Isaiah 1-2 ISAIAH. “The important thing is that we’re here for Andy when he needs us, that’s...

Isaiah 1-2ISAIAH

“The important thing is that we’re here for Andy when he needs us, that’s what we’re here for, right?”

Who said it?

“Four score and seven years ago..”

Who said it?

“The difference btw genius and stupidity is that genius has it’s limits.”

Who said it?

“I've missed more than 9000 shots in my career. I've lost almost 300 games. 26 times, I've been trusted to take the game winning shot and missed. I've failed over and over and over again in my life. And that is why I succeed. ”

Who said it?

“Great are the words of Isaiah.”

Who said it?

A. 137 B. 106 C. 1292 D. 425 E. 740F. 700

ISAIAH: AN INTRODUCTION

Isaiah quotes in the New Testament

Isaiah quotes in the D&C

Total verses in Isaiah

Isaiah quotes in the Book of Mormon

The year Isaiah started prophesying

The year Isaiah stopped prophesying

Isaiah quotes in the New Testament

Isaiah quotes in the D&C

Total verses in Isaiah

Isaiah quotes in the Book of MormonThe year Isaiah started prophesying

The year Isaiah stopped prophesying

Why is it quoted so much? SCRIPTURE CHAIN:

2 Nephi 6:4 2 Nephi 11:2 2 Nephi 25:5 3 Nephi 23:1

Major Themes in Isaiah? Repentance Temples Jesus Apostasy Restoration Atonement Second Coming Millennium

WELCOME TO ISAIAH

First theme: REPENTANCEBefore we begin to repent, what do we need to do?

Isaiah 1:4 What are some sins that plague youth today?

WELCOME TO ISAIAH

YES or NO: Is sinning fun? Read Isaiah 1:5–9 look for how the people were affected by their wickedness.

Read Isaiah 1:16, 18-19. What’s hard about repentance?

Is repentance a checklist?

WELCOME TO ISAIAH

ISAIAH 110 QUESTIONS ABOUT REPENTANCE

“The Lord has declared that the bishop is a common judge in Israel (see D&C 107:72, 74). He has the responsibility to determine the worthiness of the members of his ward. By ordination and righteous living, the bishop is entitled to revelation from the Holy Ghost regarding the members of his ward, including you.

“Your bishop will counsel you on what to do to strengthen your ability to resist temptation. He may encourage you to study a doctrinal topic, such as repentance, and then to share with him what you have learned. He may ask you to visit with him each week to report how you are doing in removing yourself from tempting situations.”

WHY DO I NEED TO SEE A BISHOP AFTER I COMMIT A ‘BIG’ SIN? WHY CAN’T I TALK TO MY

PARENTS?

Elder C. Scott Grown, “Why and What Do I Need to

Confess to My Bishop?” October

2013 New Era

“You may be thinking, ‘But how can I know if what I have done is serious enough that I need to talk to the bishop?’ The short answer: ‘Your conscience will tell you.’ When you feel the sting of conscience, act immediately” (see Alma 34:31–34).

HOW CAN I TELL IF I NEED TO TALK TO THE BISHOP?

Elder C. Scott Grown, “Why and What Do I Need to

Confess to My Bishop?” October

2013 New Era

“Don’t try to excuse yourself or rationalize your way out. You may be thinking, “It would be too embarrassing to tell the bishop what I have done. He thinks I am a better person than that. He will be shocked if I tell him what I did.”

“The Lord has said: ‘By this ye may know if a man repenteth of his sins—behold, he will confess them and forsake them’ (D&C 58:42–43). When you confess and forsake your sins, the Lord will forgive you. You will not have to account to Him for those sins when the time comes for you to be judged.”

WHAT IF I AM TOO EMBARRASSED TO SEE MY BISHOP?

Elder C. Scott Grown, “Why and What Do I Need to

Confess to My Bishop?” October

2013 New Era

“Sometimes a person will stop doing wrong but never confess. As a consequence, the person continues to carry the burden of sin alone, instead of letting the Savior take away the burden.  “If you have feelings of guilt but are not sure if you need to confess to your bishop, go see him. Let him help you. Don’t risk carrying an unnecessary burden through your life, which will leave you feeling miserable. Through your confession to the bishop and your repentance, the Lord will lift that burden from your soul.”

WHY IS CONFESSION NECESSARY?

Elder C. Scott Grown, “Why and What Do I Need to

Confess to My Bishop?” October

2013 New Era

One evening a few years ago, I was interviewing adults for renewal of their temple recommends. A middle-aged woman came in for her interview. She had been married in the temple and was active in the Church all her life.

I sensed a deep sadness in her soul. As the interview progressed, I received a spiritual impression. I said to her, “Sister, I have the impression that you made a serious mistake when you were a teenager that you haven’t confessed to a priesthood leader. Would you be willing to tell me about it?”

She immediately began to cry. She told me that was true, but she had always felt too embarrassed to confess it to a bishop. As she confessed what she had done, she shared sufficient detail for me to make a determination of her worthiness.

WHY IS CONFESSION NECESSARY?

Elder C. Scott Grown, “Why and What Do I Need to

Confess to My Bishop?” October

2013 New Era

The confession of her sin to a priesthood leader marked the end of her repentance process rather than the beginning. She had unnecessarily carried the burden and sorrow of that sin for more than 30 years.

I want you to know that I do not remember her name. The Lord can remove such memories from bishops. What I do remember is that through confession to her priesthood leader, a middle-aged woman was relieved of feelings of guilt that she had carried far too many years.

WHY IS CONFESSION NECESSARY?

Elder C. Scott Grown, “Why and What Do I Need to

Confess to My Bishop?” October

2013 New Era

A man came to me for a temple recommend and said, “Forty-two years ago, before my wife and I were married, we committed fornication once, the week prior to our going to the temple. We did not lie to the bishop, who was my wife’s father; he simply talked with us and signed our recommends. We then went to the stake president, and he did not interview us. He signed our recommends, and we went to the temple unworthily.

While we were on our honeymoon,” he continued, “we decided to make it up to the Lord. We decided we would pay more than our share of tithing and fast offering; we would accept every assignment to the welfare farm and do all else we were asked to do. It has been forty-two years since the transgression, and we have lived as near Christlike lives as we know how. I believe we have been forgiven, but I know that confession is necessary.”

WHY IS CONFESSION NECESSARY?

Elder Vaughn J Featherstone,

November 1980 General

Conference

I listened to his confession. I wept with him, and when he finished the confession, I told him on behalf of the Church that he was forgiven. He need not discuss it, think about it, or be concerned about it anymore. I told him never to mention it to me again, for I would not remember it and had no desire to. To this day, I cannot remember who it was, although I do remember the case.

WHY IS CONFESSION NECESSARY?

Elder Vaughn J Featherstone,

November 1980 General

Conference

We got up and walked to the door together. I said, “Where is your wife?” He said, “She is in the car.” I asked, “Is she coming in?”He replied, “No, she can’t even think about it except it almost destroys her.” I said, “You tell your wife that I would like to visit with her now. Tell her I want to take this off her heart and close it. Tell her I know what it was that was done, and I will close it, and it need not be opened again. Tell her I will make it as easy as possible for her.”He said, “I’ll tell her, but I don’t think she will come in.”I answered, “You tell her that if I have to sit here all night, I will not go home until she comes in. I can’t bear the thought of her carrying this on her heart one more day in this life; forty-two years is long enough.”He said, “Well, I’ll tell her, but I don’t think she’ll come in.”

WHY IS CONFESSION NECESSARY?

Elder Vaughn J Featherstone,

November 1980 General

Conference

He left and was gone fifteen minutes, thirty minutes, and forty-five minutes; then I heard a timid knock at the door. I went to the door, and there was this sweet woman standing there. Her eyes were wet from crying. I took her by both hands and led her across the room. I sat across the corner of the desk, and then I said, “Your husband confessed to a transgression that happened over forty-two years ago of which you were a part. I want to make it easy for you. I know what the transgression is. You tell me, and I will take it off your heart.”It was like pulling wild horses to get a confession. Finally, about fifteen minutes later, she confessed. I wept; she wept. I said, “How do you feel?”She stopped, looked up at me and, with tears in her eyes, and said, “President, I feel clean for the first time in forty-two years.”

WHY IS CONFESSION NECESSARY?

Elder Vaughn J Featherstone,

November 1980 General

Conference

“Satan will try to make us believe that our sins are not forgiven because we can remember them. Satan is a liar; God did not promise that we would not remember our sins. Remembering will help us avoid making the same mistakes again.

“If we stay true and faithful, the memory of our sins will be softened over time. It is our responsibility to avoid anything that would bring back old sinful memories.” (President Dieter F. Uchtdorf, “Point of Safe Return,” Ensign  or Liahona, May 2007, 101).

WHAT IF I STILL ‘REMEMBER’ MY SIN? AM I NOT FORGIVEN?

“Repent, lest … your sufferings be sore—how sore you know not, how exquisite you know not, yea, how hard to bear you know not. Wherefore, I command you again to repent, … and that you confess your sins, lest you suffer these punishments of which I have spoken” (D&C 19:15–17, 20).

HOW BAD WILL IT REALLY BE IF I DON’T CONFESS AND REPENT?

"In a real though figurative sense, the book of life is the record of the acts of men as such record is written in their own bodies. It is the record engraven on the very bones, sinews, and flesh of the mortal body. That is, every thought, word and deed has an effect on the human body; all these leave their marks, marks which can be read by Him who is Eternal as easily as the words in a book can be read.” (Bruce R McConkie, Mormon Doctrine, p. 97.)

Is there really a book that angels write that has a list of everything we’ve done?

“We must be careful, as we seek to become more and more godlike, that we do not become discouraged and lose hope. Becoming Christlike is a lifetime pursuit and very often involves growth and change that is slow, almost imperceptible.

“The scriptures record remarkable accounts of men whose lives changed dramatically, in an instant, as it were: Alma, Paul, Enos, King Lamoni. Such astonishing examples give confidence that the Atonement can reach even those deepest in despair.” (President Ezra Taft Benson)

I FEEL SO DISCOURAGED WHEN I SLIP UP. WHAT SHOULD I DO?

WHO CAN TESTIFY OF THE BLESSINGS OF REPENTANCE?

Define “sin”?Greek: To miss the mark

How many sins have you committed? (Approximate)

Doctrinally, what happens if a person chooses not to repent?

THE MIRACLE OF FORGIVENESS

Finish the phrase:“No ______________ _______ can enter the Kingdom of Heaven.”

"For I the Lord cannot look upon ___________ with the least __________ ___ _____________"

Define “unclean”

THE MIRACLE OF FORGIVENESS

“More than 50 years ago during World War II, we were ordered to the West Coast and then on to the Pacific. We were transported on a freight train with boxcars fitted with narrow bedsprings that could be pulled down from the wall at night. “We were dressed in light-colored summer uniforms. It was very hot crossing Texas and Arizona. Smoke and cinders from the engine made it very uncomfortable. There was no way to bathe or wash our uniforms. “We rolled into Los Angeles one morning—a grubby-looking outfit—and were told to return to the train that evening. We thought first of food. The 10 of us in our crew pooled our money and headed for the best restaurant we could find. It was crowded, and so we joined a long line waiting to be seated. I was first, just behind some well-dressed women. Even without turning around, the stately woman in front of me soon became aware that we were there…

THE MIRACLE OF FORGIVENESS

“She turned and looked at us. Then she turned and looked me over from head to toe. There I stood in that sweaty, dirty, sooty, wrinkled uniform. She said in a tone of disgust, “My, what untidy men!” All eyes turned to us.

“No doubt she wished we were not there; I shared her wish. I felt as dirty as I was, uncomfortable, and ashamed.

“Later, when I began a serious study of the scriptures, I noticed references to being spiritually clean. “Ye would be more miserable to dwell with a holy and just God, under a consciousness of your filthiness before him, than ye would to dwell with the damned souls in hell.”

THE MIRACLE OF FORGIVENESS

“I reasoned that to be spiritually unclean would bring shame and humiliation immeasurably more intense than I felt then. I found scriptural references—there are at least eight of them—which say that no unclean thing can enter the presence of God. I decided I wanted to stay spiritually clean.”

THE MIRACLE OF FORGIVENESS

President Boyd K. Packer, Washed Clean, April 1997

General Conference

REPENTANCE

Read Isaiah 1:28 - There will come a time…Why would Isaiah 2:2-3 follow Isaiah 1? What do these mountains represent in our lives?

Isaiah 1-2ISAIAH