Earthly and Heavenly Rewards

1. Review Matthew 19:16–30 and write responses to the following questions and tasks:
• What indications can you find that suggest why the young man decided not to follow the Savior? How does Matthew 6:19–24 help explain his choice?
  He was sad and sorrowful when the Savior told him that he needed to sell all his possessions. It helps explain his choice because not only does it tell us how he felt and that he walked away, but that Jesus used the situation as an opportunity to teach his disciples the law of consecration.
• What blessings did the Savior promise to those who make sacrifices to follow Him?
  The last shall be first, we’ll inherit everlasting life, obtain treasures in heaven, enter into the kingdom of God.
• Based on the Savior’s response to Peter, write a paragraph that could help you put the Lord first in your life (see also the additional details in Mark 10:17–31).
  It comes down to being willing to sacrifice everything for God.  Family, homes, lands, everything to receive the kingdom of God and have everlasting life.  In perspective, it should be relatively easy to give up what we have because the reason we have it is because of the blessings that God has given us.  We are indebted to him because he blesses us, so it would be like giving back what’s already his.
2. Review the parable in Matthew 20:1–16 and consider what rewards come to those who serve in the Lord’s kingdom. Complete the chart below, filling in the blanks with information you find in Matthew 20:

The hour the laborers were hired	How much the man agreed to pay	Hours worked	How much they were actually paid
Early in the morning	A penny a day	All day (9+)	A penny
In the third hour	A penny	9	A penny
In the sixth hour	A penny	6	A penny
In the ninth hour	A penny	3	A penny
In the eleventh hour	A penny	1	A penny

3. Respond in writing to each of the following questions:

• What do we learn from this parable about serving in the Lord’s kingdom?
  All are treated equally and receive equal blessings for following the commandments and gospel of Jesus Christ.
• What message of comfort can this parable have for converts to the Church?
  They won’t receive anything less just because they didn’t have the opportunity to partake of the gospel earlier in life.
• What would you tell someone who feels it is unfair for each of the laborers to be paid equally?
  It’s not unfair, because they’ve had the opportunity to work (serve God) for a longer period of time.  They’ve had more time to receive blessings (pay).
  
  **What a blessing it is to know that God is fair and just.  He has mercy and is able to exercise it for our benefit.  No matter when we embrace the gospel and all it has to offer, we will still be benefiting from the Lord and his infinite generosity.

Becoming a Disciple

Read Luke 10:38–42; 11:1–13; 12:13–40; 13:23–24; 14:16–33 and the institute student manual commentary for Luke 11:5–13, “The Parable of the Friend at Midnight” (p. 115). Make a list of what it means to be a disciple of Jesus Christ and what the Savior taught about counting the costs of following Him.

To be a disciple...:
-Receive the Lord

-Hearken to his word
-Choose God

-Be prayerful

-Repent and ask for forgiveness

-Keep the commandments

-Rely on the guidance of the Spirit

-Seek after the kingdom of God

-Wait and watch for the Lord

-Give service

-Be faithful and a wise steward

-Follow the path the Lord has laid

-Live the gospel

-Consecrate our lives

-Forsake what we have

Identify one of the teachings from your list that you would like to apply more fully in your life. Write a paragraph about how you could apply that teaching and what difference you believe it would make in your life.

One of the teachings that I would like to apply more fully in my life is to give service.  Service is something that makes you happy because you are putting off the selfish natural man and helping another child of God.  When we serve others, we are serving the Lord.  There is no way to not be happy when we serve Him.  I can apply this principle by helping others in my ward by doing my visiting teaching, helping my husband with his school work, and other members of my family.  The more we serve, the more it becomes second nature to us and we can continue to strive to be a disciple of Christ.

Read Luke 14:33; Omni 1:26; Mosiah 2:34; Matthew 13:44–46. Explain in writing what is ultimately required to be a disciple of Jesus Christ. 
Luke 14:33 - We need to forsake all that we have to be a disciple.
Omni 1:26 - Offer our souls as an offering to God; continue in fasting and prayer and endure to the end.
Mosiah 2:34 - Knowing that we are indebted to Christ and to render ourselves and all that we have to Him.
Matthew 13:44-46 - Sacrificing our greatest things for the gospel of Jesus Christ.

Children

Review Matthew 18:3-4 and Doctrine and Covenants 78:17-18.  Explain in writing the ways we are like little children.  In these verses, how does the Lord say He will help us?

 3 And said, Verily I say unto you, Except ye be converted, and become as little children, ye shall not enter into the kingdom of heaven.

 4 Whosoever therefore shall humble himself as this little child, the same is greatest in the kingdom of heaven.

 17 Verily, verily, I say unto you, ye are little children, and ye have not as yet understood how great blessings the Father hath in his own hands and prepared for you;

 18 And ye cannot bear all things now; nevertheless, be of goodcheer, for I will lead you along. The kingdom is yours and the blessings thereof are yours, and the riches of eternity are yours.

We are like little children when we become converted to the Lord and his gospel and just like the scripture reference from Ether in the previous post, humility makes us like children.  The Lord says that even though we may not fully understand, he will help lead us along, so that we may inherit the kingdom, blessings, and riches of eternity.

Read Mosiah 3:19 and list the ways in which we are to become as little children.

 19 For the natural man is an enemy to God, and has been from the fall of Adam, and will be, forever and ever, unless he yields to the enticings of the Holy Spirit, and putteth off the natural man and becometh a saint through the atonement of Christ the Lord, and becometh as a child, submissive, meek, humble, patient, full of love, willing to submit to all things which the Lord seeth fit to inflict upon him, even as a child doth submit to his father.

The Lord commands us to become as little children by being:  submissive, meek, humble, patient, full of love, willing to submit to the Lord, putting off the natural man, listening to the Spirit, and becoming a saint.

*Becoming like a child is different than being childlike.  We need to embrace the happy and trusting nature that children portray.  A child is willing to follow, wants to learn, and is always loving.  I have a 13 month old daughter and she teaches me each day on how to be more Christlike.  I’m grateful for the opportunity to have a child of God in my home to help remind me what I must do to inherit all the Father has in store for me.

Miracle of the loaves and fishes

The Savior provided two similar miracles.  As a summary of what took place, complete the following chart:

	Matthew 14:14-21	Matthew 15:32-38
How many people were present?	5,000 men, plus women, children, the apostles, and Jesus	4,000, plus the women, children, apostles, and Jesus
What did they need?	Food	To eat
What were they able to offer in an effort to meet the need?	Five loaves of bread and two fishes	Seven loaves and a few small fishes
What words or phrases describe the Savior’s feeling toward the multitude in their time of need?	Compassion and he healed their sick	Compassion and concern
What words or phrases describe what the Savior was able to provide for the multitudes?	He fed them, despite the desert terrains	He filled their bellies.

In each story, the available food was insufficient to feed the multitude, yet with the help of the Lord, the insufficiency was overcome.  Read Romans 3:23 and explain in writing another way human effort is insufficient in receiving the Glory of God.  According to Ether 12:27, how does the Lord help us overcome this insufficiency?  We’re human and therefore flawed.  Our sins make us imperfect.  We cannot receive the glory of God without a Savior to plead for us and atone for our sins.  In Ether, we see that the Lord gives us weaknesses to make us humble and his grace is sufficient for us.  If we are humble, we are able to have the faith required to become strong and overcome weaknesses and sin.

*I'm grateful for a loving Father who does give us trials and weaknesses so that we may turn to him to learn from him.  I know that he did the miracles that we read about in the scriptures and that those miracles still continue to be seen today.  He is able to be a constant influence in our lives, if we will just let him.  Embrace the grace of his Son and the Atonement.  They can make our shortcomings sufficient.

Parables

1. In the Bible Dictionary, read the first three paragraphs under the entry “Parables” (pp. 740–41).
2. Read the following parables: parable of the tares (Matthew 13:24–30); parables of the mustard seed and the leaven (Matthew 13:31–33); parables of the treasure and the pearl of great price (Matthew 13:44–46); parable of the gospel net (Matthew 13:47–50). Next to each of the following questions match the name of the parable that best answers that question.
• What describes the future growth of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints? 
  Parable of the tares -   As we mature, the members will manifest themselves from the tares.
• Why does the Church send out so many missionaries? 
  Parable of the gospel net.  The Church sends out missionaries to teach as many people as they can the gospel.
• How do you explain the remarkable growth of the Church, considering that it is fairly new compared to most world religions and started small in the American frontier? 
  Parable of the mustard seed and leaven.  Like the mustard seed, the church started out small, and as it grew, it became big and because it is Christ's church, the best of all the other herbs.
• Why are some members of the Church willing to sacrifice so much worldly wealth and recognition in order to maintain membership in the Church? 
  Parable of the treasure and pearl of great price.  They are aware of the treasure that they have and the joy that it brings.  Nothing is worth losing that for.
• Why do some Church members choose to leave the Church?
  Parable of the tares.  If you separate the church and world to soon, the church would cease.  If you pull the tares too soon, you'll take some of the wheat, too.  Same with members.  Some aren't converted and end up leaving.
3. Address the following questions:
• Considering the parables of the treasure and the pearl of great price (see Mattthew 13:44–46), what sacrifices would you be willing to make to obtain the treasure of the gospel? What sacrifices have you or those you know already made for the gospel?
  I would be willing to sacrifice everything I possessed to know my Heavenly Father and his gospel.  There are many examples of this in the scriptures like King Lamoni's father.  Also, I've seen many converts give up their life styles, their family, and many other things to have the gospel.
• What does the net represent in the parable of the net cast into the sea? (See Matthew 13:47). What does it mean to be gathered into the net? What is represented by the action of gathering the good into vessels and casting the bad away? (See Matthew 13:48–50). 
  I think the net represents the kingdom of heaven.  To be gathered in means to be living with our maker, families, and those that were righteous and followed the gospel.  Judgement day is what I feel represents the action of gathering the good and casting the bad.  We will be judged by our hearts, our actions, etc. and we will be placed accordingly.
  
  ***I'm constantly in awe at the things parables teach us.  We can learn so much from them, but only if we are disciples of Christ.  We read about that in the Bible Dictionary.  Here's an excerpt from it:  "From our Lord’s words, we learn the reason for this method (speaking in parables). It was to veil the meaning. The parable conveys to the hearer religious truth exactly in proportion to his faith and intelligence; to the dull and uninspired it is a mere story, “seeing they see not,” while to the instructed and spiritual it reveals the mysteries or secrets of the kingdom of heaven. Thus it is that the parable exhibits the condition of all true knowledge. Only he who seeks finds."  I hope that I'm continually one that is finding the true knowledge of my Savior and his perfect teachings.

The Beatitudes

 1 And seeing the multitudes, he went up into a mountain: and when he was set, his disciples came unto him:
 2 And he opened his mouth, and taught them, saying,
 3 Blessed are the poor in spirit: for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
 4 Blessed are they that mourn: for they shall be comforted.
 5 Blessed are the meek: for they shall inherit the earth.
 6 Blessed are they which do hunger and thirst after righteousness: for they shall be filled.
 7 Blessed are the merciful: for they shall obtain mercy.
 8 Blessed are the pure in heart: for they shall see God.
 9 Blessed are the peacemakers: for they shall be called the children of God.
 10 Blessed are they which are persecuted for righteousness’ sake: for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
 11 Blessed are ye, when men shall revile you, and persecute you,and shall say all manner of evil against you falsely, for my sake.
 12 Rejoice, and be exceeding glad: for great is your reward in heaven: for so persecuted they the prophets which were before you.
(Matthew 5:1-12)

Read the footnote for Matthew 5:3 and the institute student manual Points to Ponder section:  "The Sermon on the Mount is Our Constitution for Perfection".  Write a definition for the word blessed or blessedness.

The footnote for Matthew 5:3 says, "The Latin beatus is the basis of the English “beatitude,” meaning “to be fortunate,” “to be happy,” or “to be blessed.”  Blessed or blessedness means being higher than happiness, an inward fountain of joy from the soul.

Read Matthew 5:12.  Identify or mark all of the "blessed" attributes in these verses.  Also, read the definitions President Harold B. Lee gave for each of these attributes found in the institute student manual Points to Ponder section.  From these verses, select three beatitudes and write a paragraph for each describing how living has in the past or can in the future increase your happiness.

"Blessed are the meek" - When I am meek, I humble myself and turn to the Lord for help.  This has helped me both in the past and can help me in the future.  While I was on my mission, there was no way that I would be able to do the work of the Lord if I wasn't willing to be humble and ask him for help.  There was no way for me to be an effective missionary without humility.  I am a weak human being and am nothing without God and his gospel.  But, in Ether, we see that the Lord gives us weaknesses so that we can be humble and rely upon him.  Then will he make our weaknesses strengths.  Any time there is a weakness, if I am meek, I will be able to see the hand of the Lord in my life, throughout my whole life.

"Blessed are the merciful" - I have tried my whole life to conscientiously forgiving.  And I have seen the benefits of that forgiving nature.  There have been many occasions that are very personal to me in where I have been hurt very deeply, but have found strength in the Lord to forgive that person.  Not only did we strengthen our relationship, but it strengthened my relationship with my Savior.  I know that when I am merciful, the Lord will be merciful towards me and forgive my trespasses.

"Blessed are they who do hunger and thirst after righteousness" - I'm human.  And because of that fact, I have sinned.  I know how sin drives the Spirit away.  I know that sinning moves you further away from God.  All these things can be combated through a want and need for righteousness in my life.  I have felt the sweetness of repentance and that only makes me want to desire for righteousness more so.  As I continue to hunger and thirst after righteousness, not only will my life be happier, but the atmosphere and relationships in my family will be stronger and happier, as well.

*The Beatitudes are meant to bring us closer to our Maker.  I am so grateful for the Sermon on the Mount and how it teaches us more than happiness.  After reading the excerpts from the Institute manual and from the scriptures, I can see how each and everyone can be for our benefit in making us happier and for strengthening relationships all around.  And just like it says in verse 12, great is our reward in heaven.  I hope that I can live up to these instructions and find a great reward.

Apostles

Unit 2, Choice 3

• Review Matthew 10:1-4 and Mark 3:13-19 and highlight the names of the original Twelve Apostles.  Look up the names of three Apostles in the Bible Dictionary and write one sentence describing something you learned about each one you selected.

Matthew 10:1-4

1 And when he had called unto him his twelve disciples, he gave them power against unclean spirits, to cast them out, and to heal all manner of sickness and all manner of disease.

2 Now the names of the twelve apostles are these; The first, Simon, who is called Peter, and Andrew his brother; James the son of Zebedee, and John his brother; 
3 Philip, and Bartholomew; Thomas, and Matthew the publican; James the son of Alphæus, and Lebbæus, whose surname was Thaddæus;
4 Simon the Canaanite, and Judas Iscariot, who also betrayed him.

Simon Peter - The Lord honored Peter by selecting him to hold the keys of the kingdom on earth and despite his weaknesses, he is shown to overcome them through Christ.
James - He was one of the inner circle of three chosen to be with Jesus on certain special occasions.
Andrew - He was a disciple of John the Baptist when he met Jesus and then brought Peter to meet Jesus.  He was one of the earliest apostles.

•   Read Acts 4:33; Doctrine and Covenants 107:23; and the entry for “Apostle” in the Bible Dictionary (p. 612).  Then, write a definition for what an Apostle is.

Apostle means "one sent forth" and is not reserved for only the original Twelve, as it means one who is called to serve and be a special witness of Christ.

•  Describe in writing how the Savior’s teachings to his Apostles in Matthew 10:5-42 prepared them to be sent out to proclaim the gospel.

Christ instructs his Apostles to go in search of lost sheep.  He tells them that there will be people who deny them and their message.  He also tells them that they are a rarity and that they will be ‘as sheep amidst wolves’.  But despite the hardships, troubles, and persecution that will come, the Spirit will speak to people and that they need not worry about what to say.  He tells them of his purpose here on the earth and tells them that he will be aware of them.  At the end, he promises them divine blessings.  I believe by telling them what to generally expect, that prepares them, as well as knowing the blessings that will come because of their service.

• Read Luke 5:1-11. Explain in writing what you learn from the responses made by Peter, James, and John to the Savior’s call.  How would you apply their actions and examples in their own life?
  
  Even though they know they are sinners and probably feel inadequate of the calling, the scriptures say they 'forsook all, and followed him'.  I can do exactly as they did and when he asks me to do something, instead of second guessing or rethinking things, I can immediately obey.  
  

John the Baptist

John the Baptist "did no miracle", but magnificently fulfilled his assignment in bearing testimony of Jesus Christ.  A vigorous preacher, John taught many principles and doctrines of the gospel, and fill his mission in every particular.

Read Luke 1:14 and write what Zacharias was told about the birth of his son, John the Baptist.

• ·         John will bring happiness to his and Elisabeth’s life
• ·         Others will be grateful he is born
• ·         He will change lives

Study Luke 1:5-25, 39-45, 56-80, and the Bible Dictionary entry:  “John the Baptist”.  Write a paragraph summarizing the reasons people would rejoice over John the Baptist’s birth and mission.

Two of the most important people in John the Baptist’s life are his parents.  We read in the first set of scriptures that an angel comes to tell Zacharias that his prayers are heard and that he and his wife will have a son that will not only bring them joy and gladness, but others as well.  That gave them great cause to rejoice, knowing that their son would be a great missionary and great in the sight of God.  In the next set of scriptures is when Mary visits Elisabeth.  By the context, we can see that there was definitely something special not only between them, but between the unborn babies.  I don’t know what was happening between the two Spirits, but there was obvious rejoicing.  When Zacharias is finally able to speak again, many people are astonished and spread word of what had happened.  They were in awe and attributed it to the baby and knew that he was blessed of the Lord.  All those who heard Zacharias testify that his child shall be a prophet to prepare the way for the Messiah had reason enough to rejoice in his birth and what he would do.  In the Bible Dictionary, we read that Isaiah had prophesied of his coming and mission.  John tutored others that would become apostles to Jesus.  In these respects, we have every reason to rejoice because he fulfilled his mission in every aspect.  He was also the one to ordain Joseph Smith and Oliver Cowdery to the Aaronic Priesthood.  Seeing all that John the Baptist accomplished and what he did for the gospel of Jesus Christ, we all have reason to rejoice that he was born and fulfilled the mission that was foreordained for him.

Welcome!

Welcome to my blog about the New Testament.  Each week, I will be posting about topics from the New Testament that will help enlighten and broaden my own horizons on the Savior, his life and ministry.  I'm excited to learn and can't wait to deepen my personal relationship with Jesus Christ.