Hey everybody, welcome back.

This is week 40 of Creative.

Come follow me for the New Testament.

And this week we are in the book of Ephesians.

So we're going to cover those six chapters.

I should warn you up front that there's a lot of debate among scholars about who

wrote this book and who it was written to.

I think it's clear that these are Paul's.

It's intense and his thoughts.

There's just some question about if a certain scribe wrote it down because

there's different vocabulary sentences are a little different in Ephesians,

but I think the heart is the same.

I think these are Paul's goals and hopes for this group of people,

whether it's just those saints in Ephesus or to a broader group.

It's a little unclear, but I think it has a lot of application that

stretches all the way to our day.

Paul sees these people are on this.

Brink, you know this precipice of apostasy that is coming their way

and I think what he's trying to do is Strengthen them for what is coming.

It felt a lot to me like the Book of Mormon when wars are coming

you know how you get that stance of like We're going to be rooted.

We're going to be grounded.

We're going to be armored up and ready for The onslaught that's coming, you

know Most of the time it's the nephites awaiting the lamanites who are coming

into their town and they they're preparing themselves as much as possible

That's how the ephesians feel to me.

I think it's this preparation for hard times that are coming.

What I particularly like is Paul's approach to how to prepare them.

When you look in the Book of Mormon, you can see things like building

fortresses and, you know, teaching the gospel and all these, you

know, cool ways to fortify a city.

But in Paul's situation, he's going to teach them To me, it

sounds like temple language.

There's a lot of parts in this week's study that felt like

temple words or temple themes.

You know, he's trying to help them remember who they are, especially

to remember who they are in this grand, beautiful plan of God.

They, he also wants them to strengthen themselves from within and from without.

So he'll focus a lot on your own choices, your own discipleship, the repentance

process in this small daily effort.

He focuses in a slightly bigger level on families and how to strengthen each other

in families and households and then in an even bigger way to strengthen from without

as we put on the whole armor of God.

What it does for us individually and what it can do for us as a people as we all

armor up and prepare for what's coming.

So it's got, it's got tendrils I feel like that slide all the way into our day and

I think it's really valuable guidance.

So grab your scriptures, grab your notes.

It's time to get started.

You get a lot of that temple feel in chapter one because I think

he's trying to remind the Ephesian saints Who they are especially in

this grand scheme of things first.

I love that.

He calls them saints We've seen paul use that term a few times But I found a quote

this week from president nelson that I loved that saint isn't something that's

you know Like a perfect person that does everything beautifully a saint is someone

who is a an avid believer in Jesus Christ.

Somebody who believes in his redeeming power and is is in this, you know,

I think that's what a saint is.

Someone who's grateful, someone who serves, that's who he's addressing.

He's going to remind them who they are.

So if you look in four, he says, according as he hath chosen us in him before the

foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before him in love.

That to me is how you feel when you go to the temple, especially

as you do an endowment session.

I feel like that's the reminder.

There is a great plan here and he knew you before this world ever came to be.

He knows who you are and he intends to get you home.

To me, that's the message of the temple and it's the message of Paul.

He's going to talk about predestination.

At least that's how it's phrased in the verses.

But you'll notice in the chapter heading that they actually change

it to foreordination because in our vernacular and the way we teach

this, there's no predestination.

Predestination assumes that there is no agency and that God has decided before

you ever got here where you're going to end up and how your life is going to go.

And that's not what we teach.

What we teach is foreordination.

What I liked this week that I studied, and you can find a lot of this in

the notes, is I liked the concept of being foreordained to glory.

Again, that's what the temple teaches, right?

That each and every one of us is foreordained to become something glorious.

That we all have been, we all have the potential and we have the tools

at our disposal to become like him.

We're all foreordained to a beautiful future.

And that I love because oftentimes we talk about foreordination as just, you

know, towards specific callings and roles.

And that's a smaller fraction of the people.

And I think all of us are foreordained to have all that the father hath

and it doesn't get bigger than that.

So I kind of, I kind of loved studying that this week.

I also loved, there was a visual that Elder Maxwell cited that.

Really helped me understand forwardination.

So he was talking about how when the Savior was on the earth and he talked

about casting your net on the right side of the ship, he said somehow he knew in

that moment what fish would be there and that they would indeed swim into the net.

If that's the case, then it shouldn't shake us too much that he knows The

past, the present and the future simultaneously, I, we can go in the

notes and read his full talk, but he's like, we get, um, kind of psyched out

by this idea because we worry about our agency, but I just feel like it tells

you something about the mind of God.

Basically, what elder Maxwell said is as soon as you can settle it in

your heart, that he is someone who has the past, the present and the

future before him all at once, we don't understand how he can do that.

In fact, even elder Maxwell doesn't understand how that works, but he

said, if you can trust that he.

can do that, then your heart can be settled about these

concepts of fordination.

In fact, I think your heart can be hopeful because the God who knows you

yesterday and today also knows the forever you and he has profound hope for you.

So I think there's beauty in that message.

When you look at eight, he adds to it.

He says, wherein he hath abounded toward us in all wisdom and prudence.

And then in nine, having made known unto us the mystery of his will

according to his good pleasure, which he hath purposed in himself.

This, to me, is a marvelous work and a wonder, right?

Paul's going to mention a few times these mysteries.

This, again, to me, has a temple feel to it.

Not because the temple is mysterious, but the temple is a place where

you go to learn by revelation.

Remember, it's a house of learning.

That's what a mystery means.

It means something that can be learned through revelation.

And Paul's gonna weave in a few of these in this week's chapter.

He's going to talk about the Jews and the Gentiles being intended

to grow up together in faith.

He's going to talk about the mystery of the restoration

and all things coming in one.

And that's what you see in this first chapter.

This mystery of his will, that all things will come together.

In 10, that's kind of the power punch verse.

He says that in the dispensation of the fullness of times, that he might

gather together in one all things in Christ, both which are in heaven

and which are in earth, even in him.

This is that incredible promise.

that there will be a coming together of all the parts of his gospel,

a restoration of all things.

That's our time, you guys.

There's this beautiful talk from B.

H.

Roberts.

It's in the notes this week, but he basically talked about how you can

picture this like streams that have been flowing into one great river.

You know, they come from all different locations and different

mountaintops, and they some have them.

much longer path, some almost slow to a trickle at times.

When you look at the history of the world, I think you can feel this.

You know, you can see how all this goodness is flowing

into one central location.

And when it all flows together, it becomes this mighty force for good.

That's the era that we were chosen to live in, that we were foreordained to come to.

I just think it's.

Motivating to see that this is something that Paul looked

forward to and it's, it's our day.

Then he tries to remind the saints of the tools they have at their disposal.

So if you look in 13, he talks about the Holy Spirit.

He says, In whom ye also trusted, after that ye heard the word of truth,

the gospel of your salvation, in whom also after ye believed, ye were sealed

with the Holy Spirit of promise.

Now there's different ways to read that verse.

The Holy Spirit promises that ratifying power of the Holy Ghost,

the ability to seal ordinances, but I also think he's just trying to help

them remember how they felt as they came in and made covenants with God.

That they felt...

Potential, you know, they felt cared for and necessary and that the Holy

Ghost gave them those inclinations and they need to rest on those as they

move forward on this covenant path.

I also love what you see in 17 and 18, it says that the God of our Lord

Jesus Christ, the father of glory may give unto you the spirit of wisdom and

revelation in the knowledge of him, that the eyes of your understanding being

enlightened, that you may know what is the hope of his calling and what the

riches of the glory of his inheritance.

is in the saints.

This is Paul's prayer.

If you look at the verses you can see he's praying for the

saints and this is his big hope.

What I really like about it is He's, his big prayer for them is that

they will know for themselves, that they will be enlightened themselves.

I think it's the same prayer that every parent has for their kids, that every

teacher has for those who are under their watch care, that they, that these

students who come to class or your kids who come with you to scripture study,

that they will somehow receive their own understanding, that they'll stop pulling

on yours and start to trust in their own Abilities to receive revelation.

That's Paul's invitation.

And then he promises Potential in 19 and what is the exceedingly

exceeding greatness of his power to us word who believe According to the

working of his mighty power to me.

This is Paul's promise that God's eyes are looking us Ford

I just kind of love that phrase.

It's not something I would ever use It's in my speech, but I love the

the implication is that he is, we are His work and His glory of all the

incredible things that God has created and set in motion and is in control

of in this mighty vast universe.

His work and His glory is us.

His focus is us word and he's given us all the tools we need to.

accomplish all.

In fact, when you go down, he speaks a little bit more of

the Savior's redeeming role.

And then I love how he kind of caps it off in 23, which is his body, the

fullness of him that filleth all in all.

The Savior has this fullness.

that he offers to each of us.

And remember, I've told you many times that I really love that Elder Maxwell

quote where he talks about that the cavity that suffering carves into our heart

will one day be this receptacle of joy.

I love the visual of the Savior being the one who dispenses that joy.

All of us have these.

You know, craters in us, these carved out places where we've hurt

or we've lost or we've sorrowed.

And He will come and fill all of those cavities with joy.

He has a fullness and He intends to give that fullness to each and every one of us.

There will be, He will take rough places and He will make them smooth.

He will take ashes and bring beauty from them.

That's the message of the Savior and that's the message of Paul.

One of the things that I love about the temple experience is that I feel like

you get an understanding of The glory of God and the adversary, not his glory, but

his smallness, his, his restrictedness.

I just feel like that's part of what you learn in a temple experience.

And I think that's what Paul's trying to teach here too.

I think essentially when you go to the temple, you each get a chance to.

have an experience similar to Moses in a fraction of a way.

But I think remember when we talked about how Moses in the Pearl of

Great Price encounters God and gets a view of who he is to God and how

vast God's plan is and how Moses gets to play a critical role in it.

And then he encounters the adversary and he's even though the adversary

is full of pomp and he's loud and he's intimidating on the surface,

Moses can see really clearly.

I don't need to be afraid of you.

In fact, I don't, I'm not going to obey you.

I'm certainly not going to worship you.

Like it's a, it's a very clear distinction that I feel like

is what we get in the temple.

Cause you get an understanding that the adversary is real.

He is somebody we need to understand to some degree so that we can

posture ourselves against him.

But I don't think we have to worry too much about him.

I don't think we have to fixate on him.

I think we have to realize how small he is compared to the goodness and glory of God.

That's sort of what Paul teaches in these first few verses, because

he uses this interesting term.

So in two, he says, we're in times past.

He walked according to the course of this world's meaning.

Like you used to, you used to be different men, your, your new creatures.

Now you used to be different according to the Prince of the power of the

air, the spirit that now worketh in the children of disobedience.

That's his title for The Adversary, and I just love it.

He's the prince of the power of the air.

It's like, it's, you know, that paper mache looks big on the

outside and has nothing within.

There is no power there.

The reason I especially like it in this chapter is because he now he gives us

the counterpoint which is to remind us the glory of God and he does it in

this beautiful way so if you look in four he says but God who is rich in

mercy for his great love wherewith he loved us that's the contrast me where

Satan is hollow and this prince of the air God the Father is It's rich.

And not just rich meaning dense and full and powerful, but rich in

mercy, rich in love for his children.

It is deep and pure and everlasting.

Those are descriptors that fit with our Father in heaven

and the Savior Jesus Christ.

And I think Paul's trying to show that contrast.

So he's helping us understand the adversary is real and he's a force

to be reckoned with to some degree.

But here's who you have on your side.

Someone who is rich in mercy.

I just think the contrast of his language is powerful.

If you look in 5, he talks about what, what this advocate

on our side can do for us.

Even when we were dead in sins, hath quickened us together with Christ.

By grace, ye are saved, and hath raised us up together, and made us sit together

in heavenly places in Christ Jesus.

This is, I think, Paul's emphasis on the value of the Gentiles.

Remember, Paul is someone who came to preach to the Gentiles.

And most people think, at least the scholars I read, think that his audience

in this case is not so much people who were Jews who have converted to

Christianity, but people who were Gentiles who have converted to Christianity.

And I think what he's saying is, God is our center point.

He's what brought us all together.

Me as a sinner, you know, remember, Paul is somebody who worked against

Christianity and fought against, when he was Saul, fought against good.

So he, as a sinner, is coming to the table.

And those who are Gentiles who had no knowledge of the truth and were

worshiping pagan gods or were way off course, they get to come to the table.

And he's saying like, he brings us all together.

In fact, this center point for all people is a belief in Jesus Christ, because every

single one of us, no matter who we are or what our past is or how we were raised,

we all need the grace of the Savior.

So that's where he's going to go next.

It just can get a little bit confusing in this next block of

verses because it talks a lot about grace and that we are saved by grace.

You just want to make sure you give this its full, full context because I think

the Savior himself taught about grace.

We believe, like we've talked about the last few weeks, that absolutely the

source of all salvation is Jesus Christ.

It is not our works.

It is not our, the laws of Moses.

It is, it is through the Savior that we have access to grace and to salvation.

But the Savior himself taught about works.

He taught about being baptized, that that is something we must do, that he

himself did and condescended and gave us an example so that we could follow it.

He taught about Choosing to get on this covenant path and repenting and doing

things that if we love him, we'll keep his commandments that there's works involved

in all these, but there's, I think it's actually written in this block of verses.

You just have to read them together.

So, for example, in eight, he says, I think you have to read eight all the

way through 10 together for by grace.

You are saved through faith and that not of yourselves.

It is the gift of God, not of works, lest any man should boast.

So this makes it feel like it's just grace that gets you through,

unless you read 10 with it.

And then you start to get a fuller picture.

It says, for we are his workmanship created in Christ Jesus unto good

works, which God has before ordained that we should walk in them.

He wants both right.

Our, like we talked about last week with that fire and the match, our part.

matters to the Lord.

There's a great quote from President Oaks.

In fact, you can go read the full talk where he talks about how

we believe in what we believe.

In fact, he even points out what other Christian faiths think we

believe and how we should stand up for what is true because he essentially

says that we believe in both.

I only wrote a fraction of it in my margins, but he says to be

cleansed, meaning to be cleansed by the Savior, to access that grace.

It's conditioned on our faith, which must be manifested by obedience

to commandments, like repent, be baptized, receive the Holy Ghost.

All those things are at play.

We need faith, and we need faith that is evidenced by our

obedience to his commandments.

That's, that's how we find the balance between them.

But go and read his talk and you'll get a lot more out of it.

I do love what you see in 14.

This is when Paul's trying to help them see That he's,

they're all being pulled in.

To me, it's, Paul as an apostle is someone who has heard the

symphony in its fullness.

You know, we've talked about this a few times, that in God's symphony,

he calls certain instruments into the playing at different points of time.

For a season, the Jews and the Gentiles were not playing in

this orchestra at the same time.

There was a division occurring.

The Jews have been playing for a season and now it's the time of the

Gentiles to add in their instruments into this beautiful, rich sound.

And that's what Paul's going to try and help them see.

He's like, as an apostle, I think Paul has heard the music and he

may even know a few measures ahead.

And he's saying, look at what is coming.

Look at what he's done so far to bring us all together.

So that's what he says in 14.

For he is our peace.

who hath made both one, and hath broken down the middle wall of

partition between us, having abolished in his flesh the enmity, even the

law of commandments contained in ordinances, for to make in himself of

twain one new man, so making peace.

This is what Christ does.

He breaks down barriers.

Barriers between Jew and Gentile, barriers between us and God.

If you look in the footnotes, you can see that there's reference

to the veil when you talk about these walls being broken down.

I just...

I think it's a powerful promise.

Right.

It was interesting, interesting to me to think about the opposite.

You know, when you think about, for example, I mean, it's October, you guys.

So if you think about like a haunted house, what makes a haunted house

scary is that there are all these partitions, there are all these walls

and corners and I can't see around the corner, and I don't know what's

coming at me, and I have to walk into these small rooms, and I feel trapped.

Like, that's panic and fear to me, to be in those kind of walled off spaces.

I think it's why when we walk into a house that we want to, like,

purchase, my first instinct is like, maybe we could tear that wall down.

Maybe we could tear that wall down, because I just want the light to

flood in and have a big open space.

That's the gospel of Jesus Christ, you guys.

His gospel is a beautiful, transparent, Open gospel.

There is nothing that is withheld from you.

There are no mysteries that you can't access.

This is his promise.

He says, you have all before you, if you choose it.

What I love is he teaches us how we can access it in the,

in the subsequent verses.

So for example, he recommends in 16 that we be reconciled.

That's one big way I can, I can take advantage of these knockdown walls.

As I come closer to Jesus Christ, I can see more clearly where I was

afraid and isolated before he can knock down barriers and open up space.

Another way is what you see in 19.

Now therefore ye are no more strangers and foreigners but fellow citizens with

the saints and of the household of God.

I can...

step into this big, open space as I find community with people who are not like me.

People who have different lifestyles and different backgrounds.

I mean, think how different Paul is from these Gentile converts.

He is someone who was raised a Jew as a Pharisee.

He kept every law of Moses.

He worked against the Christian faith.

Like, he is coming from a very different point than these Gentile converts are.

And he's saying, you know what brings us together?

This faith in Christ, because I need salvation and you need salvation

and none of us can get there by ourselves, so we need the Savior.

That's what unites all of us.

Then a big one that he offers for how to appreciate and see this big

open gospel is what you see in 20.

And are built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ

himself being the chief cornerstone.

In whom all the building fitly framed together groweth unto

a holy temple in the Lord.

A big way that we have access to this open, transparent understanding of

who God is and how he feels about us is through prophets and apostles.

When we align ourselves with them, we, walls knock down.

We see ourselves more fully.

That's one of the things I love about conferences and

the temple for that matter.

I feel like it's a time when we Break down those walls.

So remember how we've talked about in the past, I love that visual

of seeing like an old house.

And like my, if I look at myself, I almost see myself as an old

house that has like, in my mortal world, I'm in this middle room.

And then there's a room over here, that's my premortal world.

And there's a room over here, that's my future.

And what What coming to conference and going to the temple does is

it knocks those walls down, or at least puts big holes in them.

You know, like you can almost picture a sledgehammer coming and knocking the

wall down to understand who you were in the pre existence, to get a better

feel for what God planned for you.

When you knock this other wall down about who I can become I feel like that's what

prophets and apostles do they teach me Who I can become and why it's worth the

wrestle to fight for my conversion here.

You know, like that's God's gospel is one of knocking down barriers so that

we can see clearly and fully Who he is and why he loves us as much as he does.

That's Paul's invitation.

I love the way it ends in 22.

In whom ye also are builded together for inhabitation of God through the Spirit.

When we take all those components and fit them together.

In fact, I love that term like fitly framed together.

It reminds me of Legos.

You know, like they're designed to click into place and to be solid.

When we take all those components and all those All that potential,

we have an opportunity to create a habitation for God.

The conversion of my heart creates a space for God to dwell and to teach me

and to help me see him even more clearly.

We do it all through the Spirit, and I feel like you get all of that in verse 22.

Most of the scholars I read said that Paul probably wrote this epistle to the

Ephesians from house arrest, while he was awaiting his chance to have trial in Rome.

That's where this message went out, but I don't think that's what he's referring to.

And one when he calls himself a prisoner, because he calls himself

a prisoner of Jesus Christ.

To me, I think that's Paul's talking about the state of his heart.

The same way when Peter was approached by the Savior who said,

you know, will you also go away?

And Peter said, Lord, to whom would we go?

Like, I think this is Paul saying, like, I am bound to Jesus Christ.

This is something that I am, I am a prisoner of my testimony.

Like, I can't go anywhere else.

I know the truth and here I, here I will stay.

I think that's his message.

What I love is where he goes next.

It's actually the same thing we hear in conference.

Basically, Paul, as an apostle, is a seer, right?

He is someone who sees things when the Lord is going to teach something

new, especially a great big mystery like the Jews and the Gentiles

are going to be fellow heirs.

They're going to be together in their worship.

That's big new doctrine.

When that comes to the earth, it will come through prophets and apostles.

That's why we saw it go through Peter and his vision of the

sheep with the animals on it.

And then it comes.

also in revelation to Paul.

I think both of them receive this revelation.

They just receive it in different ways.

So Paul's going to reaffirm that knowledge that he has about this mystery.

What I love about the way it's phrased in chapter three is that

Paul also invites us to know.

He especially invites his readers to know that this in fact is true.

So this is how he says it in three.

How that by revelation he made known unto me the mystery as I

wrote afore in a few words, whereby when ye read ye may understand my

knowledge in the mystery of Christ.

Isn't that exactly what our apostles ask us to do today when

we hear their words at conference?

We hear that they are seers and this is the revelation that Lord, the

Lord wants us to know and then we're supposed to go home and settle it in

our hearts, get our own testimony that that's true for us and for our families.

So that we can move forward in faith altogether.

And then in five, he talks about how this process happened, which in other

ages was not made known unto the sons of men, and it is now revealed unto his

holy apostles and the prophets by the spirit that the Gentiles should be fellow

heirs and of the same body and partakers of his promise in Christ by the gospel,

this is big revolutionary doctrine that Jews and Gentiles are both fellow heirs.

What I particularly love about this is I think he's saying the Gentiles

are not getting some watered down version or what's left over after the

Jews have had their pick of salvation.

Like that's not the gospel.

I am a daughter of, there's 10 in my family.

My parents had 10 kids and there are seven girls right in a row.

I am the seventh.

So you guys, I know, hand me down, like I, I understand the desire to have.

something that is new and fresh and just yours.

And I think what Paul's trying to teach these saints is like, what you're

getting is not a hand me down gospel.

It's not, you're not getting what's left over.

You are fellow heirs with the Jews.

You are children of the promise, just like all those who are

literal descendants of Abraham.

You get all those blessings and all that potential.

You also have all the same responsibilities, right?

When you come into the covenant, you have the same responsibility to let

his light shine out to the world and to take the gospel to all places and

all those things come bundled together.

But I think what he's saying is like, take pride in the fact

that you are a fellow heir.

When you come into this covenant, you are not a second class citizen.

In fact, there are no.

Second class citizens, Paul can testify of that because he is someone who

could say something similar, right?

He's someone who worked against the church.

He's someone who has some, you know, sin in his past.

And he's like, I have this settled in my heart that I am

not a second class citizen.

I, I came to this covenant.

I've gone through the repentance process and here's where I am.

We are all equal inheritors as we choose to follow him.

I just think that's a powerful promise.

Then he talks about what he's going to teach them.

This to me is Paul defending his mission.

I imagine there were some who questioned if Paul wanted this

mission, to teach the Gentiles.

Remember the children of Israel saw the Gentiles as unclean and someone you

separated from for generations of time.

So for Paul to be assigned to that mission would have been

off putting to a lot of people.

And this is Paul saying like, Oh, I love my mission.

I just, this is how I read it.

He says in eight unto me, who am less than the least of all

saints is this grace given.

Like I am the lowest of the low.

That's his humble stance.

Like, and look at what.

Look at the mission that I got.

This is what he says, that I should preach among the Gentiles, the

unsearchable riches of Christ.

And to make all men see is the fellowship of the mystery, which from the beginning

of the world has been hidden God, who created all things by Jesus Christ.

The reason I think Paul loves his mission to the Gentiles is because

he gets to teach truths that are new.

You know, I'm sure he would have loved mission to the Jews as well, but I think

there's something different when you speak to the Jews who've been raised Looking

forward to a messiah who've been raised with lots of ceremony and traditions

that point your eyes towards a savior who would come and redeem his people.

There are already an understanding there.

When you go to someone like the Gentiles who've worshipped pagan gods and who have

all these different false traditions that have clouded their view of what deity is.

You get to, like, break open truth to help them see you are a child of God.

In fact, you are going to grow up to be like God.

You are divine and important and that's new, powerful doctrine.

I think it's probably the same thing that the sons of Mosiah would have

said about preaching to the Lamanites.

You know, the Lamanites who had separated from the Nephites and had all these false

traditions and false understandings, and when, when the sons of Mosiah

got to teach them, it was like this.

You know, light pierced the darkness and they could see for the first

time who they were, who God really is, what his nature is and how

they fit in this great big plan.

That's an incredible mission to have.

And so Paul is like, I am, I am thrilled to be here.

I am unworthy, but I am thrilled to be here.

I just think that's his stance.

He loves to open up these mysteries to people who've never

heard anything like it before.

It's something I think a lot of us look forward to in the gospel

whenever the gospel goes into, you know, parts of China or other places.

I just think it's going to be this light bursting forth.

So in 12 it says, In whom we have boldness and access with

confidence by the faith of him.

Wherefore, I desire that ye faint not at my tribulations

for you, which is your glory.

Paul's mission to the Gentiles is causing him to be in prison, you

know, that he's teaching these things is getting him into trouble.

And he's saying, don't worry about that.

I am, I am overjoyed that I am here and that I get to do this great work.

He also invites them to come with boldness.

This is the same thing we're going to read in Hebrews, where he talks about

coming boldly to the throne of grace.

It's this invitation to not treat the atonement casually.

I certainly don't think Paul is inviting you to sin on purpose,

knowing that God will fix it later.

You know, he's saying, come boldly.

I know you're coming from different backgrounds.

I know you Feel like you've been separated from the children of Israel all this time

and that you you were different you're the same come boldly ask for the help

you need use the power of the Atonement in your everyday life and Watch what

the Lord can do with you and then in the next little chunk of verses He talks

about what to ask for once you get there.

This is to me Sometimes I think because we teach the Atonement the way we do it's

it sounds almost like hard to to access.

It's so big and so vast that it's hard to know what to do with it.

And this is Paul's practical tips on how to put the atonement

at work in their lives.

So if you see in 16 he says that you he would grant unto you according to the

riches of his glory to be strengthened with might by his spirit in the inner man.

That's one of the ways we can access the gift of the atonement of Jesus

Christ is to say I'm struggling with My inner man, there are temptations and

weaknesses in me that I want to change.

I can access the atonement of Jesus Christ I can come boldly to the throne

of grace and say I need help here.

I'm struggling to do this on my own Please help me to overcome these weaknesses

and Paul's witnessing that he can help you the atonement is can be used in

that way 17 he gives you another angle He says that Christ may dwell in your

hearts by faith that ye being rooted and grounded in love This is Paul

saying Another thing you can do when you come boldly to the throne of grace

is to ask that he be in your heart that you're Rooted and grounded in his love.

I love that phrasing especially because I was just studying recently Jacob 5 You

know I was teaching my YSAs about this the idea of being rooted is not so much

like he talks about how he like you expose the roots how you Dig about the roots.

And one of the things I learned was that that process of digging about the

roots is so that the roots grow down.

Instead of spreading wide, they grow down and deep into the soil.

They're rooted deeper.

That's what I think he's inviting them to do.

He's saying one of the ways you can come to the Lord and use the atonement of Jesus

Christ is to say, I want my heart rooted.

I want to trust in you better.

I want to richly and fully.

Can the atonement help me there?

And what Paul's saying is, yes, that's what it's for.

Come boldly to the throne of grace and ask for your heart

to be rooted in this gospel.

18, he gives you another one.

May be able to comprehend with all saints what is the breadth and length and

depth and height, and then it continues in 19, and to know the love of Christ

which passeth knowledge that ye may be filled with all fullness of God.

I can come boldly to the throne of grace so that I can know the breadth and

depth and expanse of the love of God.

If I feel insecure in my relationship to God, or I feel like He doesn't see me, or

He doesn't know my trials, or He doesn't understand, He's not giving me the relief

I want, I can come boldly to the throne of grace and say, I need to feel your love.

I need to understand it better.

I need depth to who you are.

I need to know that and feel that.

I really like that, because sometimes I feel like we almost...

Wait passively for that to happen to us.

What Paul's inviting you to do is, you know, come and ask for it.

You know, the same way Moroni taught us that we could come

and ask for the gift of charity.

If we're struggling to love our fellow men the way the Lord wants us to,

because of circumstances and agency and that's hard, you can actually

ask for that gift to be given to you.

I think that's what Paul's saying.

Don't wait until you feel loved by God.

Go to God and say, I need to use the atonement of Jesus Christ

to help me feel God's love.

Feel the depth of it, the breadth of it.

I want to understand it.

I also really love how he ends that verse where he talks about that you might be

filled with all the fullness of God.

So I know I've used this quote so many times, but it's one of my, you know,

like I go to it over and over again.

That quote from Elder Maxwell, where he talks about that the cavity that

suffering carves into our heart will one day be the receptacle of joy.

Sometimes I see us all as these people who have these big cavities, you know, carved

out of us, these craters of rough places.

And the promise is that the Savior, especially through the

Atonement, the gift that He gives us, that He can fill all those.

cavities.

He can fill all those empty carved out places that suffering created

and he will fill them with joy.

He, that's what you can come boldly to the throne of grace with.

I have these holes in me.

I have this, this carved out part of me because of this pain or because of

these choices of others or my choices in the past, there are these holes

and you can come to the throne of grace and say, could you fill them?

And what he promises is he's not going to fill them with what was there before.

He's going to fill them with what will give you joy and peace and rest.

I think that's one of the.

Most beautiful parts of coming boldly to the throne of grace

is that you always walk away.

If you trust him, you will come away full.

And then in 20.

Now unto him that is able to do exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or think

according to the power that worketh in us.

There's this incredible talk from Matthew Holland that I loved this week.

It talks a lot about suffering and trusting in God.

And he referenced this verse where he said he can do exceedingly abundant things.

Better than you can think, better than you can ask, like he can give you far

more than you can even anticipate.

Come boldly to his throne and ask for the grace you need.

This week in my institute class we were talking about 3rd Nephi

and when the Savior comes.

And I found it really fascinating that one of the very first things he does when he

comes is he teaches about baptism and he asks them to have no more disputations.

He basically says, Here's the direction.

It's very clear.

Let me tell you how this is going to go.

And now I want you to have no more contention, no more disputation.

I think his motivation is the same as what Paul is trying to teach here in

Ephesians four, that there is one gospel there, especially in Paul's day, there

are going to be countless splintering off.

groups, right?

People who take a portion of the gospel of Christ and cater it to their desires.

And that's where you're gonna get all these fractions of the gospel

that become different churches.

And what Paul's trying to get across is, no, there is one.

All of us need to come to be one, not split away.

So that's what he says in three.

Endeavoring to keep the unity of the spirit in the bond of peace, there

is one body, one spirit, even as year 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 in you all, but unto every one of us is given grace according

to the measure of the gift of Christ.

Just like you saw in the previous chapters, Christ is that central figure.

He is why we all have one gospel, one faith, one spirit,

because we all need His grace.

And the only way to access His grace is to abide by His gospel,

to follow His commandments.

That's what He's trying to help them understand.

The don't, Don't section off.

Don't follow after certain apostles.

Don't stay focused on this one gospel.

And then he teaches us a little bit more about Christ.

So he says in 8 and 9, Wherefore he saith, when he ascended up on high, he led

captivity captive and gave gifts unto men.

And now that he ascended, what is it that he also descended first into the lower

parts of the earth that he might fill all things his way see by the end of 11.

I think this is similar to what we read in the Book of Mormon,

where they talk about him.

Ascending and descending that God condescended to come among men.

In fact, one of the things I love about reading through Nephi this

week is you see condescension in his return visits to the Americas too.

I always think of him condescending when he was born and being baptized

and all those things, but I think it's interesting that when he comes back to

visit the Nephites, he also condescends.

His immediate...

stance to them is come and feel me.

Come touch my wounds one by one.

Come and come close to me.

I think that's a condescension.

You know, that's him saying like, you can handle me.

You can be right here.

That's what Paul's teaching of.

He is someone who has suffered all things so that he can sucker you so that he

can be the savior that You specifically need we can access his grace and then

he talks about How we can tap into that understanding a big piece of it

comes from the structure of the church So that's what you're gonna see in the

next few verses like at 11 It says and he gave some apostles and some prophets

and some evangelists and some pastors and some teachers for the perfecting of

the Saints for the work of the ministry for the edifying of the body of Christ

till we all come in unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God

unto a perfect man unto the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ

What I like about this is I feel like he's basically describing the scaffolding

that the church is and We also need not just our one on one relationship

with the Savior, but we need that that scaffolding We need the structure of the

church to come and gather as Saints that we're gonna learn and gain pieces of our

testimony and gain understandings about Jesus Christ through our connections

that we have at church, you know through the different leaders you have and The

guidance you get and the lessons you hear you'll get a fuller picture of

who Christ is through that structure.

I just think we have to remember that the structure isn't the gospel.

There's a great talk from Sister Roberto about this, where she basically, she

used the example of Relief Society, and she said, Relief Society isn't

a class that we go to on Sunday.

Relief Society is us.

It's covenant keeping women who are in this together and who

are followers of Jesus Christ.

Like, you can go and read her full quote in the notes, but I think

that's, that's what the gospel is.

That's what the church is.

It's this scaffolding around the family.

I think it's, President Benson who said it that way, but he basically said

the church is the structure We need to build eternal families and at some point

We won't need this church structure that we currently have right now that

that won't be around forever But the family stays forever and you kind of

need both in this mortal fallen world.

So I think you'll see a piece of that in chapter four.

This, this need for the ecclesiastical structure that helps

us create things that are eternal.

So when you look in 15 it says, but speaking the truth in love may grow up

unto him in all things, which is the head, even Christ, from whom the whole

body fitly joined together and compacted by that which every joint supply.

To me, this is him talking about the various callings and positions

that we all, when we perform our best efforts in our callings, we are

this fitly framed together building.

You know, it is something that because we are all doing our part,

we are knit, we are tight there.

I was, as I was studying for object lessons, I really wanted to do some

wood joints, you know, like a dovetail joint or a box joint, or those different

joints that you can do to show that when things are Fitly framed together.

There is like structural integrity there.

It was too complicated to make one out of paper I found, but that, that's

the visual that comes into my mind.

In fact, I saw this cool, somebody calls it a Japanese joint.

I'm not sure why it has that reference, but there were these three pieces

of wood that were cut in a certain way that as you tapped one, all

three of them, joined together.

It was just this really amazing thing to watch, but I think that's the gospel.

As we each do our part and serve in our callings and, you know, do the

best we can where we are, the whole body of Christ becomes joined together.

That's why I love what it says in the middle of 16, that as we come

together and according to the joint that, sorry, for whom the whole body

fitly joined together and compacted by that which every joint supplieth.

As we each come together in our areas, we become.

Compressed and tight and strong, especially as we do it on this

foundation of prophets and apostles with Christ as that chief

cornerstone, it is a strong building.

And that's what he says in 17, This I say therefore and testify in the Lord

that ye henceforth walk not as other Gentiles walk in the vanity of the mind.

He's saying, you're gonna, in order to be a part of this structure,

you've got to set all that old self down and pick up something new.

So if you look in 22, that you put off concerning the former conversion

of the old man, which is corrupt according to the deceitful lust and

be renewed in the spirit of your mind.

This is his invitation to repentance.

What I really like.

So if you look from 24 to 32, for me, this is almost like for the strength

of the youth, but in New Testament because he's basically saying like,

here's the ways you can do that.

Putting off the natural man is not this giant project you do all at once.

It is.

A whole bunch of small daily choices to repent and turn

to God, to see yourself anew.

And that's, he gives you some guidance on those.

So for example, in 24 he says, And that ye put on the new man,

which after God is created in righteousness and true holiness.

You're not just putting away what you used to be, you're putting on something better.

You're putting on strength.

It's that same verb choice that means like to endow, to put on things.

And then he tells you how in small little ways.

So 25, for example, he encourages you to be honest.

What I think is interesting is in all these verses, like these next

five or six verses, he'll tell you to put down something, an old

habit and pick up something new.

And I think there's power in that guidance, especially as a parent,

that it's one thing to ask our kids to stop doing something that we know

is destructive for them, either for their testimony or them physically.

But there needs to be something that they pick up in the process.

They need to pick up something new and good that will fill that space.

And you'll see that pattern in Paul.

So he says, Wherefore putting away lying, put down lying, and speak

every man truth with his neighbor, for we are members one to another.

Same pattern in 26, be angry and sin not.

If you look in Joseph Smith's translation, you can get a

better understanding of that.

He's saying, don't get angry, don't let the sun go down on your wrath,

neither give place to the devil.

Then in 28, let him that stole, steal no more.

Set down that habit of taking things that are not yours, or coveting things

that are not yours, and pick up labor.

Let him labor, working with his hands, the thing which is good, that he

may have to give him that need it.

If you want to be able to have a charitable heart, you have to work.

Like, you need to have things that you can offer to this equation.

So that's what the invitation is, like, set down coveting that thing

that causes so many sins, that causes you to steal and to want things

that aren't yours and to look after other people's stuff and, and work.

And then you'll have things that you can give.

I think it's just this constant trade off of, Set down this part of the

natural man and pick up this renewed version, this righteous version, and

see what the Lord can do with that.

29.

Let no corrupt communication proceed out of your mouth.

Set down all the negative things you used to say, and the gossip, and the lies, and

the profanities, and the whatever it was.

Set all that down.

And, but that which is good to the use of edifying, that it may

minister grace unto the hearers.

This is why we pick up the ability to speak kindly.

Remember, President Nelson talked about this in the last conference, where we need

to give people the benefit of the doubt.

We need to speak as kindly as we can about people.

The reason we do that is not just so that we become a better person, but the result

is what we see at the end of 29, that it may minister grace unto the hearers.

It's a way for grace to flow to other people when we choose to be

generous and kind with our words.

And then he kind of wraps it all up in 31 and 32.

Let all bitterness and wrath and anger and clamor and evil speaking

be put away from you with all malice.

And be ye kind one to another, tenderhearted, forgiving

one another, even as God for Christ's sake hath forgiven you.

Set down all those negative natural man emotions one day at a time.

You know, just do a little bit better today than you did yesterday and be kind.

Don't just set down old habits.

Pick up these new ones.

Be kind, be forgiving, be tender hearted.

As you do that, you get a better picture of how Christ feels about you.

That's his promise.

In chapter 5,

Paul continues that for strength of the youth message where

we can change the inner man.

And then he's gonna expand it to be how we can find strength.

Through families through households.

So you can see both of those in chapter 5 where it begins in one He says be

there for followers of God as dear children and walk in love as Christ

Also hath loved us and hath given himself for us as an offering and a

sacrifice to God for a sweet smelling saver This actually is gonna set the

precedent for the rest of the chapter.

He's basically inviting us to show our love through sacrifice There's this great

devotional from Anthony Sweat where he talked about meeting his wife for the

first time and when they were dating and he asked her what the definition of love

was and she said she thinks it's sacrifice and that made him love her all the more.

I think that's what you feel in this, throughout this chapter, that as you

choose to sacrifice and to willingly set down these Natural man parts of you.

You show love for God.

You show an appreciation for how he sacrificed for you.

It is a, it is something that ties you to him.

And then he tells you how to do it in four.

Neither filthiness nor foolish talking nor jesting which are not

convenient but rather giving of thanks.

This is his same guidance about how to interact with your fellow men.

What I like about this one is I really think that showing gratitude

is like an antidote to coveting.

Remember how we talked about in the Old Testament how coveting is sort of the

root of so many other sins that if I just stop looking at other people's stuff and

other people's talents and other people's possessions, I will I won't steal.

I won't commit adultery.

I won't, like, there's so many other sins.

I won't lie.

I won't cheat.

All those things kind of feed off of that coveting.

I think showing gratitude for what you've been given, especially the spiritual

things you've been given, the forgiveness you've been extended, the mercy you've

been granted, it, it is an antidote that as soon as it comes into the bloodstream,

it, it neutralizes all of those coveting feelings and helps you come to him.

That's why I think gratitude is so pivotal.

I think it's why President Nelson taught us about it during COVID.

It is a way for us to stop looking out and instead have peace within.

Paul says the same thing.

In 8, he says, For ye were sometimes darkness, but now are

ye, now are ye light in the Lord.

Walk as children of the light.

To me, this is for the strength of the youth as well.

He's saying these are the old ways, the old tendencies in you.

This is not you.

This mortal part of you is not you.

Remember, he knocks down the walls so that both youth and

adults can see themselves fully.

That you are not this mortal shell.

You are, this is a piece of who you are, but you are much bigger and more vast.

And that's what he's saying.

Walk as children of the light.

You know more.

You understand better.

So, Act in that way and then 11 and have no fellowship with the unfruitful works

of darkness, but rather reprove them to me This is Paul's invitation to not

just walk away from what is evil, but to stand up against it Like you don't have

to just shy away from hard conversations.

You can stand boldly and declare truth I think you have to do it compassionately I

think you have to do it with sensitivity to the spirit to know boundaries, but

you should stand for what you believe and In that process often can help others

along the way wills had some interesting experiences with this lately where he's

he's had some debates at school About his beliefs and where he stands and

it's been powerful to see him Wrestle through those and try to find answers.

And I think that's what happens when you stand up for what you know, you don't

have to know all things to stand boldly.

You just have to have a stance of like, this is how I know, this is what I know.

And there's a lot more, I don't know, but this is what I know so far.

And I think there's, I think other people hearing that stance

has a big impact on hearts.

And that's his invitation.

When you flip the page, you see his guidance about Christ.

I love in 14, he says, Wherefore he saith, Awake thou that sleepest,

and arise from the dead, and Christ shall give thee light.

That's his invitation, is there is no end to the fullness that Christ can give you.

Stand up, wake up, and get back in this game.

Like, get back on this track to learn and, you know, walk

further down this covenant path.

I do love the phrase he uses in 16.

He says, Redeeming the time because the days are evil.

It's redeeming the time.

I thought was kind of fascinating.

It's this idea of how can I use the time as that I have

left to the best of my ability.

Oftentimes I'm looking at my week or my month or even my year and saying

like, where do you need me the most?

What's the best way to redeem my time?

I think we have to constantly be asking that.

Where are my priorities supposed to be?

How do you need my time?

Because I will consecrate it to you.

Show me where I need to, how I can use my time.

Best, and that's what Paul invites them to do.

And then in 21, submitting yourselves one to another in the fear of God.

That's sacrifice.

That's love.

It's a willful submission, taking my comforts and putting someone

else's comfort ahead of them.

I like focusing on that verse first before you go into the second half of

chapter five, because the second half is where you see guidance about families

and that wives should submit to husbands and husbands should love their wives.

And it can get really sticky.

I put a lot of things in the notes because of the word choices in

Paul's day to our modern ears.

It feels harsh, or it feels off putting, maybe is the right word for it.

But I really think what he's inviting both husbands and wives to do is to sacrifice.

To make sacrifices to show your love to others.

Remember, that's how he's couched this.

He's talked about it with the Savior and how he offered himself as a

sacrifice to show his love for us and that we, as husbands and wives, should

do the same thing for each other.

We should make sacrifices and evidence our love for each other.

And he gives directions to both wives and husbands.

You can go in the notes and learn more about that.

But I just think this is his way of saying we are expanding our ability

to be strong in the face of adversity.

Where in the last couple chapters, he's focused on the inner man and how we can

make daily choices to come closer to God.

Now he's saying you're not alone in this.

In addition to prophets and apostles, you also have each other.

He placed us in families.

on purpose so that we could strengthen each other and sacrifice for each other

and come to know God in the process of sacrificing our comfort for someone

else so that there can be joy and happiness in another person's life.

That's what family is all about.

So I feel like you see a lot of that at the end of chapter five.

He's going to continue that theme of finding strength in a group in a family

in particular in chapter 6 because he'll Talk about how no matter what

station we're in in a household in this household of faith We need to do our

best to follow the teachings of God So for example in one he talks to children

children obey your parents if this family unit is going to be strong There needs

to be obedience and there needs to be humility to learn so children obey your

parents Honor thy father and thy mother it talks about how that will There is

an attached blessing to that commandment that your days will be long in the land.

So, that gives our family...

structural integrity when children honor their parents and obey.

You also see an invitation to, for parents to take care of each other.

I love in four, it says, and ye fathers provoke not your children

to wrath, but bring them up in the nurture and admonition of the Lord.

This is an invitation to be a certain kind of father, right?

It's a father that admonishes, but that also nurtures.

Sometimes I think we see nurturing as a female word exclusively.

And I think this is an invitation to be both.

In fact, one of the things I loved is that when I was studying in Enos

this week, that same phrase comes up.

This is how he refers to his dad, Jacob, that he is someone who was nurturing and

admonished him in the ways of the Lord.

That's the kind of dad.

We should seek for right a Jacob to Enos kind of father situation because

in that Relationship when Enos needs help, it's his father's words that come

to mind It's his father's teachings that come back to his mind the same

way Alma the younger when he was Point of struggle his father's words came to

his mind That's the kind of dads we're seeking and I think he guides you there

in verse 4 then he talks to servants and masters This is something that's

really specific to Paul's day, right?

Because in the Greco Roman world like 20 percent of the population was in servitude

of some kind it wasn't necessarily based on race it was just how their

society and economy worked and Basically what his advice is is no matter which

situation you're in Choose to be good.

I like to this when you think back on Joseph in Egypt So remember the story

of Joseph with his brothers and his brother Selim and he goes through all

these different stages He's in Potiphar's house and he's a servant and he's in

prison for a while And he's he's right next to Pharaoh for a while and no

matter what circumstance he's in he's the same man He's the same, he has the same

character, the same guideposts in his life, no matter what his situation is.

In prison, he helps people by interpreting dreams.

When he's finally out of prison, he helps people, he, when he's up on the

throne and his brothers come and they don't recognize him and they ask for

food, he helps them, he forgives them.

He has the same heart, no matter what his circumstances are.

And I think that's Paul's big message in this chapter.

Whether you're a child, or a parent, or a servant, or a master, whatever

your circumstances are, be good.

Listen to the promptings that you're getting to come closer to Christ,

and in your circumstances, no matter what they are, He can help you.

The same way, no matter what Joseph's circumstances were, he

could advance in his connection to God, and in his peace and his joy.

That was not based on his circumstances.

It was based on his focus.

So that's, I think, where he's going.

The second half of Ephesians 6 is the armor of God.

And there's a lot of ways to read this.

We cited this in the Doctrine and Covenants together.

I particularly love this, reading it towards fathers.

Maybe this is just my own bias, but I think when you read these verses

and you think about a dad's hopes and goals to defend and protect his

family, not just against physical things coming at them, but spiritual

things that are coming at them.

I just.

Loved visuals that came to mind as I thought of this as guidance to fathers

because he invites you in 11 Well in 10, he says finally my brethren

be strong in the Lord and in the power of his might Put on the whole

armor of God that you may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil.

His invitation is to set down the armor of the world.

Choose to walk away from what you think will make you strong and powerful

and mighty, and instead choose to put on what the Lord recommends.

And then he'll walk you through what those things are.

So in 12, he says, For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but

against principalities, against powers, against rulers of the

darkness of this world, and against spiritual wickedness in high places.

Wherefore, take unto you the whole armor of God, that ye may be able to withstand

in the evil day, and having done all.

to stand.

This is his invitation to do what you can.

You know, the same way we talk about Second Nephi and we say,

like, after all you can do, grace may be saved after all you do.

I think that's kind of the invitation here.

He's saying, like, do all you can to armor yourself up with what God has

offered you in this life with faith and righteousness and steadfastness and All

those things that we're going to talk about when it associates with the armor.

Put all that on and then turn to God and trust that he can take care of the rest.

That he will fill the gaps in your armor as you try to

defend and protect your family.

This is what you need.

So this is where he says in, uh, 14, he starts to break down

the actual pieces of armor.

Stand therefore having your loins girt about with truth and having on

the breastplate of righteousness.

And your feet shod with the preparation of the gospel of peace.

Above all, taking the shield of faith, wherewith ye shall be able to quench all

the fiery darts of the wicked, and take the helmet of salvation and the sword

of the spirit, which is the word of God.

He's asking you to take not a part of the armor.

You don't need just a little bit here and there.

You need the whole armor of God to protect and defend.

In order to do that, you need to take it piece by piece and put it on there.

You can go in the notes and learn more about each of these

specific pieces of armor, but a few things I love about these, I.

First off, I really love the reference to the fiery darts of the adversary.

I think you see this in the Book of Mormon a couple times too.

In fact, when I was teaching my YSAs, we were studying the Book of Mormon.

We were talking about the fiery darts and we talked about why it's a dart, you

know, like I, and I don't know the exact answer, but here's my interpretation.

When I think about fiery darts, I think of You know in the Indiana Jones movies

where they're, they'll be like this jungle background and these little tiny darts

come out of nowhere and they'll hit like the back of their neck and they think

it's a mosquito or something and they just like swat it away and they don't realize

in the moment that there's like this poison coursing through their veins that's

this slow moving poison and then within you know 10 or 20 steps they drop down.

That's what I think of when I think of The fiery darts of the adversary.

He's saying like the, I really feel like these are references to doubt,

to despair, to discouragement, all those heavy tactics of the adversary

that he tries to hit us with.

And what his promises is, if you use the shield of faith, you can quench them.

Meaning it's almost this.

Antidote like property.

When you use faith, when you build up your ability to believe in Christ

and to actively move forward, then you are able to quench those darts.

Almost like an inoculation of sorts, or an antidote that gets injected into

you after you get those fiery darts of doubt and despair and discouragement.

It is something that will...

that will neutralize all those effects.

I just think that's a powerful understanding because I don't think

we can avoid all the fiery darts.

I think the shield of faith helps us avoid a lot of them, but some will come out

of nowhere and come out of left field.

And as we continually increase our faith, we have this promise that it will quench

whatever managed to get through our armor, whatever doubt or discouragement

or despair worked its way into our heart.

The promises as you increase in faith.

It will be quenched by, by your faith.

I just think there's power in that promise.

I also really love where he goes next.

First, he talks about the sword, you know, the only offensive weapon, like

we talked about in the Doctrine and Covenants when we made those swords.

I just think this is part of the reason why we made the Discipleship Dojo,

because I really see the sword of truth as something that is That's the only

offensive weapon the Savior needs and he has such a sharp sword that like

a samurai he can like slice through.

Remember when we were talking about his fruit ninja abilities to like

slice through the lies or the hypocrisy or the false doctrine that You know,

the scribes and the pharisees would throw at him, like, he could just

slice through it with truth to the point where he didn't even seem fazed

like a great samurai does in a movie.

That's, that's his imitation.

He's like, as a valiant man of God.

And again, I think all these apply to women as well, but

I love the visual of fathers.

If you're trying to defend your family, what you need more than

anything else is a sword of truth.

You need to know the gospel, and you need to know it solidly, so that you can

slice through all that is coming at you.

I think that's his invitation, to be that kind of...

Be that kind of valiant disciple of Christ who knows solidly what he believes

and why so that he can slice through and then I Love what you get in 18

because to me, this is the last piece of the armor He says praying always

with all prayer and supplication in the spirit and watching thereunto with all

perseverance and supplication for all Saints the last piece of armor similar

to what we see with the stripling warriors and Captain Moroni when he puts

on his armor and goes out to you know, share the title of Liberty he Praise.

The sons of Helaman pray for help.

All you can do is putting on all these parts, right?

Putting on the breastplate of righteousness, holding up that sword

of truth, doing all you can, and then you pray for him to fill the gaps.

Wherever I am vulnerable, wherever I am weak, I need your help.

Help me.

What I love is the armor comes from God, too.

So it's not like I got all this armor and did it myself and now

I need God to fill in the gaps.

What I'm saying is From you, I got all this strength.

I got all this truth.

I got all this understanding and this preparation.

And now I also need you to fill in wherever I am still vulnerable.

So they pray for help, and then they watch.

In fact, at the end of 18 when he says, he watches with all perseverance

and supplication for all saints.

His stance is that once you've armored up and you've done all you can and you've

prayed for help, you watch steadfastly.

You don't take your eyes off the targets.

You don't take your eyes off the perimeter.

You watch, not just for yourself, but for all who are under your care.

Don't you think that just feels like a dad, you know, or maybe

a bishop, or like, that is...

That is their posture.

It's, I can picture that Captain Moroni type image of a man armored up in

the strength of the Lord, praying for strength, and then watching steadfastly

for anything that is coming our way.

I just think there's power in that visual, and I love how it wraps up in 19.

And for me, the utterance may be given unto me, that I may open my mouth boldly

to make known the mystery of the gospel.

Paul, I think, is that armored.

Man, he is, his job is to defend these saints, to protect them from

what is coming, and he is armored.

He has gathered up all these pieces of armor, and he has prayed, and

he is watchful, and now he will let them know what is on the horizon,

and when they need to get ready, and how they need to prepare.

That's his role as an apostle, and so he is, my visual for Paul is now different.

You know, I picture him like a Captain Maroon.

I picture him.

As a vulnerable man in his mortal form, but armored up with.

The strength of God and he promises that it will offer what you need.

So in 23, Peace be to the brethren and the 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.

That's his promise.

When you do all you can, when you've armored up, when you've prayed for

help, when you watch steadfastly, you can have a position of peace.

You can find rest as President Nelson promised.

That's a pretty powerful promise to offer to those who are valiant saints of God.

Welcome back, everybody.

This is the creative side of week 40.

So my goal here, like every week, is to give you three simple, meaningful ideas.

So that you can tie the principles Paul's been teaching in the

verses to our everyday life.

And there's some cool ways to do that.

I'm going to walk you through the preview for those of you who

are watching on YouTube or maybe listening on the free podcast.

And then if you're in the course, I'll take you through each one individually

so that you know how to pull them off in your classes, in your kitchens,

wherever you do these object lessons.

I'll give you the tools, the printables, and the tips you need to.

Pull that off.

But let me give you an introduction.

So you have an idea of where things could go as you're teaching.

First off, since we're at the beginning of a new quarter this week, we are kicking

things off with a focus on our goals.

So once a quarter at the very beginning, we always touch on goals.

Last time we talked about smash cubes.

And this time I'm trying to add to that by giving you an additional tool.

I really liked how Paul taught us about.

How we are chosen by God.

We are foreordained for great things.

I think goals are one of the ways we actually accomplish that.

What gets hard about goals is it's really hard to make time for what matters most.

So the tools I'm providing are some printable planning sheets to help

you take your kids ideas for their goals and then actually get them on

the calendar, put them on their daily plans, their weekly plans, or their

monthly plans, and help them figure out how they can actually accomplish them.

So I'll walk you through that in just a second.

The second one is the most delicious.

So all three, we are going to make these awesome Halloween y caramel apples.

Mostly because I just thought they sounded delicious and I wanted to do

this with my kids, but also because I think they teach us something really

cool about the atonement of Jesus Christ.

This week, Paul's going to teach the people in the

Ephesians that he's teaching.

That they are going to change that this process of daily coming to Christ and

setting down old habits and picking up new good ones, they change from being

what they were to being so much better.

And I actually think that's the exact same process that an apple goes through.

You take something that's pretty good.

Granny Smith apple.

It's not bad.

It's a little tart.

It's not my favorite.

But when you put it through this process of this covering and this coating,

it becomes something so much better.

So we're going to apply the two together and make these awesome

Halloweeny apples at the same time.

The third one is a game that you guys requested to come back.

So since we're talking about the armor of God, again, like we did in the Doctrine

and Covenants, I'm bringing back the game.

It's been updated a little bit and tweaked for the New Testament, but

This is a dice game that your kids are going to play all together.

It is one of the most popular ones from the doctrine covenants course.

Loads of you played it and loved it.

The only thing you need to play this game is the printable itself, which will give

you the box and all the cards inside.

And then also dice.

So you need eight colored dice for each player.

For us, we use a Tenzi pack to get, you know, you'll have

everything you need from that.

If you don't have that many dice on hand, you could also play in teams and

accomplish something really similar.

You just need.

eight colored dice for each team or each player that's playing, and

then you'll be all set for that one.

Gather your supplies, you guys, and let's get started.

Thank you so much for being here, you guys.

That is it for week 40.

Thank you again for your kind words.

I've had so many sweet comments on podcast reviews and course reviews

and even comments on YouTube.

Dorothy, if you're out there watching, just know I appreciate every

single comment you make on YouTube.

Thank you to those of you who've Who said kind things and ask good questions.

I, I have thoroughly enjoyed reading them for those of you who

have questions about this week.

I hope you'll join me on Instagram.

So Monday's at 10 a.

m.

Mountain time.

I pop on for about an hour and we talk through some of the insights I couldn't

quite fit into the podcast or just forgot to say, and then also talk through the

object lessons in a little more detail.

So if you have questions for tips and tricks on.

How to melt your caramel or how to get that perfect mummy.

Look, then come join me on Instagram and I'll walk you through it,

but otherwise enjoy your week.

You guys, I know this is, um, a lot to study.

Six chapters can feel like a lot, but I think there's, there's richness there.

If you need extra help, don't forget about the notes.

There are.

40 plus pages of notes that you can look through to figure out how to

take these principles that Paul is teaching and filter them through

the lens of modern revelation.

On every point, I try to find a prophetic commentary of some kind from prophets,

from apostles, from the women leaders of the church to help you understand

these verses just a little bit better and see how they apply to our day.

So hopefully that will help you.

If you're looking for those, you can find those listed under both the insights video

and the creative video in the course.

It's a Google doc that will link you out so that you can.

Link to all the talks and read them for yourselves, but

hopefully that will help you.

All right, you guys enjoy Ephesians and I will see you next week for week 41.