Come Follow Me Jacob 5-7: Insights By Gogo Goff

I hope you enjoy some insights from my Come Follow Me Jacob 5-7. (If you missed last week’s insights for Come Follow Me Jacob 1-4 click here). Save this pin to read later.

One of the Few?

“And it came to pass that the Lord of the vineyard sent his servant; and the servant went and did as the Lord had commanded him, and brought other servants; and they were few.
For behold, this is the last time that I shall nourish my vineyard; for the end is nigh at hand…”
Jacob 5:70-71

Jacob 5 has 77 verses in the chapter, we are living this chapter, and we are seeing these verses played out before us! The Lord is Hastening Salvation and The Lord has called through his servant the Prophet for more laborers in the vineyard, will you be one of the few?

The Call.

“And it came to pass that the servants did go and labor with their mights; and the Lord of the vineyard labored also with them; and they did obey the commandments of the Lord of the vineyard in all things.”
Jacob 5:72

There are two views on Deity. Either God plays an active role or a passive role. In the Chruch of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. The thoughts of a passive God, a God that is not actively engaged sounds crazy!

But many churches don’t have prophets/apostles, they’ve been forced to explain why God does not call prophets and why God does speak to man anymore. If God does not speak, their only explanation is to claim God is passive and not actively engaged. Because an activity engaged God would be speaking to His children.

Praise to the Lord! Not only is He active in speaking, but in actions as well. We know He has appeared to countless prophets and apostles, we know He is the Lord of the Vineyard, and Lord of the Harvest. This verse teaches us that He is not saying “go and do” but “come and help”.

The only question we have to answer is, will we follow Him? He has called us; Will we “drop our nets” as the apostles of old did? Or will we linger in self-doubt? Will we open our mouths like the prophet Joseph did while imprisoned to silence the enemies of God? Or will fear overtake us in the midst of our enemies?

It is not what we know, but what He knows. It is His work, He leads the effort. God does not call the equipped. He Equips the called. And He has called us, each one of us, to labor in the vineyard!

Will you hearken to the call?
Will you hasten to Christ?
WIll you bring souls with you?

Repentance.

“My beloved brethren, I beseech of you in words of soberness that ye would repent, and come with full purpose of heart, and cleave unto God as he cleaveth unto you. And while his arm of mercy is extended towards you in the light of the day, harden not your hearts.”
Jacob 6:5

When the word “cleave” is used most people think “Cut, divide, break in half” but cleave had a different meaning in 1830 when the Book of Mormon was written. The dictionary says to cleave is “to become closely attached”. When I think of cleave, I think of the Prodigal son, and how he came to his father, and his father embraced him.

So with that context, one can reread this verse differently. It is almost a pleading, please repent, and come to God! His actions have chosen you as His child, do your actions choose Him as your Father?

Repentance is how we choose him. Choose him today. Repent today. Harken to the word of President Ballard:

The Doctrine of Christ.

“And it came to pass that he began to preach among the people, and to declare unto them that there should be no Christ. And he preached many things which were flattering unto the people; and this he did that he might overthrow the doctrine of Christ.”
Jacob 7:2

The Doctrine of Christ is the five steps that Jesus Christ set out for us, He commanded us to: Have faith in Jesus Christ, repent of our sins, be baptized by immersion, receive the gift of the Holy Ghost by the laying on of hands, and endure to the end.

This process is often referred to as “the ordinances of Salvation” (Important note, not just Salvation, but Salvation into the Celestial Kingdom which has additional requirements)

There is a pattern in the scriptures, and it happens with every false Christ (Anti-Christ) they always attack the Doctrine of Christ. In Jacob 7:2 it literally says that Sherem preached “that he might overthrow the doctrine of Christ.”

Satan seeks to discourage and confuse as many of us as he can. The great recipe for happiness (The Doctrine of Christ) is the main focus of Satan’s attacks, destroy or corrupt the plan then people will claim it does not work. And this he did after the death of the Apostles, the true Doctrine of Christ was corrupted, and the meaning of the steps destroyed.

This explains why all the Christian Churches have different ideas when it comes to heaven, and salvation (Most of them think Salvation and Eternal life are the same, which they are not).

Into this confusion and complete apostasy, Joseph Smith was called to restore divine truth. And now today we have the true Doctrine of Christ as taught in Scriptures, we know what Christ expects us to do to enter into the Celestial Kingdom.

Trusting in the Lord by preparing for the future.

“Wherefore, the people of Nephi did fortify against them with their arms, and with all their might, trusting in the God and rock of their salvation; wherefore, they became as yet, conquerors of their enemies.”
Jacob 7:25

Often I hear members saying things like, “We don’t need food storage, provisions, or weapons. That’s trusting in the arm of flesh, I trust in God!”

This is a sad state of the doctrinally illiterate. The Lord commands us to prepare for the future, if we trust Him we will obey him!

Noah would not have been saved if he did not prepare by building the ark! Nor would he have been saved if he built the ark yet did not follow God.