D&C Section 49 Warning Against False Doctrine
Section 50 Warning Against False Revelation
Divine investiture of authority
Shaking Quakers about 15 miles away from Kirtland, Ohio. Revelation given to Parley, Sidney and Leman Copley. Both religions believed in general apostasy, modern revelation and communal living but beliefs also differed significantly, but major differences in savior as Ann Lee, marriage, celibacy, no meat. Shaker song, Tis the Gift to be Simple.
Sister Ubank, unity is messy. There are challenges, different personalities, cultural bias and understandings. Parley P. Pratt passionate and telling them off, Sidney Rigdon being ok with their non-acceptance. Thoughts of the messiness of unity in our efforts to serve the Lord. We can work through these challenges in a direct yet Christlike way.
2. Desire to know the truth in part. Do we ever desire to only know a certain number of truths? Consistency in what the Lord says. Prophets will repeatedly say this. Let’s not make assumptions with limited information. Only wanting to know in part or hear what we want to hear?
9 However, what is important is that we have the covenant made from before the foundation of the world. Do we realize how significant this New and Everlasting Covenant is? God’s pattern is to call the unlikely to accomplish the impossible – President Nelson
· President Spencer W. Kimball said: We made vows, solemn vows, in the heavens before we came to this mortal life. . . . We have made covenants. We made them before we accepted our position here on the earth. . . . We committed ourselves to our Heavenly Father, that if he would send us to the earth and give us bodies and give to us the priceless opportunities that earth life afforded, we would keep our lives clean and would marry in the holy temple and would rear a family and teach them righteousness. This was a solemn oath, a solemn promise. (Devotional talk, University of Utah Institute of Religion, 10 January 1975)
· Even in our premortal lives, we had agency! We triumphed there and now only through Jesus Christ.
Making and keeping covenants means choosing to bind ourselves to our Father in Heaven and Jesus Christ. Linda K. Burton
Elder Eyring
"We promise to take His name upon us. That means we must see ourselves as His. We will put Him first in our lives. We will want what He wants rather than what we want or what the world teaches us to want."
"But this is the covenant which I will make with the house of Israel after those days…I will put My law within them and on their heart, I will write it; and I will be their God, and they shall be My people…for I will forgive their iniquity, and their sin I will remember no more." (Jeremiah 31:31-34)
Under the new covenant a right relationship with God can be a living reality, not through following a list of rules, but through having a right heart. And we know we can trust God for this right heart, because he's kept his word up to this day. His promises should fill us with hope, even in an age of skepticism.
We live in a world that is largely dependent on agreements, pacts and treaties to keep some semblance of order. Some of these agreements last longer than others. Eventually the terms are compromised in some way. Yet, each of us has the opportunity to take part in a pact with our Creator that will last forever and live with the assurance of promises that will never be broken.
We see ourselves as part of the house of Israel, stewards of the covenant if you will. with a commission to “Go save my people”.
Am I willing to make and keep covenants?
Follow our prophets plea to step up and help bring about the gathering. We say through our actions, “I’m here, choose me”.
10. Nations of the earth (each of us individually) can choose to bow or be made to bow. Every knee shall bow and tongue confess that Jesus is the Christ. Philippians 2:10-11 Goes on focus on the first principles of the gospel, essential steps in entering into and staying in this covenant he referred to in verse 9. At one point, we all end up being humbled. Story of Joseph’s patients, dementia
15-17. Marriage and intimacy within God are beautiful. The uniting of men and women in multiple ways is divinely appointed (example of Christmas concert, when the men joined, it brought a beautiful union). God-given and part of God’s perfect plan of happiness according to his creation before the world was made. Loins covered with truth -armor of God because of so any untruths associated with the law of chastity. Making evil good and good evil. Public distain over Sister Nelson speaking at UVU. Sealing is over the alter in the temple which represent the atonement. This suggests to me that the measure of our creation, the unity between men and women is only available through the atonement of Jesus Christ.
18. Meat, key point is in 21. Let’s not judge but be good stewards with the light and knowledge we have received.
Key point when referring to these doctrines- Wait, what about plural marriage and won’t we be vegan when the Savior comes again? Nephi commanded to kill Laban. We don’t drink wine but it was didn’t they drink wine in the bible and we are told the Savior will drink it with the righteous at a sacrament meeting at his second coming. God made the law and He can not only make exceptions but change it. Our job is to live the law we have in our time now. Obedience to the lesser law is always prerequisite to obedience to the higher law, if that is ever asked of us. Think of laws set to protect small children. “Don’t cross the street”. It is made according to their ability to understand and the circumstance we are in with the greater knowledge we have. 2 or 3 hour church. Be humble enough to accept that is where we are at in our spiritual development but it can also give us encouragement to obey and be trusted with more truth and more ability to act. Heavenly Father doesn’t need to explain His reasons. He is trustworthy and All-Knowing. Temporal and spiritual are the same to God.
23. Wherefore, be not deceived. This kind of shaking. Is there a time you have been able to avoid being deceived
· Elder Scott said that sometimes strong emotion or tears can be mistaken for the Spirit so we need to be cautious.
· The following may inhibit ability to feel the Lord’s power: laziness, dishonesty, pride, immorality, impure thoughts and feelings, preoccupation with things of this world, demeaning of spouse or family members
· Hold fast to covenants (time, talents, resources building the Kingdom of God). It’s all His. If he blesses me with it, use it to do His work.
· Ask for the Holy Ghost to be personal tutor as I seek to know and understand what the Lord would have me know and do.
· Don’t treat lightly the things I receive from God. I should record the personal revelation I have received from God. It can be my personal scripture.
· Stop spending time on things that are no longer needful or worthy of my time and attention.
Elder LeGrand R. Curtis Jr.
Working with General Authorities: I knew they were good men but I didn’t know how good.
Acts 17:26 We are alive today for a reason. God knows the day we were born and the place we are in our lives here on earth. He has a work for us to do today. This is when we’re supposed to be here.
Where is my heart? Is it turned to Heavenly Father and my fellowmen?
J.S. Matthew 1:22 One of the signs of the last days is members who have made covenants will be deceived. He said he used to think of false prophets as people dressed up and claiming to be prophets but they are actually people on the internet and in blogs who are deceiving covenant members of the church.
4 Ways to Avoid Being Deceived:
1. Be steadfast and immovable – Alma 38:2
2. J.S. Matthew 1:37 Treasure up God’s word. Store it. Take good care of it. Treat it like it’s something really important. My thoughts: Use the Book of Mormon more in teaching children
3. D&C 45: 32 Stand in holy places and not be moved. He said President Nelson says, “Go to the temple because the Lord likes doing His teaching in His own house.” He explained that there are different layers of symbolism to the temple. Just like with baptism, one way of viewing it is washing away sins. Another way of viewing it is like birth, going from a wet environment to a dry environment. Another way is viewing it as entering down into the grave and being raised up like in the resurrection. All are correct. The temple is the same in that there are multiple ways to interpret the symbolism. He said one of the principle ways of standing in holy places is to make our home a holy place. This reminded me of a great talk about patterning our homes after the temple that I heard at a Stake RS Conference last year. He said it takes goodness and effort to make our homes holy. He said, “I love what it’s like to live with a saintly person in a saintly place”. What a tribute to his wife.
D&C 45:57 Take the Holy Spirit for your guide. The perfect guide to look to. He told of a group of LDS women who were talking about a subject and one lady said that there had been a talk about that very subject at the General Relief Society meeting. Then the ladies kept talking about what Oprah had said about it. He said it isn’t that what Oprah said wasn’t good; it’s about who you are looking to be your guide. He talked about a river-rafting trip in the Grand Canyon that he went on with his son. It was a few days long and before they got to one of the biggest rapids, their guide stopped the raft, got out with him and stood above the rapids to see how they’d cross it. Then, he had them enter the rapids backwards, the raft turned around while they were in the rapids and they made it out safely. He said he was so grateful for a good guide. Example of following hiker who seemed confident he knew where he was going.
– Elder Zivic
4. How wonderful to have the perfect guide.
· 26.27 Repent so we can sanctified so we can have the Holy Ghost to lead us. Remember message I am reminded of whenever I start worrying about people not liking me etc. “What worries us controls us”. Stop worrying about who does and doesn’t like you and why. Such a plague in our world of social likes and dislikes and judging who is and isn’t hip and cool etc. Instead give all your thought and efforts into focusing on keeping my covenants with God. That will allow me to have the Holy Ghost with me to lead and offer protection from sin and deception. Coat of skins – garments, reminder of covenants. Something or someone died to provide that protection. Covenant protection
28. I come quickly. Either the second coming or our own second coming. He said we should teach those in our influence. Be our best selves. Love people. We are preparing a sin-resistant generation to meet the Lord. It may be in our lives, or our children’s lives or our children’s children’s lives, but this is our time.
Section 50 These are new members of a newly restored church. People from different backgrounds, mannerisms and cultures coming to Kirtland and wondering what the manifestations of the Holy Ghost are. To complicate this situation, the adversary is actively working to deceive them. Desire for recognition. Challenging to understand how this could bring recognition but we could compare it to numbers of followers on Instagram or likes on social media in our day. Adulation is poison. Self promotion. Vaunteth not itself.
Verse 5-9. Let’s remember that the Savior didn’t take issue so much with the sinners as much as He did with the hypocrites. Let’s leave them to him to take care of, either in this life or the next. How many people have left the church over hypocrisy? So many! Tell story of Grandpa age 12 who stopped attending church to play card game with neighborhood boys, said it was the drunk Sunday School President but his dad said that’s not why. When we recognize hypocrisy or what we feel are problems in others, let’s look back to ourselves and see if there is anything we need to address to better keep our covenants.
Woman taken in adultery. He who wrote the law, Jehovah of the Old Testament, knows best how to interpret the law, (and frankly can change the law). He who is without sin, yet doesn’t condemn her. He was the only one to live a perfect life- worthy by his own merits whereas we are only worthy through his atonement on our behalf. Sinlessness, so thus entitled/authorized through purity to make the law. It is wise to leave judgement to Him. Hypocrisy is in essence making a mock of that which is sacred-sanctification. The act of purity touching the impure (dirt). He died so we could receive the very same mercy he had deserved. Words to us are also, “Go and sin no more.”
10-14. Lets reason together that we may understand. Lets reason even as one man reasoneth with another face to face.
The Lord will communicate with us through the Spirit in a way we can understand. We need to learn how the Holy Ghost communicates with us. Thoughts, feelings of peace, maybe not something grandiose. The Lord does not impose learning upon us that we do not want and do not week but we need to desire. We pray in humility, reverently and intimately as we would speak to the wisest Father who knows us perfectly. President Nelson has told us to pray about our concerns, fears, weaknesses and very longing of our hearts then listen. We should also remember that we can pray as we go throughout our day. Our situations and maturity are different but each of us can feel connected to God in individualized ways. This can change throughout our lives. When James was three and we were living in San Diego I remember following him and Jonathan who had ran ahead to the library carrying baby Gracie in her carseat. As I got closer to the library I noticed he was standing on a pedal stole singing I am a Child of God to all the patrons entering the library. I wanted to hide but ended up smiling and claiming him as mine. God claims them as His. He claims us as His.
President Oaks, if that’s the burning in the bussom, I’ve never felt it. Lets be open to truth and seeing God’s love in our day to day life. Lili’s thoughts on “intellectuals” leaving the church. What does that make the rest of us? There are many bright and intelligent defenders of the faith. First lets ask ourselves if the Lord has already reveled the answer to this. If so, we need to act on that. Examples of girl with roommate and dating someone we are trying to save. Sometimes for me I need to take myself out of the situation and ask what I would advise someone else. They already have a Savior. Remember what our core purpose is. What are we ordained to do in this life? Elder Jeffrey R. Holland: "Build Zion where you are. How can we do this? Story of father, poor teen on couch, as he left early to work he would pray over his son. We control the disposition of our means and resources, but we account to God for this stewardship over earthly things.
15-16. The Lord is merciful with us as we strive to recognize what is and isn’t of God, as we develop in faith and striving. How I wish I knew what I know and redo my life. I’m so grateful for that mercy. Again in verses 39,40
22. We can discern between truth and error by asking ourselves if it edifies. President Joseph F. Smith taught, There is no saying of greater truth than that which doth not edify is not of God. And that which is not of God is darkness, it matters not whether it comes in the guise of religion, ethics, philosophy, or revelation. No revelation from God will fail to edify.
24.25 Light: Example Helaman 4:11-26 Church members weakened – can be repeated with us.
Elder Holland- Fighting through darkness and despair and pleading for the light is what opened this dispensation. It is what keeps it going and what will keep you going.
Dennis Largey: I would like to speak about a great robbery that is taking place among us. It is of more consequence than any theft in history. The thief is Satan, and his objective is to rob us of light. Lucifer does not want to steal light for himself; he wants to steal light because it is the presence of light by which he can be defeated. Since Satan abhors light and avoids its presence, and since he cannot conventionally steal light against one’s will, his efforts and temptations are designed to entice his targets to voluntarily yield it up that he might more freely and effectively carry forth his destructive plans. The Doctrine and Covenants teaches:
The glory of God is intelligence, or, in other words, light and truth.
Light and truth forsake that evil one. . . .
And that wicked one cometh and taketh away light and truth, through disobedience, from the children of men. [D&C 93:36–37, 39]
Satan steals light from us through our own disobedience.
Why is light so valuable and its loss so devastating? The revelations of the Restoration contribute much to our understanding about light. The analogies I will use this morning are based upon scriptures that refer to light as spirit, as truth, or as the power of God. Having light is evidence that Jesus Christ is part of our life. His light—His spirit, His truth, His power—inspires, motivates, comforts, capacitates, and protects. An abundance of light in a person’s life is manifested by virtues such as faith, hope, charity, patience, kindness, and humility. Outward signs of light are easy to recognize: respect, dependability, dedication to duty, modesty, obedience, and reverence for the things of God. When light is diminished in our lives, motivation toward spiritual things also diminishes to one degree or another. We are less exact in our commandment keeping and less dedicated to activities such as home teaching, Church attendance, temple attendance, scripture reading, and prayer—the very things that intensify light in our lives. With insufficient light we are more susceptible to temptation, and like a plant without the nourishment of the light of the sun, without the nourishment of the light of the Son of God, we can also weaken and shrivel and eventually die spiritually.
We call people who have an abundance of this light “spiritual.” Jesus Christ is the light and life of the world. Spiritual people—or those who strive to always have His spirit to be with them—reflect the light of Jesus Christ in their lives and in their countenances. I love senior citizens in the Church—those who have been sanctified through continued righteousness over time. Their countenances reflect a life well lived. Having learned to walk in the light, they have become a reflection of that light. This is clearly evident in the radiance of those who give significant time to temple service.
Light is like a protective shield that can withstand the fiery darts of the adversary. The Apostle Paul wrote to the Romans:
The night is far spent, the day is at hand: let us therefore cast off the works of darkness, and let us put on the armour of light.
Maintaining light is like staying spiritually in shape so that when the test comes we can meet it. A person who slowly drifts over time into poor physical shape does not fully appreciate that fact until a test arises that requires great physical exertion. The test or trial clearly exposes the lack of capacity. A colleague of mine observed that it is the storm that reveals the importance of having your house built on rock and not on sand. Chase darkness from among you.
Joseph Smith said, “God has given certain laws to the human family, which, if observed, are sufficient to prepare them to inherit this rest (Celestial Kingdom).
32. Spirit not of God, when I’ve struggled with self-deprecating thoughts, or thoughts that suggest change or repentance isn’t possible
39. You’re just a kid and you’ll make mistakes. Try again. This makes me think of weeding, my parents making sure I was pulling the weeds by the roots. Doing a good job. Hard work. Industry. Getting rid of bad and bringing more and more light.
40. So fitting that the Lord would use a simple farm boy, uneducated orphan to show forth His power. He tells Joseph Smith that directly. He tells him he is weak, not a put down, simply a fact that they both knew. D&C 124:1
Elder Larkin Story: When he was a kid he went to a family reunion and he was having fun terrorizing squirrels with his cousins when his mom made him go to a family meeting. He didn’t want to be there and was acting up when his aunt pointed at him and said, “Todd. I’ve been doing family history and looking for Casper Yenter for 22 years and I’m going to die before I find him, so I need you to find him for me.” When Elder Larkin was young he would send letters to Germany trying to find information about Casper Yenter. When he was older he looked online. The search for Casper Yenter kept helped him make good decisions growing up. He would tell himself, if you do this bad thing, then God won’t help you find Casper Yenter. He also felt a connection to his family and heritage because of it. Just recently he was doing family history one Sunday and he searched once again for Casper Yenter and found him. His parish records in Germany had been digitized and now his work could be done. After 42 years Casper Yenter was found, but it was the years of searching that helped save Elder Larkin.
“And none of them that my father hath given me shall be lost” Power in covenants. Elder Merrill quote suggesting that keeping our covenants my save our wayward children.
41-46. Orson F. Whitney taught, “When the Lord speaks to me or to you, it will be in a method and manner justified by our preparation, our gifts, our power; for we have all been endowed in some degree.” Thoughts of comfort coming to my mind after accident. Physical senses, “Someday I will hold you but for now I will send my Spirit to comfort you.”
Everthing testifies of Christ. God made this earth but He didn’t need to make it so beautiful. These verses are so telling of the personalities of our Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ. They make me think of D&C 121: Love, compassion, persuasion, long suffering, gentleness, meakness, love unfeigned, words that are so beautiful and powerful
He asks us to repent because He wants us to be strong and He knows sin would weaken us. True strength comes from keeping God’s laws and repenting when we don’t.
C. S. Lewis Every Christian is to become a little Christ. The whole purpose of becoming a Christian is simply nothing else. This requires that we consecrate our lives (time, talents, health, anything God has given us) BYU professor. He asked, when people see you, do they see Jesus the Christ? Have you become such a representative disciple of Christ that when you are present the Spirit of Christ is there? These questions awaken all disciples to the fact that we must consider the essence of our existence; we are here to become like Christ.
An article I read a few months ago about passing of a General Authority, Elder Sybrowsky, quoted the family motto he and his wife created: “If Christ had my opportunities, what would He do?”
