatever questions or problems you have, the answer is always found in the life and teachings of Jesus Christ. Turn to him, follow him.